Saturday, December 31, 2011

Of Secret Santa and other Things Fun...

This week was totally and entirely about Secret Santa. Started the game here in my PG and went on to organize the same in my office. Needless to say the guessing game was super fun and ofcourse earned me a lot of brownie points (in office) and a lot of gifts (both in PG and office). And that my dear friends made me a very happy woman. Check out the pics for more details:

Various Gifts I received from Office

Closer look at this pretty little pink sand timer! {don't mind the messy room in the background}

Thats a very pretty hairband and bracelet gifted by my PG friend Sudha!

My favorite of all. He is called Snowy! Hello World :)
 Don’t you just love the festive season, everyone is in cherry moods, the markets are bustling with people, the malls are thronging with shoppers, and parties are on full swing. Talking of parties, we had a small party in my PG on the Christmas eve, nothing fancy really, some cake, little music (with mediocre speakers) and some groovy moves  with all of us in our pyjamas (well except for me,  I can’t get into the party mood without being all dolled up). So anyhow, we had fun, and slept only to find a very amusing notice sticking up proudly on our wall the next day we came back from office. It was from our land lord and read the following:

  1.  MAKE SURE YOUR ID IS AVAILABLE 31 DECEMBER 2011
  2. NO OUTSIDE FRIENDS ALLOWED
  3. DO NOT CREATE NUISANCE TO NEIGHBORS, SOCIETY BY PLAYING LOUD MUSIC AND HATED ARGUMENTS
The NOTICE
Okay, the third point was a clue, so someone out there had complained about our little gig on Christmas Eve. Now let me tell you, it was nothing bad or over the top. As I said, it was little food, some music and some dancing, NOTHING ELSE. And let me tell you another thing, if this gig would have been done by any other family in the society, no one would have dared to question it, let alone the fact of complaining about it. Just because we are singles and girls, we have to put up with this behavior (and it’s Mumbai). I have noticed this weird kind of behavior that we PG people are subjected to, people around will be unusually interested about our life’s. The guard down stairs will keep a close watch on your timings, peek longingly (suspiciously) on all the plastic shopping bags you carry. Auntiji’s will give u askance glances. And sadly the scenario remains the same whether is Delhi or Mumbai.

Nevertheless moving ahead, so this will be my last post of 2011. 2011 ~ has been a very eventful year for me. Some important things that happened this year:

  1.   My job joining came in the month of March, for the place I wanted it to be yes yes yes MUMBAI.
  2.   I moved out of my home in Jammu for the first time ever. And yes it was not at all easy.
  3.   I started earning and living on my own here in Mumbai.
  4.   I met a lott of new people – good, bad, best, worst all types. Really. I did
  5.   A lot of new friends were added into facebook, lol on a serious note, what i mean to say is that I made a lot of good friends, the ones I can trust and share my life with.
  6.    A bundle of joy, my niece Supraja (Teenu) was born on 11th July 2011.
  7.    I learned a lot of new technology and open source tools like Zabbix, jmeter. Actually they have become my daily vocabulary so it would not be fair if I write about 2011 and not mention them
  8.   I shopped like crazy! Oh yes I did.
  9.   I hit an all time low on the blogging front when I did not post anything for 3 months altogether. But gladly I bounced back to where I belong as quickly!
  10.   I learned COOKING. From daal to chapatti and sabzi to chicken, I can cook it all now!

So all in all it was an awesome year. I did have a few lonely low moments and I did hurt a few people really bad. I apologise for any intentional/unintentional harm/hurt I brought about on anybody. I thank all those you loved me or hated me, Coz in the end it has helped me in making me who I am today. I have no regrets but many dreams. So cmmon 2012, show me what you got! 

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Served Hot From Mumbai..


Was going through some old pictures, when I spotted these beauties. Mumbai is at its best during the rains. Don't believe me? See for yourself...





















 Sheer visual pleasure, right? 

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Ungrateful Daughter (and yea that would be ME!)


Mother-daughter relationship is very complex in nature. A strong thread of love mingled with misunderstandings, fights and (strong) disagreements. Mother is your best support system and your worst critic ever. At times she is the sole person knowing your secret while the other times she is the one you hide your dirty secrets from.  Some days you laugh together sharing jokes and gossips, other days you refuse to see eye to eye after thunderous fights.


My relationship with my Mom has changed drastically over the years.  Being youngest in the family I was always the pampered one. When a kid, my lies about false stomach aches for not going to school were always acknowledged in a very positive way by my mother. Even in my late teens, whenever I wanted to bunk school or college my mother always gave me a thumbs up. And I am very grateful to her for this. Not because she allowed me to do so, but because when I think about it now, I realize that my mother trusted me deeply. She knew it when I have to study I will study; she just left it to me to decide my priorities. She never forced or pressurised me to study or attend school. I love her for this, because it taught me at a very early stage that I am responsible for my own acts. If I don’t study, I won’t score good marks, so that was a lesson learnt early and very efficiently by me.

But on the other side, my girlie issues and teenage trouble were always discussed and solved by my elder sister. So in that respect,  I wasn’t very close or comfortable sharing “the other side” of my life with my mom. However soon after my sister moved out, there was a considerable change brought about in relationship I shared with my mother. With my sister gone and my father posted in another city, I soon began discussing about my life, friends, trends etc with my mother and she began directing the gossips towards me (this department was earlier solely handled by my elder sister). Also she began taking my advice on various issues from fashion to food. However all was not bright and cherry, occasional fights were no strangers in the home. So on the whole we share a perfect mother daughter relation.


When I was at home, I left no stone upturned to nag my mother. From the type of dresses she wore to the kind of food she made. Mostly and almost always I criticized the food. Most of the fights we had were somehow or the other related to food. Mostly ending with me refusing to eat even a morsel of food and she after trying in vain, finally succumbing (again!) to my pressure and cooking my favorite dishes. I distinctly remember the times I pushed away and wasted food, simply stating that I hate it! When I look back now I realize how my mother must have felt during those times.

Now that I have started cooking myself I understand the kind of efforts and love that are put when you cook. When some criticises my cooking (and this criticism includes only comments like “salt is less”, “red chillies are more”), you won’t believe but I mentally murder that person and feel like holding their hair and shout at the top of my voice “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH EFFORT I HAVE PUT ON THIS, CAN’T TO JUST SAY A FEW POSITIVE THNGS AND LEAVE THE REST TO ME”? It is then I realize that how ungrateful I have been t my mother. Far from venting out her anger on me for my behaviour, she went ahead and prepared food with equal amount of love and care. LOVE HER LIKE HELL!! Wish I could fly away and just hug her once and come back, just a hug.


The irony now is such that there are times when I crave like crazy to eat my mothers’cooked food (and believe it or not mostly the one that I hated back then) but I can’t! Waiting eagerly to go home so that I can gorge on yummy food cooked by mom and yea most importantly not forget to compliment her for the same

 :-)