The Year That Was - 2012

Me and Ritvik had just returned form a month and half vacation from India to welcome the New year. Back to work and day-care routine. Had guests for dinner almost every other week-end of Jan and Feb.
The one thing I am really grateful this year is that we never visited the doctor for Ritvik. "Touchwood", no ear-pains. He did have the cold 2 times but nothing major.
For that matter, me , Gopi and MIL got strep infection and I had the cough for a long time, still coughing now.
March we had BIL,SIL coming to stay with us. Suddenly my privacy was invaded and it is not something I liked. I will have to re-think about staying in a joint family. We did move to a 2 BHK again this year.
May onwards summer started and we had lot of outings with friends, infact so much that my blogging took a break. We went camping, water-parks,beaches,water-tubing,volleyball matches(which our boys won),fall colors. We also started playing cards regularlyon the week-ends.
Oct-Nov was Diwali and Ritzu's bday celebrations and finally we come to December.
It has been a great year with friends.

Let's see what the next year has in store!.

Wishlist Wednesdays 3

Here we are with the 3rd post for Wishlist Wednesdays. For more details visit Preeti's blog here

The writing prompt for today is
The one thing that I wish everyone would learn is................. 

And my answer is The Patience To Listen.

We always interact with people and we always talk, no one cares for listening. I have seen so many instances in a group of friends that when one person is addressing the whole group--2 or 3 ppl will start talking among themselves. Even when 2 friends are talking and if the other person is distracted for some reason (like pacify a crying child or attend a phone call), they just forget what they were talking about and do not bother to pick the conversation from there, maybe the other person was telling something that was bothering him/her.

Basically we as individuals do not have the patience to let the other person to complete talking, we want to butt in and contradict or point our views immediately.

So the one thing I wish that everyone would listen, understand and talk after the other person completes.

"Only when you lisen will you be heard"

Wishlist Wednesdays -2

This week's prompt is
My one wish that came true and gave me immense joy....


For more details hop to Preeti's blog here

Banner of her new book placed below

Before I go into my wish I have to give some background information.
Back in those days when we were kids and travelling in a plane was not as frequent or accessible as it is today my mom would always tell us(me and my sister) , "When you grow up and get a job I want you to take me in a flight just one time, even if it is for a short  distance from Pune to Mumbai."
My parents are also great travel freaks. Every alternate summer vacations we visited different states in India.
When I first  visited US (a short duration of 6 weeks) they told me , do not even think of saving any money just go and visit all the places that you want to see. I was so thrilled to have visited US that I decided that the next time I am here I will definitely get my parents.

End of background information.
May 2005, I visited US again and I immediately asked my parents to get thier passports and visas stamped. They got their visa work done on Aug 29th 2005 and I booked their tickets for travel to JFK airport on Sept11th 2005.
And as you must have guessed it was my mom & dad's(M&D)  first flight journey. Their flight was from Mumbai-->Heathrow -->JFK.

While their flight was landing at Heathrow airport it got hit by a bird and after landing it was stalled. All passengers were accomodated in another flight to Chicago. M&D had some trouble finding the new gate and they were the last ones to reach.

The flight attendent said they did not have place for two passengers, my dad argued that they had to travel by this flight (as it is they were delayed and his daughter i.e me would be waiting at the airport with no news etc etc, how I spent tense moments  time at JFK is a different post altogether), and so they were accomodated in Business Class. It was a real luxury flight for them to Chicago and then they had to take a domestic flight to JFK, so my mom had a really really long first flight journey and they reached JFK after midnight(the correct time is 3 pm).

At this late hour there was no buses or trains to get us to Stamford CT, but fortunately at that time of the night there were  lot of limo riders who would take you to your destination at a nominal price. I paid that fare and my parents were taken to my apartment in a real limousine. We had the luxury of sitting in cushioned seats with our own bar(which we apparently did not use).

During their trip to US, one of the days we decided to visit New York. We took a train to Grand Central, as we were leaving we saw a huge crowd and realized there was a shooting going on. On looking closer it turned out to be a Bollywood film "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna". My mom was overjoyed to see SRK and Karan Johar at so close quarters. Rani Mukherjee was like 5 steps away from where she was standing. I doubt we could get so close to them if we went for a show in India.

On the same trip to NY, my dad wanted to visit the UN headquarters in NY, ppl visited NY to visit the Statue of Liberty, Times Square but my dad wanted to also see this. I had no clue the UN Headquarters was  in NY, anyway I noted the address and we went in search of it by Streets & Avenue(that is how everything is arranged in NY). We were getting no-where and as it was getting late, we decided to try for 5 more minutes before departing, as we turned another corner we saw a building with all the nation's flag flying. My dad was beyond pleased, and after clicking pictures we all happily returned home.

Mom is a Hindi movie bluff and in movies they always showed the flight landing in the runaway, steps would be bought up to the flight and all passengers got down and walked till the airport. It happens for domestic planes but as theirs was an international flight and they always took off and landed directly at the gates, she felt she missed out on that part.
Luckily for us when we visited Orlando, we landed at a small domestic airport and they did exactly what they do there, stop the flight in the runaway  get the steps and we walked till the airport, her that wish too coming true.

They left for India after a super vacation of 2 months.

So my wish was for my mom to fly and both my parents to visit US and Yes, that came true and gave me immense joy.

Alphabetically Mine

Taken as a tag from Nancy's Post here

Appam and Potato Stew is what I made for Dinner last night(after a long time)

Bowling -we went this week-end. Ritvik enjoyed, later, he even danced on one of the songs.

Cakes is what I have to cook for the brunch on the 22nd Saturday. Thinking of getting creative and making cupcakes with icing(thoughts still in progress)

Dis tag got stuck with 5 alphabets to go, cant get anything in my head for them.

Exercise routine is to walk in the party-hall for half-hr.

Fairies--if they were true, it would be so beautiful to see them.

Got complimented today that I am looking good and have lost weight(Irony coz my jeans have become tight)

Husbands in Goa is the latest Malu flick I watched. Quite fun!

I googled yesterday to find if the World will really end on Dec21st 2012.

Jhatkas and matkas are of interest these days, I wish i could dance all day long

Karela curry with cocnut milk is today's dinner receipe. Let's see how it turns out.

Lazy to go to the gym.

My first view of the snow for this year happened 2 years back and it is still as beautiful as the first time.

Need to go for a holiday to some other country maybe Puerto Rico

O ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo as I have nothing for ooooooooooooo

Planning whether we should have a 2nd baby now or wait for another 6 months.

Quilling is my new hobby and Yes, I learnt it for the chart decoration I did. Should post those pictures here.

Ritvik is getting independent day by day. Does most of his stuff himself.

Sister-in-law's parents are coming here in another 10 days.

The new Canon SLR camera we got is in the box.

Uska muhurat abhi aaya nahin.

V are still waiting when hubby dear will make use of it and click some of our good pictures.

Waiting for my parcel of dresses to come from India. I hope I get everything that my parents got.

X'mas will soon be here and we will have some holidays.

Y this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

Zis is the end to the tag.

P.s: Will try to add pictures later.

The (Secret) Wishlist Wednesdays Writing Prompt

My favorite person in the blog world has started this writing prompt 'Wishlist Wednesdays' for her fourth book release 'The Secret WishList' (banner attached below).

Go to her blog here to know more.

The creative prompt for today is


The three things I badly wish I could have are..................................

1) The patience to take things to completion. The willpower to complete things. Basically my problem is that I am very enthusiastic to start things , I have many ideas in my mind and I even start them with confidence but as time passes I loose the enthusiasm to work on them. So I badly want the willpower to take things to a logical conclusion.

2) To be happy for others from the start. So basically when someone gets a new home(Something that I could afford but did not think about) then my initial reaction is Why,not me? but later on I accept it and am happy for them. Or else if a neighbour did not invite me for their babyshower/birthday, again Why, not me? but later I can accept that it's okay. I wish badly that I do not get those thoughtas initially itself but be happy for others.

3) To show love and affection unashamedly to all my near , dear ones and friends.
Again , I want to do so much which is all in my mind but do not come out in a timely manner and then that moment passes and they never know how much I truly care.

I think I am getting old, no materialistic things at all but I believe this is what will make me happy.

A different perspective

Have to put this down for recording
Fri night we decided to go out fo rdinner, Our family, Bro-in-law fmly and 1 another fmly. We were totally run out of groceries and after dropping them at the restaurant I went to the nearby Rainbow supermarket(Note: We do not normally go here) to get some stuff.

While returning Ritvik enters the car and sees milk and groceries and is surprised how it came there.

R: How did this get here Amma
A: arre, I went to Rainbow and got milk and veggies
R: Eh......?
A: I went to Rainbow and got milk and veggies
R: Ehhhh......
A: (Repeating slowly) Amma went to Rainbow and got milk and veggies
R: Eh.?
A: (Now irritated) Arre baba , how many times to tell, Amma went to Rainbow and got milk and veggies

R: (A very confused face)..but Amma, eppadi nee evvlo mele poi idh kondh vanu?
Translation: but Amma, how did you go so much on top and get these things.

i am still laughing thinking of the conversation.

Happy Birthday Ritvik

12th November 2012 - My baby turns 3 today. How time flies. I still remember the small tiny baby who was placed in my arms 3 years back.
Now he talks, fights with me, hugs me, kisses me, takes care of me, yells at me and does everything a 3 year is supposed to do.

Luv you my bumble-pie.
We had a birthday party for him on the 10th Nov 2012 which was a Super-hit.
Food menu was Gobi Manchurian, Veg Noodles, Jeera-Pulav Rice, Chicken Curry,Veg Kadai and Kulfi.

The "Just Married, Please Excuse " Contest

This is my entry to the 'Just Married, Please Excuse' Contest.
You can find more details here.

Me & G got only a 2 week vacation for our wedding. Those 2 weeks went by in a haze with visitng relatives, temples etc. Before we knew it we were back in Mumbai.
Since we both have no relatives in Mumbai it is only us staying in a rented apartment.

We decided to take a long week-end honeymoon to Goa (that being the nearest destination). Our train tickets were booked for January 26th(National Holiday). Since the train was to depart at dawn we reached Dadar station by the last train from Borivali which was sometime at midnite. With just both of us there we idled away time by chatting, watching passerby's.
Sometime later I felt the urge to pee. Since I did not want to use the railway toilet and there was an empty passenger train waiting on the platform we were sitting I decided to use it. G went to get some water and I went in the train. As soon as I entered the loo I felt a slight jerk, since I was midway I couldn't stop my business and had to complete it, after which they tying of the nada on the salwar took some time and soon I realized the train was in motion.
I quickly came near the door to see the train leaving the platform, I have my fears of jumping from a moving train(however slow) and just froze. G was no-where to be seen. Thankfully for me the train was just being taken to the shed. I had to walk back all the way to the platform.
For G it was another story when he came back and saw the train moving away. He had fears of honeymooning alone and ran behind the train to rescue his wife(so he says).

We still laugh about this incident when we recite it to others.

The story does not end here. We were waiting for the train to get in an get some rest and do some cootchycooing enroute to Goa. Before long our train arrived, the door to almost all the  berths was closed from inside. We(along with other passengers) were frantic, running across trying the handles of the doors, no one opened. Soon a TicketChecker walked by , on telling him our plight he just shook his head and walked by.
Soon we found one door opened and squeezed in, the train was packed, so much that there was no place to keep even a single step.
 Someone later mentioned that on National Holidays one can travel free on trains, I do not know how true it is but it is certainly a bad day for honeymooners.

There was not even an inch to turn around, even the bathrooms were packed with people(I silently thanked God that I had gone earlier).We somehow pushed and squeezed and I am not sure how many men I brushed against or held hands to be pulled through one inch of space. Finally we reached our seats which was occupied by 5 people, after showing them our tickets we managed to get seats to sit. It was next day at 10 or 11 at some station where 80% of this crowd got out.  Soon our station too came and we gladly got out of the train and to the hotel for some rest.

We still remember this incident when people talk about their honey-moon.

This post is dedicated to Nancy from Reflections.
If you have not yet visited her blog do so, it is a total fun - ride.
Thanks for checking on me Nancy.

On Birthdays and other Celebrations

I always loved the month of May. It was summer vacations and more importantly it was my birthday month. The month started with my birthday. Hubby woke me up at 12:00 to wish me and then presented me with a beautiful golden plated bracelet cum watch. BIL game me another watch and I got 2 tops from SIL.

Next day evening we invited a few friends over for the cake cutting. It was a delicious milk cake. Friends came over, got lovely tulips from Gaya3, a mirror from Priya, mouthwatering pie from Nilakshi, a wind chime from Hazelene, a rose flower pot from Vidya & Kavitha and also a pair of shoes from hubby.
Next day got a courier delivered gift from parents and sister.  Enjoyed the whole day.

May5th &6th week-end.  May5th we had a birthday party at our party-hall and 6th we all went to Como Zoo.

May 12th & 13th week-end. We all went to Rose Garden @Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun.

May 19th & 20th week-end. Saturday we all went to Bryant park. We had a pot-luck get together for one of our friends who were returning to India. After the yummy lunch we played volley-ball and ended the day by splashing about in the lake.
May20th- Me and G went out for dinner with another couple who were leaving for India. We went to this beautiful Thai restaurant Tum Rum Thai, had loads of good food, talks and fun.

May26th - 28th. We had a long week-end holiday. Saturday we had to attend 2 birthday parties, one at the bowling Zone and one at a indoor park for kids. Ritvik had fun in both the places. Sun we went to Lilliput, the kids had fun doing the Go-Karts and the Bumper Boats. Mon, we had lunch at a friends palce, played cards and evening rested at home.

(Will post pics soon)

SPIDERMAN Craze

SO my 2 1/2 year old toddler is crazy about Toy Story Characters, Cars2 toys(Lightening McQueen especially), the entire lot of Mickey Mouse but his obsession with Spiderman runs another course of it's own.



I still do not remember when and how it started. When he was about 20 months old we would show him nursery rhymes etc on YouTube. After sometime he got bored of that and while I was browsing I came across the Spiderman theme song (which would come on DD over the week-ends). It was one of our favorite serials to watch. yes, yes, even I was in love with Spiderman unlike Superman and the rest.


So he watched the theme song again and again and then during his nightly story time routine his dad got in the Spiderman character to make the stories more entertaining. One thing led to another and soon he would be imitating spinning a web like Spidey and trying to fly like Spidey. His dad got him Spiderman stickers, we asked what cake he wanted for his 2nd birthday and the reply was immediate - Spiderman.

The craze just increased even when we went to India (for BIL's wedding). We went to a shoe shop to buy some shoes for me and I happened to loiter around the kids section as I had forgotten to get Ritvik's home wear sandals. Not finding anything good there I moved to the womens section, after sometime I see Ritz coming out with his uncle wearing a blue and red gaudy crocs. Turned out to be Spiderman crocs, the minute he saw it, he removed his shoes and wore those. Grandparents conveniently bought it for him.


After returning from India he asked for Spiderman watch (he got 2 of them), he has 2 Spiderman t-shirts and if he had his way- he would wear them all 7 days. He even has Spiderman undies(well, I got these for him).


Everyone in our apartment calls him Spiderman, for birthdays he gets Spiderman as return gifts in a Spiderman gift bag.


The stories we tell have to have Spiderman as the main character, so when I recite Cindrella it is not fairy God- mother who gave her the carriage and dress but you guessed it Right- Spiderman.Little Red Riding Hood is not saved by the woodcutter but by Spiderman who comes and kills the wolf.



So Mr Spiderman wherever you are, you have one super crazy fan in my SON.
 

Blast from the Past

This months topic among the group was suggested by Your's Truly :) and it was "To write a letter to your 20 year old self letting him/her know how you turned out to be" ofcourse a touch oh humour is always welcome.


So here goes my version of it.

My dear 20year old self,

I am indeed proud to tell you that even today, you are the cool- headed person you used to be, nothing much affects that thick skin of yours. You still leave everything to the last minute and believe that whatever happens, happens for the best.


Now for some blast from the plast

You should have really listened to Mom when she told you to keep your clothes and books neatly, if you would have done it then , you would have done it now. Unfortunately for your hubby, you still remain the messy kind, though nowadays I do see you making an effort to keep your room and kitchen tidy. And No, you still do not iron your clothes.


As for managing your home and cooking, you always were confident you could manage it when the time came and yes, you do! No complaints so far. You still like to try out new receipes and has not yet got bored of cooking.


Sadly, you did not have an arranged marriage like you hoped and not even to a Malu, infact it is to a guy with whom you converse in Hindi(so much for expecting to marry a guy with whom you would talk in Malayalam or English) and all that talks with friends about how we don't care how the guy looks, he should be able to talk good, your guy doesn't talk much but he does cook some awfully mouth-watering dishes and helps you with everything.That one-headed monster named Jealousy has not been showing its head for a long time and thats good. You have a baby boy and you love him a lot, I know how you were so Women oriented and against all boys but he's a darling!


You should have done your Masters in English like how Dad told you to because nowadays you are trying to see if there are Online Courses on Creative Writing(Irony of Life). But you wanted to do anything related to Computers to get a chance to come to USA and yes, that gets fulfilled. You came to US not once but couple of time, infact I am writing this in an office from this country. You did not have to waste time looking up those proposals where those Malu guys were in US because you know what, you made it on your own. Those big big companies like TCS, Infosys which initially took only Engineers considered taking associates with Masters and nowadays they take candidates with BSC degree, so you would have eventually made it there!


How you hated dancing and still remember Mommy having to coax you to take part in those yearly Onam functions, well guess what things CHANGE and how, you love dancing so much that while in Mumbai, you even enrolled for western dance class. Infact nowadays you are on the look-out of any opportunity to shake your leg or anybody else's for that matter.


Friends - You never did have any many girl-friends anyways, school friends with whom you are still in touch with and your 1 best friend, with whom you hardly talk all year what with she being in India and different time-zone and all but you both know you an just start a conversation when you meet.
As for guys , you always prided on being good friends with those few guys on whom you had crushes or vice-versa but let me tell you, that eventually you will end up stop talking to them because they still hit on you and it's really not very decent.


And yes, those pimples of yours does stop appearing after you turn 30+, so still a long way for you to live with them.

Some key accomplishments you did manage to make till now!
1) Come to US and travel to almost all major spots
2) Get parents to US
3) Get Married and have a baby
4) No longer skinny


I hope when you write a letter to your 40 year old self your accomplishments inlude more than this like working for an NGO, written a book, gone back to 140 pounds etc but till then Have Fun!After all you have only One Life!

Attached or Unattached Emotions

This April 27th will mark the completion of 1 complete year after Ritvik and me are together. We had send him to India for 6 months during the winter and it was last year April 27th 2011 that he returned back to us with his grandpa.
From the time, he was in India he was very much attached to my FIL, sleeping, eating, my FIL had to be there everytime and once he goes to him, he wouldn't go to anyone else.
FIL was going to be with us for a month and then fly back to India.

The transition period started immediately, Ritvik got friendly to us immediately but night times, he wanted to sleep with his grandpa. We slept in the bedroom whereas FIL slept in the front room, so middle of the nite, when Ritzu woke up and did not see his grandpa he would cry till either his grandpa came to him or he himself would walk out to the front-room. In the evenings he would play with us but the minute it was 8 he wanted his grandpa. Gopi was as usual tensed at how we would manage when his dad left. I was too tired from home and office work to think much and was not going to get worried over this and spoil my sleep. He was my son and he would cry for 1 week after FIL left but I knew I could manage then. G even once told me that I was not doing anything to help when baby cried at night. Well, what could I do, it is not like we are living in a 2 level house with FIL sleeping downstairs or something , he was just 5 steps away from us. I told G, once he leaves we will manage but he was not convinced. The attachment of Ritzu to his grandpa started getting more as the day approached for him to leave, G even suggested asking his Dad to sleep at a friends palce for 2 nights. I talked him out of it, did not know what that was going to achieve, Ritvik would only get more cranky after the 2 days.
The day before he left FIL got all upset as to how we would manage after he left, Ritvik would cry for him and no one would be there, there were tears in his eyes. I felt bad too  but I reassured him, that yes with all this attachment he would cry for 4-5 days but then he would be fine.

Finally the day arrived for FIL to leave, I asked G to take Ritvik to the airport and show him his grandpa leaving as it would be easy to explain when he would later cry or ask for him. They left him at 1 and returned home. I reached by 4 to see Ritvik playing with G(being his usual self), he played, eat his food, slept, did not wake up at night and early in the morning he did not walk out in the front room like he did for the past month but just played with us on the bed and continued his day.
He never once asked or cried for his grandpa, he just blended into life with us.

I felt sad for my FIL , did my son not care or did he understand so much at a young age. I am still amazed at how he did not ask for him even once after he left, but another feeling sunk in, maybe my son will be Happy wherever he is.

And then I am this

13th April 2012:- Once again, we @Broadmoor decided to have a get-together to celebrate the Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali and Kerala New Year. Friday, April 13th was decided as the day for the dhamaka nite.

Recently when I went to India Ritvik had got a silk mundu,shirt and I could not see any occasion to put this on him until he outgrows it, so being one of the organizers for the event I insisted on a Fancy Dress Show for the kids.I could dress Ritzu as a Tamil/Malu groom(no need of purchasing any costume, no hard work, the devil in me grinned).We informed all parents only 10 days in advance and all were pretty enthusiastic about it. 

Being part of the  committee of three I was busy in getting food/games arrangements.

Four days before the event  one of the mommies asked what Ritvik was to become and I said ,"Aaaah..ummmmm..not decided"(I did not what to give his outfit out) and she suggested asking him for suggestions. Well, if I did that, i already knew the answer, I thought. SPIDERMAAAAAAAAAAAAAN, it would be. Anyway out of curiosity at night while putting him to sleep I did ask him and he replid, "Easter bunny,amma". Hmmm, if he wanted to become a Easter bunny, I could atleast try to get him a costume. Next day I googled on how to make a Easter bunny costume(am totally against buying a readymade costume), I did find one site but the whole process would take a week and involved stitching as well. While googling for this I did come upon a easy way of making a sheep costume. So evening the conversation goes like this to Ritvik.

"Easter bunny is difficult to make", what about a sheep?

"No amma, no sheep"

"But sheep is good, you could go onstage and say "Baa Baa, black Sheep"

"No amma"

"Ok, then what else can you become"

"Amma, man with the yellow hat" (For those who don't have toddlers, this is Curious George and his friend, the man with the yellow hat". Link is here.

Ahaaa, this was interesting and doable and different. (I also had my backup costume, in case this did not work out)

I was encouraged and said he would look great in it.

So again the next day I googled for the man with the yellow hat costume and again came upon some pretty interesting links. Since Ritvik did not have a yellow shirt/pant, I would have to get a white shirt and pant and dye it. He already had boots and a belt. I would have to make the hat and tie.

 I ran the idea by hubby who said it would be easier to just buy the hat or else go with the sheep costume.

 Next day morning I again tried convincing him to be a sheep but all the encouragement the previous night went to his head, he flatly refused.So Thursday morning I ran the idea by Sandhya and she said it was doable, so we went shopping@Micheals and got the yellow dye, the paper for cardboard, black felt, satin ribbon and glue.

Friday morning Sandhya started work on the hat and tie and it came out beautiful. Evening when he returned from day-care Ritzu was so excited to see the hat, he was even ready to take bath right away.

So, all of you who managed to read this post here is the The Man With The Yellow Hat and he did have a kutti George Monkey to accompany him.

The Power Within Me

This month’s topic among the group was chosen as


“Given a chance, the power /sixth sense I would like to have & why.”


It does sound like a Beauty Pageant question and if I was a contestant my immediate answer would be world peace, Erradication of poverty, stop global warming etc.


Well, I am not participating in any contest and so I wanted to write about something which is much more practical. The answer came to me in one of my evening walks.


It so happened that 2 weeks back Minnesota which is know for its harsh winters had a beautiful weather on a Friday evening. The weather was perfect to go out to the park (when you have a toddler you don’t think beyond this). I picked Ritvik from the day care and eagerly awaited G to return from office to go out. G came, sat on the sofa with his cup of tea, said he had a head-ache and wanted some quite time. Soon after he got a call and immediately informed me that he was going out to play volley-ball. I was furious, here I was waiting for him so that all three of us could go out and he did not even bother. I think he understood my anger from my grumpy face and took Ritvik with him as well.


With baby & hubby gone, I decided to take a walk by the lake. There is a short route and a long route . I decided to take the long route and walk at such a slow pace that I would reach home only by 9 or maybe take 2 rounds and reach home even later. G would probably get a little tensed on not seeing me, I hoped. As I don’t carry a cell it is impossible to reach me, so I started my walk with all these evil intentions in my mind. I was halfway on the long route when I suddenly felt a little pain in my stomach. There was a bench few feet ahead and I took some rest there. Once I felt well I started walking and again that same feeling in my stomach, oh oh, it was then that I realized, what I was undergoing was Nature’s call, not to pee but to poop.


As soon as the realization hit I who intended to walk the slowest, walked the fastest that evening. The only prayer I kept repeating was God, please save me from any embarrassment. At one time I even thought of squatting in the bushes but this was not India and maybe someone would call 911 on seeing a butt naked lady in the bushes.I asked God to forgive me for my evil intentions to hurt G and the Power to Control. I literally ran past the stairs and dashed into the restroom.

This is a true incident and I immediately knew that I would want to have the Power to Control Nature’s Call.

I remember so many time in India when we would have to go to dirty/stenchy toilets, if only I had the Power I could always do it in my home.How many times have we drank so much water at lunch that in the meeting afterwards you want to pee so bad and crossing and uncrossing your legs also does not help.


Oh Lord! I would want the Power to Control Nature’s Call.

Mushroom Biryani

Ingredients:-
Wash and soak rice (preferably basmati) in water for at least half hour.
Cut and slice onions thinly and fry them in oil till brown.
Marinate the cut mushrooms with curd, red chilly powder, salt and turmeric powder.
Heat oil in a vessel and add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom, then add cut onions and fry slightly, next add the marinated mushrooms, salt and saute again, finally add some mint and coriander leaves.
To this add the soaked rice and mix well, and cook in a open vessel till the rice is cooked well.
Once done garnish with the fried onions.

An Award--Truly feeling lucky

A big Thanks You to Me who presented me with the Wonderful Women Blogger Award.  This Award came on Women's day and it was more special to be honored in this way.

It is really wonderful to know that atleast one person finds your writings inspiring.

Thanks a lot dear

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Wishing you a very Happy Fourth Wedding Anniversary dear hubby.

This is the year that we realized we cannot live without each other.

The Vadehi Ashram Fund Drive

I am really late at posting this and am thoroughly ashamed of it. I meant to post about it as soon as I read and gave in my contribution but blogger and IE and Google Chrome did trouble me a lot.

Yes, Yes, For some reason I cannot edit my blog at work (I think it’s the old browser’s) and spend many hours trying to get it to work but failed at all attempts. So now what I do is type my blog in a Word document and then paste it. Yes, As Simple as that.


You can find all details here
I won the Atlas Pasta machine and if you scroll down you can even see my name being held by one of the girls.
Awwwwwwwww—a big thank to you to all you lovely kids.

I definitely intend to do more for them. Do you?

Tuesday Last Prompt

The last of the Tuesday Prompts



I thoroughly enjoyed doing the whole Tuesday promots. Thanks to Preeti, she really has a way of getting you to give your best.

1. If you had Rs.50,000 to just blow up (you have to spend it on YOURSELF. Giving to Charity or buying gifts for others not allowed), what would you spend it on and why?

Wow, 50,000/- all for myself. The first thought would be to go on a vacation to an exotic location but that would definitely cost more than the money stipulated, so cancelling that one.


I would buy a Hi-tech Digital SLR camera as I really want to try out good photography. I would also try and get into some beginner class for photography that would help me understand my basics and pursue it further.


2. Name three of your closest friends (not family or spouse) and say why you love them.
Neena - My best friend. I trust her completely, if she would tell me to jump in the well for my own good, I would do that.
She is the one with whom I shared my growing up years. She is one great person to be with, beautiful, Sexy, naughty, being a comfort when you want to, saying things which hurt but are true, everything.


I love you girl


Gee - My uncle less my best friend more. Technically he is family but since i have never ever considered him as family I get to put his name here. He is one guy whom I can talk about anything in this whole world. He sense of humor is great. he can make me laugh at the silliest of things.


Luv you gee


Suj - We had been together from 2003 onwards. We have lived together and had so much of fun. She is one crazy person to be with. Love you Suj


3. Name three books which have profoundly affected you and which you would recommend to everyone to read.
The Prodigal Daughter - Jeffrey Archer.
This was my first Jeffrey Archer book and I totally loved it. it just led me to believe that nothing is impossible if you really want it.


The Great Train Robbery - Micheal Crichton
I loved this novel for its gripping suspense and element of surprise.


The Diary of a Young Girl - Ann Frank
This is the first non-fiction book that I read and loved it.

4. If you know for certain that you can never ever fail, what would you attempt to do?
Join politics and became a neta, yes yes I always wanted to do this.


5. What is THE ONE THING that you want very very badly?
To start my own Business

Through the Eyes of Innocence

Ritvik, get dressed up, I screamed from the kitchen as the hot oil sizzled and spluttered in the kadai. I was preparing my 4 yr's old special demand of lady's finger sabzi and roti while he was still dancing to the tunes of kolaveri di...

Once done with the cooking I walked to his room to get him dressed, Ritvik, dear , get dressed up quickly, else we'll be late for the dance competition.

His school was holding a dance competition titled "Beyond the Stars". It had 3 categories for the Lower School divided based on thier ages the Novice (4-6), The Petit (6-8) and The Junior (8-10). The school had send a flyer out 3 months back. All 50 kids in Ritvik's class was asked to dance on some music and about 15 were chosen.

They had regular practise sessions after school till they had their semi-finals last week from which only a lucky 5 were chosen. My Ritvik was one of them. I did not know till then that my darling baby had a hidden dancer in him. The last week was crazy juggling between work, his practise sessions, shopping for costumes,fitting size and finally today was the D-day. I was a big bundle of nervousness and exictement.

I let my husband get him ready as I rushed about doing a last minute check on everything. From the corner of my eye I could see Ritvik jumping up and down on his bed. Suddenly he stuck out two fingers at his dad. His dad playfully became a monster and pretended to eat up his fingers.

Ritvik, putting on a sad face and imitating a sad voice "But , Papa, How will I eat without my fingers" followed by giggles and then the jumping resumed. I scream once again to get both father and son dressed.

We reached the school auditorium well ahead of time. Ritvik, immediately went to play with with few of his friends who had arrived early. I went to find his teacher and gave her the make-up/costume set. My husband was assigned the task of cathing front-row seats. The make-up man arrived and the teachers send the kids to him one by one. I patiently waited at the sidelines to see if I was needed, but seeing no need for me and Ritvik being taken

good care of by his teachers I returned to the hall. It was now packed with family and friends. The first two rows were reserved for the judges who were professional dancers.They each had a score-sheet for each dance and they would award various points which would be totalled at the end to announce the overall winner.

Finally, an hour later than the scheduled time the lights dimmed and the performance began. The first set was the youngest kids. My Ritvik was 3rd in order.

As he stepped on stage, I could see him heistate to see such a huge crowd but when the music began I saw him slide and jump and do various dance moves with the classic smile on his face. He was enjoying it thoroughly, finally the music ended and he bowed. I jumped up from seat clapping hard with a small tear at my eyes.

One by one all the dance routines ended and the kids were send down to the parents before the final winner was announced in each category.

I hugged and kissed Ritvik as he came to us and told him he was the best. "Love you baby, I said and he cheerfully grinned, "Love you Amma" and sat on his Papa's lap.

Soon the host came to announce the winner of the Novice (4-6) category. My heart started beating rapidly, I held on to my husbands hand and turned to see if he was feeling the same way. I saw both father and son busy playing with the Lightning McQueen Car that he had got along and I let out a loud sigh with the biggest smile on my face.

Note: The above is a work of fiction and the entry for this month's group blog posting. The topic was to write a piece of fiction including the following prompts: A family member, a witty 4 year old kid, any food items, a finger.

Tea for two and the Tuesday Prompt

Todays prompt is to write three sentences about yourself, first sentence starting with T., second with E and third with A (as it spells TEA).

So here is my contribution
T - There is only one like me, i'm the Best
E - Everything about me oozes confidence
A - Any amount of icecream can be devoured by me at any time.

Tea for two (and a piece of cake) Tuesday No.4

Today's prompt is Can a relationship be like a tea-stain? Why or why not?

My answer to this is YES and here is the reason WHY



The beginning of a Love Relationship is the most profound thing to happen in one's life.
It is the most meaningful element that one can go through in his/her life. There is a saying, "The First time will never come a Second Time" and this my dear friend is very true.
The first time you realize you have feelings for someone and especially when those feeling are reciprocated back,you feel that you are out of this world.

You wake up in the morning with a bright smile, looking forward to meet your sweetheart,
the eagerness in your eyes to see him/her, getting each other up to date about the night's happenings, bunking college to eat out at your favorite restaurant, getting home late and then immediately calling each other.

It was as if the world was made up for you both.

And then without either of you realizing it the little small fights creep in, the pangs of being neglected, jealousy always followed by tears
is a big stain on your relationship, just like a big tea stain on your most beautiful dress. You keep trying to was the stain off but whatever you do it remains there
just like all the hurt words you used for each other that won't go away and finally one day you give up on the stain and put the dress away or keep wearing it, like how you would break-up in a relationship or just be in it:

Until finally one day, when you can hardly see the stain, similarly with time all you should remember is the good times of any relationship



Note: Tried to put a parody of tea stain and hurt in a relationship

Tea for two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays --3

Today's prompt is
There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahg, I let out a scream as I entered the room. How could he raise his voice at me, and that too for that stupid game of TT.
So he asked me to wait 5 minutes before I joined my Zumba class and I hesitated a little as I had to give the Zumba DVD to another friend. In that 5 minutes someone else grabbed his spot to play and so he fretted and fumed and raised his voice, how was I to know there would be a queue, I would have waited for 10 minutes if he would have asked politely.
Ohhhhhhhhhhh, how I hate him and that is when the teapot whistled with hot brewing tea. Tea that he had made for me to have once I return from my class. As I poured the tea in a cup and sipped it, I sighed "All's good with the world"

Tea for two Tuesday - Second One

Preeti is hosting the "Tea for two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays" as a part of the promos for her 3rd book.
You can view more here
.

Today's prompt is
" The table is set perfectly, for 'tea for two'. (and the piece of cake is ready too).  I am really looking forward to this. There is still a good half an hour left for my guest to arrive as per the  text  I just got.
I had been eagerly waiting for him since morning, checking my hair, my face every now and then. We had been introduced two months back through the Internet matrimonial site where he had seen and liked my profile(put up by my parents). Initially I was not interested in talking to him, I had broken up with C after a year long courtship and the wound was still raw. But he was persistent in his approach and kept pinging me on Y! Messenger every now and then. One day with no work in office I got chatting with him and could actually smile at the end of the day. Online chat conversations and offline messages led way to phone calls and finally today was the day we were going to meet each other.
Suddenly the door bell rings..............  I rushed to the door and opened it. Standing on my doorstep was C, my C, who had parted ways with me almost 3 months back. His reason was that on his birthday when we friends had visited his home for the first time, his parents did not like me and flatly refused to agree to our wedding. On the other hand  friends told me of how they had seen him at the movie-theatres with A. I knew he had a soft corner for A but thought all that was over when we got together.  I did not know what to believe, every night through tears I would pray to God to return my C to me, to make him realize that I was the one for him, nothing in the world was more beautiful than 'we' together. I envisioned him realizing his folly and coming to me and how I would melt in his arms, cuddle him and smother him with kisses,  and now here he was, the man of my dreams, my heart standing in front of me.

Strangely enough I felt nothing, just like that my feelings for him were over.

Hi S, he said "I just cleared the AirForce selection and will be flying to Delhi for training tomorrow". Wanted to tell you personally as you were with me during all those hours of studying and exam preparation.  Take Care, Bye, he said

"Bye" I said as I closed the door. The half-hour was almost up. I rushed once more to the mirror to check my appearance after all my guest would be coming soon.

Jan 21-22nd 2012 Week-end

G = Gopi
R = Ritzu
M = Me
This Saturday, the appt people had organized Bingo at 2pm. I was eagerly looking forward to it as in almost all the parties I am the organizer and this time I was looking to play..yaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Hubby went to do grocery shopping at 11:30, by 1:30 he had not yet returned, ufffffffff..he had promised to make sambhar for the dinner party we were having tonite, with no time Ritvik and myself eat rice, curd and pickle, hubby reached at 1:50, gave him a plate of the same thing and asked him to rush so that we can reach at 2 at the party hall.

Nov G got a new bedsheet for R and this monkey who otherwise does not want to sleep tells me -- Amma, vaangh..bed iil polaaaaaaaaaaam(Amma, come, lets go to bed). I tell him , No beta, there is a party , lets go and puts his pants and rushes both the boys out.
Luckily Bingo has not yet started, lots of prizes are kept and the tickets are free, finally we start playing and everyone around us is winning and all the prizes are going away, me &G manage to smile at how unlucky we are, when R says--Amma, appi vandache...(want to poop)..Timing, I tell you, had to immediately rush home and then clean him and it was 3 already, no point in going back, so gave him his new bedsheet and put him to sleep.
G got back winning a coffee mug and a puzzle game.

Night, we had invited soem friends over for dinner, G made sambhar, then I made potato sabji and peanut chutney, then made puris and finally made idlis. For starters amde soem strawberry milkshake. Total eeeeeeeeesh moment when I realized that 1-2 idlis were still kacha from inside, puris were just enough, I did not eat any myself,finally all left and we slept by 12:30.

Sun morning got up by 10:00, quickly made some idlis, we had to go to Sai Baba temple as ppl from our appt was doing the khana at 12:30. gave R his bath, took bath myself, then G took his bath, by the time we left home it was 12:30, when we reached temple khana was all over :(, since we already reached downtown we did grocery shopping from a Indian store, came back home by 3 and eat roti, and leftover potato bhaji and idli, tried to put R to bed, but he was not interested and so I slept and he finally napped 5-7, again slept late at nite by 12:30.

Tea for two and a piece of cake Tuesdays by Preeti Shenoy

Preeti has started the Tea for two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays! wherein you have to answer a creative prompt every tuesday until the end of February and leave a link on her post.
Preeti is a best-selling author, a very creative, inspirational,yoga enthusiastic and much much more including being a mommy to two very beautiful kids.
Attaching the banner of her 3rd book, I really loved the banner, it is so gorgeous looking

The creative prompt for today is




"If I could invite anybody for 'tea for two' today it would undoubtedly be .................................."

I pondered a lot about this, would it be parents or friends I lost touch with, or am still in touch with but have not opened our hearts out and spoken, or would it be ex-boyfriends or some celebrity and then as I looked at the title again I had the answer:-
If I could invite anybody for tea today it would be Preeti herself.

I would love to meet her personally and chat with her, Preeti being herself would surely share about how she gets ideas for her novel, her writing process, could get many ideas and in turn share mine too, chat about general things. It would be fun for sure...So Preeti, are you ready for the tea?

An Award and a Tag

I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger award by Nancy from Reflections.
Thanks a lot Nancy. It is indeed precious coz this is the first time that I have been given an award. So another round of hugs to you Nancy.
Now before I get to carried away in my pyaar let me lay out the rules for the tag.

The rules of this tag:


 Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post

 Thank the Blogger who nominated you

 Share 7 Random things about yourself

 Nominate 15 fellow Bloggers

 Inform the Bloggers of their nomination

Now to share 7 random things about myself.

1) I started doing Zumba recently. The newly gained pounds while in India was motivation enough and then the love to dance. So along with a few other girls from the apartment we have started this routine for 45 mins Mon to Thu. Hopeful to get back in shape soon

2) Yesterday was my nephew's 4th birthday. I baked some cupcakes as I had done for his 1st birthday. For his 2nd birthday he was here with us in the US and hence we could celebrate it grandly. For this 3rd birthday we had been to Hawaii and hence no cake was prepared. The cupcakes did come out very moist and spongy. Also got a new cupcake baking tray and now want to try out all different combinations of cupcakes

3)I love mangoes and so does my son. He can devour a whole mango by himself, hence what I do is cut pieces for him but try to keep more pulp near the seed and then devour the seed by myself. Cunning ain't I?? Oh, hubby does not get a single piece. I am mean in sharing good food

4) I finally won a giveaway. It is a beautiful necklace and am eagerly awaiting for it to be delivered. Will post  pictures once I receive it.

5)I got some new cookware and cutlery and glasses. Interest in cooking has now resurfaced. We even got a new plate set for Ritvik (Toy Story theme)

6) I wish I could work from home and not drive to office everyday.

7) Every Friday is swimming day. Initially when I started it was as if tsunami is arriving with water splashing all over the pool but since last week I am trying to be subtle and doing good so far.

Now to nominate 15 bloggers. I do not know so many so will nominatethe ones I read often
http://memoirsofria.blogspot.com/

http://smilethesmile.blogspot.com/

http://deepa-duraisamy.blogspot.com/

http://mytumblingthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://readingthroughrsmind.wordpress.com/

Happy Birthday Parthu

Wishing you a very Happy birthday Dear Nephew.
I can still remember that Saturday morning, 4 years back when I held you in my arms for the first time. You have grown up to be a smart, very naughty kid.
Love u.......muaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

2011 - The Year that Was!

January - Welcomed the new year by visiting a pub with friends, which we had not done for quite some time now. Did a lot of gym to reduce weight to look good in clothes that I would wear @Hawaii. Went for a week vacation to Hawaii. Started watching Prison Break and got addicted to it, would wait to arrive from office and get glued to the laptop.

February - Enjoying so called honeymoon  period with baby in India. Went snow tubing, still addicted to English sitcoms. Decided to quit TCS after 7 long years. Started job hunting and preparing for interviews. Did not get any call for the first 2 weeks but finally something clicked and got a confirmation by Feb end.

March - Applied for Premium processing for H1 visa. Anxiety if it would come in the 2 weeks time. Finally got H1 done. Joined new office. Sad about leaving old client.
Went to the casino and Gopis name was called in a lucky draw- he won $1000 Mystic Cash

April - Not liking new office, neither the commute, getting acquainted with everything and everyone, baby is back, excited to hold him in my arms after a long time, happy to hear him call me 'Amma'

May - Hectic month, bday came and went just like that,had gone to temple on bday, hubby got a ticket for speeding. Had to manage work pressure, home cooking 3 times for FIL, adjusting to baby's needs, sleepless nights, started baby in day-care, he kept crying(heart-breaks),managed to get through.

June - Baby settled in day-care, me settled in office, F-I-L left, a little less hectic, baby adjusted well here, Officially summer is here. Going out in the evenings, Ritvik making new friends and so did we.

July - Me & Baby managed to get viral infection, no one to take care, felt better to go to India, came out of it, weekends enjoying summer fun.

August - A month of celebrations as mentioned in this post

September - Tried to do a post everyday but left it mid-way. Reminder to self(should do one soon). Visited lots of fairs. Ritvik sat first time in the carasoul, merry-go-round and other rides and enjoyed it thoroughly. Broadmoor friends decided to organize a Diwali Dhoom even in October. Became in charge of Cultural Event Comittee.

October - Very busy and fun month. Meeting to discuss about Diwali Dhoom, Dance practise at nights, kids practise, oooooooooh I love being busy. Finally had the grand and successful event and then 2 weeks of birthday parties

November - My baby's 2nd birthday, making preparations, preparing for India trip, visa stamping documents, meeting office deadlines, had a gr8 birthday for Ritvik at Mall Of America, left to India on the 17th Nov, visa stamping on the nov 25th @Chennai, got the pink slip(totally lost), BIL's wedding Nov30th-Dec1st. Had fun shopping.

December - In India, wedding and after functions, got visa issued, missed hubby, wanted to get back soon. enjoyed at home(Pune), reached US 25th Dec, had New Year party and ushered in the New Year 2012

Happy New Year 2012

Wishing you all a very Happy new year 2012