Lazy People do more work..

..and I have certainly realized the truth in this saying.

I had been tagged a while ago by the lovely Usha. But I put it off. Before I knew it, Kanagu and Zradar had tagged me too. Now, instead of doing 1 tag of 11 questions, I have to do 33! Can’t blame anyone but myself, can I?

1. In one word, what have you gained, in life, that you hold most precious? (there, that rules out “weight”   )

Daughter

2. In three words, a pet peeve?

People littering places 😦

3. A word you think you use a lot, unconsciously  ?

Oh dear! That is a tough one – I will have to ask husband 🙂

4. What is it that you love to do, most, and would rather spend your time doing it?

Read, read, and read some more 🙂

5. What do you think others think of you?

I really couldn’t answer that, you know 🙂 I am sure different people will have different views of me 🙂

6. Who would you say made you who you are today (other than your parents, if that is what you would answer  )

Husband and daughter and friends…

7. What gives you joy?

Reading in peace 🙂 Playing the fool with daughter 🙂

Dissecting a debate on NDTV with husband, sometimes irritating him because he never gets to hear half of what is being said 🙂

Chatting away with my parents, before my father asks me to stop wasting money 🙂

Talking to daughter’s teacher and getting to know what a star she is – my eyes fill up, and I get so choked with emotions..
9. If you could go back to one moment in your past, which moment would it be?

The moment daughter was born.

10. Do you believe in alternate lifetimes? If so, what is the you there doing now? (It’s actually one question, with two parts  )

Nope – I am very satisfied with my life as of now 🙂 Can ask for nothing more(or less)

11. What makes you you?

Me? Just being me 🙂

Now for the Kanagu’s

1. Name your favorite fictional character and why?

Now this is tough – because my favourites keep changing.. I don’t think I have a real favourite, to be honest..  I do like strong women characters.. I like Ken Follet’s women protagonists, especially in his historical fiction – they are all so strong minded, independent, for the age in which they are portrayed.

2. What you like to do more in your free time?

Read 🙂

3.Please tell us the most funniest prank you are involved in?

Long back, about a year or so after I started working, we got access to Yahoo Messenger at work(at a client site). Our own office had very strict rules. We had email, but could only email our colleagues – most of them sat next to us, so you can that email made no difference to us 😦 So it was a huge deal when we got access to YM. One of my colleagues decided to play a prank on another colleague. So he created a fake id, in the name of a girl, pinged this other colleague, who delighted, over the moon, that a girl pinged him, started chatting 🙂 To cut a long story short, it went on for a bit, and we had the best time 🙂 Such mean friends we were 🙂

4. What makes you happy?

Already mentioned in the first set of questions.

5.Any regrets in life?

No, not really.

6. If you can chose an alter-ego, who or what it will be?

Can’t think of any. Guess I am really happy being myself 🙂

7.Do you have any interest in politics? If yes, what you feel about UP election results?

Absolutely! I have a lot of interest in politics. UP elections, I think were the result of people voting for the alternative – even if they weren’t the greatest alternative. I think we have got used to the fact that no matter which party comes into power, the effect is pretty much the same. I do think that SP did promise things which were more relevant to the people at that point in time. I wonder if all states would go the Kerala way – where they interchange the ruling party at every election. That, in the long run, might mean that the parties try harder to   take up issues that actually matter to the people.. We’ll have to wait and watch, I guess..

8. Name the place which you visited last? Whats the special about that place?

The last place we went as tourists was Greece, and we loved it! What is special? Have written all about it here 🙂

9. What you like about you most?

I like the fact that I adjust to living in different places quite quickly. I don’t yearn for what I don’t have, or what I used to have… I like to live for today, in that sense, and it has helped me a lot over the years.

10. Name 5 things which you feel is most important in life. 

Family, hobbies, money, a positive attitude, good food 🙂

11. Name a childhood favorite serial other than animation one.

Kachchi Dhoop

Now for Zradar’s set of questions. Why, why, why did I not do this tag when I first got tagged?

1. Do you think there is a woman behind every man?

Sure. Most of us(men and women) will have a partner, a parent or a sibling who would have played an important part in making us what we are. In that sense – yes, of course.

2) Do you believe in God and why?

Now this is a tricky one.. I am not really sure what to believe. I do believe that the concept of making people ‘God-fearing’ is a mad made thing, to control others. If there is a God, up there, I am sure she would be a fair minded God, who would have discriminatory ideas for her people.

3) Why do you think you blog?

Because I enjoy it.

4) What is the bestest memory with your lover/spouse?

Loads 🙂 And too private to share 🙂

5) Which is that one place in the world you wouldnt dare to travel to and why?

Saudi Arabia – I am not to sure I would be comfortable in a strictly segregated society.

6) Do you like the US. Why?

I did enjoy the time I spent there. The US is great for shopping, though. And it has some wonderful natural attractions that needs to be seen. If I were to live abroad, however, I would prefer to live in the UK – for a lot reasons.

7) Are you smart enough to escape from any situation? Describe.

Escape? I think I would prefer to use the word – ‘face’ any situation. Escape comes across as ‘running away’, in my opinion.

8) Which is the one circumstance you could not have survived without the support of your parents?

After daughter was born, I developed mastitis – it got out of control, and at that time, I would not have been able to manage without my parents.

9) Staying with In-laws is……

.. not easy, if it is for ever. If it were short visits – it is quite pleasant. Living with any  other adult – apart from your spouse, is a difficult situation, even if they are your own parents. Mainly because we all have our own personalities, and expectations. Managing all that is no cakewalk.

10) What change does parenthood bring into your life?

I think it changed the way I look at things. It brought me a different perspective to life. I took decisions which I would have never taken if I had not been a parent.

Are you able to remember your grocery shopping list by heart without making the list?

If only!

And I’m done And I am not tagging anybody else. Too lazy, you see 🙂 Anyway, most of you have already been tagged – see how kind I am to you guys? If any of you would fancy doing it – please do, and do let me know, I would love to read it.

If I got Duplicated…

…I would drive some people crazy(like Husband, for instance) 🙂 He might decide to stay away in Glasgow during the weekends too 🙂

Reading Scribby’s post on Dme(Duplicate Me), my first thought was, ‘Oh what a fun concept!, I should copy this from her’! Reading through her post, I realized that I did not have to copy it – Scribby had already tagged me 🙂 Thanks dearie! Love this tag 🙂

So what would I do is I could duplicate myself! Oh so many things! If I start, I’m afraid I will never stop 🙂

1. Get Dme to do all the daily cooking. Let her figure out what to cook, and everything! If there is something I hate – it is everyday cooking. The Ome(Original Me), will just swan into the kitchen and make exotic stuff, and bake 🙂

2. Send Dme off to the gym to work off all the calories I put on eating(and lazying around) 🙂

3. Send her off to do boring things like grocery shopping, while I nip off into the library or just stay at home and read?

4. Dme could take over vacuuming the three floors of the house, and tidying up as well, while I do other interesting things?

5. I could go back to work, while DMe could stay at home cook, pick up daughter from school, and I could get back home just in time to relax and spend the evening with daughter.

6. I always miss deliveries because I have to step out – even when I know the postman might arrive precisely when I step out – with a Dme – that would be so one less worry!

7. With a Dme, the Dme could work, while the Ome takes off on vacations 🙂 even when I have no leave at work!

8. I guess I would never ever complain about 24 hours being too less 🙂

I could go on and on… After all, who wouldn’t appreciate an extra pair of hands? It would, of course, be useful if Duplicate Me came with a different skill-set rather than exactly the same as mine, you know 🙂 I don’t want to have to fight with myself over which things I get to do, and which she does 🙂 A complimentary Me might make more sense 🙂 But then, beggars can’t choosers, so lets at least get the DMe 🙂

So tell me, what would you do if you got to duplicate yourself? I feel too lazy to tag you guys, so please help yourself – anybody reading this – consider yourself tagged 🙂

 

An Award and the 7 Random things tag

In all spheres of life, you come across people you really look up to. People who amaze you with their skills – be it management skills, social skills, or those that weave magic with words. Like Shail of Shail’s Nest. She is one of the bloggers whose work, I find amazing. So when someone like her gives me an award , The Versatile Blogger Award- I can’t help be overjoyed:) Thank you so much, Shail!

And at the very last minute, I remembered that Zradar had passed me an award – which I had forgotten to pick up. Turns out I got double-tagged 🙂 Thanks Zradar – and do forgive me for picking it up so late.

The Rules for the Versatile Blogger Award says:

Nominate 15 fellow Bloggers

Inform the Bloggers of their nomination

Share 7 Random things about yourself

Thank the Blogger who nominated you

Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post – That is the simplest – Here goes.

Nominate 15 Bloggers

1. Saritha

2. Swaram

3. Bikram

4. Seema

5. Scribby

6. Uma

7. Pepper

8. Ash

9. Hitchy

10. Sandhya

11. Smita

12. Shilpa

13. Vimmuuu

14. Kanagu – Maybe a tag will make you blog again?

15. Aparna

Now to share 7 random things about me.. Is there still something I haven’t shared in the 3 years I have been blogging?

1. I love recycling stuff – as in, separating garbage into recyclables and non-recyclables.  I meticulously gather all paper, empty juice cartons and put them in the right bin. Some of my friends think I’m crazy because of the effort I put into it 😦 Th other day, at a friend’s place, I started gathering discarded wrapping paper, and asked them where their recycle bin is, only to be met with a blank look  – they must have thought I am crazy 😦

2. As much as I like recycling, taking bottles to the bottle bank is something that I HATE! I can’t stand the sound of bottles breaking. It used to be husband’s job, but ever since he has started travelling, it has become mine.

3. You know that ‘trainer’ on Wii Fit. Every time she says, ‘Great Posture’, my posture goes wobbly. Every. Single. Time. Why can’t she just shut up and not say anything!!!!

4. I lurk on Twitter – mainly because I have nothing to say – and because it has become my daily dose of news, views and outrage 🙂

5. I hate the smell of cooking that lingers in the house. Hate it! I do everything to prevent it and hate it if I step in and can smell stale cooking!

6. I can’t pass the library and not go in.

7. Santa got daughter a monopoly set, and Santa has been playing monopoly ever since. It has stopped now because husband is away – but I had forgotten how addictive it is 🙂 I almost get tempted to play by myself – if only that were possible:)

And done! Thank you Shail and zradar! I enjoyed doing this tag!

Playing Favourites

It has been ages since I took up a tag. For some reason, tags and I don’t work.. Nancy tagged me last week, and a particularly tough tag too. Not only did she tag me, she has also been checking to see if I put it up yet(so much for hoping that Nancy would forget that she tagged me ) 🙂 So I thought that I should do it. At the very least, I would end up reading my archives, something which I never do.

As I said, this tag of Nancy’s is tough. It is called the 7 meme post. And here is all about the tag.

What this is about:
To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.Rules:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part

2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
The links are:
– Your most beautiful post

– Your most popular post

– Your most controversial post

– Your most helpful post

– A post whose success surprised you

– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

– The post that you are most proud of

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.

4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers

5) And so it goes on!

Here’s my take…

– Your most beautiful post

Goodness! How on earth could I decide that? How about I ask you guys to nominate? It’s bad enough to have to read what I write, but to judge my most beautiful post? Let me move on and come back to this later(This is what I used to do during exams while answering tough questions, but back in those days I would have had some idea of what would be the answer)

*Back later, still clueless*  
This is tougher than I thought.. Ok, the best that I can come up with is, Unharnessed Thinking.  I’m not sure if it is beautiful or not, but for me, it records an important learning.. To let daughter do her own thinking – a learning which motherhood seems to be teaching me again and again

– Your most popular post
Ah! This should be easy – my stats should give my an idea, don’t you think? But the stats seem to point to posts with pictures. So I think people land here after all sorts of searches – some of them mind-boggling to say the least:)

The top most post which does not have pictures is this I don’t want my child to be obedient

– Your most controversial post
Controversial – I haven’t written controversial stuff.. And even if I did, I’ve not had trolls to make it controversial.. But this post, I think generated a few differing comments.. The Bad Bad West

– Your most helpful post
This one is easy – at least I have one post which I know, some of my friends referred to, and people seem to land up on my blog searching. How to Make a Princess Cake. I spent hours on the internet researching this cake, and I have put together whatever I learnt in this post.. And I think it might have helped a few folks out there?

– A post whose success surprised you

Why I am happy to oogle at girls! was my first Blogadda post, and I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least 🙂

– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

This is tough.. I don’t think I have any posts which haven’t got the attention it deserved.. For that matter, how do I judge how much attention a post should get?

I can only come up with this – Managing Expectations.

– The post that you are most proud of
The only post I can think of is my post on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Why this one? Because I did some research for this post. Normally, I post, as and when I feel like. I always wished to be the sort of blogger who writes well-researched, well thought out posts, but it never happened. Well, what can I say, I am one lazy person 🙂 But this post, as it was part of the Bloggers Premier League contest, I actually did some research, and planning, for a change. So I am proud of it -or rather of myself for having done it, at least once 🙂

And that’s it! I am done with the tag!

And while I’m at it, let me also share some stats. It has been over three years since I first started blogging! Three years! How time flies! And have notched up 393 posts – that surprised me more than anything. I mean, I knew I could talk, but 393 posts? No wonder husband has learnt to tune out my rants! For those who did not know, I started blogging when husband started ignoring my rants 😦 And you know what? These days he reads my posts without any prompting from me 🙂 Infact, he is one who goes – you should write this down in your blog. Especially my travel tales, they are here, mainly because he was after me to jot them down before we forget everything.

That was a tough but fun tag! Thanks so much, Nancy, for tagging me.. It was fun browsing though my archives, cringing at some of the posts, laughing out loud at some of the comments(I miss those days of blogging madness!), just reliving the last few years when blogging added a totally different dimension to my life…

And now to tag 5 bloggers. How about I try and get some old timer to blog again?

Hitchy – Does he need any intro? Jump on to his page, and you’ll know 🙂

Ashwathy – I miss your matrimonial mishmashes so much! Any chance post wedding series 🙂

Swaram – I would love you to dig through your archives and post some of those wonderful posts – I am sure I must have missed a few 😦

R’s Mom – I have started reading you very recently, and being lazy, I would love to read some of the wonderful posts that you churn out!

Bikram – The same as RM, I started reading you very recently, and I am so sure that I would the posts you come up with 🙂

Scribby, I wanted to tag you too, but the number of times yo uhave shifted blogs, make me wonder if you could take up this tag 😦 But if you could, then please consider yourself tagged 🙂

I know, I am supposed to tag only 5 – but what’s the fun if you don’t tweak the rules a tiny bit, eh?

(Un)Fashionable me

GM and Deeps tagged me on FB to do this tag. I decided to it here so as to not inflict it on my poor friends on FB. I would not consider myself fashionable by any standards. I go by comfort rather than fashion, which is probably why I have clothes which are years old, that I refuse to part with just because they are so very comfortable!

So here’s the tag, where I declare to the world how I don’t own most of the must-have list 😦 I should go and hide myself somewhere  or better still go and shop for all those must-haves that I don’t have 😉

How many of these fashion items do you have? 99labels has compiled a list of must-have fashion items for men and women .

 
• Copy this into your NOTES.
• Bold those items that you have, italicize the ones you once possessed but don’t have anymore.
• Tag your friends to see their fashion quotient. Tag me as well so I can see your responses !

For Women

1. Little Black Dress
2. Black Flats
3. Gold Hoop Earrings
4. Mac Waterproof Mascara
5. A Black Clutch
6. Sling  Bag
7. Gucci /Hermes-Berkin/Chanel/Prada Bag
8. Light-Colored Cotton Saree
9. Summer Scarf

10.  Bright Colored Umbrella

11.  A Red/Purple/Blue Handbag

12.  Over-Sized T-Shirt – I have loads of these. I used to think of these as my only way to hide my love-handles – until I saw this.

13.  Pencil Skirt – I did buy one, some time back in the hope that I would be able to carry it off, but only ended up toppling over. And that went into my ‘clothes that go to charity’ bag.

14.  Black Crepe/Georgette Saree

15.  Louboutin Shoes/High Heels

16.  Le Smoking Jacket/Suit By YSL

17.  Trench-Coat

18. Crisp White Cotton Button-Down Blouse/Shirt

19.  Solid Wash Jeans

20.  Leather Jacket

21.  Pair Of Black Pumps

22.  Knee-Length Boots – If there is any reason I can tolerate the winter here – it is because it allows me to wear boots 🙂 I just love boots!

23.  Silver Earrings/Baalis

24.  Leather Gloves

25.  Sexy Black/Red Stilettos- I have these, but I never wear them, because I spend more time trying to stay upright 😦 I think I really need to put this in the ‘to be given away bag’ as well.

26.  Turquoise Stone Bangles – Thanks to a client who gifted me these when I was leaving the project. They are old Native Indian artifacts and too lovely for me to  actually ever wear them.

27.  Ipod

28.  Platform Shoes

29.  Sexy Swimsuit

30.  Toe Ring

31.  Tattoo

32.  Black Tank-Top

33.  Hot-Pants

34.  Kajal

35.  Banarsee/Kanjivaram Saree

36.  Beach Sarong

37.  Oversized  Sunglasses

38.  White Salwar Kameez

39.  An Evening Gown

40.  Classic  Leather Belt – I have leather belts, but I have no idea whether they fit into the ‘classic’ bracket or not.

41.  Lingerie By Victoria’S Secret

42.  Summer-Hat

43.  Chanel/Hugo Boss/Dior/Ysl Perfume

44.  Silk Stockings

45.  Iphone

46.  Kundan Choker

47.  Pearl Necklace

48.  Faux-Fur Outerwear

49.  Halterneck Dress/Halter Top

50. Body-Piercing – do pierced ears count?

51.  Silver /Junk Anklet/Bracelet/Armlet

52.  Clinique Set

53.  Churidaar Kameez

54.  Platinum Band/Ring

55.  Bracelet Watch

And we’re done! I am not tagging anybody else, because I am sure most of you would have been tagged by now. But if you haven’t been, then please do take it up 🙂 And do let me know if you do.

 

My Sins against Gender-Stereotypes

Uma and Hitchy(noticed only now, Hitchy) has tagged me to list out the 10 things that I have ever done which are against gender stereotypes. Just 10?, am sure I can list more 🙂

Now, this is a tag after my own heart. I have spent years telling people, that half the things that they believe are  ‘girlie’ stuff are just stereotypes and we start believing in them when it is reinforced in multiple ways. But seriously, just going by this tag, that so many of us have already taken up – most of us seem to do what suits us, rather than what our gender stereotypes recommend.

1. Played loads of cricket on the streets back home 🙂 Came home with scraped knees and full of pride 🙂

2. Wanted to and became a Mechanical Engg – although people kept telling me that it is not ‘suitable’ for girls. Although, I am yet to understand why. Have worked on a shop floor and loved the experience.

3. Can change bulbs, fix things, mowing the lawn.

4. Love discussing politics, which I was told does not suit a woman, not that it made any difference.

5. Much more comfortable in trainers than delicate shoes. I have minimal shoes, and practically live in my trainers, as they are so so much more comfortable.

6. Have lived alone, in an apartment, in both India and abroad, and loved it! I love living on my own, love the solitude.

7. Have no fear of the dark, insects or bugs or any such things. (Daughter makes up for it, though 😦 )

8. In every city we live, I end up travelling around it much more than husband 🙂 I walk and explore a lot too.

9. I am perfectly comfortable going out without makeup or a lot of dressing up. I actually get ready quicker than husband 🙂

10. Are books considered non-girly? I love books, and don’t care what gender they belong to, as far as they belong to me 🙂

At the same time, I love chocolates, chick-lits, chick-flicks and hate horror movies. I wonder what that makes me? While I love games like scrabble, I cannot play games on the playstation or the Wii. I don’t like cooking, while I love baking. Totally mixed up? That’s what most of us , aren’t we 🙂 A combination of skills, which have little to do with what gender we are, and more to do with our personalities.

And now for the tough part. I’ve got to tag people. Apparently according to IHM, if you read this and you don’t take the tag up , you are  – ‘cursed to wear blue clothes pants if you are a woman and pink shirts if you are a man – for next twelve years’.

So I tag,

Goofy Mumma,

Sandhya,

Sands,

Celestialrays,

Lazy Pineapple,

Doli,

Trishna,

Reema,

Shilpa,

Masood,

Ashwathy,

Pallavi

Edited to add : Saksh as well. I really thought you would be too busy to take it up 🙂 Now you better do this tag pronto 🙂

I do hope none of you have been tagged already, I tried real hard to ensure that I tagged only those who were not already tagged 🙂

Picture this..

Swaram had tagged me to share my favourite photograph.. Well, this is one of my favourites.. from one of my favourite trips..

It was the spring of 2007 and daughter had just started to walk. We were both working at that point in time and had very little time to just relax and have fun. Husband used to travel to Europe a lot then, and I had a horribly busy job as well. So when the Easter bank holiday came up, we had nothing planned – no time for planning, you see. Also, it was daughter’s first winters and it was tough. She had been unwell, quite a lot and holidays were the last thing on our mind.

So when the Easter bank holiday came up, we realised that we had 4 days off and we could/should do something. Spring and summer time in the UK – we dread to waste weekends – that is the only time when stepping out is fun.  Bath seemed interesting – not too far, we could easily do a day trip..so off we went. We desperately wanted a break from the routine.

Daughter had just started walking, so on the train – all she wanted to do was walk. She refused to sit still and insisted on walking, which was just not made easy by the fact that there was some football match scheduled that day in Bath and the train was packed with fans, dressed in their football club colours! It was one of the few times that I have seen such a packed train on a weekend! It was choc-a-bloc! And even that did not deter daughter from insisting that she wanted to ‘walk’!!

It was with sigh of relief that we got off the train and set off exploring Bath. I have to mention here that – daughter loves the buggy. She loves being strapped into stuff. When we bought her a tricycle – with a belt – she would get in , put on the belt and then cry, when she wanted to get off and could not get the belt off! She has some belt mania – even now 🙂 But I digress.

We had a wonderful time soaking in the atmosphere of Bath. Bath is renowned for it’s hot springs and the ancient Roman Baths, and Georgian stone crescents. It has a very nice feel to it and had plenty to see, with it’s wonderfully rich heritage. I will not go into it in detail, because then I will end up posting a lot more pictures.. I simply cannot do justice just with words.

It had been some time since we had such a relaxed and wonderful day, without having to worry about work, day care or stuff like that. We saw the sights, relaxed in the beautiful park(pictured) near the river, daughter got to practise her walking in the park , and see a lot of ducks and flowers. She was at the stage where ducks and flowers could make her ecstatic! We walked around a lot -I think we covered a lot of the town that day and yet did not feel exhausted or tired, just more energized! Must have something to do with the air or the effect of the hot springs!

At the end of the day, we were almost tempted to find a hotel or a bed & breakfast and stay overnight, and would have done so if we did not have a little not-yet one year old with us.. We returned promising ourselves that we would come again – but sadly, haven’t been able to make it – yet.

Swaram, the other tag – I do remember, but no time today, so will do it another time 🙂

‘aunties ke big babes’

…. is what someone searched to land at my blog! I had no plans of posting today.. Has been a couple of crazy crazy days – I have not even responded to the comments , loads of unread posts in my reader, but I just could not resist when I saw this search term 🙂

Hitchwriter had invited all his readers to take up this tag about what people search for, and end up reaching our blogs 🙂 Here are some of the bizarre ones that people have been searching for to reach mine!

1. aunties ke big babes  -what was he thinking when he/she thinking when he searched for this? And whatever made google land him here?

2. monstermind ????

3. husband wish list – Any takers – who has been searching for that 🙂

4. introduction about act of rape in india – There have been loads of searches with the keyword of ‘rape’ – but this was extra weird!

5. daughter green hair – So there are more daughters in the world wanting green hair  🙂 Maybe, somebody”s teenage daughter wants to colour her hair green and wants to see if she has company 🙂

6. how to write excuses for 1. skip school(loads)

2. avoid school uk(loads)

3. avoid friend’s trip(just one person 🙂 )

4. to go on trip

and some of these people looking to write excuses – also do not happen know how to spell ‘excuse’ 🙂 But google still manages to land them here 🙂

7. Lots of people looking for Sushmita Sen and one looking for ‘nigella lawson+rhinoplasty’

8. and of course how can I forget – people looking for Dhiren Bhai 🙂 There was just one hit for it before Dhiren wrote his post – had a bunch after that – so I suspect some of our blogsamajites have been trying to verify the claim that searching for Dhiren Bhai could land you here 🙂

Wish List for the next birth :)

Some time back, in my working avataar,  me and a colleague were stuck at work at 12:00 in the night and he said, ‘ These are the times that I wish I had a wife to go home to – who would keep dinner ready for me..’ and I replied, ‘Yeah, so do I’!

Well, husband and I have a pact that next ‘janam’, we are going to reverse genders – he is going to be the woman and I the man 🙂 So that I get to laze around, have a complete monopoly over the remote and not do any cooking!!! 

Now that  Vimmuuu and Hitchy and Indyeah have all tagged me to come up with a list of women I would want to drool at – if I were a guy, here goes my list, on which hubby could probably model himself 🙂 Prep guide for the next birth 🙂

1. Nigella Lawson – Doesn’t she give the word ‘Domestic Goddess’ another meaning? Wow!! to be married to someone who looks and cooks like that and a business woman to boot,  must be paradise, don’t you think 🙂 Anyone who does not know Nigella Lawson – go check her  out 🙂 And check out that sundae in the pic!! Isn’t that droolworthy??? And I have tried out her recipes – yummy!!!

2. Michelle Obama – Everything that I have read about her just makes admire her so.  She is brilliant at her job at the same time, doing a wonderful job bringing up her children. People have slated her for her lack of style.. but she remains a powerful woman who in her husband’s own words, if she ever ran for public office, would do far better than him… She seems to strike that perfect balance between work and life.  Her husband’s words in his book, ‘The Audacity of Hope’ just made my admiration of her grow..

 

3. Shobana. One of the most intelligent, talented and gorgeous actresses! She also an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer. Here’s more about her. 

4. Sushmita Sen – Another thinking actress. I had found the fact that she adopted her daughter very very noble. Here’s the lady with her lovely daughter 🙂

5. Charlize Theron. I find her gorgeous and found her portrayal of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the movie, Monster, mind-blowing! She was completely transformed!

So there you go, that’s my drool-worthy list 🙂

 

PS: I can’t believe that I have actually spent my whole saturday in front of the laptop!!

Edited to add : Vimmuuu – I have sacrificed my whole saturday – to rescue you from where you are trapped 🙂

Cherished forever…

Rash and Pixie had tagged me sometime back to list down some precious and unforgettable memories… Here are some of my memories that I hope I never forget  – even if I get afflicted by Alzheimer’s 🙂

1. I always woke up to my father chanting shlokas in the morning.. He is a very spiritual person and he chants a few select hymns and I always remember waking up to it.. He has never asked any of us to do it and I never bothered to , to be honest.. It is so ingrained in my memory that every time I hear those hymns – I feel very peaceful . Recently I was stunned to realise that I actually know the words – without ever consciously trying to… Somehow, it makes me feel very peaceful. It is probably one of my oldest and most prevailing memory..

2. The other memory that I have is of my brother being born.. I was six then. My grandma was with me at home and my uncle came with the news that I have a new baby brother – and for some reason   I was so so sure that I would have a sister – I remember being disappointed. My brother was in the nursery when I first saw him and I was with my cousin sister and both of us had put our hands into his crib and for some reason, he grabbed my finger and that made me feel so so good – it was as if he just chose me as his sister 🙂 As if he instinctively knew 🙂

3. My mother rushing around doing stuff and father teasing her that perfectionist that she is, she will never get satisfied that the house is ever clean or tidy 🙂

4. I think I enjoyed my school life the most. We were a class of 30 and we were unbelievably united 🙂 We liked(and still do) to believe that we were absolute geniuses 🙂 and we did have one of the best ICSE results in our batch 🙂 Anyways, though we were brilliant  – we were also quite difficult.. We actually boycotted a class – because the new biology teacher tried to imply that our previous teacher(who we absolutely adored) was not very good. We drove our class teacher a little crazy – but he still admits that he is yet to come across a class like ours 🙂 I miss those friends of mine.. We were so similar, with so many dreams.. and now, when we do manage to talk – we end up talking for hours despite being out of touch for over 16 years…

5. My maternal grandfather used to be my biggest champion. He was fabulous! He had an English childhood and he used to tell me stories and stories.. To me they used to sound just like something out of an Enid Blyton book! He had his schooling in a boarding school and I remember being cray about Malory Towers and wishing that my parents would send me too 🙂 He also gave me a rude shock by telling me what sardines are! I had imagined something far more exotic 🙂 My parents used to mail him everything  I wrote and he used to write such lovely, lovely letters analysing everything and encouraging me.. I miss him so!

6. The parathas my mom used to make for breakfast when I was young.. For some reason, it still is comfort food for me and I make them whenever I want to feel good 🙂 Though never at breakfast time 🙂

7. My dad surprising mom at their anniversary! He would rope us in to hide the gift and surprise her with it when she was least expecting it ! It felt so good!

8. My husband is not a very romantic sort of person, normally..so he managed to sweep me off my feet when we got married and he showed me that he had printed out and collated every email that I had sent him 🙂 That was the sweetest thing for me!

9. In 2001, husband and I had gone on a Karnataka State Tourism board tour. It was fabulous! We had just not expected it to be so good.. It was very normal acco and stuff but we really really had a great time.. It was probably one of the best times ever..

10. When we were newlyweds in Bangalore.. we ended up staying in a really dingy house as we were quite broke then 🙂 The house might have been small and dingy – but we had a lovely time there.. We used to have friends over, cook together.. it was a wonderful time.. I have the fondest memories of living there….

So there! Those were some of the memories I cherish..

Now comes the more difficult part   who do I tag 🙂 Here goes.. I am trying to tag everybody who, as far as I know has not been tagged – OG, Winnie the Poohi, Usha, IHM, Nids, Crafty, Mystery and Goofy Mumma. Anyone else who is interested, please do take it up and do drop me a note in the comments:)

Edited to add  – Indyeah and Solilo, please do take up this tag from me too 🙂 The only reason I did not tag you too was because I saw that you Rash had tagged you too 🙂

Saritha – Please do take up this tag – I thought I had added you – missed you by mistake – sorry, sorry , sorry!

Dhiren – Apologies for not tagging you 😦 I did not know that you did not know that you had already been tagged 🙂 So here you go and please forgive me 🙂

Anybody else who is mad at me for not tagging – please, please let me know – I will tag you right away – no offense meant – this was a Saturday post – which means I had very little time to myself 🙂