BFFF

I was working like crazy last afternoon wishing I had a few more hours rather than just 24 & I got a msg from friend 'S' - It read " I am listening to the Sun zara sun zara on radio right now"...It may not mean anything to any of you out there except for 3 of my friends & me. I am sure the other 2 would also have broken into smiles after reading this msg just the way I did! :)

Thats what friends are for- to remember you exactly at the time you want them to :-) - 'S' this is especially for you...that is how I call you whenever you are about to have a meal or Wen u r having one ;-)

I have had my silent conversations with them on a nice evening sitting on the porch swing (a chair in this instance) & come off feeling really satisfied that I had meaningful conversation with them & also I have gone on trips with them to figure out if we r really good frnds & I truly know that they are...including you N even with all our fights on those trips, would love to go on more of them!!!!!

Anyways lets come back to the present...so this msg from 'S' came at a very nice time...i thot i shud call her & speak to her in the evening. So on the way back home I did...& as expected S was having her dinner ;-)! so still I went ahead & spoke to her for a few minutes and made plans to meet over the weekend as we do always...but end up not meeting

Then I called 'N' and to my luck she was also having dinner...so again the same conversation as with 'S' of meeting this weekend. She told we cannot depend on 'S' cos we end up seeing 'Taj Mahal' or 'Qutub Minar' again so I told 'N' - that may be we can ask her to show us some more wonders of the world like 'Leaning tower of Pisa' free of cost ;-)

I came back home & wanted to call my friend 'R' in Singapore but held back thinking it is 11 in the night for her and her daughter will be fast asleep but neways msgd her I got a reply right back saying I almost woke her daughter up :) :)!!!!

Thank god for the bigger mercies in the world called FRIENDS!! & I am three times lucky to have 3 total gems!!!!

Thank You "S" "N" & "R"!!!!!!!

Glorious Chiidhood!!

The other day I was reading this blog by an Internationally acclaimed blogger about a thousand favourite things of his...which in turn kicked off a list of my favourite things too...
This memory goes a long way back to those lazy summer afternoons when we would have holidays from the school, we would all go to our granny's place, where we had our uncles & aunts in the same house & too many cousins.
We had a lot of trees in our front yard & back yard - mangoes, chickoos & papayas in the front yard & then Jack fruit, Papaya, Cashew, berries etc at the back. there were also some veggies & flowers like chillies, brinjal, tomatoes...we would throw stone at the raw mangoes, grate them mix a lil chili powder & salt and we would have some yum raw mango salad that would be over in a jiffy and we would be left with wanting more of it :)
It was the same case with raw tamarind. We would pluck tamarind from the tree put a lil salt, a lil jaggery, some cumin, some green chillies, roll it into a ball stick it to an end of a tooth pick and lo you would have a delicious lolipop! hmm.. my mouth is watering just now....where can i get one right away?? :)

Birthday of My Angel

Yesterday was one beautiful day!! I was off from work & had been planning this day from 2 weeks. It was my darling daughter's birthday & she turned 4. God! how the time has flown...It feels like she was born yesterday but in actuality it has been 4 years to this day that I held that tiny wriggling bundle for the first time in my hands! From then on she has become the core of my world! I really dont know where the time has disappeared. One of cousin yesterday was saying it was just a few days ago that we celebrated her 2nd B'day.... :) As she is the first kid in both our families she is spoilt rotten. When i asked her in the morning what she wanted to do she told me she wanted to go to the Mc D which is far away ensuring she gets to go on a long drive as the outlet that she is speaking of is in Maddur..
I had taken off so that I can spend the day with her & when I told her to take off she said no ma i want to finish school..cant teach your kids to be absent from school :( so I finally got to drop & pick her up from school :-) lucky me & not the school van.
Got her ready for school in her birthday dress & took her to school myself...spoke to her teacher & gave the chocolates told her I will come & pick her up at 12pm.
Took her out for a long drive to have a few frenc fries :-( not even the burger!
That was a day Well Spent!!!

Just Like That!!!

It is 3minutes past 11pm on a sunday night...need to get up early in the morning to get my daughter ready to school & also I need to turn up for work...but sleep is eluding me right now. I am also sitting & waiting for my dearest to come back home from work. Work on sunday u say?? I will tell you what?? & the power just went off...pooooffff!!!!

The Sugar Candy Man!

I saw a very rare sight this morning on my way to office that really brightened up my day a lot! :)
I saw a sugar candy man in front of a school that I pass by every morning. He had a long bamboo stick which had sugar candy @ the end of it in colors ranging from whites to pinks..
I remember when we were kids the candy guy used to go in front our houses in the lazy afternoons..we kids used to beg our parents literally for a piece of that candy & finally go buy one for ourselves. He would make it in different shapes, like dolls, watches etc & we would ask him to tie it around our wrist & enjoy eating it. This memory just takes me to another time loooonngg ago...when we did not have much care & like small children of those times we derived joy from small things:)

The Known Stranger

We lived in this house for 3 years & it pained me greatly to leave this house where my daughter spent most of her crwaling & falling years. This was also the house in which i went through a lot of changes both physically, mentally & pschycologically. There were good & bad changes but the bad ones never remained for long... I would take the liberty of generalising this comment & say that most everyone would have gone through a phase in life when you were smitten by someone who you would see on a daily basis but never could talk till the end or may be you never tried talking & when it is too late you just wonder with a lot of what ifs!!! There was this person whose name I knew but just the first name, It started with a V. I knew his son's name, his wife's name & his mother's name but not his father's ( alas if only i knew his fathers name I would have some how got his last name to search on a social networking site & hoped for some results :(..) I also knew he works in a company starting from the letter I... see, getting my point?? hence the name of the post.. I used to go to the park for a walk in the morning..and one early winter morning I saw him there ...can you feel my joy. from then on it was a nice sail I would wait for morning to go walking & see him jogging there. but I never spoke to him & in a few months we shifted our house to a different locality....I am still hoping to go to the same park @ the same time one day & chance upon meeting him there.....................

Re-union

It was after a long gap of about a year that we were all meeting again..even though most of us are in the same city. We planned & we changed plans & we planned again. Finally it was decided that we will meet at a friends place as she & one more friend had small babies. So on one fine saturday afternoon we started piling into her house in BTM one at a time... I went there first @ 12pm without my daughter for which i was a little guilty but nonetheless very happy.
Then there came Miss Gundu directly from the office as she was working that day for the one day given off during the bandh. We waited for the others to come. so by the time the other 2 came it was almost 2pm. In the meanwhile we had the great responsibility of choosing the menu & ordering from a restuarant for our lunch. We had asked her not to cook so we can spend more time chatting.. :) we ordered some stuff & once the star & the shine came, we had lunch & then started with our session--- every topic under the sun were our subjects for discussion. we were a little easy when we knew the neighbours cannot hear us easily. we went on & on for quite some time but then the call came from home & we had to disperse with the promise of meeting again before the star had to leave to America. It was a very wet day... the rain clouds were torn apart & it poured like crazy.. I guess even mother nature was trying to compete with our outburst ;-)

2 hours of Fashion Show!!!!

What is it about the magical world of movies?? that you go into the darkened theatre and forget about everything else that is outside?? I was waiting to watch this movie for a long time and finally the moment arrived today..had to postpone it to today from last night though :) I anyways knew that it was going to be a very average movie but could not resist the bling factor involved in it & the absolutely adorable dimple boy??? you can say i went there to satiate my thirst as someone who has quite a fashion sense & loved everything smart, even street smart, elegant chic & ofcourse the BLING!!! It is absolutely coordinated & they must have splurged a lot on the wardrobe to put up such a collection . The Beetle is fast becoming a must-have for me ;-) My dream today is the same as the one I had years ago when I still had the stars in my eyes..even though i did not like the movie much I came away satisfied & ofcourse in love with someone else (for the time being atleast) other than my husband of 6.3 yrs & boyfriend of almost 10. I have decided to watch all his movies in one go...starting with Socha Na Tha!!!!!!

Sun Sand & Surf!!!! - Adventure :)

One Day we all met@ my uncles place for some function we were idly chatting & all of a sudden we started with this brain storming session... u never know wen ideas hit you :) the girls started talking about a trip to Goa on our own..i took up the initiative of getting it organized. first we had to decide on a date..we split up after deciding we either go to to goa at the end of March or the beginning of April.
After long sessions of planning & booking tickets, one way was by bus the return by train, it was all decided & the dates were decided for the 26th of March to 29th of March & back to our respective grinding stones on tuesday................

We left for Goa with a lot of excitement & adrenline in our blood...some of tehm were really more happy as they were going on a gasl trip for the first time :) :) :)

we had booked our onwards tickets through Paulo travels & we had to be in the bus @6pm. we went to their office by 5.15pm.
This is how excited we all were!!
once we got into the bus it took us almost 2.5 hrs to leave bangalore & go towards Tumkur :( cos of the weekend traffic...
We reached some place where there was a small hotel & he stopped there for dinner @ 10pm.
It was a veg & non-veg hotel & some of us could not stand the smell of the food ... could not eat much we got out of the place & into the bus.
It was 12pm & it was my birthday on the 27th ;-) I got calls in the night atleast wen there was some signal for the fone...
We got on to the bus & chatted for some time.. the bus was a sleeper coach & it was really difficult to sit & talk for long so by 11.15 pm we all decided to sleep for the night so
Finally after a really long & tiring journey we reached Goa@ 12pm & it took another hour for us to reach the Calangute beach where we had booked the accommodationwe got there freshened up & got ready.. to see Goa ;-)
First of all we went to The Plantain Leaf restaurant for lunch (strictly vegetarian) cos all of us were veg I seriously dont know what we were doing in sea-food lovers paradise.
We had hired 2 wheelers as is the custom in Goa for tourists..we went to Fort Aguada it was very beautiful---a first time for me too who has visited goa like 5times & this was my 6th time.
Then on the way back came to candolim beach palyed there for a while & came back to the hotel.

We had to get ready as we were going to witness the night life of Goa in a ver different sort of way... We went to Ingos & Macky night market...there was so much to explore wow!! it was breathtaking the play of light & people was just truly amazing! I had never seen so many foreigners in one place @ one time.
before going to the night market we went to the Baga beach for a stroll & some tattoes

We went back to the hotel around 11.30pm & slept. zzzzzzz......
In the morning we got up early & went to look at the rising sun who looked like bright orange ball in the horizon :) does the similie work?? :)

Ramya & I wanted to zoom off into the horizon on our own but alas! it was not destined..we had to get back home to our respective kids, but in the meanwhile we were having a field day without our kids to look after & nothing to worry about.
We went back to the hotel & got ready & went to the the other side of Panjim towards the St. Xaviers church to look at it in all its thousands years of glory & splendour(beautiful architecture)

From here we went to the Mandovi river cruise. Saw the sunset from the deck & went back to the hotel

This was our last night in Goa and we wnated it to be a memorable one for years to come. We went to a fine dining restaurant where we wined & dined. We went back to the hotel at around 11.30pm & crashed as tomorrow we were leaving for Bangalore & we had a long journey before we raeched the railway station. :)

We got up in the morning & again went for a stroll on the beach. It was beautiful in the morning without any crowd. There were people swimming & fishing in the sea. It was a beautiful time of the day to watch the waves & hear the sounds of the sea. It was so calm & peaceful!!!

We came back to the hotel had our staple breakfast of Bread omlette (some of us) the others just bread toast(poor kids). We were left with some money I had collected for the trip so I gave it back to them & we went shopping. Did a bit of shopping.
Then on the way back to the hotel to catch our cab to the railway station which was an hour away from the place where we were staying we packed some food to eat in the train.
We were in the train @ 2pm

The sunset was also as truly beautiful as the sunrise. It was picturesque & breath taking!!!

Our trip ended with us waking up @6in the morning & getting out of the train into the concrete jungle of Bangalore whatta contrast… I guess life would be boring even without these contrasts & balances. The Yin & The Yang!!!!!

Like they say all good journeys must come to an end!!!

We are all waiting for the next one in 2011.... :)) Chao!!!

Friendship Day

Last night I watched this movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Its about 4 girls who grow up together & are there for each other through thick & thin but one fine day they all grow up & go their separate ways, each one persuing her dream.

I missed my friends so much..... It was friendship day & i wanted to meet up with ones that are here but that was not to happen as both them were unwell...guess I have to blame the weather for it :) was remembering those breakfast in Woody's ( like breakfast at Tiffany's??) dont think so...we had real fun in those times... also remebered our trip to Goa wasnt that awesome girls??

I really really miss those days of pure fun :( for the one thats far away, not to say out of sight is out of mind take gud care of yourself & lil 'uns! for the two of them here get well reeaaall soon! So we can meet! Happy Friendship day gals! Miss you all!!!

memories to ponder upon...

Guys, do you remember those summer afternoons at our native? when we used to have lunch & play pagade afterwards?? eat a lot of juicy mangoes & never get enough of it or tired? climb trees, run around the house. The games that we played in the backyard in the shade of the Jackfruit tree?? the house or should i say the fort that we built under the jasmine plant. trying to hide from enemies (hey, but who were they??) :) eating off the berries directly from the plant. Going to the river in the morning to play in the water. Dont you all think we grew up too fast for our own gud?? what have the children these days done wrong not to get such an environment like ours? Just not being born in an entirely different & easy era was their only mistake.... I really feel sad for the kids these days.. they dont have a place to go & hide? whose fault is it anyway not trying to preserve it for the next generation?? just think what you can do right...

New Place, New Face

We are in the process of shifting the house....but I have always lived in this area ( almost 26 yrs now) so a little hesitant to move to the new house. Let me tell you, It is a cute little apartment with 3 bedrooms, 2 attached bathrooms, a kitchen, a utility, & a big hall/dining hall.

The kitchen itself is such a beauty with shelves & cupboards where I would love to cook there & let my imaginative juices flow.... :)

The smaller room is a kids room so perfect for my daughter :) has a cupboard with hangers at a shorter height.. It has a big book shelf on 1 half of the wall. It has wall to ceiling cupboards in the master bedroom like i always wanted ;-) you can dump all the stuff there....

but the only but is I am always used to induvidual houses, have always lived in one where you open the door & you can go out & c the road & people & kids playing. Here I open the door & I see the lift door bang opposite. I have to climb down 2 sets of stairs & then I can see some open space...

Planning for a little furniture not too much though...but need to wait until we move into the house & then see what furniture we would need. Dont want to get anything for the hall!! Still thinking & putting my thoughts in a single bag?? dont know will have to wait & watch!

If Wishes Were Horses!!!

I was going through all these blogs & it suddenly hit me out of the blue... I had this urge to pen down a little something too... I dont know but but i feel like I'm stuck in a rut these days...feel like i need to break free & give wind to my wings & soar like a bird over the valleys & high seas. Am i doing the right thing the right way?? I am not sure of it any more.... dont know when the level of water in the Well of my happiness & enthusiasm started depleting & now it may be well on its way to drying up?? There were those times in the olden & golden days when I cud feel that if reached out good enough I could get to touch the sky..now am not sure any more :(

Dream

This poem by Langston Hughes describes...everything I would want to tell in words..... It was a long time ago.I have almost forgotten my dream.But it was there then,In front of me,Bright like a sun--My dream.And then the wall rose,Rose slowly,Slowly,Between me and my dream.Rose until it touched the sky--The wall.Shadow.I am black.I lie down in the shadow.No longer the light of my dream before me,Above me.Only the thick wall.Only the shadow.My hands!My dark hands!Break through the wall!Find my dream!Help me to shatter this darkness,To smash this night,To break this shadowInto a thousand lights of sun,Into a thousand whirling dreamsOf sun!

Change - The Only Constant In Life

As they say the only thing that is constant throughout life is change! Trying to battle it out is very difficult...it is such conflicting thing go with the flow or to resist it. right now there are a lot of changes happening...once you get too used to the idea of being in one place it is very difficult to move. There are people moving away & some moving beyond to a place where they cant return from... leaving a lot of change behind them..there will be new faces & old cherished memories... so what is one supposed do? welcome change with open arms or turn your face in the opposite direction denying it completely & withdraw into your little shell??

The Taste Of Freedom

With the sun in my eyes & the wind in my hair.... I came to know what it is like to be free!! With each step when your feet make a new mark on the wet sand... When you can taste the salty breeze on your lips... When you hear the roar of the Sea crashing on to the rocks...When you are riding & the wind is whipping through your hair.. then you know how you feel when you are free!! When you are high above on the sea hanging in mid-air just tied to a rope & you can see from here to the distant horizon...you feel like you are a bird soaring high...