D(iwali) Day

I am just back from a much awaited trip home. This being my first Diwali after marriage, everyone back home was waiting eagerly for this. Both I and M had not made a trip home after marriage and were really looking forward to the Diwali vacation. We had planned to start from Pune on Oct 15^th so as to reach home by Oct 16^th-on time to be a part of the Choti Diwali pujan. Since we could shop only on weekends, we started shopping 3 weeks prior to our departure day. A lot of goodies were bought for all the kids at both my and M’s place - altogether 10 kids in the age group of 3-12 years with one more on the way.. J. I also got some gifts for my brother in law and bhabhi. We also got decorative Diyas, wall hangings and rangoli colors for our home in Pune as well for our home back in Orissa. Once all this was done, we finally shopped for ourselves - M got new shirts, trousers, etc and I bought a saree. Again as this was my first Diwali at my in-laws place, I wanted to get a good fancy saree and accessories. The one I bought is golden brown colored Georgette Saree (with a tinge of orange in it) which has very beautiful and intricate zardozi work all over it. Made quite a dent in M’s wallet…:-D

While we were busy shopping and packing our luggage, it wasn’t even sure if we would be making the trip. You see both M and I had critical project deliverables and getting leaves approved was turning out to be a difficult task. In order to avoid our family members getting disappointed at the end, we started communicating the same to them and setting the expectation that we might not be home for Diwali. Anyways finally M’s leaves were approved, however mine were still tentative – something which got approved just 2 days prior to the journey date. The train journey back home was fun… met a real nice and fun loving Gujarati family; the journey passed sharing food, singing songs, playing cards..I love train journeys especially all the eatables that you get in various stations that are on the way.. I made sure that M got down and brought me the specialty of each. J (No wonder I am putting on weight.. I just have N-O control when it comes to food.. and it’s showing.. L )

Finally we reached home.. it was around 9.30 pm and after quickly getting ready, all of us started the choti Diwali Puja. It was awesome being at home again after a gap of 10 odd months. Though both my parents and in-laws had visited Pune in this duration, the feeling of “being-at-home” is quite different when you are actually at your home.. your entire family.. your relatives..your neighbours.. your staff and all... J J After the puja, we all sat together for our dinner.. At my in-laws place, the four of us (I, M, M’s bro and bhabhi) always take our food together in a platter.. (its something I feel really good about.. I know little stupid but it makes me feel good. J My bro-in-law and bhabhi are really chilled out and so our equation is not at all like you will find in a typical Marwari household - if u have bro-in-law who is 6-8 years elder to you, you are generally not that free with him, however mine is simply superb.. One thing which is really great about both bhaiya and bhabhi is the sense of belongingness that they make you feel.. Since I got married, I have never felt as if these are new relations that I am building.. it was like they are mine and I am theirs since the beginning.. J And this is something I can say about my FIL and MIL too.. I thank God every single day for getting me married into such a beautiful family). After dinner, all of us sat together and opened the gifts that we had bought. By the time we retired into our rooms, it was already 3 am.

Diwali day started early for me, thanks to Amu who called me up at around 6.30 in the morning. Since everyone gets damn busy on D day, it was good that she caught me up in the morning itself. J And thanks again to her, this was the first time I got ready early in my sasural. ;-D As expected, Diwali was a hectic day.. the basic rituals performed at my sasural is same as what is done at my parent’s place, however there were few additional things that I had to do as this was my first marital year. In the evening, I and bhabhi made Rangoli in front of the entrance to our home. A cute little & extremely colorful Ganesha. J Bhaiya had bought some floating candles which I kept in a vessel filled with colored water & decorated it with flowers. Meanwhile Bhaiya and M got ready and started decorating the Puja room. It was already 7 pm by the time we completed our rangolis and everyone except I and bhabhi had changed into their new clothes. So we went running to our rooms, had a quick bath and got ready for the Puja. Along with the saree, I wore some of my wedding jewelry J (since these were pretty heavy, I hadn’t gotten a chance to wear them since my wedding day).

After the Diwali puja and dinner, we went to the houses of our close relatives (who stay in our neighboring houses) to seek blessings from the elders in the family. It took about nearly 1.5 hours to get this task completed, even though all the houses are very nearby. After coming back, we started bursting crackers. The kids in the house as expected were by my side, asking me to burst crackers with them. I used to be in a fix as to which group do I go to.. it was a tricky as well as funny situation to be in. J ... As always, bursting crackers was fun.. btw it did feel a little weird doing that in Saree.. :-D. All in all, a great Diwali celebration.. a perfect 10 for a first Diwali.. J Enjoyed it immensely.

PS: This post has been in my drafts folder for ages now.. I was thinking of writing about the entire trip home however I haven’t been able to complete it - want to post it before next diwali.. ;-D. Anyways it’s quite a long post already. So I am gonna just post it as it is. Feeling too lazy at the moment to write more or edit. Below is a picture of the rangoli we made.

Congratulations on the 20!!

I had to write this post... even though I am too occupied with many personal and professional chores and most importantly feeling too lazy to actually think and write something.. However Sachin just completed 20 w-O-ndErfuL years in international cricket and I don't have any other way of showing how delighted I am. This is a remarkable achievement considering the amount of cricket that's being played since last decade and India being in the forefront of the cricket business, we have the most busy schedule. With the amount of injuries he had had and the constant burden of expectations that he has to live up to, its a-m-a-z-i-n-g that Sachin has always been consistently great and plays with the same passion today as he did 20 long years ago. He is someone who has been loved by the whole country and admired all around the cricketing world. As a famous saying goes, "If cricket is my religion, than Sachin is my God".. he is indeed the One!! Congratulations on your wonderful journey and thank you for keeping the faith intact!! :-)

PS: The only thing that makes me sad is that it will all end one day. :-(

Enjoying the rain

Loving the weather outside.. it has been raining NON-STOP here since yesterday. :-) I am enjoying steaming hot Teas in these cold rainy days. If only, there was no office to attend to. :-( But as they say.. you don’t get everything!! So I am enjoying with whatever is coming along.. :-D

Celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi

The Ganesh Chaturthi celebration this year was a fun filled affair. My family always celebrates Ganesh Puja by installing Ganesha Idol at our ancestral home in IB, a small village near my hometown. We pray and perform Puja for 9 days and bid him farewell with a fond request to grace our home again next year. This is something that we have been doing since ages now and I have loads of good old memories associated with Ganesha and his birthday celebration. :-) Now that I am married and have set up my own home, I wanted to bring this tradition along to my new household. Also being in Pune during Ganapati Puja just helped make the whole idea all the more appealing.

Last Saturday, I and M went out in the evening to get clay Ganesha Idol. The market where the Idols were being sold was just awesome. You could see Ganesha in all kinds of forms, colors and sizes. I don’t think I have ever seen so many Ganesha statues before. After seeing thousands of statues, we got a cute replica of the “Dagdu Seth Halwai” Ganapati - one the oldest and most famous Ganapati of Pune. After finalizing this, we went on a frantic shopping spree to buy variety of things for the Puja – clothes for the Ganesha, ingredients for preparing sweets, fruits, flowers, colorful papers, streamers and lights for decoration, et all. As soon as dinner was done, we started decorating the puja room. M also downloaded many Ganesh vandanas and aartis from the internet. It was 2 am by the time we crashed into bed.

Sunday started earlier than usual. Our plan was to get up at 6.30 or 7ish, however by the time we woke up it was already 8.30 and we hurriedly got ready. Since I do not get many chances to wear Saree, I always look out for excuses to wear one. This was one perfect excuse. :-) After getting ready, we began preparing the Prasad & Panchamrit, decking up the Aarti thalis, and other chores along these lines. M switched on his laptop and played the Ganapati vandanas to create a festive mood. It was 11.00 by the time all this was done and we could start the Puja. We had invited our next door neighbors too. No elaborate puja ceremony was conducted – just few Aartis and small prayers. It felt great doing the aarti with M. I was thinking about last year’s Ganesh Chaturthi – at that time M had come to Bangalore to meet me. We had gone to the Ganesh temple in Koramangala, the first temple we went together. :-) Doing such pujas together with M has always given me a sense of peace – a divine blessing for our togetherness.

By the time puja was done, it was already past 12; we decided to skip breakfast and directly have our lunch. Mom had made missi roti for lunch. Accompanied with alu tamatar sabji and curd, it was delicious. We ate to our heart’s content. The only thing we could do after eating so much was sit and talk. We celebrated Ganesha’s birthday for 7 full days. Everyday we used to do morning and evening aarti. It required little planning to place it in our hectic work schedule but it was fun nonetheless. Even with all the planning and numerous last minute changes, those 7 days were spiritually satisfying. After visarjan, the puja place looked very empty. :-( M really didn’t like the whole idea of visarjan; he has decided that we will not do visarjans again. Maybe we will get a permanent Ganesh Idol and deck him up during Ganesh Chaturthi. So let’s see how the celebrations are gonna be next year. Anyways our first experience was an amazing one and we would surely like to up the ante next time. We have requested Ganesha to come soon next year too.. “Ganapati bappa moriya.. agle baras tu jaldi aa” :-)

Here's a pic of our "Ganesha"

My food blog

With the amount of cooking that I have started doing post marriage, the idea to create a food blog seemed very attractive. I have been experimenting with food and this would be a platform wherein I can share my experiments with you. Don’t worry not all the food I prepare are experiments. In fact, in most cases I go by the recipes that I have seen my mom cook. So it will mostly be tried and tested stuff. Hmm.. now the only thing I will have to do is to remember and take pics before the food gets over. :-)

Here's a link to my brand new blog -> Food blog

And just like this blog and the picture blog that I have, I will try to make the food blog too into at the least once a month affair.

Picture Tag

I have been tagged by Amu and here are the rules: - I have to pick a picture from my collection and post it here along with the story behind it.

I was checking out my pictures folder to choose a pic for this tag. I narrowed down on quite a few pictures where I had a story to tell – some pics of my little bro, some of my sisters, a few of my trips with friends and few with M. It was really difficult to choose one out of the lot. Anyways while I was still contemplating which one to put, I came across the one below and choose it instead.

The way I got this photo also has a small story to it. When we were kids, as was the norm at that time, we only had hard copies of photographs. And whenever my Mamas or Mausis came to visit us, they used to flick one or other picture from the album to take along with them. This was one such pic – it was taken by my Mausi who stays in Pune. A couple of months back, Gaurav, her eldest son and my bro, got this pic scanned and mailed it to me. I can’t tell you how delighted I was on seeing this photograph – felt pretty nostalgic and happy thinking of old times. So here is the picture:

I am sure you would have already guessed that this is a photo of mine with my sis and my handsome dad. Anyways I won’t tell here as to which one of two kids is me. :-) Since my friends are the only ones who read this blog, if you are reading this blog it means you have already recognized me. Now for the story behind the pic, here it goes..

This pic was taken during the “Rath Yatra” also known as the Chariot festival. It’s the most famous festival celebrated in Orissa (my home state). As a kid, I used to have a lot of fun during Rath Yatra. Our house is situated on the main road in my hometown and during Rath Yatra, the chariot carrying the deities passes in front of our house. On both sides of the main road, variety of vendors set up makeshift stalls where you get different kinds of toys – plastic, metal and wooden, kitchen sets, doctor sets, small gadgets, balloons, eatables et all. When I was small I used to love buying these things during Rath Yatra. In the evening at around 5ish, I and my sisters used to put on new dresses and get all decked up for an outing. My dad used to take us for a trip down the entire stretch of the main road. He bought us everything that we wanted to get. I especially used to love miniature kitchen sets, cute wooden furniture and bright, colorful plastic watches with cute designs & accessories. I and my sisters used to buy lot of such stuff. And invariably, we always used to buy helium filled air balloons. We used to love watching it float in air while we were happily going home holding papa's hand.... quite a mighty task considering that we were holding all of the toys and other such treasures in our little hands too. Once inside the house, we used to tie a long thread to its end and leave it free... The balloons used to go up and touch the ceiling. After playing around for hours, we used to release it outside and watch it go up, up and up.. :-) Those were some wonderful days!! This picture is of one such Rath Yatra celebration. Post shopping, my dad had taken me and my sis to a photo studio for capturing the day in print and here I am sharing it with you. :-)

Marriage and yours truly

What’s diff b/w ideology of single and married women?

Ok so this is what a friend of mine suggested me to write about saying that I haven’t written something in my blog for ages. My first reaction on reading the topic was “baba re.. dhamakedaar topic hai”. Ideology is a pretty heavy word. :-) I don’t think there are any ideological changes that have come in me post marriage.. just that a few priorities change which impacts your outlook too. It may as well be applicable to guys. Anyways I can’t speak for women in general but can definitely write about the changes that I see in myself. Let me jot down a few here. Strictly based on my experience. :-)

1. As already mentioned, your priorities change. I am a working woman who stays away from home. My work life always had my undivided attention since I started working. This is not to say that my family wasn’t important for me – they are and always will be the No.1 in my life. But in the day to day routine, my only interaction with them was over phone. So my days were mostly dedicated to my work. After marriage, it has changed. My husband has become my first priority now. Ok now don’t go to the extreme thinking that all my ambitions and professional goals have been disposed off. They are still very much there - I am still working on pursuing higher education and excel in my professional life. It’s just that I will balance it with my family life. I know such extreme scenario won’t come but if I have to choose between the two, my personal life would win hands down.
   
2. Earlier when I used to think of marriage, I had a very pessimistic picture in mind (even though I am essentially an optimist). You see life has always been good to me (Touchwood!!) and I was pretty sure that the law of averages will catch up and I am going to have a terrible married life. Thankfully, it’s not that way at all. Life is indeed beautiful.
   
3. My patience gets tested almost everyday. :-) Oh I have never had so many differences over minute trivial stuff with anyone as I have with M. This is really mind-boggling considering that we think very much alike and are always in agreement over each and every major decision. If anyone can help unravel this mystery, I would be indebted. Anyways even with all this, it’s not like I am becoming more patient or that I hate these disagreements. To be truthful, I find them exciting. Making up after a silly argument is fun. Married life without such arguments would be so damn boring.
   
4. A very noticeable change that has happened in me post marriage is the amount of weight that I have put on. :-( :-( :-( :-( But I being what I am (read “Super Lazy”), I am not doing anything about it except thinking of ways to keep it in check.
   
5. I really used to doubt if I would love some one so much that he will matter to me more than myself, some stranger who will become a part of my family, someone whose safety and life would mean more to me than my own. I know that I already would do that for my family members but that’s different as I was born into my family and intrinsically & unconditionally I love them. I can do anything for my parents and siblings. But adding a total outsider to the equation and applying similar rules – I used to think this would be next to impossible. How wrong I was. :-)
   
6. I have also learnt that marriage is work just like any other relationship. Being the most important one, you have to work all the more harder on it. Trust me it’s so much worth it.
   
7. Talking about work, I never knew there were so many chores involved in running a household. I have stayed in flats in Bangalore sharing it with friends. We used to do all the things you do in a house like get the grocery, vegetables, pay electricity bills, rent, maid, and other such n number of things. So I thought it would be the same way once I get married and have my own home. But the chores have multiplied. I think it’s more to do with the fact that it’s no longer a bachelor house but a family home. And hence not having a pickle or papad or having unmatched cutleries and a little unkempt house is no longer okay. Now I am a little more careful in making sure that things are available and in their proper way. Thanks to my ‘efficient’ maid here, I wash the non-stick utensil myself – even after repeatedly telling her to use the soft brush and not the steel one on them, she has left quite a few scratches. :-( Anyways there are innumerable chores in a house and luckily for me M, a dear empathetic soul, helps me out. Moms are really great yaar.. considering our Dads are from a generation who think men earn and women do household work and the two shall not meet.
   
8. Just seeing M makes me happy. I know.. I know.. it sounds pretty mushy/corny.. whatever.. But at the end of the day, when M comes back from office and I open the door, my lips automatically form a smile and the world just brightens up. :-)
   
9. I always used to wonder why people marry - for love, family pressure, peer pressure, frustration, etc.. Anyways for whatever reason people marry, I think now I know why married people want the unmarried ones to get hitched. At least I want my younger sisters or some bachelor friends to get married. It’s FUN and beautiful and everyone should enjoy it for sure. (PS: And later, we can all sit together, crib about our married status and remember the good old single days:-D)
   

I had heard this dialogue in the movie “Shall we dance?” Something that Susan Sarandon tells the detective she had hired to check on her husband. Here she is explaining why she thinks people marry. “We need a witness to our lives. There are a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'”

I found it very romantic. :-) And hence got a witness for my life.. ;-)

A lengthy Tag

Disclaimer: Picked this tag from a blog.. a pretty long one. Want Amu to definitely take this up, anyone else who wants can take it up too.

1. Last drink: Water

2. Last phone call: My hubby M.

3. Last text message: ICICI bank.. salary got credited.. yipeeeeeeeeeeeee.. :-)

4. Last song you listened to: M shouting.. ahem.. I mean singing old Hindi songs yesterday night.

5. Last time you cried: yesterday.. I get tears in my eyes when I laugh a lot..:-D but I don’t think that’s what is being asked here.. :-p

HAVE YOU EVER...
6. Dated someone twice: does going out with your fiancée count? :-) Anyways went out with a friend once.. didn’t realize it was supposedly a date until very late.. went extra careful dealing with him going forward..

7. Been cheated upon? Not really.. or maybe haven’t found it yet. Be careful dear.. m gonna check your wallet tonight.. ;-)

8. Kissed someone & regretted it? Nope

9. Lost someone special? Yes my grandpa.

10. Been depressed? Yup once.. my friend Amu was a big support helping me tide over it. Hadn’t shared it with my family. It’s something I won’t wish upon even my enemies..

11. Been drunk and threw up? Nope

LIST THREE FAVOURITE COLOURS:
12. Red
13. Black
14. White

FIRSTS :
15. Made new friends: Yes. First friend I made were my cousins.

16. Fallen out of love: Not yet. There were a few crushes I fell out of though.. :-)

17. Laughed until you cried: loads of times.

18. Met someone who changed you: Yes.

19. Found out who your true friends were: yes… I am blessed with some really amazing friends.

20. Found out someone was talking about you: Hmm.. nope.. don’t remember if I have heard anyone talk about me.. anyways I have a bad memory. :(

HAVE/YOU:
21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list: M was on my friend’s list before we kissed.. will it count? :-D

22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life: Except a few, all are known from my real life.

23. How many kids do you want to have: None.. can’t take the pain.. I want to adopt kids.. Anyways I would like to have 4. :-). I know it’s a big number but 1 is too less.. 2 means the younger one will feel lonely when the elder leaves the nest.. 3 means 1 pair may gang up against the 3rd.. so 4’s perfect!! I know.. weird logic.. but then it’s me! :-D

24. Do you have any pets: Naah.. :-(

25. Do you want to change your name: No.. I love it!!

26. What did you do for your last birthday: First b’de after our wedding, celebrated with hubby dear.

27. What time did you wake up today: 7.20am

28. What were you doing at midnight last night: listening to M’s serenade

29. Name something you CANNOT wait for: going home.

30. Last time you saw your father: about 5 months back.. loooooooooooooong time. :-(

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: not life as such but I would like to change the way I am continuously gaining weight now a days.

32. Most visited web page: google

Whats your:
33. Name: Ashma

34. Nicknames: None.. except for some endearments that M uses. One of my friend used to call me Aish..

35. Zodiac sign: Aries

36. Male or female or transgender: Female

37. Elementary: Siksha Niketan

38. School: Same as above

39. Colleges: NITR

40. Hair color: Naturally black.. recently got it colored to reddish brown

41. Long or short: Average

42. Height: a little less than 5’5”

43. Do you have a crush on someone? Yeah.. Hugh Jackman and George Clooney.

44. Ever been in love? Yes.. m still in it.. :-)

45. Piercings? Yes… ears and nose.

46. Tattoos? No. I would like to have one though.

47. Righty or lefty: Righty

48. First surgery: None yet.

49. First piercing: Ears..when I was in college

50. First best friend: Reshma Aunty

51. First sport you loved: Dunno about sports but in Games, Indoor – Playing cards. Outdoor – Badminton.

52. First pet: None :-(

53. First vacation: Don’t remember.. must have been my Nani-ghar.

54. First concert: Hmm.. I think it was Euphoria.

55. First crush: Ajay Jadeja.

RIGHT NOW:
56. Eating: Not eating but I am chewing a gum.

57. Drinking: Water

58. I'm about to: complete this tag.

59. Listening to: two of my colleagues talking about some CMR data and all.

60. Waiting for: my team to send the latest tool for baselining!

YOUR/FUTURE
61. Want kids? Yes

62. Want to get married? I already am.

63. Careers in mind? Already into one.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
64. Lips or eyes: Both have their own appeal.. ;-) But if I have to pick one, it would be the eyes.

65. Hugs or kisses: Depends.. can’t have either from everyone..

66. Shorter or taller: Taller.

67. Older or Younger: Older.

68. Romantic or spontaneous: Romantic but who is also spontaneous.. planning all the time will kill the romance I think..

69. Nice stomach or nice arms: both but arms rate a little higher..

70. Sensitive or loud: sensitive

71. Hook-up or relationship: relationship.

72. Trouble maker or hesitant: Neither.. someone in between but leaning more towards the trouble maker side

HAVE YOU EVER :
73. Kissed a stranger: Nope.

74. Lost glasses / contacts: Yes.. first time I wore contacts, it went down the washbasin while I was washing my face.

76. Broken someone's heart: Hmm.. Sad but I think I have.

77. Had your own heart broken: Not in a romantic way.

78. Been arrested: was flagged down by a police car, got a speeding ticket and had my license suspended.. Does it count?

79. Turned someone down: Yes.

80. Cried when someone died: Yes.

81. Liked a friend that is a girl? Majority of my friends are girls..!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
81. Yourself: Yes.

82. Miracles: Yes.

83. God: Yes.

84. Love at first sight: Nope. Attraction yes but love no.

85. Heaven: I think we get to experience both heaven and hell here on earth based on our deeds and when we die, maybe its just all over.

86. Santa Claus: No.

87. Kiss on the first date? No.

88. Angels: Yes.. know a few people and some friends who are like angels in disguise.

89. Devils: Yeah.. a few friends are that too.. ;-)

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
90. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes.

91. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Not in the way its meant here.

92. Wanted to kill someone ever? Yes. Sometimes feel like killing M :-D

93. Among your blog mates, whom would you like to kiss? No one that I haven't kissed already.. hehehehehe.. ;-) I meant M.

94. Committed a blunder and regretted later? Yes. Many..

95. Wanted to steal your friend's boyfriend / girlfriend? Nope.

Associate with something you wear:
96. White: Sandal and T-shirts.

97. Black: Jeans.

98. Red: T-shirts and Saree.

99. Pink: Shoe. I have a pink shoe. :-D

100. Posting this as 100 Truths? No...as a looooooooooooooooong tag with a disclaimer on top about it.

PS: Just realized question#75 is missing. So its 99 not 100 facts.. :)

Bye Bye Bangalore!

Today is my last day in Bangalore. Tomorrow starts in a new city. After being in Bangalore for a long time now, the decision to move away was a big one. I started my professional life here a little more than 4 and ½ years back. Apart from the 1 year stay at onsite, I have not lived and worked in any other place. I have grown used to Bangalore and have come to love it too.

Few days back, I was chatting with one of my best friends Vivek and he asked me ‘So tell me what you liked the best in your stay in Bangalore?’ It made me think about all the things that I have liked in my stay here. My first response to Vivek’s question was I have had a great time and enjoyed each and every moment in Bangalore.

· I held my first (and as of now only) job here. Learned about the corporate world and my role in it. I work in one of most reputed S/W Company in India and the world and thanks to the project I have been allocated to; I have met some really talented individuals. Lucky for me, I have been surrounded by such brilliant people; it makes me raise my standards too. It’s really amazing that I have had the privilege to work with so many of such people.

· Thanks to the same set of amazing people (especially Shashank and Vivek), I feel the need to challenge and extend my potential. It’s happening in phases. Phase I completed. Phase II in progress. :)

· "Company makes the feast". The most important thing that makes a place endearing is the company you have. I have made some great friends here – both from my personal as well as professional acquaintances. School and College friends are the forever ones that I am sure everyone cherishes – the level is just so different. However some of the friends that I have made here are also the forever types.

· There are few people that I met for the first time in Bangalore and have formed a small bond with – Ashwani, Saurabh, Harish, Anil, Rohini, Milan, Sunil, Alka, Sweta to name a few. I am definitely going to miss them but then again I am sure we will be in touch.

· Some friendships went to greater levels, for example, Rashmi my schoolmate became my friend once we started staying together in Bangalore. It’s a different matter all together that it just crossed all levels and went kaboom.. :( Anyways it was the best while it lasted. Sameepa aka Sam, Lisa and Preeti are few of my college mates who became good friends as I got to know them more.

· My first onsite travel also happened in between. Let’s just suffice to say it was a beautiful experience that I enjoyed to the hilt.

· I love the Bangalore weather.

· In Bangalore, I have stayed just in the Koramangala area and that too only in 4th block. I love this locality a lot. Have loads of fond memories. :-) Some of my favorite hang outs are here. I have become used to the area – I get grocery from the same shop, get milk from the same dairy, eat panipuris from the same stall, have juice from the same juice junction, take Tea from the same Teashop.. :-) It’s a very safe locality - Me and my roomies have gone for late night walks; till as late as 12 – 12.30 at night. The area feels like home – has that my Adda feel to it.

· I lost weight and subsequently gained a lot of confidence when I came to Bangalore. I was a chubby slightly overweight girl in college. I used to feel pretty conscious wearing Jeans, skirts, etc and hence stopped it altogether. However thanks to my time here, I am a little more confident of myself. (PS: Never mind that I have gained weight in the past 2 months and am now back to my former self. :-( The confidence is still there though :-) )

· I tasted liquor for the first time while I was here too. But then when I say tasted, it means tasted! Never had more than a couple of sips. People say you need to drink more to develop a taste for it but I fail to understand that if I didn’t like it in the beginning only, why the hell would I want to develop a taste for it!!

· I discovered the adventurous side of myself here. Suggest any traveling and trekking trips and I am game.

· I loved the weekends spent with Sam and Milan. Sam and I absolutely love food and every weekend, we would go to some restaurants or the other. All of our weekends involved: movie, food, shopping and long drive in Sam’s car. We used to do things on an impulse. On one such weekend, while we were driving home, we decided to have Tea at Sam’s place. Since Sam didn’t have Tea or Milk at her home, Milan didn’t have Tea at his home and I didn’t have Milk at mine, we decided to get Tea from my home, Milk from Milan’s and prepare Tea at Sam’s place. It didn’t really matter to us that it was already around 12 in the night. So we executed this crazy plan of ours and had a gala time doing it. It was 2.30 by the time we were done. Oh I will miss doing such crazy things!

· I found my love and married him. And now leaving Bangalore to pursue him further. :)

· Hmm.. let me think.. what else is a new thing that I did while in Bangalore .. Started this blog!! :D

Today is my last day in this beautiful city and I still don't believe that I am leaving it for good. Maybe it will all sink in only once I have actually left the place. Will miss Bangalore for sure and especially all of my friends here. They are the ones who made my stay memorable. Hoping that I keep meeting all of my friends sooner rather than later.

A Special Holi!!

It was a working day for me this Holi. Holi fell on a Wednesday and since it was exactly in the mid of a working week, it was pretty darn colorless. This was the first time in my life that I was not playing with colors on Holi. Considering the fact that I had played Holi even while I was in US, that too with just a handful of friends/colleagues, it was pretty disappointing not being to play it this time around. This being my first Holi after marriage, I wanted to celebrate it with M and have an extra special and memorable day. Anyways with M being in Baroda, the prospects didn’t look that great anyways. So as things turned out, I didn’t even get to see Gulaal, let alone play with it. :-( To feel a little better and not miss out on the fun part, I told my friends that let’s have it on the coming Sunday. How does it matter that it’s not Holi.. we all can get together, cook some delicacies, play with colors and have fun.

Ok so after deferring Holi celebrations to Sunday, everything continued as usual. On Saturday, I got ready early. That’s only because I am doing a Puja called “Gangaur” :-) (All married girls in our community have to do it in the first year of their marriage. It starts from the day Holika is burnt and continues for some 16-18 days. As it turns out I find this puja very interesting.. definitely worth a separate post). So I woke my roomie (Can’t do the puja alone. It’s supposed to be done with an unmarried girl :D) and both of us were doing the Gangaur Puja. I completed the Puja and came out of the Puja room. As soon as I was out, I hear M’s voice shouting “Surprise!!” And I see him standing there, with his face smeared in Gulaal and more Gulaal in his hands. I was so happy (and surprised too), I actually went speechless. I couldn’t form a single coherent word; I was just silently looking at him for a long time. Only when he put color on my face and hugged me, did I actually speak out. And the entire time M was laughing like anything – gloating over the fact that his plan to surprise me was successfully executed without a single hitch. :-D It seems everyone in our family and my roomie knew about this, while I was caught unaware. Great plan dear!!

Since we wanted to avoid our apartment getting colorful.. :-), all of us moved to the terrace (we have an amazing big private terrace on our floor). We played holi for sometime.. Since I don’t actually understand dry Holi.. I went to the bathroom and got a bucketful of water, mixed some color into it (had to make do with Gulaal) and poured it on top of M. A round of Holi with colored water followed which was in turn followed by a round of photo session. After this, we took bath and got ready. (Thanks to M and his surprise, I had to take bath again.) By this time, everyone had built up a solid hungry stomach. I made Tea and Paranthas. And all of us had Tea and Parantha with Pickle. Some mixtures and mathari’s were also thrown in. So we ended up having a very late and very heavy breakfast – ideal for a lazy Saturday, don’t u think? :D The lunch prepared by our Cook is something that we had only at 5 in the evening; we ate it not coz we were hungry but coz we should eat it.. :-) With lunch done, we went out for an evening walk. Target - to make our bellies a little lighter; Result - Ended up having Pani Puri’s and Fruit Juice in our favorite snacks joint. :-)

Came back home. My cellphone has not been in working condition since last month or so and I wanted to buy a new cell and hence made M take me for shopping (Bought a Nokia Expressmusic series phone – I like it.. as of now). M and I drove around Bangalore for some time. After the amount of food that we had since morning, no one was looking forward to Dinner. But again we had to eat coz we had to eat. :-) Greedy us!! This time around M offered to make noodle sandwich. We all were ok.. go ahead.. but the name “noodle sandwich” itself made me more than a little apprehensive. As it turned out, it was our fav good old maggi (dry prepartion) stuffed between two slices of bread and tawa-toasted with big dollops of butter. It was yummmmmy.. :-) We had bought a 1.5 litre Thums Up bottle (a favorite of M) in the evening which went really well with the sandwich. With everyone eating 2 sandwiches each, the plan to keep dinner light backfired.

Anyways soon the dinner was over and chit-chat session followed. We retired into our rooms after sometime as we needed to get up early the next day. Mom was coming to Bangalore to help me with the Gangaur Puja :-) and I & M had planned to go to the station to pick her up. So next day when mom arrived, it was a great get together involving lot of food, laughter and fun. It can be a new post altogether – especially the laughter all of us shared watching the videos that my Mom got. During Christmas, I and M had gone to Brajrajnagar (my first trip home after marriage). We made some gr8 memories during that period. Most of it was captured by my sis in the handycam and Mom had bought the handy cam with her to Bangalore. Watching my family members (and that means everyone including my grandma) dancing on 25^th night, watching my sis getting terrified of drowning while boating on IB river, watching M wincing while giving blood for blood test – pure unadulterated fun. Watching the videos was the highlight of Sunday for sure.

All in all a great weekend!! My first Holi with M turned out to be even more memorable and special for me than my expectations. Thank you Honey!! I will always remember how special you made me feel this Holi.

Unveiling me..

Tagged By: Amu

Rules : Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged.

Caution : Long post coming your way. :-)

1. I am a complete foodie. I just love food (by that I mean veg food). However recently M told me that it's a misconception that I have about me. I am not a foodie but simply ‘greedy’. :-( :-D
2. I am supremely optimistic. Okay some ppl that I know will probably roll their eyes on reading this - mostly coz I blurt out all the negative things that I can think of when facing a situation. For example, while going to book a movie show, I might say that we will be late and tickets will be over or while watching a match I will say India will loose. But that's mainly becoz I like to keep in mind what all (-)ve things can happen. However deep in my heart I am always sure that things will be good. My friends can vouch for it.. many friends call me when they are down in dumps to get a dose of my (+)ve energy. You see I am a happy person. ;-)
3. I am an Arian to the core – pretty impulsive, sometimes naïve, sometimes stubborn, and sometimes moody - good thing here I am generally in a good mood.
4. I simply love rain. :-)
5. I just loooooooooooove traveling - anytime, anywhere I am always game. Caught this bug from my father. He always used to take us some place or other during winter vacations. We would even have some or other small picnic in some quaint little place near our hometown. My main or shall I say sole reason for going onsite was to see new places. My stay in US and all the bucks that I made there, were spent on traveling.
6. I am a movie buff especially when it comes to Hollywood. I am the owner of a small collection of DVDs of some really good English movies. Building a large movie library is one goal that I have set for myself.
7. I love reading. As long as I can remember, I have always loved and continue to love reading. Thanks all to my dad who is an avid reader. We used to have monthly/weekly subscriptions of all types of magazines and comics in our home – be it India today, Chandamama, Champak, Nandan Kaanan, Outlook.. anything that was available in the small town that I come from. Add to this the 3 newspaper we used to get – Telegraph (English), Sambad (Oriya) and Nav-Bharat(Hindi). Comics of Super commando Dhruv, Naagraj, Pinki, Chacha Chaudhury, Billu et all were a welcome addiction. Slowly and steadily this love for reading extended to novels. It has reached a stage that if I don’t read something before sleeping, I think something is amiss. Reading has introduced me to a whole new world and helped give me an outlook. Can’t thank you enough Dad!! :-)
8. I love Tea - again anytime, anywhere.. but it gotta have some flavoring in it either of Elaichi or Adarak - I just hate plain Tea. Btw my Tea is always very very milky!!
9. Like most Maarus, I can have Chai (Tea), Achchar(Pickle) and Parantha anytime of the day for any number of days and still continue to love it.
10. I am laziness personified. :-(
11. I say ‘Aur Kya’ /’Aur bolo’ a lot. It is always and I mean always a part of all my telephonic conversations (except official ones of course).
12. I love the color RED. Actually I like all colors but red occupies a special place in my heart. There was a time when most of my T-shirts and suits were red colored. Even when I went to buy luggage, everyone who knew me had already guessed it's color. It reached a stage when my friends had to stop me from buying anything that even resembles color red. Let's just say my wardrobe has more variety now. :-)
13. I don't like changes much. I always get worried thinking of all the adjustments that I will have to do if I see a change coming mostly because I always find my current situation very good and hence don’t want to disturb the water and start ripples. But then again I am very flexible and adapt to everything pretty quick.
14. Since starting my professional life, I have fallen in love with Microsoft excel and all its features. I am very organized with the way I manage my projects. (At least I think so.. :-D ) For my portfolio, I have an excel sheet created with all relevant info, contacts, timelines, budget info etc in one single xls logically divided into different sheets. Extremely useful.
15. I am good with numbers – not excellent but very good indeed. Math being my favorite subject could have played a role here. Also I can add, subtract numbers faster with pen and paper than with a Calculator.. I am very bad in using calci; it just slows me down.
16. I have a very bad memory. However I guess it’s a little selective and extremely good in a few cases. Like for studies and all, I don’t have to read things twice. I used to study only a day or two before my exam and get good marks. People who know me used to be really surprised coz they would always find me either watching TV or reading novels and hence used to be amazed by my rank. Anyways I find it extremely difficult to remember small things and To do’s.. If it was not for the alarm and reminder features in cell phones, I don’t know what I would have done. I put reminders for every little and big thing.
17. I am very cool. (I just noticed this is exactly the same numbered bullet as Amu’s :-) ). Btw Amu has quoted me wrong there- I say “Isse zyaada cool honge toe freeze kar jayenge”. This was said when AOL classes were beginning in our college in order to make u less tension free and calm/cool you down. And my reaction was we (as in I, Amu and Basu) don’t need it.
18. I am allergic to dust. One tiny particle of dust and I go all sneezing n sneezing. And it’s not like one or two sneezes.. it’s like a long marathon with few seconds breaks in between. This makes cleaning the room or relocating (in short anything that get’s me in close contact with dust) an actual sickening activity for me.
19. Even on the hottest summery days, I generally don’t feel the need of switching ON the fan. I am very susceptible to cold and one daft of cold air is enough for me to break into “Sneezes”. Before I was married, I was like what if I am married to a guy who can’t live without fan. This was one of the first things I had said to M after I got to know him better. He does love his fan but poor M.. he has been made to live without it by yours truly. Btw in case I say it’s hot, it is actually damn hot.
20. I am a big fan of Lord Ganesha and his dad, Lord Shiva. Actually I love the whole family. I have always thought that you should have a husband like Lord Shiva and a son like Lord Ganesha, the cutie pie.. :-) (And per M a daughter like me.. ;-) ). My friend Amu’s belief in Lord Ganesha is also something that gives me strength. It’s very spiritual and real. I am not an overtly religious person but I do perform all the rituals that I can. I have kept the “Solah Somawaar” fasting a lot of time.. (Before u even think about it, it was never to request Shivaji for a good husband.. I don’t know why but whenever I tell anyone I do “Solah Somawaar” they are like “It must be for a husband”.. jaise ki aur koi kaam nahi hein mujhe.. (rolling my eyes)..) Anyways when I am at home doing this fasting.. I need to have each and every required puja ingredients with me. However then again I have done this fasting while I was in US and there I just used to light a diya and pray. So it’s like I do what I can, knowing that He understands.
21. According to my friends “Mujhe sab achche lagte hein (I like everyone and also everything..)”. :-) If anyone asks me opinion about someone else my first statement is he/she is good. Even if I think they have some –ve, I will state that but then tell all the +ve things that I see in the person and end in a +ve note :-) Except for a few (very few) people who give me –ve vibes, I generally give benefit of my good opinion to everyone. Nearly a year back I lost friendship with someone who I used to consider one of my best friends. We parted on very bitter terms and I am unlikely to ever forget all the things that she said to me.. However to anyone else I still say she is good and just that we two didn’t hit it off.
22. I am a strong believer of the phrase – “Whatever happens, happens for good”.
23. I have great FRIENDS. Touchwood!! I am blessed with friends that anyone would kill for.. My friends are so amazing; they just make my world merrier by the second. My family is just PERFECT. To add to this, my in-laws are so nice, I feel more like a daughter than a bahu. My cup runneth over with all the love and care.
24. I have a wonderful and very dependable support system in my friends and family, whose opinions I value a lot. Before making any big decision, I like to know their take on it. The decision is mine but I like knowing different points of view. Sometimes we don’t even think about a certain situation and discussing things with others just broadens your horizon.
25. Hmm.. lets end this tag with a goal – Personally, I would like to learn swimming and play tennis. On the professional front, I would like to learn more on how to manage people better.

Phew!!!! I completed this in 3 seatings and gosh.. it was tough..

I tag: Ashwani, Chitra, Mukesh and Vivekanand.

Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!! (and a special one to my dear hubby. :-)) Below is something that I started to write before going home for my wedding.. never got a chance to finish it off.. anyways here it is.. some half baked, unfinished thoughts..

"Unless of course I get time next week and I am out of normal lazy mood, this is going to be my last post as a single girl. Life is taking a big giant leap. Its difficult to categorize all the thoughts that are popping up in my head. I am excited about my new life, but also worried if it's gonna be better than the one I have right now. I will have someone to share my life with, someone who will be just mine, someone who has to bear all my mood swings ;-) but the catch being same would be other way round.. even I have to adjust with his moods. :-). I will have to be his first if I want him to be mine. I know I will try my level best but just hope that we (M & I) do not regret our decision to spend our life together. I am not a very patient person but I know M is. His love gives me so much strength, I just don't know what I would do if one day it's not there anymore. This is pretty ironic coming from a girl who never thought she would fall in love. I used to be so scared thinking.. maybe I will live my entire life and never know what's love. I will marry, have kids, lead a full life without maybe knowing what's love.. but here I am happily in love and looking forward to my life ahead. Can't wait for all of it to begin. :-D"

Happy Valentine's Day dear "M"!!

First Post – A wedding post

First post of the New Year. It’s really amazing how soon time flies. I have just come back from home after a long vacation. A planned vacation of 3 weeks got stretched into 5. My vacation turned out to be better than my expectation. I had the time of my life during the past 5 weeks. The vacation started with preparations of my wedding. As soon as I reached home (which was just 4 days prior to the marriage), some or other marriage related function /puja had begun. Everyday I used to get all decked up in a new saree and sit while the whole world fretted around me. :-) Thanks to my work, I didn’t have any time to complete my shopping in Bangalore hence all days leading up to the D day my sisters were busy shopping for my wedding trousseau. (My sisters - S & M -have really done a LOT of work in my wedding – Can’t really believe it since the image I carry of them fits into the mold of super lazy gals :-D However both S & M were like 2 additional hands for both my mom and dad)

So while my sisters were busy shopping, I was happily enjoying all the attention. My relatives used to come and ask how was I feeling, was I scared, nervous or excited about my wedding, etc, etc.. My bhabhis and chachijis were teasing me taking M’s name. I was pretty cool about everything. My response to them was a polite “I am very happy” followed with a blushing smile. However to my dear aunt (Reshma Aunty) I would tell the truth which was – “I am very excited with all the things going around but I still don’t feel as if I am getting married. It’s more like I have come to attend a family wedding.” You see even with all this ho-halla, not even for a single moment did I feel as if I was getting married. Go figure! My aunt was like “Hope you feel like you are married after your marriage”. :-D. This is how I felt till the D day. Not until the pheras ended and it was time for M to put sindur on me did I realize that I was getting married and my life is going to change or shall I say I was married and my life had changed :-D. The wedding was such a fun event with everyone including me enjoying it to the hilt; I didn’t realize that it was my wedding. You see I never thought I would have so much fun in my own marriage. J I have never danced so much in my entire life as I have danced during my wedding. It was just dance-dance-dance from day 1. It has been quite a different experience from the one I imagined. For example I used to think the poor bride and groom must be feeling so silly and stupid during their reception when they are sitting on the stage with a Colgate smile on their face while the whole world is staring at them, enjoying good food and music, having friendly banter with friends and family, etc, etc.. The bride and groom must be so nervous being the centre of attraction. However I had a very different experience; I was pretty calm during the reception and it was an event filled with fun and laughter. Thanks to the almighty, there were no scary moments. Even though the number of actual guests was twice the expected numbers and the baarat travelled for 6 hours to reach the venue, everything was perfect. There was no shortage of food, place to stay, vehicles to carry the guests around or any other itty-bitty things that are needed. There were no bitter words exchanged between anyone, no delays, no mood swings, no tantrums from any of our relatives, etc – there was actually not a single thing to complain about during the whole wedding. It was just Perfect! All the functions starting with Chaak Bhaat to Sangeet to Wedding and the Bidaai went on smoothly. All of my as well as M’s relatives and friends were closely involved in all the things.

There were many new concepts that were tried during various functions in my wedding ceremony – at least new as per the general Marwari wedding that takes place. We had a very well planned and choreographed Sangeet. Till the penultimate day, we had thought it would be a flop show but it turned out to be one big hit. :-) I along with my friends and relatives danced a lot in my chaak bhaat –Brides don’t usually attend it. On the day of the wedding, when I was supposed to go to the stage for Varmaala, I was taken their in a Doli with my chachaji’s and friends holding it in their shoulders. My chachis, bhabhis, mom, sisters and friends were dancing in front of the Doli on the music of a Bandstand that was following us at our side. On reaching the stage, I came out of the Doli and joined my dad, mom, friends, some close relatives who were dancing near the stage. M was also pulled in and forced to do bhangara.. :-) The Doli concept turned out to be the HIGH point of the marriage. People are still talking about it – both at my parent’s and in-law’s side.

(During all this time I was silently contemplating as to why I was not feeling scared or apprehensive or different about my new life – maybe it was because of the comfort level I have with M. He is so frank and approachable that I can always be myself with him. I have shared so many of my stupid talks/experiences/thoughts with him, it’s a wonder that he still went ahead and married me. Poor M. I warned him enough :-D)

After the wedding, I reached my in-law’s place. After spending 2 days there (everyone who is anyone came to see me and gave me goodies as part of my muh-dikhai), we started for our planned trip to Thailand. Let it be sufficient to say I had a great time there with M. While coming back from there, I stopped at my parent’s house and celebrated Christmas there with my family. At our home, we celebrate Christmas in a big way. Getting a tree and putting it in the Aangan, decorating it with lights and streamers, playing music at full blast and dancing. Generally my little sister and kid bro call their friends. This time around with M also in the picture, the celebration had an added fervor. On 26^th I was back at my in-laws place. We had to start back for Blr on 28^th, however I started feeling a little feverish on 27^th and got really high fever on 28^th. I and M had to extend our vacation due to this. I did fall sick however the amount of care and pampering that I got from my in-laws just made up for all the cold shivers, pain and fever. :-)

So all in all it was a thoroughly satisfying vacation. I could not have even dreamt of a better wedding. And now I am back in Bangalore. You know after being at home for 5 weeks, you have to physically push yourself everyday to go to office everyday and that’s what I have been doing for sometime now. ;-)