Year of prospect - 2014

10 days after my previous post, as I was lulling away at a resort in BR Hills, celebrating our 4^th anniversary, Pranathi called. Pranathi, who was initially and went on to become one of my closest pals over the years along with arguably being my sister and/or sister-in-law.

She shared with us the good news of her wedding proposed to be held in December of the year. The news, along with making me want to get back to Bangalore immediately, also marked my calendars busy for all weekends for the rest of the year.

The last 6 months we have be submerged in wedding preparation and with 2 other weddings in the family in the mean time, I have had very little time to spare.

So I am back here at the brink of new year hoping that the coming year will see more posts than any of the previous. This year, I drifted from the usual rut of resolutions and decided to make a progress chart.

I have made a table similar to the attendance sheet at school. Only in place of the names, I have the list of things that I plan to do. Every day that I carry out an activity, I will mark a tick against the date. That way, at the end of each month, I can see tangible progress and also work out a plan at including items in my schedule, that I have ignored. There are no goals on the list, just tasks.

So my list doesn’t read “Lose Weight”. But it sure has “Exercise for 30 minutes” and “Eat healthy”. I have also included “Write” on the list though not specifically mentioning the blog.

So looking forward to a year full of moves in the right direction and also a fun-filled year with Baby A starting to express by words. More on him in my next post!

Happy New Year 2014!!

Picking up where we last left off…

Life goes on like a sinusoidal wave. Soon after my last post, things kept changing suddenly giving little time for me to keep pace.

A lovely start to the Tamil New year…. but alas, short-lived joy. After a week full of unknowingly the last time for many good things shared with her, a life changing incident brought her to the dingy indoors of a hospital. Thereafter 2 months of ceaseless pain and agony. Two months of togetherness, but hardly. Two months of service, but to no avail. Two months…. and I lost the most important person of my life.

Another two months pass, and even while I am trying to gather myself from the grief, the news of a brewing baby in my tummy. What an irony, like she left the vacancy for me to get the seat…. Motherhood.

Come the next Tamil New year, we impatiently awaited the arrival of our child. He was born; a tender, innocent bundle of joy - Akash.

The next few months zapped past amidst poop filled diapers, wet cloth nappies, lullabies and silent conversations with my little one over feeds. Time flew as I looked forward to each development and every new action was a milestone reached. From staring at eternity, to the social smile, to kicking around, to the motor sounds, the first flip, the toothless grin, the first inch forward, the jabber, the sitting, the first pearly white, the standing and most recently, the first step ahead.. I kept ticking them off the list.

In between of so much, the initiation to the day care happened. And of course, my return to work.

After months of late nights shuttling between the baby and work, work finally slowed down. With A turning one, the night feeds stopped allowing me night-full sleep after more than a year.

The usual chores keep the days busy but the rage is over. Life is back to the schedules with mornings packed with cooking, dropping A at daycare and getting set for office. Evenings are well-spent playing with A and preparing for the next days. The time is come again when I have time for myself, time for the blog, time…

Is this the calm after the storm? Or before?

Happy Women's Day!!!!

It is 8th March 2011 – The 100th International Women’s Day. I am just back from a special program organized at our company, where eminent speakers from the industry shared their understanding of Gender Diversity and how women can help themselves to make this world accept women as much more than just home makers.

Two years back in this same occasion I remember standing up against the panelists to put forth a point that women are no more their own enemies. I took the example of my mother-in-law (then to be MIL) saying that she was not against my working after marriage. She in fact stressed on the point that I retain my financial independence.

It is now two years of knowing her. The more I know of her, the more I admire her. She may have her various weaknesses, but I am conscious of her toil, her sacrifices, her will power and her victory. And today when she tells me I mustn’t ever give up my career, I know exactly why she says so.

There are many famous women who have left their mark by their struggle and here is one, who in her own small way, has put her foot down in a male dominated community to prove a point. I am privileged to be so closely associated to a person with such a strong determination to conquer her world against all odds.

On this women special day, I salute her and thank her for her contribution in making Karthik what he is today. Amma, I am absolutely in awe of you!

My new venture...

Clutch & Brake, Clutch & Brake, Clutch & Brake… Keep the steering steady, stay on the left side of the road… Apply the clutch while changing gears, check the road width while taking U-turns…control the speed at 30kmph, … give the correct hand signals, always use left and right indicators, … apply hand break while parking, leave the parked vehicle in 1st gear, stay in 2nd gear in turns and crossroads….

Yes, you guessed right, I am learning driving :)

Yet another wish coming true...

Looks like our family is celebrating Vehicle year. Imagine... 4 new vehicle additions to our home!! It started off with a bicycle on my birthday, progressed to a bike for Kiran, then a Maruti 800 which my in-laws bought to ease their conveyance issues. And now finally, the cream.... A Chevrolet Beat Cocktail Green will soon make its way into our parking lot!!

This prestiged object which was meant to be a birthday gift to Hubs decided to make him so impatient that he bring it in a whole month in advance.

So, within the coming 10 days, our parking area which is almost empty now, will be brimming with vehicles fighting for place...

Looking forward to ten days hence... ;)

The Return

Last week I completed 27 years on Mother Earth. Since this was my first birthday after marriage, a lot of people were enquiring about the events lined up for the day. Since we were in a crucial stage of my project, taking a day off was out of question. In the evening Hubs had to go to Mysore for some urgent work. Hence whatever the celebration, had to be done between 12am and 8 am in the morning.

Truthfully, I was already expecting a midnight cake cutting, with flowers, chocolates and new clothes. The previous evening, Hubs left early from office and seemed all busy. When I reached home, I was not allowed into one of the rooms.

Hubs kept impatiently looking at the clock until it finally struck 12. I entered the room beautifully lit with fancy candles, cherry flavour emanating from some of them. The room was decorated and had Post-its all over the wardrobes. There were flowers, there were chocolates, all that I think makes a wonderful birthday. I started off with cutting the cake amidst artificial snowfall courtesy Kiran. The cake was awesomely tasty!!!

I took some time moving around reading the messages over each of the post-it. They were funny, cute and lovable all at once. As I moved further, a post-it on the balcony door read, “Enter to find your surprise gift”. My mind was blank I couldn’t think of anything that could give me a surprise. I stepped in.

My heart jumped with joy and I wanted to squeal like a baby. It was an old friend – a very special one. I spent most of my adolescence talking to it, riding it, confiding in it. Everybody knew I had my heart on it.

This one is a lavender colour grace. It is called Hero – Miss India. One look and it brought back memories of my maroon BSA SLR. Though it was given away some years back, I always longed for a cycle for me to go on my little adventurous expeditions. I also kept mentioning it every now and then but never thought Hubs would actually get one for me. It was indeed the best-est birthday gift I could get!!

The remaining of the day was mostly uneventful. Of course, not to forget the cake cutting and free chocolate cream facial I got at office. A lot of school and college friends, some really close mates called to wish. Without doubt I had a very special and memorable 1st birthday after marriage and loved every moment of it!!

Bangalore re-discovered

It was the end of Kiran’s exams. He needed a break and Amma decided to join him to Bangalore for a stay at our home. They reached on Friday evening. As usual I was held up at office until 8pm. Mentally though, I was home since 4pm wondering what Amma must be doing, if Kiran had started playing on the Wii, what were they talking, what was all the fun that I was missing.

Come Saturday morning, Amma got ready early and started pestering us to go out somewhere. The next two days we were out on the roads of Bangalore, armed with a Bus Pass each. A Daily Pass costs Rs.32 and allows unlimited bus travel for an entire day. We went to places far apart within the city, without having to worry about buying the ticket or waiting for change from the conductor every time we changed buses.

I mostly sat beside the window cocking out my head trying not to miss any of the happenings outside. Most of the places I had never seen before. I was excited for sure, and I think it showed on my face. We visited relatives, went to ISKON and a couple of other temples nearby. We reached home as late as 8:30 both days, priding ourselves that we hadn’t spent more than the pass fare for the entire excursion.

It had been long since I ventured in that side of Bangalore and I was both surprised and amused by the walls in the city. They were vibrant and colourful with paintings. Huge image on various topics – musicians, old heritage structures, dancers, artisans, nature, birds, waterfalls. It was an exhilarating sight. Initially I was so drawn into the artwork that it never struck me to click a pic. When it finally dawned on me, I realized my mobile was with Kiran who was sitting far away in the back seat of the bus. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Kudos to BBMP on their new initiative!! I know there are some folks who have opposed this saying it is a waste of money, but I personally feel that this is a great way of creating opportunity for talented painters to showcase their skills. I had begun to feel that India has lost all its talent to History but I guess last weekend changed my opinion.

On our journey back home from Majestic, there were two girls sitting across me in the bus. They were definitely discussing something very interesting. Unfortunately they used a medium beyond my understanding – mere expressions and lip & hand movements. They seemed really engrossed in their conversation thankfully oblivious of my stare. Insensitive though I may sound to their disability, I enjoyed the experience. One of them especially gave such pronounced expressions, it almost looked to me like a dancer in performance.

Looking forward to more trips around the city like this one. Hopefully in future I will have a fully loaded camera in hand to bring back my musings.

** Pic courtesy The Hindu