Happy Holidays...

I've been meaning to write here for a while now but things keep me busy at home. Mostly preparing for the trip to BBSR and weekends have been quite eventful. One of the more pleasant and fun events being an evening spent with cousins. Some of whom I haven't met up in ages. Besides that a wedding another evening. Loads of shopping. Getting the house ready for guests :) .... and of course even when I did get online to sit and write, I ended up chatting with friends or simply reading through blogs and as you know, I do have quite a few I don't like missing out on!

I haven't replied to the comments on the previous post. I'll try and do that as soon as I get done with putting up this post. It's always encouraging when people read through and share their opinions. It makes me want to get back and write more often...

Speaking of getting back, I'm glad Keshi's back to writing...I can't imagine this place without her! If there's one thing I have to thank blogs for .. it's definitely for the few people I've come to call friends and cherish in my life. It's true something positive comes out of everything we do. They're the reason why I still get back and the reason why no matter how negative I feel sometimes, I don't stay that way for long. I hope John changes his mind and comes back yet again to blogging...hmmm?

This post is simply to wish them and every reader who gets here intentionally or simply happens to stumble upon my blog a very happy holiday season! :) I know I have exciting times to look forward to.....ssshhhhh :) ..... more about all that when I get back next year!! While I'm gone, I've borrowed these question's from Rajbir's blog...hoping some of you who do know me will get around here to answer them :)

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. Something I have and YOU want?
4. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it?
5. Describe me in one word.
6. What was your first impression of me?
7. Do you still think that way about me now?
8. What reminds you of me?
9. If you could give me anything what would it be?
10. How well do you know me?
11. How do you see me in the future?
12. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn’t?

As expected I will not be putting up any further posts till I get back. But will be checking my mails and maybe...uhm....maybe on chat sometimes! So till next time....

Wishing the year ahead brings you all success, joy, reasons to smile and celebrate fun times with loved ones...special someone...!

Don't let it go...

Pain…Anger…Frustration….Tears watching the horror unfold in Mumbai. I told myself I would not write about it. Words cannot do justice to the deep emotions in me. Even now as I try to make sense of it all, words fail me. I cannot even begin to imagine what the survivors of this whole horrific experience went through and how they can get past this trauma when I sitting at home…watching it on TV…am still not anywhere close to feeling normal!

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen terror and this is definitely not the last we’ll see of it either. In the past we “got over it” and “moved on” … we will this time too but not because we want to put up a brave face to the terrorist and say you can’t affect me?! You can and you did…so much! Bombs were faceless. This time it’s different. We saw the face of terror. The face of terror was remorseless. The face of terror was intent. The face of terror was motivated….more motivated than we have ever been after having been subjected to terror again and again.

We’ll move on because living is a compulsion. But the pain is going nowhere. It lingers and it must. We cannot become immune to it. We cannot let this be just another attack and then go back to the false sense of security that daily existence brings about….only to face terror again. It’s different this time because many among us have realized that the people who we’ve elected to run our governments….the people who can definitely if they showed the will…make us secure….have time and again used our show of so called “spirit” to get complacent and continue playing their power games! It isn’t our damn spirit…we don’t have a choice, do we?

Completely frustrated watching the media going on and an about X minister resigning…Y being kicked out…Z not budging….ABC not coming to a consensus about security measures. What the….

So yes X resigned….he had to and so many others better! A one line announcement would suffice … thank you! Rather than getting reactions from different political leaders who simply had nothing concrete to say besides ripping each other apart?!

Tell us about them when they see and understand the state of mind of the common man! When they actually translate their so called “anguish” to concrete action! Till such time spare us the political circus and the blatant power games that they still indulge in without a thought for the people who are no more.

I don’t know what is worse? The fear of the dreaded terrorist or being at the receiving end of the politician’s apathy?

We’re totally dispensable to both anyway!!

I don’t want to pretend I won’t let this affect me and “move on”. I am scared and I know you are too. But I don’t want to let this fear numb every other emotion.

Some are cynical about the coming together of people in times of crisis. Saying it cools off sooner than it takes to get together! But I believe every little action and gesture counts. The important thing is make your self heard. Today this is happening. Some may not show they care but they cannot deny they are affected. No one is unaffected. It may not be you or your near and dear one dead in this or in any of the past terror attacks…but you know just as well that there’s no surety this will be the case next time?

The one thing that kept me sane while watching all this madness were my children. Yes they were unaffected because they did not understand the enormity of the whole horror. I cannot keep them safe forever from pain, hatred. But I can try and make them see sense…to never let them forget the difference between good and evil. To teach them to appreciate different faiths and beliefs. Let’s not forget that the people who perpetrate terror are taught otherwise. They are inculcated with hatred. The least we can do is bring up our children with a sense of tolerance and understanding of different faiths…

I know my belief in the Almighty is just as strong if not stronger than even the most extreme voices in my faith. But I am not threatened and insecure by the belief of others in their faith. Are you? Why should we be? It’s when we fail to understand the differences between us that we fall prey to prejudice. Why can’t we be more tolerant?

The terrorist’s bullet killed without discrimination! Whether it was these mad terrorists in Mumbai, the hindu extremists in Kandhamal….they have one faith…killing humanity! In that sense, they are more unified than us living with fear and suspicion…

There’s so much more I feel…so much more to express….so many emotions that I am trying to deal with. As is I am sure anyone who gets to read this…

What I know for sure is…despite all this fear and insecurity…I will not fall victim to hatred…

Even as I write this….I hear a news reporter speaking of Baby Moshe, his parents victims of the terrorist’s brutality at Nariman House, leaving the country with his grandparents. I can only pray for him and for all those who lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy…

The song playing echoes the prayer in my heart….

“Give us strength Lord to never lose faith…to walk the right path…to learn from our mistakes and never repeat them…

There’s pain and destruction everywhere….people are scared all around…sins are growing…the world seems to have come to an end…shoulder our sins with love Lord…save your creation from destruction… teach us to walk the right path…to learn from our mistakes and never repeat them…

Give us strength Lord to never lose faith…to walk the right path…to learn from our mistakes and never repeat them…

We are in the dark…show us the light….so we don’t lose our way in hatred and enmity….punish us for our sins…to face death with courage too…let the past not repeat itself…let the future not be the same…teach us to walk the right path…to learn from our mistakes and never repeat them…”

My Life ... Now

Long phone conversation with my mum. Big grin from baby Anuraj. Garam Garam chai. Nice songs on FM. Cool breeze blowing. A long overdue hair cut last evening. Finalizing a deal. 2 bedrooms. Ground floor. Crisp new winter uniform. Tickets for the longer Summer trip. A completed project. 5 Fascinating facts about Whales. Vaccinations. Clothes altered. No stress. Nothing important pending. A wedding to look forward to. Meeting cousins. Dressing up. Saris. Make up. Photographs. Memories. Packing. Surfing blogs. Facebook. e-mails. Writing.

Much as I would like to be regular and write longer, meaningful posts. I either have too much going on in my life or lack the willingness to write!

Today I plan to simply chill out. Watch a movie. At least till Vedant gets home! Once he's back there's just too much chaos to think about myself :)

I've watched quite a few movies off late. Nothing that impressed me too much but then like I've said before, how I feel about a movie depends on my frame of mind while watching it.

Couple of nights ago I was sleepless. Surfing channels, I ended up watching Aishwarya Rai in the movie "Provoked" ... I'd never seen it before and thought it was quite interesting. A true story and one that sends across a strong message.

Before that I saw "Fashion" ... I somehow expected more from this movie though for a change, I liked Priyanka's emoting skills but wished she looked more like a supermodel. Her styling in the movie was disappointing! Would've liked to see more of Kangana too but her dialogues were so cliche'd... *sigh*... the story on the whole was predictable....

Thanks to Vedant, I alsowatched the "Harry Potter' series. YES AGAIN! But I didn't mind at all. I'm a huge fan :) and I'm hoping the release of the next Harry Potter movie "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" coincides with my trip next summer! July release is what the website says. I can't wait....It's such a pity that the story ends with the 7th book. I've seen the movies umpteen number of times and I read through the books whenever I'm bored. It's fun :) ...

Before I get back to Anuraj, help me out in picking wedding gifts....please! *grin* ... Till next time....Good Luck and smile!

Post Diwali...

After a week long break for Diwali and Bhaiya Dooj, it's sheer laziness that keeps me away from blogging :) ... it's getting cooler day by day and once I get done with my daily chores, I just want to snuggle into bed and read or catch a short nap...watch some TV...

Lil Anuraj is in his 4th month. He sleeps for longer stretches and for 5-6 hours at a stretch at night. So now I get my regular sleep hours at night! The older one has his school tests through this week. Afternoons are spent going through his lessons.

Diwali was good fun. We spent a weekend with my in-laws and shopped for Diwali gifts and oh yes suitcases to use for our upcoming trips. We also had visitors dropping in to wish us and the house was flooded with sweets and dry fruits :) and some very nice and pretty gifts.

Christmas is the next big occasion in our family. Usually we spend it with my in-laws. Bhaiya (R's brother) puts up a huge Christmas tree and all the gifts are placed underneath the tree. Mamma (mum in law) makes her delicious 'yakhni' pulao (it's a lamb rice dish) and of course christmas (rum & fruit) cake which I bake at home! I usually bake chocolate and plain vanilla cakes also since the kids tend to avoid fruit cakes :P

This Christmas we'll be on the train to Bhubaneshwar but should be with my parent's in time for Dinner :). I haven't been to BBSR in...6 years now! All my cousins have grown up. I've seen them grow through photographs. Looking forward to meeting them all.

My aunt and family are also coming back to Delhi from a long stay abroad. Right now they're in Mongolia! We've been getting their flat done up...a lot of renovation work. Here again my cousins have grown up a lot. They left India the year I got married...that's 9 years ago! Their flat is within the same apartment complex that we live in and I've missed having them around. It'll be great to have them back again :)

Below are some pics taken on Diwali and Bhaiya dooj...

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I usually avoid debates, issues, controversies in my personal space. This is more like me scribbling in my diary though in the past I have engaged in debates and issues. But there are enough people voicing their opinions on everything and anything that matters here in blogsville. I usually state my opinion in my responses to their posts rather than start a debate here in my blog. But yes there are times when I feel really strongly about many things and I usually wait for a while for any strong sentiments in me to die out or reason them out with ppl around me before I sit down to write a post.

Past experiences here in blogsville's shown me there are always those few who mask their identities and talk crap or force their opinions on ppl. In the guise of "anonymous" they get away with spreading a whole lot of ill feeling. It would upset me plenty earlier but then I told myself...anyone who can't reveal themselves can't

be taken seriously...and shouldn't be!

Of course blogger has comment moderation but then I do get to read their shit even if I choose not to publish it....

But ever since I've been sticking to my usual ramblings about my mundane life, I think I've successfully put off trouble makers...controversy rakers...good riddance to bad rubbish is all I can say :)

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Time to get on with my routine... more later!

::: Added the song "tha karke" from the movie 'Golmaal Returns' ... saw the movie last weekend. A sheer waste of time but this song is catchy huh? ... Vedant loves this and two others....one from Karan Johar's latest movie "Dostana"...song called ' Desi Girl' ... and from his current fav movie "Roadside Romeo" (an animated hindi movie about a dog called 'Romeo'...hmmm!)!!! So u see nowdays it really doesn't matter if I really like the songs, it's him who decides what plays here :D ... oh well, 'tha karke' I don't mind :P

Diwali ...

Helllooooo....! Not much time to write. No time no urge...just a whole lot of excitement for the coming week. Diwali this time has both R and V with almost week long breaks, so it'll be good fmly time :). And since I've been busy with pre diwali cleaning and tackling the seasonal wardrobe change, that just leaves me with very little time to get online and carry on a decent conversation with my friends or read blogs at leisure *sigh* but ... I did get to updating my FB account with some pictures from the past which was quite a trip down memory lane. For those of u who don't around facebook now (Raj & Kesh esp.) I was sharing pics from the BUF meets and a video of Vyom (Aakash from BUF) singing. All in all a nice nostalgic time.

Off late my luck seems to be running out. A lot of projects planned seem to be running into rough weather. Shaky scenario at R's work place. Way too many investments which we hope should materialize in the long run but which kind of leaves us a little tight at present. These things make me apprehensive and worry about the coming months. But then again, sometimes we do tend to stress on negatives..maybe that helps us be more prepared and keeps us working on alternatives to secure ourselves.... Life right now doesn't even seem to help with alternatives...*hmmmmm*

Anuraj is my biggest stress buster now. Despite his recent illness (he's better now yes), he keeps me amused and in a happy state of mind. We have a lot of together time and I'm fascinated just watching him grow. He's making his maiden attempts to "turn over" and has started giving me brilliant smiles when he focuses on my voice and face. It's the best ever!!! :) And better still is to watch Anitej (Vedant/Puki) and Anuraj together. The same Vedant who is such a naughty kid otherwise transforms into a gentle but fiercely protective big brother when he's with baby Anuraj!!! I love their bonding *touchwood*

Last night I stayed up late *okkk I never sleep early anyway* ... but last night I was up wrapping up Diwali gifts :). I love wrapping gifts. There's so much joy in giving na? And of course in recieving too :P ... we got a beautiful tea set two days ago. I love it. I have two more that I reallly like and have used only one on two occasions so far! I keep telling myself I must keep up my mum's tradition of inviting friends and family to "High Tea" ... not just to show off these lovely sets but also to simply have some wonderful conversations over tea and some yumm snacks. Unfortunately I don't have my mum's flair for cooking. Rajbir will vouch for how quick and scrumptious her simple meals are too! :) I was popular in school and at work coz of the home made snacks I carried with me! I have my mum to thank for that! :)

Ok food talk's got me hungry again...! But I will just stick to my mid morning cup of tea for now. I thought I;d try to give up on sugar but I can't. So I switched to sugar free for now. Now I need to work on my ice cream cravings! Yes I do go out for walks now but I feel "brisk" walking is what would help rather than my regular pace with the pram...two months is what I have to reduce some of this weight. I think setting a target should help right? And I think I'll get back to dancing when I'm alone :)

Oh and yes we put up the Diwali lights ... I mean the electric lighting *I think ppl call them fairy lights?*. On Diwali night we will light the traditional Diwali diyas and I plan to make a rangoli. I got pretty floating wax diyas too ... we plan to celebrate more with lights and less firecrackers. The other day Vedant explained, "Mummy we will not buy firecrackers" I asked him, "Why baba?" and he replies solemnly, "Because they ae expensive and many people in the world don't get meals for days!" ..... wow! I know this is what he's been taught in school but what amazes me is his ability to understand and follow it despite his excitement for celebrating Diwali.

*I took this pic last year @ my parent's home*

Well, enough for now .. may not be back here for a week or so. A tleast till after Diwali. Wishing u all happiness, peace, love and loads of fun...HAPPY DIWALI!!

Got anymore Questions?

ok...yep too soon to put up another post but hey I go without putting up a post for days and even weeks, so lets just say this is to make up for all that! So how many of u use the blogger in draft feature? Or am I the last person in blogosphere to know about this??!! For those who aren't aware, u can read up this space >> http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/ .

Well, it's making my blogging life a lot easier for sure! The other site I refer to is http://www.bloggerbuster.com/ :) ... the one stupid mistake I made (and trust me I never do this) is not to save my template before experimenting with it. But last night I just got carried away. Anyway now once done with writing out this post, I'll be trying to fix what I messed up. It may not be noticeable but that's the way I am - I fuss over trivial things too!

I got here to take up the questions Keshi asked in her blog btw. With the wkend coming up, I have just today morning to write in peace *or so i hope*. Sat and Sun are more like my working days :D

What is the one Thing someone has said/done to you that hurt your feelings the most?

"Hurt" stems from misunderstanding and I've had many instances. One such instance is when someone very dear to me held me responsible for their pain...I could've explained myself but I was hiding a bigger hurt. Sometimes, small tragedies are necessary to shelter loved ones from bigger ones.

What is the one Thing that most people won't guess about you?

I am a very predictable person once u really get to know me. I guess on the surface you wouldn't think I was capable of extreme emotions but I am. I am told I make "a worthy friend and a generous enemy"!!

What is the one Mistake people most often make in relationships?

I agree with Kesh that relationships require constant effort. There's no scope for taking things for granted in a relationship! One other thing to remember is to never leave things unsaid...

What is the one Spice in your cupboard you seldom use but if you threw it away you think you may need it?

Lots of spices lie unused in my cupboard. "Ajwain" is one such spice. We use it to make puris but we hardly ever make puris itself! Yet I keep it stored just in case!!

What is the one Thing you don't have that will increase your energy and reduce your stress?

A routine schedule for my day! I'll have to wait a few more months for that to happen!

What Is the one Reason you fail to lose/gain weight?

Ha Ha Ha! The irony of my life has been my inability to gain weight in my teens and my inability to shed weight now in my 30's!

For my present predicament, the reason has been stated above.

What is the one Question that you should never ask a woman/man?

Woman - I believe we women have an answer for everything! No wonder we end up with longer answers in tags :P ... but seriously, one of the several sensitive questions is : What's your waist size? (trust me even with an 18" inch wait, some women still think they're fat!!!)

Man - Kesh and Rajbir came up with the ones I would've suggested too! But ok I know one more which men get really irritated with and women for whatever reason never tire of asking (in a relationship) - "Why do u love me so much? What do u see in me?" :P

What is the one Thing (food/sweets/drinks etc) you can't say No to?

LOL :D In my present state, everything!

But normally, I can't resist an ice cream.

What is the one Thing that keeps growing as you use it, when all other things keep decreasing when used?

"Love" ... the more I give the more I get.

What is the one Thing that you want your loved-ones to do when you die?

For Rajiv, there's a poem I wrote sometime back. You can if u want, read it here.

I'd want ppl who care to think of me with a smile on their faces. To remember the good and celebrate the good time they've had with me!

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That's it for now! Waiting for something special to happen this wkend. Will share it here if and when it does :). Till then, happy weekend...stay smiling :)

::: added some more bollywood tracks to my playlist. Happy listening :)

If at first you don't succeed.........?

In the midst of all the routine household chores...I've been taking time out to redo my template. It's been fun :) and I'm kind of happy with the end result! What do you think???

After the Puja break...it's almost time to get set for the Diwali hols. This will be our first Diwali in this new house, so will try and make it special :)

Everyone's quite aware of my effort (non existent!) to lose all the weight I gained during this pregnancy! I blame myself for being sooo lazy...actually not lazy but simply not putting enough effort to make this happen. It's so unfair that the weight came on so easily :P but refuses to go unless I reallllllllyyyy work hard to get rid of it!!! *sigh*

I am not lazy btw. Just wanted to make sure you don't get the notion that I am into your heads. I think my problem lies in time management. Then again you see it would help if babies had a set pattern...too!!! Everytime I think I have my day figured out, this kid decides to change his sleep pattern! *Hmmmm!* The one consolation is that he more or less sleeps through the night...now :)

When I saw myself in the pics taken during Durga Puja *Noooo...U won't ever see them here*...it really shook me. I guess when we look at the mirror we tend to view ourselves at the most flattering angles. But the pictures taken...wow....had me feeling depressed for a while. You see I really don't even have the time to stay depressed for long...which is a good thing yes! But maybe if I stayed that way I would try harder?? ... In stead I get busy with the boys and say..."oh well there's always tomorrow!!!"

If you're wondering how I have time today to write a post? It's coz Vedant is finally back at school. He had his hols till yesterday. And the lil one is ... uhm why do I always call him "baby" or "lil one"... his name ppl is Anuraj Vikrant but I'll be calling him Vikrant here on the blog ok :)... sooo Vikrant's been hijacked by my cook and cleaning lady ... I can hear an endless stream of coooing and baby talk :D while I indulge myself in writing here :)

Oh and back to weight issues... while I keep complaining about it all, I also get email forwards from friends sharing links to sites like this one .... no mercy I tell u! If that doesn't get you hungry I don't know what will! :P and invitations to lunches and dinners where the spread is sooooo tempting *ufffff* ... I was at one such lunch invitation this Sunday. It was a Puja gathering for my dear friend's new born boy. Babies are soooooo adorable! Needless to say I ate too much esp. the mithais....nothing like freshly made gulaab jamuns! *yummmmm*

ok enough. Writing about food is doing me no good!

More when I get another such morning to myself :) ... till then, take care all!

Puja Days...

Right then...didn't get around here much because I had mamma (mum in law) staying with me for the past few days. I started the week excited about Durga Puja festivities but ended up kind of miserable. Nope don't want to talk (write) much about it. But lets just say, like all disappointments, this too didn't last and I am back to my usual self now!

I did visit the local pandal and eat some nice yummy home made biryani at the "Ananda Mela" which marks the beginning of the Puja celebrations on the sixth day of the navratras. On Saptami (the seventh day) I revisited the pandal to give "anjali" to the Goddess and on Ashtami (the eighth day) Rajiv was sweet enough to drive me to another near by Puja Pandal...this one has food stalls outside the main pandal and I got to have my favorite "chicken rolls" :) ...

Memories of bygone Puja celebrations made me very nostalgic and in comparison, this year was probably one of the most subdued pujas for me. One really needs family and friends around in times like these.

Well maybe next year.

Today's a crucial day for Rajiv at work, so the day started quite early for us. Vedant thankfully has holidays till the 14th. err....did I just say 'thankfully'?? :P It gets chaotic with him around the house. He just can't sit still unless his fav show is on...but then I've severely cut down his TV viewing now! He can't keep quiet even if he wants to!!! He forgets all about lil baby here...who wakes up startled by all the excitement around :D

So yes I'm going to be quite hassled the days that he's home. Maybe another longish gap once I get done with this post...errr...if I get done!!!

Mala's the only one who took up the tag :). I know Suchi's got hers saved in drafts...still! No time to post coz she's was busy with looootttss of work last week and the Pujas this week and now poor thing's down with a terrible cold and fever!! (she should be dropping by later this evening). Now Uttsy and John... w'sup with u guys??

That's it for now. Happy weekend ppl. I already know mine's gonna be busy busy busy!

::: The song's a bengali song "Poulomi" ... guy's singing about a girl by the same name he fell in love with (but obviously) ... how they met, the resistance to their love, their getting together, the pa's interference in their married life and eventual break up....hmmmm...a whole story in a rather short song huh!! Heard it wayyy back...suddenly remembered and was humming it earlier in the day. Rajbir and Suchi would understand the lyrics...and any other bengali speaking person who happens to get this blog :P

Poulomi.mp3

::: music update > put a new music playlist of one of my current fav movies!

It's picture time!!!!

After a rather eventful 2nd October holiday, today's been nice and slow! Vedant had us amused early morning...dressed up for his school play on the Ramayana. He played Ravan's son Meghnad. And oh boy did he make an impressive or what! :) ... I've got gr8 responses from family and friends to the pics I took of him dressed up in his costume!!! He had a good time and came home all excited...

Tomorrow is "Report Card" day in school. He's quite chilled out but I'm kind of anxious! ya ya...mommy's always are I guess. *nervous smile*

I'll be busy again through the weekend. So no blogging till monday! Have a great weekend u all :)

Changed the song to "Kahin toh" from the movie "Jaane tu ..." ...it's also the same track playing in Suchi's blog :) ... isn't it a lovely song *sigh*

Tried the fun pics idea from Kesh's blog...it's nice TP *timepass* and here are some of them :D

The "love" tag!

It’s a quiet lazy afternoon. I’m lazing around…surfing through blogs. In fact a perfect day to do a tag! And this is a tag passed on by Rajbir and the topic's LOVE....here goes,

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your first thought be?

Why?

2. If you can have a dream coming true, what would it be?

There’s a magical quality about dreams…if any of it were to come true, the magic would be lost…

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

Anyone taking things for granted esp. in a relationship.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

What wouldn’t I do?! As of now, I’d buy my dream home.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?

I did.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

Both…and I am blessed

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?

Love need not always be a two way thing. If it is a one way situation, I wouldn’t wait…I’d move on. If the person I love loved me too…the wait would never end.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?

Move on…but not without expressing myself.

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?

I can’t act. I can be myself … with any of the above! If I could pick an actor, it would be Aamir coz if her were open to talking about himself, there’s a lot of stuff to learn from him and his brand of movies.

10. What takes you down the fastest?

Shallow, insecure people who view the world with a “horse with blinders” attitude!

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

Worrying about a 17 yr olds late nights and a 10 yr olds TV habits! :D

12. What's your fear?

Loss … pain … death

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

Rajbir – A self made, straight forward guy who’d call a spade a spade who’s blunt attitude is sometimes misunderstood. He takes a while to get comfortably close to people but once there, won’t let u down…ever.

14. Would you rather be single and rich, or married but poor?

How about just content with what I have?

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Cuddle baby.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?

I have.

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?

Presuming that I can love two together! I’d settle for the most secure and comfortable relationship … where I can breathe and be me. But you see, if there were two people in my life...I probably love neither and the question of making a choice would happen only when I did fall in love with one of them or some third lucky person!!!

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

Yes.

19. If you get to go back in time and fall in love all over again , would it still be with the same person?

Yes.

20. List 6 people to tag

I just got back around here and my circle of blogger friend’s is quite exclusive :P so well not that many to tag…

Suchi

John

Mala

Uttsy

::: Song playing is Queen's "Crazy little thing called love"!

My daily Time Pass!

I'm one of those emotional sensitive ppl who cry during the movies. So? I think it's weird when ppl ridicule this coz in my opinion, it's they who lack emotions and not me who's being over sensitive :). I am also the one who probably laughs the loudest and passes the craziest comments! And oh, yeah u'd catch me swaying to the music if it's that good :) ... Suchi, Uttara would know ;) after our crazily fun time during one such movie which wasn't anything great but I guess the fact that we were three very emotionally driven girls watching made all the difference to the atmosphere around! If the people at the theatre found the movie lousy, they had a good time just watching our enthusiasm :P

I hate people who just turn their nose up at bollywood masala movies. Agreed there's a lot of nonsensical movies but then again there are some wonderfully entertaining movies also. Just coz it's 'desi masala' fare doesn't mean it's not fun or interesting!

Not that I got here to defend bollywood movies. God knows they make enough money with or without my appreciation!

I just saw "Saas, bahu and Sensex"... it was ok...I can't critique any movie in my present state. I just have all this time at home that any movie is ok to watch!!!

I kind of like Farooq Sheikh...maybe coz the first movie I saw with him in it was "Ab aayega mazaa" (so so many years ago!) and I had a good time watching it! And of course, the movie "Chashme Buddoor" and one of my all time favs "Saath Saath" ... wonderful songs in this one! So it's not like Farooq had a great role or did wonders in this movie @ "Saas, bahu and Sensex". I just got nostalgic watching him after so many years!!!

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I wrote the above yesterday and then got busy with the baby. It's not easy to get back to the same topic a whole day later. *sigh*

I hang around FB (facebook) a lot nowdays. A lot of family is there too besides friends. It's so convenient to keep in touch, share pics and some of the applications are fun. It's a good mix of serious communication and fun time pass. And nothing beats the excitement of discovering long lost friends!! Believe me, some friends I was sure I would never come across again. I even found my lost penpal....who I was in touch with via good ol' letters back in school and lost touch with for the last 15-16 years! I was thrilled to find her and then even happier to get a reply to my msg to her :) ...

Speaking of convenient things...I'm glad blogger came up with this "follower" option. I log into blogger and there are all the updates from my fav blogs in my dashboard! Earlier I had to depend on my blogroll or google reader...and I hate navigating through a zillion screens!! *hmmpfh* but now with this option, browsing blogs is a better experience :) ... I hope blogger keeps coming up with more such features!

Ok I can go on and on and on ... infamous as it is for super long posts :P but I'm hungry and have to get something to eat! I'm always hungry nowdays!!! :D

::: the song playing is from the movie "Saath Saath" ... ~tumko dekha toh~ ... one of my fav ghazals :)

Kismet Konnection...

What are the odds that my usually regular broadband connection would go off *kaput* when I finally decide to get back to blogging??? It just went off suddenly yesterday afternoon and is still not back *sigh*. I’m just typing this out on word for now….

And not just blogging but also stay off on a day when I HAVE to get my ticket bookings done to visit my parents for Christmas!!! We had to use Rajiv’s laptop and his connection to book the tickets as soon as the booking time started (why can’t Indian Railways have 24X7 bookings??!) and would you believe it there were just 19 berths left! We can book 90 days ahead and we got here exactly 90 days ahead and that too in the first hour of booking and ONLY 19 berths left?! WOW *pheww*

Anyway, we got confirmed reservations and so it’s gonna be Christmas at my parent’s new home :) and mum’s also excited about having the lil one’s “Annaprashan” (first rice eating ceremony) one of the days while we’re there. I’m also looking forward to visiting mum’s ancestral village and the holy seaside city of Puri. My folks are in Bhubaneswar (capital city of Orissa) now, which is also known as the City of Temples! A city that suffers a rather treacherous summer but is quite pleasant in winter! John I’m sure hates the place coz he had to go visit at the height of summer *heh he he* … although I did warn him!!!

Right now, Orissa’s suffering from severe floods. Last month it was the state of Bihar and now Orissa. And even our very own Delhi had flood warnings issued the past couple of days. The Yamuna River which is usually in quite a sad state, has for the past few days been looking like a REAL river! Fortunately, since last evening the water level has receded. The last time we had a flood threat here in Delhi, I was still in college and I remember we could see the river from Suchi’s old home. She lived on the 6th floor flat and there wasn’t so much construction around our area back then, so we could get a rather vivid view of the river.

The one time I saw floods was when I lived in Assam. Though the area we lived in was in the suburbs and on higher ground, other areas of Guwahati city weren’t so lucky. One day we went into town and there was a bridge we had to cross to get to the main city…the water level of the river was so high…the water was flowing at the bridge level! And the next day, there was no bridge!!! *Hmmmm!* The following year they built a parallel bridge higher than the old one!

Moving on to other stuff…. V’s got the part of Meghnad in his school play. They’re staging the Ramayan for the festive season. He’s pretty excited about being on stage :) … I’m happy he’s happy! I don’t see myself going out much for the festivities during Puja because of the lil one. But I hope to get to see some of the celebration in our local Puja Pandal. And since this will be our first Diwali in our new home, I want to make it special esp. for V who’s keen on having a whole lot of fun! :) … we started it off already by buying new clothes for everyone!

The other day we got a lovely gift for baby from our very own Uttsy mausi (Uttara) which included a pair of very cute silver baby anklets and I promptly put it on and took pics to send her! But now I’m stuck waiting for the net connection to come back *hmmmpfhhh*

Time to get back to the kids and their constant craving for attention! Ishi the blogger signs off while Ishi the mommy takes over.

Bye all!

Pssstttt… I used dial up to finally get this post up! Ssshhhhh…don’t tell R!! :D

Movies, food & holidays....

I finally watched "Rock on" at home sadly coz I can't go watch it in the theatre with the lil one. Needless to say I wasn't disappointed at all *the song playing in the sidebar is from the same movie*. The movie was just the way I'd thought it would be :)... I laughed insanely when I saw KD's version of the 80's hit "I will survive" :D. Now that I have the movie in my laptop, I watch this scene whenever I want a good laugh! While we're talking movies, I've seen a lot of them off late...saw "Phoonk" (blah!), "Bachna ae haseeno" (liked the songs esp. 'ahista ahista' and the title remix) and "Singh is Kinng" which was mindless comedy but hey all I wanted to see was Akshay and that was enough :P

Yesterday, I saw "1920" which is supposed to be a scary flick...uhm..yeah it had the usual scary stuff but some bits made me want to laugh esp. the expressions of the lead actress who gets possessed...*unbelievably weird*!!!

Anyway, Rajiv saw the movie "Wednesday" and insists I should watch it. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh ok...I changed the template while baby slept. I liked the muted colors. Green is also soothing for the eyes I've been told...read somewhere that if you color the walls a pleasant natural green, it's good for your blood pressure but I guess it's better to just take a walk in the park and watch the trees! Can't get more natural than that :)

Today, the lil one was unwell and the older one has his school evaluations on the whole week *sigh* ...

Since this was one of the rare days when baby slept well, *guess coz of the medication he's on* I stepped into the kitchen. Also coz the cook's been absconding for the past couple of days. Tried making "Rajma" for the first time...not bad at all and made my usual chicken curry (dad loves the way I make it!). Lets see how R and V react at dinner! *fingers crossed*

I'm looking forward to next month! It's the festival month with Durga Puja, Dusherra, Diwali, Bhai Phota to look forward to! Yes Yes... I'm getting the usual wardrobe ready.( Also coz nothing from before the pregnancy FITS!) *damn* ... We thought we'd make a short trip some place close by (the hills) but changed our minds coz we have longer trips planned out for the year end and the coming summer. I kind of miss spontaneous trips but with two young kids one can't just take off from home ...

But for now it's time to take off from here ... more later!

Back!

Helllooooo!

After a long hiatus, I'm back to where it all started and about time too! So much has changed since...so much has happened since. And one would obviously change with passing time and circumstances and maybe I have too. But essentially I think I am still me. I still have nothing fancy and imaginative to write about. I'm still all about writing about what concerns me...people around me...my life, my family, my friends and occasional flashes of creativity! :D

The break did me good. Most people close to me know why I was away. And for those unaware it was because of the new addition to our family. Now two months since he came along, I've settled into a comfortable routine which will allow me to blog and surf once in a while *so i hope*

Besides moving to the new blogger, I changed the url of this blog too. Seems my old one got taken as soon as I let go of it *sigh*.

I was blogging occasional in my pvt. blog but that too was severely neglected like all the others :(

Besides looking forward to renewing this space....I have several holidays/breaks I need and will indulge myself in. The year ahead is exciting and did I ever tell you how much I love planning things? esp. vacations/trips? Sometimes the whole planning bit is more fun that the actual vacation!!! :D I can spend hours surfing the net collecting info on the places I intend to visit, on getting the best deals, reading travelogues, viewing pictures... packing!

Which is what I'm getting back to once I put this post up. Besides my lil' baby should be up any minute now.

The weather's been strange all year in Delhi. For the past couple of days it's been raining and I have the most irritating cold! I hate being sick but most of all I hate being sick with a cold! My head's all stuffy and my nose running. Isn't it simply terrible when one can't smell the food one's eating...it takes the whole joy away from a good meal!

But like all bad things this too shall pass and with that positive thought, I'll be back...

but of course ;)