We Must Love Someone

Read this on Mum-Del Flight and it seemed to be the most appropriate thing to think and feel about:

We must love someone,
if we are to justify
our presence on this earth.
We must keep loving all our days,
someone, anyone, anywhere
outside our selves.
For even the Sarus crane
will grieve over its lost companion,
and the Seal its mate.

Somewhere in life
there must be someone
to take your hand
and share the torrid day.
Without the touch of love
There is no life, and we must fade away.

 Ruskin Bond

Sweety.

Flashback Years

As I roamed around the streets A grew up in, surrounded with people who have never forgotten him despite of all these years and distances, I silently envied his childhood today.


A has spent his childhood years in Mumbai, has tons of friends who found him back, thanks to the social networking sites, while as per all of them, he had conveniently forgotten them. Stories of long cycle – rides, of building brick houses for stray pups, of stealing coins from mom’s purse to bring the pups some milk, of jumping on to grab fresh berries from trees during summer vacations, of unending hours moving about aimlessly and playing pranks on people of all ages and temperaments – it all came alive as this bunch of storyteller friends circled around me and kept going on and on. The film reeled in front of me as I shifted to a flashback movie like thing.

A week ago, when the news to my Mumbai Trip was broken out to A, he was definitely less gloomy compared to what it has been like in cases of my past work-trips. Why? He instantly started planning how I was supposed to spend my Sunday there! Though I only had a few hours, he came up with a long list of places he wanted me to see… his home, the play ground they never wanted to vacate, his school, his friends- young ones, old ones, remembered ones and forgotten ones…

While I was getting ready to step out of the hotel, I started feeling empty from within. I came to realize that while all thru the evening, everyone would be talking about him, A would be at least 1400 kilometers away, if not more.

The only way to reconcile with my heart was to sooth him by saying my eyes would still see him, jumping around in the park wearing that naughty smile on his face and with a mischievous mind. He could be running away from mom or hiding at a friend’s place so dad can never find him… so he could escape a beating!

While I went around to see all the places of his choice with his friend, he followed us virtually, with those flashback years reeling thru his mind…

Sweety.

A 320 brings me back Home!

R: Oh! I feel so good to be home!

A:Yeah, me too!

R: But weren't you home all this while?

A: Home wasn't home when you weren't there...


Speechless...

Sweety.

Godspeed!!!

A: London's just like Delhi, but with better roads.
R: I think better road sense too!
A: yeah! (laughs)

I dunno how true it is, but thats the first thing A told me when he landed on London's roads.
But then, who cares about London?

I asked him a thousand questions... how was the flight? could you manage to get a nap on the plane? nausea? hope you're not feeling cold! how far is office? would you be ok commuting alone? kuch khaya? blah blah blah...

I personally hate asking and answering too many questions, but just couldnt help asking him!

Guess I know how I'm going to survive this entire week... counting days and calculating GMT time! I think I'd just adjust my mobile phone's time... so we are in the same time zone... at the least!


Sweety.

30 Days & 30 Ways

Time flies away when you really dont want it to!

The other day I realised I had completed 1 month in the new company I recently joined. That made me ponder on the events of past 1 month...many things changed, many new were commenced...here's a point by point detail of my 30 days in TPL:

1. TPL has made me diary-gal. I cant do without my daily to-do list. I go off to sleep and something I need to do the next morning crosses my mind - I'm up the very next second and scribbling notes in the diary, with dreamy eyes and shaky hands!
2. My job puts me in a place where I screen people on every stage, starting from their joining our projects till the time they survive there. I hold myself responsible for rejecting "infinity plus 1" people so far... cant say how many more will follow...
3. This job has changed my perspectives a lot. I've turned sides now, I get a two-side view of things now.
4. I used to work 9 hours and travel 4 hours before I joined TPL. Now I spend those 13 hours working!
5. My phone works over-time too. I used to charge the phone battery once in 2 days - now it gets fed everyday.
6. This ones a bad one - I was so used to falling asleep with A's pats on my head. Now since he's moved to decent morning hours, he sleeps off before I do and I dont get those pats I so miss in life :(
7. There's another thing I miss... seeing him sleeping next to me the moment I get up... but I make up for that by calling him while I am still half-sleep.
8. For the first time in 5.5 years, I'm trying to get into a day schedule - the 9-6 routine.
9. Another bad one - the weekend I used to be so crazy for - has gone half - yes, I work on Saturdays, too!
10. I still travel but way less. And I get to travel in Metro sometimes too - makes me happy, reminds me of old days, when I was a regular with Metro.
11. I am a regular with home cooked food, too. Working from Home job has some merits, at the end of the day!
12. But at the same time, eating out hasnt gone down. If I'm travelling, I'm eating out...and eating a lotttt!
13. And that shows when you look at my Tummy. Its never been like it is these days!
14. TPL India team is a 3 women brigade (that includes me, too!) I haven't had female colleagues/boss before - so this one's a change too.
15. I have a weird history of getting along with Leos. Its either too good or too bad. Incidentally, both other women in the league are Leos. Its been good so far... lets see...
16. First thing when I get up - I used to plan the meal I had to cook - now I check the mail.
17. I get to write a lot these days, but that has hit on my reading quota. I am stuck on Brida for about 1.5 months now. Buckle up!!!
18. My break time from work - I solve Sudoku puzzles that appear in the newspaper everyday...1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9.. and you're done! I even have Sudoku on my iGoogle page. I play sudoku when I am travelling - time flies ;)
19. I have promoted myself to a regular Lipgloss from zero make-up.
20. Social Networking sites would soon declare me anti-social. Well...I was never a fan but yes, a regular but its may be once a week now...just so I dont forget my passwords ;)
21. There's been a biiiiiiig cut down on my movies too... 30 days and just 1 movie. Thankfully it was a cute one.
22. I have now entered into a professional relationship with a very very dear friend. This frightened me first, but then enlightened a lot of things later on. I am glad it happened :)
23. One of the very important things I do at work is getting the customers' expectations right...and the way I work is setting my boss' expectations wrong! Leading by example, you see!
24. In my IQR days, I used to think I was a workoholic...I wonder what I am right now...
25. Again in my IQR days, I believed wherever I'd go next, it'd be better for sure - that still holds true. I wont like to compare more :)
26. I gave my first ever salary in my granma's hands, i still remember. My first salary from TPL is due now - and I'm thinking what to get for the 2 most important people in my life...
27. This job has made me take my driving seriously.
28. I have loved to have a planned day, but that's history now. I still begin a day with a plan, but its a plan that has all the deviations and d-tours of the world! Life now is an ad-hoc list of assignments :)
29. Now that i've got myself rid of travelling thru 3 cities everyday (from one end to the other end of NCR), A has got into it and spends a lot of time driving now.
30. My first post in more than a month - the one that you just finished reading!

Some cartoons now, I think I need'em:






Sweety.

ADIEUS!!!

News! News!

I recently resigned from my job at a company I worked for... AGES it seems!

4 yrs 9 months and 3 days - to be precise - was my tenure there.

Few things I wont ever forget about this workplace:

1. It was barely 6 months old when I joined in.
2. The day I put in my papers, I was the oldest employee in the company - I mean tenure-wise!
3. I got the first job promotion of my Life here, which happened when I was 15 months old here.
4. I trained over 100 people here.
5. I joined this company just to be with "A" who also happens to be the first employee of this company.
6. He got the "extra miler of the year" award for 1st year of the company and I followed when I won it in the 2nd year! The certificates now occupy a wall in our living room, back to back.
7. I have been a part of every single campaign/project my company got. The day they got a new thing coming in - I was in it! I was named "Nimbu Mirchi" by A who believed I was being used to keep evil spirits off of the new projects!
8. We knew people on first name basis and so did our CEO saab.
9. I got the chance to be a multi - dept person -- I did Operations, training, transitioning, quality analysis - all of it!
10. Whenever I ran into CEO saab, he was always the first one to move his hand forward to have a handshake. And then I'd meekly move mine ;) And the day I moved my hand forward before he did... He posed his to embrace...

Zillion other things are crossing my brain, reminding me of good times & bad times here... but I'd halt right here...

Good Bye and All the best, iqr!


Sweety


(This post was written on July 9 and being posted today - which is my last day @ iqr.)

100 things you didn't know about me

I'm glad Blogger let me log in and post after what seems like ages! And to make up for this hiatus, here's a gigantic post! You're invited to know, not 1, not 2, but a 100 things about me...which you never knew! (Atleast I hope so!) So, off I go!!!



1. The first movie I saw at a movie hall was a Chinese one and was dubbed in Hindi with title "kaanch ka khargosh"

2. This was during a school trip and I had to see the second half of the movie sitting on the aisle stairs, since I couldn't find my seat after the movie intermission, and was too scared to approach my teacher to help me find it.
3. I'm crazy for SRK. Some of you might know this, but nobody knows the degree of that craziness for him.
4. Despite of this craziness I can patiently hear someone criticizing him - cz I think everybody has a right to voice what they feel about something/someone.
5. And, despite of that craziness, I can easily admit how I agree with some people when they say he should've never done a certain films.
6. I think I like SRK as a normal family guy way more than I like him as an actor.
7. I like and prefer curd over milk a zillion times.
8. I don't even remember the taste of food that my mom used to cook, except that of okra.
9. And that of kidney beans too.
10. One of the things I always wanted to learn from her was cooking.
11. One reason why I am proud of myself is that most of the cooking I know, I learnt myself whenever I made a blunder.
12. I so love it when on random evenings, A appreciates the lunch I cooked and packed for him earlier in the day.
13. And I am so curious to know how the food tasted when he doesn't!
14. I talk about A so much that I don't even bother to think if the other person knows him or not.
15. I had refused to leave the bed when I was told that my few hours old sibling was a baby gal, and not a boy - just as I had prayed / demanded to god.
16. Whenever I spotted a baby, till sometime back, I'd just standstill and look at them adoringly and wouldn't get over them for long whiles.
17. But now post-marriage, all I think is about how my life will be when I'll have one of my own.
18. I also plan to start a mother-baby blog.
19. My skin is so sensitive that my palms would burn the entire day if I mashed boiled potato with salt and pepper.
20. I loooove Khichdi.
21. I have snoozed the alarm at least a dozen times before I get up every morning.
22. I don't think if I'll ever turn vegetarian.
23. One of my fav flicks is "While you were sleeping". I have seen it countless times and still wont mind watching it, anytime, any day.
24. I think Julia Robert's Erin Brockovich is an equally fav.
25. I like eating fish - preferably boneless.
26. Tuna Sub is the one I always pick at Sub-way.
27. It irks me to core when A forgets to switch the bathroom's light off after using it.
28. I once threatened to lock him up in the bathroom if he did that again. It didn't help!
29. And I am always made fun of whenever I switch it off for him.
30. I have always hated Science as a Subject. I thanked god I didn't have to study it post my 10th grade at school.
31. I was so wrong when I thought that since I ended up teaching Science to my sister until she got thru her 10th grade.
32. For the most calculations I happen to make any given day, I can count on fingers and am always right.
33. OK, almost right!
34. I haven't tasted tea yet. I don't plan to, either.
35. "Mother Dairy - Chocolate chip" is the only thing I think of when it comes to ice-creams.
36. I had very bad hand-writing till my 5th grade.
37. Tolerating ACs is a big deal for me. I start getting chill bumps instantly.
38. Entire week, I used to wait for Saturday night, since that was my bed-time story night.
39. I prefer Radio over TV.
40. I quit drinking milk from milk bottle the day I turned 5. That, was perhaps my first promise to mom.
41. The first piece of jewellery I bought was a gold pendent.
42. My first wrist-watch was a Titan, bought out of my savings from my pocket money. This was when I was barely 11.
43. The first time I voted, I realized that one of the poll duty officers tried to see who I was about to vote. And he did see that.
44. I forget what I dreamt of, if I don't try recalling it in the first five minutes of my waking up.
45. Till sometime back, I was confused if I was an atheist.
46. I have now realized that god is there, and that I am not the religious kind.
47. Until sometime back, I was scared of dark.
48. The first time I enter a public utility or a trial room during a shopping spree, I lock and unlock the door, just to make sure its working and that I'll be able to let myself out once I am done!
49. I haven't fractured myself yet!
50. I hate people who interrupt when some body's talking and those who always want to be heard.
51. I once held A's hand assuring to help him cross the road when both of us were shit drunk.
52. I was given a scholarship for being in top 0.01% scorers in Hindi, in national board examinations.
53. My sister tells me that I am very short tempered. I am yet to realise that.
54. Friday is my favourite day of week. I wait for it every weekday :)
55. The first thing I do when I sit in a car - I embrace myself - with the seat belt, that is. More so after A's road accident.
56. For consecutive 3 years, I had my social studies' half yearly exam falling on my birthday :(
57. I prefer books over movies. With books - there's a lot left for imagination. Movies kill that - I think.
58. I hate being preached about turning to Vegetarian food. I respect vegetarians and their choice of food and expect the same from them!
59. I am s**t scared of dogs.
60. I once said 50 p was more than re. 1 and mom gave me a scolding I'd never forget!
61. My first visit to Mumbai city was even before I was born - Mom was expecting me!
62. I am not a morning person and sometimes wonder how I'd manage when I'd need to be one.
63. I can't dance but love to watch people dancing. I think people who say - "you don't need to know dancing to be able to dance" - are liars.
64. I prefer sunflower over rose.
65. I can't handle south Indian food.
66. My first earning was Rs 150 that I earned by tutoring a 6 yr old for a month.
67. I like to get pampered at times. But at the same time, I can't handle too much of love/pampering. I start crying before I have opened all my birthday presents - every year.
68. I didn't like Harry Potter series. I think it has too much of magic!!!
69. One of the best birthday presents A has got me - a musical jewellery box. I cried when I opened it too.
70. Despite of my liking for choppers, I once got scared with one, because it was flying too low and I was on the terrace. I had hid myself in mom's lap.
71. I think bitter gourd and crocodile resemble a lot. God must have had high targets or must have been low on imagination / innovation when he made them!
72. I lost touch with a friend when I was only 5. Growing up, I didn't even remember I had that friend until he reminded me, 15-16 years later.
73. For a long time I was scared of wearing jewellery after somebody had once snatched my mom's gold chain.
74. I think Aamir Khan is a disgusting fellow - he over reacts and wants all the attention - all the time!
75. I have a habit of reading 3-4 books simultaneously. I switch to another one when I get bored of one.
76. I don't like to work on my birthdays. I ask others not to do so, too.
77. Most of the guys who like staring/ogling at the gals don't get what to do next when I start staring back at them. They'd either start looking somewhere else or would leave the place.
78. In school, I would shuffle between rank 1 and 2 every year. Every time I finished on rank 2, I was just 1 mark behind the topper and this was a trend for 7 odd years.
79. My class teacher who was infamous as the least emotional teacher in the school had tears in her eyes when, on the last day of a session, I returned her the class locker keys.
80. I quit playing volley ball when I was in 9th grade. I regret that till date.
81. Pink has never been my favourite colour. I am confused between black and white ;) Does that tell you something about me?
82. For a long long time, "It's my life (Jon Bon Jovi)" was my Friday favourite - for the weekend had finally arrived!
83. "I'm alive" and "Have you ever really loved a woman" are two songs that had me smitten with their lyrics.
84. My fingers will smell of onion for more than 2 days after I have chopped one, despite of "n" number of hand-washes.
85. I was once a part of stage performance at annual day during my primary years of schooling. We had a song on flowers and all kids except me were to sit in a circle wearing costumes like flower petals. My part was to sit in the middle of that circle of other kids and the idea was to dance like a bee when the flower would open. Now, the costume guy didn't get my dress and the item coordinator decided last minute that the flower wont open! I waited and waited to be seen - from the beginning till the end of the song and so did mom n dad who were present in the audience!
86. I cut green chillies with kitchen scissors, instead of knife and I cut them real thin. And then I count how many pieces I got from each chilly. So far the record is 39 from a medium sized chilly.
87. I was once accused of beating the office cab driver, while someone else had. The cops couldn't help laughing their lungs out, when they saw the cabbie was accusing a skinny gal! He had lied only because I had complained against him the day before.
88. I once declared that if I grew up to be a pilot, I'd only prefer flying helicopters. "You have to run on a run-way first to fly an aeroplane, chopper takes flight the very first moment" - was my reason!
89. I never loved my granny - since I knew she never loved me. And yet I gave my first salary in her hands... and then we both cried.
90. I was born on Wednesday.
91. One of the books I'm reading currently is "The Fountainhead." I dont think I'll ever be able to finish reading it.
92. My mom-in-law gave me a sweet nice name long before I got married and she uses that name till date.
93. I dint know a thing about computers before my first job. I took a crash training on a weekend and learnt basic operating - and I guess, I'm still learning something about computers everyday!
94. My goal before I turn 25 - get registered for eye donation. I'm looking for a reliable association. Do you know any in Delhi - NCR?
95. I still believe there's no actress in Indian cinema who could dance as gracefully as Madhuri Dixit.
96. If I get up in the middle of night and realize I was dreaming of something, I try sleeping again so I can continue dreaming - and 9 out of 10 times, I am able to continue with the same dream!
97. There are 2 things that help the most in putting me to sleep - a) someone patting slowly on my head, and b) chanting Gayatri Mantra.
98. I sometimes talk to God Sun - I thank him for being there eveyday, for I wonder as to what will happen if he bunks someday ;) and also because I think he's the prime source of energy. And whenever I talk to him, I ensure its evening time and not morning - because a) I for one believe in setting sun and b) a little acknowledgement and appreciation at the end of the day works for everybody.
99. I am a fussy eater. I cant eat rice that was cooked without salt. I wont eat onion if it stil has its raw taste which I just cant handle. I never liked to have food from my friends' tiffins thru-out my school, though I didnt mind them sharing mine. I finish my salad before I start eating my meal.
100. When I started this post, I thought I wont be able to finish it. I wrote a couple more posts simultaneously but saved them in draft - so I post this first and dont this one.

And looks like I'm done!

If you made it till here, congrats! And if you liked it more than I thought you would, pls write random things about you and ping me here!


Sweety.

Earth vs. Global Warming

March 28, 8:30PM - 9:30PM (your local time) is your time to cast your vote and choose Earth against Global Warming.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness. (Courtesy www.earthhour.org)

You can, too, cast your vote for Earth by switching all lights off for one hour - one billion votes is all dats needed...
Turning off lights for an hour won’t stop climate change but it would definitely show that individual action is important and does make a biiiiiiiiig difference.

Here's a few things you could do in those 60 minutes:

• Go outside and look at the stars. (Lovely!)


• Find a great viewing spot to see your town or city go dark at 8:30 p.m. and take pictures. (Dats a lil tough to do :( )


• Go for a lantern walk through a park. (Ghostly :D)
• Gather your family or friends for a candle-lit dinner. (Lets meet up, guys!)


• Meet your neighbours at a street or block party. (Hello, how are... exercise)


• Talk to your children/family about how much electricity your family uses. Brainstorm ways to reduce it. (Let's get serious)


• Tell ghost stories. (Been ages I did that!!!)


• Change all your light bulbs to energy-efficient versions. (poore ghar ke badal dalo :P )


• Take a walk in the moonlight. (With them ;) )


• Have a candlelit bath. (WOW!)


• Put a glow stick on your dog's collar or leash and go for a walk. (Not bad an idea ;))


• Have a wine or scotch tasting in the dark. (Ummm...)


• Get out the sleeping bags and camp out on the living room floor. (Yay!!!)

If nothing above interests you enough, you could make a list oft hings you'd want to change from your daily life and help Earth beyond this 1 Earth Hour! :)

So Go Ahead... use your light switch as your vote and elect Earth over Global Warming.

Sweety.

Boom De Ya Dah! Boom De Ya Dah!

I Love the whole World :)
Sweety.

Miles to go before I sleep!!!

Here’s the Tag from Geetika… “10 things before I die”

What follows can also be termed as a Wish-list and birthday is such an apt time to do it ;)
So, here we go:

1. A helicopter ride – that’s not a tough one, but my fascination for choppers from the childhood days is still very much there.
2. Be whatever M has missed in life.
3. Collect books – thousands of’em! (Goes without saying – read’em all too!)
4. Find some old school buddies, I still remember their names… and faces too, but just can’t find them…
5. Get married to A – AGAIN!!! - On 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th, 125th, 150th … Wedding anniversaries…until we lose the count of years and even after that!
6. Learn dancing… and baking as well.
7. Meet SRK and still be able to stand on my own feet ;)
8. Never let my kids know of the word “NO” – I’m going to try hard for this one.
9. Study a few more years – not sure what I want to pursue yet, though!
10. The last one...It was real difficult getting here, but this one was easy… Raising a baby gal. :)


P.S.: There’s no Order of preference for the list, the wishes were rearranged in the alphabetical order! ;)


Sweety.

10 years without you

I still remember myself watching her go, she was to be admitted in a hospital, and I kept seeing her till the end of the road, and I'd do this almost everyday. Would think about her, resting my elbows on the windowsill, without batting an eyelid, I'd keep looking at that corner of the road, imagining that's where she'd come from, smiling healthily.

But little I knew that she won't ever come back...what came was the news that she had departed.

Again and again, even after she'd left, I'd still go and look out of the window, would keep looking at the same end of the same road, thinking non stop "here she comes, here she come, she hasnt really gone away..." Those were the days when I had actually started believing that departed ones do come back, but she never did!

And then there was a time I started hating her, for she had made us so miserable without her, I am sure she knew this misery had to happen. I can never forget how helpless we were. But I also knew she's around and is watching her daughters being raised without her and feeling helpless about it. Gradually that bad feeling melted away, gradually I involved myself in daily chores she used to take care of, but I continued with my waiting-at-the-window routine, I kept waiting for her arrival.

And I still remember pa appearing from the same end of the road, accompanied by a few other men, hands down, folded, face down, eyes down, looking at the road, coming towards home. He had brought her, lifeless, for us to see her for the last time and bid her the last good bye...

That was the end of one big chapter of our lives...lives had changed, our lives had changed.

Though I wanted to preserve them, but after a lot of thinking, I got some of her dresses altered and would wear them sometimes. And then I noticed - pa would look sadder, gloomier and quieter. I realised her clothes made him think of her much much more. He almost even called me with her name when I was wearing her clothes. Seemed like I was torturing him and I made up my mind not to wear them again...

Growing up, I was inspired to take up a lot of things she had mastered in. While I was real interested in some, I took up some only out of respect I had, but soon figured it was worth including them in life... one of those things was designing dresses. Everybody around was so amazed with my work, while I thought it was probably in my genes.

Offlate, I have been occupied to such extent, that I dont even think of her everyday or as much as I should, yet some or the other thing reminds me of her. Life is being pretty good to me and I feel happier when I remind myself that wherever she is, she is with pa and not alone. I know she is constantly watching over us and still doing her best for us.

Today, its been whole ten years without you Ma, and deep down somwhere in my heart, I still hope I'd see you standing next to me and I'd get in one moment, what I've missed all these years. Thank you a zillion times, if at all that can suffice, for everything you got me in life, however I'd still ask you for something...

We all are still incomplete without you, please come back if you can.

Sweety.

Sultan - My Gonna Be Friend

Long time no see...I said to myself when I logged in to blogger today! Anyways...

August 3 is friendship day and I'm gonna get a new friend (atleast I hope so!). Read on how...

Lemme now set a background for this gonna-be-friend of mine. I am very very scraed of dogs and A's aunt has one. A biiiiiiig one. A Boxer. They call him Sultan. So, A's aunt is leaving for the US of A sometime next week and wants us to keep Sullu-Pullu while she's away.

Sultan happens to be one of the biggest dogs I've seen so far, but he comes across as a very very intelligent and gentle dog. (Doesn't help me cz I am always scared) They always lock him in a room whenever I visit'em. Now, I am gonna stay with him under the same roof. So I have decided to strike a friendship with him and the time is apt too!

A has been bugging me with the idea of getting a pup home and I say no always. Not because I am scared of'em, but because I strongly feel both of us wont be able to manage. Dogs need care and you need to give'em TIME. You gotta be in a routine for'em. But I have given my green signal to A this time, for I think its a perfect chance for him to find out if he can change himself a bit, change according to Sultan. Sure he's caring enough, but when it comes to doggy-walk etc., he's the laziest guy I've known.

My friend K says you shouldn't bring him home, cz its gonna be difficult for the two of you when you'll send him back at aunt's. When I told A, he said, "do you think I am gonna let him go back?"

Time will tell that. For me now, its time to learn some doggy stuff! Off I go!!!

Sweety.

One Quick Update!

I know its very very late now, but beleive me guys! I moved pix from my cam to pc yesterday only, after so so long!

So heres a small but very very cute part of how we celebrated A's 23rd birthday:


Click to enlarge!
Sweety.

Memoirs of a D'uh!

My new colleague K asked me yesterday if I had, ever in my life, rang someone's doorbell and ran away. Somewhat ashamed, I said, "no", but mentioned how annoyed I used to be when someone would ring our doorbell and I wouldnt find anyone waiting outside the gate. This was nothing less than a torture in summer afternoons, where you are half-sleep and all you see outside are deserted streets and no signs of those pranksters!

She asked back, "have you ever played street cricket?" Proudly, this time I said , "yes."and that "yes" gave a green signal to some memories to be lively in some part of my mind. I recalled how I loved to bat and hated to field whenever I played the game. I recalled I wasnt very good at it but still enjoyed quite a lot. I recalled playing with kids who were atleast 8-10 years younger to me! And I also recalled how I had once hit someone, right in his stomach, for I had sensed he was watching me play and I dint want him to. That someone...he was my dad's frnd's son, dad liked him a lot, they both were each other's favs, so much so that dad said it once he wanted to marry me off to him... Anyway, the guy smiled despite of that shot for he knew I had noticed him :D

While I was still lost in all this, K shot back. "Have you been mischevious in school days?" was her next question. I was humiliated this time. Reason being my sis who had asked me the same question just a couple days back and made me realised what I had missed in my life.

2 people have asked me same thing just in span of 2 days and they looked for the same thing...something I had never done and they had reacted identically...I realised being the way I was back then is just not IN these days!

All I treasure from my schooling years is being in good books of teachers, sincerity, obedience, topping the class every year, being named a "book-worm". Such a seedha - sadha bachcha I was, that now when I look back, I laugh at myself.

I love Pink Floyd's "We don't need no education" I so love it in my new avatar! And I am pretty sure, I would have ridiculed the artist for passing out such a message had I heard it in those years ;)

K said yesterday that I looked like a docile and I gladly replied, "these looks are deceptive, babe." She would have hit bull's eye had she said it around 3 years back. Those who know me in and out, would give all the credit (good or bad) to A & I wouldnt disagree. This man has changed me and changed me for good. Its been a complete transformation, believe you me!

I surrendered myself to him, but do you know the best part of this surrender? I have all the freedom I need and more & I love my life like this, I love my life with him!

Sweety.

P.S.: Those who think I was contradicting myself towards the end of the article, I suggest they need to read it over and over and over again until they start feeling that I wasn't! :P

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!

Many many happy returns of the day! Happy Birthday A!

A turns 23 today :)

Going down the memory lane, I recall I gifted him a poem on his birthday few years back. It seemed to be a perfect poem, for it had the ditto feelings I had. It was a long long one so following are a few excerpts:

"ye janmdin, har din, mubarak ho unko

dost to bahut hain par hum jaan maante hain jinko.

Khushiyo se ho malamaal, sametna mushkil ho unko,

God ne khud happy birthday kaha ho, aisa mehsoos ho unko mann ko.

......

sochte hain is mauke par, hum bhi keh de apna kissa tamaam,

bata de zamane ko, kyu lete hain baar baar aapka naam.

tu hi to hai woh jis se raushan hai subah, mehakti hai meri shaam,

meri zindagi ka behatarin hissa hai, tu banda nahi hai aam.

.....

ye dua hai meri ki sitaro se badhkar chamke tere naseeb,

tu jinhe chahe wo rahe har pal tere kareeb.

tu kar dikhaye har kamaal chahe aam ho ya ajeeb,

tu dosto ki ho pasand, tu zamane ko ho azeez.

......"

So sorry A, for sneaking in your file from the briefcase ;)

It was yet another day that made me realise I can never do enough to show what you mean to me!

Sweety.

WOW!

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Pretty overwhelmed with all kinda feelings now and have quite a few reasons to continue "wowing"...

• Courtesy Gujar protests, my company did not send the office cab to my place today, my boss smilingly asking me to enjoy the holiday, while most of'em had to work, just because their homes were not at places affected with the protests (or may be riots)...So I was home the entire day(rather night) cz thats wat my shift is, and I bet they marked me Present with special comments against it..... WOW!!!


• Because of this off work day, I got to visit our flat where a lot of things are going on...we'll be moving soon, that kinda scares me, but I trust my Man on this, just like i do for everything else. I got to choose the paint shades for all rooms, cabinet shapes and designs for the under-construction modular kitchen, feeling busier than ever..... Wow!!!


• For the rest of my time of the day, I guess, I did the best thing ever... I read Chetan's latest of his trio, titled as "The 3 Mistakes of my life" cover to cover.....yes, can you beat that? Finished reading it moments back and felt the urge of writing here :) What a book..... WOW!!!

Now just in case you think I am trying to do something like the book with my 3 pointers above, please know that this was co-incidental.

I do not plan to write a review on the book, however, if it sounds like that, please be reminded that its not one ;)

While I was reading the book, I was comparing it with the previous 2, all the time. Though I have liked both of'em, and "One night..." being one of the first fictions I read, I think this one was as good as his debut book, leaving far far far behind the second one...

Last weekend when I had bought it, my husband said if his writing style was still the same...knowing that I had already read an excerpt of the book on the website...I had replied in positive. But had added, its nice to hear/read stories in that style. I am not a CB fan, but at the same time, I like his books just like I like many others.

With the third book added to his list, he continues to write in the same manner where one doesnt need a dictionary to comprehend whats going on, it rather feels like he's talking to you all the time (works perfectly for patient & good listeners like me ;) ), fun & good humor intact, very cute and beautiful when it comes to romantic scenes and I simply love his selection of words and expressions! He continues using long-hyphanated-tags (just like this one!) that add the fun of reading his write-ups.

1 thing that sets "3 mistakes..." apart of the trio is that its based on issues and incidents broader than those of Book 1 & 2. There was a lot blood and gore in the book but I figured out by the end, Chetan likes happy endings, like most of us. I so much like the way he writes the acknowledgment part of his books... In one of his books, he had even thanked Bill gates for Microsoft Word and its various fonts, for they let him show quite a few things simultaneously!

Chetan Bhagat has raised the bar for himself with "3 mistakes..." and I dont mind saying it... I am waiting for his next, right from today onwards!

Its a must read for those who were disappointed after "one night..." for it'll reinstill their liking for the author, but only if they wish to!

Apologies if my views above contained spoilers for the book. Here's the link to book's page on Chetan's website: The 3 Mistakes of my Life

Sweety.

Is it worth it?

I’ve been doing a lot of things everyday, day after day…except for a few, I don’t feel like doing’em…they don’t interest me anymore…they are done just because someone asked for’em…

Root cause of the pain is knowing things done unwillingly are not even being realized, acknowledged, appreciated…guess the last word was like asking for a little too much...

Thinking of times flooded with work… Days spent thinking work, sleeping work, eating work & doing work, joy of being acknowledged, joy of being appreciated, joy of being the centre of attention (though I din't like it much), joy of being on top of everything (as they say it), joy of being the only one in the category to have received awards, joy of being the reason of people’s jealousy…gone are the days…

I was raised to be honest and sincere, loyal and truthful and was proud to have acquired these qualities, now I wonder if they are still considered to be qualities. Sincerity doesn’t pay without being able to refuse to obey, Honesty doesn’t pay without being manipulative, being loyal doesn’t pay without being bitching, being truthful doesn’t pay without saying half truths is what I’ve been observing, and I feel I am stuck!

I am stuck because I find it all contradicting and I can never understand how they do it. I can never do this without losing things I am proud of possessing and if I ever do it, I wouldn’t consider myself alive anymore because I don’t think its really worth living like being that.

I feel being wasted…


Sweety.

Mother's day

Happy Mother’s day to all…




A perfect morning, the day started with a long walk and my fav radio station, and before I forget to mention, lemme tell you the best part of this morning... the weather today! It rained in Delhi & NCR today!

See what I clicked!







Its mother’s day today. Honestly, I don’t believe in these observations cz few people and things are so vital in our lives, that we just cant celebrate them in just one day of the year…they are to be cherished all thru our lives…


But I have a few things in mind which I’d like to jot down today, about my Mom and my childhood…These are a few things I’d never forget in life:

• Mom used to say I was fairer than milk when I was born. Morning after my birth, one of my cousins, after seeing me, told her elder brother how sweet I looked. She was so elated by that feeling that she went on describing me. She used the word “sweet” so many times that her brother (who’d had enough, guess) had declared, “Let’s name her Sweety”.. And that’s how I got my name!



• Like every other kid, when I started talking, it look me long to get a few words right. A pigeon was called “Taate”, soap was “chhanjun”, katori (bowl) was “kotri” and so on. But the best of them all was how I pronounced the word six! No matter how hard everyone wud try, I wudnt say “six”, but I’d say “chick” !!! Pure fun :D



• This was back in 1987, I started going to school when I was hardly 2.5 yrs old. A lady was appointed to pick me and a few other kids of the locality to take us to school. She’d pick me first and the two of us would walk around and pick other kids and by the time I reached school, I used to be half dead! Quite weak as I already was, I used to start vomiting as soon as I stepped in the school. As a result, mom talked to my school principal, who used to live nearby, and she started picking me up on her way to school…and I got rid of those pukish mornings.



• Another school memory…mom once visited school for a parents meeting. As she entered the class-room, she noticed I wasn’t doing the class work, but just looking at the girl sitting next to me…mom enquired my teacher who happily responded saying the other gal had not brought her pencil that day and so I had lent her my only pencil before I did my own work!!! Was I so generous way back then??? Unbelievable…



• I had prayed to God to give me lil brother when someone told me Mom was about to bring a baby home. I was hardly six then. One morning when my cousin woke me up telling me I had got a younger sister that morning, I simply refused to even open my eyes! Turning to the other side I said, “I had asked for a boy, not a gal. Ask god to change it before I get up, or else I wudn’t talk to Him” So bad!!!



• Like every other elder kid, I had my fair share of sibling rivalry too. Dad was neutral, but mom wud always favor her and all I’d get was scolding. I still remember once I fell down from stairs with her in my arms and I was the last one to be noticed, she got all the attention! I had many similar grievances, which were never addressed… but with time, I have understood how natural and real it is, life teaches you everything!

• As a kid, I was pretty regular with TV, mithun da being my fav hero of all… I once saw him getting bruised in an action scene and I ran towards my mom to get a band-aid for him, though I never thought how it’d reach him! So attached I was! In another movie, he dies but re-incarnates (the usual Indian filmy drama, u know). Moments ago, I was so grieved by his death as I thought it was real & I wudnt get to watch another movie of his, but now his presence on screen delighted me and made me jumping and chirping all over the place! Those were the days…



• The place where I spent the initial 4.5 yrs of childhood had plenty of monkeys roaming around in the residential area. They would roam as if it was their kingdom and would ruin everything they had access to. One such afternoon, when mom and I were alone at home, two of’em entered the kitchen, coming down from terrace. Doing the usual thing, drinking water straight out of refrigerator, one of them caught my leg and wudnt leave me while I was in mom’s lap. We both shouted our lungs out and a neighbor came running to rescue us. He literally joined his hands and chanted Hanuman Chalisa and that made the monkey leave me and go back!

For me, days like mother's day or even valentine's day don’t really matter but people do, but this day today has reminded me of the best days of life I got to spend withher…miss ya, mom!

Here's something to suffice my funny bone:

Sweety.

Badal pe paao hain!!!!!

“We're blessed with an angel, Our princess has arrived!!!”

My husband was sending this text message to everyone we both knew and we could hear our phones ringing non-stop. I had been thru probably the most terrible pain and the fruit was now in my arms – a baby girl, my hubby had always wanted a daughter, I guess every father does the same, though I had no preferences as such, honestly.

As the visitors’ hour approached, I saw my few hours old lil gal trying to get acquainted with almost everyone, peeing in the laps of only the lucky ones ;) while her dad cudnt stop smiling for even a fraction of a second, as if all his wishes had come true, and I was lost in flash back of last few months, which we both had spent, sometimes imagining, sometimes dreading (only me) and sometimes dreaming, rather day dreaming!

My life was changed and I was so very excited about the coming days, rest of my life will now be revolving around not only my man, but around her too, I’l get to be wat I’ve always loved being, a kid! I dint care if I was going to get sleep-less nights or lazy days, I was plain happy – period! I soon conversed with the doc, and I was told she had been easy on me, and I so thanked the God (who I think of only when I have to thank Him) for this, for saving me from facing my biggest fear…a caesarian delivery, I had always feared this…

I was lost in all this when my cell phone rang again, informing me that my office cab was on its way to my place, to come pick me for office…what the heck!!! That heavenly time…what was that supposed to be??? A dream? Yes it was a dream, and I got up to the reality, cursing the same God and began my day...

No, this dream really doesn’t mean I m ready to be a mom already…but yes, I am pretty hopeful about it. It might sound funny that whenever I talk about kids, my husband feels as if I am ready to go, and specifies he isn’t yet, and is reassured by me. He’d laugh it out and he’d never answer if I’d ask him how many kids he’d want to father, but I have always wanted just one kid, doesn’t matter a gal or a boy…and when I shared the same with my Rakhi-Brother(who happens to be the only child of his parents), I got a serious advice. He said you can nvr share anything and everything with ur folks, but its hell easier wen its ur sibling who you are sharing it with, so think of at least 2…self experience in that thought was abundant and made me think deeply into it…

I haven’t decided on that yet thinking time will tell the best, but let me tell you, just a glimpse of motherhood and that too in a dream, has made my eyes sparkle, more than ever!

Sweety.

Broken…

I heard about an unpleasant incident today. A colleague’s uncle died in a road accident, when his car collided with a truck loaded with oxygen cylinders, needless to say, he died on the spot. The police, as if this wasn’t enough, injected the dead with alcohol, and made an ugly scene. Unfortunately, car belonged to a friend and the poor guy wasn’t carrying his driving license. The news came out later in evening and now the cops demanded bribe to close the case and release the body. How unfortunate! Makes me wonder if we really need something like police…are they there to make life better for us or worsen it???

I soon got over with the Police part, it’s something usual in my city…but I can’t get over the fact that it’s a broken family now. L Probably he was the one who earned the bread and butter for his family… I know nothing in this world stops when someone leaves, no matter how great a person he/she was, but still!

When I went thru this breaking thing, when it happened with my family, when I was barely 14, I thought of Something once…The only person I shared it with dint agree with me, I dint argue, I dint fight, but I kept this thought back in my heart, where it came from, but with the news of every demise, I think of it again and again, and today is one such day…

So that thinking of mine says, Families shouldn’t be broken.

That simply means that a family would comprise of parents and their kids, and according to me, no one would leave or die alone. If the time has come for’em, they all would die together! So that there’s no one to cry after’em, no one has to miss’em, no one feels deprived of anything, and above all, nobody’s life is blank, be it any page of life! And yah, that also makes me ponder on how this entire episode will go to one generation after the other, if I think logically (Yeah I do that too, sometimes). I got a temporary solution to this too, but I sure knew God wouldn’t buy that, if I were ever to present it to him.

I wrote it here today, not because another death reminded me of it, not because I wanted to take it forward to more and more people and get someone to support or agree with me, but because I wanted it to come out of my heart and be there on my mind always, I might find one reason, one solution, one day. Amen!


Sweety.