I’ve been quite lucky and spent may be 15 days in all with in-laws in the past five years. Now they are here visiting us… for 3… Yes, THREE months. Honestly, I don’t have a really bad set of in-laws but honestly (again) I feel that in about three months time things might change. So I must warn everyone (the three or four of you) who read this blog that you are in for some wild ranting and venting.
Anyway, the days leading up to their visit I kept repeating the “have an open mind” mantra several times. But no matter what I did there was this annoying feeling in the back of my mind… giving me nightmares about how I’ll turn out to be the most unqualified partner for their precious son. This, after being married for five years! I do have some serious self-esteem issues, don’t I? Finally, I decided I am not going to sweat it, tough luck if they feel I am not worthy, because I’m their daughter-in-law and they are pretty much stuck with what they have. So instead of deciding to put up an act of being a perfect marumagal (daughter-in-law) I decided to be myself (em…may be a little better version of the real me).
It was the day they were arriving and I was not freaking out… okay, may be a little… but overall I was doing pretty well. I checked everything, bed was made, the pooja space was clean and nice, the house was pretty clean, had made some decent food, and the ‘maavu’ (batter for idly and dosa) was set as well, overall things were looking pretty good. They reached home and everything went quite smooth. When someone expressed his discontent on seeing store bought containers of yogurt I happily ignored that. I tried not to take it personally… so far so good.
Yesterday morning, I was completely devastated when I saw limp idlies as the end product of the batter I made! Every time, Every Single Time I’ve tried too hard to impress, I fall right on my face! Lesson learned. We shall henceforth use store bought dosa/idly batter as well.
Today when I walked down, I was surprised to see one fourth of the contents of my kitchen cabinets lying on the floor. Apparently my kitchen was going through some cleansing action. Agreed, my cabinets did have some old stuff that I didn’t throw away… I tried not to feel bad… it’s not a big deal, I said to myself… Look at the positive side, she is trying to help me out and that’s fantastic… It’s such a good thing and I should consider myself a lucky gal!
Then why is it that I am just not able to feel totally good about the kitchen-cleanse? Why am I kicking myself for concluding that I should be like my usual self? Why do I feel that I should’ve gone through everything, made a check list and then cleaned shelves like a maniac and that I should’ve found a container to store the channa dal and not have left it lying in the packet! Why can’t I stop thinking about how everyone in the family will now know about the sad state of my kitchen, the pathetic batter that I make… These are two things in just two days and I have 87 more days to go, so imagine how many more such situations I’ll get myself into… Why, why do I feel this need to impress? Why do I want to be so perfect? Most importantly, why do I stress so much only for in-laws?
All right, now I leave… I think my cloth closet needs some cleansing.
26 August 2009
13 August 2009
hmmm... Now does that look better?
Yep. I just completed an extreme make over for my blog. New look, New title.... Let's see if this change will make me write more often.
Lot of people complain that they don't like change. I feel I am completely pro change. I love the excitement. The feeling of starting some thing fresh. Looking forward to something new. In fact I get restless if there's a period of no change in my life.
I always look forward to moving to a new place, new house, new country, whatever. I know, it's crazy, who would want to go through the hassle of moving. I like everything except packing and unpacking part of it. I guess that's one of the reasons I never really got excited about buying a house.
I always get bored with my work. I haven't stayed in a job for more than 2.5 years. I've been in my current job for about 2 years and 7 months...
I get bored with hair styles. I have had some crazy hairstyles when I was young. I don't do ridiculous stuff now but I always have to get my hair chopped at regular intervals. It amazes me when I watch some of the makeover shows on TV to see some girls shedding tears when they see scissors touch their locks.
I rearrange my closet time to time.
I rearrange stuff in my kitchen cabinets time to time.
That's enough about me and my love for change. My point being, I was hitting a point with my blog where everything bored me. So there I changed it and whaddyaknow I have two posts in one day. All I can say is change works well on me.
Lot of people complain that they don't like change. I feel I am completely pro change. I love the excitement. The feeling of starting some thing fresh. Looking forward to something new. In fact I get restless if there's a period of no change in my life.
I always look forward to moving to a new place, new house, new country, whatever. I know, it's crazy, who would want to go through the hassle of moving. I like everything except packing and unpacking part of it. I guess that's one of the reasons I never really got excited about buying a house.
I always get bored with my work. I haven't stayed in a job for more than 2.5 years. I've been in my current job for about 2 years and 7 months...
I get bored with hair styles. I have had some crazy hairstyles when I was young. I don't do ridiculous stuff now but I always have to get my hair chopped at regular intervals. It amazes me when I watch some of the makeover shows on TV to see some girls shedding tears when they see scissors touch their locks.
I rearrange my closet time to time.
I rearrange stuff in my kitchen cabinets time to time.
That's enough about me and my love for change. My point being, I was hitting a point with my blog where everything bored me. So there I changed it and whaddyaknow I have two posts in one day. All I can say is change works well on me.
Surviving a long distance relationship
When I was introduced to V years ago, little did I imagine that we’d end up getting married! We met during our under-grad days. We chatted briefly and exchanged pleasantries when we ran in to each other on campus. V used to call me once in a while, and then there was a phase in our last year at college when I found myself suddenly playing the role of an agony aunt. That was when we probably started talking, that too hours together on the phone! It was during these endless sessions of playing a therapist that I came to realize V was such down to earth, genuine guy. Everything changed one day when V gave me the biggest hint that I might be 'more than a friend' to him.
With finals on the anvil, preparing for placements, and deadlines for multiple final year projects, and a million other things that were going on, thinking about a guy would’ve been the last thing I’d have done. But, I found myself spending some sleepless nights; listening to love songs… this was a totally new experience and something that was completely abnormal for me! Pressure was mounting from V as well… he was waiting to hear what I had to say about his ‘proposal’. So I did what I do always, make a pros and cons list. I was not ready to commit to anything serious – as in I didn’t think I was so madly in love, but he was in my thoughts and I liked his company, I liked him… a lot. I did want to spend more time together to get to know him better! But, I was moving to a different city, V had admits from schools in the US and he was serious on getting his masters abroad. How were we going to get to know each other better if we really didn’t spend time together? Anyway, I gave up being uptight for once and decided to go with the flow. There was nothing on my cons list that seemed pressing enough for me to ignore what I was feeling. We had about 20 days before my impending move, however, of the 20 days, I was to go on a trip to Kerala for about 2 weeks and V had a trip planned with his family for about 15 days. After all these trips and family engagements, our precious 20 days came down to FOUR quality days of actually seeing each other.
With those four days etched in my mind, I found myself at Hyderabad and V was some 8000 miles away at Texas. Thus began our long distance relationship, which lasted for four years (ironic, isn’t it?). A year and a half later, I got to see V for precisely 3 days. After that we saw each other during preparations and shopping for our wedding.
So there, I think I have established my credibility to be a long distance expert. I thought I’d share a few pointers on how I survived those 4 years of missing someone so badly. This is purely based only on my (and only my) experience.
1. Trust yourself and your partner. If your BF says they are going for a party with friends, then he is going for a party with friends– no more no less. What would you really gain from knowing how many of his friends are “girls”? Remember curiosity killed the cat? Too much inquisitiveness can kill your relationship. Especially if you are living away and all you can do is imagine all his friends as hot chicks hanging out with your vulnerable boyfriend.
2. Learn not to misuse their trust. Even if you sense a slightest possibility that someone you know seems to be interested in you, let him know that you are seriously not available. Don’t play along and flirt and end up hurting others feelings. I strongly believe in karma.
3. Accept that you cannot be a part of his day-to-day life and he misses you and thinks about you as much as you think about him and miss him.
4. Respect other person’s feelings. Things don’t always sound the way you mean it over the phone or email. Your intentions can be misunderstood. If such a thing happens… be ready to explain and don’t get defensive.
5. Communicate, be open to each other, and learn to listen. Discuss your thoughts and feelings openly.
6. Never pretend you are comfortable with something he is doing if you really are not.
7. No one (including you and your BF) can remain sane by just sitting and thinking and pining for you. It’s unhealthy. They need to have a life. Too many restraints can screw your relationship (goes back to trust).
8. Have a good support system. I cannot even begin to explain how important it is to surround yourself with good friends who understand you and what you are going through. You need reassurance and support more than you think you need it. Have one objective person as a confidant, who you can go to for impartial verdicts.
9. Be reasonable. It’s not always your boyfriend’s fault.
10. Moping around all the time is injurious to you. Learn to look at the brighter side… You are in this relationship because you really like this person. There are lots of things you can do “together”. Like you both could read a book and talk about that book, you could watch a movie (and think you are holding hands with him) and share your thoughts, it shouldn’t always be about mushy “I love you so much” “I miss you so much”. Sending him handwritten letters via snail mail always works like a charm.
11. Don’t bottle up your anger. It’s okay to fight – in other words have a heated discussion about conflicting thoughts or behavior. You can virtually kiss and make up. If you are always angry then it’s a different story.
12. Virtual relationship is definitely painful. No matter how much of a positive spin you put on it, the frustrations of long distance is bound to catch up with you sooner or later. There will be times when you question your decision and feel that the whole thing was such a waste of time. You’d think that you have spent precious moments of your life missing someone and feeling miserable. A person you seem to remember just as 2D images from a photograph. Everything becomes so unreal at that point. You find that reassuring friends are not useful anymore. When you hit that phase, shamelessly compare your fellow with others. Think of other guys you’d rather be spending time and having a fulfilling relationship with, believe me you won’t come up with one appealing person. That’s when you realize that you’d rather hold that photograph close to you and that would put a smile on your face.
17 July 2009
Of songs and memories
Last weekend I was listening to a song from Minnale called Ore Nyabagam and I felt this sudden urge to go hug V. Why, you ask? Well, this was “our song” during the four years of long distance (whole other story). The lyrics were as if someone had us in their mind… it was like this song was written just for us. So as I was listening to it, it took me back to those days when I used to spend many a weekend listening to this song and humming along wondering what it would’ve been like if I had my boyfriend right there with me and then I saw him sitting there on the couch reading the newspaper… and hence the urge to give him a hug!
That got me thinking… just by listening to a song, I was transported for a brief minute to our house in Hyderabad, my room, and even felt like I was missing V terribly… its true that some songs possess this magical quality of bringing back certain memories that I associate with them. Sometimes it’s the other way … when I think of some incident I always remember a song that was either playing in the background or that I was singing, etc. I wonder if there’s any one else out there who have similar connections with songs… Anyway I thought why not make a list with songs and the corresponding memories attached to it.
The earliest memory of mine is of a Malayalam lullaby called Omana thingal kidavo that my dad used to sing when I was about 3 years old. I still remember the tiny one bedroom house that we used to live in Trichur and me sitting on my dad’s lap, after dinner, my head resting on his chest and eyelids barely open.
My summer holidays were always divided equally a month at Chennai and a month at Kerala. Two completely different atmospheres –
Chennai was time for me to get pampered rotten as I was the only grandchild (then) and niece on my mom’s side of the family. My mom’s youngest sister was probably in her 12th standard at that time… and she listened to all “cool English songs” and then some Hindi. I remember one evening my aunt had rented a videotape of the movie Aradhna. I didn’t really understand too much of what was going on, however I was hooked on to the song “mere sapno ki rani”… I butchered the song royally and bugged the cr*p out of everyone… I sang it as “mere sappunon kee raanni kabbuu aayyee geetu” I always thought it was geetu - as in a name geetu and not ayegi and tu as separate words.
Kerala was the other end of the spectrum; it was my dad’s family house. A big house, lot of extended family, no shortage for kids, very little adult supervision, lot of pranks and mischief, plenty of land for us to run around and play, a massive pond where we used to spend most of the humid days lazing like water buffalos. One of the most interesting times used to be when some of dad’s cousins or nieces/nephews would get married. The actual wedding always happened at the temple in Guruvayoor, no matter what. But the fun stuff like the pre wedding party for all bride's relatives and the post wedding party for the groom’s side happened at the house. And for one such event, it was while we were getting ready, that a cousin of mine played the tape of Aashiqui… and songs like Nazar ke samne, Dheere dheere se always take me back to that very tiny room full of my cousins and second cousins with grand dresses, some trying to comb hair, some trying to apply lipstick, smells of all kinds of perfumes and all of us sharing just one mirror. I associate lot of Malayalam songs with those carefree times, but the list is just too long!
Roja was the talk of the town when it came out, Mani Ratnam movies were always my mom’s weakness… added to that Roja offered a refreshingly new type of music. So off we went, my mom and I for watching Roja one afternoon. When we got out of the theater after the show, it was pouring cats and dogs… and as I was waiting in that crammed bus stop, I was humming in my head... “chinna chinna aasai..” To this day when I hum that song I remember standing soaking to my skin in that bus stop.
Then came my glorious college days… three years of full of fun... there are just way too many songs for me to pick. The one incident that makes smile always is… a night after an event at the college, all of us camped at a friend’s house, we were all lying on the floor half of us asleep… my friend A & I we sang in total rhythm in hushed tones all the songs of Dil to Pagal Hai.
Dil Se was another movie that we had all waited eagerly for and we were so disappointed angry and totally pissed when we heard that they played only the tamil version (Uyire) in Tamil Nadu. We had planned a class “field trip” to the theatre to watch Dil Se. I pity the others who had to watch the movie that day through all the noise we made. The best part was that every single song of the movie, there was a group of us singing Hindi version out loud, really loud.
All songs however don’t bring back wonderful memories… a song that I really dread is “akhiya milaoon kabhi akhiyan churaoon”, this was the song I was asked to prepare and sing for trying out for the music group at college… I have never sung a song so bad and out of tune and my voice never sounded that horrible ever before. To this day, this remains one memory that I want to wipe off my head.
Aaye ho mere zindagi mein, was a song I used to love, until I sang it so many times that I completely detest it. But if I dig deep within, I remember fondly the first time I sang this song for a group of friends… We bunked our afternoon session of classes and a group of us piled up in two cars and drove to Kotagiri, a place famous for tea plantations… a friend of ours knew someone there taking care of an estate. It was one of the best bunking college memory I have. God knows how long we sat on a rock overlooking the beautiful lush green estate that stretched as far as the eye could see and that was when I sang the song…It was a wonderful feeling; being with friends, no one talking, all of us engrossed in our own thoughts…
Faza bhi hai from Nikkah always reminds of my room mate, Sanjivita.... Every evening when she got back from work, she would switch on her favorite collection of old songs... and that was the first time I heard the different but beautiful voice of Salma Agha... As much as I wanted to hear more of her voice, I was sort of disappointed that faza bhi hai was really the only one I liked.
There are many many more songs, like when I first listened to Carpenters or Cliff Richards, or how my aunt made me watch the video of Thriller, a class mate of mine rendering Hotel California with his amazingly awesome voice and his super skills with his guitar... so was the time he sang pyar ke pal by KK... anyway, I'll leave you with this last one - Kuch to hua hai, from Kal ho na ho… this song always brings back memories of my wedding… It takes me back to the last few months of hanging around at my parent’s home, reading books, watching TV, chatting with mom endlessly and day dreaming about my life ahead with V…
That got me thinking… just by listening to a song, I was transported for a brief minute to our house in Hyderabad, my room, and even felt like I was missing V terribly… its true that some songs possess this magical quality of bringing back certain memories that I associate with them. Sometimes it’s the other way … when I think of some incident I always remember a song that was either playing in the background or that I was singing, etc. I wonder if there’s any one else out there who have similar connections with songs… Anyway I thought why not make a list with songs and the corresponding memories attached to it.
The earliest memory of mine is of a Malayalam lullaby called Omana thingal kidavo that my dad used to sing when I was about 3 years old. I still remember the tiny one bedroom house that we used to live in Trichur and me sitting on my dad’s lap, after dinner, my head resting on his chest and eyelids barely open.
My summer holidays were always divided equally a month at Chennai and a month at Kerala. Two completely different atmospheres –
Chennai was time for me to get pampered rotten as I was the only grandchild (then) and niece on my mom’s side of the family. My mom’s youngest sister was probably in her 12th standard at that time… and she listened to all “cool English songs” and then some Hindi. I remember one evening my aunt had rented a videotape of the movie Aradhna. I didn’t really understand too much of what was going on, however I was hooked on to the song “mere sapno ki rani”… I butchered the song royally and bugged the cr*p out of everyone… I sang it as “mere sappunon kee raanni kabbuu aayyee geetu” I always thought it was geetu - as in a name geetu and not ayegi and tu as separate words.
Kerala was the other end of the spectrum; it was my dad’s family house. A big house, lot of extended family, no shortage for kids, very little adult supervision, lot of pranks and mischief, plenty of land for us to run around and play, a massive pond where we used to spend most of the humid days lazing like water buffalos. One of the most interesting times used to be when some of dad’s cousins or nieces/nephews would get married. The actual wedding always happened at the temple in Guruvayoor, no matter what. But the fun stuff like the pre wedding party for all bride's relatives and the post wedding party for the groom’s side happened at the house. And for one such event, it was while we were getting ready, that a cousin of mine played the tape of Aashiqui… and songs like Nazar ke samne, Dheere dheere se always take me back to that very tiny room full of my cousins and second cousins with grand dresses, some trying to comb hair, some trying to apply lipstick, smells of all kinds of perfumes and all of us sharing just one mirror. I associate lot of Malayalam songs with those carefree times, but the list is just too long!
Roja was the talk of the town when it came out, Mani Ratnam movies were always my mom’s weakness… added to that Roja offered a refreshingly new type of music. So off we went, my mom and I for watching Roja one afternoon. When we got out of the theater after the show, it was pouring cats and dogs… and as I was waiting in that crammed bus stop, I was humming in my head... “chinna chinna aasai..” To this day when I hum that song I remember standing soaking to my skin in that bus stop.
Then came my glorious college days… three years of full of fun... there are just way too many songs for me to pick. The one incident that makes smile always is… a night after an event at the college, all of us camped at a friend’s house, we were all lying on the floor half of us asleep… my friend A & I we sang in total rhythm in hushed tones all the songs of Dil to Pagal Hai.
Dil Se was another movie that we had all waited eagerly for and we were so disappointed angry and totally pissed when we heard that they played only the tamil version (Uyire) in Tamil Nadu. We had planned a class “field trip” to the theatre to watch Dil Se. I pity the others who had to watch the movie that day through all the noise we made. The best part was that every single song of the movie, there was a group of us singing Hindi version out loud, really loud.
All songs however don’t bring back wonderful memories… a song that I really dread is “akhiya milaoon kabhi akhiyan churaoon”, this was the song I was asked to prepare and sing for trying out for the music group at college… I have never sung a song so bad and out of tune and my voice never sounded that horrible ever before. To this day, this remains one memory that I want to wipe off my head.
Aaye ho mere zindagi mein, was a song I used to love, until I sang it so many times that I completely detest it. But if I dig deep within, I remember fondly the first time I sang this song for a group of friends… We bunked our afternoon session of classes and a group of us piled up in two cars and drove to Kotagiri, a place famous for tea plantations… a friend of ours knew someone there taking care of an estate. It was one of the best bunking college memory I have. God knows how long we sat on a rock overlooking the beautiful lush green estate that stretched as far as the eye could see and that was when I sang the song…It was a wonderful feeling; being with friends, no one talking, all of us engrossed in our own thoughts…
Faza bhi hai from Nikkah always reminds of my room mate, Sanjivita.... Every evening when she got back from work, she would switch on her favorite collection of old songs... and that was the first time I heard the different but beautiful voice of Salma Agha... As much as I wanted to hear more of her voice, I was sort of disappointed that faza bhi hai was really the only one I liked.
There are many many more songs, like when I first listened to Carpenters or Cliff Richards, or how my aunt made me watch the video of Thriller, a class mate of mine rendering Hotel California with his amazingly awesome voice and his super skills with his guitar... so was the time he sang pyar ke pal by KK... anyway, I'll leave you with this last one - Kuch to hua hai, from Kal ho na ho… this song always brings back memories of my wedding… It takes me back to the last few months of hanging around at my parent’s home, reading books, watching TV, chatting with mom endlessly and day dreaming about my life ahead with V…
07 July 2009
Short Story
Nalini was proud to have the car all to herself; she could listen to music that she liked without her dad yelling at her “focus, FOCUS, Nalini!” She felt independent, strong and confident.
Being an only child, Nalini’s parents were over protective about her. They’d freak out if she didn’t show up home on time, so she had to call them every time there was a plan change or delay at work. Tonight, was different it was all worked out. Her parents won’t be worried about her, as they knew she’ll be coming late and that a friend, Preeti would be accompanying her on her way back from the party. Preeti lived two streets away and that put everyone at ease. Everything was going per plan and for once Nalini was not worried about the time or calling home. Only, Preeti decided to stay back a while longer and have her boyfriend drop her home instead.
It was her very good friend’s wedding party. She had so much fun catching up with some of her old classmates. It was past midnight now and she was driving down East Coast Road (ECR)… she turned up the volume on the radio and hummed along “endrendrum punnagai” She was in half a mind to roll her windows down and let the breeze from the near by sea in, but she decided against it. She was approaching a shady stretch of road ahead. Lorry drivers and roadside shacks and lot of drunkards. She kept her cool, what can happen when she is inside the car. Her palms were getting a little sweaty as she approached the red signal smack beside a “Wine Shop”. There were quite a few drunken men making noise on the road… she was relieved when the lights turned green and soon she was back in civilized neighborhoods.
A few kilometeres ahead, there was an intersection, she was completely confused which way to go... She had taken down directions in haste and Preeti had forgotten to mention this intersection. Luckily there was no one behind her, so she could get her bearings back and think about this. The area looked so deserted an empty, except few men smoking in front of a shop on the side. They stared at her shamelessly and Nalini quickly made up her mind… she couldn’t ask them for direction, they didn’t look trustworthy at all.. So she went with her instinct and turned left… not a good idea, there were potholes all over the place, there were no streetlights and at one point it just became a narrow mud road and then a dead end. Great, now she had to turn around… the road was so narrow that she had to turn and reverse multiple times… and at one point, the car went in to a pothole and she just couldn’t get it to move ahead. Her anxiety was not helping either. She noticed a few men ahead, starting to walk towards her car and she didn’t feel comfortable at all. They were in lungis and smoking beedis and they looked very unkempt. If only she could just get the car to move… she tried again, neutral, start, clutch, first gear, accelerate… and it was not enough, the car would jerk forward and stop. From the corner of her eye she saw that the guys were close by and they were talking and making some sort of signs to her. She closed her eyes took a deep breath… ignored them… until she saw that one guy had bent down and was staring at her through her window. She screamed and burst in to tears…. The guy kept knocking on the glass… she wiped her eyes and looked up… and then realized that they were signaling for her to calm down and roll the windows down. She didn’t know what to do, she went ahead and took the risk, and she rolled down the window... the guy asked her in Tamil… “Madam, where do you want to go? Looks like you are lost..tell me I can help you”. She blurted where she was headed and the guy calmly said that she was supposed to go right at the intersection and then pointing straight ahead he said “Madam, go straight past the signal and then third signal after that you will see Ganapati temple on your left, take a left there and that should put you on Mount Road. You know the way from there to your house?” She nodded and miraculously at that point she was able to get her car out of the big pothole and she drove past the men.
Later, when she was lying down on her bed, she kicked herself for not having thanked them.
Being an only child, Nalini’s parents were over protective about her. They’d freak out if she didn’t show up home on time, so she had to call them every time there was a plan change or delay at work. Tonight, was different it was all worked out. Her parents won’t be worried about her, as they knew she’ll be coming late and that a friend, Preeti would be accompanying her on her way back from the party. Preeti lived two streets away and that put everyone at ease. Everything was going per plan and for once Nalini was not worried about the time or calling home. Only, Preeti decided to stay back a while longer and have her boyfriend drop her home instead.
It was her very good friend’s wedding party. She had so much fun catching up with some of her old classmates. It was past midnight now and she was driving down East Coast Road (ECR)… she turned up the volume on the radio and hummed along “endrendrum punnagai” She was in half a mind to roll her windows down and let the breeze from the near by sea in, but she decided against it. She was approaching a shady stretch of road ahead. Lorry drivers and roadside shacks and lot of drunkards. She kept her cool, what can happen when she is inside the car. Her palms were getting a little sweaty as she approached the red signal smack beside a “Wine Shop”. There were quite a few drunken men making noise on the road… she was relieved when the lights turned green and soon she was back in civilized neighborhoods.
A few kilometeres ahead, there was an intersection, she was completely confused which way to go... She had taken down directions in haste and Preeti had forgotten to mention this intersection. Luckily there was no one behind her, so she could get her bearings back and think about this. The area looked so deserted an empty, except few men smoking in front of a shop on the side. They stared at her shamelessly and Nalini quickly made up her mind… she couldn’t ask them for direction, they didn’t look trustworthy at all.. So she went with her instinct and turned left… not a good idea, there were potholes all over the place, there were no streetlights and at one point it just became a narrow mud road and then a dead end. Great, now she had to turn around… the road was so narrow that she had to turn and reverse multiple times… and at one point, the car went in to a pothole and she just couldn’t get it to move ahead. Her anxiety was not helping either. She noticed a few men ahead, starting to walk towards her car and she didn’t feel comfortable at all. They were in lungis and smoking beedis and they looked very unkempt. If only she could just get the car to move… she tried again, neutral, start, clutch, first gear, accelerate… and it was not enough, the car would jerk forward and stop. From the corner of her eye she saw that the guys were close by and they were talking and making some sort of signs to her. She closed her eyes took a deep breath… ignored them… until she saw that one guy had bent down and was staring at her through her window. She screamed and burst in to tears…. The guy kept knocking on the glass… she wiped her eyes and looked up… and then realized that they were signaling for her to calm down and roll the windows down. She didn’t know what to do, she went ahead and took the risk, and she rolled down the window... the guy asked her in Tamil… “Madam, where do you want to go? Looks like you are lost..tell me I can help you”. She blurted where she was headed and the guy calmly said that she was supposed to go right at the intersection and then pointing straight ahead he said “Madam, go straight past the signal and then third signal after that you will see Ganapati temple on your left, take a left there and that should put you on Mount Road. You know the way from there to your house?” She nodded and miraculously at that point she was able to get her car out of the big pothole and she drove past the men.
Later, when she was lying down on her bed, she kicked herself for not having thanked them.
05 June 2009
What I've been up to...
I can’t believe I have been such a slacker! Here are some highlights from the past two months:
- April started with a very good friend of mine from Hyderabad visiting. The two and half years that I spent in Hyderabad are so memorable because of friends like D and others who were my neighbors there. When in Hyderabad, we had spent hours together discussing politics, work out routine, healthy lifestyles, psychology and other various random topics. I bid adieu to Hyderabad in 2003 and hadn’t seen D since. Now, she is staying in Canada and training to be a pilot (she was always the cool one). So it was amazing to have her stay with us for a week and catch up with her. It was like I just saw her yesterday and we picked up our conversation where we had left it.
- We started watching Lost (better late than never) when D was with us and we are officially hooked. We are at the second DVD of Season 2 right now.
- Got to volunteer with an organization called One Brick. The event was bowling with kids and young adults with disabilities. I can’t tell you how inspiring each and every participant was. Their energy and their attitude towards life gave me a new perspective on things. Even today when I find myself complaining about some small thing in my life, I think back to that day and feel like I should be thanking the almighty for having blessed me with everything I have. Priyanka has written a wonderful piece on this event too.
- The month of April concluded with a couple of my very close friends visiting us. A & V had brought their parents along and we got to eat some yummilicious food that both mommies made. I’ve known A & V from college (under grad) days! It was so nice to have the fried rice and paneer curry that V’s mom used to make (that transported me right back to V’s house where we spent most of our lunch hours). And A’s mom’s awesomely awesome aloo parathas and dal and pretty much all what she cooked over that weekend was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. A fantastic weekend spent staying up late playing Uno, chatting and laughing hysterically, clubbed in with a bit of sight seeing around Washington, DC. We had such a blast with all of them!
- May was pretty much week after painful week at work. I had done nothing but work in May. However, Memorial Day brought some respite as V&I went on a trip all the way down to Hilton Head, South Carolina. A friend of ours had a time-share there and they were planning to use it for a week. They were kind enough to extend an invitation to us and we gladly took them up on that. Our friends were not reaching HH until late Saturday evening. We drove down on Friday, camped that night at Florence, SC and the next morning we drove down to Savannah, GA (which is quite close to HH). Spent the entire Saturday just walking around the Historic District and taking in festivities by the river front before heading to HH well past 9:30 that night. We spent the next couple of days golfing (the guys got to golf, while the girls got to drive around the course in the cute carts) and fishing (the guys got some sharks, while we girls hung out on the deck staying safely away from all the action).
- Past two weeks I’ve been have 3-day workweek. What a blessing! The first was after memorial day, I had taken Tuesday off, so that was a short one. This week, I had been to NYC for work on Monday & Tuesday… so there you go! I got to meet the above-mentioned friend of mine, V while I was there. I am going to have a tough time adjusting to the five days of work next week. :)
- We are off to Richmond this weekend, as the cricket season has started. Can’t wait to see our cricket buddies :)
- April started with a very good friend of mine from Hyderabad visiting. The two and half years that I spent in Hyderabad are so memorable because of friends like D and others who were my neighbors there. When in Hyderabad, we had spent hours together discussing politics, work out routine, healthy lifestyles, psychology and other various random topics. I bid adieu to Hyderabad in 2003 and hadn’t seen D since. Now, she is staying in Canada and training to be a pilot (she was always the cool one). So it was amazing to have her stay with us for a week and catch up with her. It was like I just saw her yesterday and we picked up our conversation where we had left it.
- We started watching Lost (better late than never) when D was with us and we are officially hooked. We are at the second DVD of Season 2 right now.
- Got to volunteer with an organization called One Brick. The event was bowling with kids and young adults with disabilities. I can’t tell you how inspiring each and every participant was. Their energy and their attitude towards life gave me a new perspective on things. Even today when I find myself complaining about some small thing in my life, I think back to that day and feel like I should be thanking the almighty for having blessed me with everything I have. Priyanka has written a wonderful piece on this event too.
- The month of April concluded with a couple of my very close friends visiting us. A & V had brought their parents along and we got to eat some yummilicious food that both mommies made. I’ve known A & V from college (under grad) days! It was so nice to have the fried rice and paneer curry that V’s mom used to make (that transported me right back to V’s house where we spent most of our lunch hours). And A’s mom’s awesomely awesome aloo parathas and dal and pretty much all what she cooked over that weekend was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. A fantastic weekend spent staying up late playing Uno, chatting and laughing hysterically, clubbed in with a bit of sight seeing around Washington, DC. We had such a blast with all of them!
- May was pretty much week after painful week at work. I had done nothing but work in May. However, Memorial Day brought some respite as V&I went on a trip all the way down to Hilton Head, South Carolina. A friend of ours had a time-share there and they were planning to use it for a week. They were kind enough to extend an invitation to us and we gladly took them up on that. Our friends were not reaching HH until late Saturday evening. We drove down on Friday, camped that night at Florence, SC and the next morning we drove down to Savannah, GA (which is quite close to HH). Spent the entire Saturday just walking around the Historic District and taking in festivities by the river front before heading to HH well past 9:30 that night. We spent the next couple of days golfing (the guys got to golf, while the girls got to drive around the course in the cute carts) and fishing (the guys got some sharks, while we girls hung out on the deck staying safely away from all the action).
- Past two weeks I’ve been have 3-day workweek. What a blessing! The first was after memorial day, I had taken Tuesday off, so that was a short one. This week, I had been to NYC for work on Monday & Tuesday… so there you go! I got to meet the above-mentioned friend of mine, V while I was there. I am going to have a tough time adjusting to the five days of work next week. :)
- We are off to Richmond this weekend, as the cricket season has started. Can’t wait to see our cricket buddies :)
04 May 2009
Trip to Spain - Granada & Barcelona
I'm done with my Spain posts!!!! *whew* I never thought this would end!!!!
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The next morning, we woke up and it hit us that V & I were on our own now. It’s always a sad feeling when your friends leave, even if you are middle of Spain on a vacation. Over coffee and croissant that morning V & I relived all the fun we had with Payal and Kapil… and then realized that we still have a few more days in Spain to look forward to and we don't have to be all mopey. However, we had a nasty money situation to take care of. Apparently there was a block placed on V’s Capital One Debit Card in Spain. Our sponsor K left us with some “pocket money” that was soon depleting. We really were desperate for getting money. Our call to Capital One gave us no hope. They said we’d have to wait another day before the block is lifted. I was getting worried then, but later as I started playing out worst case scenarios in my mind, it didn’t seem that bad. We’d become gypsies in Spain and travel the country… do odd jobs... may be we could even hop on a boat to Morocco if we get bored! Oh well, everything worked out fine and by 3 that evening we had cash!
Equipped with cash, we set out to explore Granada. We walked the streets in to local markets selling interesting artifacts. It came as no surprise to see most of these “interesting” artifacts were coming from India. I felt like I was walking through General Bazaar in Secunderabad. Some where close to dusk we went up to San Nicholas Square and watched the Alhambra lit up at night. It was really beautiful. We concluded the night by going for what was supposed to be a relaxing Arab bath… and Vicky had a massage included. The Arab bath was definitely an interesting experience… It’s a good “done that” activity and I don’t think I would want to do that again.
Here are some pictures from the land of gypsies...
Alhambra, Beer of Granada :-)
Check out the wall hanging - Ganpati - in this guy's shop. It's not for sale, I believe the picture brought him good luck! And yes, he is Muslim.
-------------------------------------
The next morning, we woke up and it hit us that V & I were on our own now. It’s always a sad feeling when your friends leave, even if you are middle of Spain on a vacation. Over coffee and croissant that morning V & I relived all the fun we had with Payal and Kapil… and then realized that we still have a few more days in Spain to look forward to and we don't have to be all mopey. However, we had a nasty money situation to take care of. Apparently there was a block placed on V’s Capital One Debit Card in Spain. Our sponsor K left us with some “pocket money” that was soon depleting. We really were desperate for getting money. Our call to Capital One gave us no hope. They said we’d have to wait another day before the block is lifted. I was getting worried then, but later as I started playing out worst case scenarios in my mind, it didn’t seem that bad. We’d become gypsies in Spain and travel the country… do odd jobs... may be we could even hop on a boat to Morocco if we get bored! Oh well, everything worked out fine and by 3 that evening we had cash!
Equipped with cash, we set out to explore Granada. We walked the streets in to local markets selling interesting artifacts. It came as no surprise to see most of these “interesting” artifacts were coming from India. I felt like I was walking through General Bazaar in Secunderabad. Some where close to dusk we went up to San Nicholas Square and watched the Alhambra lit up at night. It was really beautiful. We concluded the night by going for what was supposed to be a relaxing Arab bath… and Vicky had a massage included. The Arab bath was definitely an interesting experience… It’s a good “done that” activity and I don’t think I would want to do that again.
Here are some pictures from the land of gypsies...
Alhambra, Beer of Granada :-)
Plaza Nueva
Check out the wall hanging - Ganpati - in this guy's shop. It's not for sale, I believe the picture brought him good luck! And yes, he is Muslim.
Vicky inside a Teteria - Small tea shops
I lifted this off the net, as our camera didnt do justice. This comes close to how the Alhambra looked at night from San Nicholas Square
Early next morning we were on board our flight to Barcelona. Only after we reached the airport did we realize that we were actually in the Girona airport. It was a 100 km ride to Barcelona. We finally reached our hostel late that afternoon. We stayed at Plaza Catalunya, right at the starting point of Las Ramblas. It was LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!!!! ;)
With no specific plan of action, we walked around aimlessly, actually mostly on the Ramblas and streets flanking the Ramblas. Barcelona is a big city and we did what we do in big cities, we hopped on to a local bus. We met a very sweet and patient gentleman who was kind enough to give us a guided tour. We got off at the La Sagradia Familia bus stop. I wasn’t keen on taking a tour inside then, but in hindsight I regretted my decision of not having seen any of the Gaudi buildings from inside. On our way back we stopped at Passeig De Gracia, which housed some more of Gaudi’s buildings. Finally V’s search for good tapas ended at a restaurant called Tapa Tapa. After couple of good beers and food I was ready to hit the sack.
With no specific plan of action, we walked around aimlessly, actually mostly on the Ramblas and streets flanking the Ramblas. Barcelona is a big city and we did what we do in big cities, we hopped on to a local bus. We met a very sweet and patient gentleman who was kind enough to give us a guided tour. We got off at the La Sagradia Familia bus stop. I wasn’t keen on taking a tour inside then, but in hindsight I regretted my decision of not having seen any of the Gaudi buildings from inside. On our way back we stopped at Passeig De Gracia, which housed some more of Gaudi’s buildings. Finally V’s search for good tapas ended at a restaurant called Tapa Tapa. After couple of good beers and food I was ready to hit the sack.
Columbus on Las Ramblas
Casa Batllo
Casa Mila
The man who volunteered to be our very patient guide! Mr. Rimbau
Incomplete work of Gaudi - La Sagrada Familia
Happy man with his tapas...
and the bloody Sardines.
Next morning, we enjoyed a fantastic café con leche with chocolate filled croissants… Park Guell was our priority for that day. Once again it was really a hot day and we had a lot to walk quite a bit inside the park…. Later that evening, V wanted to check a neighborhood restaurant mentioned in Rick Steve’s book. Only when I entered I realized how many people read Rick Steves, there were hardly any locals and the place was extremely crowded and it was really a rip off. I know I can't make a judgement based on one data point, but for now I am a little wary of his suggestions.
What’s a visit to Barcelona without a visit to one of the topless beaches? So we set out early next morning to experience just that… When we reached there it was teeming with people! Even though we brought our bathing suits, I wasn’t very keen on changing and getting on the sand. Somehow the crowds and the lack of an inch of space on the sand turned me off. I was happy instead to stay fully clothed and get myself a good beer and some munchies and enjoy the fantastic breeze. As I sat there looking at the clear blue sea… it hit me that my vacation was soon coming to an end. We had a wonderful time, enjoying a bit of Madrid, the old town of Toledo, the Moorish influenced culture of Cordoba, the chilled out Seville, the grandeur of Alhambra and finally the vibrancy of Barcelona! It was time for me to say Adios Espana!
Now the last set of pictures from Park Guell! Sorry, none from the topless beaches ;-)
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