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

Milestones...

It is that time of the year again, when the countdown to the New Year has begun. It is once again time to make resolutions, check on old resolutions, and renew the contract for some past resolutions. It is once again the shortest day of the year and it is once again the day when this blog was started.

For one, I can pat on my back for having braced the storm of distractions for an entire year. The number of posts made in this year is 26, which on an average means a post a fortnight, which sounds good and regular. However, I regret not being as regular as the average seems. There have been times when I posted twice a week and sometimes, months when posts never happened.

The past year had a good mix of personal thoughts, festivals and incidents. I may not call this a laudable beginning, but atleast it was a beginning. Having stepped on the one year milestone, it is now time to take my blog somewhere. The journey so far was unplanned and the target as just to fill; to remember to come back to this space; not let it bury under the sands of time.

This was my New Year Resolution for the year 2009, and I grant myself that I lived upto it. This year, I renew my resolution, although making it more competitive. This year I resolve not just to add on to this page but to find a Purpose to this blog, Plan my entries and follow a Pattern. I also plan to put up pics occassionally alongside the text.

Incidentally today I also complete 7 whole months of marital bliss. True to the word, it has indeed been bliss. Like the wise men said, “Marriage is an eye opener”. It not just opened my eyes to the fine person that Hubs is but also to a few qualities in me that are too deeply etched for me to deny. No matter how much I disagree, I realize I am quite a stubborn person with a fixed mind, rarely open to change. Another surprise to me was that I am not as calm a person as I thought I was and can sometimes have a really short temper.

In the beginning of the New Year, I hereby also resolve to overcome my shortcomings gradually, bit by bit, one after the other.

On this yet another hopeful note, I conclude.

Ah I forgot to mention, coming weekend there is a trip to Ooty awaiting me. Hopefully I should have a piece about it before the New Year sets in!!

Surprises are meant to be Busted!

Coincidence has it that my father and FIL share their birthday- 11 December. As Mysore is an easy access from Bangalore and also as 11th this year fell on a Friday, hubs and I decided to surprise my FIL by landing up there without notice. We even conspired with Kiran to buy a cake and leave it at a Patti’s home so we could pick it up on our way from the station.

As luck would have it, another relative saw Kiran carrying a cake into Patti’s house and promptly called up Pa to tell him that something was awaiting him at 10pm. Dad kinda guessed that Karthik and I would be there. We consoled ourselves that the cake would yet be unexpected. But lo, Appa decided to go seek Patti’s blessings. Old people as far as I know have this sheer joy of surprisingly busting a surprise such that the person giving the surprise is taken by surprise themselves and the one who is to be surprised is surprisingly happy that he already got to know of the surprise!! Patti did just that. Her blessings ended with, “they have left a cake for you here. Karthik and Shilpa will get it at night”

******
As the train screeched into Mysore station, we promptly called Kiran saying we have reached. He and Dad (!!!!!!) were there to pick us up. I usually get very upset with such sudden turn of events because I will miss the ‘joy in the eyes’ that is a definite response to any surprise. This time though, I thankfully had another surprise for dad (this one, nobody except Hubs knew about). We waited for Dad to cut the cake and then I slowly motioned a box of me-made Besan laddoos towards him. Appa was overjoyed coz he had heard a lot about it being my specialty and kept asking me to make them for him. It had never happened for one reason or the other. Within no time, the box was empty and Kiran and Dad were smaking their lips.

Winds of change

This post should have happened atleast 2 weeks back when finally the Wii came home. But I guess it is a good excuse to say that I was playing rather than sitting down to write about it. Yes, the Wii came and brought along with it winds of change. The first couple of days were dull as Hubs fell terribly sick and kept me busy tending to his various needs, leaving little time for the game.

Now, our evenings are action packed as Hubs and I fight about who will play what. I just about pick the remote and like magic, evenings turn into night. Life after the Wii is super-awesome. There is no derth of pastime nor physical activity. Both Hubs and I are so involved in the game, we literally screech at each other like we just missed the Wimbeldon trophy. After a series of tennis matches against each other, we thought it a good idea to rather play in the same team rather than trying to match our prowess. Tennis games are a lot more peaceful now. I consistently beat him through the nose is Bowling. In all other games though, it is me who takes the beating. He is really good at sports, and now, I am convinced. Just to save grace, I blame all my misses to lack of practice because I don’t have the time. I have to do so much work at office, around the house – cooking, washing, cleaning, blah blah. You have all the time in the world to practice the game. I get away with it.

The coming weekend I will be away at Mysore. But the weekend after that, I am hoping to spend an entire day Wii’ing… much fun!!

I am hooked... finally!!!

I accept that I am averse to change… or anything new for that matter. I’ve noticed for a while now. Quite late to the cyber world, I was probably one from the last lot who created an orkut profile. I avoided Facebook until I got atleast 75 requests and finally gave in. After so many weeks of steering away from Farmville despite the discussion my friends and cousins had, everytime telling me that it was fun, I got weak today when my sister asked me to look after her farm until she returned from vacation. After doing the minimum that her farm required, I promptly sent myself a request from her id and went ahead to create my farm. Now that I have started off, I am checking my farm every 5 mins to see if my crop is ready for harvest… am I addicted already??

For this, I just have my no-work office status to thank. Had I not so much time in hand to kill, I promise I wouldn’t have even peeked into any farm. Talking of farming, in so many years, growing plants/gardening has never been close to me. In fact at school when we had to grow plants for Work Experience class, I made sure either amma or my sister planted as well as nurtured them.

Last week, our company started a green drive and gave away Basil plants to all employees. I carried one home as Basil plants are considered sacred and having one in your home could bring in good fortune. I found a nice pot for it and placed it at a corner in our balcony. I have now grown so fond of it that I moved my regular exercises to the balcony so I can be in conversation with the plant even while I am developing a few muscles. I have heard that plants respond to speech. If this is true, my Basil plant is sure to flourish. Besides, this may be the small start to my home garden to come J

The Kolam outside our house

It was yet silent and dark outside. A pleasant wind was blowing as I opened the main door of our house. The entire building was in deep slumber. I cautiously swept the area in front of our door and squat on the floor wondering what design to draw today. I was doing this after very long and was immediately reminded of my younger days at home as a little one when my sister and I fought about whose turn it was to draw the kolam.

Amma would wake up early in the morning and get the area outside the house ready before waking us up. The one whose turn it was that day, would get out of bed with a lot of effort and start drawing with the fine powder even while murmuring curses under the breath. We always wondered why it was so necessary to do this ritual every morning and always tried convincing Amma that this could be postponed to another time of the day. But Amma was always stubborn. She said that this was the way of welcoming Lakshmi Devi to the house without which, she would turn away angrily.

As years went by Amma stopped pestering us in the mornings. In the afternoons though, after our maid cleaned the kitchen, I would draw small kolams in front of the puja area. The days Patti would come home, just for impression sake, I would draw bigger kolams concentrating more on the steadiness of the lines. “Shilpa draws the Shangu(conch) very well”, Patti would say and I would feel elated. Slowly I developed a liking for this and soon had my own book of kolams which I would fill during lazy afternoons, copying from the Mangayar Malar magazine that Amma subscribed to, or sometimes from Amma’s old kolam book.

As days passed, studies, tuitions, exams took more priority and this hobby was kind of forgotten. It was only once in a year, the night prior to Diwali, when my sis and I would sit out there for hours drawing large and intricate designs, and filling it strenuously with the choicest colours. This too was lost in the tide of time as I moved out for my PG first and job later.

Yesterday, when I was out on my weekly shopping spree, I stumbled on a vendor who had the white powder heaped in front of him. Flooded with memories from my childhood, I bought some of it hoping to carry on the tradition in my home.

I have changed...

I spent a few minutes today reading one of my age-old blogs and boy, was I impressed?! I never realized then that I have a flair for writing. Now, when I have started writing again after a break of few years, I see in myself neither talent nor passion. My command over the language seems to have disappeared. I often find myself struggling to make my point while the right words never make it further than the tip of my tongue….probably coz its been more than a while since I picked up a book to read. Besides, I am no more a thinker that I once used to be.

Lack of thoughts – rather, not spending enough time with my thoughts leads to a drop in the number of posts. My diary which used to be randomly filled with my tryst with philosophy and the inner mind, runs dry.

Talking of changes, I have almost given up my daily prayers so too my exercises. It wouldn’t be fair to blame all these changes to my ‘hectic life-after-marriage’. If anything, my life now is easier than before. I have the entire morning to myself, whatever way I choose to waste it. Cooking happens only for one time that too invariably spills over for the next day’s meal.

The only way to explain this then, is to confess on my laziness. Now, is repair time. I plan to get back all the good habits that I once had and at the first place stop cribbing about lack of time. Closing this post on a hopeful note of having more topics to write on more frequently….

Finally

Yippee!! Just 5 days to go and then I will be home. J I am so excited…. Ah! How long I waited for this excitement to set in. Generally a month before my date of vacation, my GTalk status already carries a countdown. This time it never felt like I was going home even though the date was so close…. until yesterday. Probably the lingering thought that my leave would be cancelled considering the status of my project at work.

Yesterday, just like I expected, I was asked if my vacation could be postponed. Only after I argued, complained, fought and convinced, I was granted my will. And no sooner, the excitement was starting to be visible on my face. The whole of last night I haven’t slept a blink. My mind was drawing pictures of the forthcoming week. It was like a auto run slide show of me scurrying from office to make it to the station in time, the wobble wobble of the train journey, the peering out of the window waiting for the train to chug into Mumbai station, daddy’s happy face, visits to various houses, showcasing my favourite city to Hubs, the nice rickshaw guys returning every rupee without another thought, Mummy-cooked food and more.

Well, the fact remains that I am going home and it is natural for me to go sleepless with exhilaration. But, I am oh so worried that if all the following nights continue this way, I am going to sleep-stay in Mumbai, sleep-walking to places, sleep-talking with people and wishing them a Happy Sleep-Diwali.

If there were a tomorrow...

I frequented her house as her daughter and I were classmates. More than classmates, best friends. I needed no occasion to sleep over at her place. Even my sudden visits would be responded by delicious food & lots of chatting. All this, even when she would have just returned from school, tired of listening to the noise little ones make.

I remember the one time when I went. She opened the door saying, “I knew you would not let Gayu alone at this time. I knew you would come to pep her up.” Her eyes were giving away the truth that she was holding her tears. She was a great mother.

As I moved out of the city, my trips to her place dwindled. Sporadic, but yet periodic. This time I stayed over at her place, the house was full of guests. It was her daughter’s wedding after-all. On the Wedding day morning, she pleaded that I cajole he daughter to wear the poo-jadai she had bought. After the wedding, she blessed that I get married soon too… I noticed the moistening of her eyes then.

Shortly, I got married… she was not present, but her wishes came along with her husband, and mails from her daughter. She was bed-ridden. I couldn’t see her, but I know her eyes were wet again. I promised myself I would see her when I go back home for Diwali.

But alas, this time she left my eyes drenched….

Mysore - the Dassera Splendour

I am just back after an eventful and most looked forward to trip to Mysore. Being a 4-day long weekend, Hubs and I took off to Mysore to check out the Navarathri festivities in the city. We amusingly took a Rs.19 ticket to Shrirangapattana and decided to move on to Mysore by bus after sight seeing there. At Shrirangapattana, we first visited the Ranganathaswamy temple. After a quick and easy darshanam, we moved on to other places. Among places we saw were Tipu Sultan’s place of death, tipu’s summer palace – which now house a museum, Gumbaz –which has the burial chamber of Tipu. As the burning sun pierced our bodies, we decided to head straight to Sangama which is the point where a branch of the river Cauvery re-unites with the main course, and take a dip. Unfortunately, Friday being Mahalaya Amavasya, the p[lace was full of people engaged in carrying out rituals for their ancestors. Unhappy but yet hopeful, we went on to Nimishamba temple. Though we didn’t enter the temple, we had a great time playing in the river water flowing behind the temple. After lolling in the cool waters for more than an hour, we very unwillingly carried on our journey towards Mysore.

Mysore that evening was peaceful with nothing much to do except visiting a couple of houses. However we were quite enthusiastic and all set to materialize our talakkadu plan for the next day. Come Saturday morning, my poor BIL had a problem with his bike and by the time it was fixed, it was quite late to start a journey so far. So, with no further delay, plans changed and 4 bikes and 8 humans hit the road towards Balmuri. The super awesome thing about this was Balmuri being much closer, Amma and Appa also agreed to join. We just about drenched ourselves in the water there and then moved further down to Edamuri falls. This place had a nice waterfall, safe and large at once for a family to enjoy their day. Having spent a couple of hours bouncing in the water, getting a natural massage by the force of the falling water, with all the slipping, laughter, cheer and joy, we left for home, tired and famished. We stopped by at a restaurant for a very late lunch.

Back home all of us slept like logs at whatever place we could find and only woke up late to take a small bike ride to nearby places to check out the lighting which made the city look bridal. We went a couple of circles away and the first time as it was for me, the feast for my eyes had me yelling with excitement.

Day 3 at Mysore started off with a puja at home followed by a heavy meal of delicious Bissi Bele Bhath in company of 4 of our cousins and an aunt. Early evening, Hubs and I visited the much talked about flower show and I must say it was worth all the talk. The Mahishasura made of roses was spectacular as were the various flowers. I loved most the vegetable garden as I saw for the first time how all my favourite vegetables looked as they clung on to their guardian looking forward to be picked and tossed into a tawa.

Later we went to Chamundi Hills. Now, I had visited this place before but today our intention was to catch the lighting in the city from atop the hill. Half way up the hill it was pouring cats and dogs. Hubs continued riding even as the rain drops pierced at our skin. Once atop, the hot cuppa tea was relieving. Since there wasn’t much crowd at the temple we were able to have a quick darshan and we were on our way downhill. We had to wait about 15 minutes before we witnessed the breathtaking sight of the city lights coming on. The palace looked divine even as the rest of the city, adorned with lights across each and every road was glimmering.

The last event for the day was to be the Yuva Dassera which everyone told me would be an experience of a lifetime. The crowd was huge when we reached the ground. The singer for the day was Shreya Ghoshal. The show was quite a disappointment for everyone else more than me because Shreya sang melodious numbers one after the other giving no opportunity for the crowd to even tap their feet. As she progressed from one song to another, the gathering was slowly disappearing. We too left for home after the first 5 songs.

Today we were to head back for Bangalore, leaving behind the festivities and coming back to mundane reality. We however managed a quick trip to Bombe Mane which is a handicraft emporium. They had arranged an exhibition of traditional dolls for the 9 days of Navarathri. The only thing I could wish when I was there was that I were a baby who could throw a tantrum and wail until somebody bought me everything that I liked (…which was almost everything on display). There were depictions of the various stories of mythology, a model of the highly regarded Dassera procession at Mysore, and stray idols of all hindu deities in their leisure.

As I boarded the train to Bangalore my mind was already counting days before next weekend when I will be witnessing the Dassera procession for real.

My childhood & I

I am tired of working second shift. Yea, I know you’d say its better than working double… but this doesn’t suit me either. I know until very recently, I loved working 12 hour days. I never even minded taking client calls in the middle of the night. Buy you see times are different now. I reach office at 12:30 and wait for opportunities when I can run away at 8, not even waiting for my shift hours to complete. Then it doesn’t even matter if I have to sneak away without my Manager’s knowledge or I need to leave myself online to make him believe I am yet at office.

While in the cab I restlessly look at the watch time and again wondering why it takes so long to be home. I literally jump off and run all the way up the stairs. When I reach, I am always jubilant as if my day has just begun. I go on and on with narrations of what happened through the day…. Just like I used to when daddy came back home after a tiring day at work, just like I used to every evening on the way home from school as mummy tugged me occasionally to keep me off the middle of the road, just like I used to when my sis returned after her never-ending tuition classes, just like I used to when I met my cousin after a while…

This mindless chatter that I oh so cherish, I thought was childhood… but I guess this is actually what it means to go back to family.

No.. you are not forgotten...

I know its been more than a fortnight now since i scribbled something in. Its just time... rather the lack of it that is keeping me away. Lots of things have happened in the past week. Among boring appears tall and large, 'OFFICE-work'. Among interesting is definitely Ganesh Chaturthi (related post coming up soon) and very recently, fulfillment of my dream which I never gave enough priority until it happened.

As the task of setting up our house is yet on, Hubs and I never relent from cooking up new ideas every once in a while. All excited after buying a new Drill Gun, completely floored by how well it works, Hubs wanted to go on a drilling spree around the house, reminding me of termites (no.. i am NOT going to spray termite medicine on him). Just to help him an opportunity to exercise his fancy, we went rummaging through our wedding gifts trying to get some wall hangings we could put up in the house. There was this one photoframe, looking at which Hubs' bulb glowed, "Why not put up 3 photos diagonally on this wall?" Evening come, we were photoframe shopping to Jayanagar. Right at the store, while selecting the frames, I remembered my long time dream of having not 1-2 or3 but an assortment of photos on the wall... like a photo-collage In no time the idea was bought and we were on our way home with 7 frames :)

It is funny how sometimes, you wish something and never expect it to come true - but it does. And when it does, it gives you mega-tonnes of happiness!!!

Obsessed!!

My body aches at the slightest movement… so much so that I need to be prepared to brace the pain even if I need to stretch. But my mind seems to have fallen in love with the source of the pain… to the extent that I dreamt about it all of last night.

The green screen of the TV in front of me, my arms swinging from side to side holding on tightly the remote control of the Wii. I woe up this morning thinking about last evening when both Hubs and me had a smashing time at heis cousin Preety’s house, playing games on the Wii. It is not just a little more than a video game, it is in fact absolute fun.

I loved the gadget so much that the not-so-impulsive me has taken a back seat giving way to an obsessed me all set to own the thingamajig.

So anybody who is listening, get me a Wii by Nintendo and be assured that I will love you for the rest of my life!!

The Janmashtami that never was…

I woke up in the morning all upset that I will not be at home in the evening to celebrate Janmashtami. I would be missing the usual puja that I do to ‘my favourite God’. However, I took a quick bath. Along with my usual meal preparation, I started preparing vella-avil (a preparation of poha with jaggery), followed by sabudana payasam. I cleaned the puja area, wiped all the idols and applied chandan and kumkum on the birthday boy-deity.

After brooing the area outside our house, I put rangoli and also made footsteps of the Lord with rice atta, all the way from the stairs upto the puja room. This is my most-liked part of this festival (of course other than the sweet-eating!!). Once satisfied with the rangoli design and the footsteps, I made the thiri for the lamps, oiled them and also stuck 2 agarbaththis on the agarbathi stand. I hurriedly kept all the sweets and savouries for the neivedyam on the dining table before getting ready for work. I also stuck a note near them saying “These 5 dabbas for neividyam” so that Hubs knew what eatables he was supposed to offer to God.

After reaching office, the first thing I did was sending a mail to Hubs summarizing to him all that has been kept ready for the evening puja and also explaining what he needs to do once he reaches home. I mentioned in detail when to light the lamp, when to do namaskaram and when the neividyam. I also asked him to buy fruits and flowers on the way home which he could use for the puja. Only after sending this mail did I calm down, assured that my absence will not affect the birthday celebration of ‘my favourite God’.

It might not even be half hour since the mail was sent, my mother called. She sounded very very apologetic – something not very usual of her. I asked her what happened. She started off saying, “I know you are going to be very upset and angry with me. I blundered…but please don’t shout…” I wondered when was the last time that I shouted at her that she has to say this to me. Did this mean her mistake was totally unpardonable? I couldn’t take the suspense she was creating and tried to hurry her, “What is it, tell me..”
“Janmashtami is not today, it is only tomorrow. I wrongly read the Panchangam and hence told you the wrong date earlier.”

For a couple of seconds I was calm. I even told her not to worry as it wasn’t really that bad a mistake. But no sooner, my mind started re-running all the preparations I had made since morning, giving attention to every minute detail. After this though I couldn’t hold myself and burst into peels of laughter, for the first time not even minding that I was at work. I laughed until my tummy hurt and mummy laughed along with me. In the august month of August, I had just been made an April fool.

I called up Hubs to tell him the birthday of ‘my favourite God’ had been postponed by a day. After 5 minutes of guffawing he only had this to say… “Duffer, duffer!!”