Pinch of Salt

Why isn't it real ??!!

2011-07-19T13:25:00.004+05:30

Being a kid of imaginations has it's highs and lows (just like everything else,I guess) but my involvement with Harry Potter series is at a different level unlike anything you can compare with. Though the first book was released in 1997, I got my hands on it only in 2002 after I graduated. Although I liked the book I never saw myself as someone who could get involved with it and live in an imaginary world with all the characters and feel emotional. But Rowling made it happen,as I read the following series I fell in love with it so much that I became opinionated about each of the characters in a way you would if you interacted with them in person.

Reading was more fun compared to watching the movie but the cast and crew of the movie did make an honest attempt to bring the characters close and alive to the described ones. Prof.Dumbledore, a great visionary stood out effortlessly for what he was. I missed him after Half Blood Prince ( I must have mourned atleast for a week after his death). I liked all those people who stood by Harry for what they believed in and ofcourse it was very warm and touching. I was almost inside the story with an invisibility cloak on than being just the reader. That's what imagination does to you I guess and it proved to be much more powerful than watching someone else's movie.It was almost a first hand experience to me. I saw myself standing right there watching Harry and Voldemort dueling. I jumped so many times while reading as if I heard a snake hiss right next to me. Each time I read their adventure, I held my breath until they were done escaping. My imaginations were better than the 3D movie because there was another dimension added to it by my grey cells and hence I felt I had a special bonding with each of the characters!

Finally, watching the part-2 was like a closure. When I read the last part I was not sure it was all over just like how you feel if it actually happened to you.It's hard to believe the hard part is over in life,isn't it? But watching the movie felt like a confirmation that it was all over. I felt like all the mixed feelings were coming back to me at the same time. I was happy that the war was over but sad that I had to put an end to living an imaginary life.I was happy that good triumphed over evil but sad that I wouldn't experience an adventure like that again.

Am I crazy???? I'm sure Harry Potter fans will be able to relate to me or anybody who's crazy about something will be able to I guess. I would like to believe I was involved in it though I knew it was happening inside my head. After all my beloved Professor did say " Why isn't it real if it's all happening in your head Harry?" :-)

An old trick and a New Lesson !!!

2011-06-03T17:34:00.003+05:30

" Ahoy........let's do the magic again !!!! " were his words and before he paused kids were heard screaming with joy and running towards him on a sunny afternoon across the land of soil far far away. He,the magician,was an old man who moved from place to place in a circular pattern. Kids were driven crazy by his tricks because he always made it fun.

" OK,so what do we want to do today?" asked the magician and kids shouted out their ideas in a chorus which was badly synchronized. Old man smiled looking at them and finally when they all settled he said " Alright,I can't think of any new trick today to entertain you all and therefore I will let you all play by yourself...." even before he finished all of them let out sighs of disappointment and began to disperse,just then the old man added " Wait,let me finish....I will let you all play by yourself except you won't be exactly yourself",he smiled prankfully and spoke again ." You will all get to become your favorite animals for couple of hours" and paused. It took a minute to sink in but once the kids became aware of what he was saying, there was a loud uproar from them.

The old man transformed all the kids into their favorite animals. You could see the diversity,some became a horse,some cats,some dogs and so on.The old magician announced at the end " OK,now I am going to take a nap and will be back in a couple of hours,I will expect you all to be gathered here to return to who you are. Now,go have fun!" After he left,all the animals played to their changed strengths and weaknesses till the dusk.It was a great fun being what they liked and it felt like seconds when it was time for them to become kids again. By then the magician was back and called for everybody.They lined up before him and he reversed the magic.Kids were happy and tired and they thanked him for the trick he played on them. The magician told them when would he be back again and left the place to move to another.

All kids went back home except one.There was a family of a farmer who had a little boy of around 6 years and he was seen playing with other kids during the day but when all kids went back home he went missing. His parents returned home after a laborious day to find their son was not home.They waited for a long time before they started searching for him in the neighborhood. They started asking other kids in the neighborhood whether they had seen the boy.One of the kid replied saying he was last seen as a pup.The parents were shocked to hear that and went around looking for the magician but he was gone and no one had a clue about his whereabouts.

After rigorous searching for the son and the magician the couple got back home and sat helplessly looking at the parrot in the cage which was a present they had brought for their son for his last b'day. There was a knock at the door when they were about to turn off the lamp and a girl appeared when the mother of the boy opened the door.She was holding a pup and she stretched her hand to hand it over to them. They looked puzzled and asked the girl for an explanation to which she said " here,this is Ramu,your son. I was playing with him till now and realized it was late.I'm sorry,please forgive me". The couple didn't know how to react and whether to believe what she said.They took the puppy from her and let her go.Tears rolled down Ramu's mother's cheeks and his father felt helpless.

Couple of months passed and the puppy was still kept at home by Ramu's parents though they were not sure of the story.They were still making attempts to get hold of the old magician.One afternoon when it was drizzling, Ramu's parents were about to leave the farm and come home when they were told about the magician's return to the village. They came home running, Ramu's father took the pup in his hands and hurried back to the place where magician was spotted. The old man listened to their story and said " I cannot say how sorry I am for having allowed a boy remain under the effects of magic. I must have been more responsible. If this is a pup under the effects of magic I will turn it back into the boy within no time but if this is a normal animal then please forgive me for your son could be some place else". Ramu's parents nodded in agreement and waited impatiently clutching their chest and praying.

Alas! just as the old man stated he turned the pup into the boy they were looking for and even before the couple could realize and thank the old man the boy started running. He ran as if he were a rocket launched and didn't even acknowledge his parents. Ramu's parents followed him,they called out,shouted and asked him to stop but the boy wouldn't stop.Finally he came to a halt once he reached home and swung opened the door which was not locked and looked around. He found the parrot in the cage hung by the windows,he remembered how much he wanted to have it at home and how he forced his parents to buy it for him.He hurried towards it,opened the cage and set the parrot free.

There's no 'secret ingredient' ...!!!

2011-01-18T13:56:00.000+05:30

There's no secret ingredient as such !!!

My choice of animated movies are a very few as I look forward for a good message to children from the movie besides entertainment.I also have a theory as mentioned in My Analysis and Derivation - my previous post and hence I'm not a great fan of animated movies just for the sake of it.

But when I was watching - Kung-fu-Panda,it was a totally different experience. I loved the movie as if I were a kid.I enjoyed watching it till the end and once I was done I loved it as a parent !! Yeah it had my formula in it. I will explain how with the following ;

It did have a common animal as the lead which is very popular among the kids - a panda.
It's shown very clearly that the panda was not born with any kind of extraordinary features and never shown to be a miraculous one except that it did become one on its own terms. There were no supernatural item involved except for the effort and confidence.
At the end, justice won over injustice, 'satya meva jayate'.
As always said,last but not the least,it united with its family after the accomplishment.

There was a simple and clear message for the kids in the movie.There's a scene,if you all remember, that Panda gets to know from his dad that there's no 'secret ingredient' as such to make something special except for believing that you are one. I loved the movie so much so that I made my hubby watch it with me again and also have a DVD of the same in my library so that we can watch it with our son when he's able to comprehend.

It's my idea of kids' stories,please share yours' so that I can fill up the blanks :-)

Foul Play!!!

2011-01-17T16:33:00.000+05:30

" Here,here.Wait,you forgot ......(one or the other thing)" is mostly my phrase when my hubby leaves for work. It could be anything...phone/wallet/badge/Lunch Box/garbage bag.Wondering about the last item? He generally disposes the bag on his way to office wherever he finds a disposing can/van.

It was one such day and he hurried off to work as it was getting late.I called him sometime during the evening for a casual check on his lunch as he's pathetic when it comes to taking a break to have food.He,as usual,told me he was very busy and then there was a kind of misunderstanding at work therefore it delayed his work by 'so much' of time and hence he would have it a little later.Though I was not convinced I could not have debated on it over the phone when he was at work,so I grinned and ended the call after I reminded him to have food without fail a thousand and oneth(1001th,if I could use it so) time.

He got back home in the night and said he was very hungry.I didn't get time to question on his food schedule so I hurried off to kitchen to prepare rotis for him.Once we both had food and settled with watching TV as per our regular schedule,I asked him about the lunch box which reminded me of the misunderstanding at work,so I asked him more about that.

He started with 'it was so silly' phrase ( and no,I didn't get the hint).He said work began as usual.After a certain amount of time,he got a head ache as there was some kind of foul smell covering his desk.He generally is allergic to any kind of smell(including perfume but except his deo which he uses in the unit of gallons everyday and I get a head ache) which made him sneeze more often giving him a head ache.And the he told me that he looked for house keeping to tell them about it and they co-operated well trying to find the source of it.He stopped right there and looked at me for a fraction of a second before he said he was embarrassed at the end of it.

Right then he got a call and the flow was disturbed.Meanwhile I went to the study looking for the lunch bag. My hubby joined me later once he was done with the call and I asked him about the lunch bag.He didn't answer my question instead he continued from where he stopped. The foul smell was coming right from his desk as he carried garbage bag to office.The he looked at me and said " but I did stop at the dustbin and threw the bag before I reached office".

Once he was done saying he slipped out citing some call back and never looked at the Fuming Me till next day!!

And over a period of time, I grew up(!!???) ......

2010-12-10T19:53:00.001+05:30

I guess it happened in 2003,a year after I started working.A manager was moved to our business for various reasons of which,him being extremely difficult to handle was the primary.He would never refuse to help anybody with technical issues on the floor and wouldn't hesitate to take escalated calls.He was a good friend but was known for a hot temper and shouting at people when they failed to meet expectations irrespective of their grades.Needless to say his peers and managers feared confronting him but he was always nice to techs.

Though I was not in his team we got along very well,he was also childlike (nah,I was childlike and he was childish at times.Shhh,don't tell him that ;-)). It was easy for me as I was clueless about his reputation of a tough nut ( I guess it does not matter anymore as we are still friends and he's still the same person) and the fact that he was closer to my hubby (Eddie and I were not married then but knew each other quite well) might have helped me befriend him.

Eddie had just returned from one of his off-sites from somewhere and had gifted me with several cute articles and also a small bottle of nail paint.It was early in the morning around 4 or 5 I believe and we had just logged out for the day.It had become a routine for couple of us to hang out together for a short while before boarding our respective cabs.As I was waiting for a friend from another team to log out I just went up to this manager-guy for a short conversation but he was busy on a call. I had nothing to do and was anyway waiting for my other friends to log out so I sat down by him,took out my nail paint to paint my nails but changed my mind and instead started painting his nails. As I have mentioned already he was busy yelling at somebody over the phone and didn't take notice of what I was doing (senseless creature,I wonder!). I was done painting at the same time as he was done with his call and he realized I was sitting next to him.

He turned to wish me but stopped himself as I was smiling.He asked me what was wrong and I held his hands before him showing his grey nails also told him " show it to your mom" and giggled. He shook his hands and pretended to be ok ( I must remind you all that he was boiling on the call a few minutes ago and I never realized he could get upset but poor him didn't want to shout at me for some reason,I guess).He pulled my cheeks and said " go home chubby". By then my friend joined me and we left.

On the way back home I was telling her about the incident and we were laughing.Imagine, a guy with that kind of image showing off his nails painted,I'm sure it's embarrassing,isn't it?I never realized,I was surely a kid.Then there was another thought struck to both of us and we called him.By then he also had reached home,so my friend started asking him
" so ,(his name) did you show your nails to your mom?". She kept on repeating that and we both were laughing as if it was a big practical joke ( Now if I think of it,I find it so weird that we laughed so much and found it that funny...yeah,you sure are doing the same).Our cab stopped somewhere as a guy was getting off and then we moved on.We were still on the phone with him and he said he was getting another call,so he had to hang up with us.After a couple of minutes he called us back and told us " You know what? an old tech of mine called me to ask if I have shown my nails to my mom.Do you realize there are people in the cab beside you guys,rite?". We paused for a minute and asked him the same question again " have you shown your nails to your mom???".He laughed with us.

I know it's not a big story but when I think of those times of fun and carelessness,this is one such moment I can never forget.Not because it was a big practical joke(as I have already mentioned) but because you can never judge a book by its cover. A man with such an image was not intolerant,rude or image conscious.I feel his presentation at work was not appropriate to reflect his intentions.He still is a good friend and hasn't changed a bit and we love him.And over a period of time, I grew up(!!???) with people like him and my hubby and learnt how to behave ;-)

My hubby is smart and I am a Broadway actor :-)

2010-11-30T14:48:00.003+05:30

Arms wide in the air - I am a Broadway actor!

" We shall surely make it if it doesn't rain" was my word(s?!) to a friend who called to invite us to his sister's wedding. As well remember,a fortnight it rained for a week or so everyday,thanks to JAL and therefore I was not very sure of driving from one part of Bengalooru to another on a Saturday evening.

Like a caring brother,he must have doubled his visits to the temple to ensure his sister's wedding was carried through without much of trouble or so I believe,otherwise why would the lord of rains Mr.Varundev took a break on that weekend.As a result,we drove down to that part of Bengalooru to attend the wedding reception and we were happy we could meet our dear friends after a long time.

Mostly,the wedding halls in Bengalooru don't have parking area in-built and I wonder why.Luckily this particular one did facilitate basement parking partially as some parts of it was being used as kitchen.So there was not much space to turn,reverse and all but we were happy we didn't have to worry about finding a place but one thing. Though there were a couple of them helping people park and retrieve,the entrance was very steep and it didn't occur to us as to how steep it was until much later.

Anyway,we entered the hall after having our car parked in the basement and met up with that friend whose sister was getting married and also with many others. Went through all the rigmaroles that one usually does from settling with friends in one corner to going up on the stage to wish the new couple and pose for the video/photo and then to the dining hall and then back to the exit.These circle of events were followed religiously,after all we have been doing this for many years now and now we are sort of experts when it comes to making a presence at someone else's family function even if the couple are known to us or not! Yeah,true but we make sure to have a present to compensate for the food !!!!

That night, we took leave and went to parking.I threw my handbag at the back and I exchanged my cell phone to my son who was with my hubby and we both sat down. Eddie came from other side,plopped himself in the driving seat,took out his wallet to pay the parking guys but as he had to move the car he threw my phone and his valet in the front to pay them once we were out.Once we all seated comfortably in my hubby accelerated to make the car climb up....vroom vroom vroom (hehehehe just like as induction motors.Isn't it?) but no,it wouldn't climb up. He tried several times and only then we realized how steep was it and there not much space behind to go back and try again.One of the guys over who were helping with vehicles offered to do that for us.Though my hubby was skeptical he agreed to let him do it for us and got out with some money in hand to give it to the guy who was going to help us and I was still sitting inside.That guy was very quick, he got in then vrooooooooooom and we were out.Eddie paid him and got back to the car and we moved.

Eddie was all praises for that guy and he was telling me he would do it if there was enough space at the back but he was impressed that the other guy did it with so much.We had moved a little ahead and he was done with talking about more exciting stuff like parking,just then I realized I had to return a call which was on hold since we were in the hall.When I looked to find my phone I couldn't and my hubby said he kept it with his wallet and neither we could find that one.Who could do that? who ELSE could do that???? We felt disappointed in that guy after having appreciated him to the glory :-(

We drove back and reached the place.Eddie didn't know what to say and he got out looking for the guy.He started walking towards him after spotting him out in some corner talking to another guy.Just then I heard a phone ringing and looked down in the direction under the driver seat.My phone was lying there next to Eddie's wallet and must have fallen down as the car was moving upwards on that steep path while moving out of the parking.I felt sorry for not having looked properly before blaming somebody.I didn't know what to do but I had to stop Eddie before he got into some awkward and embarrassing conversation with that guy,so I called out his name aloud and my god was I too loud because with him a lot of people turned to look at me and that guy was one among them.I smiled(trying to be gentle) and said to Eddie(not that loud again) " You could ask that guy" and pointed my phone held hand in the direction of the same guy.Eddie looked confused for a while but then (thanks to my overacting) he got the point once he looked at the phone in my hand and wallet in the other and both arms stretched out wide in the air like some Broadway actor!

After a couple of minutes,when he returned to the car I asked him what did he manage to tell that guy.He said he told him we got stuck somewhere getting out of that location so returned to ask somebody to help us out.

Hehehe,my hubby is smart and I am a Broadway actor :-)

I'm not a Patriot !

2010-10-12T13:18:00.000+05:30

Bush,Laden,Advani,.....no I'm none of them.Indeed, I'm a very ordinary person who's often referred to as 'Comman (Wo/)Man' and hence my view point on any (inter/)national issues will not affect anything.I know that but as the saying goes,as I perceive a few things do change on some tangent along the changes I make.So here's change!

Author of my vision

Till a few months ago, I was holding lot of things against Afghanistan ( and that was not the only place on my list).But reading the two amazing pieces of Khaled has mostly changed my opinion.

When I read his books I learnt about his country which was no different than mine,people who were as harmless as mine except for those moral polices who sprang up around the late 70s under different outfits and continue to dictate the rest of the population in the name of religion.I feel sad for those who supported these groups initially and voluntarily hoping to have a better future but ended up being mere puppets.I wonder what would happen to all of us if we encourage our moral polices !!!!

I have realized one thing now. Nowhere in the world a common man population worries about the geographical area of its nation as long as there's harmony and peace between them.I don't want to be a patriot if it means being possessive of one set practices which may turn into terrorism for the people living on the other side of the border.If those people are like mine why would I want to hurt them and I believe all around the globe people aren't any different from one another.It's only a minor population who tries to be in power to hurt the other.

Thanks to Khaled for lending me his eyes to look at things differently and for giving me a worthwhile vision.
Now I can say I'm not a patriot but I'm just a human being who has faith in nothing but humanity.

I'm flying kites ! :-)

2010-10-02T18:15:00.000+05:30

I bet we cannot explain everything we feel,reading ' The Kite Runner' was one of those things. It was a lovely feeling,I wanted to kiss Khaled on the back of his palm and say what a good job he had done ! It touched my heart and I felt emotional more than I thought I would.

The novel reflects so many aspects of life and it ends with a real positive note though it was a fiction.I heard SRK saying '...Agar theek na ho to woh 'the end' nahin hai dosto, picture abhi baaki hai' in my head.

I loved 'Hassan' from the beginning. I know it's a fictional character but as one says 'art imitates life' it has to be inspired by someone from the authors life,I believe. How could someone be so pure at heart and yet strong like a rock...! I felt jealous of Amir (his friend and narrator of the story in the book) for having a friend like him,I felt jealous of his mother for having a son like him,I felt jealous of his son for having a father like him !!!! Why do I get so involved with a book...kinda hard to say :-)

From making a mistake and feeling guilty all along the life to gaining confidence to overcome the weakness and standing up for the self and people,was indeed, a great journey and well portrayed by Mr.Hosseini.My next mission is to watch this on screen :-)

I'm an addict !

2010-09-24T16:31:00.002+05:30

Addiction is killing....nah,it's not one of those you want to get rid of. When I make some tea and pour it into a mug I know there's one more mugful tea left in the kettle as I'm not used to making just one.I'm so used to waiting in the night for Ed to come home,I can't fall asleep even after midnight.When I sleep with great difficulty,I turn to wrap my arms around nothing next to me and I wake up.........!!!!

Yeah I'm so addicted to my hubby I feel sad that he's away for a couple of days.I know it's only for four days but you know it feels like one LAMBEE JUDAI.......!

He's there,I'm here and I know one of us is in the wrong place because I'm missing him :-)

I'm jealous of my Son !!!??

2010-09-15T22:56:00.000+05:30

"Why hasn't she gone to the school?" My dad almost shouted at my paternal aunt, who was our caretaker as both my parents were working.My aunt,who was scared of my father as the rest of us,squealed "she's not feeling well." My father looked at me again as I struggled to change sides due to illness and left the room without asking any more questions.

I'm the youngest of four daughters of my parents.My father was a head master of a govt. school and as well as at home. He would never take off from working unless he was physically unable to move and would expect the very same thing from all of us including my mother.He was never a filmy kinda father who would care for his children during some emotional outbursts or simply when they needed some care and affection. He always maintained some kind of a distance from all of us.My mother on the other hand,was also a working woman- a teacher in a govt. school, would always have lesser time for us as opposed to the non-working mothers but would still try to cater to our needs.(Now that I think of that,I feel I didn't take up any job after becoming a mother was because of her limited time for family) .It mostly used to be my older sisters who would pamper me a lot and take care of me whenever I fell ill.All three of them had amazing amount of maternal skills! I had no complaints till recently.I was sure it was a very normal middle-class family conditions of 80s and 90s.

Taken when Neil was a li'l over a month old!

My son was not well last week and then he fell ill with terrible cold with the beginning of this week and believe me,it's not just these two weeks! Whenever he's fallen ill,I have noticed a wonderful thing that makes me envy my own son! Yes indeed,I'm talking about his dad! I feel surprised at how much this man does for his son.He puts his son on his chest (because Neil has a breathing problem due to a lot of phlegm) and sleeps on a bean bag(not even a couch or bed) all night,he sacrifices watching cricket to keep watching rhymes because it soothes his son,the moment he hears him crying over the phone he comes home earlier than I could have asked for. He prefers to sleep next to him and wakes up at the slightest noise he makes.It's endless....!!!!!!

I'm sure most of the fathers now are like this but for me who was raised very conventionally,it surprises me even more because I haven't seen even my BILs doing any of this.And that's why I'm very jealous of my son but I love my husband even more as a father :-)

For the love of Bond...Women Only !?

2010-07-12T17:05:00.001+05:30

No,I'm not a James Bond movie fan,my addiction is limited to Pierce Brosnan.It may also be that I'm biased but I feel he's the best looking bond ever(so far)!There may be conflicting views from the fans of Sean Connery (a strong one being from my dad....well,another conflict)!

He was more charming in non-bond(if there's a phrase like that) movies.I remember watching him in 'The Mirror has Two Faces' but the one I liked a lot(in the non-bond movie category) was the remake of The Thomas Crown affair(1968).I always felt his X-factor increased gradually with each of his movies.

His chivalrous behavior,smooth talk and of course the charming,disarming smile...he sure has license to kill.Thanx to Star Movies for bringing 'for the love of Bond' series to the audience.Awwwwww, did I make it a 'women only' post ;-)

Hope I succeed in fighting the Self!

2010-06-30T16:12:00.001+05:30

As we grow up we tend to have a lot of conflicting views with our parents,don't we? I have had my moments of arguments and disagreements too. Couple of months ago my dad and I had a small argument over nothing(I can't remember why) and hadn't corresponded with each other till last week. Yeah,I still have my adolescence hiding somewhere which surfaces now and then!

Last week my sister called up to tell me that my dad had a blockage in the same valve of the heart which was replaced 4 years ago and he would have to undergo a surgery sometime this week.That was the time I called my parents and spoke to them and surprisingly they responded as if nothing had happened between us and I was ashamed!There are a lot of things I have learnt from them and a special one being playing the role of a parent.This time again,they lived up to the level they had been placed.

And then it put me in a different thought,what if I hadn't got a chance to speak to him at all after the argument we had had. What a painful thought?!Not having to speak to a person you have hurt,not having a chance to apologize and set things right...it's dreadful,isn't it? Today I realize the role of being human and the value of being affectionate (if you have known them or not doesn't matter). I have revised my prayers now,I ask for the strength to keep away from being rude to people whatever the given circumstances are.Hope I succeed in fighting the Self!

My house is haunted.....!!!!

2010-06-17T23:46:00.000+05:30

When I woke up this morning I had no idea what was I going to open my eyes to.It didn't feel different,so I was not on my guard.I never believed in the haunted theories till I actually felt there was something wrong that day after I got off the bed.

I went straight to the wash basin,grabbed my toothbrush and applied toothpaste on it.....nope,that was not unusual people!I'm only describing in an order of the events that took place.Now go on reading.....yeah,I finished brushing my teeth with my half closed eyes and to wash my sleep coated eyelids I washed my face and opened my eyes completely in the basin.Oops,what do I find there? a pair of my home ware socks which by then were dripping.That was the beginning and I still was not aware of what was in store for me.

I moved on to prepare breakfast and opened the refrigerator to get the vegetables from the bottom cabinet and OUCH,I touched something soft nice and cold!!! It was a small pillow my son used to entertain me with.Ah,by then I had SOME idea of what was going on.While it was on my mind,I started making some tea simultaneously but had to cut down on my thoughts as my pet bottle of sugar was missing from its place.I searched for it but failed.I served the sugarless tea to my hubby(which he was happy to drink....diet you see) and told him I misplaced my sugar bottle.
Soon after a while I had to switch the cooking gas cylinders.I turned it off and pulled the other cylinder to make a connection.Something dropped off it and I turned to look...it was my pet bottle sugar!

No the story doesn't end here......it's still going on.I find Ed's pair of spectacles in one of the shoes,door keys in the empty water can,a stress buster ball in the washing machine,keypad of the remote(separated from the remote controller) on my dressing table,batteries in the vacuum cleaner box....I hope the list ends too but I know it won't for some more time.

Hehehehe,I kinda love my little devil and the way he makes me feel haunted.It's sorta cute but sometimes I hope it ends!!!!! Pray for me :-)

Because it's real only then!

2010-05-31T18:14:00.003+05:30

Lakshya was the first movie Ed and I watched together.Though we were not dating back in 2004,we just happened to watch a movie together.I miss watching movies with him in the theater(nah...nothing naughty,just watching.We have always watched only movies- may be boring but yeah,it's true!).There are a zillion things I miss doing now.
* Frequent visits to Coffee day/Barista.
* Ride on Ed's bullet.(We can still go for it on his pulsar but it won't be just two of us anymore and I won't be able to sit close to him whispering in his ears).
* Talking over cell phone.
* Walking on the green-grass holding hands.
* Waiting for each other at the end of shifts.
* Him dropping me home after my shift which would end early in the morning (around 5am/6am)

The list may go on but getting married was not an end to it.It was a new beginning.I loved all the things we did together(yeah,sure you can smile).Most of the time Ed and I used to have different shifts with different WOs.We managed through it.Waking up when the other came home,having coffee early in the morning like 2/3,Ed would even tell me what happened in my favorite soap the day I missed.It really was a different experience when we two got married.

Now that we have a baby and it's a no,no to go to a theater to watch a movie,coffee day,bike rides and watching soaps as well.We spend most of the time catering to his needs and then whatever we talk revolves around him.We sleep and wake up at his mercy!!!!This is one of the things I get to do when he's sleeping....recollecting what we did and it makes me happy that we have always been together!

I may miss the moments Ed and I used to spend together but today we are closer to each other than we ever were and I'm sure each phase of life will bring us closer to each other than the previous one.I guess,this is called bonding for life.I'm sure it has happened to many but it's special when it actually happens to you because it's real only then!

She continues to play the role all along her life....!

2010-05-27T15:45:00.000+05:30

There are times when my mom tells me "Why don't you leave your son with us for sometime,we will look after him for a while and you can do things that may revive you"! I smile and say " Yeah,will do it sometime".But I wonder if I will be ever able to let him go away from me(in any context) and if that could revive me in any sense!I remember the day when he was in NICU(neonatal ICU- ICU for new borns) due to jaundice.I couldn't wait to see him.

That reminds me of an episode of a mother who hadn't seen her newborn from the day she was born for 20 days!Yes,there was a lady who gave birth to a baby girl before the gestation was over (around 7 months) which was underweight and had some health issues.She(baby) didn't cry soon after she was taken out from the womb(and apparently it's a problem).The baby was in the ICU under photo therapy kind of stuff and could not be removed even for nursing.So the mother had to use a pump to express her milk into a bottle every time for 20days without even seeing the baby as nobody is allowed inside that environment where babies are kept except the staff.There's no hell which could be as torturous as this one.

Whenever we crossed path to nurse the babies or express milk,we could see her sitting in one corner and expressing the milk looking into a null zone.I once saw that woman's father who was in tears talking about her and how painful it was to her that she would beg her father to get the baby and take the two home.Being a new mother I could know how she felt(of course it could be 1000 times more than what I could understand).

One fine day(I guess it was the day I was getting discharged and they were going to give my son to me - forever) when I walked in,I saw her sitting in a corner not doing anything,she was kneading her palms,rubbing her forehead and looked very restless.In a while,one of the staff member came to her with a tiny thing wrapped in a soft white cloth and we knew it was her baby.It was the first time she was going to hold her.They placed the baby on her chest making the baby feel the contact with the mother's skin and she was told this would be done everyday from then on for 10 mins (but nursing was still not allowed). The baby was too small,probably half of my son's body length.I was very happy to see the mother,her face was wet and brightly lit up,she didn't know what to do.She hugged her little one as she sat there looking somewhere in the space trying to digest the fact that she was feeling her daughter.

Baby looked little discomforted,it was equally struggling and was making feeble sounds but wasn't crying.I slowly shifted my focus to mother where I could see the baby's pain in her eyes and tears rolling down on her cheeks.Yes,it's true that the moment baby is born the mother is also born and she continues to play the role all along her life....!

Because, when I say I want to feel I could be misinterpreted!!

2010-05-14T15:20:00.005+05:30

It was the wedding reception of one of Ed's colleagues we were scheduled to attend that Sunday evening.That previous night we couldn't sleep well as my son was in a mood for more comedy.Looks like he has inherited the non-genetic (dis)order from both of us as we were doing US shifts earlier.Ed skipped his mass next morning as we all overslept and woke up around brunch time to have a ready-made early lunch.

It's actually proven that sleeping burns more calories than watching TV. I guess that's why we both were feeling exhausted.(In spite of my good sleeping habits to burn more calories I haven't lost much of weight. I may be an Exceptional case!!!).A lot of team effort and Ed's motivating speech resulted in all 3 of us getting ready to leave for the reception.By the time we left it was around 7pm and I was already hungry due to an early lunch.The moment we entered the hall I made sure to locate where the buffet was arranged and what was in for us for dinner.Don't you agree,looking at food (when you are hungry too) gives rise to a new Niagara???(my neighbor says same thing about her grand dad but when Viagra is involved)

I'm,sometimes, like Mr.Monk or Monica Geller(F.R.I.E.N.D.S). I virtually switch places with either of them when I find something very artistic related to cleaning.There were bundles of nice quality napkins kept on the side table which took my eye and for quite a few minutes I forgot about food and was looking at the napkins.I convinced Ed to choose a table which was closer to this side table and sat down.Nah,I never wanted to steal but just feel(yeah,I'm like that when it's something related to cleaning as I said but what I meant was cleaning the house and nothing else because when I say I want to feel I could be misinterpreted).

There was a lady who came with her big family and wanted to occupy some of the empty chairs at the table where we sat.After Neil's birth,any function we attend,Ed and I take turns to have food which in turn leaves one of us taking care of Neil.So my hubby had gone to get his food while I was looking after him.So,I had to tell that woman to let at least one empty chair for my hubby for which she stared at me and let her two kids to sit there before moving on the table next.I smiled but she continued staring at me as she sat at the next table.When it was my turn to have food,you have no idea,how happy I was.I couldn't even stare at my hubby's plate as that woman kept on staring at me as if she had to keep an eye on whatever I was doing.I wonder if she knew I liked the stalked napkins!

I brought my food to the table with 2 napkins I was longing to feel(I had 3 totally as I snatched the one from my hubby when that woman was looking at the Newlyweds.(Oh,newlyweds were finally lucky at least some one was looking at them).I was so hungry and I wanted to stuff everything from the plate into my mouth all at once(as it is I don't understand eating elegantly.You say food and say elegant ...what an antonym).I took a look at the woman if she was looking at me before I got started with my masterly work but there she was,looking curiously as if she got the hint of my thoughts.Some how I had to eat like a lady(my inner voice was screaming,'let me eat like a hungry woman').I had one more mission,stuffing those napkins in my bag.Every time I made an excuse to open the bag,she got even more curious and didn't steal her look from me at all(not even for courtesy sakes!!!!). Does it happen to anyone else???? Even if you stare back or politely smile back do people continue to look at you as if they know your motive,especially when you don't want to be seen doing something(like wiping your wet nose on the sleeve,licking your finger/plate after having food,smelling your armpit...etc)

At last,I guess the guy above lent his mysterious hands,he sent the parents of one of the newlyweds to their table making sure that woman got distracted and phew! I had a chance to shove it in my bag and take a deep breath!!!!!!By the time the lady looked back at me,I stepped out with my bag only to be joined by my hubby carrying Neil.

Looks like Ed thanked that woman who was the reason for my lady-like-eating- style while having dinner!

Do men find sanctity between the legs of a Woman?

2010-04-29T17:48:00.003+05:30

I was happy when I read Yesterday's TOI,for there was a mention of the famous female actor of South India,Khushboo.It said the charges pressed against her were dismissed....finally!Sex is a taboo in India,speaking about it is forbidden(especially for Women of India) and pre-marital sex is non-existent(yeah,rite!)

Khushboo was accused of corrupting the sanctity(??!!) of women by talking about pre-marital sex and not making a big deal if they are not virgin at the time of marriage.How could this possible corrupt anybody's sanctity.Do men find sanctity between the legs of a Woman? So if she keeps her legs crossed till she get married,could she be labled 'Holy Cross'!!!!

The Tulsi plant is,botanically,named as Ocimum Sanctum.Is it because of the nature of the plant or on the virginity basis....too complex,isn't it? Sex is the integral part of a committed relationship beyond the wedlock's,one of the ways to keep your partner happy,part of life.Then how could it be corruptible???? Forget about the act,in India there are these kind of men who think of it as a crime if a woman talks about it.They want the Indian women to remain innocent about it even if she's married and had kids.Are you nuts or have you lost some???

I'm happy atleast now that the supreme court met the expectations of sensible people.
I'm sure Vatsayana will be happy too ;-)(I'm confused,isn't this guy an Indian?)

It's natural for man-to-man love to exist..!!!!

2010-04-26T18:33:00.003+05:30

It was like watching Tata Sky when everybody was watching cable TV!

Last Saturday night,RCB had just secured the third place and we weren't sleepy.It was not an overwhelming match,it's just that we were not sleepy,at the same time we were scared to watch a movie as our previous history of selection of movies was proven to be very disappointing.With great courage,we decided to watch GOA(a Tamil Movie).

There was no one well known in the movie and the story was not built around any dynamic southern hero,actually there was no story !!!!...."again???" you might ask.
That was the key point people,there was only a screen play formed around a set of people.Basically,movie was neither crowded nor loud.It was a fun movie which had no food for thoughts but only laughs!They finally proved that no-story movies could also be made with that effect.

Three friends land in GOA with the sole intention of fooling any white girl into wed locks to get exported.Three guys who are from a remote place in TN are joined by two veteran Tamil Goans and their journey through their women's heart(!?).With so many guys around,it's natural for man-to-man love to exist which forms another love story.
It has a tinge of (hilarious)thriller masala as well.Derivation - "good to watch"

And my friend Sriram,Simbu has made a special appearance with his Manmathan Killer role reference and according to me,this is Simbu's best movie! Those guys like us(Ed and me) out there,it's a must watch weekend movie and I'm sure addition of alcohol will have a reeling feeling !!!!!

Intentionally Intensified !

2010-04-25T00:24:00.002+05:30

"And then he took out his gun, aiming at his head.It didn't look like the job of a professional but the intentions were quite strong.He was not sure whether his fingers were rightly on what's known as trigger and neither did he know the kind of stuff it was filled with." The story goes a long way but nobody knew his moves and the only reason I know is I'm related to him and I was right there when he was trying out something like that.

It was one of those hot summer days with sweat dripping across the forehead and when people hate themselves for wearing anything.It was his b'day and he knew there would be a lot of people at home to celebrate.One of those occasions he was expected/told to behave and oblige.He ignored the outfit kept for him at the corner of the bed and peeped from his room through the drapes to get a glimpse of what was coming,more people to tell him what to do and judge him(according to his parents) by what they see.He pulled the drapes and his curious mind remembered what he saw in his parents closet.The thought was more exciting than the party which was about to be taken place.

He checked to confirm there was nobody in or close to the room and opened the closet with the keys he had already found when none was noticing.He found the box and without any delay ripped it open.He knew what would happen for not obeying the orders but his excitement got the better of him and that's how he found the gun finally he was looking for.He ran outside holding it between his fingers without anything on him.....naked! The guests were surprised to see something unexpected like this.He shrieked with joy standing in the middle of them with the gun pointing to his head.It was the first time he was using it and I was quite surprised to see his ability to use it with such a comfort.Just then he pulled the trigger and the water started sprinkling out from the gun ! Yes,it was my 3 year old son trying his water gun bought as a gift and should have opened during the party.Anyway,he was very happy to see what he had got and so were we !

(Sent to and was Shortlisted by Living My Passion Group.
Guidelines were - Either start or End with "And then he took out his gun, aiming at his head....' and not more than 400 words.)

I was Head Over Heels with Kishore...!!!!!

2010-04-21T23:39:00.004+05:30

It was raining this afternoon and hence the climate was cool.Most of the time we all prefer to get inside the blankets and stay put until we are tired of lazing or sleeping.But there are those rare moments when you think of the company while experiencing a pleasant weather amidst hot summer days.Rain,Coffee and Music what a great combo,none of the multiplexes can offer a thing close to that.

We generally like the kind of music we grew up listening to.There's a huge difference in the music now and then.Probably my son will cherish today's music but for me,it's always the era of Kishore and Rafi......These days,people are in a hurry to compose music to make it popular and we have singers like Anu Malik and Himesh.I don't know if anybody wants to listen to their music when it's raining.You don't worship your music,it won't feel divine; as divine as Kishore makes me feel with 'Rim jhim gire saawan...',or Rafi with 'Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par...'....it's a pretty big list.

It was the kind of music/voice that touched people's souls,made them fall in love.It was no fault of mine if I were head over heels with Kishore or felt like saying 'Qubool' to Rafi!!!!!They always made sure everbody had their heart in the right place.They have almost covered all the areas of human emotions with their song,so it's like there's a song for each season.I would like to say a lot about Lata and Asha as well but it won't fit the frame in which I adore the male singers! Hehehehe,but that's not an excuse not to talk about them,probably next season!

(It's just a rainy day and a post under the influence of caffeine).

Nanjanagoodu Trip-2

2010-04-15T22:53:00.000+05:30

Tried my best not to write the second part as it involved a lot of tragedy. It's basically shaving my year old son's head,so it's very obvious that the event was very traumatic for him. As I was watching him going through that it was tragic for me.Other than that nothing happened but we returned home safely and hence part-2 ends here !!!!

Why the hell people make romantic love-stories....

2010-04-12T23:39:00.003+05:30

Have you guys heard of a movie 'Vinnaithandi Varuvaya'(meaning,Shall you come from the stars)...yeah,yeah wish we didn't too.Like they say,when something bites you generally tend to do stuff out of the blue.No,I didn't bite my hubby neither did he bit me,the derivation could be 'bad luck doesn't depend on bites'.

Since all 3 of us were down with bad health we decided to stay home last weekend and wanted to feel better before next week commenced.As a rule we thought of watching a feel-good movie.With reference to the past records(with a few exceptions) we decided on Gautham Menon's movie named Vinnaithandi Varuvaya,value addition was A R Rehman.

It was a pretty inspiring movie.It was so inspiring that I forgot about writing my Nanjanagoodu Trip - 2 and wanted to write about this one.Also it's so motivating that I wanted to kill those who reviewed and rated the movie.I don't remember the last time I watched a very romantic love story (in Indian cinema) since '........',well it turns out don't remember the name either.

A boy meets girl.....a girl meets boy....they meet agian....and again,well it was a long story(!?) their meeting ended when the DVD player switched to stand-by.As far as the 'love' was concerned,we had to look them up from the stars.For a hard-core romantic person,it's a great disappointment.It doesn't feel anything close to watching Amitabh-Rekha,Nasiruddin Shah-Sanjana Kapoor,Kamal-Jyothika,Julia roberts-Richard Gere,Meg-Billy.Then why the hell people make romantic love-stories and Rehman what's wrong with your music??????

Nanjanagoodu Trip - 1

2010-04-08T00:09:00.004+05:30

As always happens(atleast with us)our well planned program didn't yield a good output.I had told a hundred people about our Nanjanagoodu-trip and was looking for the best excuse when we woke up that morning we were supposed to have left.

We were supposed to have left by 5:30am as per the plan and we woke up only by 6:30am with great difficulty.Eddie asked me if we were not going and I looked at him trying to say something with half opened eyes but that itself must have given a strong message that he shook me off in order to wake me up (like that would help!). He started in a tone which he might have gotten used to while playing a manager at work counseling his reportee. If not that what else can scare me off.....he knows me too well,hence I got dressed with in 15mins (I remember,one of my manager's,say Paul, used to make us wait for hours together with his post-shift meetings during the wee hours).

I guess we were meant to visit the temple otherwise how else would you explain a series of continuous events that took place in the favor of 3 of us. We hadn't interacted much with a Malayalee family in our neighborhood reason being,they could not follow what I was speaking ( I cannot put on a Malayalee accent even if I make 100 attempts....(sigh)) and I could not differentiate between many of the languages they tried to speak (Malayalam,Tamil,Kannada and English.....should have tried Hindi but it never occurred to me).When we got off the house to go to the nearest bus-stop
(Uh,first stop was at no where less than 2kms) the Malayalee couple were ready to go to work and were getting into their car when the man looked at us and said something we couldn't follow....owing to obligation we both gave a broad smile.I guess he was happy we smiled at his super joke of the morning and offered a lift.Again,obligation...so we took it :-) Once we were inside I could understand whatever they were speaking and was able to respond well. I was happy about my communication and listening skills (after all that was my work ;-)).

Once we got off I told Eddie how proud I was of myself to understand Malayalam though I knew pea nuts about it.He laughed and said the couple were speaking in English.I guess that man was really able to crack a joke.Well,good for him!
Within no time we got into a Volvo to reach bus-station to go to Mysore. Once we reached KSRTC bus-station we went looking for a custom-made bus for Ed (I mean,not the bus but the seats/space in the bus).When we got into one of the Volvos it was already packed with people and we had to take a backseat which kept other passengers wondering that why were taking a backseat when we looked married and already was carrying a kid.No kidding !

Soon after we got off in Mysore a not-so-custom-made but was waiting for us like we had booked it in advance.Nanjanagoodu is a religious place which is 21km from Mysore,so without a second thought we got in and reached the place.

Rest....???? Next !!!!!

P.S : No offense to Malayalees or the language,it is about this one family.

Funniest was the Climax...!

2010-03-20T23:25:00.003+05:30

Watching a movie is definitely a refreshment especially when you are a movie buff and you can easily be turned off if it's a great bluff.We(Ed and I) recently watched MNIK and was seeing the same stars above our head which was given to the movie by The Times and other known entities......all stars put together we could hardly make out the true intention of Mr.Johar-Khan!

I wonder what small people do when they get humiliated because big shots can afford to make movies just because they get(/feel) humiliated by the foreign security systems meant for everybody's safety!!!! When stardom gets to one's head they always expect to get exempted from everything.

We have plenty of hot blood running through our fat(!?) veins and it's carved in our (sub)conscious minds to memorize our religion and to stand by it so much so that even a differently abled (what is it... asperger's syndrome???)person is shown how great he is and it's not by his achievement or performance but by the religion he's born in. Why are we so insecure? Why do we need to make a movie to constantly assure ourselves of our identity? Why don't we follow actions or achievements???

Funniest was the climax where he gets to meet the president. I was not sure what was the point Mr.Johar-Khan was trying to prove? I feel sad for Kajol for having played a weak character. I liked Mama-Jenny though...quite a character!Anyway,movie was all about The Shahrukh Khan and there was nothing in it for the audience.I'm glad it ended and hope they don't come up with any sequel :)

So it is not only Shahrukh.....

2010-03-10T21:35:00.004+05:30

Can you imagine waking up at 5am everyday when the days used to end at 11pm ????? Right,like any middle class family my parents had a dream (which I fulfilled,somehow...(sigh)) that I should become a doctor or an engineer.I wish I could delete 5am to 11pm in my watch.

Every morning I would hope the alarm didn't ring which I would set the previous night without fail. I got so used to it I learnt waking up without one.Nevertheless I cursed every person responsible for it (except myself). When I was school I wouldn't like to wake up for Saturday's morning class and in high-school it became worse. I hoped for something better later but in vain. My PUC class tuition was held at utmost secret as it was banned so these took place at an odd hour like 3:30am. All parents became the escorts.

I hoped for a better thing when I joined BE in Hassan. Owing to the weather sleep was a luxury everybody longed for would never get. Our classes used to begin at 7am EVERYDAY! Staying at hostel it was even worse as we needed to wake up Early to book the boiler and to get hot water to bathe. I was just waiting to complete my degree and hoped for a better time later. When I joined Dell contact center it was like a fresh episode of a same season.

I never realized it was a lesson taught for me until I had a baby. Now SLEEP is not a luxury but a necessity we( Ed and I) long for. So it is not only Shahrukh who's going around teaching lessons,my less-than-a-year old son can teach even better - which is 'face your fears' !

First unofficial Arangetram !

2010-02-20T23:28:00.003+05:30

Everybody knows how much a mother cares for her child and I'm one such mother who cares for her son's hygiene. I'm always careful(sometimes too much,as my hubby feels) about where we take him and what touches his skin. We generally carry a bottle of sanitizer wherever we take him and offer it to whoever comes home!

Today was the first time we took him to a play ground where a corporate cricket match was being played(one of teams was Ed's office team). It was in the sunny afternoon where the heat waves were amplified to a greater frequency. Neil opened his eyes, for the first time, to a burning day-out and almost changed his color to crimson by the time we reached the playground.(Our car acted as a catalyst which was almost like an oven.)

His colleagues were happy to see Ed,a family man, after a long time. Neil widened his eyes and gave a broader smile to all of them which encouraged them to interact with him. Ed was happy showing his son the play ground and the fellow-players.He was just waiting to introduce Neil to cricket-accessories(bat,ball,gloves,pads,etc) and it was THE chance for him.Today,for the first time, neither the mud-packed trousers and jerseys or the dirty gloves stopped Neil from feeling what his Pa felt for cricket.Today was his arangetram.......though not official :)

May St.Valentine Rest in Peace !

2010-02-14T22:53:00.002+05:30

There are a zillion things that remind me of my graduation days and this is one of those things.I remember the excitement on the eve of V-day.Since there was no protest against these celebrations back then it was THE occasion to wait for.

In the hostel, we would spend the V-day eve generally discussing (sort of team work) the gifts we could buy,what to wear,how exactly the day should pass.....(wish we planned our study holidays with such an intensity we wouldn't have suffered,most of us,during the exams)! We,the girls, always wanted it to be a perfect day and I'm sure it was same for boys as well(no details attached due to lack of info).

The next thing we waited was to get back to the hostel and exchange info with girls,feel happy,excited and loved or some would even start planning their next V-day already to make it perfect. I don't know why we human beings are crazy about perfection !!!??? But it was always a joyous occasion.

This year it felt a lot different to Ed and me.We loved the time with our little Neil.It was a family V-day celebration.No cards,no gifts but what is mandate for the day was there........LOVE. St.Valentine might have performed secret marriages against Roman Emperor Claudius II's decision or been in love with his jailor's daughter or it could be the beginning of spring in Rome but unknowingly he gave a day to people so that they pause and realize there's much more to life than just living.

So St.Valentine,may your soul rest in peace !

Time doesn't change everything..!

2010-02-05T18:23:00.002+05:30

It's always said that time keeps changing which means everything changes with time....except people,I would like to add. Might sound familiar to you all as you are also surrounded by people.

Before I got married,the same people would ask,
" .....So when are you tying the knot? "
" ..... by the way, when are YOU getting married?"
" ..... So,is wedding on cards yet ?"

When I got married I thought I wouldn't have to answer but very soon I knew I was wrong. People would now ask me,
" After how long are you planning for a family?"
" When are you having kids? "
" Isn't it time you had a family? "

Now that we have a baby I have realised that people are people and that's why we always say...PEOPLE ! They now ask me,
" So when are you planning to get back to work ?"
" Are you planning to work ?"
" Are you on a break..for how long?"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.......what makes a mother ?!

2010-01-19T18:21:00.003+05:30

During different phases of life we tend to have different role models depending on the role we are playing or closely associated with and so did I.The moment I had Neil in my arms I knew it was time to change my role model to become what I should be as a mother.

When I was at the hospital everytime I opened my eyes I would find Neil being attended by my SIL and every one of those times I would hear my sister asking if I wanted something bending over my face.My eldest sister paid a visit only to be overjoyed to see a baby boy in the family(we are four daughters,me being the youngest and all my sisters have daughters too).

Then the day came to leave for home with my dad & sister(who was with me at the hospital)and Eddie drove us all home.On the way home I could see the pictures of the women, who have been mothers,rolling over the back of my head.Neil was sleeping peacefully in the arms of my sister.

Finally we pulled over and my family-lot along with neighbors gathered around the car to welcome Neil.I was happy to see the attention he got from everybody.My sister got down and became one among many,Ed got out to help dad with bags.Since mine was a C-section,I was still feeling a sort of discomfort and was making an effort to get out.Just then the car door opened and a bony hand stretched out to help me.Right then it struck to me like a thunderbolt,amidst all the joy making sure your child is all well is what makes a mother.I looked at my mother holding her strecthed-out hand and smiled !

I am not a Patriot !!!???

2010-01-14T00:51:00.000+05:30

Social-study or Social science,either ways I find it funny because the subject covers anti-social topics.In first place I hated this subject since I was in school because I thought of it as useless.Well,some people in our country are very fond of useless stuff hence they use it often to bring revolution or so they name it.

Globe is formed using a lot of lines.We draw lines,borders and separate ourselves from others and fight for no body's land to give up life which is supposed to be very sacred act.Whose idea is this?A common man isn't worried about the area of the country.Thousands of people lose lives fighting to protect somebody else's idea,ideals and principles who will never be among the fighters.Why don't we realize that there are people living on the other side of the border just as this side?

We have never learnt to accept things be it people,religion,culture,language,etc.I find it funny when people ask me 'So what have you named your son?,a hindu name or christian?' , 'Just wait to hear what he speaks,will he speak your language or your hubby's?','where are you taking him to tonsure his head?'.Why are people so curious???If this is how it's going to be then my son won't be a patriot because I'm not one !

Am I carefree ?!

2009-12-29T16:01:00.004+05:30

" Uh,you should be carefree..." couple of my friends told me with a lot of pain. Some of my friends(women) delivered babies around the same time as I did and that laid the foundation for a strong friendship for another decade.This simply means that we are going to talk a lot now(more often than not) due to common topics. During one such conversation,couple of them told me I wouldn't need to worry at all as I have a boy(son)(according to them only girls need to develop a good behavior/character).

I wonder how much I would care about public opinion/approval on my child's behavior/character and how does it differ between sexes.It doesn't mean I have nothing to worry about,there are a few though slightly different than the regular ones.

I fear,

My son's first bike.
Breaking his thoughts of first imaginary friend.
His first day to school away from comfort zone.
His first match (sports).
His first accident.
His first affair.
His first break-up.
His first stay-over night out.
His first beer session.
His first hangover.
His first interview.
His first job/pink-slip exit.
......................
......................
Many more.............

Who says those with Sons are carefree ????????????

He said “U R NOT MY BETTER HALF ANYMORE! “

2009-04-28T16:54:00.003+05:30

I’m sure it happens to most of the women especially if their moms are like mine. I don’t get to eat anything fried in oil but everything soaked in ghee! A few days after I came to my mom’s place, one of the neighbors told my mom that the nearby grocery shops were running short of ghee for some reason. I could see my mom smiling sheepishly and soon after the conversation she hurried inside and told my dad to book for some more ghee as soon as possible as everybody in the neighborhood were waiting for the stock to arrive.

The vegetable/fruit vendors have started gathering outside all time expecting mom to buy stuff every day. Last evening we received a call from a wholesale dealer asking if we needed food items, he also offered discounts! Since mom has bought food stuff in large quantity and has exceeded the store room capacity, it has occupied kitchen as well and therefore now the cooking takes place in the living room. As there’s no space for the visitors in the living room we have moved to the parking.

That’s not it. When I go for a walk in the evening, the pharmacy guys smile and ask fondly if I need any medicine and say it would be all right to pay later as well. My 500mg medicines have done the magic here. Also the baby shop guys call to update us with the new stuff around in the market!

My mom is happy that her care is helping me recover fast and her grandson is all doing well. She doesn’t bother whether the vendors form a line or wholesale dealers make phone calls. She feels nice to be in demand. When my hubby came over to my mom’s place for a visit, all he said was “You are not my better half anymore” and why wouldn’t he say that? If he wasn’t body builder types I probably would look bigger than him but now I only look just as big as him. But my mom is never happy; she said “Ayyo, she’s hardly put on any weight. Wait for couple of more months and then she would look better.” I whispered to my hubby “Take me home soon!”

Spring of ‘09

2009-04-23T16:45:00.008+05:30

I owe a lot to all the channels and reality shows that have helped me build a lot of patience (waiting for the results at the end of each episode) and my unpreparedness for any early results. My final countdown hadn’t zeroed down and I had no clue it would happen 2 weeks in advance. It was the first day of New Year, Ugadi and as I had mentioned in one of my previous posts it was the time when first flowers started to bloom and leaves turned green.

I didn’t know the day was going to mean the same to me, beginning of new life .I ignored the hints as I wasn’t feeling that great on Friday and I was feeling bad for not celebrating the festival which was one of my favorite occasions. I spent the entire day struggling to feel good and to make my hubby feel better but as the day passed it got even worse. We decided to visit the hospital around 10pm.I was still unaware of the fact that my Ugadi celebrations, though late had begun by then.

I was confirmed of labor pain which was a much unnamed feeling I was going through till then. I had to wait till 3:43pm next day to welcome the first flower of my womb. Thanks to my hubby who stayed with me in the labor and I appreciate his patience and bravery who took all the hits, bites and pinches from me and silently went through more pain looking at me than I actually did till they said I had to get operated on to get the baby out.

I hardly remember signing on a paper which was followed by some group talks. I was moved here and there for some time and then for couple of minutes there was no pain absolutely and in no fraction of time there was somebody who was calling out my name to show a tiny little pink thing holding in hands and asking me to confirm the sex of the baby. Soon after that I was shifted to a stretcher and first thing I saw was the sight of my hubby and his first words were ‘It’s Neil’ (we had decided the names before hand as any enthu parents). I can never forget my hubby’s overwhelmed brightly lit-up face. We have another boxer in the family now!

And this is how my spring began this year. It has actually renewed all the aspects of my life and I believe that’s the magic of spring

Slumdog - Life's Like That!

2009-03-02T19:03:00.008+05:30

There is a guy who is from a descent family and he works hard to acquire knowledge.He participates in a quiz competition and wins a lot of money.How does this appeal to us as audience ? There's no glorification of poverty,it doesn't display ugly India to the rest of the world and it narrates a story too.Do we like it? No way,I don't.It is very well expected and it doesn't require any onscreen narration.

Now there comes a boy from the slum who has not had a good upbringing and has no desire to participate in any such competition but still wins millions though the chances of him having learnt those answers in the past are very less or may be none.Now here I wonder,why people make such a big issue out of slumdog being used as a channel to show ugly India(which according to them either doesn't exist or feel shy to expose) glorifying poverty. Here's an young boy whose only intention is to meet his childhood sweetheart inspite of knowing whatever she has gone through.He's taught by life,he recollects the incidents how he came to learn the answers for the questions being asked.

The author(very much Indian) of the Novel Q and A (which is now changed to slumdog after the movie) Vikas Swarup could not have added any luxury or shown wealthy India when he's describing the fate of a slumdog.This unusual possibility has,probably attracted Danny Boyle to invest his creative brilliance to make a movie. A person with art and creativity has no boundaries and he doesn't have to have his masterpieces restricted to geography.Would people be happy if Ka Jos luxurious movies with one Karva Chouth and many Diwalis had won Oscars or how about the south movies with many avtars or one man fighting the entire village had won awards???? Jack was a slumdog in Titanic and it won just as many awards,so why don't people say it was ugly America shown.Has expression of creativity also become a crime now-a-days ?

What do you want to show to the world and why ? We have shown our magicians,music maestros,best actors.We even have these talented ones like Shabana Azmi who teach at foreign film institutes.What's important for us ? To show we are not ugly or to prove we are not ugly.If we go through the history of Academy awards (in the order of # of Oscar Awards won),

Ben-Hur (1959) - 11
Titanic (1997) - 11
West Side Story (1961) - 10
Gigi (1958) - 9
The Last Emperor (1987) - 9
The English Patient (1996) - 9
Gone With The Wind (1939) - 8
From Here To Eternity (1953) - 8
On The Waterfront (1954) - 8
My Fair Lady (1964) - 8
Cabaret (1972) - 8
Gandhi (1982) - 8
Amadeus (1984) - 8
All of the above won for the story and not because of some representation.

I liked it,it shows the best thing about life which is something like this,' Experience is a hard teacher.She gives the test before teaching lessons' and the lessons learnt that way are too difficult to be forgotten.One more thing about the movie I like is,the young man and his unconditional love for the young lady and his dedication to find her.

I like singing/humming 'Jai Ho' ........ it changed quite a lot of things and Life's Like That !

Statutory Warning: Adult Content - Go Multiply !

2009-01-28T12:19:00.005+05:30

Indeed,I was not sure if I had to tag this post of mine with a statutory warning 'Adult Content' as I felt like using all sorts of words for those who under the name of moral policing tried to control other human beings called WOMEN by using a method called Molestation.I guess I should just add the word 'Moral Policing' under beep words in the dictionary of sensible people.

When those leaders apologised for the methods used by their activists but stood by the intentions behind it,said they gave the status of mother to women.I ask them,who are they to GIVE any status to anybody? How qualified are they to reward women with some status or titles ? Is their only qualification being born as Men ???!!!

This guy,one of the readers of TOI's blog, has left a comment appreciating the intentions but disapproving the act.He says(copied as it is) 'Hindu women is not expected to indulge in entering a place(he means PUB and not loo) meant for only gents and behaving unbecoming of the stature of a respected Hindu ladies.and taking drinks on par with gents.' Do we,women want to be rewarded by men like this one,what are we....crazy or stupid? Have we ever said we have set Men as a standard to compare ourselves with? Is there something called Intellectual Thought Process left in these kind of people?

I don't feel any need for these independent bodies who establish themselves as fungus causing a threat to the hygiene of the society.As I come to the end of the post,I feel a lot calmer than when I started writing it.So now I can simply use a decent word and say 'Go Multiply,you guys '.I have used this phrase in one of my previous blog posts but again I want to use it here,these men give me a complex.........a SUPERIORITY complex.

I'm the reason for spreading a healthy habit !!

2009-01-22T17:09:00.005+05:30

Does it come as a little surprise when men surrounded by women hesitate to look up/at them and enjoy ????? Well,not to me anymore. I witnessed this kind of act when I went for my doctor's visit.Yes,it was the gynecology/Obstetrics department and all the expectant mothers were lined up waiting for their turn to visit the doc.

Men accompanying most of the women had put their head down and were trying hard to concentrate on something on the floor.Since I couldn't locate anything interesting on the floor,I asked my hubby what were those men doing.He said "They are embarrassed to hold their head high and straight". I asked him for the reason to which he said " They might have thought they had done the biggest manly thing which is manifesting in this form to show the entire world their power as a man but after coming here they might have found out that any Tom-Dick & Harry could do that".I didn't get what he said (as I'm too innocent to understand all that) but I nodded my head in agreement.

As we reached there,my hubby went in the direction of pharmacy to get a bottle of water and I went in the direction where people were lined up for check-up.As I found some place next to a man I sat down almost at the same time he got up and rushed his way.Upon my hubby's return,I told him what happened and asked him " Why would he rush like that? He went no where but across the hall to find some place and sit down?" My hubby looked at my tummy and said " My dear,this is one of those times people don't want to be recognised for someone else's deeds."

Trust me,these doctor visits help women break their shells and have a open mind towards so many things which we wouldn't experience otherwise.They exchange a large amount of information and become friends by the end of gestation period.I have heard them discuss about their hard work,pre and post actions,planned and unplanned results (some had twins inside),their first few consultations and the questions they were asked,etc.What I learnt from my visits?? Well, it's Patience,waiting outside the loo in the gynecology department every time I felt like visiting it as all expectant mothers would repeat the action many number of times during the entire time period.

One good things is,my doctor visit gives me a lot of time to finish either a book or at least a chapter depending on my token number and now my hubby started following my footsteps (reading the book and nothing else) too :) I'm the reason for spreading a healthy habit,rite?

When you fall in love again and again ....!!! - 2

2009-01-13T23:18:00.003+05:30

Continued....

They met again after a few months.She had to get in touch with an NGO and the contact person from that end happened to be him.They had to meet couple of times and during one of those times she gave her number and then they met unofficially as well.It didn't last for long,she had an opportunity to move abroad for a while and he wanted her to stay back.

He: " Do you really have to go? You don't even know for how long you would be gone?"
She: " It's my career,I need to,what difference it makes? It's just the priority for now.Don't you have your priorities?"
He: " I have passion and it's you.Don't ask me what my priority is when I'm so passionate.It couldn't be anything else.How do we manage a long distance relationship?"
She: " I liked your former words but latter puts me in confusion as well.But I have to go."
And it ended.

After a year long,they met again....and this time they were with different people.It was at a concert in this whole new place.

He:" Hey,what's up?"

She: " We meet here. Doing all well and you??? how come you are here?"

He: " We extended our business,I had to visit this place regarding our expansion."

By then the concert began and they moved to the respective places with respective people.Both of them hardly enjoyed being there.They were recollecting the good times they had together.Nestling in the arms of each other at the end of the day listening to the hearts humming beautiful lullabies,breath caressing the skin after a passionate journey of love.Yes,it was like walking on the clouds of perfect harmony,reaching the pinnacle of ecstasy and watching night turn to day...!

The concert wasn't as long as their memories.They had to return to and with their present.They glanced at each other for the last time before they parted ways.It warmed the cockles of their heart,spilled dreams for another day.He called her couple of days later and asked if they could meet up but she was scheduled to leave for home the next day and she didn't want to the things to get complicated.But he promised " If we met again,life can't get better than that and we should be getting married."

She smiled as usual " Fine but I have to go now.Will you let go?"

He: " I will never.I have a present,will you please accept that?"

She: " You are asking me like you have options for me."

He :" What time is your flight and I will be there."

He met her at the airport and gifted her with a set of her favorite books,before they kissed good bye.

It was now that they met after the last time at the airport and they ended up doing exactly what they were destined to do.They fell in love again just as their history showed !

When you fall in love again and again.....!!! - 1

2009-01-13T21:57:00.005+05:30

After walking for couple of meters she realized she left her books at the same place where she was having coffee. She ran back to find them exactly at the same place.She looked next to the man whose eyes were smiling at her in warmth.Her heart beat changed the song and she couldn't help smiling back at him.

As she got there,he began to speak " I knew it couldn't be anyone else but you when I looked at these books and it is you."

She : " Hmmm,yeah....it is me and you back in town ! "

He : " Yup,I guess we were destined to meet again....you remember what I said??? if we met again,we should get married."

She : " Ahhh,we have this unhealthy habit of breaking up every time we get together.What if we did it again?"

He : " If we did,we would get together again.My glass is half full,it's up to you as to how you want to look at your glass."

A week after that they said ' I Do' at the altar.

First time,they met at an office party.Both ended up at the same table as they didn't have a choice.They exchanged smiles and sat down together.

He:" You work for this company?"

She: " Yeah,I just joined so I don't know anybody here.So do you also work here?"

He: " I was working with this event management company,not anymore.I moved on."

She " So ,you are here to help your ex-buddies?"

He" " No I'm here to see how well can they manage without me."

He smiled and winked at her,she laughed gently and said " so what did you find out?"

He:" Nah,I will be biased if I said something now."

She: " C'mon,I don't find them that good."

He: " Well,then I'm not biased.I wanted you to say that first."

They laughed together this time.

At the end of day he drove her to place.Pulled over,got down and opened the door for her.

She: " That was very nice of you.Thanks and Gnite".

He: " Yeah...hmm I generally don't ring my dates again...".

She was taken by surprise,she managed to say " It was not a date,I wasn't one."

He: " Yup,that's exactly why I want to call you again."

She smiled " Thanks for the lift.You can take my number next time" and walked away from him.

He shook his head,smiled and got back to the car.

- To be Continued

The otherside of me...!

2009-01-07T21:21:00.009+05:30

Generally,I don't follow the TAG rules.If I get tagged I ignore it.But this friend of mine made it really interesting for me and I took it up.Again,not following all the rules he put forth (he knows me too well to stop me from doing it) but, I'm following only first 3 of the 5 rules,which are,

Link the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

Here I am,unfolding the other side of me before you all :

1. Maintenance (Housekeeping):I'm very particular about this one.I don't like things being moved to other place. If I keep the masala (spice) box on the right side of the stove,it should always be kept there though I don't have a reason why shouldn't it be moved.

2. Buying Pickles: I have to buy a bottle of pickle every time I go out for grocery shopping.We replaced our refrigerator with a 340 Lt one as the place was not sufficient inside and now other than the vegetable and fruit cabinets,rest is taken over by bottle of pickles.

3. Correcting people: I have this tendency to correct people if they use wrong pronounciations or make wrong sentences (be it in any language,as long as I know I correct them).It's not that I'm perfect but if I notice somebody is not,then I get to them(to be precise, I get on their nerves).Most of the time,it's my hubby and I wonder why he speaks very less of late.I even corrected a sales girl at this shop when she was mispronouncing 'lingerie'.

4. Flair for change : Except for friends and family,I like to keep changing most of the things.I keep changing not only my hairdo,wardrobe,cell phones and also email IDs,blog addresses,telephone numbers.Yeah,it sounds crazy but it's true.

5. Pre-requisite to reading : Before I take up a book for reading,I need to have a bookmark handy.I buy more number bookmarks than the books.I hate when people fold the corner of the page to mark where they left it at.So I pick up a bookmark and then look for what I want to read.There were times,when I was at college my friends used to gift me with dozens of bookmarks on all the occasions.I must admit most of them were unique and artistic and I still have them all.

6. Setting the clock : I set all my clocks ahead of time but not to the same time. The difference in time should be at least 5 mins from one clock to another.I know it's insane but that makes me feel I still have time to get ready or complete my work.My kitchen,living room,bed room,study room and my wrist watch all are set to different time and so is the clock on my computer.I even remember setting it to a different time zone on my system to check how funny could it get.My friends found me funnier than what I felt about my own act.

It's only so much so far(to disclose) and I'm glad this friend of mine limited writing to only 6 of them.Otherwise I wouldn't have had any other side but this one :)

My first cake baking experience !

2008-12-29T23:27:00.008+05:30

" So did you finalize on the recipe? " my hubby asked me 2 days before Christmas.I said "Every recipe here seems to me like I have never tried any of these ingredients even once before.But...wait except for this."I pointed at one of the ingredients in the list which said 'RUM'.He smiled and said " I guess you were Irish in your last life".

Finally,we decided on the recipe,bought all the necessary stuff that day.Next day I soaked all the nuts and cherries in rum till late evening and started making it around 10 in the night hoping to have it ready by 12am before we wished 'Merry Christmas'.

We were using the new Oven and we were making cake for the first time.What happened to the old Oven?????By the way,when we bought that one in Dec'05,the sales guy said we could heat anything and therefore we used it as a room heater for almost 2 winters but in vain.We also used it for drying our kitten after giving a bath.When we took it out,it had a new look.After it refused to work,we decided to pick a new and bigger one (as we have a biiiig dog now to dry ).

Let's get back to baking a cake.When we smelt something was burning,we opened the Oven door and found cake was ready and hot.It was creamier and had some black spots indicating over baked around some portions of it.We decided to remove that later and kept it for cooling till 12.When the clock struck 12,we ran into the kitchen and hurriedly picked a knife,wishing each other we cut the cake....!!!! Alas,it looked totally different.My hubby looked at me and said " Chells,what did you add to the mixture?". I said "...hmmm,Charcoal...!!!??"

We tried to get it right for couple of times but in vain.Then we took the mixture to my in-laws place and baked using their Oven to get it in proper form and finally we did.Now we are using our Oven to dry clothes and our dog.

What's your pick? Crazy or Not-So-crazy!!!

2008-12-22T21:27:00.005+05:30

Just as this blog-friend of mine said,it's self tagged.Thought it was interesting to pick things that I have done.Just in case to remind myself of the crazy/not-so-crazy/not-crazy-at-all things that I have done so far :) and here it follows ;

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula !!!???
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone.
08. Said “I love you” and meant it.
09. Hugged a tree.
10. Bungee jumped.
11. Visited Paris.
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise.
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (Never on champagne,can say Tequila/Vodka.)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment.
27. Had a food fight.
28. Bet on a winning horse.
29. Asked out a stranger.
30. Had a snowball fight.
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can.
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day. - tried putting on a Mangalorean accent while speaking in local language.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk. (It has helped me to switch roles later :))
42. Had amazing friends (Still have them:))
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign.
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe - I have packed my bags in Europe though. Does that count?? :o)
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love.
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them.(Doesn't matter whom you sit with when stomach is making a lot of noises,does it?)
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs - Cassettes actually.
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day.
60. Played touch football.
61. Gone scuba diving.
62. Kissed in the rain-(does shower or elevator count too?)
63. Played in the mud.
64. Played in the rain.
65. Gone to a drive.
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a .
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (still in love,why would it break?)
69. Toured ancient cities.
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight ????
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party.
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a Tatto - a temporary one :-o
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason.
84. Performed on stage.
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music - @ home :)
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold.
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country.
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open.
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you should’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart.
111. Helped an animal give birth.
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about.
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes ???
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care (medical care?It was a nightmare!)
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

I guess i have done very few of them so far.Aiming to do more of these kind :)

Two sides of the coin :)

2008-12-12T18:06:00.005+05:30

My husband and I are the two sides of the same coin.Why? Know it yourself.

Flip Coin 1:

Me: " Chells,time to take shower".

Ed : " Sure hon,go ahead."

Me: " It's time for you to take shower."

Ed : " Do you like Deepika Padukone?"

Me: " What's that to do with you taking shower and no,I don't like her."

Ed : " I knew it.You both have different opinions as well."

Me : " Like you know her personally."

Ed: " You keep saying take shower/have bath blah blah blah and she says when you have bath it washes away the essential skin vitamins. See..?"

Me: " And she says what to use to avoid it if you are such a follower of her."

Ed: " Nah,my point is made."

Flip Coin 2:

Me: " Chells,do you like Shabana Azmi?"

Ed: " Who? Shabana Azmi?..." (ahem ahem)

Me : " I thought so.You are not cautioned yet."

Ed: " What ????"

Me: " I like her and she says 'Go Single....' "

Ed: " Helloooooooooo,I have seen that hoarding.The complete sentence is 'Go Single after 40' . "

Me: " Oh yes,I will go single when you turn 40.Point made." (Wink)

We are dynamic !

2008-12-06T14:53:00.003+05:30

How dynamic are we? Our focus keeps shifting from one to another with the frame of time.Till the beginning of this week we watched,read,spoke about Mumbai Terrorist Attacks and today it's changed to Mumbai Politicians' Attack.All we keep hearing now is new CM of Mumbai and Rane accusing Ashok Chavan & Sonia Gandhi.Ever body's a** is on the fire but for different reasons and everybody has to watch their back carefully.Is this why we have democracy?

There happens a rally in Bangalore which jams traffic for nearly a day,ruling blames it on opposition and opposition blames it on impatience of urban residents.The question is not who wins in the argument but the question is,the insensitive people elected by us take no ownership of any such events.Is this why we have democracy?

We the people of India,keep blame it on everybody else.So what resolutions have we made to change it and be stuck to it? How many of us have decided to ,

Use the right of Voting
Be vocal about what we want with right people
Fight for right reasons
Be the change we really want to see in others

We all know we are not a secular country.Just by living under the same geographical conditions no nation gets secular.We know the tolerance level for each other here.Small issues are made bigger,like;

Mr.Bachchan opening a school in UP faces opposition in Maharashtra.
Karnataka opposes Cauvery Water Release to TN.
Abhinava bharath acts against other religions.

Thanks to the terrorists for making US and UK nationals their obvious targets for we have the biggest powers of the world pushing us to fight.I don't even want to imagine what would happen if they were not with us.We are neither democratic nor secular,we have never been one but definitely DYNAMIC.

Make hay when milkman comes ! - 2

2008-12-06T00:15:00.008+05:30

Contd..........

The Milkman pulled over,turned back and started walking to us with his hand inside his pants(pocket).I asked my hubby " Ed,why does he have his hand inside,he's a milkman,rite?" ."Exactly and that's why..." my hubby answered.I looked at him and tried to whisper I was scared he might pull out a weapon and that was my actual question but by then milkman got close to us pulling out a cellphone.I exhaled and pulled the blanket over my head.

He looked at us and asked " are you guys terrorists? why are you following that man?" He pointed at an officer in navy uniform.We never knew we were following that officer,so I felt irritated while my hubby was happy that a common man was being cautious.I was more scared now at the mention of terrorists and of the media hype.In case of media,it's like smoke spreads even before the fire breaks.By the time the thought crossed my mind, I could hear someone saying "The milkman has alerted the city about the two terrorists who were following a navy officer....."

I realized the media had already gathered around the milkman.My hubby quickly pulled our blankets down and stood among them looking at the milkman.He looked confused by the questions media was asking him.Now he couldn't identify the two people whom he thought was terrorists.When he looked at us,I exhaled again and made my belly look bigger than the baby inside me.Looking at the expectant mother,media focused all the attention to get some emotional news.

Some of the questions they asked me were as below,

"So ma'am,did you happen to see anybody?"

" It must be really shocking to see them first thing in the morning for you,do you think it will harm the baby inside?"

"Is this your first time....I mean to witness a terrorist in real?"

"What do you think they were doing here?"

"Did they harm the Navy officer walking by?"

"Do you think the Govt. is responsible for the health of an expectant mother who is horrified by the sight of them?"

"Do you agree that our CM,dy CM and Home Minister should resign from the respective positions"

"Would you be able to make it for our candle protest this evening in front of Vidhanasoudha?"

..................................................................

And then I heard one of them saying,

"A brave expectant mother and her hubby along with the milkman spotted out two terrorists...."

The moment each one started posing before their cameras to send messages to the corresponding news channels we escaped from the hostage condition and didn't forget to pick our blankets before getting into a rickshaw to reach the place where we parked our pulsar.By the time we reached home and turned on the TV,there was another couple ,again an expectant mother and a man with her,being questioned by the media.Some of them were asking the milkman(who was still there) if found out anything unusual.

We switched off the TV and decided to use our cooking gas and butterfly Stove at the fireplace we might have when the baby came or use an Oven to say fireplace was advanced.

Make hay when Milkman comes ! -1

2008-12-05T18:37:00.009+05:30

On thanksgiving it struck to me that Christmas was soon to come which was followed by the Santa Clause thought.I told my hubby that we needed to have a fire place in order for Santa to drop by.As we are going to have a baby soon,we need to materialize all the things we are going to tell her/him and therefore my hubby too agreed (which is a rare thing between us,because he never gets to choose).

Now the question was,how to set it up?and where to get the firewood and make a chimney.Me playing the genius told him to use hay instead of firewood thus by indianizing the fireplace and easy to avail.He agreed again and we were flooded with thoughts as to where to get it?After thinking for long hours(I was almost asleep and I could hear him snoring as well),he broke the silence and said " Sweets,let's check it out with our milkman.He should have piled up hay to feed his cows"(how thoughtful of him).We decided to follow our milkman next morning in disguise.

Next morning we woke up around 5:30 and kept a watch outside(that watch was stolen.I'm glad we didn't keep an eye as my huuby said).We were speaking for a while and then I heard a vehicle sound and woke up it was 8 in the morning and that was our milkman's TVS sound.It was highly unprofessional of the milkman to turn up so late,at 8am.I even told my hubby that he was late and we should talk to him about his punctuality.My hubby said he comes around the same time everyday but it goes without our notice because we wake up around 9am.I had nothing to say after that.

As my hubby reminded me of our mission,we left immediately on our pulsar in disguise (with a blanket on us) after him but we couldn't keep following.We were always ahead of him,then we thought for a moment.Parked the pulsar by the road side and started walking after his TVS to keep up with the pace.I'm sure he got suspicious even after successfully following him without hinting him......

to be Contd..........

That's when I'm due !

2008-12-03T21:09:00.006+05:30

It's time for me to recollect the feathers I shed over the past years while trying to fly all by myself.It's time to re-tell the stories I heard when I was a kid,sing the songs to which I opened my eyes everyday,learn the same game which kept me busy all day......yes,it's time for me to switch roles again (prev post Switching roles with Mom at http://gee-pos.blogspot.com/2008/04/switching-roles-with-mom.html) !

When sitting by the wall,reading a book or watching TV,there's this feeling of movement within and I know it's one of the miracles of nature,a life inside another life.Now I know for sure this is how close one can get to the life.I guess this is how the feeling of belongingness began to take shape.

Spring is the season which is believed to be the time for renewal and arrival of new lives.That's when the leaves turn green and first flowers begin to bloom.A pleasant change as the winter passes by and a soothing sight everywhere.....and that's when I'm due !

Life is larger than anything ???!!!

2008-12-02T18:23:00.006+05:30

What's the difference between a war and a terrorist attack? Former happens at the border and latter doesn't have geographic limitations.

What's the similarity between the two?
In both,people are fighting to protect/promote some one else's ideas,ideals and thoughts.And in both the cases there's a huge loss of life.

I wonder how many people here amongst us worry about the geographical area of the nation and who belongs to which religion?How many people think it's the definition of patriotism to draw a border (LOC) to separate ourselves from the rest of the world to say it's mine.How does it help to remain humane in one's life? What do we all want? A family,a home,a few friends,a decent living and be let to live in peace.Isn't it same across globe? Then why do we separate ourseleves based on color,religion and culture ?

Why do people who fight for destructive purposes have more power than those who fight for the welfare of the people? Isn't it because of the degree of faith they have in their beliefs than those protecting us? Why can't we have a stronger positive energy?Is it because we keep fighting within ourseleves? We spend all our energy dividing people inside that it becomes diffiult to fight an invader all united ?

Today if we all are suffering,it's because,in any given part of the world,at any given time,there are a number of people who are getting prepared to fight to protect some one else's Brain work and this someone else is called a leader,be it political or religious.If only we knew to stand up for each other whether it comes to form a Govt. or pull it down,probably we would have been better people.Do we know what we actually want?

I get reminded of the saying "Life is larger than anything" ,so doesn't it mean it's larger than ones' beliefs,practices and religion.If destruction is what their perception of religion is,how far are we going to put up with those kind of propaganda ????

3 - D Angle

2008-07-22T17:53:00.008+05:30

WIFE:

She reached home in late in the evening with splitting headache and plopped on the easy chair in the living room.Her husband was busy watching football match and didn't acknowledge her presence.She waited to see if he did anything different than continue being involved in the match but he was very indifferent.

She went inside her room in search of some comfort level and all she could think of was her new young client who showed that chivalry still existed in men.She recollected how he kept smiling throughout their interaction and used his humour to put her at ease.She wondered if infatuation existed among people in mid-thirties as well.

He:

He met his friends for couple of beers after office hours. He had a story to tell his friends how he charmed another woman and added to his records.Though it was an official interaction,he could sense all that woman needed was a bit of empathy and a lot of laughter which he did provide. His intentions behind this good act was to feel good about himself and to satisfy his ego which would eventually be bragged about before his friends with a touch of sexuality.

After all,his fellow men loved to hear things that happened between an old woman(probably married) and a young chap like him.

HUSBAND :

When he woke up it was around 3am and he realized he dozed off watching football match.Football was always his passion,it became even more special to him when he met his wife as his fan when he was one among the football players of county matches.After meeting with accident he was never able to play and consoled himself by watching them play.All he would forget was marriage did need time to nourish.

That evening when he was watching football he didn't take notice of his wife's arrival but when he realized it was late and she had gone to sleep.He stood by her and kissed her goodnight and resumed watching football.After falling asleep,he woke up at 3am,switched off the TV set and went inside to get some more sleep.

Wicked thoughts !

2008-07-22T09:20:00.006+05:30

As I was taking interest in the stock trading I asked this friend of mine if he watched Sensex last week.He said(in his own words) " I love to watch Sensex only if all the Sen's are involved " and winked.That was not the only time,anytime anybody asked him anything he would try to make fun or irritate whoever asked.Don't get me wrong,this is a very good friend of mine and I like his sense of humour but I was waiting to make fun of him big time.

This friend of mine had been to his native on a vacation and when he got back he came to me and said "Geeths,look what I have got ? I have got cats,wanna look at them?".By the time he completed I bursted out laughing "I never knew you had a cat and you are asking me shamelessly if I want to look at your cat? So how many do you have?"at first he was confused and when he understood what I meant he flushed ,blushed and what not.He pushed me and walked away.

I,with all the good intentions,called everybody and told them about it.So whichever common friend of us he met they would ask him "Hey dude,heard you have got cats....would you like to showcase them?"

I hate..........(Tagged) !

2008-05-20T19:19:00.003+05:30

I was tagged to write about the things I hate the most.What could be more exciting than this? Just imagine you were given a chance to omit all your frustration on a public blog,how revengefully satisfactory,rite? So here are the things/people I hate ....(list follows,please read till the end with patience).

I hate ,

1.Casting couch - I pity Sonu Nigam a lot.
2.Reality Shows on any other channels except news channels.
3.Watching sanitary pad ads between Cricket or Wrestling.
4.Listening to Himesha Reshammiya's music/songs.
5.Watching Ranbir Kapoor in towel.
6.My huby's comment about my houseful wardrobe and still having an issue finding a suitable outfit
before an outing.
7.Being questioned unexpectedly in a long conference.
8.Being forced to wake up early to work out (Hope my hubby doesn't skip this line).
9.Running out of excuses to not to have a shower.
10.Being tagged to write stuff.........!
11...........

Wait...! did the friend of mine say 5 things(only) that I hate........anyways,I hate keeping a count of things I do (I was never good at mathematics).So I would like to stick to the rules and regulations of getting tagged.

So buddy(http://santozz.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-all-about-5-unlucky-people.html) ,are you happy now?

Cheeeeeeezy.......aren't these ??!!

2008-05-06T21:14:00.004+05:30

Hey ,

I have put up couple of pick-up lines here,just in case if any of you want to use them ;)

It's a collection and I have formed some.Tell me if you if u like any and if you want me to add any to the list :)

P.S : The post/blog doesn't bear any responsibilities of the consequences after using any of these pick-up lines.

Do you know anything about First Aid? I just fell on my knees !
Do you have a map? I'm getting lost in your eyes.
Fascinating. I've been looking at your eyes all night long, 'cause I've never seen such dark eyes with so much light in them.
Is there an airport nearby or is that just my heart taking off?
Are you an interior decorator? When i saw you the room became beautiful.
I don't know to dance but I would love to hold you when You dance.
Have you learnt martial arts,'coz you are really kicking !
Excuse me, but I think I dropped something. MY JAW!
If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I would be walking through my garden forever.
I will stay with you forever if I am wrong, but haven't we met before?
Did it hurt ??? when you fell from heaven?!!

So what's your favorite pick-line?

Wonderful people of my life - 1

2008-04-30T13:56:00.007+05:30

It's true that some people will always be remembered in one's life for various reasons. Today I want to write about those few people who will always be a part of my memories that connect me with the past as well as make me feel good in the present.

The first found friend :
When I moved to hostel to pursue my bachelors' degree ,I was put up with 10 other girls in a dorm (freshers were always put up in a dorm).I reserved a cot along with a newly found friend and was waiting to see the rest of them. Once everybody started to occupy their cots,I saw a 'Laurel and Hardy' kind of a pair walking inside in a hurry to reserve the cots for them.A huge(she's actually not huge but looked like that to me who's not even 5 feet tall) tall girl with curly hair that looked a small nest on her head along with a tiny girl who looked like a baby and was quite hesitant to even speak. The duo talked among themself in a gush and reserved two cots for themselves before they left.They were quite amusing to me.

We started our dorm life and the days passed interacting with each other,knowing each other and making friends.The tall girl with the bush on the head was quite funny,in fact hilarious and had a funny voice,she didn't know what fashion was (just like me,that was the first common thing I noticed) and was very disorganized. We were in different branches,different was our study material and the way we moved around with people.Even the kind of friends one made were different from the other.

Lest did I know then ,she was the first most beautiful thing to happen to me at Hassan(the place where I graduated) and would remain with me forever.My opinion about her changed as I got to know her.She was hilarious and she could dare to laugh at herself.One of the good things I noticed about her was,she would make fun of herself instead of people around her.She was disorganized but 'what you see is what you get ' was true in her case,there was no manipulation.She had her head firmly on her shoulder.

Though our expressions were different our thoughts were similar ,hence we could connect to each other quickly and easily than any newly found friends of us.Later we became room mates when we moved out of the dorm. I owe a lot of things to her,especially the laughter she lent to me many a times and the warmth she spread when she was around.

Years later when she attended my wedding,I realized how beautiful she was.She had only changed her appearance and the rest remained the same.Though she's miles away from me, she makes me feel just as good by sending emails.

You are one of my assets Pali.

The second asset :
When I was in first year,as I said earlier I was in a dorm. There were 3 seniors who were staying next to our dorm,one of which was quite strange.She was short ,had a boy cut(not veg cut exactly),big eyes,strange way of walking and looked like she cared less about anything else.She even had an intolerable voice when she sang but as I said earlier,she cared less about such things.Most of the time,I would find her doing no nonsense except for that horrible singing.

I was on the stairs,looking for my way out on one of the evenings and that's when I saw her for the first time.This alien was walking up in her own world singing 'Aankhon hi aankhon me ishaara ho gaya ...'. I was in a hurry but I had to slow down as she came before me from nowhere.I tripped,looked at her balancing on my feet,so she did and we moved in our directions within a fraction of a second without fussing about it or exchanging stares.

There was one more warm person like Pali who was staying with this alienated girl.She got along with all our dorm mates easily and on one fine day ,in my absence,she chose me as another roomie for them as one of the 3 had completed graduation and was leaving.I had no complains, neither had anything to resist so I moved with them the next year.These two were my roommates for an year and once they left after their graduation Pali joined me for another 2 years later.

One good thing about moving with them was,I had less of visitors in my room to disturb me.Hehehehehe,it was all because of that alienated girl that my friends were scared of.I got along with the warm person too soon and we would even travel together to Bangalore.She was my unofficial god mother.As the two were in final year(5th year Architecture),they were busy with their final projects and the one I got close to ,would spend more time In Bangalore to complete her project than the other one.That's how I had to spend more time with the other one and our story began to form.

I don't remember when the barriers fell and we got along very well and she was the other good thing to happen to me at Hassan.We would speak about anything on the earth and soon we realized that both were not biased about anything which let us speak our mind out without any hesitation.Being the two different individuals we were,we would accept the other without any restrictions or conditions.Strangely,this one was Pali's favorite as well.

After couple of years,we moved to a rented house where both of us stayed while working until each one of us got married and moved out with the respective spouses. We are still the same good friends and would love to have couple of drinks whenever we find time.

I have couple of other friends but not all at once !

Walking across memory lane !

2008-04-29T23:33:00.004+05:30

On a second thought I felt there's nothing silly here.Whatever I do may look silly to my older generation just as it looks to me when the next generation does something.The same pranks I played when I was a teen now look silly to me. Whoa ! am I growing old ? Let's keep that aside as I don't want to make that as the topic of discussion here .

Those girls in teen, who boarded the bus today, put me in thoughts. It reminded me of my 4 golden years at Engineering college and my stay at hostel.Meeting new people,managing life all by self,new experiences and new lessons were the take aways.

I remember the way we used to manage our monthly finances.Re.1 Khara bun,0.50 paise Banana were multiplied by 30 when preparing the monthly budget for evening snacks.The money saved was effectively used for celebrating b'days,buying gifts,treating friends and for outing.It was so effective that my balances of mess bills increased drastically.To clear all the bills at the end of the term,I told my dad that there was a certain amount of money fixed as donation to the institute and with the donations he made I sincerely cleared all the bills. Just as they said 'Charity begins at home' ,eh !

Those crank calls made to the hostel and how we never let go off even one call without answering.Actually,as there was no cell phones in abundance like now, we couldn't afford to miss calls to return later so we promptly answered all the calls including our hostel mates' boyfriends' calls even at 3 or 4 in the morning without complaining.We became workaholic types and our hostel management was so impressed they even offered the post of receptionists as a part-time job.Those midnight gossips which were seldom targeted at girls who returned to the hostel promptly but mostly at those girls who never returned until next sunrise,feeling jealous about those daring ones who put the rest of us thinking what could they have done the whole night.

Planning for college fests,what to wear,how to impress boys(these men now were boys then).How to make them say those 3 words and who would get to whom.Once all done,we would come back and those who lost would talk 100 things about those who succeeded in their plans and those who won wouldn't talk anything as they would be lost in a different world.

Those starry nights,all girls' night outs.Even when the heart is all set to pop-out,trying to pose like a superhero by showing off to the rest of them that drinking and smoking is no big deal, while looking at every corner to make sure we were not caught doing it.Talking of a past relationship which never happened in real and how easy was it to handle boys.

I'm in touch with most of them with whom I wanted to keep contacts.When we all get-together there's no better thing than recollecting these to cherish the moments.

Another (Black)magical movie !

2008-04-29T23:29:00.004+05:30

This movie was so slippery it just slipped my mind but it's an amazing movie.It's amazing because I couldn't really make out the intentions of the film maker even after watching the complete movie. I'm sure you want to know the name of the movie and even I want to tell you the name of the movie which I cannot recollect now. Give me sometime and I bet I would be successful.

So,I watched this movie alone as my clever hubby made an excuse of playing cricket and left home early in the morning.No silly,I didn't watch that movie early morning,I watched it when I was waiting for him to return the same afternoon and I was,indeed trying to entertain myself.

I must admit that the director's focus never deviated through out the movie and he maintained the same color till the end of the movie.The clothes,the boat,the building,the trees,the roads,the bridge,the walls,etc were always shown in one color only.I'm sure he's not a color blind and he had a purpose behind doing so which I never understood.

When we(my friends and myself) were discussing about towelaria i.e lead characters shown in towels always looked hot or not. Many agreed(most of my males friends did) so I want to recommend this movie to all of them as they might enjoy watching towel mania unless they are straight (male friends). Female friends will also like it unless they are not straight (and this ONE time I wouldn't mind saying I'm not straight).Now I remember the name of the movie,yes it's Saawariya.No,it's not Ranbir Kapoor in towel who reminded me of the name.Is it true that men with muscle have no muscle upstairs? In fact,I got to witness some strong evidences about this when I happened to watch Mr.India contest while switching channels.

There are these two people in lead who look like just out of film school and as everybody says they are following 70% learning while on the job.Good going guys.There's this offline information that this supposed-to-be cute athletic Sonam might be casted in Terminator-N as a I'm-so-shy robo.After learning her Hollywood debut our Indian film makers are alarmed so there's also this news that they might drop Aishwarya and cast this one in Rajnikanth's next movie named 'Robot' as a lead robo opposite Rajni.One advantage being,she doesn't have to try and act as a robot.Oh what a relief to audience. Thanks to all the brainy guys in the film making world.

Then it was Sallu's turn to complicate things.He appeared for no reason and so did he disappear.I couldn't understand his motto but I could relate to it with his life's motto.There are these ladies whom he gets linked up starting from Somi ali till the recent one who appear with him in public and disappear quickly but I'm sure they have better reasons to disappear .I'm glad they are not directed by Mr.Bhansali.

Rani was also there for the same reason as Sallu i.e,for no reason.I guess the female actors have a feeling that a role as a 'call girl' will make them versatile and more talented.I don't know when will the male actors realize this secret of their profession.Anyway,I guess Mr.Bhansali should stop trying to persuade Ms.Merchant on screen and take up a off screen script to do so.I hope he succeeds in conveying the message to her effectively.

Most of the time,I got more and more confused as everybody looked like painted in the same color.I couldn't separate them with anything around them and it looked like an entirety.Anyway,don't ask me about the story.I have no clue and I hope at least Mr.Bhansali has some clues about it.

On my hubby's return,I told him I watched a movie and I couldn't understand anything neither did I remember anyhting.I also told him I could only see blue color all over the screen.He was amused and asked me quickly with a mischievous smile "Tell me the truth what kind of a movie did u watch?"

Seasonal Wedding.

2008-04-29T23:23:00.006+05:30

When was the last time you attended a wedding and what did you go through before attending it?Mine was very recent, so recent that it looks like yesterday to me every time I recollect it.

It was actually for the wedding reception at 7pm we were invited to.It was an arranged marriage which was arranged by the bride and the groom.As per the information from our insiders,groom's parents didn't like to go for it so they were not attending the wedding and bride's parents were ready to take an advantage(??!!!) so they readily agreed after groom's continuous pleading.

After my hubby came back from cricket we were in our parents' place till 4 when he received a call from the groom asking us to be there by 5pm as there was some ritual which was supposed to be conducted from groom's brother and SIL. As there were no relatives of his were attending the wedding except his friends and colleagues he thought we best suited the role (actually,it was last minute arrangement as his another friend-couple ,who were already booked for this didn't turn up).

Since both of us had to be formally (I wanted to avoid the word decently) dressed and we didn't have our clothes and accessories there,we managed with whatever we got from them.My hubby is known for punctuality,his punctuality is a birth right as he was born right in time.So we reached the hotel (Royal Archid) when the clock struck at 5 to find nobody.

I checked with my hubby if that was the venue,before he could answer he got a call from the groom.Once he was done answering the phone call,he told me that the groom was not yet reached as he was supposed to reach after 'Rahu Kala'. It was a very exciting thing to wait for the host sitting in the lounge counting how many arrived and how many left.Trust me,they even offered a supervisor role to me as I kept an eye on everybody walking around but I declined stating it was not on my IDP (Individual Development Plan).

The groom was scheduled to be arrived after an hour and by then he had called up his bride ,whose folks were already there,to receive us. Once the lady introduced us as Groom's 'Boss' and 'Boss's Wife' they all looked at us in disbelief looking at a huge monsterly figure (my hubby) and a small sparrow like figure (me ),they all sighed once and forced a smile one their faces.I told Eddie that we should have brought our wedding certificate.

I was actually very sympathetic towards the groom as there was no relative of his was present.Actually that's not the only reason,the fact that he was being dragged around and made to sit and stand at the bride's father's and brother's left finger(!!???) which was glorified by the Pandit's victimization in favor of bride's parents. It was then I realized why did he reach late.I'm sure he wanted to squeeze in more time for himself to relax and prepare for all these things.

After all the rituals,it was time for the couple to fall on the feet to check the heat.Her folks asked them to touch our feet first.Oh my,just imagine a 6 feet guy is falling at a feet of not even 5 feet lady who is readily mistaken for her husband's child all the time.Anyway,we didn't want to stay over for the reception too,so we wished them and returned home.Her folks wanted us to have food and I was almost dead by hunger but my hubby didn't want to stay back as he was petrified that might also be another planned ritual,so he dragged me away from the dinner table.We ran for our life ,didn't stop till we reached our parents' house.We only stopped by to change and more importantly to hog food.

All of them were looking at us whether the wedding we went didn't include a dinner or not.Like we care !!!!!

Anti-Societic(??!!) Elements !

2008-04-29T23:21:00.003+05:30

When was the last time you were thrilled,happy,excited,skipped a heart beat and forgot to breath till you realized you couldn't keep your eyes open,etc at the same time??!!! I can take an easy guess...you want me to tell you now? Of course,it has happened very recently when ,for the very first time India won the series against Australia,a victory in the grounds of Sydney after 27 long years,so long that we had even forgotten we longed for it.

Do you remember what you spoke when you were watching the match or whom you spoke to? Did you care how you behaved while enjoying it? 'No' is the answer and I can bet anything.All you remember now is,the facts and the numbers of the match.Even if you are weak at multiplication (I meant,mathematics only),surprisingly you calculated how many overs/players were remaining and how many runs were required at a blink.It was such an anxious situation that someone diabetic forgot something and he had to discard it in a huge quantity at a stretch the very next moment after the match.(No offense meant to diabetic people,I'm sure you all are sweeter than rest of us).

So when something like this was going on,it was something similar at home with us (not the diabetic ones).Eddie (my hubby) and I were so involved watching this historic thing happening,we didn't remember what was bestowed on us.After the match when we came out of the house to hog something (obviously,neither of us were interested in cooking during the match and definitely were not in a mood to cook after the match),our neighbours looked at us as we were some obnoxious elements of the colony. At first we never understood neither did we care,the victory was still lingering in our hearts,ears,eyes,mind and all over.

After couple of days,I realized all of a sudden what we spoke(shouted) while watching the match,though that could not be the reason for the kind of looks we got ,just want a second opinion from you guys so some of lines what we spoke during the match are quoted below .

"Oh no,oh no..c'mon...yes!"
"There it is.You got it baby" --------(Looking at the player).
"I can't see the ball,let me move closer." (I was referring to the TV when I wanted to move closer due to my eye sight issues).
"What a catch. Ohh ,that's awesome."
"How many balls remaining now?........ oh, look at that, just missed."
"Sooooooooo beautiful,yes baby you can do better.C'mon".

and the best thing was, "Great,what a shot !!!!!!!!! "

We haven't spoken anything non-societic,have we? So I just confirmed by recollecting what we spoke. This is what I could recollect,I'm sure we haven't troubled our neighbours to get that look.It was only some periodic screams but we made sure our TV volume was low.Even Thunder was quiet,after all he was also watching the match !

So what has cricket done to you?

My analysis and derivation !

2008-04-29T23:18:00.004+05:30

On a serious note, my hubby actually made me think why I liked Phantom.

So here's my analysis;

Whenever I was listening to the stories told to me in childhood,my world of imagination would come alive and I could effortlessly relate the hero of the story to a figure like Phantom as it was unique and easy to remember.Just like how you always try to relate to a figure even today if you hear about a person you haven't seen.

He was portrayed as not only a brave but someone who was intelligent enough to break any kind of riddle.He didn't wait for a miracle to happen and there was no supernatural power involved. It was him,though he was projected as the 'Ghost that walks'.He was in flesh and blood.

The climax of his stories ended really well. Truth and right things made way,like 'Sathyameva Jayathe'.It had a very positive effect and for someone who grew up listening to this would definitely have a positive frame of mind.

Most importantly,he always went back to his family at the end of every episode.He was more people oriented than process.He had a family which was always important to him and hence he went back to them always.

Now,after the analysis I want to remember these points and will include these if I ever try to write stories for Children.

Something very easy to associate ,either the name or the appearance.

Resolve using brains and be brave.Do not wait for miracles to happen but be one.

Positive ending.

Return to family.

If I have a baby girl,I wouldn't want to tell her stories about the cursed princess who was rescued by a prince instead, I will tell her what did a princess do to save herself than waiting for an unknown angel who might have not even existed.

Thanks Eddie,Now I know what I liked when I read Phantom.

My childhood Hero

2008-04-29T23:16:00.004+05:30

As a kid,if you have admired a character from the books you have read they form the base of your idols,ideals and interests.Close your eyes for a while and try to recollect who was your favorite character/hero during your childhood days (it's very natural,if you are at work,to think of the deadlines,coffee/smoke breaks,performance ,etc when you close your eyes).

I told my hubby that Phantom was my favorite hero during my childhood days and he still is.To which his response was "Is it because he wears it outside?" . His naughty smile encouraged me to speak more so I said " As long as he has one on,it doesn't make any difference to women".

He continued " I guess Phantom was a model those days..."
I asked happily : " Why? Because he had a great physique?"
He winked and said : " No he could wear different brands and show off easily . I don't think he even needed a green room."
I retorted : "Like anyone needs it now.It's even become a fashion under the name of wardrobe malfunction."
He was not the one to stop : "So Geeths,tell me what would he do during emergencies....you know as in...."
I cut him off : " Why would you care?,if allowed you guys will have a BPI project done and make a presentation as well."

My hubby knew he was getting on my nerves so he wanted to calm me down,he said " No sweets,not like that.I know you are not liking this. It's alright baby,we won't make any presentation" and turned the TV on only to find "The Phantom" on HBO at which both of us laughed.

A movie that is so magical !

2008-04-29T23:13:00.003+05:30

"Ooops I(he) did it again....." He reminded me of those 'M' letters again;Magical,Marvelous and Mesmerizing.This man is a magician and his each magic trick clicks on the screen.Wondering whom am I talking about? It's none other than Mr.Ashuthosh Gowarikar and the recent magic I was talking about is,yes you all guessed it rite, it's "Jodhaa Akbar".

I care a damn if Akbar's wife was Jodhaa or not.I don't think it could have done any less magic if her name was 'Stella Mary" or "Big Momma". Thank God I'm not in school and I don't have to write my social study papers again.I have no clue why people want to make a silly thing a big issue and why it never occurred to them when this was taught through the text books.Akbar having 100s of harems is not a matter of controversy but him having a wife whose name is misquoted is an issue. But I like these people who make a big issue out of nothing because these genius people give me a complex....a Superiority Complex.

Anyway,coming to this wonderful movie,it did fulfil my expectations as well as the money I paid.What more can I ask for ? I don't know if Akbar and Jodhaa had romanced like this then but I enjoyed watching a clean movie with sensible screenplay.At some point of time I did feel that Rani(Mukherjee) would have been a better choice nevertheless it's a nice feeling.

Now-a-days,the meaning of romance is completely changed.I ,by mistake happened to watch "Mumbai Salsa" and got so frustrated by the time I was done watching the movie.The moral of the story was "Or***m is like a lucky draw.Everybody sneezes but not every one who sneezes is lucky to get it." The great people of India don't like to oppose such movies but a clean movie like Jodhaa Akbar becomes an issue. Did these guy think Asoka was a more realistic movie with Kareena dancing in less than half clothes?

None of the Indian movies have won Oscars. If the people of the nation here don't believe in the kind of movies made here which guy with a different skin would appreciate it outside?Common sense is not common among us,I wish there was a school to teach such things for these differently abled group of people and those who don't need these teachings,please watch Jodhaa Akbar,if you like it or not is purely personal as long as it's not an issue for you.

A lost teacher.

2008-04-29T23:10:00.001+05:30

It's not now that I thought of writing about this great personality, I have been wanting to do this since 3 to 4 months and today I just let the cat out. I was never so fond of this man and I didn't think he was my role model or could be anybody else's. No negative thoughts but just that he wasn't that impressive till I took up reading about him.

He was a lawyer by profession but he took teaching over arguing, I bet it was more difficult for him than playing devil’s advocate! I said that because the kind of pupil he chose to teach were not innocent, meaning not kids but ignorant. You know how difficult it is, don’t you?

Let me quote some of the things that he had said and done around 60 or 70 years ago;
His view about religion – Morality is the basis of all religion and truth is the substance of morality.He was not here to spread religion. Around 60 or 70 years ago in India I don’t really think people had tolerance for other religions especially when it was close to the movement of independence and it was spoken around then.
When he was punished by the White Govt., all he said was “I’m only sorry for their ignorance and their narrowness.”This is something we believe Jesus Christ said and Goutham Buddha said. My point is not who said it first but he was one among those great souls. It’s not easy for one to say something like that when self is experiencing that kind of treatment.
When he was a student, his regard remained the same for his teacher though he came to know many failures of that teacher.This is something which doesn’t exist now at all. Especially those teens who try to judge every person they come across have lost the values for individuals. If you cannot correct somebody you shouldn’t be negative as well.
Today in our schools, the teaching starts with slant lines, straight lines, inclined lines and so on. This style of teaching is absorbed from west and is implemented now. This man had already penned down his thoughts about them long ago. He said “Children should be first taught the art of drawing before learning anything else to improve the hand writing”.
He was also against corporal punishments.

These are a very superficial examples but this lawyer turned teacher has done a lot to the country that we have failed to recognize as our view and opinions are totally different. Tell me, who would want to leave the fame, wealth, and good contacts behind earned in a foreign country like South Africa and return to the motherland when it was a slave? Except for The Gautham Buddha and The Ashoka ,I don’t really think someone else could do it.

We may say a lot of things today that how differently we could have got independence but had we done even half of what he did to save the country probably we could get the eligibility to talk. He drove the entire nation which amazes me today to learn that he had such great powers. In a team of 13 to 15,how many can we get to listen to us to commit to work and perform? There was a leader in him.

He was a Baniya whose kids were never so famous and we have another Baniya whose reliant kids are spending crores to buy cricket players today which means his motto was improving people of the country and not accumulating wealth.It could have been a different scene but why can’t we appreciate whatever is worth doing.

I salute to this teacher Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and it was a good learning to read “My Experiments with the Truth.”

Another Male in my life !

2008-04-29T23:08:00.000+05:30

Not often we believe things that we hear until we experience it.This is one of those things that I never believed to happen ....to me until it really happened which is, 'Love At First Sight'. I'm not quoting the title of any romantic novel,trust me it's something I experienced at this phase of my life.

This happened last Saturday.My hubby and I kept on planning to meet him but could not make it earlier as my hubby's friend was too busy to take us there.I was very anxious to meet someone I had been listening about.I guess I was destined to meet him this Saturday.

When we went to this place to see him,he took me by my heart at first sight itself. I was lost looking at him.I couldn't resist myself so I touched him gently and that was the first time he looked at me and I felt something changed in me.First,he felt my finger tips then he slowly took out his tongue to lick my hand while his eyes were fixed at me. I was on cloud 9.I made another move,kissed him. That was it,he started licking my face all over and I knew he was the one I was waiting for and I didn't know I would do something like that after 2 years of marriage as I never wanted to do it anytime before.

When we left from there I was longing to take him with me.Same day,in the evening we went to attend a wedding reception.I somehow couldn't stop thinking of him. He had filled even the smallest corner of my heart and I could see nothing but him.Even when I was pretending to be normal I knew I wasn't. I couldn't get over thinking a zillionth time how he felt me.You know women generally fall for how they are felt by their loved ones.

I didn't want to delay so I told my hubby about my decision,to my surprise,he agreed.Today,we have a 2 months old Boxer puppy at home and we have named him Thunder. Pics??????sometime later :)

The Misinterpreted Title

2008-04-29T22:56:00.007+05:30

Not-so-warm breeze,sight of the beach,coffee and 6 in the evening with mom was one of those rarest occasions for Avni.After a long time she was on vacation with Mom and 6 year old daughter. Minnu,Avni's daughter got busy watching her favorite channel as her Mom and Grand mom settled outside the cottage talking to each other.Avni and her Mom Aditi were busy watching the waves and the strenght it brings to hit the rocks.They were admiring the optimism in it each time it hit a rock.
" So what are you writing about now-a-days?" It was Aditi who broke the silence. " I'm still thinking mom,I need something interesting to write about. I want to write about those moments that couldn't have had any names." Avni said as she smiled.
Aditi : " Like?,Like what?"
Avni : " Hmmmm,like you know mom....something which you might have enjoyed for that moment but haven't gone too far."

Aditi fell silent like it disturbed some old memories.Avni was not the one who would let go off " So tell me Mom,let me start from you. What was it?" Aditi managed to smile " Nah ,not all that interesting,forget it." as she completed she looked at her daughter only to find a perseverant look on her face. She gave up and looked at the sea for a moment and spoke after a while.

" It was after 6 years of your father's death.I was in my late forties and was travelling to Manali to visit you at your college. I was in the A/c compartment and there were only 3 of us inside.A girl in her late twenties and a Man in his late fifties,his name was Dr.Polanski.His father was a Russian.Healthy built,fair complexion,spectacles with thick black frame,clean shave,brown hair and was carrying a briefcase and a big book...."

Avni cut her mom off and asked " What was the name of the girl?" .Aditi tried to remember the name but in vain ,so she said " I don't remember now.It was 10 years ago." Avni had a mischievous smile. " Oh really? what was the name of the book he was carrying?" Aditi replied " Fingerprints of the God!" " Avni smiled at her mom and asked her to continue.

Aditi tried to remember the conversations they had and continued after sipping some coffee." Initially the girl and the Doctor got along well and they were talking in general till the girl said she was expecting and was a 4 months pregnant. Doctor seem to know very less about gynic and neither did we ask him about his specialization. That was when I pitched into the conversation. I told her it was not safe to travel until 4th month is completed."

" So mom,you were trying to impress him? eh?" when Avni said with a wink Aditi blushed but didn't respond to it verbally. She continued like she didn't hear the daughter's comment. " After a while the girl was tired and she slept off. So I moved to the opposite berth where the doctor was sitting. He was a very warm person but I found him not so good as a subject matter expert as he hardly knew anything about medicines. He knew more about music than his profession

...."As Aditi paused Avni spoke suddenly " I know you are not a music lover.Hehehehe and you still liked him? I mean liked talking to him?".

Aditi replied to this " Even I wonder Avni. It was his mannerism that drew me to continue conversations. He was polite,warm and caring.We casually switched to talking about his family and that's when I thought his Doctor degree might have been bought as his parents were stinking rich.I felt sad about the part that he lost his family,wife and children in a major road accident. I didn't want to ask more about it. He said he was staying in some ashram in Bangalore and was travelling to Manali for some musical program.For the number of years of experience he had as a doctor it should have brought more knowledge to him than he actually had..."

Avni interrupted again " Oh Mom. Poor him.Why are you stressing on it so many times. Why don't you just continue my sweet Mommy." Aditi paused and sighed. " That night I spent talking to him was the best of all. In fact,we hardly spoke to each other. It was not one of those teen days or falling in love sort of a thing but the warmth that was spread was amazing. Looking at each other in a sealed compartment,just smiling now and then and trying to build a polite conversation was an ecstatic feeling in itself. The girl woke up in between and spoke to her family over the phone to say she was fine and told her husband to receive her next evening.But lest did she know what would happen by then."

Avni got more curious now," what did happen Mom? Did he turn out to be a beast". Aditi continued " As we were awake through out the night I was asleep by sunrise. When I woke up it was around 12 in the noon.Doctor was awake and was busy with the book,he looked at me and smiled.The girl was looking a bit unwell.After I got refreshed and came back to my berth I found the left overs of the Papaya fruit.I asked him about it and the girl replied it was her. It was alarming. Papaya to a pregnant woman is like poison. It aborts the foetus and especially any woman needs to be very careful till they complete 4 months.I got worried and panicked,asked her how was she feeling and she said she was not feeling all the good.I even got to know that the doctor had bought it for the lady at some station when the train stopped as the lady felt like eating one.

I was furious at the doctor but he looked like he never had a clue about all that. I never gave him a chance to speak as I was worried for the girl. By the time we reached Manali the state of the girl was worsened and she kept on throwing up. All these while the doctor was following my instructions but had hardly done anything on his own.Once we reached Manali station,I looked for her husband and told him what happened upon meeting him. I went with him to the hospital but they could not save the child.The girl also had suffered a lot of bleeding. I was mad at that man and could not forgive him any day. I don't remember when we separated.He had given me his # to contact and the address,I was so furious at him I even tore the card off"

Avni recollected her mom when she had come to visit her. When Avni asked her whether anything was wrong Aditi hadn't said anything then as she was supposed to meet Valmeek who was in love with Avni. After that neither of them had spoken anything about that. Aditi added " That was the day I realised good looks are not as important as the knowledge you possess."

Both of them hugged each other tightly. Later that night Minnu, with her mom,was showing her photo album to her grand mom. Aditi stopped at a picture and asked Avni about it.Avni said it was Minnu's classmates from music school and the old man was the founder of the music institute.She said " He is..I mean was Bhargav,he had great knowledge and even had received Doctorate for his achievements.Dr.Bhargav Polanski". as Avni completed something struck to her.She looked at Aditi and found her nodding her head in acknowledgement.Avni knew that very moment that her mom was regretting for her assumptions.

Media Movies and Family

2008-04-29T22:52:00.006+05:30

It's rightly said that movies and media change the thought process of people for good or bad. My 8 year old brother (if you are wondering whether I really have a 8 year old bro then you haven't read my prev post about my family) always enjoyed doing his homework after 8pm for the reason that he would get less beatings from my mother while doing it as she would be more interested in watching her daily soaps than helping my bro do his homework. My brother is not always happy to see my mom watch her favorite TV programs,when it's his Pogo time or time for his favorite cartoon show he tortures my mom like anything.

The other day I asked my mom about her daily soaps and asked what was so interesting about it. She said it had drama,emotions,thriller and they even ask for valuable votes of people who watch.My 8 year old brother quickly said " Then you can watch any News channel.You even get to watch different people". My mom couldn't say anything and she just stared at him helplessly. Thinking my brother was too smart I took him to watch Taare Zameen Par (if reader's haven't watched the movie,it's about a dyslexic kid),after having watched the complete movie my bro said " Don't you think just letting him not to go to school would have solved all the problems?" I felt sorry for myself for having conveyed the wrong message to him.

He watched this movie 'Cheeni Kum' recently when it was telecasted on Sony TV sometime ago. When I went to visit him he said he wanted to watch a 'A' movie,thanks to Swini Khara(the kid who's in Cheeni Kum).My eldest bro was waiting for my response ,i'm sure it was him who passed the bucket to me. It was my turn to look helplessly at my Ma and Pa.As my eldest brother was very irritating by deliberately putting me in that situation and kept on adding to the fire now and then I decided to buy a CD for my youngest bro. After a few days ,I went home when my eldest brother was also there and handed over the CD.As I removed the cover,my bros couldn't get to know what was it.Even before my little brother open it,the big one got so excited and snatched it from him only to run to his computer room. After couple of minutes he returned with the CD looking very disappointed. I winked and smiled at him and now my I handed over the CD to my mum " Ma,it's a 'A' certified movie,'The Passion of the Christ',the entire family can watch together."

My little one didn't know the difference and switched the channel to pogo.I had a broad smile on my face when I looked at mum only to find her in deep thoughts.When I asked her about the same she said " I'm scared now,your Pa has also watched Nishabd" !

A love story at midnight !

2008-04-29T22:47:00.004+05:30

My phone rang around 11:30 in the night. For anybody 11:30pm is not too late to call now-a-days but for me who's now at home,it's late to talk over the phone as I've a pretty normal life than what I had while working in shifts. Anyhow,when I checked the display it was one of my old friends who called me very often and mostly to comment about my blog entries.

As soon as I answered the call she took over for the rest " Geeeeeeeeeeeeethuuuu,somehow I'm not sleepy.Tell me a story or some spicy gossip" for which I tried saying I wasn't good at gossipping but she was not the one to listen to.So I started with something that happened very recently.

" There were these two people who went for a dinner date to a tree-top restaurant.The man was already married and so was the lady but this was a special night for those two. They were in love ,like everybody says 'head over heels' in love.When he went to pick her up he asked the lady "Love,would you like to walk with me in the night to a nearby restaurant holding my hand or would you like to go on a bike?". The lady said " On the bike so that I can sit close to you with my hands around your waist." She blushed as she completed and the moonlight quickly fell on her to disclose what she felt.He touched her cheek with his fingers and said " I would love it" then they set off on the bike to a tree-top restaurant as the lady's choice.

They walked up on the stairs holding hands and chose to sit at a table away from the crowd.It was really a special day as the man had made some time to take the lady out during a week day though he was completely busy at work.That's what the lady liked always,his nature of making time for his loved one.."

My friend interrupted ," Sounds very romantic.But tell me one thing Geethu,that man might have made time for her on a week day because his wife might get to know if done on a weekend.Right? What say?" to which I said " Ma'm would you like me to continue or want to investigate on the issue now?". She was very disappointed and said " Ok ok,you continue."

" The tree-top was not well lit but for them that was more than sufficient.They just wanted to be able to see each other's face and nothing else mattered.The man placed an order for the drink and something to eat. The lady asked him " Do you still remember what I like?,it has been two years and you haven't forgotten anything about me." He smiled,took her palm in his and said " Is it supposed to be forgotten?every time when I'm tired and upset I just think of your smile. If your smile can do the same magic with the same intensity even after two years how could I forget what do you like?." She pinched his hand and said with a mischievous smile " What are you trying to do? flirt with me?You are growing old ,why do you try these tricks?".He laughed softly and said " Really? women like old men and that's what you you keep saying all the time.So are you trying to tell me that you are falling in love with me even today?"

" Their coochi-cooing continued till they finished having dinner.When the cheque arrived,the man provided his card and while they were waiting to get it back,he pressed her hand gently and said " I have a small gift for you,would you mind?" .She smiled and opened the gift wrapped in a shiny red paper he handed over to her. Just as she opened,she let out a cry slowly and looked at him with tears in her eyes " Sweet,this is the best gift I have ever got from anybody....." and she couldn't speak after that.When he touched her cheeks he could feel they were wet. He put his arms around her and they started walking back to the parking."And I stopped but my friend was not done yet " Hey,tell me what was in there that made the lady so emotional and tell me who they are.Tell me,tell me tell me. I won't let go until you complete it." I looked at my phone once to check the time and then said " Woman,you need to be grateful to me that I told you such a romantic story at midnight though I'm sleepy and your average mind is so materialistic that it wants to know the identity of the people involved as well as the gift.Just enjoy the feeling" and I disconnected.

I moved the blanket and felt the copy of 'Pinch of Salt' wrapped in a shiny red paper,turned to my sleepy hubby,kissed him and said " Thank You chellom." He opened his eyes,smiled and said " Happy b'day to my wife again before the day is over" !

A Trip to Coorg

2008-04-29T22:44:00.003+05:30

In December, we went to Virajpet (Coorg) to celebrate our anniversary,so naturally it was just two of us. It was a very nice place and could hardly find anything associated with city including good eat-out,transportation and a guide.This cottage where we stayed was looked after by a great army man and I guess he believed in one man army so he had only one man to cook,to serve,to house-keep,to gate-keep. He was like the opposite of 'Master of All..'. There was also a dog with him.

As it was away from the city and there was nothing close to civilization could be found we wanted to know about the security factor. My hubby asked about the dog to this guy and he said " hehehehhe, no saar. It's a nice dog,it doesn't bite anybody.Very soft." We looked at each other as he said that.He added that he would keep the gate in his house in the night for safety measures as he had to do a bit of gate-keeping as well.

Whenever he felt like preparing food he would appear before us to ask what we wanted. My hubby being a pure non-vegetarian (pure because he drinks Cauvery water) and me a vegetarian in purest form ( I boil Cauvery water and then filter it using the water filter) would ask him for our favorite dishes.That round guy would wait until we completed and would tell us what would he want to make.He would always say " Saar I will make Keema for you " in his classic style. My hubby heard it as " Saar I will make Keema out of you" the very first time he said it and after that he never disagreed with the guy through out our stay.Since he couldn't say " Ma'm I will make daal out of you", I was brave enough to disagree with him and sleep empty stomach.

As the round guy wouldn't make good coffee my hubby wanted me to make it in the room.So we went to buy milk as we had seen plenty of boards saying 'Illi Nandini Haalu Siguthade' ( Nandini Milk is available here).We went to a house where they had hung that board and asked for half a litre Nandini milk. The moment I asked the man sitting outside, he shouted " Nandini,come here.We have customers asking for milk." My hubby gave me a frightened look and walked two steps back. He said " Chellom,you get the milk and walk a mile before you catch up with me."As we moved on we saw another such board but 'Mother Diary' suffixed.My huby looked at me in disbelief and asked " What's this chellom?" to which I said "Family business, baby".

Once we reached the cottage,the round man smiled at us and came to greet us. My hubby was looking for the key and said " Where's the chavi(key)?". That round guy didn't get what he said so he asked him to repeat. My hubby asked again " Chavi...mmm as in Key.." even before he could complete ,the round guy said " Ohhh,Kee? as in Keema?" We looked at each other in amazement.

How do I relate to whom?

2008-04-29T22:41:00.004+05:30

I'm the second kid to my Mum and I'm also her Sister-In-Law. I have three nephews and at the same time they are my brothers. They can either call me Maami or Akka. When I have a kid, it can call my Mum either Grand Mum or Aunty (Atte) depending on how I relate to her. So what will my nephews or my brothers will be to my kid???? Is it all confusing????? That's what I'm coming to now. Wherever we all go, we create confusions to everybody.

It's actually like this. My hubby has an elder sister who's my Sister-In-Law. Since she's very fond of me she couldn't see me happy anymore and adopted me as her daughter giving birth to all these confusions. Now you all can relate however you wish to.

One good thing about this confusion is, since the day it began ,visitors at home have reduced to nil. Initially whenever someone came home, they would address each one in the house with respect to their age and would feel comfortable that way but now they are all afraid of getting lost in figuring out how to address and whom to address. Some of the distant relatives have gone another mile away trying to relate them to us. Thanks to Chechi (that's how we all call my Mum I mean my SIL.)

This one time, one lady said “This is what happens when you get married at the young age. Now you already have such a Big son (he is big, believe me), married daughter and 2 more kids after her." We both looked at each other.In fact,she has only one 8 year old son and the other two nephews are the sons of other two SILs.

There was this another time when my eldest bro's friends came home for Christmas and he introduced my hubby(his uncle) as his BIL and the guys were shocked." He was your brother like till yesterday and when did he become your BIL?" to which my bro said “since he married my sister." They continued arguing “when did you have a sister?" . “Since my Uncle married her " said my bro.

Is it all still confusing? Don't bother, we are all a family and we have names, does it make it simple?

Switching roles with Mom !

2008-04-29T22:38:00.006+05:30

When I was in school I would wait for summer holidays as any school going kid.Along with the joy of missing school and studies it was the excitement of visiting my Uncle and Aunt that used to make me more anxious. Let me tell you the reasons as well. I'm from a small town and had hardly enjoyed the city life,weekend parties,big theaters and parks ,more so because my parents were teachers and always considered all of the above as not so good sign for upbringing of kids.Even during parties at my uncle's place we were locked in a room and would be let out only next morning.

My mom used to be on our guard whenever she took us to my uncle's place. There was this time when we went to a park one evening hoping to have fun.Myself and my cousin had just stepped into teen and were fun loving. When we entered the park,we surveyed through our eyes not letting my mom know. Mom and my aunt took us to the place where the kids were playing which was quite embarrassing. The kids who were playing merry-go-around ,see-saw looked at us and it looked like we were very amusing to them.We were too old to play any kiddie game and were too young for everything else. We both had learnt to manage our moms. We chose to sit on the swings and would swing ourselves high and when we were in air we would try to look around trying to find something interesting in the park. The couples coochi-cooing,the girl blushing and the guy holding the girl's hand in fear.All these would be seen when we were in air. We always loved to look at them and look at each other which would be followed by giggles.

During one of the party eve,I somehow got hold of a list which had some uncommon names on it and was not at all familiar.My mom caught me with the list and snatched the list from me within no time.Upon asking she said it was the names of the guests invited for the party.Little I knew what was it then so I completely trusted my mom.

After so many years,we have switched our roles. Now I lock my mom in the room till next morning when I host any weekend parties.Now I know the importance of proverbs and I tell my mom often that every dog has a day and my mom tries to remind me that I'm a human.Anyway,last week we hosted a party at home and the evening before I was making list of the necessary things. My mom was around and she was helping me with the list when by mistake she got hold of a list and started reading out 'Jack Daniel's,Johny Walker,Chivas...' and I stopped her and asked her to return the list unlike her.She did return but asked me innocently what was the list consisted of, to which I said 'Names of the guest invited for the party mom'. Just then dad folded the evening newspaper and I could see him smiling in silence.

Socializing with Neighbours

2008-04-29T22:35:00.002+05:30

As I was working till October 2007 I didn't have time to socialize with my neighbours mostly because of my odd shifts. I would be awake when they were asleep and I would be asleep when they were awake. Now I have ample time to invest in gossipping,talking about other families,discuss the daily soaps and all these under the name of socializing.

After the wedding season was over I had time now to clean my house. I realized it was domestic violence as there was no maid to do the household work. What I meant was, I realized it when I started doing all by myself but never thought of it when my hubby was doing all these by himself. Anyway now that I'm home I started sweeping,mopping,cleaning dishes and cooking. Poor me?? is that what you are thinking, I agree !

One fine day, I swept my house and mopped the entire house all by myself and rearranged my clothes in the wardrobe. By then it was 4pm and I hadn't had lunch. Though I was hungry I wanted to take shower.Once I was out of the shower and about to prepare lunch,there was a knock on the door. When I answered ,I found my neighbour and her 2 and 1/2 year old kid. I checked if she cared for some tea and snacks but she said she had just finished her lunch and came up as she was not feeling sleepy. I smiled with great difficulty. She said she got a haircut for herself and bought new diapers for her daughter.The topic was very exciting but my stomach was not ready to listen to what she was saying.I know it's not stomach that aids hearing but my stomach switched roles with my ears temporarily.

I had changed the spread on the seater in the hall on the same day and the kid was standing ,jumping and having all the fun without even taking her shoes off.My neighbour smiled and said " My daughter never takes off her shoes as she feels cold and she wears it everywhere." I smiled speechlessly.She continued " She likes writing as and when she gets a pen and she has written on all the walls in my house".Just then the small wonder found my hubby's favorite pen and started drawing modern art on the walls.I was dumbstruck at her talent and was at loss of words again. I was happy for once that she was not on my new white spread.

Then she started complaining that her daughter had not yet started speaking and comparatively it was late for the kids of her age. She said it was hard to understand what the kid spoke.Just then the daughter tried to say something but before the Mom could understand she wet the floor. That was not it.She started walking on it and then jumped on to my new white spread.By then her hubby called and she wanted to leave. Kid was not ready to let go of the pen and I was not worried about it at all. I gave the pen cap as well and was happy to see them off.

Now I know what it takes to socialize with neighbours !

When I became a detective

2008-04-29T22:31:00.003+05:30

When I turned the last page after reading the entire series of 'Sherlock Holmes' for 3 hours I felt like none other than but him. Something that you all must know is I'm more or less like him,very smart at discovering things and I'm sure that's why my hubby calls me the brand ambassador of Discovery Channel and not because of my looks or behavior.

After I kept the book aside I realized my home was at dreading silence. Due to the aftereffects of reading the book I wanted to take up this issue very methodically to discover the off-scene facts,no no it's not obscene I know for sure it's off-scene. I started analysing the situation to find out the vital few.

The kid of my neighbour was screaming it's larynx out,my land lady was shouting at the maid,the boys who work in the opposite security firm were fighting over the gender of bobby darling,the labours at the construction next door were being shouted at from the contractor but still my home was at dead peace. I turned on the TV and some video about funny animals was being telecasted on Discovery Channel. It struck to me right then,it was my Kuppu who was missing from the scene. (For reader's clarification only: Kuppu is my kitten which is a month old.) When Kuppu is at home I get a lot of visitors,very frequent being the street dogs.

I put on my glasses,held a lens in my hand and wore a woolen cap (I looked for a leather hat and a smoking pipe to get a detective look but couldn't find both). Kuppu's favorite hideout could be any small space where she could push herself in though it was not possible to get herself out anytime in the past.

My first target was the shoe stand as per Kuppu's priority.I looked inside every shoe in vain. Then I wanted to look behind the fridge but the space was too little for me to get in there. As I was trying to get inside in that 1feet gap,my fridge was pushed forward and I realised that was the easy way to get inside but by then I could see from where I stood that Kuppu was not hiding there. I tried to push the TV stand up thinking it could move just like the fridge but the moment I tried to lift the TV stand entire thing that was on it fell down. I tried to see what was on the TV stand but there was nothing more than just the TV.

Now my search took a serious turn. At any cost I wanted to find her so that I could convince my hubby that I was methodically trying to get Kuppu and how I succeeded. Though there was very little chance to hide in the balcony,I wanted to take this chance so I opened the door and looked once in right side and then in left side slowly turning my head(Slow movement was to add the thriller effect). While I was still looking outside,I felt a kind of movement next to me at the ground level. I looked down in fear only to find kuppu standing next to me looking in the same direction as I was looking slowly turning her head in both the directions. Then she looked at me as if she wanted to know if I found what I was looking for.

That night when I my hubby came home ,I told him about my victory. He had a smile on his face but only until he came to know about the TV :(

An insightful journey.

2008-04-29T22:28:00.004+05:30

" We are always taught to run and compete. We are always told there are only two things in life 'success' and 'failure'...." he continued as I nodded my head in agreement. He asked me all of a sudden " are you working?" to which I said " I was but not anymore." He didn't make any reference to it but said " We compete when we are studying, we compete when we are working,we appreciate knowledge and intelligence only when somebody achieves victory.Looks like we have forgotten to respect other aspects of life and neither do we consider other emotions.We always want to show the world how strong we are but whom do we consider as world?" .

His last statement reminded me of something that happened couple of weeks ago. Not sure whether I wanted to show off that I was very strong or not but I didn't want to cry before anybody. I showed it to the entire world(?) I was strong and I was least affected with whatever happened at work and now I was happy not being associated with work.This didn't last long,the moment I met my hubby at home I broke down and he had to comfort me ,console me and assure me that nothing was lost. He stepped in for my mother which he always did. If I said he was my world then whom was I trying to show off that I was strong.

He continued " There's nothing like success and failure in life,it's all series of incidents that may happen to anybody as long as they have life. Having life is entirely different than just living. The kind of incidents and number of occurrences depends on the type of actions you take and the kind of reactions you produce.Since the beginning we are not taught to learn from them but we are only taught to categorize them as success or failures. "

He sounded more like a management guru but a completely different one,so different than anybody who had published N number of books so far. I was learning the lessons now. We wouldn't share a bad news or a sad emotion with any friends as we think it would burden them.

He said " If you cannot share such a thing with a friend then you can never grow stronger. This only means you don't have enough people with you and without your own people you cannot grow. Remember any work is a team effort at any point of time and this is what everybody learns in the initial stage but fails to remember till the end ." I was travelling alone to meet my parents and met an old man in the bus who was in his late 60s. This was a small talk over something we initiated which I don't remember now but the lessons are unforgettable.

An old man,a young woman and the life's best lesson !

Treadmill Vs Jogging

2008-04-29T22:24:00.003+05:30

As we decided to follow the trend, my hubby and myself checked into the shop to buy a tread mill. While we were on our look out for a " how may I help you? " breed,this guy from nowhere appeared and he had his trade mark on his face to mean that it was him we were looking for, a broad smile. He showed his teeth when he smiled and said " how may I help you Ma'am?" .

I was really offended as he asked me and not my hubby. I asked my hubby " Listen, do I look fat?" my hubby said hesitantly " Bol India bol" . I didn't follow what he said but we moved on.When we asked him to show the tread mill he showed a good looking model ,I meant the tread mill and started explaining the features. I looked at my hubby and asked him to check for the price. He said it was around 40,000/- and he smiled for free showing all his teeth. I wanted to ask if it was a new set. But as I heard the amount I was at loss of words, I looked at my hubby and said " Bol India Bol " but it looked like he was looking somewhere else.

All of a sudden I remembered we had a small house so I told my hubby that it would be difficult to accommodate the treadmill inside the house. Sales guy suggested to keep it outside ,we both looked at him in pity and said " Now-a-days people are very health conscious and our neighbours are very jealous by nature. They would want to use our treadmill and may not give us a chance to use. Lot of obligations you see." Then my hubby said we could keep our refrigerator outside but I had to explain him that winter was never good for these products. Moreover it had been raining since a few days so didn't want to take a chance. What if the rain water took away our fridge? and then I asked my hubby if we could keep the TV outside for which he said that along with the TV we would also need to sit out and when it was raining and so cold outside it was a bad idea to shift outside . Moreover I myself changed my mind as we couldn't afford to sleep outside for reasons that my hubby would snore so loud and I didn't want to hear it from my neighbours about it. At times ,the night watchman would visit us in the morning and thank my hubby whenever he had to go on vacation.

Somehow ,we told the sales guy that it was not because of the price of the treadmill but the size of our house that we were unable to buy one. He showed his teeth again and asked us to come again.We said confidently that we would return once we shifted our house to a bigger one and he believed. We got back home and decided to go for jogging which would work out cheaper. My hubby and I decided not to tell anybody about this treadmill incident. Just then the door bell rang and as we opened the door our owner and another tenant family who were the residents of the ground floor walked in and asked us about treadmill incident.

We looked at each other in dismay and decided to check for ears in the walls once they all left !

Laaga Chunari me...

2008-04-29T22:19:00.005+05:30

There was this angel who sprinkled ideas when people were running out of ideas during weekends. You don't believe it? do you? I bet you will after reading this.

My hubby and I somehow decided on watching this lovely movie called 'Laaga Chunari ....' so now you know there must be someone out there to give you such ideas ,right? Let me share those unforgettable moments with you all. Though the idea was to watch this movie in the theatre the god of rain deprived us of that opportunity hence having left with no option we rented a DVD to honor the earlier thought.I agree it was still raining but we asked this angel to help us out with that (c'mon yaar,now stop asking such silly and not-so-easy to answer questions.)

It was a lovely movie. Like SRK was projected in KHNH,so was Rani portrayed in this movie.Looked like she was the foster daughter to Yash Raj but I didn't think that was the case between SRK and Karan. The story and everybody else revolved around her,for sure the movie director should have been a choreographer in the past. Rekha Nigam,the screenplay and dialogue writer should have been an attorney in her past and that was the reason 'dignity of labour' was proved well and not sure which profession were they trying to promote though. If Ekta were to find this concept ,no doubt this would be 'The Ghar and Baahar Ki kahani' for an eternity. I guess this crew was not as experienced as Ekta.

Between all these exciting melodrama the only boring scenes were those with lively Kunal Kapoor and the charming Aby Baby. Due to the non-availability of free package gift Yash Raj could not cast the Big B hence he managed with two long legged He-Men. (I wonder why do they say He-Man, can it be He- Woman any day? my inner voice is shouting some name 'bobby darling' and I'm clueless).

By then I heard someone knocking at the door and when I looked at the TV and DVD player ,found them all in power saving mode.I yawned once and looked at my hubby to find him rubbing his eyes. He got up to his knees to open the door when I looked at the clock to know the time. It was 11:30pm and our owner was at the door to tell us our bike was still outside the gate. My hubby thanked him and went out to keep the bike in and I looked up to see if the angel was still up above to sprinkle any more ideas for the rest of the night.

So when are you planning to watch this movie?

MAKTUB - It's written !

2008-04-29T22:16:00.004+05:30

I could see couple of them waiting at the entrance to get into a cab to go to the parking lot as it was raining. The cab carrying me stopped at the entrance and people waiting outside got inside as we vacated. As I got out I noticed this friend of mine who was about to step ahead but stopped when he saw me walking towards him. Something said he was upset.

As we worked in different shifts, I was doing an early morning shift and he was doing an evening shift. He would generally leave office after 5 am and I would start working around 4am. I had reached office by 3:30 that morning and I was back after a week's sick leave.I was not in a great mood to get back to work. " Why are you leaving so early?" I asked him. " Signs are not all that good" he said coldly and I could see he was flooded with thoughts and I tried to read what was not spoken by him.

I stood there with him for a while looking at the rain drops. He spoke " I have a gut feeling that I'm not going to be in here for a long time now." He was assuming,I thought. Why would it happen to someone like him? and my heart refused to accept any such thing for a friend so close. He muttered couple of things which made sense but I still wouldn't accept it was going to happen.

I knew he was breaking inside and looked miserable. It was too much for me to withstand though I didn't think it was going to come true. Trying to be composed, he pulled my cheeks as always and said "Look at you, I can see your eyes now. Your cheeks don't look swollen,have you lost weight chubby?" . As he completed with the same mischievous smile he started to walk in the rain.

The very sight of watching him walk away lost in thoughts made me feel guilty. The survivors of nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki might have felt something like how I felt that day looking at him.This happened couple of months ago and it was raining again just like how it did the other day. I might of recalled it N number of times but today when I went home I was smiling for the first time when I thought about it. I knew it was a terrible thing to happen to anybody and I have felt bad but I didn't know how he felt that day.

I wanted to call him today to tell him that now I knew how he felt. But what would I get by reminding anybody of such moments???? Being very positive, I thought to myself " I'm truly a good friend. I'm sharing everything including the fate of the closest of my friend." I smiled as I thought. Now that's what I call Maktub !

In between,anybody wants a lite?....I'm just fired ;)

Groom wanted from Mars

2008-04-29T22:11:00.004+05:30

Last week I visited one of my colleagues as she was on leave due to illness. When I went to her house she looked better and spoke normally. Her parents had gone out and therefore we were at our best comfort level talking about anything on earth. When we were talking about her parents' look out for a match for her, she said " Oh , my mum is just not happy with ANY body. Looks like she cannot accept any man on earth as her son-in-law. So I gotta wait until I get some alien."

Just as she completed her parents walked in and she introduced me to them. While having coffee her mum asked me if I was married to which I said yes and she asked where was my hubby from. Keeping what my friend said in mind, I tried to gain her acceptance so I said without a delay " He's from Mars." and to convince her that was true I looked straight in her eyes smiling. She looked excited and said " Is that so? that's very nice to know. Even I feel it's better to get someone from there" and now she shifted her focus to uncle and said " right?". He looked pitiful and nodded his head vertically. Then she asked me another question " so what does he do in Mars?". I wasn't prepared for this neither my friend had told me what her mum liked. I looked around hoping to get an idea and just then uncle switched the channel to a sports channel. I said instantly " he plays cricket." Her mum looked even more excited " Wow,is it famous in Mars as well?"

I followed uncle's method but couldn't do it with perfection as I was not used to nodding my head.So I nodded my head once horizontally and then corrected by nodding vertically. Her mum first looked confused but then she didn't have time for clarification as her cell phone rang. I exhaled. No it's not any ad for Vicks.

For sometime, peace prevailed in the hall. All 3 of us were involved watching 20-20 but everyone knows that the good times don't last long. Her mum got back cribbing about the amount of work she had next week at office. While speaking, she was looking at me so I didn't have a choice but to constantly keep nodding my head in all directions. Ahhh! you all must know how much my neck pained when I got home that evening. She said she was responsible for everything that happened at work and men at work were just not worth being there. She had to take care of everything beginning from coffee machine till the tissue paper in the stack. I asked innocently " So aunty, are you in house keeping?" . She laughed sympathetically at my ignorance and made it clear that she was an admin. I had to nod my head again.

By then, my hubby's nephew called me to check if I was leaving as he had promised to pick me from my friend's house. He being just 3 year younger to my hubby he was next on the list for the look out at home and I told my friend about the same when we continued talking after I answered his call .Her mum heard me talking about him to her and for some reason sounded more interested in that. She started bombarding me with questions and the last one was " So dear, what kind of a girl are you all looking for?" .

I heard his bike roar outside the gate and as I walked to the door I said to her " Aunty actually we are looking for a girl from Venus." My friend winked at me as I sat on the bike.

The Big - Fat Wedding :)

2008-04-29T22:07:00.005+05:30

It's the story of Big and Fat who got married around 2 years ago ! As it's not a thriller let me tell you who this Big and Fat are now itself which may save you from all the pain of trying to figure out who they are.They are none other than My hubby (Big) and Me (Fat) :)

My hubby and I didn't have too many problems either when our wedding was being discussed at home or during wedding except for some ego clashes among our elders (which made it a conventional wedding and we were happy at least that way it did look like a conventional wedding.) I remember when Ed had come home to talk to my dad on a Sunday morning.He was very well prepared and it was shown on his face. He had a broad smile trying to hide his tension, he had his broken hand (he had met with an accident then) resting on his stomach and probably that might have helped him to manage the stomachful of butterflies. I'm sure he had rehearsed his answers for some of the common questions.After all why do we watch movies and make friends if not to get help during such instances?

As I served tea or coffee ( I don't remember what I did as I was watching Ed and trying to be his moral support), my dad was more interested in searching for an extra cup as tea was hot and was enjoying tea which he did every morning without fail. Ed was ready to utter all answers at the same time but was just waiting for my dad to say one word,even if it was "The tea is hot,isn't it?" and I'm sure he wold have started with his answers,looked liked dad was testing his patience.

Finally dad looked up and said " OK,so if you guys are sure,go ahead." Knowing my dad I smiled but Ed could not believe what he heard and he was so disappointed for not having been given a chance to say what he had practiced. My dad added " I guess both of you are off today,if you have any plans you can carry on." with that he got involved with sipping his tea and watching some James Bond movie. Ed and I laughed as we recollected this sitting in the registrar office on our wedding day waiting for the registrar to come. Ed said " Chellom, it was all so smooth and easy da.I thought I had to win a biiiiiiig fight to get wedded." That's how adventurous my hubby is.

Once all the procedures at the registrar office were followed,we got out for a photo session under the hot sun. My dad walked back and forth behind the photographer instructing the photographer and we all wondered when did he take interest in photography. You never know ...you can't believe old people you see.Their interest,passion,hobbies change all of a sudden...from photography to cookery. Thanks to Mr.Big B who made us all realise the inside story. When we all posed,my dad asked the photographer to include the board ,which stated the name of the registrar office and place. Then again as we continued posing he kept on repeating same thing to the photographer. There was this friend of Ed and mine,Sandy who couldn't stop himself from saying this to Ed later " Macha, your FIL was asking for the board so many times. I felt like asking the photographer to take a picture of him holding that board in his hands." That's dad,he would say/ask something unexpected every time and you would never know why.

I smiled as I recollected when I turned the leaves over in the wedding album. There was Ed standing next to me as a pillar and he still is. The next leaf brought up the pic where we were seated for the pooja organized by my parents for tying the knot in conventional way which we attended soon after the registration of wedding. I looked at the pic where he was tying the knot and the following shloka just crossed my mind;
" Tvameva Mata Cha Pita Tvameva
Tvameva Bandhuscha Sakha Tvameva
Tvameva Vidya Dravinam Tvameva
Tvameva Sarvam mama Deva Deva ".

Tail bone(s) :)

2008-04-29T22:03:00.004+05:30

It was a long day at work. When I was just about to leave, Gene called me. Name sounds funny is it? so does the person. I wouldn't want to disclose her identity so let me use the same name,in fact people know her by this name than her original name.Explaining anything to her would take a genius anything more than an eternity. Anyway,poor thing wanted to inform me about her engagement. She sounded happy.

She was in my team before she quit and moved on to join a different organisation. She asked me about our old teammates and the managers as well. There was this support group expert with us then who had just met with an accident and injured his tail bone. As we were talking about everybody I told her about him as well. She felt really sad and asked me whether he suffered any major injuries for which I told her about his tail bone injury.

She did feel very sad and asked me for his # to give him a " get well soon " call. Then she said she got a haircut done for her engagement and her guy liked it a lot,he even said it looked very sexy.I didn't have a choice but to ask her to forward her makeover pics.Like she was waiting for it, she said she would do it right then. I Asked her to send it to my personal ID so that I could check that at home as I was leaving for the day.Just before we ended she asked me all of a sudden " Geethu, you said tail bone na? front one or back?" ! I didn't know what to say, with great difficulty I managed to say " back" and disconnected.

I came home with a sad face and my hubby knew something was wrong,so he asked me " What's wrong sweet?" . Holding my tears I said to him " Chinnu ,now I know why I scored so less in biology. My biology teacher never told me there was a tail bone in front as well and I was always under the impression that there's only one which is at the back." When I looked at him, I could make out even he was trying to control his emotions.He said " Don't tell me you spoke to Gene ". Alas ! that's my hubby he knows in and out of me. Anyway I felt really sad for my Biology knowledge.

After I went through all sorts of refreshments, I sat before the system to check my personal mails and found Gene's pics as well. I called my hubby to show him the pics. While we were waiting for it to open I told him every word what we spoke.He looked like he listened to everything I said. I didn't want to ask him to repeat as he looked more interested waiting for the pics to open. It was taking a long time but there were only two pics. For now, it was all still black like hair and nothing else was visible.Suddenly we looked at the bottom of the pics for the title which read "Before" and " After" respectively. We looked at each other and shutdown the system.

Planning a trip to Pondy .

2008-04-29T21:59:00.003+05:30

We 4 decided to go to some far off place where our cell phones could not be reached if not for anybody at least for our manager. Don't get me wrong, we are her WELL...let me complete ...wishers . We didn't want to bother her for SOMETIME.

So we started making plans to go to Pondy (did I say faaaaaaaar off place?). This was how far we could afford to go on a weekend (did I say for sometime?). The Master brains behind this BPI were Ashwin,Preeti,Raj and Me. Preeti had done many such projects successfully in the past and therefore we decided to have her as our project manager. But as every project manager she left for an on site for another such project delegating responsibilities to us. She sure would get the best manager award during one of the RnRs sometime in future.

We somehow decided to plan it strategically and hence called for a break during working hours to begin the first phase. All 3 of us met up in a private place called cafeteria,in between I called my husband to check if he would like to join. Though he said he would, he never turned up. It was only later that I got to know from him he thought I was asking him whether he would like join the Pondy trip and not the Pondy discussion.

Anyway, we wanted to confirm how many of us were actually going to Pondy. Including my husband it was 5. Then Raj said " Looking at the # of on sites Preeti has gone for ,I don't really think she would be able to make it if she said one more " He meant leave when he said on sites and FYI readers,we 5 wouldn't always get the common weekly offs. We wanted to reduce the count to 4.Hehehehe,we were following the BPI guidelines.

Now it was the commuting part. Raj and myself looked at Ashwin since he had a car and 4 could fit inside a car unless it was a Reva and we knew it was not.Ashwin looked into our eyes and said "Guys guess what? train ,reservation and buy tickets and all so why don't we take a bus?". I interrupted " Right, we forgot we didn't need to buy tickets while travelling by bus". Ashwin pushed me away while Raj giggled. I was beginning to believe we were a great team as we didn't agree to each other at any point of time.

An hour had already passed and now we were discussing the hot topic finance (it was already autumn for my cheque leaves) I interrupted with an unrelated question " Hey guys,should I pack warm clothes". Ashwin took sometime to realise that I actually asked that question and Raj ,who was from the same place, was almost hysterical when he heard me.(Readers, if anybody wants to have the weather report of Pondy you can get in touch with Raj ) I tried to prove my point by reminding them it was winter but you know,truth is always bitter and you cannot win with only facts.

Our manager did see us in cafe and stopped by for a casual talk.In fact she didn't see us first but we did and the following happened. I shouted " Hieeeeeeeeeee" My 'hi' was stretched at the end as Raj almost crushed my toe with his shoe when I shouted. By then she had seen us and walked up to the table for a casual talk. I looked at Raj in pain and said " Raj, that's my toe. What's wrong with you?". He looked embarrassed for some reason and tried smiling ( I wonder why),my manager smiled as Raj did and asked " so what are you guys up to?". Ashwin said "nothing much Ma'm , you know ..hmm,ahhh,just..." I wanted to help him,so I said to her " Planning a trip to Pondy".

She said " Cool" and looked excited as well but Ashwin and Raj looked pale at the same time. " So when are you guys gonna visit Pondy?" I told her the dates and Raj suddenly stood up with his hand inside his pocket trying to take something out. That looked awkward but it was all clear once he pulled out his cell phone. He said he wanted to make an urgent phone call and left. I wonder how people get reminded of only urgent phone calls during such occasions. Anyway I felt really sad for him. He looked so pale ,it must have been really urgent. So did Ashwin look,I looked at Ashwin to check if even he wanted to make any urgent phone calls but he didn't move. I thought he didn't understand why I looked at him so I asked him if even he wanted to make any phone calls. For some reason he looked irritated with me and looked once at me and once at our manager and then tried to smile. Sure it took great efforts to change expressions in such a short while for him.After she left, I asked Ashwin about Raj,he said Raj had scheduled his sick leave to take off for Pondy trip which wouldn't happen now.

Like I would know! This is what happens when men don't let the women know about what they want to do. Anyway ,Raj came on messenger and said Pondy trip was OOS. FYI,OOS is not out of station but out of scope.

I think we couldn't make it as our project manager was not around but I still don't understand why Raj and Ashwin start fuming everytime I talk about an outing.

Aseema - Just like the name !

2008-04-29T21:55:00.003+05:30

Aseema looked at the photo as she sat by the chair before the mirror. It was the day when he went away from her forever and she never worked on this day in the past but now she had decided to work. She was not sure whether she was right or not . She was flooded with thoughts as she looked into the mirror.

Aseema was born in a family which was below poverty line and it was a big family with 12 members. Her father was a drunkard and spent all his little earnings into drinking.He would do anything to get couple of drinks.Aseema's mother would work in some houses and stitch clothes to look after the family and one of her sisters would work in some houses for money. When such is the case, one of the kids went missing on one fine day and they could never find her. As the family was so big and there were many heads to look after nobody bothered so much to search for the one who went missing. Some said Aseema's father sold the kid for a huge amount of money and ran away with it.Whatever said and done her father never returned home.

As Aseema grew up and learnt the state of her family she decided to take up the responsibilities to help her Mother. Once she decided to do it,there was no second thought. She got involved with her work and never cared about her future.Aseema knew what she wanted to do and therefore she only maintained professional relationship with anybody she came across with. She tried her best not to get emotional with even the finest of men.

As everyone knows, it's not same everytime. There was this man whom she met during one of her professional interactions. She had an opportunity to go out with Angad who had come home on vacation. He was in army and had just come home for couple of weeks. They met ,they spent time and Aseema realised it was not the same with this man. They spoke about each other a lot. Though Aseema took a lot of time to open up,she did tell him about her family. It didn't seem to affect the way he accepted her and she was happy about it.

Due to requirement,Angad had to get back before time and wanted to meet Aseema before he left for the service. They met and Angad finally asked her about spending the rest of the life together. He assured to support her and her family till his last breath.Aseema was speechless,she had much hoped and less expected it to happen. Aseema stopped working once Angad left and sent news to her mother,her mother was very happy for her. They all hoped to set things right once he returned during his next vacation.

Angad never returned alive,Aseema broke. Before she met Angad she was just living but now she was completely lifeless. It took an eternity for her to overcome and now she was all alone again. She resumed work as she still had her responsibilities to take care of. Sometimes,it's the force of responsibilities due to which the person resumes normalities. It had been 5 years now and Aseema never stopped working except on the day when Angad went away from her forever.

Now ,Aseema's sister was getting married and they needed more money at home. She could not exempt even one day as it would be a loss. She didn't want her mother to suffer though she knew nobody knew Aseema even existed. Except for her mother nobody in her family even knew the kid whom their father sold long back was alive and earning for them by fulfulling the dark desires for so long. Just then the door bell rang and Aseema knew who it was. She pulled the drawer,put the photo inside and closed it. Got up,looked into the mirror, brought a smile on the face and walked upto the door .

Good evening Aseema!

I met Catherine !

2008-04-29T21:49:00.005+05:30

This weekend was one of the memorable ones. It was a community out reach weekend at work and I went along with my colleagues to visit the kids,be there and have fun with them. My husband and I reached much before the scheduled time and waited for the rest of them to join us. While we were waiting for the rest,my husband got busy with his photography followed by his little nephew who came along with us and I was lost in my thoughts.

It was a sunny afternoon,it reminded me of my school days. Even I studied in a convent and as a kid I would always wait for Saturday afternoon for I knew there would be no class after that till Monday morning. Our school premises was big enough for us to stay back and play pranks under the hot Sun. Once tired,we would get inside the church and pray before the statue of Mother Mary and Jesus Christ kneeling down (now I wonder I prayed?!). I remembered we had a pet,an ANT !!!!!He he he,when it died of stampede, we all cried and burried it under a tree and also prayed for it! When this thought crossed my mind,I smiled and just then something flashed.That was my hubby with his camera. By then the rest of them joined us and it was time for us to start our day with the kids.

We all got together ,kids were grouped according to classes and they started with their drawings. They were given drawing papers. I was visiting each group to know each one of them and be with them. Among them ,I could find such talented ones ,they drew really well. When reached a group of class 10 which consisted of teen-girls. Most of them were very shy and were hiding their drawings as well as themselves. I was trying my best effort to comfort them. I'm not in my teens now but I could certainely understand how a teenager felt. I know they needed more attention,comfort and constant care.I was still trying my best. Most of them began to respond to my care and comfort. They started sharing their opinion about each other's drawing. Among them was this girl who looked like,for some reason, had decided to stay in her nut shell. Some of them asked me what could they call me?, some asked if 'Akka' is fine?, some asked my name. I slowly moved closer to her while I was getting bombarded with questions. Once I sat next to her,she suddenly looked up and asked me ' Akka, what do you speak? ' for which I said " Anything ". She looked confused and then she asked me " No,what I meant was language" for which I said smiling " I can manage to speak anything if you can manage to follow what I speak ". She laughed and the ice broke that's when she said her name was Catherine.

It was nice fun. They all posed with their drawings in hand for photographs but it took a great deal for us to make them pose for the photographs. Catherine was so shy,hesitant and adamant that she never posed . She handed over her drawing to me and said " are you happy with my drawing? I'm not good at it,do you find it good or not?" I said " It's nice dear. I like it." She said not believing me " you are lieing,you must be better than me. Anyway,it's just for you." When she said the second line she looked at me and I knew she meant it. It touched me, for her age she had drawn really well and I told her the same thing and I told her one more truth that I didn't know to make drawings. She didn't look like she believed,she said " Pongo" and she ran away. She reminded me of myself.

We played musical chair and all the kids enjoyed it like anything. They shouted,screamed,cried, clapped and they were lost in it. I didn't find Catherine when this game was being played. I thought to myself that the kind of character she was,very shy and hesistant,she must have got away from all of that.Shortly,it was our turn to play the same game. When we were about to start running around the chairs Catherine shouted my name from nowhere to say " Akka,you must win" and within a few minutes I disappointed her. I didn't find a chance to talk to her after that.

After the event, we all moved into hall for talent show. Not sure how the kids knew I was a back bencher but those who were already seated at the back wanted me to join them while my team organised the talent show for them. It looked like I was part of the convent and not the organising team. Never mind I was enjoying thoroughly and who wouldn't in a school? I joined them at the back bench and realized Catherine was right there commanding over other girls. I almost fell for her. I sat next to her listening to her comments about each of the girls around. She almost told me about half the school and we giggled so much over her teen talks. I enjoyed watching the talent show with her. Catherine was surprised or shocked(I couldn't make out) to know that I was married and was even more shocked to know that my hubby and I belonged to different religions and spoke different tongues. She was hysterical,hilarious,hyper and lovely.

Finally they bid farewell to us,I joined my office team,waved at all the kids. They were all so happy and I liked being one among them so much. Couple of them hugged me,some pulled my hair when I held them in my arms,some kissed me. Could I have asked for anything better than that? I followed my team on the way out. While I was about to step out someone held my finger and I stopped and I knew who it was ! I turned back ,yes it was her and she asked me" Akka, will you come again? " for which I said " You want me to?" . Something flashed and this time it was not my husband's camera but Catherin's eyes and she said " I would love it" . I hugged her.

That's how I met Catherine !

Practical Classes

2008-04-25T23:56:00.005+05:30

"...and this is when you decide to perform a surgery..." Professor Sathyaprakash continued his lecture on symptoms and analysis playing with a incisor on a dead body. It had taken close to 2 hours and the entire class was dead mostly due to the atmosphere of the room. It was the first period for the day which started around 7am and by now their hunger was killed ruthlessly. They all sighed in silence looking at the dead body in jealousy as the professor went on speaking in detail about surgery. It looked like an eternity.

Anantha yawned in silence,she would feel better if she could stretch her arms but had no choice as that's not something that could be done in silence. Ashit pulled her bag asking her for breakfast box which irritated her, not because he asked for breakfast but it was too much of work for her to take out the box as she was feeling too lazy to do that. " How can you eat in a place like this?" Anantha whispered to Ashit to which he said " why not? these kind of places are safe,people won't ask to share" he winked at her as he completed.

As the two continued to disagree,they noticed Nakul stuck to the window. They looked in the same direction as he did to find out what captured his attention. All they could see was a group of people waiting for the medical check up or report etc. After trying to figure out for couple of minutes in vain,they decided to ask him about his great involvement. " Nakku, there's this Great China Wall in between which is blocking Anu's and My vision and therefore we are not able to see what you are able to. So will you please throw light on it?" Ashit initiated the talk by grabbing him by his arms to bring him back to the class. Nakul expressed his disapproval for interference and grabbed them by their neck and pulled one each on either sides and said " Look closely in the same direction,do you see what I see now?". Ashit pushed his glasses in place trying to see what Nakul could.

By now Anu knew what was Nakul looking at,she pushed Nakul to free herself from him and sat down on the floor smiling pulling Ashit and Nakul. There were some 30 students in the room and these 3 were standing at the back.No one would even notice them if they sat down. Ashit asked Anantha " What did u see?" ,she looked at Nakul and smiled " Nakku is full fida on that girl sitting on the front desk ,did you get to see her face?". Ashit looked disappointed " Is that all? is that why you were looking lost? a girl?...ohhh,nothing interesting is it?" Ashit didn't even bother to stand up to look back into the window to find out which girl was Anu talking about,instead he pulled Anu's bag to get breakfast box out. Nakul pushed him and said " you are a shit man...truly " stood back and started looking out of the window again. " Sheeee,that's not that you should say when someone is having food" Ashit opened the box as he muttered.

Anu took the box away from him and said "let the class dismiss and I will give it to you once we get out of here ,i wonder how can you eat when it smells like this".All of them were waiting for the class to get over and they all had their reasons for it. Nakul could not wait to talk to the girl and Ashit was too hungry as the most of them in the class. Anu wanted to reach ladies' room at rocket speed. Finally,it was a happy hour for all of them. Professor Sathyaprakash completed his lecture and let go of his students unwillingly and nobody knew what he asked them to do at the end of the class as they all hurried their way out once professor exited out. Anu ran like an Ostrich followed by Ashit who at any cost didn't want to miss the breakfast.

Nakul also did the same thing,he wanted to get to the pretty lady of whom he got a glimpse while he was inside the class.To get there ,he had to run down and go to the next block. On his way there, he was recollecting her pretty face which was the only thing he could see. A pair of beautiful dark eyes,neatly trimmed eye browse,traditional look,smiling face,hair that had fallen on her forehead ,her ear drops that moved every time she laughed and spoke to someone sitting next to her. She looked very beautiful to him,he just wanted to speak to her. As he had his apron on and stethoscope in hand he could anyway make up an excuse to talk to her.He could ask her for the reason for her being there or offer help. Nakul was excited and by the time he reached the block he had even rehearsed the dialogues.

Now that he reached there and was panting,he tried to control his anxiety by breathing deeply in and out as learnt in the psychology classes.Damn! it didn't help. With that he even cursed Ms. Kannika Komarla who was his psychology lecturer. He said to himself " That's why ,psychology lecture should have been a man,a woman wouldn't have experienced all these."As he was getting closer to where she was sitting his anxiety level was increasing like Cholesterol level. He didn't want to look straight in that direction therefore he waited until he got really close. Once he was almost there,he thought of talking to the woman who was sitting next to her as he thought that's more appropriate. Trying not to look at her, he spoke to the woman, " I'm Dr. Nakul. Do you need any help? Looks like you are sitting here since quite long?" .

She replied " No doctor, we are fine. My daughter is supposed to undergo urine test,she has been drinking water as advised by the lady doctor so we are waiting. She's 6 months pregnant you see. Thank you for che cking with us anyway ". Nakul slowly looked at the lady next to her ,and this time though she smiled sweetly at Nakul ,he didn't look at her face but looked at her to confirm what that woman said was true and turned himself away trying to smile at them gently. Once he was away from them he could see Anantha and Ashit looking at him in sympathy. They ran after Nakul rolling on the corridors once they got away from the place !!!!!!