A Week Full of Happy Realisations!!!!

Some week's are such that it seems that you have lived a life in it. Last one was one such week for me. Starting on a slow note (I blame my vacation for that) it went on going better & better result is I have loads to say but not clear how to. Anyways lemme start.

One day Hubby turned up with some spicy looking eatable and said “this is sweet potato stick & a friend of mine says that it is neither sweet nor does it taste like potato and though it looks spicy it isn’t spicy and he loved it a lot.” I was quite intrigued, why would something be called by XYZ but wouldn’t justify its name?

I grabbed a scissor, the packet cut open, the sticks looked real spicy and pop went one inside my mouth. As proclaimed it was neither sweet nor like potato, in fact it was tasteless.

You know why?

It was made of the ‘Sweet Potato.’ (Shakarkand in hindi) I laughed out loud and remembered my post on men & vegetables and said, “fo fweet” :D

This week I finally managed to go to the Great Crossword sale and am happy that I came out with 2 books only.

What?

You want me to say that of the 2 books one was not in sale and I effectively saved nothing?

Huh!!! You think I will accept that? Ha!

This Sunday saw us watching Kaminey, yes I watched it again. I had liked it so much that had to see it again & the best part is I came out loving it more. But this movie trip was successful in ways more than one & I will tell you why.

I am one of those viewers who go to watch a movie but are also equally interested in watching all the trailers and if I miss them I feel cheated. Thankfully, the trailers of Wake up Sid (looks great), Ishqiya (looks different) & Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna (Hai! Sallu) ensured that I wasn’t disappointed. Now add 2.5 samosa, half a tub of cheese popcorn & cuppa coffee to the whole trip and you will know why am I so happy with it.

This Sunday also saw the release of the Promos of London Dreams and I must say the movie looks promising, I just hope it doesn’t disappoint.

After coming back from the movie I plunked myself in the beanbag and was in no mood to move. As I started channel browsing when the subject of lunch popped up, I was too tired to cook and too lazy to move out (am one of those people who hate to go out immediately after coming back home). So when Husband muttered Thaali, I protested however when I heard Gujarati Thaali & Inorbit being uttered I was ready in a flash. Hubby was surprised by my 360 degree turn but knew better and we moved out.

Needless to say lunch was blissful. I stuffed myself with all the delicacies & the words DIET & FOOD CONTROL were wiped off from my mind. The sweet daal, farsaan, yummy pulao etc were devoured. We ate so much that it we decided to move around to settle the food.

Moving around in a mall should have been a cakewalk Na?

Ha!!

I tried controlling myself in a mall where Provogue showroom screamed FLAT 50% off, Wills Lifestyle 40% off, Shopper’s Stop Screamed Up To 50% off and picked just one top from Provogue to satisfy myself.

First 30 mins in Shoppers Stop were spent in browsing, eyeing the Hidesign bag et. al. and my wallet was about to escape unscathed when Becky woke up. The end result was a lovely lavender colored Shirt & lovely sandals in burgundy. I also picked up this beautiful box for the safe keep my junk jewelry.

After the quenching the shopping thirst we moved into CCD, sipped blissful coffee and moved back home. Some Sunday chores were done (finally!) and dinner skipped which effectively meant that for the whole of Sunday I didn’t fire the kitchen, in fact even Saturday dinner was out. I can not tell you how satisfying the realization was.

This week also saw me realizing the importance of a friend and of how in sync we are with each other. I just hope that this friendship is for keeps.

While watching Kaminey I realised that though Shahid deserves all the awards for the movie but he won’t get any because with My Name Is Khan coming up by year end all the awards would already be fixed.

I may as well call it a week of realisation because I have now realised what I want as a gift for my birthday. It is a Hidesign bag which costs above 4 grands and I am gonna buy it by redeeming my credit card points against HD voucher. Though my points are falling short but ki fark penda hai will pay the balance from my pocket :D

The only problem is some 4 months away but then nobody can stop me from taking an advance gift, what say? Specially when it is me who is gifting the gift ;-)

Thats all about me, how was your week?

Faking It.

I have been guilty, guilty of neglecting the first word of my blog. Not that I haven’t read nay book lately. I finished reading “The Time Traveler’s Wife” loved it and wanted to review it as well but didn’t for two reasons. One, I didn’t get time then & now I feel I had read it long back. Two, there are some books which are so good that whatever you write about you can not do justice to them so instead of spoiling it is better just to recommend it to your readers and that’s what am doing here. It is one of the most compelling reads of recent times and pulls you in like a magnet, so grab a copy soon.

I have also finished “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” Series. Been avoiding to review any of the book because I wanted to review the series so be ready for a mammoth review soon.

Besides the above two books I finished one book on my way :-) here's the review

Faking It

Author: Amrita Chowdhury

Publisher: Hachette India

Price: Rs. 250


What would you do if you are asked to leave your high profile & highly paid job just because you husband has got a fantastic opportunity at work. An opportunity which promotes him as the head of country operations and a promotion which means moving base from U.S.A to India.

- Would you do the Asian Woman Thing? That is leaving your job and following the ‘Pati Parmeshwar?’

Or

- Would you leave your job, move with your husband but not let him forget what he has let you into??

Our protagonist surely does the second. Tara Malhotra forced to quit her high profile job to make a move to India is hating every moment of the move and she has very carefully made it evident to her husband that getting her to India might be the biggest mistake he could have ever made.

In their flight to India Tara chances upon a magazine which gives her a clear idea about How to get Even with your Husband. Her simple plan in her own words is

Buy contemporary Indian art by noted & upcoming artists and blow huge holes in your husband’s wallet.**

In India Tara is out of her elements. Finding a perfect apartment, a perfect school for her son Rohan and perfect nannies were never so difficult. While she does these things she gets sucked into the high society life of Mumbai and realizes that her passion for Art can seriously be converted into business. It is in one such event that she meets Roy Jordan, an art dealer. Roy, a smooth and smart talker makes a good enough impression on Tara.

Eventually her home is set and Tara finally starts working on her dream of opening an art gallery with a lady called Gul. Raj, Tara’s husband is against her starting the gallery & it doesn’t help their already strained relationship. It was in such a stressful period that Roy gets in touch with her informing her about a rare find of an Amrita Sher-Gil painting. The price is exorbitant but she has a point to make to her husband and thus Tara ends up buying the painting only to realize later that she has been duped.

The painting was fake bought for 60 Lakh rupees Tara becomes a victim of a major fraud. The whole episode had serious implications to it.

If she as an owner of an art gallery could be duped so easily then what is the guarantee that the painting at her gallery are original?

What will she tell her husband?

What if her husband comes to know of her one moment of insanity & intimacy with Roy?

The fighter spirit in Tara doesn’t let her go of the incident and she knows that she has to set everything all right, if not for her money than for her self esteem.

And thus begins the roller coaster ride of “Faking It.”

The mood of the book is set in the initial chapters; you can very well guess that this is one of those enjoyable Indian Chick-Lit's. But let me first say what I didn’t like about the book.

The book is set around art & paintings and there is an ample discussion on the same. Being honest sometimes I found the discussion boring & lengthy but then it can be attributed to the fact that my interest doesn’t lie in that area.

At places more than one you will feel that there are too many literary liberties and our leading lady has a very easy life, there are too many coincidences, things fall in place too easily etc etc.

But if you close the last page of the book with a smile on your face all the literary liberties are waved off and same happens with this book. It takes you on a non stop & enjoyable ride. I smiled with Tara, I pumped the air when she took sweet revenge on her husband and I felt sad when she was duped. I guess that’s where the author excels, it makes you the character.

The book also describes the urbane-high style lifestyle very well ad though I couldn’t relate to them but I felt I was getting a third party tongue-in-cheek view of Page 3 life which we all envy but which can be so empty at times.

The book also very subtly touches the dilemma & confusion of NRI’s shifting back to India. It shows how people can feel alien or out of place in their own country despite the fact that it is the same place where they were born & educated.

I would recommend this book to all chick-lit lovers who have been craving for a good one in fact it has an added bonus it has the thrills of a suspense novel as well. I think this is best one to come out from an Indian author after Zoya Factor.

** Excerpts from book.

What If.....

What if I had the power to eat whatever I want & choose somebody who could gain weight against what I eat?

I would nominate all my enemies/ anorexic people to gain weight ;-)

What if I had the power to choose someone who would exercise for me who would bear all the pain but the gain as in loss of weight would show on me??

I would appoint a maid for this ;-)

And am sure the world would be a lazy place & full of fat people but who cares, I will have a maid and will find enough enemies ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What if I had the special powers using which I only have to & things would happen apne aap!!!

• My meals would be ready in a matter of seconds.


• My blog would be updated every minute.


• All my office work would be finished in seconds.


• *evil grin* some one down south would be throttled every once in a while


• I will have the best bags, dresses & all things I love in front of me for my use.


• I will have all the books from my wish list & more :D


• Salman Khan!!!! He will be mine!!!

Gosh!! the wish list would be never ending!!!

Life would be a cakewalk!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What if I had the powers to turn my dreams into reality???

Ah! The dream I had today morning wouldn't be a dream any more.

What did I dream about?

Disclaimer: Those who hate Salman Khan are requested to skip the next line :-) and if you still choose to read it then no nasty comments/ no questioning my choice/ no ridiculing of choice et. all please!!! :D

Dream: I was sitting with Sallu and he had eyes, ears & his heart for me only!!! and I am not making up the dream it happened, really!!!

Sigh!!!!

If Only….

As I Gain a Year in A Week!!!!

Abc…

Check check!!!

fghjk…

Fingers check fingers check!!!!

Ah! So the words are appearing and my fingers are working needless to say I am relieved. Not that I was expecting my keyboard to be jammed & neither did I expect myself to forget typing but what I feared was that due to too much fat accumulation my fingers might get stuck while typing. With a heavy heart I announce that I have gained back what I had lost in a year, read on to know how & why.

If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know that I was away on a little break to my parents place i.e. Chennai. As soon as my vacation was planned things that were on my mind were that I would spent the better part of the vacation watching loads of T.V., catching up with my parents (I was meeting them after more than a year), eating all my favorite delicacies coming out of mom’s kitchen, lazing around, sleeping & relaxing. As I was making these khayali plans my Mom had her own agenda for me, she was planning to feed me like never before (she had even asked me to send a mail of what all I would like to eat :D) & give me loads of time to relax. In few words she wanted to pamper her over worked daughter.

As soon as I landed her plan was put into action. As it was Janmashtmi I had hardly eaten anything and as we moved towards home my Mom took out fast food fast ka khaana and thus marked the beginning of what I am gonna call The Ultimate Food Week and yes the week began with eating out yummy poori’s in car. Over the week I was fed with Rajma, chole, samosa, uttapam, all my favorite vegetables, mango shake, mooli & aloo ka paratha, aloo ki kachori (slurp!), chaat and what not and mind you all home made. I who never applies ghee to her roti’s was treated to yummy oil dripping paratha’s & ghee’d roti’s needless to say my protests were threadbare and my Mom’s determination strong. She very disappointed the day I was supposed to catch up with some friends; all because I would be skipping a meal.

Mom’s I say!!!

The end result of all this is that I think I have gained back what I had lost in a year and have a tough month ahead because I am planning to shed all that I gained. I wish that what we eat in vacations should never be accounted for weight gain. So all those sadist friends who are happy for my gain, you just wait & watch how lose the weight :-)

As I am talking about the good things I should also share a nightmarish experience that I had in Chennai. When in my last post somebody had asked me “how are the mosquitoes there” I had taken it lightly but now I know what they were talking about. One night at around 12ish the electricity went of and thus began one of the worst nights of my life. The place was so damn hot that we had to open the windows & balcony doors and when we did that there was an attack of mosquitoes.

I, who has always prided of not being bitten by M’s was confident of surviving this attack as well. I mean after having survived the biggest mosquito of Chennai I knew that these small ones could do nothing to me but guess I was wrong because next morning I woke up with swollen arms and puffed up feet. Such was the impact of mosquitoes that I had to take anti allergic medicine. I now know how to curse some people in Chennai all I have to wish is for the worst mosquito attack for them :D

Besides that one experience it is just fond memories that I have carried back from Chennai, thanks to this trip I managed to meet two friends of mine.

Since she was based out of India, I had no false dreams that I would meet her. We used to say that next time you are India we will try to meet but always knew that it would be tad difficult but as is said, “if you wish for something very strongly the whole universe conspires to make it happen.’

I met Bubs after having known her for more than a year (we have originally met online :-)). I have always found an understanding friend in her and when we met there was no hesitation of the first meeting and an hour flew away in chatting and by the time we parted I knew we are friends for life.

The second friend whom I met as Vishesh says is my nemesis and sweet Sweelie has even written a sweet post on our squabbles. I was always sure that I would be meeting him because Tom & Jerry can chase each other, they can fight like cats & dogs but they have to meet to spice up their squabbles and I would have been disappointed fi we wouldn't have met, so we did meet. But...

How did our meeting go?

Were we amicable?

Were we at each other’s throat?

Were we thrown out of the CCD for PDA i.e. Public Display of animosity?

Did we meet like long lost enemies friends?

Well I wouldn’t be very helpful here and disclose what happened when we met. All I would say that we survived each other and both of us are alive and kicking (though wishing we could kick each other) and better friends than ever. I know the last line was too sweet but take it as my moment of weakness or whatever but yes, Vimal too is now a friend foe for life :-)

Other highlights of the vacation would be the take away dinner from Muruguan Idli’s, crocodile park, loads of TV watching, in fact I am sure that I can give an update of nth serial on TV and have sharpened my shuddh hindi (beware Vims) all thanks to the village based serials that are a rage these days.

BTW how can I forget, I created a record of sorts, I did not shop!!! Yay!!!!

And yes surprisingly I managed to finish just one book when I was carrying 5 of them :D

As they all good things come to an end!!!

I wonder why!!!

I am back in the world of Ganpati’s, local trains, tight schedule, kitchen, cooking, no water, office etc. sigh!!!! Though not actually hating it but not loving it either.

How have you guys been??

P.S. Hopefully will be demolishing the Google Reader alerts soon but if I miss some post of yours please blame it the slow connection of mine :-)

Kaminey in Chennai!!!

My Dad’s job, my education and many other factors ensured that we stayed in different parts of India. Gorakhpur (U.P.), Talcher (Orissa), Jaipur, Roorkee, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Jabalur, Mumbai etc are few cities where I have stayed and left my roots. However there were two parts of India which were largely untouched i.e. N.E. & South. I dunno when am gonna touch the former but with Dad switching his job & moving to Chennai the later was settled. Some 8 months after their shifting it was time for me to visit them and here I am, in Chennai. In a city & a region which is totally new to me, it is a region whose language is totally alien to me.

With excitement & expectations in my heart I landed here on Friday night & on my way towards the airport I sat facing a young couple who were tired & were waiting to reach home but there was an inherent excitement in them and the girl said, ‘There is no place like Chennai’. The statement made me smile, don’t we all think same for our hometowns? Nah! Not me!!! Having stayed in so many places I don’t know which city to call as mine but if I am forced to chose one I think Ahmedabad will win. But this post isn’t about Ahmedabad is it? Nah!!! It is about Chennai & Kaminey :-)

Saturday was spent at home as I was in no mood to go anywhere so when my mobile beeped with, “Are you liking my city?” I really had no answers but today I have. For the first time I ventured out in the city & here are my few observations about it.

- I can see loads of free space & greenery and for somebody coming from Mumbai this is a welcome change.

- I can hardly see any high rises and trust me that is again a very welcome scene :-) in fact the tradition of two storey bulidings & bunglows remindes me of India which is lost behind 12 & 21 storey houses.

- I can see loads of gajra’s & gold :D

- I see loads of temples with huge sketches of God made out of lights (if there is one word for them please share it with me).

- I can see a general discipline as far as traffic is concerned. This too is such a welcome relief after Mumbai where people have no traffic sense whatsoever; people park where they want to and there is a general attitude of Traffic-rules-are-made-to-be-borken & lets-break-the-record-of-getting-stuck-in-traffic.

- Where ever you go FabIndia, Cafe Coffee Day, Lee, Reebok, Adidas, Pizza Hut etc. will follow and makes every new city like a familiar one :-)

- There is one thing which is similar to Mumbai. Here too I can see hoardings of grinning politicians glaring at us. I guess that's one breed which is same all across India :D

In few words I like what I have seen of the city and don’t know why but it is reminding me of Jaipur and its innocence. I might be wrong but that’s the first impression :-)

There is one incident which I would love to share with you guys. My parents & I were in a nursery today as mom wanted to pick up a tulsi plant. As we located the plant the nursery owner came in and some exchange of words happened which went totally over my head. I was expecting the same from my parents but I was surprised because may be not totally but they understood him and even managed to make him understand something more. I guess this happens only India, I-don’t-understand-you-you-don’t-understand-me but welive happily ever after :D but you know what? This means I cannot haggle & bargain if I wish to :(

Coming to Kaminey; I hope nobody got confused that I went ahead and met some blogger in Chennai :D the fact is I saw Kaminey today.

Now what do I say about the movie I have simply fallen in love with it and am in total agreement with the top class ratings it has got. Everything in the movie from acting to execution to camerawork to music to dialog to story is top class. I cannot even think of one negative about the movie.

It is one those kinds which makes you use your brain. If you miss even one frame you feel as if you have missed one of the parts of a jigsaw puzzle. Vishal Bhardwaj has presented the age old story of twins in a manner which keeps you glued to the seat, it makes you laugh and it tells you the reality, in your face. From creating awareness about AIDS to mocking the so-called-anti-north-sentiment in Maharashtra to the so badly seeped in corruption the movie touches it all. The best part about the movie is its dark humor which keeps giving you enough entertainment.

If we talk about performances then nobody fails. If Priyanka Chopra is totally believable as the aggressive Marathi Mulgi then so is Amol Gupte as the venom-spitting-marathi-manus but it is Shahid Kapoor who walked away with my heart! If his portrayal has mean Charlie entertained me then his performance has Guddu endeared me.

Here I would love to add that every person in the supporting cast has done a fabulous job.

The movie presents Mumbai in a different light, it shows you the city from the eyes of a common man, it shows you the real rain & pain. It shows you the rags to riches story with a twist ;-) but I must say that quite some part of the movie is in Marathi. Having stayed in Mumbai I could understand it but people who have no clue about the language might face a problem and even miss the humor of certain scenes. Yep! There are no sub titles!!!

To conclude I would say it is a fabulous movie and a must watch for all those who love dark humor. For those who don’t love the later they should go ahead and watch it because you will fall in love with the genre & if you are looking for any more reason to watch it then don’t look beyond Shahid Kapoor!

To my friends in Mumbai, hope you get to watch it soon :-D

BTW though I have a net connection at home but

a) the connection is very slow

b) There is some virus in the system which doesn't let me open more than one IE window at a time. Hopefully I can correct the later and will be back to comment soon :-)

Till then adieu and a happy working Monday whilst I sleep and enjoy Mom's cooking :D

P.S. Have you seen the ads of Wanted??? Salman Khan looks fabulous in it and am waiting for the movie to release soon. Him in an action role is something which am looking forward to :D

Little White Feet!!!

Post Holi there is a kind of drought as far as festivals and public holidays are concerned but August officially commences the festival season of India. We have Rakshabandhan, Janmashtmi, Ganpati Festival, Navratri, Dussehra, Karwa-Chauth and the seasons closes its shutters with Diwali. Though we don’t celebrate them with the same vigor as we used to in our childhood but still these days have their own charm. Of all the festivals the one which is closest to my heart is Janmashtmi.

On Janmashtmi we celebrate the birthday of one of the most loved & naughty God in Indian Mythology, i.e. of Lord Shri. Krishna. I have some wonderful memories of Janmashtmi it was one of those few days when we used to fast as a family.

The festival always comes with a rider. Half of India celebrates it on one day and the other half on the other, isn’t this the most hilarious & amazing thing about our country? We celebrate same festivals but can not decide about dates :D and as I right this, few of my friends have Janmashtmi today and as per our calendar it is tomorrow.

Anyways, I associate the day with majorly two things

1- Feasting Fasting &

2- Decorating a Jhaanki!!!

A day before the D-Day we used to start working on the Jhaanki in we basically set a kind of decoration depicting Krishna Birth. This website defines the process perfectly

Jhanki is cribs & other decorations depicting stories of Lord Krishna's childhood. There are five main "jhankis" of Janmashtami which depict the entire sequence of events from Lord Krishna's birth to his being discovered in Gokul. The "jhankis" include the birth of Krishna in jail, Vasudev carrying Krishna to safety across the river Yamuna amidst thunder and lightning, Vasudev's return to the jail, Kansa killing Yashoda's daughter and finally the little Krishna in the cradle in Gokul. "Jhankis" are created out of dolls dressed up as kids, men and women with lehangas, chunnis, dhotis & kurtas. Raslila of every type are also performed - Janmlila, Shankarlila, Putnalila and Naglila. In the evening bhajans are sung which end at midnight, the auspicious moment when Lord Krishna was born. Thereafter arti is done, prasad distributed and flowers showered on the idol.

Source: http://www.tcindia.com/festivals.html

Now the above mentioned things used to happen on a larger scale. At home we used to set everything on a bed, all the Gods used to get an outing. We had special set of toys for these decorations and with Dad arranging the fancy lightings & me n bro fighting over the smallest thing, the whole process used to be thoroughly entertaining & fun. I even have some lovely snaps of those days but sadly they are at home.

On the day of Janmashtmi we are supposed to fast for the whole day and are not allowed to eat ‘Ann’ i.e. grain in any form. We used to wake up take bath and would accompany Mom to the nearest temple. Mom always made it a point that the visit happened as early as possible because couldn’t stand the fact that her kids were empty stomach.

As soon as we reached home she would begin the preparation to stock us up. She would dish out delicacies like, fresh-home-made-potato wafers, fruit juices for breakfast. For lunch she would make Kuttu ke aate ki pakodi’s, puri’s & cheela’s, spicy potato subzi, potato halwa & what not. The best part of the whole process was we used to eat more than we eat on a normal day and that is why I always loved & waited for Janmashtmi. Post lunch we used to have a long siesta.

Evenings used to be great fun because all our family friends & friends would visit our place to check out our Jhaanki. We would then as a group move out to check out the other places. We used to do a round up of the whole township & what beautiful Jhaanki’s people used to make. I seriously miss those days!!!

Once we were home we would make all the efforts to be up & stay awake till 12 which is the time when Lord Krishna’s birth is ushered in. To pass time we used to watch a movie and Mom used to toil in kitchen making all kinds of offerings for Lord Krishna.

At around 11:45 we would gather around the Jhanki and would begin the pooja. One of us always had an eye on the clock and at 12 sharp we used start chanting a Krishna aarti.

We kids used to wait for the pooja to come to an end because then came the turn of having “Panachamrat” & “Panjeeri” (made of wheat flour) which is made especially as a prashad (special offering to God). After polishing off these two awesome delicacies we used to sit for another feast. Yes at midnight we used to have proper food like poori subzi and with heavy stomach we used to go off to sleep.

Ah! What lovely carefree days they were. I am sure half the present generation doesn’t even know about the intricacies of these festivals and they don’t even know what fun they are missing. There was innocence in such fun!!!

Tomorrow is Janmashtami for us and it is tomorrow that I am landing at my parents place. It would be after 7-8 years (it could be more) that I would be celebrating the day at home and what is more exciting for me is the feast that would be waiting for me. I just can’t wait for this day to end and tomorrow to come :-)

HAPPY JANMASHTAMI!!!

P.S. I might not be very regular in blogging for some time, I might not even reply to comments for sometimes but be sure am lurking somewhere around and BTW while am away I have revenge on my mind. Now it is up to u readers to guess what kind of revenge am talking about ;-)

P.P.S *hugs* & thanks to Miss-D for the lovely title :-)

Just my rambles!!!!

A conversation between Me n Me

Gosh!!! It’s Monday!!!!

I had promised myself that I will put up a post every Monday!!!

But if I don’t hell will not break loose or will it??

I can easily skip one Monday, can I not???

Come to think of it if WIAN’s blog can celebrate ½ an year of zero activity my blog can do without a Monday post can it not??

But I would break my promise to!!!!

But what to do if there are too many ideas and nothing good is coming out??

Well I should try harder!!!

But if my trying hard means this kind of post then does it make sense??

Why not??? You can call it “The Inner conversation that I had.”

Blah!!!!

Well, then why don’t you start writing something with out most sincerity?

Because I am dreaming!!!


Dreaming of what???

Of my vacation which is just 4 days away!!!

Of my Mom’s cooking & of what I would eat.

How much time can day dreaming take? I can surely take out time to write something.

I tried but….

What???

Swine Flu!!!

What???

Arrey every one is busy talking about Swine Flu and how we should stop going out, eating out, breathing et al.

You mean to say that people are asking you to stop living???

Ya! In a way!!!

WTH!!!! What has to happen will happen so stop worrying enjoy life and start writing!!!!

Hey see our conversation makes for a good read.

Do you want to post this on your blog???

Ya!! Anything wrong in this?

Your readers will kill you, they expect certain things from you.

Ha!! I don’t think so, they know how mad I am, so am off to post this!!!

Good luck is all what I can say.

The Search is on!!!

Scene 1

Girl: If I tie a rakhi on your wrist will you give me a gift?

Boy: No, you will have to give sweets to me.

Girl: Of course sweets will accompany the rakhi but will you give me a gift and if yes, what is your budget.

Boy: Why should I give you a gift? You give me sweets.

Girl: Huh!!! I won’t tie a rakhi to you :P

Scene 2

Girl: If I tie a rakhi on your wrist will you give me a gift?

Boy 2: Yes!

Girl: What is your budget?

Boy 2: There is no budget, you tell what you want.

The girl thinks over, she hardly knows the guy & doesn’t want to pile on him. As is the guy had so readily agreed & ruined the fun. She tells him that she was only testing him and moves ahead.

Scene 3

The girl is desperate to get a gift so goes to a lady & asks

Girl: If I tie a rakhi on your wrist will you give me a gift?

Lady: Who you???

Scene 4

The girls picks up the phone and starts a conversation with another acquaintance

Girl: Hi! How are you? Happy Rakhi!

Boy 3: Thank you! I am good, how are you?

Girl: Am also good, so how has the day been?

Boy 3: Usual!!

Girl: Accha tell me, If I tie a rakhi on your wrist will you give me a gift?

Boy 3: Errr!!! Yes!!!

Girl: What is your budget?

Boy 3: Depends on how much sweets you bring.

Girl: I will get enough sweets, you tell me what is your budget?

Boy 3: What do you want?

Girl: Have you been to this toy sale?

Boy 3: No!! I have stopped visiting all kinds of sales, Recession you see!!!

Girl: Whatever!!! See there is a Monkey Game in the sale and I want it.

Boy 3: Why don’t you buy it yourself?

Girl: It is for kids and if I buy it for myself not only will I feel guilty but I'll also feel that I have blown away my money. So the best way is to have it as a gift.

Boy 3: OK, how much is it for?

Girl: 475/- Rs. only

Boy 3: What???

Girl: I will give you a 30% discount.

Boy 3: What if I come tomorrow to get the rakhi tied? Will I get an off season discount?

Girl: huh!! Tomorrow? And who will tie you a rakhi today? Your wife?

Boy 3: Ya!! There is no other option.

(Isn't this the story of all nuclear Indian Homes?)

Girl: How many rakhi’s??

Boy 3: One!!

Girl: If you agree with my bargain I will tie the rakhi that your sister has sent for you & one rakhi from my side. Ek pe ek muft muft muft!!!

Boy 3: *thinks* no no 475/- is too much.

Girl: think over and tell me tomorrow. You never know I might give you an off season discount as tomorrow is another day.

Sigh!!!

Needless to say the girl in question is me and I have fallen in love with that monkey game!!!

I make it a point to visit the toy sale daily. It is my ritual to go there and stand in front of the game waiting for a salesman to come & as soon as he comes I tell him I want to play the game & he most obligingly plays with me. The best part is that I have already defeated him twice!!! Today we managed to gather a crowd behind us and a guy said “see how well she is playing the game, this is exactly this should be played.”

When the game ended the salesman asked me, Ma'am do you want it? I said "yes, but only if somebody gifts it to me" and walked away!!!

My friends are telling me that these people will now remove the game from display or they would post somebody at the entrance to keep an eye on my arrival and as soon as they would see me approaching the store all the sales man would disappear :D

Anyways any takers for my Rakhi??

Please mention your budget as well!!!

A Teary Eyed Farewell To My...

9:40 AM Shit!! Am late, how will I catch the 10:03 train; I may as well miss it, finish the work & catch the next train।

9:50 AM Oh! God! Time flies। Need to get up in next 2 mins to catch the 10:15 train.

9:58 Shit! Shit! Shit!

Switch off the PC.

Stuff everything into the handbag

God!! Need to close the kitchen window, keep the milk in refrigerator, keep the dubba.

10:02 Oh I have precisely 7 mins in my hand। I can apply the liner, kajal et al. Oh! God! Need to visit washroom as well.

I don’t even want to see the time, grab the foot wear I could lay my hands on & run lola run

10:08 In front of lift counting every precious minute.

Parking the scooter I check out the time, it is 10:14, I am gone!!! And as I start to run I realise I have made the mistake of wearing my 3 inch sandals and I know I am doomed.

I do a tic-toc-tic-toc running, I was sure that I would be making a funny picture but I wasn’t bothered as I had a train to catch. As soon as I land on the platform I realise that the train is at 10:18 and I was running in vain. As I board the train I started cursing myself for wearing the sandals that I am wearing. I will tell you why!

A week back in a hurry to catch my regular train I had hurt some nerve of my leg (I had boarded a running train :D). So whenever there is a pull in my leg it pains like anything. To add to my woes I have never been known for being comfortable in high heels. In fact to be honest I can not even walk properly in flats and keep tripping here n there so heels are always nightmarish for me.

So that day I had committed Hara-kiri I would say!!! I was wearing heels on a day when

- My right leg was already hurting

- I had to run because I was running late and every minute was precious. Trust me walking in heels is a problem for me and running in them is something I don't even dream of.

- It could rain any time and my trouble would have doubled in no time.

As the train dropped me at the station I had the tension of swiping in on time so I decided to ditch the office shuttle and took an auto rickshaw from the railway station. The auto drops us outside the main gate of the office which means a walk of at least a couple of kilometers. I was in royal trouble. I kept tripping left right & center; I twisted my foot at least thrice and reached the swiping point.

A colleague had joined me in the journey and was sympathizing all the while. When we started moving towards my office building (which was half a kilometer away) I decided that I have had enough. I slipped out of my footwear and started walking on bare feet. I wasn’t bothered about what others would say because at most they would assume that my footwear is broken & they would sympathise :D. It was then that God decided to intervene and a bus landed just besides us. We boarded it & safely reached the office.

I realized that for a traveling time of ½ an hour & 9 kms I had used Scooty-Train-Auto-11 No. ki bus i.e. my legs & proper bus and had ended up aggravating the problem in my foot.

Phew!!! Who said life is easy!!!

Rest of the day was spent in agony, I decided to stick to my seat and move only when extremely necessary. For some time I even borrowed one size bigger footwear of a colleague it was any day better than my foot wear.

By the time I reached home my legs had gone bonkers. Walking was giving me unbearable pain and as I dipped my foot in hot salty water I wondered

- How can ladies wear high heels daily and still walk properly for days.
- How can you allow your foot to be in such a precarious angle that it hurts any way! It almost suspended in air :D

As a ma’am said to me later, “You have to pay a price for style!!!”

Grrr!!!

I am very sure that I don’t want to pay such a big price for style but I sincerely appreciate all those girls who wear stiletto heels or for that matter any kind of heels.

They are for sure not my cuppa coffee because I do not have that grace, style & poise to walk as if each step is a matter of life & death. Am always in too much a hurry to count my steps and walk!!!

I am an expert in breaking foot wear’s & foot. Though the former is always mine the later could be anybody who is walking anywhere near me :D

In college when I used to trip my friends used to say “look ahead while you are walking” and my smart retort used to be “had I not been seeing while walking you wouldn’t have been safe.” :D

So my lovely pair of sandal’s I love your look & style. I love they way you add grace to my churidar clad leg but my love for you is not strong enough to hurt my legs. So with a painful leg & a tearful eye, I bid adieu to you. You should now stay put at the bottom of my shoe rack.

P.S. I never buy high heels sandals because I know I do not have that lady like grace to wear them and that is why I got these gifted to me & when I am not using them I am not feeling as guilty ;-)