Mommy back 2 work

Finally I have joined back office. After taking 8 months of leave through various extensions, I had to decide on when to join back. This definitely has to be the most difficult decisions I have had to make. There were so many things going on in my mind, so many discussions I have had with M, so many pros and cons we discussed..  

We were very clear that my joining back should never be at our son’s expense. We did not want him to be sad and unhappy. I have heard from many of my friends that it’s generally the guilt of the working mom that comes out and makes her think in that direction. Small kids do not miss or think so much. They adapt really well. So if you join back and are confident about how you manage, your kid will get that vibe and adapt well. If you are in doubts, this vibe will also reach your kid and he/ she will have trouble adapting to things. So we are trying to provide positive vibes even though we sometimes have our doubts.

Our main concern was how our son will take to my joining back office and being away from him for long durations. There have been times when I have left him for 3-4 hours but never more than that.  To handle this, we decided that initially I would go to office for 6 hrs or so and gradually increase it. 

Shaurya will be 8 months old in a week. He is a happy baby (most of the time.. :-) Touchwood!! ) who keeps crawling all around the house and playing with this or that, turning the house upside down. He finds something or the other to keep himself occupied.. so it’s not difficult entertaining him but u have to keep a constant watch on him. Otherwise he would go and start eating the doormat.. you see that is what he finds most attractive in our house!! Followed by potato sacks in the kitchen, head phone wires, laptops, pillows, strings coming out of blankets, etc. He has also started to test his walking skills, so he keeps standing, trying to balance, falling over on his head, bum, etc etc. So we have to be vigilant in that respect too.

I wasn’t that worried about what he will eat during my absence since I had already started him on semi-solid diet and during day time, he generally eats either porridge or mashed fruits or formula milk etc. The only big task here is feeding him. :-) It takes me nearly 30 min to an hour to feed him one meal. And he has to be continuously entertained during that whole time. :-D I have a full time maid at home who has been with Shaurya since he was 2 months old. She takes care of him well; only problem being she can’t spoon feed him. For the time being though this has been taken care of; my sister is with us and she takes care of spoon-feeding shaurya in my absence. 

He sleeps very less during the day time. And while preparing for joining back office, we slowly made sure that our maid is able to rock and put him to sleep and Shaurya is very comfortable with his Uma aunty :-). But then this is only during the day, come evening and I don’t know what happens to my baby. I have to be with him, otherwise he won’t sleep. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, and I don’t hold him within a few minutes he starts crying till I come and hold him. No matter who comes to him at that time, he won’t keep quiet for a long time. Kids are weird when it comes to sleep.. :-) I and Amu laugh a lot when we talk about our kids sleep patterns. If they are hungry, they cry.. its understandable since they can't feed themselves. But if you are sleepy, just sleep naa.. who is asking you to be awake and cry your heart out!!

It’s been 2 weeks now since I joined office. Haven’t been able to clock full working hours yet. But it’s been manageable till now. I think the main reason being presence of my sister and our maid. My sister is awesome with kids and our maid has been with us for more than 14 years now (She works at my parents’ house, I have requested her to come with us for a few months :-)) She is very caring and has great sense of responsibility.  Shaurya has been with them since long now and nearly as comfortable with them as me. So I guess for him, it’s like “Mom & Dad are out for a few hours but I have my mausi and uma aunty so no worries!!.. I will have fun in their absence!!” :-) Presence of my sister has helped reduce the guilt I have felt leaving Shaurya and joining back office.  It’s not that I am guilt free now but the guilt has reduced considerably. I still have pangs of guilt but I am in a position to try to happily look at the positives. 

This is how things are for now..  I know it is not permanent. Situation will change, things will evolve but my baby will also be growing up and I am hoping he will also keep adapting along with his parents.

First step into motherhood

It's been quite long since I posted something. I know it's nothing new :D Everyone especially me is quite aware how lazy I am. I wanted to make some excuse for the same but than I got to be truthful to myself. Anyways I was talking to my friend Amu and she pointed out that it’s high time I wrote something. So here I am, dragging myself out of my laziness and trying to scribble something. And following her lead, let me begin by recording my ‘Deliverance’ ;-D

First things first.. as the title of this post already suggests: I am a 'MOM' now.. :-D. Gave birth to a beautiful little angel on 11th Oct 2011. We have named him 'Shaurya'. During my entire pregnancy, I & M were looking forward to welcoming a cute little girl to begin our family.. but guess 'Shaurya' had already picked us up as his parents and we can't be grateful enough. (Btw now I know that he used to practice kickboxing when we used to address my ever growing belly as 'she' :)) Some things are just meant to be. While pregnant, I used to fret about having normal delivery. Nearly most of everyone that I knew had C-sec and I so wanted a normal one even though I have a very low pain threshold.. ironical..huh!! ;-)

I had no pain or even the slightest or smallest of contraction during my entire pregnancy. One day before my due date, we went for a ultrasound. It was found that I had low water content in my uterus. My Gynaec advised us to go ahead for induced labor instead of waiting for natural labor to begin. My uncle who is a pediatrician gave us a heads up to be ready for a C-sec coz of the low water content. We went home assimilating all the info and to prepare for the next day. We retired into our room early to get some rest but neither I nor M were able to sleep. On the D day, we were out of bed early in the morning. I made poha for breakfast (M's favorite) and we (as in me, M, my mil and fil) started for the hospital. After some quick form filling, I was admitted and injected pain inducing medicines through saline drip. The Dr said it sometimes takes 3-4 hrs for pain to kick in so we waited, waited and waited. Till evening there was no progress and no pain of course :) !! . The doctor than tried few more medicines. Again nothing. By 8 pm the baby started showing some very minor signs of distress. We could have waited longer but than since even with help, my labor was not progressing and to top it the water content was low, chances of a normal delivery were very less. We didn’t want to push for a normal delivery, resulting in maybe an emergency C-sec and/or distress for the baby. After consulting with our doctor, around 8.30 pm, we gave a go ahead for C-sec. And as if on cue, it started raining heavily... filmy indeed!!

With the decision finally made, everything started moving in fast forward mode. A welcome break from the sheer monotony of waiting. I was moved into the operating theatre. It was my first time in an OT and what a place it was. Pretty awe-inspiring - Squeaky clean with quite a lot of high end gadgets and monitors. I would have loved the place only if it was not me going under the knife. There was an OT table where I was to lie. It was very very thin and I wasn't sure how I supposed to fit in there in my normal form forget about 9 month pregnant form. Anyways somehow I tried to fit in. Once in, I was quickly attached to many of those cool monitors and the anesthetist and Gynaec started their work. I just felt slight tugging and pulling kind of sensations in my tummy and before I knew it my son was out. I was just shown the baby and then he was handed over to a pediatrician for check up. we had opted for stem cell banking so my Gynaec started working on it and then stitched me up. I was then wheeled into the recovery area. While all this was going on, I was craving to hold my baby and be with M.

Once the baby was checked and bathed, the nurse took him outside OT and handed him over to his father and grand parents. M was given hospital gown and he come to the recovery area to be with me. I will for ever remember that first look and all the love I saw on his face. It's priceless. It was past 12 now and he wished me 'Happy 34 months'. :-) (34 months of our wedding.. we got married on 12th Dec). After about an hour more there, I was wheeled into my room where I was welcomed by my beaming in-laws. After a 5 day stay, I was discharged from the hospital. I was so glad to be at home. A hospital no matter how luxurious is in the end still just a hospital!!

Shaurya is 6 months old or shall I say young now. Growing up pretty fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that he came into our lives. I have been in love with him from the moment I saw him. Motherhood has been quite a joy - not everything has been easy or as natural as it seems but it has been fun. I am also learning and growing as a mother along with my son. "A child gives birth to a mother" - this is a caption on display at OnP tulips (the hospital that I delivered in). True indeed!! :)

Checked my blog......

...... after a looooooooooooong time today. I know it’s been ages since I posted something here.. life’s been quite hectic and busy… I have been just so busy living my life that it doesn’t look like the posts here are ever gonna catch up with it.. especially with Me being the sooper lazy Me that I am… :-) But then who’s complaining… it’s not like I have ppl waiting with baited breaths for updates to my blog.. :-D

Anyways realized I should put atleast something up.. so this post is just to break the ‘No-Posts’ monotony……. Don’t have anything to write about or come to think of it.. I have too many things I want to write about but just don’t know where to start from. I guess I will need some more time to figure it out.. till then I will go back to just…. living… and loving… and pampering… and being pampered.. :-)

PS: Btw have slowly realized M does remember and keep all the small silly declarations that he makes.. I should stop laughing at him when he makes them.. :-) Can’t wait to see him in his new Avataar.

Mrityunjay - Review

Finally I have finished reading ‘Mrityunjay’ – a novel by Shivaji Savant. It’s based on the life of Karna – a great warrior and the ultimate hero or shall I say tragic hero from Mahabharata. (Ashwani had gifted me this book on my birthday.. he actually took the effort of mailing me this all the way from Delhi.. he knew I wanted to read this one after hearing so much about it. Thanks dear.. :-) ) In literal terms, Mrityunjay means a person who has conquered death.

Prior to reading this, my interpretation of Karna, like many of us, was based on the DD serial, Mahabharata. He along with Krishna has always been my favourite character in Mahabharata. Out of the Pandavas, I only like Arjun as he was very focused and had single minded dedication. Though unlike Karna, he was always guided by great teachers/mentors.

After reading this book, my love for the character of Karna has been reaffirmed. I learned about many little known incidents in his life and how each incident guided and shaped his future actions. Although he was a Kshatriya and son of Kunti & Sun God, he was unaware of it and always lived under the shadow of being a Charioteer’s son. All through his life, he strives and yearns to be recognized as a great warrior based on his capability and not be called just a charioteer’s son coz he was born into it. The book has captured Karna’s feelings, his pain & sufferings, his courage & character really well. The book is divided into sections with each section dedicated to an imp character in Karna’s life. Each character is telling things as first person.

Karna was born with a divine set of earrings and shield in his body. Though unaware of being the son of Sun God, he had a strange attraction towards him since his childhood. He was a great devotee of the Sun God and made him his Guru. He found himself different from other members in his community and hence always struggled to adjust in it. He loved his family a lot – his father, his loving mother, Radhamata, or his dedicated younger brother, Shona or his dutiful wife, Vrushali and their kids. Their love and dedication for Karna was also complete. All of them loved and dotted over Karna and were loved unconditionally in return. The love story of Karna and Vrushali is so delicate and endearing. I didn’t even know Karna was married that too a love marriage.. :-). Vrushali was just the perfect partner for a loving and generous person like Karna. She gave with ultimate abandon and love. Then there’s the love that Karna has for his younger brother Shona and the faith with which Shona reveres Karna which are quite touching. It was wonderful reading about many such little known facets of his personality. Made him all the more humane. :-)

When he went to Hastinapur with his father to get training under Guru Drona , he was shunned by everyone except Duryodhana. This acceptance from Duryodhana and recognition of his capability, led to a strong bond and friendship between them even though they had very different temperament. Even though Karna was a better warrior and archer, everyone appreciated Arjun more as he was of royal lineage. Drona and many others were biased towards Arjun and this was a source of great rivalry between the two.

Karna was humiliated time and again by many people like Drona, Draupadi, Pandavas, even once by Bhishma Pitamah – for being a charioteer’s son. These were source of much disquiet and hurt in Karna’s life. Despite all this, Karna was compassionate. He had great character, was a benevolent individual and king, committed to his words, an ideal son, husband, brother and friend. Despite being a great warrior, he was peace loving in nature. He is famous for his benevolent nature. Here’s one incident to attest to it - even though he knew before hand that Lord Indra was coming in disguise to take away his protective shield and earrings from him to save Arjun, he happily gives it to Indra as alms. While on his deathbed, he removed his gold teeth and gave it to a dead solder’s poor father so that it could be used to make funeral arrangements for his son. No wonder he is called ‘Daanveer Karna’.

Karna also had great love and devotion for Lord Krishna. Just before the war of Mahabharata, Krishna told him the reality of his birth. Both Krishna and Kunti requested him to join Pandavas and rule over being the eldest and best of Pandavas. He however rejected this offer as he could not abandon his friend, Duryodhana who supported him throughout his life. When Kunti asks him to spare life of her 5 sons, he promises to spare all his sons except Arjun . So that at the end of it, Kunti will be left with 5 sons including either Arjun or Karna.

Karna was the ultimate tragic hero of the Mahabharata, and the man who, after Bhishma Pitamah, should have been the real claimant to the throne of Hastinapur. His yearnings and dilemmas have been captured really well by the author. All in all, it is an awesome book which has been very beautifully written. A must read for sure

Rating: I would give it 5 out of 5.

Political Rants..

Mood: Frustrated. A Ranting post ahead... no solutions, (maybe) biased reasoning... just rants..

The political scenario in our country today is depressing to say the least. The Congress prides in calling itself ‘The party of the Poor’. This is one statement that even Rahul Gandhi keeps on making in each and all of his political rallies’. Some 63 years back, it was understandable but now it sounds pathetic. After ruling India for more than 50 years or so, Congress should actually feel ashamed of this rather than being Proud. They have still not been able to help the poor or make their situation better. Take for example Amethi, I don’t think anyone else apart from Congress has ever won from that seat. Its supposed to be the stronghold of Congress with Priyanka, Rahul and Sonia going on tours frequently. Irony is - it’s still one of the underdeveloped regions in our country. An area which has given us such strong nationwide politicians (but no leader) and PMs, is still an underdeveloped area. It speaks volumes about the real motive of the Gandhi clan. If they really wanted to develop it, I am not sure it would have been that Herculean an effort for them. But then maybe it is.. guess we will never know. (It’s another thing that they still are voted back to power term after term :-( )

I recently read an article in DNA newspaper. It had some interesting view points on how dynastic politics is mainly about protecting ill-gotten wealth. I could not have agreed more. With information about how many Indians are having money in Swiss bank accounts, this UPA govt is displaying an amazing apathy in trying to get the facts and reveal the details. We are not even trying to get the money back. The callousness visible at the highest level of governance is disturbing. Well with the amount of years congress has ruled India and the scams that have unearthed, its pretty easy to guess that 90% of those would be somehow connected with Congress. I won’t be surprised if each of the Gandhis has an account there.

This is the first time (at least to my knowledge) when there have been so many HUGE SCAMs that have come to public notice and the PM of our country has not even bothered to say a word on it. Forget an address to the nation, he has not made even a reassuring statement. This is highly BELITTLING to the nation & people he represents. The Don’t-Care attitude by our nation’s top leadership is Shameful. (Again since we vote them back again and again, guess we are the real culprits)

The way we are treated by our leadership is totally not done. Look at the most recent case involving Indian students in US. Few Indian students at TVU have been tagged like criminals. Even if we agree that from a US law perspective what they did was ok, but its not the US govt. who should worry about Indians. It’s the Indian govt. who should think about us. Our govt. should have made a noise, got the tags removed and got the students back to India. I really don’t know what we are waiting for? Whatever maybe the case; it’s really praiseworthy how US defends and supports its citizens. Look at the way they are pushing Pak to release Raymond Davis even though he committed a crime. (I am not defending US here as the person is actually guilty, I am only commending the fact that US protects its citizens and is accountable to them) Contrast this with the kind of statements our Foreign Minister makes in any situation involving Indians. First time, he says its ‘unacceptable’. Next time u hear him, he bows down and says we need to abide by the law of the host country. Be it Australia or US.

There are N number of cases like this. One thing is for sure Congress has been a lousy opposition party and is even worse when it is in power. At least other parties were better while in power. Maybe coz they were novice and didn't know how to play politics like our oldest and most experienced party does.. Anyways let's hope we will get rid of such politicians sooner than later..

New Year @ Home

It’s said “well begun is half done”!! This year has started with all the right notes. We had bought a flat last year and on the 1st day of this very new year.. we moved into it. Our own brand new home.. :-)

There were a few minor hiccups at the beginning .. with our families saying just 10 days before the ‘Griha Pravesh' to wait for 15 more days and go after ‘Maker Sakranti’.. but we had given notice to our owner that we would be vacating our rented house on 1st.. he had even finalized the new renter.. this made it really impossible to delay it further.. And then both our dads came to our rescue.. Being the sweethearts that they are both my father and father in law said to go ahead on 1st itself; this being the 1st day of the new year and a Saturday on that.. nothing could be better.. Since we had already done a puja last year, even M and I felt good to move in and had no reservations about the date. M believes that if something good is happening on a day, it must surely be a good day. If it wasn't, that good thing would not be happening in the first place!! I totally agree with him!! (this is a rare case.. as in me agreeing with M.. :D)

So finally we shifted on 1st.. it was a nice sunny day (it is very very cold this time around in Pune and even a small glimpse of sun is most welcome). When the movers & packers guy came and started packing, I realized we have hell lot of stuff at our home. Removing all the non-essentials out of this was my first To-Do task in the new home. By the time we shifted all our stuff to the new place, it was 7pm. While this was going on, the electrician had also come and had set up fans, tubelights, etc. With all the basic things done, we were Set!! (for the time being.. ;-))

As luck would have it, there was a person with the Movers & Packers guys who turned out to be well qualified Brahmin shashtri; he even has a degree in it. He told that this 1st was a really auspicious occasion to shift in and he has already performed few ‘Griha pravesh pujas’ in the morning. He agreed to do a havan at our home too.. So M went with him and got all the Puja samagrees.. by the time we did the Puja, bhoomi pujan, havan and sat for dinner, it was already well past midnight.. :-) We had to wake up early the next day as we were going on a trip; so we dragged our tired bodies to bed and dozed off. Thus ended our first day at home.

Even with all the running around we did, we were pretty much set on the first day itself. It was an amazing feeling.. being at our own home. :-) I still can’t believe we bought a flat here. It’s been 1.5 years since we moved to Pune.. With no plans whatsoever of settling here; we now have a home here.. Go figure!! :-D Life really has very different plans for you!! They may not be same as yours.. but many times they are even better than yours. :-)

Wish you all a wonderful year ahead!! Have fun!!

If I were..

Another tag from Amu.. :) If it wasn't for Amu and her tags I guess I would not have even half of the posts in my blog.. :D

If I were a month - April: A little of this is because I was born in April :) but mostly coz I feel my most active (or shall I say least lazy) in April. I do not suffer from cold during this season due to the warm temp. I can eat as many ice creams, mangoes and cold drinks that I like without worrying about falling sick. And how can I forget chilled water melons!! :)

If I were a day of the week - Saturday: I just love the way Saturday starts.. lazily lying on the bed.. dragging myself out and preparing some nice brunch. Reading paper in my sweet time.. just relaxing. The morning sets the tone for the entire day.. :D Even on the days that we plan to go for a trip or smthg on a saturday, its more of a relaxed and lazy getaway!!

If I were a time of day - Night: I feel my most active self during the night time.. maybe coz I was born after mid-night..;-). My mind just gets filled up with so many ideas (most of them crazy) during the night.. and everything that I am supposed to do and should do, I remember during the night time only.

If I were a season - Rains: I love the rainy season. Its one of my favourites. Everything gets washed in the rain water and looks all fresh and full of life. Even though i get sick pretty often in rains, i love getting drenched in it. You can savour the real taste of hot tea and pakoras only when its raining. :D

If I were a planet - Saturn it is for me too. As Amu mentioned, its feared in the Hindu pantheon, however He is my rashi God and I have always found him generous and kind.

If I were a sea animal - No idea..I think I prefer being a human being. :D

If I were a direction - East

If I were a piece of furniture - Bed: A lazy person like me can not like anything more than a Bed. :D

If I were a liquid - Water: The elixir of life. To be more specific, fresh lime water or roohafzah. I just love both of them.

If I were a tree - Neem tree: When I was a kid, we used to go to my maternal uncle's home during summer vacation. There were 3 really big neem trees in our front garden and I used to love it. It used to provide really nice cool shade during the summer and the breeze u feel while sitting beneath the tree was really fresh and rejuvenating.

If I were a tool - Scissors: Again I will agree with Amu, it has to be scissors. This is one tool I use pretty often.

If I were an element - Fire - from the five elements.

If I were a gemstone - Ruby

If I were a musical instrument - A violin: Love the soulful and melancholy notes which come out of it. Touches my heart.

If I were a color - Red. :D

If I were an emotion - Love.

If I were a fruit - Mangoes for me too.. :)

If I were a sound - I like the faint sound of a ringing bell (temple sort of)… also the splattering sound that rain makes, etc

If I were a car - Ford Mustang: A red colored convertible one, to be more specific. :D

If I were food - Rice: I love all the rice preparations.

If I were a taste - Salty & Tangy: Both of them together are my favourite tastes.

If I were a scent - Scent of fresh lime: I love all citrus smell.

If I were a pair of shoes - Sneakers for me too..

If I were a bird - A cute little sparrow. :)

October reading..

After a long long time, I am once again soaking myself in another ‘elixir’ of life: - Books and I am just quenching my thirst a little too fast.. :) In the last 1 week, I have finished 3 novels. All 3 are love stories – a co-incidence let me add.. :)

PS. I love you – Cecelia Ahern: I had already seen the movie and loved it. Had heard about the book, but don’t know why I did not try to find the book or read it. Anyways I bought it during my last visit to landmark and I was very surprised to find that the book and movie are quite different. The main plot is same - a young widow tries to start living again with the help of letters that her husband wrote before dying. There are many incidents in the book which is also in the movie however I found the treatment of the movie very different. The book is more subtle and the emotions more real. The movie was a little larger than life. (I still like the movie though.. Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank rock!!) The book is easier to believe; the movie is more ‘romantic-romantic’. I guess most people like larger than life romances.. preferring it to the more subtle ‘love’. The movie score there. As the norm is the book is better than the movie. Though I have liked them both. I wish I had read the book first.

Anything for you, Ma’am – Tushar Raheja: This is a light read; you can make that out from the punch line ‘The love story of an IITian’.. :-D.. The author writes well, being humorous at times, however the problem with the book is that it has too many great co-incidences making it way too filmy to be true. The author has tried to acknowledge it by calling it the work of ‘Mr. Fate’; however it’s still all too much. Overall it’s a book you can read (only if you must) in between some heavy reading. You would not be missing anything if you skip it altogether.

At first sight – Nicholas Sparks: This is the first time I am reading a Nicholas Sparks novel. Have already seen 3 movies based on his work – The Notebook, Message in a bottle & A walk to remember; each a beautiful love story. :) As the name suggests, ‘At first sight’ is also a love story. I started reading it expecting another warm love story, however the detail on how exactly Jeremy & Lexie (the lead couple) fall in love is sadly missing (I learnt later that this novel is a sequel to ‘True Believer’, where they actually meet and fall in love). As I continued reading, this one seemed more and more like a suspense novel. Halfway through it, I started doubting the choice of the book title - ‘At first sight’ did not seem appropriate at all. I personally do not believe in love at first sight. Its more of attraction at first sight and not love.. As two people interact with each other this attraction may eventually turn into love. Here both Jeremy and Lexie fall in love at first sight and decide to marry soon after. Later on all the doubts surface -maybe they have rushed into things without knowing much about each other, there were trust issues, adjustment issues, et all.. There was a mystery also which made me curious. The novel had started with some crisis that Jeremy was facing and I was interested in learning what it exactly was. As the story unfolded, I was hooked into it and by the time I finished the book, I was literally crying. The ending is tragic and I felt so sad for everyone; for what each of them missed. It is a beautifully written book. The dilemma that a couple can face, the ups and downs of a relationship and the effort that is taken to make it work has all been described well. I guess if I had read the ‘True Believer’ first, I would have better understood their bonding. To sum it up, it is a well told story and worth a read.

I am back..with a Tag

Its been ages since I posted anything on my blog. This time around it’s not just my laziness… have been falling sick on and off since last month and a half.. it turned out to be a pretty serious matter.. had to be admitted into a hospital for about a week.. my first stay in hospital and my brush with IV salines, needless to say it wasn’t an enjoyable one.. :-( It’s something I hope to be a once in a lifetime experience only.. (Btw I have had an eye-opening experience with government hospitals.. maybe I will write about it some day..) Today let me get this blog alive again with a post. Amu tagged me once again and thus saved me the effort of searching for a topic.. :-) Let me focus on it today; this one is a gender tag. “You gotta spill 10 facts about you which do not fit the stereotype of your gender.”

Hmmm.. you know before my wedding I always thought I am a little ‘non-girly’ (borrowed from Amu. :D ) however now I realize I am a little more girly than I thought. For example, I used to think of myself as a very logical person which I am, most of the times, but there are many a times when I think more from my heart than my head i.e. a classic case of emotions driving logic. Anyways there are still few things about me that may not fit into the ‘traditional’ gender stereotype but then these stereotypes are changing everyday and I am sure I am not the only one with such aberrations..

1. I am excellent with numbers.. Maths was one of my most favorite subjects along with physics. Don’t get to apply all that school maths now however I have managing the financial aspect of my project since long and am proud of the fact that they have been impeccable. Even my seniors highlight it as one of my key strengths.
2. I love adventure and traveling.. any new place that you want to explore, I am always ready with my bags packed. I still remember the time when in our friend circle, I would be the only girl who would say yes to a trip but then had to back out in the end since no other girl would be willing to join us. :-( On one such occasion, my friend H convinced his friend P who was at Mysore to join us in Bangalore. Together we started for our holiday destination. It turned out to be a blessing as it gave me a chance to make friendship with a wonderful girl P.. we even went for girls only trips together..Anyways those were the times, I realized marriage has its positives too.. u get a companion for life..:-D
3. I don’t understand hints and don’t know how to give them too well either.. if you want me to do something, better tell it directly. I am too much into myself to understand subtle and not so subtle hints. Same is the other way round; I tell directly what I want.
4. I am not into make up at all!! It’s not because I don’t like it; it’s more to do with my lack of knowledge about it. I don’t know how to apply make up; the most I can do is apply moisturizer and lipstick. After combing my hair, I am done.
5. Same with accessories and jewelry. **I love collecting earrings, jewelry sets and other such stuff, however when it comes to actually wearing matching/contrast stuff, changing into new ones, I am very very lazy. There was a time some 3 years back or so, when coaxed by my roomies, I started wearing matching accessories with my office wear. Used to go to office, a little decked up. And you know what, few of my colleagues, actually thought I had gotten engaged and started even congratulating me. :-O Anyways I still love collecting beautiful jewelry sets especially gold ones. I consider gold a very good investment. Got many awesome ones in my wedding.
   Hey.. there’s one accessory that I love wearing and that’s ‘Bangles’. I always get matching ones for my saree and wear ‘hands-full’ of them. (**PS: Not sure if this one will still fit into a female stereotype as I love collecting jewelry)
6. Like Amu, I never used to like flower bouquets. I used to find them waste of a gift. However I have loved receiving them from my fiancée since our engagement and continue to like it. M still gets me a lot of flowers. If not more, at least once a month. I still like flowers more on plants but till I get a flower garden for myself, I am not complaining about the bouquets. :-D
7. I also function more in a Do-It-Yourself mode. If there’s something that I can do myself, I go ahead and do it instead of assigning it to someone else.
8. I have a loud voice.. :-( .. I don’t have the sweet feminine voice that girls usually have. When I am excited, I talk really fast and a wee bit loud. There are times when even I cringe hearing my voice.
9. Although I might not be as logical as a guy, however I still am more logical than a typical girl. Most of the time, I go by logical reasoning. However I have found out that for a few things for example my family, I can even compromise on logic. Hmm.. for example.. my belief in God is unquestionable and way beyond logic. Same is the case with my adoration for Sachin. :-D
10. I am very forgetful. Even when I have a fight and I will be angry at someone, it’s more a case for forget and forgive. After sometime, I will totally forget that I had a fight with that person and will go and talk to him/her. Even if I get angry, I cool down really fast. My anger is gone in a few minutes. Both I and M take equal turns (almost equal :-D) to manaaofy each other.

Phew!!!! Finally I am done.. both with the tag and a post after long time.

You know what M said and I am quoting him verbatim.. “All my positives (caring, loving nature, positive attitude, good cooking, etc) are feminine and all my negatives (loud voice, laziness, etc) are masculine in nature.” :-D

The 'moral' drama

I always get irritated seeing this drama that our politicians (I won’t call them leaders as we don’t have any) carry on everyday. Especially when they offer to resign on grounds of so called taking ‘moral responsibility’. The latest in the line being our honorable aviation minister - Mr. Praful Patel. In a crisis situation, he should actually be taking control and investigating the matter. However instead of assuring the Public, he chooses to offer to quit. And especially since he knows he is not the direct culprit and obviously our PM will not accept his resignation. I would love to see him make the same offer if for example he is caught in a bribery case or if there’s a criminal case against him. But you won’t find a minister taking ‘moral responsibility’ when their morals have been compromised. What a shameless lot!!

PS: Btw on a separate note, I do think our Home minister should take some ‘moral responsibility’ and quit before more people die. When I learnt about the Naxal attack last year, I thought he needs time to work. But what has he been doing?? Not sure if he is just not interested coz none of the states suffering from Naxalism are congress-ruled (I hope I am wrong).

Another Tag by Amu

Have logged into e-blogger after a long time.. was busy with some professional as well as personal chores.... I guess its more than a month now when Amu had tagged me.. Finally I am now able to take it up. Here are my answers.. :)

1. What is your current obsession?

Our home or more specifically the home loan.. ;-). We have just bought a flat here and have been busy with getting home loan quotes from various banks and breaking our heads together in order to finalize one.

2. What are you wearing today?

Right now, a T-shirt and a 3/4th.

3. What’s for dinner?

Stuffed veg parantha, pickle, tea and some fruits (pineapple, water melon & banana)

4. What’s the last thing you bought?

Registered our flat. :-)

5. What are you listening to right now?

With or without you – heard this yesterday on TV and got hooked to it all over again.. :-D

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?

She is my best friend with whom I have shared and continue to share all the eventful and uneventful moments of my life. Someone who provides me guidance & support whenever I need it. Love you tones dearie & thank you so much for being such a wonderful & beautiful friend. Muaaaah.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

Hmm.. practically speaking I would want it in Bhubaneswar but as long as I am dreaming why not get a beautiful bungalow in a hill station furnished with state of the art things inside and beautiful trees and plants outside. ;-)

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?

Cotton clothes..

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

Go to meet my youngest sis, Twinkle. Her board exams are going on.. would like to be with her.

10. Which language do you want to learn?

I am very poor in learning languages.. but if I can, I would like to improve on my Oriya and learn Marathi – it would be very helpful here :-).

11. What’s your favourite quote?

Hmmm.. I have many fav quotes.. :-) But for sake of putting one, here’s something that I have in my signature: "Carpe Diem”

12. Who do you want to meet right now?

M – Waiting for him to come home. :-)

13. What is your favourite colour?

Red

14. Give us 3 styling tips that work for you.

Hmm.. Difficult question.. let me list something down..
- Have all kinds of color in your wardrobe: vibrant as well as sober.
- When it comes to Suits, cotton clothes look graceful. In Saris, I think georgette looks elegant.
- Always have a smiling face. It adds warmth to your persona.

15. What is your dream job?

The one which pays me a little more than the norm and make me work a little less than the norm. At the moment I have exactly opposite job. But I still like it…. Go figure!! :-)

16. What’s your favorite magazine?

Used to love comics as a kid (I still do.. :-D) My dad had got us subscription of many different magazines.. Now a days I don’t read many magazines. The only one I regularly buy is Reader's Digest.

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?

Go out to a restaurant, shop for clothes.

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?

I have no idea what ‘Fashion’ is so can’t really comment here. I can differentiate only between what looks good and what doesn’t. To each his/her own; just wear something that suits your body style and is not indecent.

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?

Right now the only over-rated person I can think of is AB and his family. I think we are seeing just a tad too much of each of them. I find them all utterly irritating.

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?

A Step cut with frizzles – I only wish I had jet straight hair.

21. What are you going to do after this?

Cut the fruits.

22. What are your favourite movies?

Mannnny…. Here are a few: Andaz Apna Apna, QSQT, LOTR series, Life is beautiful, Roman Holiday, etc, etc, etc.. :-)

23. What inspires you?

Anything & everything. Any good act inspires me.

24. What do your friends call you most commonly?

Mostly Ashma only.. just a rare few call me Ash. Some friends call me Ashu too..

25. Would you prefer coffee or tea?

Depends on my mood and time of the day. Love to have tea in morning and evening.. But if it’s after dinner, I like to have coffee. .. especially if its raining and I get to share it with M. :-)

26. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?

Hmmm…. Call up and speak to my friends (Amu, Ashwani, Vivek or Rachana). Talk to M Or talk to my sis and aunt. Don’t generally tell Mom till it’s under control as she tends to worry about it even more.

27. What makes you go wild?

No comments.. ;-)

28. Which other blogs do you love visiting?

There are a few I regularly read. Among my friends, there’s amu’s & ashwani’s blogs. There are some bloggers like sayesha, sunshine, etc whose blogs I happened to read and got hooked.. I read them pretty regularly now.

29. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?

Gulab Jamun, Gazar ka halwa, Jalebi & motichur ke laddu. And of course Icecream.

30. How many tabs are turned on in ur browser right now?

3

31. Favorite Season?

Rains :-)

32. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?

Palak Paneer, Kofta (if you don’t like Paneer), Veg Pulav and Parantha. Accompanied with curd, salad and papad. I just made Gazar ka halwa all by myself for the first time a few days back and it was awesome… so maybe I will make that too in case I have time.. So when are you coming? ;-)

33. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?

Ignore them. If you know they are purposefully hurting you, why get hurt!

34. What are you afraid of the most?

At the moment, whenever I think of child birth.. :-D I can not bear pain and the thought of all that pain scares the hell out of me.. :(

35. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Same as I did yesterday – I am putting on weight. :-(

36. What brings a smile on your face instantly??

M and a “Smile” from anyone.. :-)

37. A word that you say a lot?

That’s ok

38. What would you do if you were made President of India for one day?

Make littering a punishable offence and enforce it strictly.

39. What is that one thing that keeps you going?

Not one but the following do: God, My family and friends

40. What’s one thing that you used to love that you left

Nothing.. frequency of few things that I love to do have reduced but its all still there..

A year to remember

The year 2009 has been a memorable year for me.. It started with a high and even ended with one - and everything in between was mostly on a high too.. :-). During Jan time, I was a newly married bride at my in-laws place soaking in all the attention. And come December, I was in the company of my in-laws again (brother-in-law, bhabhi and the kids) enjoying the love being showered on the ‘choti bahu’ and ‘chachi’... :-) (Of course, it goes with out saying that during this time the lovely wife was also basking in the love of her loving husband ;-) )

I had welcomed 2009 with M.. at that time we were working in different cities and our plans were not yet concrete. When we parted in mid Jan to report back at our respective offices, we weren’t sure about how much time it would take till we set up a home together. M was planning to move to Bangalore, however with the recession in IT industry being at its peak at that time, there were not many opportunities to look forward to. Meanwhile both of us initiated internal transfers in our company to move to Pune (luckily both his and my company has a branch here).Initially the chances of transfer getting approved also looked slim owing to dearth of project work in the new location and N number of internal constraints. However by God’s grace, all the pieces fell into place and by mid April we were together - in time to celebrate my birthday with M (a perfect gift for me.. :-))

Setting up a home together has been fun and a little exhausting. :-D The time and effort that went in setting it up and all the stuff that we have added to our home, moving in to a different place is going to be LOT of work. While doing all this, we have had our share of differences, fights, ruthana-manana, rona-dhona et all... but most importantly there has been lot of love. Even the fights have helped bring in more love into our marriage. (Fights between married couples is a must I say.. ;-) ) We also bought a car.. A lovely bright Red beauty.. I am still to start driving it but I am immensely enjoying lounging on the front seat listening to music and giving instructions while M drives. ;-p

2009 had a lot of ‘with-family’ time in it. :-) While I was in Bangalore, first my in-laws and then my bua aka elder sister visited me. Then during Holi, my Mom came with my kid bro to celebrate Gangaur Pooja. By April, I was in Pune with M. Post this, every month we have had someone or other from my parents or in-laws place visiting us. My sister was with us till mid of the year and then went to Noida to join her new company and begin her professional life. Anyways with so much time spent with family members, the time just flew by and before I realized, the year was over. 2009 ended on a perfect note, with bhaiya & bhabhi being here with us to bid adieu to the year gone by and welcome the New Year. They were here during the kids Christmas holidays. We were really looking forward to their trip and with 2 long weekends falling in between and a few leaves that we took; we had ample time to catch up on things. Their stay here was simply awesome and it just strengthened our plan to settle near home in Orissa.

Overall the year has been extremely good!!!! After being apart for a good 3 months, M & I are together and would you believe it since then we have not been apart even for one single day!!! :-D We also celebrated our first wedding anniversary in December. And even though we have our differences, M is just perfect for me. (M, In case you are reading this.. I am just too perfect and good for you.. ok!! ;-) ) Icing on the cake - we won the best couple contest held in our society for the New Year celebrations. Hehehehe… Touchwood!! :-D

I somehow don’t think anything can be better than the year gone by but then all I want is everything.. so here’s hoping for an even better 2010. Wishing everyone, a beautiful year ahead!!

PS: I know I have written we have been together, we are together, M & I, etc.. 'N’ number of times in this post…. so as of you can see it has been the highlight of the year for me.. :-)

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.. :)