On fountain pen:part 2

And I asked for the pen
To the guy sitting next
So that I can scribble
in one page some text.

And as I hold the pen
I grinned so wide
For I was holding a fountain-pen
in ink blue bright.

It brought back nostalgia
of school days glories
And I discussed with this guy
of pens and old memories.

And as I returned back.
To my old blogger home
I realized some loves
never grow old.
Like my love and surprise on seeing someone using fountain pen.

April rains

It is blasphemous not to enjoy good weather. Period.

The weather for the past few days has been salubrious. Just like that of hills. Chill inducing breeze, intermittent thunder and rains. And I love this weather. This kind of weather makes me feel happy. I make it a point that in such weather I go outdoors to play or walk just to enjoy the weather. Ofcourse when it is not raining as I dont like rains much.  April rains. There is a beautiful Korean movie named April Snow. Why do I tell you that? No particular reason. It just came to my mind when I typed April rains.

And when it rained, what did I do? Good question. Like yesterday, when it rained, I opened my balcony door to let the cool breeze in, played my favourite play-list on phone, made myself ginger-lemon green tea and savoured on the snacks my mom had sent and read that novel I have been reading. And I watched movies in home. After like 4-5 months.
.
The Intouchables: Its a French movie. This movie was the best thing in my day filled with meaningless internet browsing. Y ou know some movies fill your heart with such warmth that you cant stop smiling in the mention of that movie. Yes it is that kind of movie. The French actor who played the quadplegic is very handsome and so likeable was the main actor. Do watch this movie if get time.

The other movies that I watched was 'The Darjeeling Limited" and "The boy in the Striped Pajamas". The former movie by Wes Anderson was on my to-be-watched list for a long time and finally when I watched it, I was not flattered. The movie is shot in Rajasthan and I was not able to link the Darjeeling limited and the Rajasthan scenery. But for Western audience the name is just to show the link to India. But yes can be watched when you have no better movie to watch. "The boy in the Striped Pajamas" was good and sad like most movies based on Nazi-Jew issue. But must-match.

Thought bubbles on Monday Morning

Yesterday night I slept with a resolution: to wake up early. At 06 o'clock. So after many, many weeks, I put alarm on my mobile. I am not a keeper of resolutions, am I? The half-done tags in this bblog are a good reminder of this. I woke up today at my regular sevenish. Dum spiro spera. So hopefully by the end of this week, I will be reporting in this blog of a Saturday morning that begins at 6 in the morning.

It has been two days that my maid has not come. So I was making umpteen journeys to my balcony to look for her in my street. Not that she would deliberately skip my house if I dont check on her, but then the kitchen sink full of dishes was enough for me to wait for her. "rasta niharna" as it is said in hindi.:)

While I was slouching over the railing of my balcony, I saw the shops in the street opening up their businesses, people brooming their verandahs, landlady watering her road-side plants and the 90s bollywood music rafting in the air. I knew that song. Infact tell me any hit song from the 90s, I am sure I would have heard it and can even hum a line or two (some full). After all, I am a child growing up in 90s on the solid diet of these songs. But just by hearing that song, I was sure that some construction worker/rickshaw wala bhaiya is playing this song. No they are not those dual meaning songs that were hit then(like ilu-ilu, gutur-gutar etc.), but these are the songs of love and heartache, resplendent with Kumar Sanu's voice which screams 90s.  With few experiences of my own and with due research of my fellow friends, I have come to an conclusion that these songs are a favorite among the construction workers/ rickshaw walahs. You know, like every decade, the songs of the 90s fall in two category: the good one (like Pehla nasha, ek ladki ko dekha, kuch na kaho etc-you get the drift) and then there are songs like these. Seems "Bewafa Sanam"movie has some of the Super-hit songs.

I am a very lazy person. And when I am alone, I am usually very careless of my meals and skip a one or two. Instead of cooking even maggi, I would rather look for buiscuits to quench my hunger. Thats how lazy I am. Not a good thing. So today I  made myself butter-jam toast and green tea (whoa what elaborate breakfast :p ) and decided to do something productive. And here I am writing a blog post. Woh, I am a girl who knows her priorities right. :)

Picture from google images

As I am not able to remember more 90s songs, feel free to add more in the list.

Image Source: https://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/98133221v6601421-slices-of-toast-bread-jam-cup-of

my kind of weather

7:30ish in the evening
sky was blue
partly overcast with orange clouds
away from me.
my part of sky was clear
and I saw stars above.
The moon played hide and seek
 with the clouds
in the cool breeze.
I sat down in the roof
and gazed for long at the sky above.


Today after many weeks, I stepped in my roof terrace and the weather was so nice. Clicked some photos with my phone.

construction around

one is star, another light from passing plane

moon above, star below:p

Bullets of my March

• ·         I noticed the “100 Day Happy Challenge” in some blog where one has to post Happy things/ quotes/ pictures in their blog/ facebook etc for 100 days. I got interested as I thought it would be a great way to you know, smell the roses along the busy rushing life. But knowing myself, I know it would be hard as no matter how much I admire happy people like my mother but I know that I am not a one. You know the kind of people who are always positive, cheerful in their disposition and don’t panic/ overthink a situation and just go with the flow, I am not the one. I have my days where I sulk over something which is not actually there and get miffed over petty issues. Thank God I have a husband not like me, or else some days would surely be very hard. Then I came across this very happy song by Phharell Williams and watched the  Oscar performance. I downloaded and this song has been a part of my playlist since then. I was informed that United Nations and Phharell Williams have organized this competition where people have to post “Happy” video of their city. I watched some videos of the entries in youtube.  Lovely thought. Enjoy the song:
• 
  
• As I was washing my hands in office washroom today, I realized what my problem is. The problem is of “ACCEPTANCE”. Hmmm, this got me thinking for like a minute but then other important things came up like watching Arjun Kapoor in "Locha-e-ulfat" song from his upcoming movie for the fifth-time of the day. What a nice song and choreography. Benny Dayal is awesome and well I could keep my eyes off Arjun Kapoor. He is looking so nerdy and handsome. Here's the video of the song:

• ·         I love reading but have not subscribed or opened account in any reading website. Bust many days back, I finally succumbed and opened my account in Goodreads. I consider myself a good reader but was appalled to notice that even after forcing my memory to remember the names of books I have read, I was not able to cross the 100 books that I have read mark. I tried to be very honest with my list and mentioned only those books of which I have clarity that I have read them. Today is an important day. As per Goodreads, I have read over 100 books and I am actually pretty elated. Last few months I have done some serious reading  and I hope to continue it this year.
• 
  
• ·         Watched “Queen”. My first movie of 2014 that I watched in movie hall. Went ahead to watch it after reading some rave reviews in FB and blogs. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie.
• 
  
• ·         Half-watched “Highway’ at home. That means I have not yet seen the pretty mountainous drive of the Himalayan towns. Definitely going to finish it today.
• 
  
• ·          Whenever I have to travel a new place, I prefer researching online about it. And one of the sources that I search specifically are blogs as the blogs give a personalized perspective and nitty-gritty info which major websites fail to give. I was in a hill state for a vacation and there I saw women laborers working side by side with men clearing and building the road at height more than 12000 feet above sea-level. That day happens to be Women's Day. I saluted those women. Border Roads Organisation, which works for the maintenance and building of roads in the border areas of the country is doing such a tough job. Really, if making roads in those mountaineous terrain is not a difficult work, maintaining those roads in between umpteen landslides, rains, continuous traffic, tourist influx is sucha large part of their jobs. Whenever I travel in these roads, a sincere thanks goes to the people and this organisation responsible for the connectivity to the nature's beauty.
• 
  
• ·         I have never mentioned but I have received free gifts through my blog. Three times. Shampoos and conditioners sponsored by Sunsilk on participating in Indiblogger contests. No I did not win any position/ prize on my writing , it’s just that they hand out gifts to every participant and this is where I get lucky;).
• 
  
•     There have been many times that I have purchased a book based on the review/ feedback I read on some blog and downloaded and watched movies based on recommendations in blogs. April Snow, a Korean movie tops the list on my mind which I watched after reading rave reviews in one of my favourite blogger’s post. And I was not disappointed.

• 
  

65, 728, not 14

So while in the last post, I struggled for the title of the post, today I have this super title for this post.

65: Happy 65th Republic Day friends!! Even if I say this to the only reader *myself* who reads this blog. Today I sort of made a record by waking up so late in the morning. The morning began with watching the Republic Day parade on TV. Since childhood I wait for bated breath to see the tableaux of my home-state and other states. This time, when the tableux of Assam state appeared on screen, the atmosphere was mixed with the grave and mesmerizing voice of late Mr. Bhupen Hazarika. The beautiful profound song that was being played was this. I youtubed the song and thought of sharing the song in the blog as well:

728: The no. of pages of the fattest book I have read till date. I finally finished the epic "The Museum of Innocence" by Orhan Pamuk today. The book review is due but that is the post of another day.
   

not 14: I am a Rafa fan and was rooting for his 14th Grand Slam Title at today's Australian Open final. So was dissappointed with his injury and his loss but tomorrow is another day.

Today..

• Today morning I read an article in newspaper on how bad posture can lead to neck and back problems in future and how Yoga is an easy way to attain good posture. I resolved to do it from today onwards. more than 12 hours have passed, I have eaten my dinner and watching a movie and plans to go to sleep soon after that and I realize hat my resolution for yoga today has gone kaput. A resolution that didnt stay for one day. Shame!!! And this remind me that doing physical exercise and yoga everyday was my New Year 2014 resolution and that too didn't stay even a day. Double shame!!! I blame the cold weather for this. When the weather improves, I will surely stick to it. And the point is even while writing it, I know that this is not going to happen soon.
• Rafael Nadal won his semifinal against Roger Federer. Yippie!!  
• For the first time, I watched any video from my office-seat Yes few glimpses of the aforementioned match.
• Something I was looking forward to got cancelled. And strangely, I am not reacting over it as I thought I would. Yes, I am getting there..The Zen stage. lol.
• I made creamy pasta for dinner.
• The Sale season is going to end soon. I have plans to raid malls this weekend.

           Oh there are people who can write pages after pages even on topic like "What to write?". I distinctly remember, in Hindi language there is a classic essay on "Kya Likhu?" which used to be in our syllabi. Which class? I dont remember. But I am just a mortal. When I wonder about what to write (for today's post ofcourse), I am not able to wax eloquently like them. I just jot down the happenings of my day in bullet-points. 

Observations on Shopping expedition

With this “Sale” season going on, my mind knows what to think about. I love Sales. It is just that I don’t exploit it to my benefit as much as I want. So while I can share my shopping woes some other day, let me share some of the moments which I have experienced during mall-hopping.

Light-bulb moment:  There are a lot of young parents who carry their oh-so-young kids in strollers all around the malls. Even at crazy places like Big Bazaar stores. Earlier I used to judge them and  wonder why do these guys bring such young babies to these places where there is so rush and noise. The babies lie flat on their strollers and there can be chances if something drops over them or somebody collides with the stroller, or so I used to thought. But then on my another excursion through mall on seeing those parents and kids, the light-bulb in my mind lighted and I realize they bring their babies for shopping etc with them because they had to as they might not have support at home to look after their kid. And with this wisdom I realize how difficult is parenting. Who knows someday I myself would be the one carrying my baby in stroller roaming around malls.

Oops moment:  This kind of incidents have happened with a lot. I would loiter around the collections of different brands and find something good in one of the racks. Unable to find my size, I would look around to find the sales representative. I would go to the sort-of uniformed guy in black sweater to ask him if x size is available for that particular item. That guy would try to ignore me. I push myself ahead to ask him again the same question. The guy would stare back at me and blankly say “I don’t know.” Then I would realize that this guy is not the sales guy but some random shopper like me. It is definitely embarrassing to both of us. And I resolve that next time before thinking anyone as sales guy, I will triple-check.Have something like this happened to you? You, the-random-reader-who-has-lost-his-path-in-blogosphere-and-still-reading-this-piece.

Eureka moment: You are browsing the stores when you find something which is in your to-buy list but which is not something you are here for to buy and that too at a good discount. The happy-dance in your heart moment. The Eureka moment. I experienced this moment when I found my shopping bag from Mango for less than Rs.1000/-.

WTF moment: When you go to buy jeans for yourself and in the trial room realizes that you are able to fit neither in the size that you normally wear nor in jeans one-size bigger. *true story*

Sigh-of-relief moment: You can fight the parking woes during sale time, even rush ahead to snatch your likes (in your size) from the racks but oh how the patience is tested when one have to wait for long in the queue  in front of trial rooms. The trial rooms where there are women who after every trail came out of the store and go all the way to the entrance of the trial section to get the opinion of their husbands, friends, mothers. So the sigh-of-relief moment comes when you get the trial room empty and don’t have to waste your time standing in queue or you finally get thfruit of your patience and at last got the trial room.

Upset moment:  When you plan to expand your wardrobe and  do a lot of shopping and collect hordes of clothes for trial but came out with none, if lucky one, piece that actually fits/ suits you.

Happy Moment: When you plan to expand your wardrobe and  do a lot of shopping and collect hordes of clothes for trial and amazingly you have selected the best that fits/suits you.

Right now, "Notting Hill" is coming on "Z Studio".Love this movie..

Image Courtesy: Google images

My experiences with online shopping

Flipkart was the website from which I did my first online shopping. That was the time before Flipkart diversified into multi-retail brands. That was the time when it trades only books and there were no shipping charges for any purchased amount. And how happy I was to know that the books I want to read are just a click away. Until my last shopping, I have purchased only books from flipkart. They have a super-fast delivery and at several instances I received my order in less than 48 hours itself.

Few days back I ordered a pair of Enroute sandals from them. They were on 50% sale in the website while in other websites they were available on full price no discount. The color I wanted was the nude shade of the item but the only available colors that were showed in the website were Black and Brown. I decided to pick brown. After 2 days, to my amazement I received my order. I know a customer should be enraged when one receive not what one ordered. But I did a happy dance in my mind because instead of Brown that I ordered they had sent me the nude one which I wanted and was not displayed in their website. Happy lucky me. But on a serious note, this is a mistake on Flipkart part but wth the customer is happy.

Jabong is one of the websites which I like to surf. I find it very user-friendly to browse and have made a few purchases with them and happy with their delivery and quality.

FashionandYou is another destination that I am subscribed to and I have bought shoes and kurti from them. The deliverytook longer than a week. But this was in the year of 2012. May be they have now improved in delivery timeperiod.

Nykaa was the website I hopped in through my random internet surfing. This website deals with beauty products from reputed  national and international brands. I was in love with their website. They have this big sale going on and I ordered 8 items from them. While I have been spoiled by Flipkart, Jabong and others with their speedy delivery the delivery of these items took a long time in comparision. My first batch of 6 items arrived after 5 days and one item was defective. I clicked its photo and sent a mail to the Nykaa team of the problem. The second batch of remaining items arrive some 6 days later as their excuse was that the ordered items were out of stock in their inventory. The defective item was yet not replaced. I dropped another mail to them. And while I was thinking that they are not going to replace the defective piece, they surprised me by sending the replacement within 3 days. All the items were despatched from Mumbai. And being a new entrant they may not have stores in other major cities, that may be a reason for the delay in orders but all’s well that ends well.. But well, they look promising as beauty products only website. 

All-in-all I find online shopping is very good and addictive at the same time. Here without venturing outside the comfort of your home, one can shop without getting dropped. Also the availability of discount coupons make online shopping attractive. I have a few colleagues who have brought items like Masalas online. So online shopping is the way to go for people who are short of time to hop malls and stores.

One of the things that I avoid while making purchase online is not paying shipping-charges. I like when my items are free-shipped. Even if the shipping charges are minsicule like Rs. 20-30, I avoid buying items or try to club more items on my order list so that I could get free-shipping. Weird, yes.

But at the same time, there are a few precautions one has to take when going for online shopping. Following are the some which Itake while shopping online:

1)      I try to make purchases mostly from renowned websites.

2)      I trust those sites which have “Cash-on-delivery” option. This feature gives me this fake assurance that my money is not on stake.

3)      When not sure of your size, don’t buy. There are many sites which have free-replacement policy and do replace your items within 1-2 days if your size is available, but why take risk. If I am planning to purchase some specific item like dress, jeans, shoes etc of a specific brand online because I am being offered some good discount and I am not sure of their size, fitting, I try to get to the real-store of that brand and get a size check. Cheap, yes I am.

4)      Almost all of the websites have facebook pages. So if there is some new site you want to buy something from, just take a look at their facebook pages as well. The reviews and feedback from users there will give an glimpse of their services.

Disclaimer: Though it look like a paid post for online shopping, this is not. These are just the vanity of my views on online shopping that I chose to write about in my Blogathon 2014 journey of everyday posting the month January.

Today

It's almost 10 pm by the clock and I still have not written the post for today. I had plans to write the book review of the latest book I had read and I had even started the post in the wordpad while I was in office. But just after writing a few paragraphs, I saved it in my gmail and decided that I will finish it in home.

As I reached home, I was aghast to find that the big whole bunch of the keys that I carry have not the key of the main door. (Since ZZ goes office late than me, it is he who locks the door and by reaching home earlier than him I have to open the door). I was about to go to my friend's who live in the same colony that I am, but then remebered that she has in-laws and guests at home. So I went to the terrace to take a little walk. It was cold here and I feared that I might catch cold but then had no other option to do.  I called ZZ to ask about his wherabouts and found out that I have to wait for 20-30 minutes.

After some good 10-15 minutes I went to the nearby market to pass some time and couldn't resist getting 'samosas' to eat with the evening tea. By the time I reached home ZZ had arrived. I got a bit upset with ZZ as his utmost reaction was not that I had to wait for such a long time in cold but his curiosity on how could I forgot the keys. I told him in not-so-calm voice that I didnt forget the keys but somehow the main dooor key is 'missing' from the bunch. There is a difference!!! In about 5 minutes the silent war was over and we were there drinking our tea and relishing samosas.

Tomorrow is "Makar Sankranti". In North,(UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and some other areas) there is this custom of making "Khichdi" and eating "Gur" (jaggery) and "Til" (sesame seeds) this day. I made a local delicacy which is made of wheatflour, jaggery and sesame seeds. It tasted a bit different than what it usually  taste like. The culprit was the multi-grain flour that I used instead of normal wheat flour. But ZZ and I consoled ourselves that these may not be as tasty as it should be but they are definitely more nutritious. "Dil behlane ke liye ghalib khayal achcha hain." Mummy suggested that since the muhurut of  Makar Sankranti is beginning from the evening of 14th, I should rather make "khichdi" on the morning of 15th if possible.I blatantly told her that it is not possible for me to make lhichdi in the morning but I am more than ready to make it continously on the evenings of 14th and 15th for making khichdi is always easier than the roti-sabzi-dal combo of the dinner.

I had thought of wearing sari to office tomorrow but right now I am feeling tired to get up and take the sari out of the suicase and iron it. So may be day after tomorrow.

In the street, the music system is playing "Lungi Dance" at top volume and from faraway I can hear the dhol. It's Lohri today.

So Happy Lohri friends!! And wishing you Happy Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bihu.

Rushing by

Sunday morning, chilled air, bright sunshine, lazying around, plans to roam around..

Rain, rain go away

One sure-shot thing I know about myself is that I am not rain-child.

No, I am not a rain-child as the only link that binds me with rain is that I was born in the month of July which is the monsoon month in India otherwise  I despise getting wet in rain.

No, I am not a rain child as I am of the kind who believes that rain is nice only when you view it from the inside of your home or any place which has roof. If in my home, I love the pitter-patter of rain, the bright colour of the freshly-washed leaves, the earthy scent of the air, the hot cup of tea and pakoras that is the treat of this season.

No, I am not a rain child as I tend to get wet even after holding the umbrella and getting wet in rain is something which I don’t like.

No, I am not a rain child as my favourite time is not the time when it rains but the time when the clouds are pregnant and about to pour rain any-time, when the air breezes past you with the hint of rain in them and the period after the rains have stopped. That is the time when I wish to get out and feel the air on my skin and return back in the comforts of my home with the first splash of the rain.

No, I am not the rain person as though I enjoy watching people dancing in the rain but I don’t do it myself(may be I have done it once or twice with friends).

So spring-woman can be my name or summery breeze can be my game or winter afternoons I look forward to and autumn colours I so want, but rainy days are not favourite days.

Image courtesy: http://www.hdwallpapersinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Creative_Wallpaper_Rain_021048_.jpg

Introspection: my year 2013

“When you really want to achieve something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it ..” and so said Paulo Coelho. I vouch for this statement and So, I had set out this goal for me to post everyday for a month and what better day to begin then the first day of the first month of the year. I was looking across the internet for some daily prompts for January month but in vain.  And today, through chain reaction, I stumbled upon Blogathon 2014 which aims to help bloggers achieve just the same: blogging everyday for a month. Ahh.. love such chance discoveries..

So lets get back to action.

 2013 was a good year and while there were some sour moments but I am so grateful for the oppurtunities and everything it brought.

I am not very comfortable of heights but when the adventure of zip-lining was put in front, I somehow, said “Yes”. Even though, I asked tons of questions to the guide and was triple-checked my gloves and the safety gear, the rope and all and shivered with nervousness before every zip-line, I did it and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. And I was so proud of myself. Here’s a photo of the remarkable feat.

This year I got to spend maximum time with my parents after my marriage. They came and stayed with me for a day or two on their way to Kerala in February, then together we went to Mussoorrie for a family event and then in Christmas this year, they came here for few days and with Christmas holiday and weekend, I got to spend some good time with them.

I got this opportunity for one interview which was good and I could not clear it, which was sad but I am so thankful for the experience.

We invested in a property and well we are now stuck in the loan cycle and sometimes, on hindsight, I wonder if the location is okay or we should have taken more time to decide or if it was risk worth-taking to get into this huge loan. But it was a huge step for us and I am thankful for the opportunity.

All-in-all, life was good in year 2013. There were times, when I cried buckets, was cranky for no reasons, had some big fights, worried a lot and got pimples, I feel blessed for whatever 2013 brought. Thank you and I look forward to 2014 with bright enthusiasm.

Question of the day

Ques: What is our National Sweet?

(I never knew that any such category existed, and only a couple of minutes earlier I got to know about it and here I am sharing my 'knowledge' and now I am craving for it:()

Hint: Attached video will help;)

What to say of the home where

Husband wants to go to see "Dil to bachcha hain ji"

and wife "Saat Khoon Maaf".








Disclaimer: Now dont look at me with that expression. Definitely not the story of my home. ZZ is fine and doing good, only I am excited about to watch the murderous wife in action:)

old man & the sea

Main Hoon Naa

The three most important words that can make an impact is “Main Hoon Naa”…
Sometimes these are said explicitly and there are times when the warmth in the gaze, hold of the hands make it come alive.
It is this same support a mother gives to her kid when he hold her fingers to take the first steps.
It is the same faith a father renders to his son when he pushes and balances the bicycle to teach his son the art of cycling.
It is the same support a friend gives when he stands by you and lends you his notebooks and teaches you the missed lectures when you were down with chicken-pox.

I remember a particular incident when my father had come to meet me at the hostel. I lived with my 2 room-mates. In the evening he proposed to have dinner outside and asked for some good restaurant nearby. My friend K told him about this great non-veg restaurant “Maharaja” nearby adding “ but we must not go there as it is usually filled with guys and it’s night time”..To this what my father responds still is my friend’s favourite line..He simply said “Arre Main hoon naa..We ll go there.” It was not a big issue but the way he said it in his spirited voice makes it a memorable moment for me as well as for my friends.

When I was new to my job, my boss assigned me with some work which was new to me. Obviously, I was not very comfortable and asked a lot of querries about it.To this he just said me to “work with no fear because even if the project doesn’t turn out right, what I am for? Main Hoon Naa”..I don’t remember what happened to the project, but his words remind me of my father and I smiled and started working as I know I had a firm support at my back.

This idea that no matter what we do, there is someone who has set a safety net for us whenever we fall, someone to whom we can return to when everyone has turned their back to us, someone whose hands are holding you in every step you take, gives a high, a motivation to work your best.

And these three words also show that the person who is saying them has the power and the means to support you as well as that he is caring enough to lend you his support. It is great to be at the receiving end of the someone’s unflinching support but it is more important to be at the stage to say these words and mean it. Because these simple words can make someone to go to his farthest limit because he knows that after a day’s hard work, no matter what the result is, he has someone to go to who is there for you at your every step.

Pic courtesy: Internet

ek choti si love poem :D

"Yes, love is in the food I cook
And in your lavish praises
But, turn and see the love when I look
As you volunteer to do the dishes"
:D :D
P.S I have changed my header from the MS-Paint image I made to the photo ZZ clicked. Tell me how it is??

Random post

Last week I was out-of-town to be with my Husband..(Yes I got married last year..I am yet to complete 2 months of married life. My husband lives in another city and since Husband will/ can now often get featured in the forthcoming posts, he will be called ZZ)
I had a day when he went to office and I was alone at the home after 10:00am..Delhi is at its chilly best and even though I had plans to do this and that, all I did was read a book, upload marriage pics at picasa and send links to friends and check my home-page umpteen times in Orkut.. It was such a boring day but was made up when a dear friend K who too recently got married, came in the evening with her husband.. We watched her marriage and honeymoon pics and ate and laughed and drank and ate again and discussed another friend who is going to get married and our married lives. It was so cold that day and she braved to come to meet me that too in a bike, was awesome…

My organization has organized a 3-day program for its women executives at Noida and it was a fantabulous project.. One evening after session we went for shopping to Great India Palace and another day watched “3 idiots” with friends. We sure had a great time there.. Also the lectures were interesting and I got to meet some of real wise souls there. One of the external faculty who undertook one lecture on “Managing Role Stress” was stressing the fact that in a life, a woman has to play many roles like that of a good daughter, wife, mother, sister, daughter-in-law.. And she never skipped this last word “daughter-in-law” every time she talked about roles.. She probably lives with a mother-in-law at home :/…Being married made me extra observant on these kind of words, it seems ;)


It’s the beginning of a brand new year, a new decade.. Let me quickly sum up the last deacde 2000-09 as
The period when I made transition from a teenage to a bespectacled young woman, when I left the warm and secure blanket of parents and moved to a bigger world (and it ‘s a nice world outside), when I know the bliss of living in hostel and with friends, when I shunned the school-bag and went to college( sometimes with just a pen in hand), when I had the best time of my life, when I saw the sea first time, when I danced all night on friend’s birthdays, when I earned my first pay-check, when I fall in love, when I received my first ever rose and bouquet, when my marital status changed..

Wishing all a wonderful new year....

December-End

Its that time of the year when

the chill in the air has increased, freshly snowed mountain-tops can be seen from the home, the fog covers the surrounding thus barring the much-needed sun-shine, everybody has his hands in pockets, the pockets are full of peanuts, hand-made sweaters are getting appreciating glances from kids around and an inquisitive look ( to see the pattern of design and copy) by the neighbourhood aunties, sleeping inside the quilt is the best past-time for evening, basking in the sun the time-pass of day, market-hopping to get new year greeting cards for your relatives afar, making hand-made cards for the friends near, eating oranges and other seasonal citrus fruits, exchanging comics everyday with the friends, rubbing Boroline every-night on chapped lips and cracked cheeks, mother cooking gajar-ka-halwa, father buying gajak, holiday-home work still pending, discussing which programme would be broadcast on DD-1 on New-Year’s eve, if Jaspal Bhatti and Gurdas Mann would be there in that programme, running noses, waiting for the New Year cake that mummy would prepare

Yes it’s end-December and nostalgia is at its best…