My best friend's wedding - I

My best friend, Amu just got married, on 20th Jan to be precise. I had been looking forward to her marriage since the day I learnt she has given her concurrence to marry K*. K is a really nice and sweet guy who will give his 100% to keep her happy. Someone who will pamper her with his love and care plus give her a breathing space. (Though I agree I had my reservations about him when I first heard about it.. I was like.. "Come on you can get a better guy".. u know the kind of feeling u have for your best friend as if no one is good enough for him/her.. :)..)

*(Sidenote#1 - When talking about him with her and between us friends, we call him 'K'.. :-D)

So I had been busy with my own set of preparations for the D-day.. (arre I am one of the bride’s best friend, I gotta look great too.. ;-) and that means hard work!!

So I started with something like..

"It’s my best friend's marriage, what do I wear??". I couldn't just wear a salwar suit.. that is something you were in every other function/event.
"Should I get a lahenga?" - Naah,.. wouldn't be worth the cost. I will wear it to one marriage and then what!!
"I will get a sari!!" - Yup. That's what I will get a good sari. Ok.. one decision made.. Pheeew!! :-p

Then I started hunting for a sari. Went to loads of shops here in Bangalore and finally zeroed in on a beautiful mustard yellow colored sari. Since it was a day-time marriage ceremony, I didn't want to get a dark, bright sari which will make people run for anti-glare specs!! Since this was the first time I bought a sari for myself, I happily called up everyone I know to tell them about this. :) While I was happily telling my aunt* about my recent purchase, she says "Ok.. you got the sari.. good.. hope you know you have to accessorize it". I (rolling my eyes) was like "What's that????". And then I got a list of things I had to give my complete attention to, from buying bangles, necklace, earrings, bindi to sandals. Per her, it should either be matching or contrast based on how the blouse is? (matching vs contrast)!!

*(Sidenote#2 - My aunt = my bua aka my father's sister.. she is just 8 years elder to me and more like a sister-cum-friend-cum-activity partner-cum-stress buster-cum-secret keeper and the role is same vice-versa)

I started again on my shopping expedition.. everyone who knows me and I mean EVERYONE (I am not just talking about my friends and family here but also my colleagues, ppl whom I met in the bus while commuting to office, etc) , now knows about my recent shopping experiences. With help from my friends, I was able to accomplish this task. Special thanks here should go to Chitra, my friend who is a localite & who loves shopping as much as I do. She took me to this really amazing bangle shop, Bhawani Kangan, located in Jayanagar, B'lore. Hey if you like beautiful, colorful bangles, you are gonna love this shop. :-)

Next thing on the 'To-do' list was my tickets to and from Bbsr. Since I didn't have the luxury of taking more than a day off, I decided to fly. (Thank God, Amu decided to marry on a Sunday, a weekday would have led to downright fight with my PM. I just took 2 weeks off during diwali. :) ).

So once I tied all the loose ends here, I started calling up ppl again to extol and bore them with this info. In between all these talks I realized, in my excitement to buy things for myself, I haven't bought a gift for her. :-(.

Choosing a gift for someone is a HUGE responsibility. And if the person turns out to be your best friend, the task gets even harder. And to top it all, if it’s her marriage.. well you can imagine the Herculean effort that one has to put in. She is tying the knot and I am the one having anxiety attacks on what gift to get for her and the ‘would be’. For quite a few weeks before the D-day, I have been channeling all my thoughts, concentration & effort on this task. If you have interacted with me (through mails, messenger, phone, and face-2-face) during this period, I am sure you already know about this. ;-). After listening to suggestions from a lot of folks and inputs from some friends, I finally got her a wedding gift*. Hope she likes it. She did say something about liking it.

*(Sidenote#3 - While booking flight tickets to bbsr, it did occur to me that I could save up the fare and give her a big gift but then my being there is a better gift.. what say?? ;-p

This was all that I had to put in while preparing for my best friend's wedding.. more on the actual wedding ceremony and post-wedding updates coming soon!!

A promise fulfilled

So Mr. Ratan Tata has delivered on the promise he made some years back (4 years from what I read in newspapers) to us Indians. With the unveiling of 'Tata Nano' on Jan 10,2008 at AutoExpo,2008, he has handed over the 'people's car' to the common people. With a price tag of Rs 1 lakh, its the world's least expensive 4 wheeler. The moment I heard about its launch, I wanted to write a few lines related to it. Not about the car but about the man.

We will have to reserve our judgement on the 'Nano' till the time its ready to drive onto the Indian roads. There are still many miles to go on that. The price which will flare up after including all the taxes that needs to be paid. Everyone has concerns over the safety and fuel emission standards of the car. There are also concerns on the impact of large scale buying of this car on our already poor infrastructure. But lets keep it for others to divulge/discuss/dissect on.

This post is the only way I could think of to salute the man behind the Nano, a man who saw a small family's plight, made a promise to himself and the nation and then had the courage & vision to fulfill it against all sorts of challenges (rising cost, ridicule from his peers and sundry, and loads of technical/financial challenges which I am sure I can't even comprehend).

Whatever happens to Nano, Mr. Tata, you simply rock!!

Tata's Nano

What being "Me" entails..

Flicked it from Amu's blog.. (By now, you must know I love these things.. ;-).. )

What Ashma Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

20 Questions -- Tagged by Amu

Instructions: Remove 1 question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. Name Three Most Valuable Assets?

Friends/family, Positive outlook and a viewpoint (along with a willingness to change if it’s wrong)

2. If you have the chance, what would you probably say to your beloved one?

Thank you for making my life beautiful.

3. If you were to be stranded on a desert island, who are the 3 (i am making it 4) blog buddies you would take with you?

Amu – She is my best friend and has impacted my life (in a very positive way) more than she knows. Will have her for all the whacky, non-sense, intelligent, funny discussions that we have.
Ashwani – For all the philosophical discussions that he initiates.

Rashmi – For all the fun that we have together. (along with the fights ;-)..)

Vivekanand – For all the laughter that he provides.

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?

Paris – I have always dreamt of having a cozy/romantic dinner in any of the open air Parisian café/ restaurants and waltzing through the streets of Paris at night.

5. If you can have 1 dream to come true, what would it be?

OMG. Lots of dreams. Maybe that one dream would be ‘a situation where all my dreams come true’. All I want is everything :)

6.Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?

I miss by grandfather a lot and I regret not being able to share my joys and achievements (small though they are) with him. I am sure he would have been excited, happy and proud.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?

My independence

8. What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?

My first reaction would be to take it, next one to try and find the owner and the last one to submit it to the police dept.

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?

I would like to think that I would but I don’t think I will.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.

Amu – an invaluable friend, intelligent person, witty companion and I love her.

11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?

His understanding & friendship.

12. Which type of person do you hate the most?

People who say something in front and something very different behind you.

13. What is your ambition?
Be stinking rich ;-). Lead a happy and exciting life.

14. What is the thing that will make you think someone is a bad person?

A person who is wishing bad for someone else. Not the people who say just for the heck of it and don’t really mean it. But people who really mean for something bad to happen to the other person.

15. Christmas is coming, who do you like to celebrate with?

This Christmas is over. Christmas will come again next year. Abhi itni dur ke plans nahi banaye hein.

16. If you could do one thing different in life, what would it be?

I would have requested God for giving me the pleasure of my grandfather’s company for a few more years.

17. Are you a shopaholic or no?

I am an impulsive shopper. Though I think I am not a shopaholic as I am always within my means.

18. What is your stress buster?
Talking to my friends. They are my stress busters (and some times stress creators too.. ;-)

19. It would be 2008 in a few days, do you have a new year’s resolution?

Yes. The universal, most common and vague one. Will try and loose some weight. :-)

20. (My question) What’s one thing in yourself that you would like to change?

My moodiness. I do /don’t do things based on my current mood and sometimes it's pretty abrupt.

And now it's my turn... huhahahahaha.. :-) I would like to tag the following-

Ashwani, Chitra, Rashmi and Vivek.