HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Mum,
A friend for life.

All those times that...
She's kissed away wounds (from scraped knees to broken hearts) Made your favourite food just because
Given advice just when you needed it the most
Helped with your homework
Guided you, helped you take those hesitant first steps
Always been there for you, loving you unconditionally

Love you, Mum!

NOTCH UP ANOTHER YEAR...

We're a year older today!

Happier? Yes!

Content? Yes!

Regrets? No!

Guess we're doing good! Happy anniversary to my significant other!

CHEERS!

We're celebrating three years of togetherness.

Three years, more happy than otherwise.

Three years, some wonderful moments and memories to cherish.

... A good feeling, this!

TOGETHERNESS

May 10, 2008

Happy Anniversary... Here's to many more years of togetherness!

We love you, Mum and Dad!

SO I'VE SINNED!

Groan. Ate more than I should have of that deelish chocolate brownie. Or two. And did I mention the chocolate sauce? The nuts? The smooth cold texture of the vanilla ice-cream as it whispered down my throat?

Really, it did call out to me, said my name over and over. Now, you don't disappoint friends, do you? Ahh... say it's okay!

BABY TALK!

Bring in the best friend. Add her (then) three year old daughter.
The following conversation ensues:
The phone rings.
Friend (F): Hello?
At the other end's her hubby.
Hubby (H): Hi.. how's your day going?
Daughter (D): Mommy, who's that on the phone?
F: Papa.
D: Oh! I want to talk! I want to talk!
F gives D the phone.
D: (Very tentative) Hello...
Pause.
Then, in a VERY loud aside to F, which H can obviously hear:
D: But Mommy, which Daddy's phone is it?

OF GODDESSES & QUEENS

I simply love the concept that Indian goddesses are alive, deep in meditation atop a hill, possibly holed up in a smallish cave that's impossible for a human to access.

Just spent the past weekend trudging up one such mountain top, a 16-odd kilometer walk-crawl that was seemingly endless, but so worth the cold, thin air and breathlessness. Okay, so I now have muscles I didn't even know existed, that are making their presence felt rather vociferously. Unrelenting.

Ah, it's a long way to go towards even a modicum of spirituality.

LAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZY

The dictionary meaning be as it may, I'm almost embarrassed to think that the adjective now applies to me. Been ages since a blog post, ages since I tried anything creative (I'm talking paints, canvas and a brush here) on a weekend, been ages since I did anything fun for myself.

Time to change, methinks.
Decoupage is the latest rage.
Blogging is now back with a bang!
Artsy stuff is on the anvil.

I'm back to life!

CHILLIN'

Literally. It's around 9.4 degrees, and cold, by Mumbai standards. A good feeling, this, all tucked up, toasty warm in a quilt, sipping on a mug of coffee. :)

Sometimes, life doesn't get better than this!

BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Had some really delish cake, the sibling turned a year older. (Don't know how much the latter part of the statement would be appreciated!)

It's a month for birthdays, February seems to be fairly popular. More updates soon.

ONE WEDDING, A SANGEET CEREMONY & LOADS OF COLD

Taking up where Mr Frosty left off, the North Indian winter just doesn't seem to understand that it's time for it to recede, not intensify at the end of January. Consequently, spent one cold day that led into an even colder evening.

The title's pretty clear - we went to multiple functions, initially dolled up in diamonds and silk, to end the evening wrapped snug in an exquisite Pashmina shawl, in a valiant (and fairly unsuccessful, I might add) attempt to keep the cold at bay.

Made a new friend, wished well to the old - here's to you, Siddharth and Becks!

More on this soon!

HELLO, MR FROSTY

Not too sure about this cold thing. It's been between 1.6 and 2 degrees celcius the past couple of nights. Woke up at the ungodly hour of four in the a.m. to catch a train to Agra. Breathed in the Taj Mahal later in the day, but that's another story. Or blog. Or two. We're cheering tonight, seems the good ol' mercury's deigned to up itself by a couple of degrees.

Never mind the food, bring in the coffee and the moisturiser. And oh, don't forget the strawberry flavoured lip balm.

AWAY FROM HOME

Plan holiday. Book tickets. Go shopping. Get organised. Pack. Realise you've packed everything but the kitchen sink hence no space in luggage. Grumble. Unpack. Grumble. Repack. Fret-fume-done. Go on holiday.

Day 1: Have a good time.

Day 2: Still having a good time.

Day 3: Ho-hum. Not bad.

Day 4: Wanna go home!!!

Homesickness sets in quick! So much for the holiday; somebody put me on a flight back home!

BIRDS AND THE BEES

Wonder why discussions pertaining to the birds and the bees are taboo in some (or is it many?) societies? Wouldn't you rather raise an aware and educated child rather than one who is ignorant, has inaccurate information and consequently may have to go through pain and heartache - God forbid - at a later stage? Granted, you cannot protect a child forever from the world, but as a responsible adult, you can help minimise the pain that he/ she may unfortunately go through. More so, proper and timely education when imparted is very obviously the key to the solution. Why do we behave like the proverbial ostrich, sticking our heads in the sand, oblivious to everything around us? Ignoring a problem is not the solution, doing so only festers the growth and definitely does not make it go away. In a world wherein the HIV spread is rapidly on the rise, teenage pregnancies are rampant, why do we choose to sit in our ivory towers and gloss over the issue?

I'd think it's time we woke up to an educated world. It's the only way to save our children, and safeguard our future.

RING IN THE NEW!

Happy New Year!

RING OUT THE OLD!

So another year draws to an end.

Smile recalling the good times.
Wince over the bad.
Will do better in the New Year, I say.

Resolutions, anyone?

KISS THE COOK!

So I'm now learning a new skill: How to Enter the Kitchen and Whip Up a Meal 101.

It's not such a bad thing, you get this creative satisfaction out of having started off with some random ingredients that finally turn into something that looks (and is!) both attractive and edible. (No, I don't appreciate wisecracks about how it's good that a hospital is in close proximity, thank you very much.)

My personal favourite is anything that doesn't take up the best part of an afternoon, and that still looks like it has been created after a lot of effort! *grin*

On the menu tonight:
Thai Pad Noodles
Waldorf Salad
Chocolate Brownies
(Coffee for afters, do stop by!)

NOVEMBER

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November

February has twenty-eight alone,

All the rest have thirty-one.

Except in leap year, that's the time

When February days have twenty-nine.

Mum taught me the rhyme way back when I was in the single-digit age group, and it has stayed... Now's also the time we're inching close to the New Year; how time does fly! (Need to figure out where that one originated!)

REALITY BITES

As with other programming on Indian television these days, I'm soon going to start cribbing about reality television too. There's only so much you can take of singing competitions, dance shows and sundry other what-have-yous. At one point, like with caves (what?!), if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

And then coming to how fair they are. I have some serious doubts there. As is often debated, I really believe a strong cell phone network in the participants' respective hometowns combined with great SMS power can safely see them through. After all, what does actual talent have to do with it? Jazz up a motley group of participants, throw in a free makeover or two, fling on the glad rags, and there you go - you have a star in the making. Never mind that the said individual cannot sing his or her way out of the oft-used paper bag.

Have SMS, will win!

INSPIRATION

Takes many forms, this one. Has many sources, too. That which helps you think better, and maybe even do better is the one to give a thumbs-up to, right?

Look around, you mayn't even have to look far: It can be something, however small, right in your home even. Or a person. A grandparent, a parent, a sibling. For those flaunting wedding rings, maybe a spouse.

Things mostly look good.