I feel terribly guilty!!!! It is the end of a 3 day long weekend (technically I still have 10 hours left) but I will probably spend it doing what I did for the most part of the past 62 hours… Sleeping or Watching TV.. Darn!! And all that I wanted to do with these 3 days…

Plan 1 - Meet hubby and spent some quality family time
Dint work out as neither of us wanted to shell out the whooping amount to cover the cost of the travel
Plan 2 - Study, Study really hard and give a Technical exam
Dint work out as I was too busy sleeping and watching TV
Plan 3 - Meet friends and bond with some people I should have bonded long back
Dint work out as I was too busy sleeping and watching TV
I am not going any further as any smart person would by now guess what happened to the 5 other plans that I made for this weekend.

I did one thing though.. SHOPPING!!! Well, if hanging around in the mall for 4 hours (all days together) and spending 35$ can be considered SHOPPING! Yes 35$. I got myself a T-shirt, a summer shirt, a flip flop and something else (not worth mentioning)
It is a great deal I know!! Thank you Thank you! I can be a smart shopper most of the times.

Now, I liked a zillion things.. Who doesn't? Especially when you hit the mall everything looks good. (On another note, I only wish they designed mannequins that actually looked like me… that way I would know how that top / shirt will actually look on me). Getting back to where I was, yes… I did like a lot of things but I was holding on to my purse strings as tightly as I can. I shamelessly fall in the category of people who spend more time saving money.

This is how I look at it, there are 2 categories of people - one category spends most part of their lives making money (like my parents), the second category spends most part of their lives saving money. Most of my friends fall in category 2 and that is because we have one job and no matter how many hours we spend working we never make more money If only IT started paying for overtime (sigh! sob!)

So, all we ever do is work, work, work longer (with no results) and wonder how best we can save money. Anything that's inexpensive gets a "Smile", anything that goes over the budget gets a “No not needed NOD”. We rarely do stuff for ourselves because we are so busy wondering ' "Do I really need it", "Is it a luxury", "Will anyone even notice", "Should I rather spend my time at home" and always the head wins.

I honestly don't have money to blow (who does!), I don't even have enough money to sustain me a year if I quit my job (again who does!) but I wish my life did not revolve around money. I wish I had the guts to go to the mall and swipe my credit card as if it wasn't even mine, go to a luxury spa and have the day of my life, had the best people work on my hair, feet, hand and face, got expensive gifts for people I care and just plainly lived every day as if there was no tomorrow.

I wish I could get there soon but for now I will need to learn to be happy with some hot home-made pakodas, the soaps on TV and my comfortable bed ' Once I am happily settled I can rack my brains on how best I can save money J

It is April Fool’s Day!!

While I was tossing and turning in my bed last night till 3:00 AM, I could not stop thinking of how notable this day was when we were young. By March 30th we were already planning on how to fool people, sometimes it was a group act but most of the times it was solo.

The day started off with me or my sister targeting Anna at 6:00 AM. 'Anna ' mani 8:00 ayidichu, enthirikala??' (Anna, it is 8:00 aren't you waking up?) or 'Anna, Pandiyan Anna vanthu irrukaanga - Enthiri' (Anna your friend Pandiyan Anna has come ' wake up). If Anna was smart enough to not be fooled than it was Appa. Appa never escaped

Where I come from you could fool anyone on the street and they would give you a pleasant smile as if it made their day - being fooled Like the times we used to scream out to stranger Ungle’s on the way to school (The Tamil version of Uncle) -”Ungle, unga TVS la light on a irruku!” (Uncle, the headlights in your TVS-50 are on) or “Ungle, tire flat a irruku” (Uncle, your vehicle’s tire is flat) or “Ungle, unga bag keela vilundhudichu” (Uncle, your bag’s fallen). And when they stop or check the supposedly problem area we yell out.. “Ungle - April Fool!!!” And he would give us a nice smile and affectionately say “Ennama Bayam budithitiyae” - (You scared me).

Once inside school the day of pranks never ended. When friends tell you - “Your dress is dirty” or “Your hair is messed” or “Your notebook is torn” - You should not check or act as if you believe them, because you do not want to be April Fooled. All our guards are high on this single day. I remember once one of my seniors roamed the whole day with crow shit on her back because she refused to believe when people told her. I also remember being yelled at by P.T miss because I did not meet her when she asked me too (Well! Viji did tell me that P.T miss called me but I was not someone to be fooled!)

Nobody was spared from these silly pranks - Appa, Athai, Raja Ungle, pakkathu veetu Bharat (neighbor Bharat), Raja Anna, Napolean Ungle, every person we know and every stranger who had the misfortune of bumping into us.

Thinking about it I cannot believe how silly and happy we were - No practical jokes, no pain inflicted, no harm done, just harmless lies!!! But given that today is April Fool;s day and I haven’t fooled anyone, I wish I could get back to being silly again.

I know what you are asking me - WHO IS THE FOOL NOW!!

I am not going to answer that In my wildest dream, I never thought I would have fond memories of April Fool’s day - but hey, who can deny this - Every trip down the memory lane is filled with joy!!!!

It is Valentines Day!! Yipppee!!! Yay!!! I just love today… I wish we had more days like this… A weekend that is also special!!!!!!! How could this day get better? A Saturday were you get to watch good romantic movies on the television. Okay Okay! All the excitement was about the Saturday and not on Valentines day. Well, what else could one do when you live alone and have a long distance relationship. So yes, am married - have been married for 5 wonderful years and have probably spent more than 50% of our married life away from each other. While sometimes the separation was a choice we made, other times it was because of what situation demanded of us. This time it’s one of those!!! (DARN!!! I hate it!).

So what did I do today? I stayed up late last night to finish some office work, woke up early for the same reason, called my husband a million times over small details, received calls from him a zillion times over even smaller details, took a nap, cleaned up my mess called home, started packing for shifting out of Sunny California to be closer to my husband and spent a whopping 2 hours staring at our anniversary pictures

Yes, We just completed 5 years of marriage last week and 7 years of knowing each other. Nothing has changed! Absolutely nothing that it is sometimes scary. I know couples who fall apart after 2-3 years of married life even the like-minded ones. Let’s not even talk about people who are totally different from each other like us. Most of our special days fall in the month of February, so the whole month is terribly special for us. He proposed to me this month and for one whole year sent me gifts every month to celebrate what we called the “Proposal Day”. Silly I know :) And the gifts were always redundant. But hey who cares .. gifts are gifts and it is the thought that counts. Since the first day we decided to get into this relationship of love and trust, he has been full of surprises and I couldnt have asked for anything more. Our 5th anniversary was no different.

I have to be honest, just like every relationship we have had our share of MOMENTS but the good ones have been way over the bad. I agree, We all could have been better, with better heath, more free time, lesser work, more money, more friends, lesser arguments…. but what we dont realise is we are doing just GREAT today. We all have someone who loves us and cares for us! In the midst of our LIVING OUR LIFE, we just dont take the time to appreciate what we have.

Valentines Day is one day were we need to stop living our life the way we do and take the time to appreciate what we have and who we have!!

LONG LIVE VALENTINES DAY, LOVE LIVE MY/OUR LOVE!!!

Hello All,
You know what inspired me to write this. I have suddenly had two of my near and dear ones quitting their job to move on to something different. I do it so very often that quitting a job for me is similar to partying (I mean, I dont do it so often but I dont miss doing it as well). I have never felt so attached to my job, yes I do 14-15 hours a day, I slog my butts off and I enjoy my job .. but no, ask me anyday to take an off for a month and I will gladly do it. (beyond that, the only compelling factor to get me back to work is my boredom ). So now you can all understand why it surprises me that people get so attached to their jobs. It’s like getting off a marriage (well, sometimes getting off marriages could be easier too but this is not the forum to discuss that).

I admire both of them for they way they took it.. No doubt it was an emotional thingie for them but they both handled it with such maturity that it surprises me. They had numerous gifts flowing in, people telling them how much they will be missed, volumes and volumes of people coming in for their farewells and in all sense of the word absolute show-time, but through all that they kept their sanity, patience and emotions at a normal level. Someone else I know would have cracked down at the very first goodbye email .. thats what you pay for being a weakling .. eMbarrasment!!

Now, what is it that makes people so attached to their jobs at an emotional level? I mean I understand someone being attached to your family, family never changes. but its so darn different with a job isnt it? You are working with someone today and the next day he quits (most of the times the feeling I have is… Thank GOD for sending the creepo out) or someone who meant so much to you at your workplace has moved on to a different office, project etc etc etc. Has anyone ever remained in the same job, same place, same desk and worked with the same people for more than 2 years? If you say yes, it is time you moved out of this dormant life of yours.

Here is a note on the people I work with now…a nutcase who never talks or says hi, a creepo who has never seen my face but keeps staring at the wrong places if we ever hit a conversation, a gal who will be so darn sweet if she needs something and ignore you if there is nothing you can offer, someone who makes it a point to tell you a zillion times how he is jealous of you for blaw blaw blaw, a madman who has his mood swings 3 times a week and lashes out on every one at those times .. and the list goes on. There are no doubts that I have some nice people working with me as well and some of my life long friends have been from my work places.

Ahhhhh!!! Now, that makes sense..Maybe both of them were just emotional about the people they were leaving and not the place?? Maybe in my case all the people I cared about had already moved out except for a few and thats what made it easier???? Maybe I knew that the people I leave behind will still remain my friends irrespective of where we work??? Dont know! What I do know is that a place (home or office) is made or broken by people and we all react differently while leaving friends and family behind.. But that is what makes us all so darn special. Emotions and how we show them!! Dont you agree?

So to all the friends I left behind with a smile.. its not cause I did not care, its because I know we will remain friends for ever!!!

Love you all!

How often have we all wished something was different?
How often have we all wanted to be better?
How often have we all wanted to do something just the right way?

I am sure the answer is “Billions of times”. I have had many people telling me stuff like ”I wish I wake up early”, “I wish I had a lighter skin tone”, “I wish I had whiter teeth”, “I wish I could go searching for missing treasure” (Trust me, I have heard this one as well) and the list goes on..

None of these are the “Wait-till-birthday-blow-on-a-candle” wish. They are things that we want to do, can do but still never do because of some lame excuses.

So here is my ode to the “Accomplishable - Wish List”. (Accomplishable?? well, at least most of them are)

I wish I could:
Wake up early every single day,
Spend a whooping 20 minutes staring at the mirror and checking out the minor blemishes on my skin,
Get my jogging shoes on and feel the cold air slap my face,
Start every day with a smile and a warm thought,
Kick myself every time I let a negative thought slide in my otherwise busy head,
Read many more books outside the bathroom
Eat healthy food,
Drive???
Forgive all those morons who hurt me in the past,
Call my friends more often and have a good laugh at all our crankiness,
Learn to take life as it comes,
Click some wow photos,
Have a nice little spoiled pet that brightens my day and gives me unconditional love,
Get the guts to color my hair,
Spend at least an hour everyday learning new things,
Get my hands dirty with clay making lovely little pots,
Make those hand-made cards again to tell someone I love them,
Wake up and not remember what I dreamt,
Tell “I love you” more often,
Go clubbing,
Stop watching those thrillers late night, (ah! I hate em) :|
Grow younger with each birthday,
Go on a date with Ajay Devgan, (awwwww, I find him so darn handsome)
Drink down all the alcohol in the house and feel the pleasures of a hangover,
Help a needy person,
And finally BLOG more!

FreeFoto.com

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Hello,
I have had a relatively relaxed weekend after ages.. and I mean “AGES”. I spent the whole of Saturday doing weekend chores and more than that browsing all the baby naming sites that are available (and if you haven’t done this yourself you won’t know how many are out there in the jungle of the internet).. Yes, that was what I did.

Well! Someone very dear to me has had a new addition to the family and the enormous task of naming the little one has fallen on my tiny little shoulders. I had no specifications whatsoever; and you must have already realized what pressure that could be on someone!

I initially felt that the name should start with the letter “A” (Who the heck cares if the name did have a meaning) till I realized every person I know is obsessed with the letter A.. And suddenly the parents were concerned that their son would be among the first few in the line for the science practical’s (?????)

Then after a series of discussions we decided that the name could take from one of the numerous names of “Lord Ganesha” (since they both shared their birth months)… and luckily everyone agreed (I mean the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and everybody else on planet earth). Then started the herculean task of reading through all the names Lord Ganesha has. Did you know he had 108 names?? I carefully picked 5 of them to ensure it satisfies all the conditions laid (yes, the initially unconcerned relatives were not so unconcerned anymore) - Ensure the old generation can pronounce the name, ensure the name is not too long, ensure it does not start with the initial letters or the last letters in the alphabetical order, it should sound well with the surname … and if you haven’t been in that position you cannot even guess :)

After all the pleasures of the browsing, the discussions, the re-discussions we have finally agreed on 3 of the chosen 5 (and not all mean Lord Ganesha). Now, I am patiently waiting for the parents decision and I can’t be more excited to hear it…

I am a literature fanatic, but I have to disagree with Shakespeare on this. Whats in a name? Of course everything is in a name… I went through numerous blogging sites because I could not find one that allowed me to have a name that I would have liked to have. I must mention here that I spent ample amount of time on getting just the right name (at least something that was right for me). I do agree that no matter what the name was my writing would have been just as sparse but I definitely wouldn’t want to be writing under the blog site “abc” or “zyx” (Meaningless I mean)

If I did put so much of thought and time on my blogging site why wouldn’t someone want to do it for their son or daughter. After all this little one is their bundle of joy, is going to look up to them for everything, is going to be their ray of hope and is going to accomplish everything they couldn’t in their lives. They definitely wouldnt want the world knowing him as “abc” or “zyx”

Well! Just my thoughts….

Hiya;
How does it feel to be 30?? 3 days into it and I am already dreading it… Its awful, it sucks, it makes me feel .. DAMNED !!!! atleast thats what I would like to tell people but strangely thats not the truth

Just into 30 and I am already reflecting on my past. I have suddenly recognized the philosopher in me (ahm!! ah!! hmmm!! Philosopher and Me????), well I have eventually recognized someone in me that does some thinking (ah!! Finally).

Assuming that I live upto the ripe age of 60, I am now 50% though my life. So far into life and the question arises…. What have I done? What have I achieved?

hmmm!! hmmm!! Well, I have put on a few extra pounds in the last 10 years (if that matters), I have learnt some wierd computer languages (like anyone cares), I have read some moronic fiction novels where the heroine is a super bomb and gets away with murder (anyone there who hasnt read those dumb books?), I have a bank balance thats close to null (hmmmm, thats something not many achieve …), I have made atleast 18 new year resolutions and never lived upto any of them (anyone there who has?)..

On serious thoughts.. I have super duper friends who are there whenever I need them; I have a loving husband who means the world to me; I have a wonderful family and with every passing year we only love each other more.. and finally I have ME ..

Yes ME !!!! I have gone through really tough times and life has been an emotional roller coaster ride.. but I have survived, grown stronger, become more mature and started to believe in myself much much more. Reflecting back I dont repent a single day in my life… I am terribly glad I went through all the bad times and even glader that I had the happier times.. I definitely dont have a reliable bank balance or have a lifestyle that rocks, but so what.. I know one thing and that is I AM UNIQUE and I WOULDNT TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING ELSE :) 

Love
ME

Hello All,
I have been away .. a really really long time… Wonder what I have been doing?? hhhhmmm!! Well, Feb 11th was my last post!!! I had my 4th anniversary a couple of days before that and Valentines day was just after that….what did we do?? Oh yes, how can I forget, a couple of production systems went down.. I probably worked 14 hours and hit the bed as soon as I got home … ROMANTIC at its best What better than a good nights sleep?

Anything else in the past 2 months and 8 days!!! Nothing I can think off.. no trips, no weekend fun, no new parties.. a couple of birthday and bridal showers but that’s it… Have I just been lazy?? Maybe it's just the monotony of life?? Maybe after 4 years into marriage, I am really learning to just “GET ALONG” with life??

Hold on, DARN!!! My network connection keeps breaking off while I keep moving to find a comfortable position.. I need to avoid the laptop and the desk hitting my stomach…. This still hurts…oops!!!!! How on earth can I forget it???? I had a surgery!!! Yes, and that was what I did for the past 2 months.. the first month I was shit scared about the surgery and the second month I was/am still recovering….. The rest of Feb I spent numerous hours worrying over the phone to my mom (a medical employee who is miles away in India) and browsing every possible site that gave the slightest information about this condition (that only made matters worse).. one week recovering and then numerous hours cribbing over the pain and adjusting to a new life style with pain…. not to forget the countless hours I spent crying over my husbands shoulders, clinging on to him when I needed to get up or sit down… and what was I thinking - that Romance was now dead?

On second thoughts ROMANCE really is not just about the gifts, the candle light dinners and the small token of affection that we give each other (these obviously make life and love more interesting). But ROMANCE is more about being there when we need each other… it is about the small things he did while I was unable to get up from my bed… it is about the neatly arranged dinning table that had my breakfast, my water bottles, my fruits and medications every single day he had to leave me home alone and rush it work…it is the way he assured my worried parents that I was doing just fine.. It is about the way he spent hours choosing and getting me the right DVD’s to keep me entertained.. It is about the way he sat there when I woke up after the operation slowly wiping the small dried blood stains off my hand..

It is about those 2 looks from him…. It is about the way he worriedly looked at me when I dozed off after the anesthesia…..and It is about the way he held back his tears and smiled at me when I opened my eyes in the hospital ward..

It is really those 2 moments that I will cherish
That is ROMANCE,
That is LOVE,
That is dozing away knowing that he is around me and will be around when I wake up…

I would not trade this for anything… the candle light dinners and soft toys are add on’s but if given an option - I can spend another 10 Valentines day without a single memory of what we did that day and that would not matter.