जीवन की बगिया....

जीवन की बगिया महकेगी, लहकेगी हम्म......
जीवन की बगिया महकेगी, लहकेगी, चहकेगी खुशियों की कलियाँ झूमेंगी, झूलेंगी, फूलेंगी जीवन की बगिया …
वो मेरा होगा, वो सपना तेरा होगा
मिल्झुल के माँगा, वो तेरा मेरा होगा, जब जब वो मुस्कुराएगा, अपना सवेरा होगा …वो मेरा होगा, वो सपना तेरा होगा, मिल्झुल्के माँगा, वो तेरा मेरा होगा...
जब जब वो मुस्कुराएगा, अपना सवेरा होगा …थोड़ा हमारा थोड़ा तुम्हारा, आयेगा फिर से बचपन हमारा
जीवन की बगिया महकेगी, लहकेगी, चहकेगी खुशियों की कलियाँ झूमेंगी, झूलेंगी, फूलेंगी, जीवन की बगिया ॥

हम और बंधेंगे, हम तुम कुछ और भंदेंगे होगा कोई बीच, तो हम तुम और बन्देंगे बांदेगा धागा कच्चा, हम तुम तब और बंधेंगे …कुछ और बंधेंगे , हम तुम कुछ और बंधेंगे होगा कोई बीच, तो हम तुम और बंधेंगे, बांधेगा धागा कच्चा, हम तुम तब और बंधेंगे …थोड़ा हमारा थोड़ा तुम्हारा आयेगा फिर से बचपन हमारा जीवन की बगिया महकेगी, लहकेगी, चहकेगी खुशियों की कलियाँ झूमेंगी, झूलेंगी, फूलेंगी , जीवन की बगिया …


मेरा राजदुलारा, वो जीवन प्राण हमारा, फूलेगा एक फूल, खिलेगा प्यार हमारा दिन का वो सूरज होगा, रातों का चाँद सितारा मेरा राज दुलारा वो जीवन प्राण हमारा हूलेगा एक फूल, खिलेगा प्यार हमारा दिन का वो सूरज होगा, रातों का चाँद सितारा…थोड़ा हमारा थोड़ा तुम्हारा आयेगा फिर से बचपन हमारा जीवन की बगिया महकेगी, लहकेगी, चहकेगी खुशियों की कलियाँ झूमेंगी, झूलेंगी, फूलेंगिजीवान की बगिया ।

Hmmm..

My parents finally went for that check up probably the first since they have moved back to India. And as expected results were skewed. Dad has been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and mom has cholesterol. I guess with age some such things is expected. Hopefully they stick to the diet and take care.

Me being here certainly not helping!

blah!

Give, but don't expect returns is not a practical philosophy. I'd much rather believe in giving but not necessarily expecting returns from the same recipient. It will come from some least expected quarters at the time least expected.

Sulky Monday after a slow weekend. My previous week's weeknights were occupied by some negativity not personal or mine but in the neighborhood which I invited home, as I thought of doing a good deed by giving it time to heal. It healed alright but finally got bugged for lack of respect shown to me. P thinks I have a way of doing and meaning really well for others and then somehow say something or do something really stupid towards the end and ruin all the goodness I do; yes that's my very honest and overly-frank opinions. Bah! dont think I did it this time for once even though I was bugged. Anyway looking forward for - tomorrow, they are much better than Mondays :)

Go -live is so close now, long days ahead

Dushera 2009

This time made it to the Bengali Durga Pujo pandal in Sudbury middle school to pay respects to the Goddess. We got there at Arthi time and it was very good. It was a rather small crowd at least when we went and than what I had expected and the Goddess was beautiful. Some of the ladies were blowing the conch and others chanting and it gave a great effect to the whole setting. First time I was so up close to the Durga idol, flanked by Lakshmi and Saraswathi on the side and Ganesh and Kartikeya. Lord Kartikeya (I guessed by the peacock vahanam) was very different to what I have seen. I mean I have only seen the South Indian Tamil version of him actually. Probably Ganesh is the only god who consistently looks the same all across India?

Weekend movies:
- ‘Dil bole hadippa’ – it was ok but will not own or watch this DVD. Over doze of Punjabi culture for me and Rani in Sardar’s role was better than SRK in Rab ne but also kind of annoying at the same time.
- ‘Wanted’ – remake of Pokiri – was ok, but then I just saw quarter of this movie, not used to Salman in action roles…
- ‘Vinayakudu’ – a Telugu low budget movie was total time pass.
- ‘Who Lamhe’ – bored with Kangana’s demented-suicidal roles
- ‘Rahna hai tere dil main’ – I am not fond of Madhavan as an actor as such for some reason, Saif’s presence in the movie was a surprise for me.

OMG! I watched almost 5 movies this weekend! Something’s wrong?

Haven’t cooked properly for the last week, it’s not going to be easy to get back to my everyday cooking schedule again. When there is a gap or break in the everyday ‘cooking schedule’, it’s hard for me to get back to it, its basically trying to get over laziness.

A new title

I am officially an aunt - ‘pedamma’ like they say on my husband’s side. I wish I was there personally to greet my nephew. Just admiring the pictures as of now, hopefully I can be in India soon to hold him in my arms.

Stuff!

As we are getting nearer to the Go-live date at work its betting busier and busier, which is great! UPK is something I am not familiar with so need to understand it, and see how long it might take to get done with training documents. I feel it will be very time consuming at this stage and might take longer than I had anticipated. Attended on how the successful the company has been so far in implementing lean principles. Wasn't as informative as I thought it would be. Lean techniques and principles are almost kind of boring now to hear or read about it.

Had lunch at Pongal in Billerica with the IS boys at work, didnt particularly like the food.

Fall has set in, not sure why I am taken by surprise as it usually does set in after Labor day. But summer was so short I guess hence it feels sudden.

Weekend just flew, with P's friend visiting us with his parents, although evening/dinner time was the only time we spent with them.

Had that 'team dinner' at Macaroni & Grill in Burlington. It went well I thought of the 25 people invited, 17 turned up.

I don't know why I always feel I can get easily misunderstood. Just cos I am different in certain aspects per society norms. I don't know if I should keep trying and explaining myself? Or silence is the best. Again that will turn into indifference perhaps? Grrr! whatever!

Not in a mood to blog some how.

tittle-tattle

Weekend just flew by. Tried to catch up with my sleep quota which I had lost the previous weekend while in DE. At work the Friday summer timings of 12:30 pm are over. Its back to winter/ROY timing and Fridays typically end at 3pm. I got home and slept for 3 hours, P came home had dinner and slept again. Saturday lazed at home and took a nap in the afternoon and headed to a friend’s place for get together, they had bought a new home in Sharon, MA and it was a very nice home near to the Massapoag lake, my friend was also expecting a baby boy so it was a good celebration. Apparently they wanted a girl and were disappointed especially the husband. Its been happening in all our gatherings now. All of our other friends have boys and we keep talking how there will be a shortage of girls and the mothers/fathers yearn for a girl. But amongst the MA friends it’s the other way round, mostly girls and they will be first to have a boy in their circle. So God is always balancing it some how some where we just don’t know about it J But baby girls are more popular than baby boys that’s my general observation J


Sunday afternoon decided to take a stroll in Natick mall and blew over 100 bucks just like that. I don’t know how I do it. It’s very rarely I find something in Banana Republic within my price range and I found it this time. Shopped at 3 of my top brand stores, Zara, Banana Republic and A&F. I have decided to stop my weekend strolls now (like that is going to happen but I have to try). Been working for a while and I barely have any savings. Its scary at times I wonder if we are living way to much in the ‘present’?


Monday was an extremely busy day at work. Just the way it should be. Its going to be a long week………

Alice in wonderland

I see myself out in the open, feeling the drops of rain on my skin and smelling the parched earth. The clouds turn dark grey and I hear the rumble and see the lightening. I stand there soaking-wet, I close my eyes and turn towards the sky, my hands spread out as if embracing the rain. I want the rain to cleanse me and everything around me. I see that the boundaries and the apprehension inside me and outside & around me are being washed away. I then see the rain slowly stopping, the grey disappearing and the rays of the sun penetrating through. I sit down dripping on the wet grass and look at the rainbow, carefree and happy like never before.

Mundane....

Mushrooms: I tried eating it today (again) for lunch, but simply couldn’t; I don’t like the shape, the color, or the texture. But if it’s mushroom ravioli which does not reveal what’s inside I have no problem eating it. That’s the only form in which I eat it. But the moment I see its real form, it’s simply yuck and unappetizing for me. Then why can’t my brain flash a picture of a mushroom when I am eating ravioli? – don’t know!

Sambhar: Extremely bored of Sambhar, not going to make it for the next 1 month at least. P has no issues eating it and loves it but I am bored. This past weekend in DE with a group of Reddy friends I started loving their Telengana version of pappu chaaru. It was so busy I forgot to ask their recipe. I looked up online and the only thing different seems to be adding onions, methi powder, dhaniya powder and green chilli-garlic paste. I’ve got to try it.

And it’s ‘fall’ already. There is that chill in the air since we got back from the long weekend. I am wearing a sweater at home and outside and cant take the air conditioning any more. Temperatures are varying in 60’s but mornings its barely even 50.

----

People around you make a lot of difference, if you choose to. At least I feel re-charged and energetic when I am with a group of people I gel with. On the contrary if you interact with that one wrong person, just one person who you cannot gel with, it can drain and suck out the good and bring out the worst. Everything (supposedly) happens for a reason. No reason to feel bad if some relationships are not working out as they ought to (whatever maybe the reason or whoever maybe at fault). Just have to learn to move on, understand and respect the differences, maybe it was not meant-to-be.

For me one of the things I used to miss mainly about India was the presence of some such lovely people. It’s not just about having a large group of friends/acquaintances. All of us tend to have them in India, but it’s about hanging out every other day with the people you love: Parents- everyday, Extended family - at least 2-3 times a month, and friends - every other day. But fact is I don’t think Hyd is what it used to be. At least I should not visit or go back if I plan to return that is, with that expectation. Friends have dispersed, people’s attitudes and lifestyles have changed, I have changed and there will be a lot of new relationships to make which might be very different from what I have ever experienced and existing ones we have to re-kindle etc. etc. This past weekend with friends was so much fun and very refreshing hence made me think of the importance of having the right people around you! At the same time not having them always around also makes it all the more important.

Labor day weekend

Had a hectic, crazy and fun long weekend. We went to DE Friday night for a surprise baby shower for a friend. It was a big group and we did the usual merry making. Returned Monday night as opposed to Sunday night as planned. Like anyone was going to let us leave a day early on a long weekend. Moreover it ended up being 2 showers as there was another last minute shower we had to plan. Today totally sleep deprived and every minute at work was an extra effort to stay focused.

this & that

Yay! Our LED finally arrived yesterday. But we don’t have cable yet and DH is working on getting the new connection, ended up checking a few CDs in the new TV. I don’t know why or how (I may have forgotten choosing it) but I got the movie ‘Tango Charlie’ through Netflix. We watched that blah movie in FFWD mode and the colors are so vibrant in this TV. It’s simply wow! And it’s slim as ever! I did not imagine I will enjoy it so much.

My parents experienced a mini flooding in the living room again sigh! It wasn’t as bad and they were better prepared this time round.

I had a huge melt down on Tuesday. I think I almost scared DH. But he was very understanding and we both knew what triggered it and somehow it was and yet it wasn’t in my control. Kannadiga Aunty had come to say a final ‘Bye’ that night and thanks to her my mood really improved and I was back to my own self. She made me watch ‘tere mere beach mein’ a talk show that Farha Khan’s hosting with Salman Khan as the first guest. It was time pass.

Now for the labor day - long weekend- to go or not to go to DE?

AP

R.I.P YSR – I don’t know much about the current political situation and people in AP/HYD, but it’s sad that the CM passed away in a helicopter crash. I saw some messages with people mocking in FB on his disappearance yesterday and that’s how I found out about it initially. And in all fairness he is a state leader (however horrible a leader he maybe to the very ‘successful intelligent literate class’ – (sarcasm intended!)) obviously there will be more effort to find him and keep him safe as he has (supposed to have) a big responsibility.


Then this morning read an email from my mom and took a peek in TV9 and Deccan and there it was, it was all about YSR’s death. And the fact that Rosiah will most likely be the acting PM. Good God! Isn’t he like one of those really corrupt guys, with the word CORRUPTION written in caps all over his face clearly visible? It’s just an uncomfortable feeling over all.


Our Vinayaka must have felt left out by media during Nimarjan, but maybe it helped and it went smoothly to some extent due to lack of media coverage?

Are we?

Are we Indians one of the most sensitive people? Especially towards fellow Indians? Or am I referring to only the Indians settled outside India here?

Impromptu Relationships

When DH’s parents were visiting 2 years back I happened to meet this Kannadiga lady from Bhadravati, Karnataka in the elevator taking a walk with her granddaughter. We exchanged a quick hello and she asked my apartment number. Surprise, she dropped by at our place subsequently, very India style and made friends with us and specially with me (since I am Kannadiga too and she is fluent in that language). She is a very talkative, lively woman and very friendly who was visiting her daughter and their family (husband and mother of a young girl about 4 years old). Since then this is her third visit to US in 3 years and all 3 times she has made it a point to stop by and talk to me. Sometimes I used to be not in a mood to talk to her, sometimes I would be, but it wouldn’t matter. It isnt so much of a dialogue, it’s a monologue, this Aunty is talkative and can go on and on for a long time. Once I was sick and sleeping and she came looking for me, my husband apologetically said I was sleeping as I was a bit under the weather and she started conversing with my husband in Kannada about cricket etc. and my husband does not understand or speak the language– that is her spirit J I was in Toronto last year and she came home and my husband called me and she made it a point to talk to me before she left. I was touched. Tomorrow this family is moving to Lebanon, NH. I wasn’t very close to them as such yet I will miss them somewhat. There was this unspoken comfort that they are always there in the building. It so happens 2 more Indian families (at last 2 that we know of) who recently moved were also introduced to us by this Aunty. And Thanks to her I know someone in the apartments. Otherwise I would have led the same indifferent life as most of the people in our building other than a casual “Hello” when we happen to make eye contact with some one.

Its been so long since I have been engaged in such ‘impromptu relationships’. Used to happen so much back home…

Vela talk

Another weekend has gone by. It took us a year to finally get our big TV. Time sure flies! DH’s continuous research and my contribution to delay the decision as much as possible worked and we got a decent deal on the Samsung LED which we have been eyeing ever since it has been released. I wasn’t too keen on a big TV cos if we decide to leave the US sooner than we think, it will be an additional pile-on to sell… maybe I am thinking way too much in advance, there is always a chance that we may not leave this place?

We watched Kaminey finally. I did not like it as much as Love Aaj Kal /LAK maybe cos we were expecting more from it because of the reviews. Shahid’s new look certainly worked for him. Songs were also not as striking as LAK or at least did not like it instantly. I watched Nana Patekar’s Ab tak Chappan as well; I hadn’t seen it before and had read about it somewhere that it is based on a true story. It was a well made movie I thought. Have not read much about Daya Nayak the character whose life it is based on other than a few general details that he hails from Udupi (where my family also originates from) and other such minor details.

Made a few pending calls, just work and home is taking so much of my time. I am really very good in staying touch with my friends and family, whatever has happened to all that? DH pitched in and we managed to clean the house. The highlight of this weekend was my 7.5 liter Prestige rice cooker had a makeover. I am so happy with it. It is the most overused part of the kitchenware and most neglected. All the oil from tadkas etc settled on it and it turned out to be this ugly-sticky piece, like a scarecrow for my kitchen. SOS really saved it. I scrubbed it for an hour non stop and voila! It was clean and shiny and got its original look back. Now I have to attack my kadhai, the kadhai which takes all the oil and heat from all the frying I do, all the odiyalu, pooris, pappads and its used every other day. I am not very hopeful about getting its original color back, but I am sure I can do it some good, and it will look better than what it is now.

....And what do they say ‘a stitch in time saves nine’…

Mix-up

I keep saying “Saturday” for “Friday” and everybody is getting freaked out with the thought of having to work on a Saturday.

It’s been a week and I keep saying it, not sure why.

T-D-H Managers

Looks like every Tom, Dick and Harry is becoming a Manager these days. Dealing with one such PM in close quarters. Sigh! and then that attitude! Good Lord! Some people are just not ready yet for that tag and theys should know it deep down. One would think?

Rakhi and her Swayamwar

I or rather ‘we’ have started watching Rakhi ka Swayamvar, almost reached the end and there is going to be just one last elimination (I am a little behind with this). It was entertaining and time pass. Youtube has it all, which is pretty cool. I used to abhor Rakhi but somehow it changed and now I just ignore her. I know Eelesh has won the swayamvar and yet I am watching it. Last few episodes that I have been watching, kind of got stupidly interesting and then to hear Manmohan Tiwari speak. If one has watched it you know what I mean - the Hindi! I am sure he will pick up some Bhojpuri movies or some telvision serial roles. I hope he does. DH hated it, but since the living room is without any television I was watching it on my laptop and he also kind of started following it.

I think she is the first one India to do this Swayamwar thing? Curious if it was an eligible bachelor looking for a wife, how the response would be? well India is not that conservative after all? (cannot generalize it, anyway). I think over all it was a decent production and didn't seem that cheap an imitation of the spouse search programs in America. Not that I have really followed such programs here.

MW

At work today I was going to warm my lunch in the microwave and as soon as I opened the microwave it smelled of some meat dish. It really upset me. Somehow the smell of cooked meat (not just sea food) is something I cannot take. In New Zealand I had quit warming my food in the microwave because of this but the advantage was my mom cooked fresh lunch in the morning to take it to work. And it wasn’t that cold to have it in matter of 3-4 hours (8am – 12pm). But I am not like my mother in that aspect. I prefer finishing all my cooking at night if it’s a working day the following day, heck I even have to have my breakfast ready. Anyway that means I have to pack lunch after dinner and keep it in the refrigerator all ready and packed for next day morning (only then can I sleep peacefully). That also means my food is really cold and I have to use a microwave next day to consume it for lunch. But today the ‘stink’ if I may say, was really bad, and the thought of that smelly ‘meat’ fumes settling on my vegetarian home made food is simply yuck and unappetizing. I am not saying nobody should eat meat just cos I don’t, to each his own, but I just don’t want it interfering with my food.

Wish I could have a separate microwave for vegetarians only……..


Maybe I should carry my own MW cover?

Weekend

Weekend just flew past, didnt do anything productive, other than Ganesh pooja on Sunday and the temple visit. Pampered myself at Pyara salon/spa and I felt guilty about it. Then I was bugged that I was feeling guilty about it and it went on - a vicious circle! (Did I even say I "pampered" myself?)

More over unplanned weekends simply suck. Especially when you have some vague plans to begin with (I cannot and do not turn off my 'planning switch' completely) and your forced to change it - third time in a row it definitely irritated me! Result: Grumpy Monday morning

RGV

Was very interesting to read some posts on Ram Gopal Varma's blog

http://rgvzoomin.com/2009/08/17/programme-fuck-ups/

Courtesy SS who put it up on Twitter

This & That

Watched a couple of movies this week. First one was Pukar, starring, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namarata Shirodkar. The first half of the movie seemed pretty ok was wondering why it didn’t run and then we exactly knew why. Namarata Shirodkar was a surprise. I thought she will be pretty lousy with dialogues and expressions, but she was ok, not great, not bad. Songs were good.

Then Netflix decided to send me a second movie I had not ordered for, Will Smith’s “Seven Pounds”. The movie was fine but it was depressing and sad. Something I am keeping away from. Will Smith eventually commits suicide as he is taken over by guilt of having killed his wife and seven others in a car accident when he was driving and was distracted by his phone. He hence decides to make a difference in the lives of 7 different people before he ends his life, only to realize he is falling in love with one of those 7 people he had chosen to help.

We have given ourselves some time off from Comcast. Right now our RCA dabba TV is in the guest room and the really small TV is in our room, so no television to distract when trying to fall asleep. The living room has no TV, our furniture does not point towards anything (as Joey puts it in Friends) currently, just a blank wall. It’s been a week and it’s peaceful. I am requesting DH to take a break from Comcast for rest of the year and he is busy looking for those big screen TVs I am just not interested in. It’s not like I don’t like them. We temporarily had our friend’s 50 inch TV; who moved to West coast and sold it off. He didn’t have the time to sell it, so we had it for few days and sold it for him. It was good having a 50 inch undoubtedly.

The heavy downpour in Hyderabad and the episode at my home where in the water had flooded the living room ended. Everything was cleaned and back in shape. Turns out the neighbors were in a bad state. All their clothes were ruined, their refrigerator, TV, sofas, mattresses, basically all their belongings just plain ruined. My mom discovered few of her good saris were ruined too. Hoping the dry cleaning can fix it to some extent.

FB!

People are unfolding their whole life in FB. Even I have, to some extent. One thing I have realized I am very uncomfortable doing is, putting pictures of my family and personal events (functions). I just cant' do it. I did it initially in Orkut just a couple of wedding pics (I was newly married and jobless at home) and then eventually deleted it all cos we end up adding so many aquaintances not just friends. I did the same thing on FB. Now in FB I am just trying to maintain pictures from my travels and trips. Wherever life has/is taking me. But I am too posessive to put up my family's pics. Maybe its not about being posessive actually its just tooooo private! I dont know why, just cannot get myself to put up my parents or DH's parents. Friends is fine because over half of them are already on FB, I mean come on! :) I am not criticizing the people who have it up there. But just wondering why I just cant do it! hmmm!

FB maybe even bringing out the narcissism in people, that thing called 'self love'. Maybe its good some people really need it, to open up - to the world and show case their achievements and talents!! But what about people who already posessed plenty of it, they may have landed in heaven eh?

:(

Back to one type of mood that I hate - disconcerted, antsy, restless......!

Anyone and everyone, anything and everything seems to be triggering it today!

Bla, bla,…

Shah Rukh Khan was apparently interrogated at Newark. I found it hilarious. One the silly media gimmicks (Oh! that media again!) and then two the fact that he was here to promote "My name is Khan". But I am nevertheless always entertained when American immigration officers or the USCIS are mocked at. As much as we claim that its a good lesson for SRK that he has to learn and he is like anyone else and get down from that pedestal bla bla bla!. Fact is he is a celebrity, he is not like you and me, cant deny it. And its equivalent of Brad Pitt or some Clooney being interrogated for US in India; so it will attract media attention, so what?- It only shows how ridiculous the immigration check system at the airport can be at times. I understand why and how they need to be strict, and coldnt agree more with it, but they cannot just stop people with a Khan or a Mohammed in their name that will be half the world or more, no? And then dont we remember that Neil Nitin Mukesh episode he was also given grief cos they didnt believe he looked Indian. Yes! he had to prove he was actually Indian! lol Just makes good time pass news

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Malhotra (especially Raj Malhotra) and Saxena are such over-used last names in Hindi movies especially in the 80’s and 90’s; somehow the Singh’s, Khan’s, Patel’s because they are common perhaps do not stand out. But then maybe because I have always lived in South India I find these name a bit too fictitious. My husband happened to mention someone he knew with last name ‘Saxena’ and hence the drivel……

Cape Cod trip!

We were planning to go to Quebec, Canada for the weekend for our anniversary which is this mid-week. Or rather “I” was imagining we were. And as it turns out “we” didn’t. Thursday night DH & I realized we had however applied to take Friday August 14th off and we could actually take an off if we wanted to even though Canada didn’t work out. Hence began this last minute planning which we are simply great at now. The net result of such last minute short or long trips is a. lots of fun 2. a dent in DH’s bank account due to lack of planning and advance preparation and then like it keeps clicking in my mind: the biggest irony in life I do “planning” (demand planning) for a living for organizations and do not apply it in my personal life.

Thursday night we booked a B&B in Eastham about 20-30 miles from Provincetown (as that was the only one available last minute) for 200 odd bucks at The Inn at the Oaks. I wasn’t comfortable with B&B (I feel they are haunted if they are over 50 years old and most of them typically are more than 50 years old, so much for getting wise with age!)

We started around 10am Friday morning and took our own sweet time driving and got to P-town by about 12pm. We grabbed a quick bite and DH wanted to go whale watching. Quick bite wasn’t that quick cos the sandwiches we ordered at this place near the main square on Commercial street where massive. Both of us ate half and threw the other half. Now I had this (mis) conception that whale watching might be boring. Someone had once told me that they take you into the ocean show you the whales and all you can see is their tail-end and you will get disappointed. So I was prepared for that. It was 36 bucks per person. There goes 75 bucks down the drain I thought. The next tour was at 1:30pm so we were just in time. We took the ‘Portuguese Princess”. It was extremely hot by now, by hot I mean temperature touch about 85+ I didn’t have any problem with the sun on my skin but my head couldn’t take the heat. I had a scarf/duppata with me luckily and I wrapped it. After a good 1 ½ hour to 2 hour into the ocean there we saw the most splendid of creatures – whales! It was a beautiful sight I must say. Thank God somebody downplayed it for me that I enjoyed this tour. We saw about 12-14 whales in all. Some of them babies some of them a bit grown up. Two of the baby whales where also being nursed by the mothers apparently as per the guide who was a research scholar on marine life in New England area. They were a little below the water surface to see that part anyway. They somersaulted, inhaled/exhaled, twisted and turned, went under our ferry, made their whale-like noises and they were fabulous. It was totally worth it! By the time we got back it was 4:30pm at least to the main part of the Commercial Street.

By this time my headache set in and I was tired, we headed towards our accommodation we had booked. I called them that we were running late only to be informed we were double booked and they had booked us at another place in Orleans further away from Eastham and hence P-town. In the mean time DH pointed out there were a few cottages and hotels with vacancies why don’t we check them out. We found this ‘White village’ cottage. Very old cottage with no air conditioning and fan or microwave – included 1 bedroom and a small kitchen and it was not water front for about 135 bucks. I called the B&B and they agreed to cancel it, so we took this up, it was in P-town and so close to the water we didn’t have to bother driving back too far the next day. So much for last minute planning! The lady from B&B called back again that we had to call Hotels dot com for the refund through whom we had booked. I did that immediately and it was settled.

We relaxed for an hour and drove into the city again. Parked and strolled down Commercial Street. It was very lively and colorful due to some summer Jazz fest. Loved the antique stores, galleries and curious stores! Perfect short vacation I must say. One main street, so don’t have to walk too much and since I get tired so fast, don’t have to feel bad I may have missed too much as there weren’t too many stores nor was there too few. I totally loved these Tibetan & Nepal stores. A lot of them had Indian stuff too. I loved this Antiques store called “Forbidden Fruit” I was so tempted to buy so many things but clenched my fist! There was this statue of a maiden, riding the dragon playing an instrument like the sitar, it was just wow! We decided to eat Thai and stopped at this restaurant that served Thai and Sushi. It was called something else on my Urban spoon App and hence we weren’t sure if we landed at the right one, but we did as they changed their name. The food was fab. Slightly priced above average but great! Well it’s a touristy place, active for just the summer months, what can you expect. We sat down on the benches and obviously it being a Gay friendly town saw a lot of couples, more males than female couples. It wasn’t anything different because of that. I mean it was comfortable to hang out considering we were the only Indians out there. Yes! Surprisingly didn’t see any Indian. Well maybe if we had gone to a lounge/pub, club at night we would have seen or felt different? But we were too tired and hit the sack, (that age thing I tell you!)

Next day checked out of that place. Had breakfast and went to see the pilgrim’s monument. It was ok. It was a bit of a walk up stairs not too much but just a bit. We were informed it had great views. But hey after Sears tower and Empire state building this is not impressive obviously. Its just 7 bucks entry per person so no biggie. Picked up some souvenir there anyway and strolled back into town, walked and walked. Oh and also this tower like monument had stones engraved with names of cities around Boston, showed the city name and the year when it was established. Turns out all those cities were established in early to mid 1600s. Waltham, Boston, Cambridge for example are all established1630. Hmm! Cool! We got back onto the street again. By now there were more guys – more guy couples. Strolled a bit more. We had seen the light houses previous day on the ferry and we decided to take the motor boat ride to go see it up close. We took the ‘flyer’ service and got there its just a 10 minute ride. And it was unimpressive. Too many pebbles and open sea shells on the bank and dangerous to walk and light house was ok! Well there were 3-4 of them don’t remember which one we saw. We headed back and spotted another Thai place for lunch – Monkey bar! Yeah don’t know why we attacked Thai so much, but anyway. Meal was ok, good, not bad not too great as the previous night’s. Cant get over DH’s Vegetarian fried rice slurp! The waiter was a very friendly person. Ah! This place seemed to have the best customer service ever. Obviously cause it’s a touristy place so they thrive on summer tourists so they are very courteous and other big reason is because so many of them are gay! I think they must take over customer service completely in America if it’s the latter. They seem to enjoy and seem so naturally good at interacting with people. Or not sure if I am judging too quickly? San Francisco is a very big city so didn’t really see such huge concentration like here. Well! There was this gay parade when we visited SFO though. Anyway after that we started to drive back home it was about 4:30 pm. DH decided to deviate and we took a peek at another beach near by. It was beautiful, calm water and sandy (no pebbles and shells to prick your feet) we regretted we should have come here instead. I forget the name of the beach its not at the top of my head cos I was almost tired by then. We got back home at about 7:30pm and settled down. Only to head to an Indian club for August 15th and got back at about 3am. Yes! I wasn’t too happy about it but I gave in cos DH took me to Cape Cod as requested and he wanted to go clubbing (plus I may have to trick him and use this as a barter for some place he is suppose to take me which he is not interested in at all, typical guy thing!) J. I had a good time anyway so why complain.

Athivrishti-Anavrishti

Parents have been complaining about heat and lack of rains in Hyderabad like everyone else. And today it poured so much that there was flooding in our living room. We have our living room back home at a lower level than rest of the house, it has a couple of steps to get down and relax. Mom gave me a missed call. I called them and they were upset and bugged as the water had flowed in from this open field beside our house used for military training (house is in Cantonment area) it had all the possible dirt and grime. So annoying! Waiting for tomorrow for the maid to clean it up! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!

Sigh!

Heard another sad news, an acquaintance’s sister’s son expired in a car accident. Apparently they were traveling from Chennai to Bangalore and some damn truck took a wrong turn. The sister had an injured arm and her husband managed to escape with bruises. And their son a little over 1 year, this really cute and chubby kid did not make it. I didn’t know them personally, but was very shocked to hear as I had seen pictures of the baby on Facebook and commented how cute her nephew is etc. Sad! Sad! Sad! Is this not one of the worst forms of grief? To lose your child or live to see them suffer and you are unable to do anything about it? Or so they say!

B&P

Isn't Martin Henderson of Bride & Prejudice a handsome bloke?

Breakfast ideas!

Have started making (or more like assembling) Yogurt parfait for breakfast since one week. Its healthy, fresh and a hit. More importantly hard-to-please DH has given his sign-off, it can be added to the 'regular breakfast menu'. Its been very hard to settle on what to eat for breakfast, cereal is fine once in a while but not everyday. And then DH does not prefer South Indian breakfast of Idly and dosas once in a while is okay but not everyday it just gets boring - he dosent feel as healthy to eat it on a daily basis apparently and he much rather eat it on weekends. He thinks there is a bit too much of oil and ghee in South Indian tiffins than required to have it first thing in the morning. I can avoid adding Ghee and Oil but then taste is definitely compromised when there is no ghee ;) (Maybe its just me obsessing that you rather make it properly and have it or don't have it at all, that's my attitude towards any Indian dish probably thats rubbed off on him?)

Then I also recently tried breakfast tortilla wraps in the morning. Its working out fine too. Planning to extend it and make the Indian wraps or Frankies as we call them, which we used to eat while in school, also hopefully it turns out well.

Looking out for more healthy breakfast recipes and options!

iPhone Apps

My addiction to 'Scramble' and 'Word Warp' is slowly coming down. It took me a few months/weeks to even get hooked on to it as I wasnt too much into phones to begin with.

Love Aaj Kal

I quite liked the movie, it was a fresh and modern approach for Hindi cinema on commitment and general indecisiveness on relationships due to priorities that get mixed up etc etc Also reflects on how our Hindi movies have come a long way. From sati-savitri sacrificing heroines - i.e. perfect, goody-goody bahu/daughter material to modern dating women with a mind and voice of their own types. Not to mention the enactment of impromptu kisses (Oh come on, we are all observing it, the comfort level has increased althought they are not quite there!). I thought Saif performed the Sardarji role well. Especially the dance towards the end when he comes home with the girl. Great songs! Not a great fan of Deepika's voice, it can get irritatingly childish at times, but well... I kinda like the old fashioned touch her characters' names have - Shanti (OSO), Gayatri (Bachna ae Haseeno) and Meera (LAK)...

Most Hindi movies have not-so-pleasent parts here and there, so did LAK, I chose to ignore it, even Kambaqt Ishq, though former is much better the latter. I don't want movies to be realistic and practical. I watch for entertainment and its fiction for God's sake! :) Soup for my soul! :)

.....

...maybe in search of some mental peace or maybe it should be just phrased as inner peace...

Another year older!

Getting closer to the big "30" yuck! yuck! yuck!

Had a quiet and relaxed day.

Places visited: Lakshmi Temple, Ashland, DH's Company's annual get-together, Chipotle, a short nap, Newbury Street, Margaritas'.

DH claimed to make breakfast for me which was toast and jam! :)

Dhadkan

Watched Dhadkan yesterday. Was kinda silly movie. Sunil Shetty is as usual bad at dialogue delivery. It was a 90's setup with same old 'sacrifice' crap - ditch the lover and uphold the parents choice as they threaten to kill themselves otherwise,.... I remember the music being a hit when it released, it was ok anyway to listen to it once. Shilpa Shetty is really tall and fully clothed for a change - it was an era when her body was not much talked about ; since Big Brother her midriff has never ever been covered.

PTO

After about a decade I think I was taking notes in a meeting and suddenly used a PTO/Please turn over. Used it so much in school and just forgot about its existence until today.

Banter

DH and SS (his friend) spent time discussing is broadmindedness equivalent of making a compromise? Hmmm... If one is not happy with a decision taken off the usual (read society) norm and indecisive its not really being broadminded is it? For me its based on your instincts - you are broadminded or not (or pretend to be and not)! bla bla bla!

Time management

I am all over the place since last 2 weeks. Getting up very late, rushing in the morning to work, compromising breakfast and my whole morning routine, really worn out in the evenings when I get back home, disturbed sleep...

I need to buck up!

Canada!

Officially my 'Canadian connection' has come to an end. Closed my TD bank account - snif! snif!

It was simply great working in Toronto, Canada and I met some wonderful people at work. I really miss my colleagues and boss. Oh the best boss I have worked for ever! bla! bla! bla! :)

I hope P & I have the stamina to take up another adventure before we head home and thus complete a full circle.....

Ah!

Why do people get into discussions and even casual arguments if you are emotional and sensitive. You are hurting yourself!

Hmmm!

Tierd! Tierrrrdddd! My entire weekend wasted!

Had a last minute dinner planned at my place on Saturday night as a friend of ours left for west coast for now. A bunch of friends visited and no one wanted to sleep till 5am. And by then it was so bright outside I couldnt sleep. Everyone else slept except husband and I. I am not a late night person anymore. Gone are the days. I am not 18! Sunday morning cooked breakfast everyone ate and we finally slept at 3pm and I had a massive headache by that time. sigh!

I am left with pending errands and chores and I hate it cos cant complete them till the next weekend.

When did I turn into such a foodie?

Had the best Vegetarian Quesadillas ever for lunch, topped with Guacamole, Salsa and Sour cream yummm! Either this cafeteria at W serves very good food, or my standards have fallen. I am sure its the former, the food critique in me is very much alive.

H1N1/Swine flu

Last week the first Swine flu /H1N1 case was lodged at work. We got this email about a colleague (whose details will not be revealed) who caught the flu and is expected to fully recover. Hand santizers, wipes etc have been increased everywhere. As if my addiction to Purell wasn't enough its now become an obsession. I hate touching surfaces and especially door knobs and restroom doors. Pouring that Purell all over my palms every couple of hours. I think they should reveal who it is my colleagues spent time wondering who was missing work. And my department happens to be in a seperate room so that was some solace, maybe? Media here is definitely supressing it here. I still see regular reports in NZ and Indian newspapers online, that its getting pretty bad and scary!

Food!

These days I am obsessed with Mexican food. I have always loved it, but for some reason never tried Chipotle all this while. DH took me there last weekend and I had had the Vegetarian bowl and I loved it. I love beans. I love avacados. I just love the freshness it has. I don't know how authentic Mexican it is (pretty sure its very Americanized) - but I love it! At work at the cafeteria the day its Mexican I make sure I don't carry lunch.

As a side note I am totally in love with Zucchini as well. It started in NZ on the form of courgettes and the sauted/ roasted/ grilled zucchini has found a special place in my stomach ever since.

this & that

Was a busy weekend. Attended a kid's first birthday party in the apartments. Attended a Shashtipoorti in CT. And Shravan Maasam has started. Time for Poojas and festivals, its going to be very busy month ahead for me :) Its also the busy birthday period. Most people I know have their birthdays in July and August - including me (plus our anniversary! phew!). Need to hold on to those purse strings real tight!

Its been a week...

Its been a week since folks left for India. I was extremely lonely for the first half of the week. Time just flew and Friday night went to meet friends at NH. Had the tastiest home made pizza made right from scratch even the base and all - Thanks to our friend HN :)

Then our favorite people who we love hanging out with visited us Friday night from their trip to Maine on their way back home to NJ. They stayed over the weekend and I truly felt lucky to have them over especially cos it was the first weekend without my parents.

Weather was perfect. Made a quick trip to Revere beach and caught a glimpse of a small scale sand castle competition sculptures made.

Back to work!

Palak/Spinach rice

Recently a distant relative of mine had invited us for dinner and served Palak rice in the main course. I made it last night for the first time for taking it for lunch today at work. And it tastes really good and it was very quick and easy to make.

Story of my life!

Antsy and majorly sleep deprived!

Lady luck! are you listening?

My parents left for India yesterday. Saturday was a busy day did some last minute shopping, visit to the temple, and we managed to squeeze in to go to downtown and see a couple of sailing boats, as it was the Sailing event 2009 at Boston harbor – it was great weather and crowd.

Sunday was pretty much breakfast/lunch and then airport. It really sunk in after getting home and I was very depressed entire Sunday evening. Did some chores to keep myself occupied but didn’t help. What is that bugs me? The unconditional love parents have for you with no expectations, fact that no other relationship can replace this…And then the guilt, totally took out every bit of frustration on my mom and upset her on many occasions (my mom being my mom is even more sensitive than I am! Sigh!) Every time I do this, miss them and then when they are around totally take them for granted. This has to stop now I am a grown woman, ready to have my own kid/s! Somewhere I also have this fear all this will come back to bite me later…
Ok, just spoke to my parents and they have reached home safely! Apparently they had to wait in a line and the airport authority checked everyone's body temperature and gave flyers on the Swine fly health care as to how /whom, the passengers are suppose to contact if they develop fever and flu like symptoms in the next 10 days. Very impressive arrangement from what I hear.

On another very sad note my BFF’s mother expired after having suffered from Cancer. So the weekend started of on a sad note. I just spoke to her/SJ last week inquiring about her mom’s health etc. I am just so upset listening to one bad news after another. This seriously has to stop. I thought I said in my earlier post after a couple of bad news in a row I was expecting good news to be knocking on my front door. But looks like she is held up!

DH and I had a discussion about something yesterday. I had to confess this feeling thats becoming stronger inside me. I knew we were on the same page with it. But now having expressed it so strongly to one another, it has only become stronger.

Thinking cap on!

I am checking to ensure my priorities are what they should really be.....should I really be?

Thats' always a challenge isnt it? For some, things may exactly work out the way you wanted and they can claim they had their priorities correct to begin with. While others may have to constantly re-visit them as things are working unfavorably.

You can be a confident person because you have either not experienced the lows (read: life is a bed of roses, even if the lows are buried way in the past you will conveniently forget them) or because you have really experienced the lows (read: you are constantly seeing highs and the lows)

Time is just flying!

Almost time for parents to leave for India. Not quite the right time for them to extend their stay as my Ajja / Ajji are not well on and off!

It's almost a month since I joined to work at W - Phew! Really?

Glad to have finally spoken to my pal SJ - been soooo long. Actually I was hibernating last 3 months at home - blame the parents ;)

!

Some things will always remain a mystery in life...right?

Will break through the barrier the next time round - GL - MKS :)

Hmmm...

It's so hard not to browse and stay away from the internet - 07/02!

Ah! about that vege thing again!

Whenever I dont carry lunch I eat at the Company's cafeteria. The reason I specially mention 'cafeteria' is because the location of the office is in a isolated part of the town. Well kind of. Waltham, where I live is much more busier, here in Concord its right next to Minuteman Park and the Air force and civil airport and then there are small farms around, so no fast food joints are that close by, to buy lunch outside, which is of course a blessing in disguise. That is the reason the cafeteria is well established and stocked with food, I dont see anyone going out for lunch. The main thing I wanted to focus on was the cook, Steve. He is one sweetheart. I told him I am a vegetarian. And he curiously asked all the details. I was honest with him, that when I was young it was a religious thing that my family followed, but once I grew up it was by choice and I do not eat or desire to eat it. And it took him by surprise a little, but he quickly promised me to cook anything vege if I give him few hours notice, like around breakfast time. How sweet is that. I havent made use of that offer so far in these 3-4 weeks and I enjoy his veggie sub which I have had once, every week for the past 3 weeks. Today the person in front of me had ordered some meat sub, every possible slice of meat went into it. I couldnt somehow imagine eating if my veggie sub were made on that same wooden platform in front of me. But Steve being Steve, offered to wipe it with sanitizer, changed his gloves, used a new knife to make me my sub. He was so sweet and thorough.

Sometimes strangers are more considerate than so called aquaintances. We have been invited for dinners once or twice and people did not bother cooking anything vegetarian despite knowing that we are vegetarians. Like my other vege friend D puts it. They make meat curries and one dal - and the vegetarian person is just suppose to eat dal with rice alone is it? its insulting! :)

Pressure cooker!

Rice was not being cooked properly few days back in my pressure cooker. I changed the gasket and still didnt work, then realized safety valve needs replacement. I didnt think Patel Brothers would stock it. But he actually did! I was so surprised and happy and costs $3.99. Its fixed and now I can get back to cooking Dal and Rice in one go. What a relief. Pressure cooker is an important component of my kitchen; realized it today! Phew!

R.I.P MJ

And Michael Jackson is dead. He was probably one of the first singers I listened to when I was growing up and had started listening to International music. Hence Dangerous and History are the two albums I am thorough with and other singles that were hits. I suppose he saw both success and downfall equally. And I personally really regret when people who have lived a great life with so much fame and pomp and glamour or even if its just a simple content life, like we know in real life, eventually have to die with some allegations, some sort of shame, and debt, whatever may be the circumstances. It is very sad.

I didn't care very much for MJ to be very honest. I liked his music, but his looks and dressing and behavior were turn offs. Not to mention the people who would immitate him and his dancing which just made him that much more 'ok! whatever' types! But isn't thats how that's suppose to be? Recognize someone and their contribution only after they are dead.

Even though its directly not related to this, as much as I enjoy and am fascinated listening to 'rags-to-riches' stories, the 'riches-to-rags' is much more heart-wrenching to me. Like I have known, a very distant relative of mine recently experience.

Ok that is 3 sad news in a row (whether I knew them personally or not) but sad. So the next one is going to be a good one! Life has to go on!

What have I been upto past 2 weeks?

Where do I begin? Its been crazy past 2 weeks. I have not started job hunting yet, for a lot of reasons, including my parents visit I was taking time out from my previous travel/home office job. I happened to however interview only at this one company in April, they were apprehensive about my whole 'H1B thing'. They got back to me that they wanted to hire me for 2 months for the project. I went with the flow and took it up. Its a great place to work. Summer timings are long weekdays with Friday half a day. Amid all this my folks left for sightseeing CA. I was kind of guilty was not accompanying them. Again this job thing happened last minute and was not the main reason though, it just piled up with list of other reasons. I am glad as they seem to be having a great time. I booked the tour company buses for them both to North and South California and they are happily, independently, with full freedom, without inconveniencing anyone enjoying it - just the way we prefer. My Chickappa lives in Riverside, So Cal., and I am glad they are able to spend time with my cousins who are fast growing up!

.....

Watched 'Raincoat' yesterday. Was different and nice considering it was based on Ruskin Bond's novel.

DH had a quiet birthday due to allergies etc etc.

A classmate of mine passed away. It was a real shock - a cheerful, intelligent and witty girl, she joined our batch in 11th and 12th and did BCom in Francis as well and we were in the same class. I was in touch only through Orkut and FB with her after college and remember seeing her in a club once after our wedding in Hyderabad. Apparently she was visiting the rest room at lunch at her work place in Mumbai and she never got out and they found her dead. And apparently its been ruled that her death was due to natural causes. Dont know what to say. Reminds you how transient life is. Nothing matters - the bucks you make, the promotion you get, the bunglow you own - Nothing! Her parents were in Hyderabad and are I am sure too shocked to even grieve.

Long days ahead.

Pricks in the morning and night continue. Been ok so far.

Come to the conclusion that there will be no real summer perhaps - a couple of days of sunshine and a week of rains. No complaints.

Parents CA trip is coming closer

....

Why do some people live so much for 'others'? They constantly seek approval and go lengths to be in the limelight and be appreciated. It's actually quite sad. I can only imagine how empty they are on the inside!

Ahem!

A little success and one is content, a little more and the intoxication begins- one expects the world to dance to their tunes. And spice it with a 'holier than thou' attitude and you have the complete package!

DC/Niagara and back

We made the 3 day trip to DC and Niagara. Took the Chinatown L and L tour bus. It was a 2 night 3 day trip. Started on Memorial day on Monday morning at 7 am. The first day was very tiring. We reached DC and they made us change the bus as it was an NY tour bus. They took us to the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum, Capitol Hill, White House, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean and Vietnam war memorial sites. End of the day - dead tired. We stayed in Maryland at Holiday Inn.

Day 2 Tuesday started at 7 am first stop Hershey Chocolate world at Hershey PA, was pretty good, very entertaining for kids, next stop Corning Glass Factory, Corning, NY, next was Seneca lake at Geneva, one of the 5 Finger lakes, next was Niagara. We got the night view - but again we were tired. Stayed in Holiday Inn at Buffalo. By now Indian tourists have started complaining that they need an Indian vegetarian food. Also Day 2 the driver slammed into a trolley at Hershey Chocolate museum, which broke a huge glass window of the bus and passengers on that side narrowly escaped injuries. We changed the bus at the stopover at Seneca lake as it was not safe to drive the same bus till Niagara.

Day 3 - Maid of the mist and Imax movie. Imax movie was not as per my expectations they covered mythological stuff and experiements done in the past. Really was interested on facts and practical stuff - such as the electricity it produces to whichever cities/states etc etc

Back in Boston that night. Day 3 they made us change the bus again to put as back in a Boston bus - turns out that bus had started from Boston same time as our bus and covered the same spots as we did, then why didn't they put us in that bus to begin with - no idea! Bad co-ordination and we were made to miss our lunch time and asked to pick up something real quick to eat in the bus, I was trying to get food and the tour guide comes behind me shouting how the whole bus is waiting, that is it, lost my cool! Anyway it wasn't that big a deal!

Phew! Glad that the main east coast spots are done and parents enjoyed it at least despite the horrible wet weather! Luckily whenever we got of the bus - rain cleared and everything went smoothly!

खोया खोया चाँद .....

नाप तोल के जीये, या किस्मत पर छोड़ दें ?

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हजारों  ख्वाहिशें  ऐसी  के  हर  ख्वाहिश  पे  दम  निकले
बहुत  निकले  मेरे  अरमान, लेकिन  फिर  भी  कम  निकले .....

NY trip with parents

Took my parents to NY this weekend. I have been planning for the past few weekends but weather was very unpredictable, finally we decided to drive down irrespective of what the weather forecast said. We stayed over at a friend's place. I was very keen not to stay at anyone's place when we take parents around whether my husband's parents or my parents, but this time our friends really insisted we stay over at their place or there was no other way. Friday evening we drove down to Jersey city. Saturday morning parents and I started our tour. DH stayed back as he was very tierd and it made sense as he wanted to spend time with our friends. Their house was very close to the liberty island. So DH dropped us to the ferry terminal and we took the ferry and spend 2-3 hours at the island, and in the return we took the ferry to to NY city. I have to mention our friend's apartment location in Jersey city, we can see the serene Statue of liberty from their bedroom window and beautiful NY skyline from the living room. We just loved it! Did the usual Wall street, bull, etc and witnessed a television serial shooting there as well.

Stopped over at Star cafe for lunch and my parents really loved the Veg pannins there. I was keen that as much as possible they do not eat Indian as they get enough of it back home. Then took the subway to Penn station and did the Empire state building tour. The day had been pretty cloudy to begin with and cool but hadn't rained. By the time we reached the 86th floor on Empire, the clouds cleared up and parents got a spectacular view. I am glad the clouds decided to part and let the rays of the sun shine through. By the time we got out of the building we were tierd had walked so much. We met DH at Madison Square, grabbed a bite for dinner - which was Katti rolls - I really loved it. Our friends have been telling us so much about it we finally got to taste it. In fact the previous night also we had tried it but at Greenwich village. It was yummm! I also had the best Veg falafal there.

Anyway by the time it had got dark, and we had witnessed an arrest also in NY city. Some shoplifter was arrested by these handsome NYPD officers. We reached time square and it really wowed my parents as expected, clicked pictures and we rested on those stairs that have been built now. Almost 2 years back when I went with DH' parents we were struggling to find a place to rest our feet, so that we could admire the hustle-bustle, sitting. Now those stairs were such a blessing really. When my mom and I went and got some souvenirs, commotion had started again. An African-American woman was yelling at the cops as there was an emeregency and a baby was lying on the road and not breathing. So many cops surrounded the street and we happend to see a young Indian couple panicking and crying as their 3-5 yeard old son was lying on the side of the street- still and not breathing and responding. CPR was performed and by this time an ambulance arrived. It took 10 mins for ambulance to come. And whatever it is the paramedics did the boy started moving his hands and gave some hope to the parents. By this time our mood was kinda off, seeing the upset parents cry and the boy lying on the roada nd the exhaustion hit us. We then took a cab till the station and took the train back to Jersey city!

I had not left anything else for Sunday, so we got ready had a filling breakfast on India street at Dosa house, I sacrificed half my dosa to eat Pani puri (typical of me!) and we drove back home.

Now I have to plan the Niagara trip. Parents and I are planning to go sometime midweek in the Goto- chinatown buses and not bother DH with all the driving (I dont want to drive at all that far, beyond 2 hours of drive, thats not me!) .

bla! bla!

We visited Wrentham mall and we loved it - we have been wanting to go since ages and finally we did!

Weather is getting so unreliable to plan anything concrete....

Ages ago we had forgotten my DH's sweater at a friend's place, and I finally got it yesterday, its been 2 years since I had forgotten at her place and it was bugging me, it was brand new...

what's with Facebook and some people changing their status messages by the minute ....?

Isnt there a misanthrope in all of us?

These spring days....

Its May! Its a wet spring. Kind of a relief to DH's seasonal allergies. 2 weekends ago it was nice and warm and perfect spring weather and thats when he caught his allergies. After that until yesterday when he went to see the doctor he has been in a real bad state. 12-14 hour work days everyday and Hay fever, horrible combination, I dont know how he manages without complaining even once. He is not enjoying food as he should be and has lost some weight even. sigh! But that's just him patience personified with hardly or no mood swings at all that he shows. My pillar of strength. And I am glad its rubbing on to me.

Havent been able to take parents out much just yet due to reasons above - weather and husband. But they are relaxing at home, I am glad they are getting some rest. My mom is a restless soul and she used to never stay home while in India - every single day she would go out for some small shopping, or chase the tailor, maid or dhobi and somehow keep herself busy and occupied. My dad and mom are hooked on to some puzzle books I luckily had at home. My dad is so hooked on to Sudoku since last couple of years and to see this big book of Sudoku, he is excited to solve it. And ditto for my mom - difference being a words puzzle book is keeping her very busy. June is going to be a busy month for all of us. Travel and sightseeing!

IKEA

I love Ikea food, the vege pasta with alfredo sauce is a very basic pasta yet so tasty and the choclate cake - is to die for! And the food there is so cheap, I could never get tierd of Ikea food!

Athivrishti, Anavrishti!

Its really amazing that the level of commitment and awareness "to vote" has increased. Indian media is making me so nervous though. There is so much bragging and hype.

Bad economy and Swine flu:

Dear God,

Please kindly do not deprive people of both health and wealth at the same time!

Black Beauty

Our Black beauty finally arrived on Monday April 20th :)

BMW 3 series

Smile on DH's face - priceless!

.....

I think I am eating way too much since my parents are here with us. Rather eating my 2-3 meals a day properly and not neglecting. Eating way too much pickles. I am not a very pickles person considering I am from Hyderabad. But eating pickle everyday with Rice and ghee, is a big deal for me (in terms of the spice consumption).

Somebody has to stop the guys on CNN - have had enough about the Somalian pirates.

Parents watched EMI today and they liked the movie. I took them to our weekend getaway, last weekend - yes! the good old Natick mall. I got them to taste the most heavenly sweet cheese croissant at Au Bon Pain.

Yawnnn! lazy bones!

...this and that...

Ripples of the recession has hit in my neighborhood, and surprisingly I am not as nervous. It definitely sucks and I was shocked, but things have a way of working or not working out, right?

I have realized that I canot keep any secrets from my parents (especially my mother) and my husband. Sometimes I simply try to see if I can and I just cannot!

Took my folks to the Indian Grocery and Russo's for fruit-shopping today. Its been about 5 days since they are here. My mom still seems jetlagged and a bit tierd though. The other day I took them to Hannaford supermarket. Thats all, rest of the time just spending time at home. I wonder if jetlag is contagious I have become extra drowsy during the daytime past few days! We watched Mumbai Meri Jaan today it was a well made movie.

Finally!

After a lot of planning my parents are visiting me. Yes! it finally materialized. And it feels really good.

A lot of things going on in the background though. But my detached attitude is certainly helping me.

Here's hoping to write many more posts such as this with my milestones reached - titled "Finally!"

Washington DC

Another check on the to-do travel list. Last year I wanted to go check out the Cherry Blossom festival but some how didnt happen, with a new job and back and forth travel between Canada and Boston. This time we decided to make the weekend a long weekend and drove to Jersey city from Boston Thursday night. Our best record ever - reached Jersey city in 3 hours. It was nice to spend time with good friends. And the next day we raided Edison, Oaktree. And the previous night we had already had Paradise biryani. Friday evening we headed to DE and stayed over with another set of friends and had a good time. We had got biryani and kebabs for them from Ali Baba express, it was lousy and was already stale and we had to throw the entire food. Learnt our lesson never ever to buy stuff from there. Saturday morning we drove towards DC. And it was a pretty long drive due to the traffic. DC seemed like a nice city. We walked a lot all around the cherry blossomed trees, the White House, etc we started at about 3pm and got back to the hotel at about 7-8pm ish. Somehow I imagined the cherry blossom to be a bit more dense. It was certainly beautiful when its in full bloom and so many of them. But overall we found it just - okay! White house I knew will not have a Buckingham Palace effect even, so I was fine with that. It was just surprising to see that much crowd. It was really packed and with a lot of Indians :) I had forgotten to charge the camera. I am usually ready with such things but anyway Iphone was pretty handy that way.

We met some new people, who were our friend's friends. Ate Thai that night which was pretty medicore, except my husband's veggie fried rice which never seems to disappoint us. My eggplant curry was not that great. Half the group wanted to go clubbing so we parted ways. (I know me refusing to go out) But it was already 2 nights in a row I hadnt slept and I was in a real bad state Saturday night. I cannot get adjusted to new bed and new place easily and end up staying awake pretty much all night long. I slept like a baby once we got back to the hotel due to the backlog of sleep.

Sunday morning after we checked out from the hotel, had a very good breakfast at Ihop. and drove towards DE dropped at the same friend's place for tea. Then headed back to Jersey city. This time attacked the India street. Ate chaat at Rajbhog and P enjoyed the Butter masala dosa at the Dosa place. Ended with a great Masala chai.

Our drive back to Boston was not that bad either, we stopped over a friend's place in Stamford to see their new baby. He was such a beautiful child - very content and happy!

It was a nice weekend, we met so many of our friends after a long time. And not to mention the Indian food we hogged!

....

I got the much needed haircut finally past weekend.

Watched this movie Juno which I liked, a very straight forward no nonsense movie. Saw it 's review ages ago on Oprah and was wanting to watch it since then. Also watched Aloo Chaat which was kinda boring to ok types.

I really feel like eating Mysore Pak suddenly.

the usual...

There is so much to do for me its unbelievable, yet here I am feeling very lazy and not motivated enough to complete some mini projects I have started. Enough is enough! I will not waste anymore time and get to it ASAP! I spoke to a friend who was in a similar situation as I am sometime back, we exchanged notes and I feel much better now (some of my laziness has eroded!).

Really looking forward to my parents trip. Its been first time ever I havent seen them for over 2 years and if I couldnt make it to India as planned, so what, I will plan for it again in the near future.

Guys from Orkin's came again yesterday (for fumigation of the apartment) and this time they really did a good job. The first round they had come 2 weeks back , that guy just sprayed a basic spray available in Home Depots of the world and left - I thought that was it. Its not until a better person came along this time and did a thorough job I realized there was actually much more to it.

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Sometimes we try to be so up to date with so much stuff in life, but there will always be the unknown, there will always be something that we dont know, that we dont know!

PS: I love You

I watched this movie last weekend. And not sure why I actually cried watching this movie. It was an 'okay' movie overall; Oh! but well..... but someone more feminine would have been better in the lead role I thought than Hillary Swank.

Sad, very sad

Postponed my trip to India - hours before I was going to catch the flight.

Freedom to travel to my home country also under jeapardy cos I may not even be allowed back in the country. There are no rules anymore - all hardworking overseas citzens/visa holders in United States are at the mercy of the mood swings and perceptions of the USCIS /Immigration officers at port of entry. This is insane and unjust.

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Most things they say in life you achieve if you work hard and really want it. I have realized that there are somethings in life that just work the opposite way!

Dev. D

Watched Dev D yesterday rather started watching it on Sunday and completed the second part last night on Monday. It did feel like it was a very long and 'dark' movie. Though overall it was a pretty good movie to watch; the modernized version of the love saga 'Devdas'. I particularly liked the music and I must say Abhay Deol probably is developing a knack to find such different movies. I only watched Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye of this actor, and not that I loved it but the movies are a bit different. Probably the reason I liked Dev D was cos I had no expectations and after a couple of Shah Rukh movies ( Rab ne and Billu Barber - though the latter was better than former, it wasnt that great anyway) ; this was a bit refreshing and also cos the ending was changed to a '....and they lived happily ever after'.

Precious sleep

These days I am only able to sleep if the television is switched on and volume is turned down completely. I guess as long as I get my 8 hours sleep, I dont care....

Routine stuff!

Made 'Kanda Bachali' yesterday for the first time as DH asked me to make it.

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This weekend we started major clean-up of the apartment. With all the back and forth travel between Canada and Boston I have neglected house maintenance for the whole of last year. Finally when its time for our lease renewal for the fourth year in the same apartment, we started this Project. Its taking one room per day. Until its all complete it looks like a big mess. We steam vacummed the carpet and waiting for Exterminators tomorrow. We are back to square one in terms of the mattress. We disposed one old mattress as it was 'old' and so the matress shopping begins this weekend. But I think we will end up buying it in IKEA directly this time. It was a nightmare 3 years back when we were trying to buy one, oh! the number of stores we visited to find the right one! sigh!

Air travel

Why are there suddenly so many flight accidents during past few weeks? - weather and non weather related!

United States

Was watching the Border security and Patrol program on the tele yesterday. Always knew that at the Mexico-US border they hire Spanish and Spanish speaking officers so its easy to communicate with illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States. They showed a bunch of Mexican-American officers capturing Mexicans trying to illegally enter US. These group of people arrested were handcuffed and made sit on the road in a group. All of them with their head bent to avoid the camera from capturing their faces. Sigh! more than the illegal immigrants I actually felt sorry for those Mexican officers. Here they were; working for another country /representing US and were having to arrest their own countrymen/Mexicans and prevent them from entering the US. I am sure they dont see it that way, most of the times atleast. But well doesent it prick your conscience even though you know what your countrymen are doing is not right?

I wonder what it is in United States that people are actually willing to risk, to that extent? Not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing. Should we be appreciating the courage of these people, their ambition to get out of the current not-so-great life? Or mock at their foolishness? Ah! who are we to judge.... but the person who organized the adventure to the Mexicans apparently charged them $20 per head. Thus the more the risk the cheaper it is to enter the US.

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Obama's first speech addressing the Congress was pretty good I thought. Tried to stay awake to watch Bobby Jindal's after that and that didnt quite happen. It resembled a paid commercial and was unimpressive.

This and That..!

Its pretty cool that A. R. Rahman won the Oscar. Though some or most of us feel that some of his earlier work in Indian movies was better in comparison. Oh well!! .....

After avoiding for months and putting it off, my husband bought me an I-Phone this weekend.

I am not just that into phones. But I certainly like this new gadget :)

V' day and Notting Hill

DH and I are not into Valentines day. It just so happened that ages ago when we dated in India we happend to have a good time around that time as that was his first visit from the US back then. So it just brings back memories. But since we have got married I realized that almost every Valentines day, the movie Notting Hill plays on the tele and we watch it, almost religiously and enjoy it! Whether its first thing in the morning or last thing that night!

Oh and of course...








Just realized it this year ; Hmm we almost can create a tradition out of it now!

Telemarketing

I am usually a patient person with Telemarketers and Market Researchers. I did a part time job as the latter when studying in New Zealand. Need I say more. Though Telemarketers can get more troublesome since they are trying to sell something. Life of a Market Researcher is not too bad. Other than that the surverys can get a bit too long and you get grumpy people every now and then.

Its been a week now and this Indian Telemarketer from Global Tele link services has been harassing me to buy their calling card/service for long distance calls. He called me on a weekday and I asked him to call back on a weekend. At that point I wasnt sure if he was trying to sell me something or take a survey. When he called back I patiently heard him and politely explained I will not be interested as I am happy with my provider now and even if this new service is cheaper I simply cannot bother. His tone changed he wasnt convinced with my response he says For x amount of dollars you are getting 500 minutes what else do you want? And I should try his service simulatenously with the service I am using and I can switch if I like completely later. Thats it I couldnt take it I said thats my decision and choice and I dont want his service. If at a later point I want to change I will surely visit their website and try it. Thank you and I hung up. He still kept calling me twice after that and I was bugged - that guy dosent get it?

Another person from that same company called 2 days back and I let it out on him that they are 'harassing' me at odd times - such as 9:30pm. I hate when I get calls after 8pm or so. And if I do get a late call I really get worried especially if its a number from India that pops up. With your whole family and friends in another country its uncomfortable and uneasy. And that follows by a night without sleep, I am light sleeper and that worry would have usually driven most of my sleep.

Today I received the call from the original guy again and I said I wanted to talk to his supervisor or Manager and dude just hung up!

Phew!

Yawwwn!

I seriously master the art of lazying around. It comes so naturally to me. The clock keeps ticking and I would have wasted hours on the net or on the tele. Been doing it for past couple of days and not feeling guilty about it either. Today I am in a mood for hindi soaps, Zee being the only loser channel on Comcast I will while away watching the saans-bahu crap! Just for today and only today!

Dreams..

Last night DH suddenly woke up and turned on the lights middle of the night. I was barely able to open my eyes and asked him what happened. I was so fast asleep and in a confused state I started talking to him in Konkani (he dosent completely understand my mother tounge unfortunately and we speak in Hing-lish). But he already figured out what I was saying and he said he had a dream as if there was a puppy in our bed. Thats it I couldnt sleep after that. Eyes were burning and couldnt even check what the time was but I know it must have been 2-3am, yet I couldnt sleep.

Sometimes dreams feel so real, so damn real as if its actually happening. It has happened to me several times before. Unfortunately nothing as cute as a puppy on the bed [ :-)]. In fact there was a period when I would have a recurring dream. I even knew I was dreaming in that dream and I am telling myself 'this will end now, this will end now', its only a dream!. Isnt that kind of strange?.

Also the fact that in the 'off-guard moments' you talk in your mother tounge (even if you speak 5 different languages :))

And yes finally my husbands' love for dogs has made it to the bedroom :)

Why did I suddenly remember this?

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
Charles Dickens :A Tale of Two Cities

Phew!

I finally made through most dreaded experience which I have been thinking about for weeks. Got my US work visa stamped at Vancouver. I have cribbed earlier about this and each time experience gets only worse. Dealing with DOS or USCIS is painful. My interview was on a Wednesday. I had flown into Seattle Monday night (BTW Deval Patrick, Governer of MA was in the same flight as me on Jetblue) and taken the Greyhound to Vancouver on Tuesday(Greyhound and my trips to Canada - hopefully this is the last one :)) It took 4-5 hours on the bus to get there. I had to take the Sky Train to get to that part of downtown where my hotel was booked. First thing you notice about Vancouver is undoubtedly the scenic views. Beautiful snow capped mountains as a backdrop to the downtown. Its picture perfect. Unfortunately there were quite a few beggars - people seemed to attribute the warmer weather as the reason. As soon as I would reach out for coins for the sky train someone would attack me for a dollar! And I am somehow afraid of beggars. Yes! one of the many things I fear in life, so it was not very pleasent in that sense.

My interview was a disaster, everything that could go wrong went wrong. The Visa Officer was a Fraud Prevention Manager and he just let it all out on me. Basically I lived through the typical Murthy dot com forum case/scenario. I had booked the hotel for only 2 days so I extended in another hotel for 4 days. The previous hotel was not in a comfortable location for me. By this time I couldnt take it; 3 days had passed and I requested my DH to come down and be with me for the weekend as I could not re-enter US and asked him to get extra clothes etc for me. I was basically close to implementing Plan B (and I was secretly relieved). As soon as the weekend passed things changed dramatically. I had provided the additional documents requested on Monday and the Officer called me and asked me to drop my Passport for the visa next day. In a day my visa was processed as if nothing had ever happened and before I knew we were driving back to Seattle on Tuesday. So it took a whole week for the process. Probably if someone reads my post might claim I just complain a lot, but hey I am human and in fact this post dosent justify my experience completely. I do not want it to actually. My experience was much worse than I state here.

After this experience my Plan B has only become more firm now and actually become my Plan A. It will happen very soon. I hope it does!

God & Destiny - you both owe me now! come on! :)

So the cookie crumbles...?

Unpredictable: The economy. What to say on so many job losses everyday, hype or no hype.

Overdone: Landing of the plane on Hudson. I understand it was heroic, but.....(yawn!)

Overestimated: Truth always triumps?

Close of a chapter:

Another chapter in my life is complete. My last working day today. Emails are pouring in from colleagues wishing me success and others stating they will miss me. Whether all of them mean it or not its making me very sentimental. I have been working for such long hours continously last one year and become so attached to the company. Now I am so sad to let go of it. I will be feeling low today definitely. Added pressure being everyone asking me that I quit my job when the economy is at its worst. I just did what I thought was best for me.

I am happy that my Manager did everything possible to keep me and he really wanted me. I am glad he really thought I was value-adding and an asset to the department and company. I am glad that its me who let go of the company (and not the other way around).

I know everything happens for the best!

Gashi etc

Another day of snow yesterday. It wasn't that bad but everybody kept talking about the winter storm and it received more hype than it needed, in Boston at least. Or so I thought sitting comfortably in my couch at home and looking outside :) Anyway the good part about such hype is P worked from home. But its difficult to get things done when P is around, invariably I get lazy. Even he couldnt get much work done.

On the non-lazy front I made Gashi yesterday. I know I am on a roll or what? another new Konkani dish introduced to my husband. It was as close as it could get to my Mom's :)

And so it begins ...

Last week at my job. Its kind of hard trying to unload and handover all my responsibilities. Its the experience that comes with the job and comfort level developed that cannot be passed on. Moreover me being me, I get attached to people, places and things so easily. So feeling sad and emotional to let go of it. Yeah! yeah I have read the banal statements of how 'nothing is permanent but change' and so on. But again me being me, I also know that I will get over it pretty soon, like some things in the past. Especially considering I have a trip coming up to the west coast next week, which will be an adventure in itself.

Its been a pretty cold winter so far. Spring seems far, far away.

Hajjar things on my mind as usual!

Ambat

I made Ambat for the first time ever. Wonder why I never made it all this while. It turned out well. P and I hogged :)

Whenever I cook Konkani dishes and which is at least 2-3 times a week the coconut oil brings back memories of childhood and I miss my Mommy so much :(

And...

How do I manage to always quit right before there will be a performance review?

I have never experienced a pay hike in my career so far ; moved countries every single time
boo! hoo! :-)