love at first sight

7.40 am…..

She glanced at her watch and thought oh shoot!! I am going to miss my usual train! And now am going to get late for my exams. Nervously she kept on reading from her textbook, trying to cram up whatever she could till she reached the railway station. The old rickety rickshaw that was taking her from her home to the railway station had no intention of catching up any speed… it kept on going phut phut phut. Whenever she glanced up from her book to have a look at the road outside it seemed to her like as if all the other rickshaws, scooters and even school children on their bicycles were going faster than her. All this only added up to her nervousness.

I’ll be there for you- (the title track of FRIENDS) started playing on her mobile phone. Must be Kads she thought. She started searching for her mobile phone from her fake louis vutton tote bag which she and Kads had recently got on their trip to colaba causeway. One advantage of having a tote bag was, you could dump everything in it. But the major disadvantage was not finding the right things at the right time. The phone kept on ringing, but every time she thought she had got the mobile in her hand, it turned out to be either a lipstick, or a hairbrush, or compact powder. The only way to locate her mobile phone was to empty the tote bag on the rickshaw seat, which risked something even falling off the rickshaw. She emptied the entire contents on the seat, trying to be careful to not let anything fall off the seat or even off the rickshaw. And there it was blaring in shrill volume, her Samsung QWERTY.

“Hullo….Kads,……yup am still in rickshaw and the way this rickshaw-walah is driving, I think its gonna take 10 more minutes before I can reach the station yaar……………Ya pure bad luck re. The bus I was traveling in broke down midway and then there was a mad scramble for the rickshaws. I somehow managed to get one yaar………….No no you don’t wait for me re. You go ahead. I think even if I catch the 7.50 train I might be in time for the 8.15 exam. Waise bhi from Thane to Mulund, its just 7 mins by train. Yaar this Chatto must have cursed us for not attending his lectures. That’s why this problem re. …………haan phone was ringing for some time na……ya I couldn’t locate the phone in my purse. arrey these coll authorities are so stuck up on nonsensical rules yaar, only salwar kameez during exams…..if I would have been wearing jeans, then there would be no problem to find it na………. Oh cool u got pockets in ur kurtis!! Nice yaar. Chalo I will hang up now and pester this rickshaw-walah to go a bit faster.”

Saying so she turned her attention at the rickshaw-walah. “bhaiyya zara jaldi chalao. Exam ke liye late ho raha hai.”

He said “madam hamari gaadi ekdum tej hai. Ekdum full espeed main chalti hai. Aur ek baar chalti hai toh bas…..ekdum smooth hai….kitnon ne kaha hai humko hehehe!” saying so he adjusted the side mirror such that he would get a good view of her. In a place like Mumbai, a comment like this always had a double meaning. On any other day she would have given an earful to the driver and even changed the rickshaw, but today she just wanted to reach as soon as possible. She just adjusted her dupatta so that he wouldn’t see anything to ogle at her. Men….. she sighed…. I could be wearing a burkha and still they will try to ogle, wondering what lies beneath!!! She turned her attention at the book once again.

The minute she reached Thane railways station, she jumped out of the rickshaw and ran towards the platform. She had kept the fare on the seat, so that she wouldn’t get more late.

Aah!! Thank God the 7.50 local hadn’t arrived yet. Thinking so she smiled at herself. Maybe Chatto isn’t so angry with me after all!! The minute she saw the train approaching the platform, she tied her dupatta in Jhansi ki Rani style so that it wouldn’t get in the way when she got into the train, clutched her tote bag really tight, so that nobody could snatch it from her and finally made a place for herself in the middle of the crowd so that she would be automatically pushed into the ladies compartment by all the other ladies surrounding her.

Making her way through the crowd she finally reached the compartment. Hardly had she got into the train when it started to make its way out of Thane. She tried to push her way to other side of the compartment, coz that was where she would have to stand to get down at Mulund. A few more seconds and almost all the ladies had made a place for themselves, sticking into each other.

The lady in front of her was shorter than her, and had pinned up her hair in a roll which kept on grazing her nose……damn she thought, this is the problem when u get late by 10 minutes. You get peak hour rush. She sighed and looked at her watch. 7.54…. another 3 minutes and she would be in Mulund. It was at that time that she thought somebody was staring at her. She could feel it. The back of her neck started feeling hot. She realized it must be some guy who was staring at her. It always happened to her if a hot-blooded male gave her looks. So she scanned across the wired mesh that separated the ladies compartment from the gents. And there he was. A tall, well built, decent looking guy. He had an open book in his hand, but clearly he wasn’t reading it. And yes, he was staring at her. She decided to look him in his face and give him one of her ‘how dare you look at me’ looks. But he still looked at her, in fact even gave her a half smile. Look at his nerves she thought!!!! She turned the other way round, so that he wouldn’t be able to see her. But she could still sense him staring at her. She turned a bit irritated to glance at him, and there he was again, smiling at her.

Oh God….no!!!!!!!! Not today….urrrgh I have to concentrate on my exams and here these lecherous guys are staring at me even when am wearing two sizes too big for me salwar kameez!! She stole a glance at him to see what book it was that he was supposed to be reading…. Guys could be so horrible that they wouldn’t mind ogling even at a porn magazine in a crowded train. She saw it was Managerial something. A few seconds later she could read the whole title …. Managerial Communication for MBA Part- I. Thank God atleast he is not some sadak chaap romeo ogling at girls. Just then a few ladies started gathering their purses, tying up their dupattas or hiking up their sarees. That’s when she realized that she must be nearing Mulund station and thanked God that this ordeal would finally end.

He had been engrossed in his book when he was disturbed by the jostle of his fellow passengers. Since he had not got a seat today, any push made him loose his balance. Aah it was such an ordeal to stand. How did people do it everyday?? He was not in his usual train which was 10 minutes later than this one. But as he had reached early on the station he decided to get into the train, a grave mistake which he realized only after entering the train. Only a single seat available!! He had got a chance to sit when he got into the train at Kalyan station but voluntarily gave up the lone seat available to an elderly looking man. But now when his feet were being trampled upon he cursed his kindness thinking, why hadn’t anyone else offered a seat. He vowed that he would never again give up a seat, however old and needy anyone looked. He peeped through the window and saw that they had arrived at Thane station. Oh no…. another station that had a peak time crowd coming in. He straightened up and braced himself for the sea of crowd that was about to enter.

After the crowd had come in and settled down all in a matter of a few seconds he decided to get back to reading his book. With one hand holding the handle to avoid him from falling onto the very gentleman to whom he offered his seat, and the other hand holding his book, he decided to start reading.

Just then he caught sight of a tall lissome girl from across the wire mesh in the ladies compartment. At the time he could only see her head, and that too from behind. But there was something that made him look at her again. All of a sudden she had turned and was now facing him. And that’s when he thought…. I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t stop myself from staring at her. She was tall, about 5”6 he guessed, had a lovely honey coloured skin, flawless complexion, sharp features, an athletic built. Not to thin like the size zero that was in fashion, nor too fat. Just perfect! And her hair…..aah they were henna coloured wavy hair, a welcome change from the poker straight hair that all his female friends had nowadays. And her lovely dove shaped black eyes seemed to be searching for something. She was almost model like. Or was she a model?? That he didn’t know. But he was just mesmerized by her beauty. He would enjoy looking at some good looking girls, but he never ever stared hard at anyone. It was then that he realized that she too was staring back at him. He didn’t know but something prompted him to smile at her. The moment he had done that, he thought gosh what is she going to think of me?? That I am one of those lecherous guys who sizes up a girl from head to toe!!! Inspite of that he couldn’t stop himself from staring at her again. She turned again to look at him and he could make out that she was terribly irritated with him. But something forced him to smile back at her again!!! Just like an idiot who has seen his dream girl right in front of him, and couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. But he was not like that!! He never believed in love at first sight……wait was he thinking love??? Something was surely wrong with him and the pretty girl, no his dream girl, must have surely understood that by now. But come to think of it, why had he given up his seat? Why was he standing today? And why had he boarded a train 10 minutes earlier than his usual time? Destiny had planned it that way. Just the way Anandita, his best friend in his MBA college had told him two days ago about her love at first sight. He had laughed and scoffed at her. He had even gone on to say it was infatuation.

But look at him today. He was believing in love at first sight! He, the Mr. Practical of his gang of friends. Just when he was thinking about all this, he realized that the girl was readying herself to get down at the next station which was Mulund. Oh no! She would get down there and then how would he find her again? It was too late now to go to the door to try and get down. He was at the other side of the compartment. And even if he tried to he wouldn’t be able to get out. His dream girl was going away from him and he didn’t know how he would find her again. Not unless some miracle happened.

We are pregnant!!!!

Yes we are pregnant!!!!!!!!!

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said a couple i met in a supermarket. caught u on dat one, dint i?? ya ya wot all things u gotto do to catch peole's attention to read ur blog. make eyeball grabbing headlines and all!!! hehehe!!

nyways the point here is .... y did the couple say "we r pregnant"

well when u r shopping in a supermarket with a kid in trolley u r bound to be looked at by many. especially young couples who r expecting their first kid. they will stop by ur trolley, look at the kid, make funny faces and all. and then when ur little one blesses them with a smile....they both will go aaaaaaaaah soooooo cute!!!

so well sometime back i happened to meet this young couple. (yuppies, dinks wotever u can call em) they were being very very sweet to my kiddo. i was a bit surprised to see a young couple being sooo nice to a nasty little one. the lady asked me how old my kiddo was, wat was her name and all. so i was a bit surprised to see them sooo intrested in my kiddo. as they dint hv any kid with them nor they looked in family way..... so before i could ask anything , the hubby said " if u r wondering y we are asking all these questions then lemme tell u that we r pregnant!!!"

he too was visibly excited at the prospect of being a father. the mom was glowing obviously.....

they told me that it was only the third month and so she dint look pregnant.

well anyways.... i congratulated them and told them to enjoy this phase of their life till the baby arrives!!!

the wifey was cool but somehow the hubby was a bit too excited!! he went on to tell me how they had attended couple sessions to discuss about a fathers role in a child's life. and how they were evn going to pregnancy yoga classes. when i asked him, wot he did at those classes?? he said he gv moral support and encouraged wifey to do all exercises!!! he went on to tell me that they were going to go for labour classes too.....and asked if i knew any. well i hadnt attended any, so dint know. he told me that he wanted the best for their baby and wifey. and so he would go to any lengths to do dat!!

i could picturise the hubby abt 6 months down the line in the labour room, trying to help the wifey during labour and encouraging her....... push push push!!! hahahaha!! only i guess by then the wifey would feel suffocated by the love and encouragement of the hubby!!!

wot shocked me even more was dat he was telling all dis earnestly to a complete stranger!!!

i know its a modern thing to be there with ur wife in labour room and actually video shoot the whole thing!!! but lemme tell u all dis is the american thing. and when u talk abt america i will say its kindof a land of eccentrics!! they will laugh and scoff at everyone and anyone except themselves. their sense of faamily values is warped..... and so in a bid to show how caring and family oriented they r, they bring in all these nonsensical ideas to appease the world.

anyways i guess by now that couple must hv already delivered their baby and am quite sure they must be hvng fights too...... (about who will change the babies diaper)!!

I can walk english. i can talk english.

ya ya ya!! one of the advantages of being "convent" educated means that u r gonna be fleunt in english. forget the yes man, no man talk. but overall u have an edge over others.....or so u r made to think. i mean see any matrimonial ads, the description goes: wanted bride for US educated and settled boy, v.fair, 22-25 yrs, convent educated........ so on and so forth. (actually i can write aan entire blog on matrimony ads too) So u see the importance of convent educated!!
in my family my mom, brother and I are convent educated. so except for my father (who though has studied in vernacular medium is still more fleunt than us in english) we all belong to the so called fad fad english group. post marriage though my hubby is from english medium school i still make fun of the way pronounces some words coz he isnt convent educated.
now why am i writing about knowing english???? coz recently i bumped into someone who i thought for sure must be knowing english and so i treid to converse in english, only to realise that this person didnt understand a word of what i had said.
so that brings me to this................. is it really necessary to know english???
well, if u want to survive in this cut throat world of competition, then u must know english. but should it be at the cost of ur own mother tongue????
countries like japan and china have prospered without majority of their population knowing english. havent they felt the need to make english compulsary in their schools??
when we were in school we would be punished if we talked in any language other than english during school hours. we could talk in marathi and hindi only during those lectures. else we were compared to the ulti palti (read municipalty) schools. but sometimes i do feel that we have lost on a rich culture which our language "marathi" has. till sometime ago i used to be proud to say that i dont know a single marathi song, nor can i read and write marathi fluently (though i hv studied the language for a good 10 years). but then sometimes i feel bad of the fact that i hvnt read some of the greatest works in marathi literature bcoz i get too bored trying to read marathi.
i would scoff at people who werent fluent in english. consider this, i used to try and correct an uncle's(not my relative) english speaking skills when i was just 10 years old. he would take it in good spirit!!! i was taught in school that people who didnt english are all low class, down market!! and so when i went to college it was a complete shock to me!! being convent educated was considered a handicap here. somehow all the friends i made in college were either from my school or from some other convent. others (who were in majority) ignored us coz they thght we were too snooty.
even my most important criteria while getting married was that the boy should be fluent in english. hehehehe!!
when i was teaching, i always told my students, that to get ahead in life u should be fluent in english. while taking a job nobody asks if u about ur mother tongue. (except if u r going to teach and that too be a language teacher)
my thinking changed drastically after i visited japan. i saw how developed they r, even without having known english for sooooo long.
so did i scoff at the japanese?? nopes. did i think they were down market?? nopes.
thats when i realised that here in india our minds have been conditioned to think that english nahin toh kuch bhi nahin.
dats y even amitabh bacchan says" i can walk english, i can talk english" to prove that he is superior to another guy.

HULLLOOO PEOPLESSSSSSSSSSS

hmmm a long break again b4 i finally get to my blog. but then so much has been happening of lately that i really dint get enough time to come and visit my blog.

btw summer's here and with that there has also been a change in place of residence. yep..... am in the city of joy now. IIM C actually. nice, quiet and peaceful. but at the same time a bit too far away from the city. nyways getting used to place now, or rather getting a hang of it. will keep updating about anything new that does happen.

ALL IZZ WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!

jab life ho out of control,
hothon ko karke gol,
hothon ko karke gol,
seeti bajake bol
All izz well!!!
bacchu kya jaane goli se kya hoga??
cockroach ko mare ya fir diarrhoea hoga??
meetha hoga ya fir ye khatta hoga??
toh hath me lo, use chabao,
use chabake bol......
mummy all izz well..... arrey baba all izz well....doctor uncle all izz well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ya ya this a just a gist of what has happened...... last week sameeksha scared the daylights out of me. kaise?? she chewed a tablet meant for killing cockroaches. well then the minute i saw that, i had to rush her to the doc in as is where is condition (read bhambad bhoot). tablet was old so luckily she escaped with 2-3 loose motions!! but man was i scared????????

moral of the story:- when ur bachhu is quiet and not troubling or psetering u for a long time, it spells trouble!!!!!

how much can u love someone??

this blog might sound a little philosophical to others and offbeat too......but just had to write this down.

just a few days ago, me n hubby were discussing about how certain people behave. how some people are always good to u, some always bad but some just suddenly change from good to bad.

while discussing this i happened to say "for u this person maybe a bad person, but for someone else he/ she might be the most loved person and may see no wrong in what this person is doing." he said i was talking nonsense. maybe true but i said that everybody has his/her shades of grey. nobody is absolutely evil.

well dat brings me to todays thought:- on sunday i read about the shootout at some housing society in which an innocent girl lost her life because of one man's madness. everybody had a bad word to say about this man. (who too was ultimately killed by the police). but what i read in todays papers intrigued me. it said his daughter has started a blog and dsnt mention anything about her fathers death but goes on to say that he did what he felt was right.

immediately prominent psychiatrists from around mumbai had to say that sometimes it happens that often a kin who is very close to the accused may see no wrong in what the accused has done and instead may look at the accused as a victim.

so true. it happens in so many cases.... take shiney ahujas wife. she was screaming from everywhere that her hubby dearest is being made a scapegoat because he was a celebrity. well i dont know what does she have to say now? and yes i sympathise with her. infact everybody was saying she should have just left him, and got away from his life. well i dont know who is right and who is wrong....... but then many of these high profile (page 3) so called columnists who were pointing fingers at her have also had to forget their husband infidelities and live with it for the rest of their lives. they were lucky their husbands romps remained secrets.

so the question is if u should have unconditional love for ur loved one, no matter wot??

i dont know am still thinking.

hello blog!! and hello maid!!!

oh ya ya!! i know i know!! its been such a loooooong time since the last time i hv visited this blog. but kya karein motherhood takes precedence over everything!!! everything matlab absolutely everything!!! the time of ur sleep, the time u eat, u go out, u bathe, pee etc etc!!! ya ya dats something!!!

a very funny thing to note is the urge of ur baccha to poop when u r having ur meal!! i hv no idea y this happens almost regularly..... and yes i am not the only one in this..... all mothers complain about this!!!! at times its soooooooooo frustrating when u r trying to enjoy a good meal and then u have to leave ur meal half way to clean the baccha....... but kya karien we have to do it na!!

while this is a regular feature i wonder wot mom' s who choose to have maids must be doing??? say the maid's name is sunita....... then they must be saying "sunita thoda bacche ko saaf kar" cool way to enjoy meal!!!

i am really not against ladies who keep maids. in this day and age of nuclear family settings we do need some exrta help. so that the mommy can get her zzzzz too!! but then when i take my baccha down stairs to play in the so called childrens play area (in a place like mumbai its a farce), all i can see are the maids who bring the kids downstairs to play. where are the mommies at that time???? these maids stand there in a group, all of them cursing their "madams." and they are least bothered about what the bacchas are doing. some of them gossip with their boyfriends in this "free time"(i thought they were given responsibility to look after the bachhas). i happened to ask them once if the mom's of these bacchas are working..... nopes nyat nahi are the answers. then what do they do i wonder?? all say in unison they want some time away from the baccha. ooohhhhhhhh my sentiments exactly!!! they even go on to elaborate how the working mom's too get time away from baccha and so r much at peace. their madam toh has "sacrificed" her career for the baccha. thoda peace toh chahiye na!!! ya ya ya!!

i have even seen some mom's keep maids when they deliver a doosra baccha. so dat there is some one to pick the bada baccha from school, take down to play. thats still ok i feel. but wot about these self sacrificing seeta's of kalyug (career sacrificing)?? so much sacrifice and no one to appreciate.... sob sob!! i too gave up my job by choice. and yes there are times when i feel i need to get out and get a break give a lecture!!! but then i think about my baccha.... whts the bacchas fault eh?? i gave birth to baccha coz i felt the need to have one, not coz someone forced me to. i have seen some of the maids who absolutely dont care about the bacchas. they let them play even when dere is a danger of them getting seriously hurt. wot about those mom's??

then why to go on saying about how she has sacrificed everything for family and all and keep bitching about these working moms! i am not saying i am the most ideal mom or something like that.....but woman get ur priorities right!! either get out of ur home and start working or then stay at home and dont be in spiteful mood!! if u see the daredevilry these maids make the bacchas do, u will get a heart attack!! gone are those days when u could be all trusting with ur maid and let her take care of ur bacchas. they dont make those type of maids anymore!!!

as for me y i dint keep a maid????

1) i wanted my own privacy too

2) there are certain things i wouldnt want my maid to know (for eg. my banks, my safe deposit vault etc.)

long time no see

hey its been a loooooooooooong time since my last post.....
my last post was addressed to my baby and the anxiety of holding my baby in my arms is evident in the post.
but now i am a mother to a beautiful baby girl,sameeksha, who is five months old now.
will update this blog a little later coz now i wanna go catch some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

pregnancy and me

hmmm i know its been a terribly long time since i have updated my blog. i dont know why, but for reasons best known to me i just kept dilly dallying the writing(typing) part. how lazy of me!!!!!!!!! maybe it had something to do with all the things that were and are going on in my life.

for those who may read this blog..... well am now 9 months pregnant!!! and i cant just wait to hold my baby in my arms!!!! i had a terrible 3 months of nausea which continued right upto my 7 month!!!!! took some ayurvedic medicines which helped to keep some food down my gullet....and now i puke once in a while. what a relief !!!!

this foto that u can see is the one taken in my 8th month.

the main reason behind me writing this blog is coz i want my little one to know some of the great moments and mishaps that have taken place during his/her journey to this world!! so i am gonna address this post to my little devil who is kicing up a storm in dere......

1st month:

i had gone to japan to be with ur baba assuming that i would be dere for atleast 3 months. this was on 1st february. however, since ur aaji took ill seriously we had to come back on 14th february. ur aaji was not doing well, infact we knew these were her last days, so between making trips to the hospital and back u came into our lifes......we dint know when. me n baba came to know about ur existence on 9th of march 2008!!!! and were we excited???? we were jubiliant!! anyways u were a fighter from the start. me n baba were going through lot of emotional and physical stress and yet u were dere with us in everything. u were the only thing that gave us a reason to smile about in those days.

2nd month:

i was advised bed rest. and so ur poor baba was almost torn between working at home, office and going to the hospital to be with ur aaji. at the same time u gave me terrible nausea!!!! yup, i was going on vomitting like crazy. nothing would stay in my stomach. i was worried if u would get any food! we did a scan to see if u were alright. u were like a tiny seed then!! by this time it was almost end of march.

3rd month:

i had to start preparing for lectures and and ofcourse be careful for u!! i was still vomitting!!!! april changed a lot of things in our lives. ur aaji passed away. and the only solace we had was u. we would remain cheerful trying to think of u. u were the one who helped us overcome the difficult phase.

4th month:

i was still vomitting!!!!!!!!!! and i was exhuasted bcoz of the lectures too. i had decided to quit giving lectures coz it was becoming impossible for me to stand for so long and besides i was worried about ur health. i could give more time at home and be more relaxed now. it was in june only that we went to singapore for a week!!! we had loads of fun........so u were an international return baby even before u were born. i will show u all the pictures of the places that u visited when u were in my stomach!!! u r a bhatku baccha coz i vommited just once in our entire trip to singapore.

i wasnt putting on any weight and so would end up feeling weak. well, i even fainted once in the mall when i had gone for some shopping all alone. and after that i couldnt go out anywhere all alone!!

5th month:

we had to do a scan before baba went to japan for 2 months. we both were worried about ur health. thankfully all was right. and baba went to japan with a peaceful mind to japan. he terribly missed being with us, but wot to do? he had to this for his job. i came to stay at thane and got a lot of rest, but i was still vomitting. u were still very tiny and could float around everywhere. i could feel tiny kicks and hiccups that u gave.

6th month:

i was still vomitting!!! and each sunday had started taking lectures too. but all in all it provided me with some means to go out of the home and have a bit of exercise. baba wasnt here, and i missed him a lot. u had started moving around a bit more by now, and so every now and then i would feel giddy when u moved too much!! u were quite an athlete i must say!!!

7th month:

this is the month when i started shopping for u for the first time. me n ur aaji bght a lot of clothes for u. i even learnt knitting and made some shoes for u. ur kicks had started getting harder and my stomach would ache every night. but every time that u were quiet, i would feel something amiss. my nausea had gradually started declining and now i was feeling better and even gaining some weight. that means u were getting healthier by the day!!!

8th month:

at the end of 7th month baba came back!!! i started living between our home in mulund and thane. me n baba did a lot of cleaning at home and made lot space for u in the cupboard. we wanted to welcome u home with a lot of place for u to keep ur clothes!! baba had also done quite some shopping for u in japan. u were gonna be one pampered baby. all foreign ka maal!!! u had become heavier by now and i had started feeling difficult to walk around. ur kicks were more pronounced as u kept wriggling around. we did one scan to ascertain all was well with u. me n baba even decided a name for u. only thing was we dint know if it would be a little prince or princess!!

9th month:

well this is when am writing to u and each day i have my fingers crossed as to when i will be able to hold u in my arms...... even while am writing this i can feel ur tiny feet pushing against my ribs. and though it does ache a lot, i know am gonna miss all this once u r born. yup, we will be able to see u, which is an even more wonderful feeling, but still the special bond that only we both shared will now have to be shared with everyone else too!!!

i hope that when u grow up and read this, u will know in short about ur journey into this world. me n baba will nurture with our love, just the way we both were given a lot of love by our parents!!

gently falls the bakula

hmm this is a title of one of sudha murty's books.....i must say i was moved by this book..... and i dont know why somehow with all that is going on around me, it even brght a sense of calm to my mind. it made me more positive towards life. i have never been a pessimist kind of person.... however lately i thgt i was getting lost somewhere.... can marriage change somebody so much??? no it ws not marriage.... a loving and caring husband, parents to talk to and be dere to help u!! a good cushy job... wot else did i want in life?? maybe some happiness, sheer, pure happiness. but if i had all of the above why wasnt i still happy?? i really dint know and will never know the answer to dat. in all this while i read 2 books...
first one was by my favourite author... jeffrey archer... prisoner of birth. good one time read. story was almost predictible. but nontheless i was happy to catch up on some reading.
second was by another of my favourite author... sudha murty.... gently falls the bakula...... here too the ending was so predictible... but still, i was moved by this book.... its the journey of a woman who has sacrificed her aspirations and ambitions in life for her family's sake. but in return she is only taken for granted.
an amazing thing was that while i was reading it my husband called up to say he was scared something untoward was going to happen..... and thats when i realised that in his case he was the one who had been making sacrifices for everyone but ultimately nobody ever bothered to appreciate him or even thank him once for all that he been doing for soo long. he had always placed others ahead of himself. and now my bakula was drying up..... there was hardly any fragrance left to spread. my bakula was tired of giving shade to others and protecting others....
he wanted someone to give HIM some protection, pamper him, indulge him.
and that i know my bakula will make u strong and happy again!!!

sisters

read shobha de's sisters.
absolute crap! and bullshit! i finished the book only coz i dont like to keep a book half read!!!
it started pretty ok..... then the racy scenes in between which were put in had no rhyme or reason to exist... by the end even those racy scenes were too fast!! it almost seemed like DE was too bored with her own novel!!!! it seemed she got a warning from her publisher to complete the book in so and so time and also in so and so pages! everything just looked so hurried up in the end!!!!
after reading her novel i felt even i shd write a novel!!! no research required nothing!!!!!


only one word for that book: YUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

that WTF moment!!

ya i know till now almost all of us hv gn through a moment like this atleast once in our life where we hv turned around and said "what the f**k?"
in recent times i hv been thorugh this twice!!!! yup twice!!
i had called up my mobile service provider to ask if they provided international roaming facilites to JAPAN....conversation went on like dis
operator: hi, this is richa. how may i assist u?
me: are u providing international roaming to japan?
ope: gv me a minute please.
then hold music is going on......suddenly she picks the call again
ope: where is dis japan state located??
me: (dumbfound) japan... state.... aaah no its a country
ope: hold on
again music... this time she is back after a minute
ope: where is this japan country located? means in africa, europe, near australia????
me:(too shocked to even answer) u dont know where japan is located??? (almost going to say WTF?)
ope: i know its location....(am shocked).......but where exactly does it come on world map??

by this time i hv lost all patience and really dont know wot to say!!! so i just banged the phone down!!!

my next WTF moment came after abt 2 days from this incident. i had booked a ticket with a travel agent and had to cancel it.
ope: hello xyz travels.... how may i help u?
me: can i talk to mr. rahul?
ope: he is not on his seat.....how can i help u?
me: hmmm well actually i hd booked a return ticket to tokyo on singapore airlines... i wanted to
cancel that ticket.
ope: ok madam it will be done.... but can u tell me if it is a rail ticket, bus ticket or air ticket??
(@ dis particular moment i feel WTF)
me: (patiently answering) madam if i hv to go tokyo i will hv to go by air!!! if u know any bus service from india to tokyo pls lemme know!

i was wondering if people really can be stupid or they r too preoccupied to actually listen properly to wot we ask or speak???

well i shdnt blame others... i too hv had this WTF moment........dat is someone must hv said this to me.....
one toh i clearly rmbr......hd been to wedding(sameer's friends marriage) we went up to congratulate the couple..... i knew the guy.... i went to talk to his wife who was the bride.....all shining on her special day!!! and this was my foot in mouth or WTF moment.....
me: oh u r looking so lovely and pretty!
bride: (blushing) thanx!!!
me: b.t.w wots ur name???
huh! WTF! b4 i knew it, i had brght upon me a great disaster!!!! my hubby and his friend were to shocked to say anything!!!!!
till date i regret that moment... sameer lost a good friend!! come to think of it... i had gn for the wedding and dint even know the brides name?????
hey but u know the funny thing is even now i dont remember her name!!! hehehe!

anyways will write some more WTF moents as and when they arise!!!

Happy 2008!

hey....... new years here again!!!!! another year and some more resolutions!!! more resolutions means more promises meant to be broken!!!

wot hv i thght this year???? hmmmm
1) lose 10 kgs! (unimaginable)
2) take a chill pill about life
3) not to overeat at all
4) savings for sams MBA.

haa....sigh the list is long.... and the resolutions are really beginning like hard to keep!!! especially resoultion 1 and 3!
i guess we already hv breached those promises!!! ystdy we just hogged whole day!!!!!! frankie and chole bature, and later pizzas!!!!!!!! aaaaaaah! tooo much binging!!! man whens it gonna stop? is it ever gonna stop???

anyways.... i always wondered why people make resolutions when most of them are broken! though i rmbr one particular year hen i decided that i will do something to cool down my anger! count till 10 everytime get angry.......and was i successful???? u bet i was!!! really cooled me down a lot. but dats just been one year! i hope to stick to these years resolutions... i need to do dat!

amen to my new resolutions!

jaane kyon???

jaane kyon log advice karte hai?
jaane kyon hum woh bhi sunte hai?
jane kyonnnnnnnnn ho jane kyon?
jane kyon jane kyon jane kyon?


ya its a popular song from dil chahta hai! only lyrics have been changed a bit. pyaar ki jagah advice word. dsnt make a big difference i guess...... both things are usually done with unreasonable mind and thought. people fall in love without knowing wot they are doing. and its the same with advices........they give it unknowingly.......i still wonder why are dere always so many advices???? do this, dont do that! do it like this, dont do it like that! prying relatives can be real pain at times with unnecessary advices at unwanted times!most often their advices are simply irritating and bring the brain's logical reasoning abilities to a screeching halt!!!!!!!!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh! ya exactly like dat.

it can be from the smallest thing like wearing the right type of footwear to some big things like ur financial issues.
well all advice isnt wrong or bad advice, i guess it depends on the person from whom it is coming!! if we love and respect that person then its taken in the right spirit! else i guess its considered as an unnecessary meddling in ur affairs. so i guess receiving advice is completely subjective.
we say that if we dont really care then ek kaan se sunneka aur dusre se chodneka.......... but the problem is in between it passes through our human brain which has the capability to actually register some unwanted things..(unfortunately important things like exam answers or banking passwords hardly get registered)!!!!! these unwanted things keep creeping in at unwanted times..... like when we are relaxing, just up from afternoon siesta, or some other peaceful times.......isne aisa kyon kaha? wot must be the meaning of that statement....... no no wot is the hidden meaning of that statement? but did he/she really mean that when he/she said that???? etc etc...... and that brings us to the root cause and mother of all problems.......FIGHTS!!!!
ya these fights can turn so ugly that they may destroy family relations.......both parties are aggrieved... one coz thier advice wsnt taken and the other coz the advice was given.
but inspite of all this does anybody stop giving advices???? will it ever stop? i dont think so...... it can never ever stop i think......and it should never ever stop. else how will the world go on?????????????

jai bhim!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ystdy ws 6th december...... one of the most dreaded days in mumbai!!!!!!! actually there were 2 events on 6th december..... the first one is death anniversary of babasaheb ambedkar and second is demolition of babri masjid.......... both huge events which caused an upheavel in indian politics. while the latter event was dreaded till some time back.... the first event gives goosebumps, filth and much more to mumbai city........ the entire city almost avoids dadar area like its untouchable...... ouch did i say untouchable??????? well the fact is that the dalits " so called untouchables of the past" come each year at chaityabhoomi which is located at dadar shivaji park and comemmorate their great leader ambedkar!!!! but the problem is they dont come in ones or twos..... they come in droves of lakhs and crores of people from thoroughout the length and breadth of the country!!!! fine, this shdnt be too much of a problem actually... some people cmng to pay respect to their dead leader shdnt cause any problem to anybody.... but unfortunately it does!! the people squat on the road....not that its uncommon in mumbai, they bathe on the roads...... dat too is pretty common in mumbai....... but the thing is this is done by lakhs and lakhs of people who come to pay respect to their leader. people in mumbai avoid the local trains, buses, offices, schools, colleges etc etc. in short many people hate to get out of their homes on this day!



and why does all this happen? is it bcoz of too much of rush? or is it bcoz we dont wanna mingle with "that type of crowd?" have we actually achieved freedom from untouchabiltity? or is it that we dont show our discontent publicly???



jai bhim!!!!

another picnic!!!!!!!

ya one more picnic.... albeit this time it was with mulund(e), (w), and airoli nerul branches! wah wot fun and frolic! really enjoyed myself!! it ws on 2nd december and again same place.........nishiland water park!!! but ya i enjoyed it!!!!!!!

aaaah! picnic!!!!!!!! yipeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yesterday had a picnic in nishiland water park with my students! wot fun we had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well to start with i wsnt seen in my usual salwar kameez avtaar which really shocked the students...... imagine for so many months now, they are used to seeing me in crisp cotton salwar kameez with an amboda(hairstyle haan..... hair tied up together in a bun)........ looking ateast 30 yrs of age. and then suddenly i was seen in these trendy 3/4ths (capris so to call... dont know why they are called so) 1 ponytail and a nice T shirt..... man were they all shocked!!!! they were dazed, many cldnt beleive it was their teacher, miss, madam or wotever else nicknames they call me by! well frankly spkng i loved it! i wntd to create that impact on them, that, i too can be very very trendy! i loved every minute of the adulation these young kids were showering on me! it felt good that a whole years had work hadnt gone unnoticed and they really cared for the teachers, laughed when we laughed, cried when we cried etc etc.

picinc was fun, dhamaal! only for a 1-2 small hiccups. a girl injured herself real bad. nasty fall she had and was bleeding! she wsnt sorry that she hd hurt herself but was more scared to face her mom, who ofcourse wld be too shocked to see her poor daughter all bandaged up. i really pray for her speedy recovery.

hmm but throughout all this i really missed one person. my hubby, i mean though he wldnt be able to accompany me for the picnic, the thgt of not being able to see him after a very very tired and weary day made me more tired. though i hvnt told him so but i really am missing him........ and yup a lot! wtng eagerly for u honey!

a new day has begun

hello friends.........

kinda lost touch with my blog a/c for looooong. was too damn busy to update and put any posts dere. but busy for one whole year????? thats too much na. anyways have again thought of updating the blog from time to time if not regularly.


in the past year there have been innumerable changes in my life......... from being a fat hausfrau in naperville, chicago..... i have come back to amchi mumbai and am a busy busy working woman!!!


working woman! wow dats cool na! why is a working woman considered so different?? i mean dont men also work? do we call them as working men? no na? then y so for women? maybe bcoz we are suppossed to have a place in the home only? be in the kitchen? cook good food? watch tv and discuss the numerous plots in the soap operas?

just now on tv i can see madhuri dixit nene dancing to some song in the upcoming movie aaja nachle. she too is a working woman!! (chuckles) though she must be having a host a of people helping her in domestic work.
hey its farah khans movie trailor now.... OSO..... again another working woman! hell now i see kareena kapoor too! but nah she isnt a working woman!!!!!!! nah! y? coz she isnt married yaar!

that brings me to the conclusion that we still feel after marriage a woman shd be @ home not in the office. y else wld we hv that phrase.... working woman? and ya sometimes the hostility that i have to face from my male colleagues lets me know that according to them i am in an unwanted place or rather that maybe i am snatching their bread and butter! possible na!

i feel a working woman is considered as threat coz men find it perplexing to know that the women is ably managing her home as well as office. how the hell can she do it??? threat hmmmm.... dats an intresting take on working women! and hey there are many things attached to a working woman...... failure in a personal life is attributed to her working status and vice versa! how cool na! blame it somehow or the other on her working status!

behind every succesful man there is a woman! and wot is this woman supposed to do? listen to all the problems that the husband is facing? cook him delicious food and brighten up his mood? help him sort out his problems?
well i will like to change the above phrase a bit:- behind every succesful man there is a succesful working woman!! one who is always dere for the husband when he needs her. one who cooks his favourite dishes. one who sorts out his problems. and one who works and helps him financially too.

WHY ME??

WHY ME????

hvnt v often asked dat question??? why me??
it starts right from the time v r a small baby... girls have to get their ears pierced and it hurts... then its why me??? v hv to take injections or vaccinations.. it hurts ... then its why me?? u r not admitted into the school ur parents wanted to put u into coz u r underage... it hurts... then its why me?? u donot bcum class monitor... it hurts.. then its why me?? u come last in ur PT race... it hurts... then its why me?? u underscore for ur 10th exams.. and donot get admission into college of ur choice... it hurts... then its why me?? in a class of 120 students u r among the 10 students who flunked an exam... then its why me??? u have a crush on a guy.. ur abt to talk to him on friendship day... u see him with his girlfriend... it hurts... then its why me??? u fall ill just b4 ur CAT exams... u cant appear dat year.. it hurts.. then its why me?? u dont get the job of ur choice and have to make a compromise.. it hurts.. then its why me?? looking out for ur soulmate.. u r rejected atleast 10 times by 10 guys.. it hurts... then its why me?? u get married...stay away from ur parents... it hurts.. then its why me?? tough times fall upon u and ur family for some time... it hurts.. then its why me???

well i have rchd only this stage till now.... many more why me's to go through!!! but why me???

it seems to me dat v tend to have self pity only in our bad times!! not the good times! why dont v tend to think why me when things r going good for us??

for example.. it hurts when v hv to pierce our ears as a baby... but arnt v lucky to be given birth to... and not suffered any complications during birth?? then y isnt it at dat time... why me?? while taking vaccinations it hurts... but our parents can afford to pay for it... then why isnt it why me?? v get admitted to another school where v r wanted by the school... lovingly... then why isnt it why me?? u dont becum class monitor.. but u r in a position to take leadership... then why isnt it why me?? u come last in your PT race.. but u can walk and run!!! then why ist it why me?? u dint get admission into college of ur choice...but atleast ur parents r sending u to college... then why isnt it why me?? u flunked a college exam but u r strong enough to pass through that phase... then why isnt it why me?? u see that ur crush already has a GF... so u can see and understand.. then why ist it why me?? u fall ill b4 ur CAT exam so u cant appear for it.. but atleast u think u r capable enough to appear for dat exam... then why isnt it why me??? u hvnt got a job of your choice... but u r lucky enough to have a job atleast.. then why isnt it why me??? ur marriage proposals r rejected... but u too werent too sure abt that guy... then why isnt it why me??? u finally find ur true soulmate and stay away form ur parents... atleast ur husband is capable enough to look after u on his own.... then why isnt it why me??? tough times fall upon u and ur family for some time... but u r lucky enough to have gone through some very good times too... then why isnt it why me??

now will i still think why me????

Writing down thoughts!!!

WELL WELL WELL.... this is my first blog on this profile... i had another blog loong time back which i never bothered to maintain properly... so heres another chance to do it once again!!!

first question.... y is well repeated thrice??? aja, beeja, teeja!! brings good luck i think!!! another question... y am i not following proper rules of punctuation??? i am writing a blog for gods sake!!! not an english exam!!! so my blogs r rarely going to have any punctuations!! these r all random thoughts!!! so they better be random with haphazard thoughts and definitely no punctuation.. coz it would mean dat i have to think a lot b4 writing it down!!! a thought is something which has to come form the heart... not something to please some third party who is trying to read it.... also this blog is like my diary which i first used to maintain and then tore it off sometime back!!! i guess already a lot of lecturebaazi has been done!!!

now coming back to my topic... writing down thoughts.....

why do v feel the need to write down our thoughts??? is it because noone is listenign to us?? or is it because some thgts r better if they r written down rather than being talked about?? or are v scared that someone will laugh at what v have to say... if v say it??? what other way do v have to express our thoughts other than writing it down?? laughing, smiling, crying, dancing?? ya these r ways of expressing our thghts.... but still it doesnot convey everything that v have in our minds.... so dats y most of the times v speak our minds!! but what abt people who cannot speak?? what do they do?? do they write??? what abt people who can talk, but their thgts r suppressed?? do they write??? and what abt people like us who can speak and who donot have to suppress our thghts?? why do v still write???

a question dats puzzling me!!! i dont know the answer for it yet... but hv to think abt it soon!!!

and wot abt GOD?? how does he express his thghts???