Week day Menu

Friday - 30th Dec
Bfast: Vermicelli Upma
Lunch/Dinner: Chapati/Rice + Fish Curry

Thu - 29th Dec
Bfast: Bread Toast
Lunch: Rice + methidal
Dinner: Chapati + Egg masala

Wed - 28th Dec
Bfast: Wheat Upma
Dinner: Capsicum Fried Rice

Tue - 27th Dec
Bfast - Bread Omlette
Dinner - Chapati + Tondli

Synopsis of my vacation

Week1: Reached Mumbai , midnite of 19th Nov 2011, as soon as I landed and felt the heat of Mumbai, wanted to rush back to hubby's arms, met parents and drove to Pune.
Was jet lagged and tensed about visa stamping. Before I left itself everyone advised me not to travel as I had to get my visa stamping done and everyone knows what a pain it is nowadays(with all the various colored slips the consulate hands out). After 2 days, flew to Cbe. Next day travelled to Chennai for visa stamping. Got the pink slip. Returned back to Cbe.

Week2: Wedding week- 2 days of shopping and 2 days of wedding. Had fun.

Week3: @Home, tensed, no updates on visa, well usually takes 4 weeks or more, should I cancel my tickets, what if I don't get it, missing hubby, nothing to do, Got newly married couple home, went 1 day shopping with them, they went to the bride's home, only good thing was to spend loads and loads of time with Ritvik.

Week4: Wedding couple went for their honeymoon, again stayed at home, decided if visa gets more delayed can spend more time in Kerala and Pune(grinning abt that). Got message passport is gonna be delivered, no idea if visa is issued, more tension, courier is delayed by a day, still nailbiting awaiting, finally passport delivered with visa, happy, went shopping.

Week5: Back to Pune, 1 day went to Kirkee to meet old family friends, 1 day went to Dehuroad, next day bank work, realized have to go to Mumbai to get bank account closed, went to mumbai one whole day, last day went to airport and flew to US.

Back from Vacation

Am back from a month long vacation to India. Me and my baby went to India for a month. Did nothing much, lazed at in-laws house for a month, was at my place for a week.
Hightlight of the trip was that my 2 yr old co-operated very well with the long flight, i had absolutely no issues with him.

Love u baby

Lady Bug - A different perspective

So the other day we were having break-fast. I had made some upma. Gopi had some in his plate and he had kept the red tadka wala chilly to the side of the plate. Ritvik(my not yet 2 yr old ) walks by , looks at the plate and exclaims 'Lady Bug!'

We were surprised at the comparison for a minute and then burst out laughing.

Lal Mirchi (best possible image i could get)

Happy Diwali 2011

Wishing all my readers , family and friends a very Happy Diwali

Week-end Oct 15th -16th 2011

Busy Busy Week-end. First things first, as it is I am pretty busy with the Diwali Dhoom organizing and dance practise part of it.
So Fri eve we went shopping, had to get pants for Ritvik, initially thought of eating out but then came home and fixed a quick dinner of mor curry and bhendi sabji and all the effort is worthwile when you see your baby eating munching away the food :)
Sat woke up lazily at 8, after calls to home made poha for breakfast, kind of lazed the day as evening we had to attend a bday party. Got ready at 6:30, wore saree, had to call a friend for help, went to the party at 7, had gr8 fun, serving drinks and cake, munching on food, returned by 10:00, then went for practise till 12.
Next day woke up by 8:30, again had another bday party to attend, this time in the morning, so went there returned by 3- slept till 6, then went around the apartment for a walk, made some lemon rice, had dinner and rested.

Diwali Dhoom & a Disapearance

Do not get misled by the Title. I know its not Diwali yet but I had disseapeared for some time from the blog world and the reason is Diwali Dhoom.

The ladies in our apartment complex decided to host a Diwali Dhoom get-together on the ocassion of Diwali on the 22nd Oct 2011.
First there was a committee meeting of about 10 ladies though gradually the group reduced to 5, lots of meetings,decisions to be made on how and when and what to conduct.
After much delibration it was decided to have registrations for the occassion.
We then got busy with preparing of Notice boards, putting out the content and then actually being there for 3 different days on the end of September to actually allow people to register.
Now let me tell you that each meeting for this used to last for about 2-3 hours(yeah, that is how it is with ladies, we go to the very minute details)
I got myself assigned as the Program Committee incharge. We also decided to have a ladies dance and kids dance.
Along this by the end of September came Dussera. Now that almost all the ladies knew each other we decided to do Nine days pooja at each ones house.

I volunteered to do pooja at my house on the Sunday but I had to attend pooja at other people's house. So coming from office @5, make tea and boil milk, cook food, then go for pooja, then meetings, and night dance practise.
Whoa! very hectic days ahead and so people that is the reason for my disapearance.

Linking to a Giveaway

My way of entry to this giveaway is by commenting on my post, providing a link and giving a chance to all my readers to be a part of it.
So if you have not yet done it, go to this link here and be a part of the giveaway.

The pirze is a blue Ikat crescent shaped Hobo from Tignanello and the last day is tomorrow.
So why wait! Rush your entries Now!

Car Show - 2011

Which is your favorite?
Since I do not know the original model of the vintage cars, I am going to give my own names.

The Elegant Black

Long Nosed Red

The Grey One

Sparky Blue

Lengthy Red One

The Sturdy Jeep

Super Pose Green One

Chilly Red

Magnificent Yellow

So I cheated

So I had decided to post everyday of this month but I missed the 9th post for reasons to be mentioned later and sice I missed 1 day I just Let it go.

The reason why I missed that day was that it was a Saturday (well, so what?, u may ask) arre week-end na baba, do not touch computer on week-end isiliye.
Yup, I do not log into my work PC on week-ends and since we share a common one at home I do not use it much just for ocassionally checking FB/Gmail.

I could have still taken the effort to churn out a post at night but hubby happened to put the movie - ZNMD, so sat watching it.
By 3/4th of the movie I couldnt wait for it to end, did not like it at all.
I have read good reviews on blogs and many have majorely fell in love with Farhan Akthar. I loved all his movies in the past but not this one. Bagwati??Really?

And then Mon morn on my way to office my car broke down. Just after I got off the highway it came to a stop. Since I do not carry a cell phone had to walk over and ask a gentleman for help. He willingly called 911 and I called hubby who in turn called the insurance.
Now the car is in repair mode....

So that's it for me from here......Rest in Next.

Happy Onam to all my readers......Post 8

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Onam

7 years ago........Post 7

I first laid eyes on him 7 years back on Sept 8th 2004. I was on my second project assignment to US, in the state of Minnesota, in a city called Eden Prairie.

I reached the place at midnight of 7th Sept 2004, I was assigned a new project and I did not know anyone onsite i.e in US. I was told someone would pick me up at the airport and sure enough when I landed I met a guy who introduced himself and took me to my apartment which I would share with another girl.

Sept 8th 2004 (Wednesday), me and my roomie woke up and got ready to go to office.
This same guy had a car and he would take all of us. We both girls got in the back seat as the front seat was already occupied. He then introduced me to the front-seat occupant saying, This is G, who works with us, the entire company depends on him and the first thought that came to my mind was--Really! this lanky looking guy, what does he do that is so important? Well soon enough I learnt that he managed the databases which is the core of almost anything in IT industry.

We had an argument in the first week itself and then on whenever we spoke we were always on the opposite sides of the table. I have already mentioned in a post here if he was North, I am South , that different is our opinion on all things.
I remember one incident where in there was a migration going on and most of the people were working late night. My roomie happened to be one of them, in the morning G got some break-fast for her. After he left, my roomie says to me, Isin't he sweet and my reply was, "Yeah, a bit too sweet". It is a known fact that girls fall for bad guys and I was in that category too.
One thing led to another we soon became friends and got married 4 years back.
There was no formal proposal or anything from either side for us to remember and celebrate but we both remember this day and always celebrate and cherish the first moment we met each other.

So darling, wishing you once again and may we celebrate many more years of togetherness.

How do you feel when you return home at the end of the day? -Post 6

So today for lack of topic I am going to take the one from the NaBloPoMo prompt.
How do I feel when I return from home, in one word - Excited.
Excited to hug my baby, Eager to hear about his day, Earnestly cook for the day and then go out with baby. Meet up with friends and relate the days events.

MN-State Fair - Post 5

This week was a long week-end for us and also the last day of the State Fair.
Catching the 11:30 State Express bus we reached there at 12:00 and spend about 7 hrs there. Though there are a lot of things to be viewed since we have our baby we went to the animal section and then the Kiddie section.

Ritvik had a great time in the Kiddie section, riding all the rides and wanting even more.
Finally we left there by the 6:30 bus and reached home at 7pm.
A well -spend day indeed.

On changing names - Post 4

A rose by ay other name would smell as sweet - William Shakespeare.
We each have a identity of our own per se our name. In Indian tradition though many change it to reflect their husbands name.
In our present generation many stick to their maiden names, many change their husbands name, many others add their husbands name to their maiden name and so on and so forth.

Each one do what they feel is right or comfortable with and I am not voicing my opinion on it. What I am about to narrate is how and when I changed mine.

In our community we do not have any surnames and so all I have is a first name and last name in my passport. Now during the time I got married the company that I work for came up with a new process. They made the surname field mandatory in passport and so I had to renew my passport once again with the name change. As I was getting married, I decided to change with my husband's name as that way any further travel documents that I would require would be easy to get.
Now one thing I know for sure is that I am not getting any divorce only to avoid going through the process of name change :)
At my workplace my name was still my father's name and my email id is still the same. Changing my name will not change me, I will still remain my daddy's precious little princess for ever.


Do you feel strongly about your maiden name or are you okay with changing it to your husbands name or a combo of both.

Ganesh Chaturthi - Post 3

Ganesh Chaturthi has always been one of my favorite festivals. I love Ganeshji, he is like a friend to me and am sure to many others too.
Now Pune is famous for all the Ganpati mandals and big celebrations, growing up we would always go to the bazaar to see the different type of mandals and decorations they had.
For 16 years I stayed at Dehuroad Estate and every year they would keep mandals and have various programmes. During the last 6-7 years of our stay there the mandal near our house used to organize really fun programs for the 10 days and year after year we would wait for them.
There would always be Antakashri competition, Fancy Dress, Rangoli and it would be concluded with Tambola.
A huge crowd would gather to play Tambola and whenever anyone won and went to get their tickets checked we all would scream out loudly 'Bogie, Bogie'. This was like a chant till the person was declared a winner or else it really turned out to be a bogie ticket.
Now there is an incident related to this, one day I received a letter(now during those days we rarely received any letters, as luck would have it my mom did not open it and when I opened to read it it turned out to be a love letter from one of the guys and the only hint was 'Bogie').
Well, I was not very interested anyways but even if I was I had no clue who the sender of the letter was.

After we left from there we moved to our own home so I have never been part of any Ganpati celebrations.
I miss those fun days with my friends and family.

Happy Birthday Dad -Post 2

Happy Birthday Daddy and may you have many more to come

NaBloPoMo for September - Post 1

So I decided to join NaBloPoMo for the month of September here. This means that I have to post every single day of this month.
The site does provide prompts which you can take as a topic or else write one of your own.
The theme for this month is Return

Let me return to those childhood days
When playing outside was so much fun.
No laptop or Internet
But we had all the fun we could
No phone calls to make
And no mobile bills to pay
No bearing grudges or ego to be kept
When 'katti-katti' and 'puppy' made it all up
Let me return to those wonderful days
Those innocent days of childhood

August 2011- A Month of Celebrations

Though August is still not over, it was a month filled with lots of outings & celebrations.
It all started on :
Aug 2nd 2011:The apartment complex we stay in decided to host the National Night Out which is an event meant to increase awareness about police programs in communities. You can find more information here.
Two big bouncers were got for the kids to play in(even adults if they cared), me & hubby both played c/o my little one. They had hamburgers given out, plus a DJ with a very cute African American who did some really cool dance steps and gave out gifts to all the kids.

Aug 3rd 2011: Darling hubby's bday. he got to cut 2 cakes. One that his friends got and 1 was a yummy upside down pineapple cake that I prepared. The picture of the cake I prepared does no justice to the softness and the yumminess of the cake.

Aug 6th 2011: We had to attend a baby shower and the whole afternoon went in having fun with friends.

Aug 10th 2011: Had a happy hour with the team at work

Aug 13th 2011:Aug 13th 2011: Visited the Carver County Show. Lots of petting animals and Ritvik sat on the merry go round for the first time and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Aug 15th 2011: India's Independence Day Celebrations, again some Indians decided to have a celebration among all Indians complete with flag hoisting, singing patriotic songs, snacks and beverages. Kids came out dressed in their traditional best. It was a proud moment as each one sang the National Anthem in another country.

Aug 20th 2011: Went to Kite Festival and created our own kites and then went to the park for a friend's farewell.

Aug 21st 2011: Went to the Renaissance Festival.The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is a medieval village complete with royal court, peasants, jesters, knights-in-armor, and ladies-in-waiting. It is asthough one has been transported back to another world.

Aug 23rd 2011: Kids Play Date. So gain another dear friend in the apartment complex took an initiative to organize a Kid's play date or Kids Sports day if you may call it. The kids were divided into 3 groups and there were lots of activities for them.
The sports included Musical chair, lemon & Spoon, bowling game etc. Later on snacks & juice were provided and the day ended by flying lots of helium ballons in the sky. Dress code was red and it was amazing to see all the wonderful kids in the red attire.

Aug 25th 2011: Had a lunch outing with team

Aug 29th 2011: Mommy's birthday.
Wishing you a very very Happy Birthday Mom

Letter to my darling Ritvik - 21 months

This Friday August 12th 2011 you will complete 21 months and I feel the need to let you know all that you have been doing till now.
In the morning as soon as we get you ready and put your shoes on, you cant wait to get out of the house and will go around the house telling 'key','key', which is an indication that we should take the car-key and take you to day-care. Though you still cry at drop-off, it is much better now that you have adjusted there and can even call your teacher by her name 'Jenny'

You have suddenly entered the 'No' phase. For the past 2 days you have been telling 'No' for everything we ask you to do, driving us nuts at times and giving us lots of chuckes in the process. Infact yesterday night you were shouting 'No' even in your dreams. This led me to think of how many times we stop you from doing things by telling 'No'. No Ritvik, dont spill the milk. No Ritvik, dont climb on the stool. Well you are giving us a taste of our own medecine and so we decided to omit the work 'No' from our vocabulary to teach you to say 'Yes'

We love the way you dance whenever music is played. Infact at a gathering bny the apartment friends were amazed to see you dance as soon as the music started. You rock baby!

You can speak single words very well but have not yet started speaking sentences, Well for some words you would just tell the endings and for some wors you have your own vocab like 'Bawa' for duck, 'Ina' for water, 'Pi' for Topi(hat) and so on.

You don't go very easily to strangers and still need Amma & Appa to be near you while you play but you are generous in sharing your toys.You eat & sleep well but sometimes if you are hungry (especially in the early mornings), you get all cranky and then start screaming. At times like these I fell like throwing you out of the window, when I tell you this later(when you are in a good mood), you smile which melts my whole heart.
You are so generous with your kisses and you shower me with them on my fore-head, eyes,nose,2 cheeks and chin.

Luv you my baby boy
Umaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Happy Birthday!

Wishing you a day filled with happiness & joy

Luv,
Dumz

Picking a Tag!

I picked this tag from here. So go ahead and indulge if you like

A. Make a list of 5 things that are in reach.
Keyboard, notepad, bottle of water, headset & pen

B. What is your favourite holiday?
@Kerala or lazing at home

C. What is your fashion style?
Wearing clothes that are comfortable and I can carry off well with my figure.

D. What’s your occupation?
IT

E. What do you hear right now?
Doors opening in the hallway.

F. Who was the last person you hugged?
My hubby.

G. What random song just popped in your head now?
Husa Busa..all fall down, oh yeah..my kiddo sings this all the time now.

H. What did you do today?
Got up, got ready for ofc, dropped baby at daycare, saw a live snake, now at office.

I. What was the last text message you received?
No cell, no message, does work Indbox count?

J. What websites do you always visit when you go online?
Gmail, Times of India, Facebook, other blog Sites.

K. What is your next big planned purchase?
Hmm, A land probably.

L. If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Home(India).

M. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A stay at home mom with one more kid running an NGO.

N. Where’s your tattoo/Where would you like a tattoo?
Would love one just above my butt.

O. What are you doing this weekend?
Attending Baby Shower.

P. If you could play any musical instrument, which one would you play?
Guitar.

Q. What’s the one thing you need the most now?
Sleep..lots & lots.

R. Are you a creeper?
Nope.

S. What is your dream job?
To host Top Chef :).

T. What’s the last good movie you saw?
Not sure about good but latest will be 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt'

U. What’s your favourite quote?
"Whatever happens, happens for the Best"

V. What is your favourite colour?
Blue

W. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
-Kajal in my eyes
-Hair left loose
-Clothes that fit

X. Coffee or tea?
Tea

Y. What do you love to do when it is drizzling?
-- Read a book.
-- Eat hot bhajis.
-- Cuddle with hubby.

Z. What inspires you?
Books and Blogs.

Busy Week-end - July 23rd 2011

So it all started with guests coming home on Fri nite, then we had a Movie nite sponsored by the apartment (pizza and juice included).
Sat morning we went to the works musuem which was a really fun place. There were lots of things of interest like light filters, gears, we could also build our own race cars and circuit lights. Returned home by 3 an put baby to sleep. He slept from 4:30 - 7. then at nite we went downtown to see the fire-works(end of Auannetial festival) which was very spectacular.
Sun morning cooked payasam for pot-luck, went to Bryant lake park and returned by 6.
All in all a well turned out busy week-end.

Small Potato Biryani

Well, I hardly make any dishes from potato so when I got some baby potatoes from Farmer's market I was at a loss what to do except fromt he usual frying as I wanted to try out something different.
I happened to see this receipe at Rak's Kitchen and immediately decided to try it(ofcourse in a different version)

Ingredinets:-
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Baby potatoes - 6 nos
Youghurt - 1/4 Cup
Corriander Leaves - 1/2 bunch
Bay Leaves , Cloves, Cardamon - 2 nos
Salt - As needed
Oil - As needed
Spring Onions - 4 nos
Garlic - 2 nos
Ginger - 1/2 piece

1) Wash and soak rice in water for 15 mins
2) Pressure cook potatoes for 3 whistles, was, peel the skin, dry them and then deep fry in oil till brown(Next time onwrds will shallow fry)
3) Make a paste of youghurt and corriander leaves
4) In cooker add ghee, when hot add ginger & garlic pieces, along with Bay leaves, cardamon and cloves.
5) Next add spring onions and salt, Always add extra salt as we are going to add rice.
6) Add coriander powder, red chilly powder, Biryani masala, turmeric powder(basically any powders to enhance the taste, of course refrain from talcum powders--hehe PJ)
7) Now add the potatoes and then add the curd+coriander paste, let it heat well for some time, let the potatoes absorb the flavour
8)Then add rice along with water, close and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
9) Garnish with top part of spring onions
Delicious potato biryani is ready to be eaten.

Why did I marry the guy I married?

because it was God's wish..............................................
So when people hear I am a Malu and he is a Tam the next question immediately is "Oh! so love marriage", Well, how do I answer this question without giving a detailed explanation as to --No, it was not our parents who met first as in typical traditional weddings but we who decided to get married and No, not becuase we fell in love at first sight or we were the most compatible people together but for the simple fact that I was 27 years, wanted to get settled and he was a good friend who helped and ofcourse God's wish..I tell you how...

So I first set eyes on him on 8th Sept 2004 and when someone introduced him as , "This is the guy the whole company resides on, no he was not the CEO, just a DBA", I was thinkin in my mind, Who this lanky looking thin guy, Really!!!"
Well, after we sort of decided to get married after his parents said Yes, we decided to go together for a trip to Niagara.
He flew to NY and I had booked a 2 day Niagara tour on one of the very famous Chinki buses. So this was our fist official date. Now I knew we were poles apart. If I was North he was South but still I thought I could live with him.

So the 1st day of the trip we sit in the bus, it is an 8 hr drive to Niagara with a mid-way stop to Corning Glass factory. When we were in college we friends used to always tell, that we did not care about looks in a guy, all we wanted was someone who could talk well, now my guy hardly opened his mouth, No no he was not tongue-tied, just that is his nature, so the bus sped away and here we were sititng silently, after all the huge expectations that I had from my first date, this was a major disaapointment.
Infact it was so bad that I started speaking to myself after I got bored looking at the sights outside. Speaking to myself also involves speaking to God and I was asking him, Really, this guy, will I be happy?, will I be able to go through this, now I couldnt even reject the only 1 guy who was ready to marry me, else would have to start the searching process all over again..Now by this time we had reached our first destination (Corning Glass Factory), So they asked us to take a tour of the factory and then finally there was a demonstration at the end of which they would give a prize. Tickets were given to us as we left the bus.

As we entered the hall where the final demo was to be held I was telling God, ek ishara de dedho(yup, Dil to pagal hai types)jise mein samajh jau yehi mera zindagi hain...Now God just cannot scream and tell his wish(not practical na)so I normally think of something to help him help me, like this time I said, if you want me to marry him, we should win the prize, now the hall had about 500 people. After I made my bargaining with God, I asked G to give me his ticket as the attender was collecting everthing in a bowl for the lucky draw and whoa! G did not even know they were handing out tickets, so I asked our bus host if he had more tickets and he gave us the last one he had.
And when they called out the winning ticket number who should win it but G, yes his ticket was the winning one and he asked me to go and get the prize(a flower vase) from the stage. I still have pictures with me.
Well I just looked up and thanked God, if that was his wish who was I not to follow...............

Lazyyyyyy Week-end

Fri was working from home due to the thunders and lightining, so it was a very rest ful day, took a nap from 12-1, had lunch and logged off from work PC by 4. evening went to pick baby at day-care, went to Costco, Indian store and cooking puri-chole at night, pretty much day is done. Put baby to sleep at 9:30pm and lo! slept with him, woke up at 9:15 am :)

Sat after a breakfast of chai and bread(hubby not well this week), in-laws came over webcam, after chatting made lunch, feb baby with lunch, put him to sleep and also slept from 2 -5. woke up and went to Water Ski show, back by 8:30--some other cousins came over web-cam, made ragi dosa, had dinner and slept.

Sun morn woke up by 8, again breakfast of bread and chai, played with baby, read some books, evening had to attend a bday party, so went to mall at 5 to get a gift, attended party, cake + dinner, back hoem, back to bed.
What a nice and relaxign week-end indeed!

And then they turned red........

Yeah...my eyes. It all started with on Wednesday July 6th 2011 when my right eyes turned a little red, I thoguth a blood vessel must have broken,by evening it had a little swelling. Thu morning I decided to go to ofc and hubby was surprised thinkin I'll rest at home, and with all this the sore thoraty sensation had already started. By evening, in ofc I started shivering, went home and had so much shivers and jitters, throat had gone all bad, redness in the eyes still persisted, but I did not take any medecine
Fri morn felt better but redness still persisted so decided to get an appt, so difficult to get same day appointment, luckily had an opening for 2:30pm. Went to the doctors and again fever started. She saw my throat (very red and white marks) and with eye infection, she gave antibiotics and eye-drops and asked to take medecine for fever.
Came home took all medecines and slept. I should be fine by evening I thought.
By evening felt better but eyes still swollen and bloody red.
Had made some dal but eat plain rice, at night took medecine and slept.
Sat morn still not better (both eyes infected now), fever + horrible sore throat, managing to cook for baby and get along.
By evening fever is gone to be replaced by a splitting headache. Night not able to eat much food, went to sleep, woke up at 5(hungry/weak/tired), got some milk and corn flakes, immediately felt dizzy, managed to catch the chair else would have fallen down, next think I know is sitting on the bed, lied down, that feels good, slept. Sun - fever gone, body weak and tired, managed to cook and eat something. Sun passed by stugglingly.
Took leave from ofc on Monday. Felt much better. By Tue redness had decreased. Had a bath at night. Getting back to normal.

10-day-challenge-post-10 - One picture

Final day of the tag

10-day-challenge-post-9 -Two Songs

I am not a big music lover, I seldom on my own initiate songs but I do like to listen to good numbers
On that account my favorites are:-
1) Tujhe na dekho toh chain mujhe aata nahin hain--ek tere siwa koi aur mujhe bata nahin ahin--kahin mujhe pyaar hua toh nahin. I know this is picturised on Divya Bharati.

Maybe during teenage years this song was very apt and so it still lingers on my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrReiaUcVp4(link)

2) Miri ariyahde vanu nee miri....from the malayalam movie 'Niram'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_2zEYa2dQ(link). I love this movie and all the songs.

10-day-challenge-post-8 -Three Movies

1)KIREEDAM
Mohanlal plays Sethumadhavan, a man who is forced to be a criminal by the society and the circumstances. He did a fantastic job in the movie, thus claiming the National Special Jury Award for his fantastic perforance. Mohanlal has given all he had to this character Sethumadhavan, who goes through different states of life, not as a cop as he desired to be, but as a criminal hated and feared by people.

He is even hated by his own father who is a head constable whose desires of his son becoming a police officer goes in vain.
I am a big Mohanlal fan and this movie truly lives to expectations

2)Taare Zameen Par:- A movie about a dyslexic kid and how his teacher helps him to overcome his disability. Great performance by Darsheel

3)One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) is one of the greatest American films. Its theme is set in the world of an authentic mental hospital (Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon), a place of rebellion exhibited by a energetic, flamboyant, wise-guy anti-hero against the Establishment. Brilliant acting by Jack Nicholas. This movie was re-made in Malayalam (Thalavattom), again brilliant acting by Mohanlal

10-day-challenge-post-7 - Four Books

Top on my list is:-


1) The Diary of a Young Girl - Ann Frank - This book was recommended to me by a friend. Though I dont read non-fiction much I finished this book in one sitting. It is very emotional and though-provoking.

2)The Prodigal Daughter - Jeffrey Archer(My first JA and totally loved it, inspires me that if you really want to you can achieve anything)

3)The Inscrutable Americans -Anurag Mathur (Really humorous and I read it after my 1st visit to US, so could totally relate)

4)All Sidney Sheldon Books

Only 4, could pen down so many more.

10-day-challenge-post-6 - Five Foods

Today's post is five foods and my question is how can they limit to only 5



1)Fishy fry,Shrimp & Lobster Fry

2)Chicken Biryani-yummmmmmmmmm

3)Ice-cream, simple vanilla will do. I can eat however much I want, it is only for healthy eating habits that I resist myself



4)Tiramisu- if you have not tasted this sweet, you definitely should.

5)Anything made with paneer I can devour.

10 day challenge - Post 5 -Six Places

1) Dehuroad, Pune - This is the place where I spent 16 years of my life and I absolutely love the place. From my childhood to teenage lives, all the experiences, all the fun, totally rocking place.

2) Kerala, my home-town, used to love going for vacations every summer, living in huts, playing in the oceans and sand whole day, eating coconuts and mangoes, this is one gorgeous palce to be in.

3) Florida, USA - Hubby and I had 2 totally fun packed vacations here before marriage and both of us love the place

4) Stamford, USA - I was here for a year and boy it was a total masti filled place, never did I gamble so much, or play cards so much or danced so much or give gaalis so much or laughed so much. Totally rocking and rocking friends!

5) Lonavla, Khandala -- Had gone one monsson with friends, It is beautiful, all the greenery and you can see water on the leaves. We had great fun.

6) PP, Pune:- Home where my parents live. I can go home over the week-end and not step out on the verandah also, love it here

10 day challenge - Post 4 -Seven Wants

hmmm, this is so interesting, I used to always think If I got 3 wishes, what all I would ask for and this is seven. so let me go wild here



1) A Jeannie to do my housework like the one in 'I dream of Jeannie' except a more tame one

2) Lifetime membership to spa for face/body massages

3) Monthly Salary without doing much work or no work would also be great

4) Food generating machine, so all I have to tell it is what I want and it would be ready, ooo all the tiramisu and ice-creams and chicken tandoris that I can eat

5) Well to be a little practical, with pt 4 I would also always want to have an hour glass figure

6) Romantic vacation in Italy

7) To be able to complete things, I am so good at starting new things but do no thave the patience to take them to completion, so lots and lots of patience or a magic wand :)

10 Day Challenge - Post 3 - 8 Fears

1) Dying - yeah truly scared of dying and more scary than that is NO 2
2) Losing my loved ones before me...
3) water--scared of drowning, trying to overcome by learning swimming but still a long way to go.
4)Going Blind - scared of dark
5)Living alone - I need people around me
6)Kids getting abused
7)Had to think a lot for this one - - getting handicapped
8)Catching fire & burning

Whew! this was a tough one

10 day challenge - Post 2-Nine Loves

Post2 of this challenge is Nine lives.
So here's the list:

1) My son

2) Myself(yeah, I am very selfish that way and this would have been my no 1 point except after my son was born I realized I can do anything for him)

3)Mummy,Daddy,Chechi & Paarthu

4)Hubby dearest(still is only 4th on the list)

5)Reading(Books & Blogs)

6)Food - All types of it.

7)Travelling --visting new places

8)Playing Cards

9)Being happy - I dont get offended easily

10 Day you Challenge Post 1- Ten Secrets

I had come across this challenge at one of the blogs I read and found it interesting. Now that another of my favourite and everyday read blogger Preeti was doing it here and asked us to join, how could I not.

So here's the challenge
1) I was a big time sucker for maintaining friendships all the time but now realized that it is not worth it always

2) I love my parents and in-laws a lot and can do anything for thier happiness. Even more tham my son, yes this is true I cant even start thinking about the millionth + 10 things they have done for me.

3) When I was a teenager I wanted to marry someone whom I was madly, passionately in love with , but over the years and experiences I decided better to marry someone who loves me that way, I did that and now I am relaxed and happy in life.

4) It is better to marry a guy who can help in household work than one who can talk well and do nothing

5)I hate it when people say they will do something and then conveniently forget about it. My reasoning is dont say if you are not sure of doing it.

6) I never understood why people have gfriends/bfriends. Being committed to one single person was so lame, you always found the next one better. I decided to remain single till marriage, uske baad to hopefully ek hi rehenga :) though I still refer to my ek lauta ek pati (abh tak)

7) My house is messy most of the times and I am too lazy to clean it and really I dont see anything bad in it :)

8) I do not spend long hours on phone when I am with someone, so If I am out with friends my time is thiers completely, or with parents(it is thiers),or with hubby infact I dont even have a cell phone

9) I never plan in advance for anything, everything is kept till the last minute

10) It is very difficult for me to say 'No' to anyone.


So here are my secrets, do join in if you are intersted.

How to wake up kids

I love my sleep.
I have meetings starting from 8:30 am in the mornings at my new job. Normally I attend the 8:30 - 9 meetings from home, get the baby ready, drop him off to daycare, drop the car back at home, take the other car to work, which means if I am lucky to leave home by 9:15 I can maanage to reach office by 10:00.
Now as it happens my baby does not open his eyes before 9, I hate waking him up and normally he would wake up by 8 but if not I kiss his hands and his legs until he stirs and tosses the other side. Gently call out his name until finally he manages to open his eyes.
Now I remember when we were kids and during summer vacations or week-ends we would like to sleep late, mom wanted us to bath before 9 as after that water would stop.
I remember daddy trying to wake us up and how he would wake me up was,"Papa, get up", no response, "Wake up my Princess", hmmmmmmmmmmmmm" Wake up daaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", this would continue for a few minutes till I pulled the bedsheet over my head and went to sleep again and then my mom's voice from the kitchen, "Are you getting up or should I come there" and the next moment I would be by the wash-basin brushing my teeth :)

A week-end Outing

The forecast for this week-end was rains which was nothing new considering the trend we are in now. Saturday morning, Ritzu woke up at 7:55 am, if it was a week-day he would not have opened his eyes before 9 , I am sure :), so I had to drag myself out of bed to make his milk. Immediately hubby made a demand of poha as bfast. After that was done and since I was too lazy too cook anything for lunch we decided to go to the temple. They had the 5-year Anniversary celebration, so off we went.

Reached temple by 12:30- had darshan and then went to the eating room. For $5 we got masala vada, curd rice, plain rice, dal, chana, masala rice, papaddum and pineapple sheera.
After this and lots of photo sessions outside the temple we returned home. Ritzu still di dnot want to come inside and started playing at the new play-area they have started int he apt complex. Finally after a hr, I managed to take him home and put him to sleep at 4:30. We woke up at 6 and then decided to go to the mall.

We wanted to get shoes for R, at the shoe are he liked one with a car picture on it and was very xcited to wear it and show-off, so cing his xcitment we decided to buy that one. A mall visit is never complete without going to the play area, R was exhausted with all his play, came home had dinner and off to bed.

Sun morn again R woke up at 7:50 am, after a break-fast of upma and banana we decided to go to the History Musuem. After taking our bath and getting ready we left home by 12:00 and reached the musuem by 12:40. Since it was Father's day we got free entry to the musuem. There were different secions, there was even a play-area for kids where me and R went up above and came down. From there we went to the St Paul Cathedral, after praying and taking in the calm and peace of the church we went to the State Capitol. It had the Senate Chamber and the Supreme Court, there were also lot of beautiful paintings put up. There were huge pillars aligned along the stairway.
Then we decided to return back, On the way we stopped at Champs and had some Cajun Shrimp pasta and apple-pice cake, reached home at 5:30, R played all the time till 8:30, finally had dinner and slept and today morning(mon) he did not open his eyes before 9:15!.

and baby Paarth goes to school

Yes, this June 13th 2011 was the first day my baby nephew started his LKG at a new school. he had been toa nursery near our home which he did not like much and even after a month would cry everyday morning. So everyone expected this to be the same. But maybe he has grown up fromt he baby he was or some other factor he went there without crying, attended class and came back, good as a brick, am so proud of u my cutie-pie, loads of umaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Baby at day-care - part 2--

He had a good day she says--That were the words of my baby's daycare teacher when I called to ask how his day has been today.
He eat well, napped for almost an hour and most importantly did not cry but enjoyed himself, what more can a mommy want.
He still screams when I drop him off, hopefully it is a matter of time before he starts screaming if I dont drop him off.

Leaving from ofc to see my chukoo baby
Luv u
umaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Baby at day-care

So this time we decided to settle on a proper Kindercare for my baby.
After a little bit if searching decided to go with one near our home.
May 16th 2011 was his first day. Well the poor little thing did not know anything and very happily came in kaaaaaar with amma & appa. At the day-care they were giving juice which my boy very happliy drank and then it was play time- so with everyone else he went out. At that time we decided to leave.
After going out he realized we were not there and then was sad for the 3 hrswe left him there.
We decided to start with 3 hald days, so the next 2 days he was practically crying all day, not eating. But once we got him home he was fine.
The week-end he got cold and so we did not send him until Thu where he spend the half-day crying and so on Friday.
The 3rd week also we decided to do half-days, Tue he eat his lunch but was crying consistently and would not nap also, would nap for 10 mins and then wake up screaming. Wed we got him home early as his grandpa was leaving for India but he had a better day, Thu was crying most of the time, Fri he warmed up to one of the substitute teachers and after waking up from nap also did not cry.
6th June 2011 started his 4th week, Mon when I left him he cried a lot, poor thing breaking my heart in a million pieces but after 1 hr he was fine and did not cry the remaining time. He did eat his lunch and nap for an hour.
Today when I left him he kept crying int h car itself and would not let me go..let's se ehow today is :(

I think I did a good job

So today the FIL left. Sadly I could not go to the airport as office is far from there and would take lots of time back and forth.
So it was one month of cooking for me non-stop. I really appreciate and wonder how the ladies manage home and jobs and father's, mother's, in-laws, brothers,sisters in short the entire hosuehold.
I keep wondering how the ladies in Mumbai cook food, leave early to catch the train and return alte at night and still manage to cook dinner + take care of the kids etc, really hatos off to them.
I had a good tiem cooking, 1st experience for me to make all 3 square meals but boy was it tough with the job and sometime food did not taste all that great also.
But all in all I did manage to cook 3 meals- all different varieties for a month.
Now I need a long long break from everything :)

Babies crying are noise for some and heart-breaks for some

It is strange how when we hear kids crying as in not screaming but even crying we really might glance do an Ohhhhhhhhhh and walk away, until it is your own kid that cries and all you hear is your own heart-breaking.
Yup, i say this because my baby started day-care this week and he cries when I leave him and the whole day I can do nothing more than just think about him. My heart-breaks a thousand times from when I leave him till when I know he has been picked and at home.
Even before I started I heard so many parents tell- my baby cried for 2 weeks, every time I drop off, he cries, I nod my head, just listening really coz I dont realize how they feel until I have to leave my own and he cries and I can melt down in tears too any time soon.
God, give him the capability to get adjusted to his new surrondings and me the strength to bear with his transition.

May 4th - Menu

Breakfast - Bread Toast
Lunch - Rice + Sambhar
Dinner - Rice + Fish Curry

May 3rd - Menu

Previous days were:

Cabbage Sabji
Potato Sabji
Black Chana
Pulav
Mota dosai


1st May 2011
Fried Rice for breakfast
Chapati + Cauliflower for lunch
Idli for dinner


2nd May 2011
Chapati + Lady's Finger for breakfast
Rice + Rasam for lunch
Tomato Rice for dinner


3rd MAy 2011
Today morning was upma for breakfast.
Lemon Rice + Curd for lunch
Chapati + Beetroot + Egg Buji for dinner

Dear Dad - my Hero!

As a baby I do not remember much about you except for the family lunch on Sundays. I knew you travelled 25 kms daily for work leaving at 6am and returning only at night.
But I do remember the wonderful stories that you told me and Chechi every night.

It was only once we moved to Dehuroad that I remember the times with you.
Now that we had to travel to school 25 kms by train you would come with us everyday morning, put us in the rickshaw and then travel all the way back to go to work.
I dont remember how many days you did this, but then we had other girls travelling the same way so you could stop the tedious journey you made everyday.

I remember how when you got new clothes stitched I would first wear your shirt and pant and only then you would wear it. For me my Dady was the one person on this earth who would do no wrong and would never lie. Infact during Xmas functions when you had drinks with friends I never thought drinking could be wrong in any way. Infact if dady did it then even I could drink and I remember taking small sips from your glass and you never stopped me which leads me to have this blinded faith on you. But I do remember how you scolded me once when I had a sip with one of the cousins telling that I could take a drink only and only if you were around.

I remember how every summer vacation you would make it a point to take us out for vacations, not many parents did it at that time and we went to Mysore, ooty, chennai, Delhi, how when we went for vacations to Kerala you would write long letters, how when I sometimes fought with Mommy, you would try to patch things between us, how when you told me that I am the most beautiful girl in this world I beamed with joy and when you told me you loved me more than Chechi I was and still am beaming from inside.

I remember how when I would loose something mom would go on yelling but you would be super cool about it whether it be a new bag, new umbrella or even a gold ring. I remember how you would call me "Princess" and "Lovely", those words wew music to my ears.

I am amazed at the wonderful memory you have and the knowledge that you have about everything and how you can talk about it (though sometimes I get bored). I know you wanted one of us to become a doctor and one an IAS officer which we both did not do but hope we have been successful in you being proud of us.

I am indeed thankful that all the confidence in life that I have got is because of how you have brought me up.
Love you Daddy,
Your's little girl.

Life is Beautiful

This was a very though provoking post put by Preeti and I had to do my part in linking her post here


There is so much more in life to live for. Never ever think about giving up the Beautiful Life God is provided you.

My baby is coming back

Yes, another 10 days and my baby will be back in US. I can see him walk, talk, run, smile, shout, scream and yes I can do all the silly things that I wanted to always do with him.
But along with all these thoughts is a sense of fear. He is coming along with his grandpa, Grandpa will leave after a month. Within that time he has to get adjusted to us, the new house, the new city, the new weather and worst of all,the one that I am truly scard of is- a new day care.
I hope he settles well over here.

Hope my baby enjoys
And plays with
Lots and lots of toys

Hope my baby smiles
Spreading happiness
Across miles

Hope my baby dances
Trying out new steps
in balance

A comment to a Post

Here is a link to Preeti's post Marriage and Freedom

I started writing my comment to her post and realized that it was a topic which struck home and there was so much to write that I thought I should blog about it.
Preeti--A very realistic and thought provoking topic indeed.

My thoughts about freedom after marriage was totally as Preeti described, having ones own space and indeed I have been very lucky to have a very trusting husband indeed. He never cares for my passwords or emails, he has no problems with me hanging out with other guys.I also happened to be friends with my exes because well I really believe in the institution of friendship. Now unfortunately for me sometimes the exes dwell about the past..some remark here and there which I really don't care about much, and since it is really not important to me I just ignore the comment without telling them not to talk like that to a married women, but an incident occurred which nearly led to my loosing hubby's trust and that led me thinking, "Is it worth risking your life, your happiness having such friends", "Would they like it if someone spoke to their wives in the same way". I mean my husband is the guy who married me when they did not and not because he was madly in love with me but because he considered me his BEST FRIEND. A friend whom he wanted to help, so is it not better to stop talking to these so called friends rather than risking my marriage for this.
Or else who knows, I just pick wrong friends :)

April 2nd 2011 - India wins the World Cup

Today the Indian Cricket Team won the World Cup under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I simply love the guy and the reason I love him is because of his down to earth nature and his ability to remain cool in all situations.
Since we are in the US, the match that starts in India at 2:30 pm will start for us at 4:00 am in the morning. I have not followed any match of the WorldCup except for some highlights here and there.
This being the finals hubby and friends decided to watch in on the projector at their place. He got up in the morning and was making so much of noise that my sleep too vanished and I joined him.
Initially Srilanka played really well to put a good score of 274/6 in thier alloted 50 overs.
During the break we came home and after refreshing ourselves we went again to watch India innings. They were reeling at 32-2 and then there was a great comeback by the rest of the team. We cheered at every run and boundary that was taken by the Indian team. Finally Dhoni hit a huge six to take India to victory and bring the cup to our nation.
You did us proud Indian team. Let the party continue.

Happy 3 year wedding Anniversary

Yes, it has been 3 years since I officially got married to the guy I did not fall head over heels in love at first sight :) but has gradually grown over the years.
And yes I truly cherish what a wonderful person he is simply beacuse "He married me"
I have written about my wedding here and about my first Wedding anniversary here
The second year we had our Baby and parents at home, so not much celebrations, well this year i was not expecting anything but Surprise..........
I got a necklace with a very beautiful pendant which I am wearing right now.

Lazy Sunday Morning

oooooooooooooooooooh- I have been getting these shoulder aches fro quite some time now, so finally I decided to go to a chiropracter. I took an appointment for this Friday but at the last minute on talking to one of my friends changed my mind and decided to get a good massage.
So I had a coupon to one of the massage places but they were not open on the week-ends and so I thought I would take an appt on Monday.
Then on Sunday morning I realized I had another massage place near home which was open on Sundays, so I called them and as they were totally booked on Sundays took an appt on Monday.
Now as all this was happening hubby dear got into the mood and mentioned he would like to give me a free massage, well what more could I ask.
SO he goggled on You tube for some good techniques, set up the table, warmed the oil and gave me a good and proper full body massage.
What a heavenly way to start a Sunday morning.
Truly blessed. :)

Do I miss my baby?

Here is how the conversation with other mommies go?
Mom: How is your son?
Me: good
Mom: U must be missing him na?
Me: uhhh-ah--not really, all the time in my mind I know she is expecting an answer like --ofcourse I do, so much...........

**********************************************************
Does that mean I don't love my son? Well no, it just means that I live in the present.
I give my time and attention to the person i am with currently in this case my hubby, yes I know my baby is happy where he is and soon we will be together but until then we both will have to wait.
Even when I am at my parents place I will spend time with them, not talk over the phone with friends or browse for long hours on the computer, all that is a big No - No for me.
When I am with friends I will be with them talking and joking or whatever it is we are doing together, you wont find me on ph with my hubby (if he does not happen to be there at the moment)
So you do get the drift ............and I would like it if others remain like that with me as well, not checking over thier cell or attending other calls when I am there.

Bored of the same routine

Winters in US are very boring. First thing is the weather which depresses you to no end. Second is the cold brrrrrrrrrrr..you don't want to go out anywhere in this snowy weather.
My daily routine is changed to office- home- episodes of Prison Break ..gym..cooking..movie and sleep.
Thanks God for gym which gives me a good boost in the evenings and prevents me from feeling lethargic.
An addition to our evenings has been the series Prison Break. Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an elaborate plan to help his brother escape prison.

The first series was so suspense filled, adrenaline pumping, nail biting, could not figure out "What's Next"..by the 2nd series I was getting a little pissed off that it got way too much attention from my hubby :) yes things like this can piss me off to no end, by the 3rd series I wanted to strangle the main characters with my own hands, in fact I even decided to stop watching it but none the else..continued on and the 4th series it turned to a comedy one, hubby and I keep laughing at all the fake seriousness around. 4 more episodes and will be done with this one, then we intend to start on LOST ..another American sitcom...:)

An alphabet Meme

I got to see this first at Preeti's blog and the original is from Sunday Stealing

So let me plunge into it........

A is for Age:
Yooooooooooooo-hoooooooooooooo
I am thirty-two



B is for Beer of choice:
Taj Mahal - which I used to have with my Uncle :)


C is for Career:
System Analyst



D is for favourite Drink:
Do you remember - Gold Spot- The Zing Thing..will always remain my favorite Drink


E is for Essential item you use everyday:
Kajal for my eyes



F is for Favourite song at the moment:
Kithne bhi tu karle sitam...hans hans ke sehenge hum,...yeh pyaar na hongaaaaaaaaaaaa kum
Sanam Teri Kasam

G is for favourite Game:
Playing Cards: Rammi



H is for Home town:
My 2 favorites: Kerala and Dehuroad, Pune




I is for Instruments you play:
Tried the guitar but not an accomplished player



J is for favourite Juice: Pineapple



K is for Kids: My one and only baby boy



L is for Last kiss: Last nite from hubby



M is for marriage: Enjoying till date



N is for full Name:Seema Gopalan




O is for Overnight hospital stays:20 years back for a surgery and last year when my baby boy was born

P is for phobias:Dark



Q is for quote: The Best is yet to come

R is for biggest Regret: I really do not have much regrets in life but there is this one guy whom I wish i had not befriended much

S is for sports:Volleyball



T is for Time you wake up: 9:15 or later :)



U is for colour of underwear:Maroooooooooooon

V is for Vegetable you love:Brocolli



W is for Worst Habit:Lazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy



X is for X-rays you've had:For Dental definitely

Y is for Yummy food you make:Fish, Mutton Curry

Z is for zodiac sign:Taurus