An Evening With SimplyPallu

Its been more than three years since I met Pallavi from Anti-Brevity. 

She’s a fellow blogger who, for some unknown reason, has let her blog languish with tid-bits thrown in once in a while. For the record, Pal has a wicked sense of humour and  after reading her posts I’m usually grinning throughout the day 🙂

We’d been planning to meet again for ages….and finally, after a really long wait, we caught up last Saturday. I was hoping that G from koyri could join us with her little bundle of joy….but my last minute planning (as usual) and a misplaced phone from G’s side kind of tossed the plan for a get-together out of the window 😦 . Never mind, next time 🙂

I prepped up the kids to meet Pal and her two adorable pets, Mojo and Phoebe(more on them later). I think it was good to advise the children beforehand on what to expect , more so because none of our friends/relatives/acquaintances have pets! The twins had never seen a pet at close quarters 😐

I told them about Dalmatians, showed them a few pictures and then, we were ready to go! The BIL dropped us to Pal’s place (who gave us some amazingly detailed instructions, there was no scope of getting lost 😀 ). The twins were very excited at the thought of seeing Mojo and Phoebe ….I was just glad that I’m finally meeting up with Pal 🙂

Pal and her husband PK are a really adorable couple, full of warmth and hospitality…never making me feel for an instance that it was my first visit to their place 🙂 . Pal, seriously girl, we’ve met only twice, caught up only with blog comments and YET, I feel as though I’ve known you for ages 🙂

The twins were initially excited to see the little kitten and the sleepy Rottweiler pup. I won’t say they were outright brave, at least Shobby wasn’t. He took some time to get used to the little babies but then was content in just observing them from a distance. Lui, though initially skeptical, took an immediate affinity to the kitten 🙂 .

All this while, Pal had kept Mojo and Phoebe locked up in her room. Once the twins were settled in, they first let out Phoebe and then Mojo. Lui and Shobby did squeal with terror because they’d never seen such large dogs before 😀 Shobby all but clambered onto my head in his bid to escape. At least he didn’t jump out of the balcony as I expected him to 😀 . A little while later, the two mustered up enough courage to touch and pet M and P. Shobby was brave enough to attempt counting the spots on M and P 😛

A few words for the pets – Mojo and Phoebe are by the far the BEST pet dogs, EVER!!

I’ve never seen such well-behaved dogs in my life! They didn’t bark or howl or intimidate the twins at all. The twins were initially scared just because of the dog’s sizes 🙂 . But the best part was to see how easily M and P had accepted the little kitten and the little black pup (who was asleep most of the time) in their house. All those tales about the rivalry between dogs and cats can be easily thrown out of the window! The little kitty was as comfortable around the dogs as they were with her. Cute 🙂

Mojo has the brightest eyes I’ve seen on a dog, all sparkling and active. He was also rather tame and hardly woofed or growled. Phoebe has the softest ( I dare say) puppy-dog-eyes …I mean, she isn’t a puppy but yet, just looking at her you feel like giving her whatever she wants 🙂 . Am sure she gets her way with Pal and PK 😀

The dog’s good behavior should be attributed solely to Pal and PK. It is quite obvious where the dogs get their friendly nature from 🙂 . Also, Pal and PK fawn over the two as I do over the twins. Its so beautiful to see their love for their dogs and how easily their life revolves around looking after the two of them.  The dogs , I’m sure, reciprocate that love. You can see it in the way Mojo nuzzles up to Pal or the way Phoebe settles herself at PK’s feet.

And oh! Pal also picks up little strays and tends to them until they find a proper home.

( For people who are interested, the little kitty and the Rottweiler pup are up for adoption.  Just drop me a message/comment if anyone from Pune is interested).

The only reason we couldn’t get the kitty back with us is because the FIL has an aversion to keeping pets. Also, though the BF isn’t here, I know cat-hair causes him to have sneezing fits. Lui was very disappointed and even till this morning, she kept moaning that,”mujhe kitty ki yaad aa rahi hai”.

😦

Anyway, leaving you with a few pics here ….twins and the little animals :-

Lui posing with her new-found love

Left one is Mojo, on the right is Phoebe

The silent observer, Shobby

I’m glad I made the trip this time. Like always, there was a chance of giving it a miss this time too, but something that the BF told me struck hard. “If you really want to go, then nothing should stop you. If you are okay with giving it a miss then you just need an excuse to NOT go”, he said.

Since that wasn’t the case and we’ve been planning to meet up since ages, the stars favoured me and I got a chance to meet Pal once again.

Now if only G and Unmana were here, we’d have a royal bloggers get-together 😀

Maybe next time 🙂

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Weekend Updates……..

….returns!!!

Seems like a gazillion years since I updated on my weekend escapades (you can call it that…seeing as how I escape doing half the stuff I’m supposed to do).

Life in the MomofRS household seems to flow in a languid pace. With the BF away, much of the vigour and vitality seems to be missing. We get through one day to the next. The only exciting thing happening currently is the full-throttle hunt for a bride for the BIL.

The BIL, sadly never had a girlfriend. This is something over which everyone at home grumbles about. For some unknown reasons, an appropriate match just isn’t taking place 😦 .  We haven’t yet found anyone to the satisfaction of everyone (excluding me of course. I have no expectations from the BIL’s wife and apart from the parents and BIL, I don’t think anyone should have a say in this matter). For now, I’m just going along with the ride.

I’m not enjoying it, though.

This arranged-marriage business is so tricky. Either things get fixed in one go or they take ages to to come to a conclusion. The BIL, alas, falls in the latter category. It seems as though the more proposals we see, the more we get muddled. MIL is going white, lamenting her son’s lack of skill in ‘pataoing‘ a girl 😀 .

We were supposed to meet a prospective girl and her family this weekend, but things didn’t work out and we had to drop the plan. It’s just sad because I had planned to meet up with G and P  (and if possible, Unmana too) over the weekend and now our meet has been postponed to the next weekend!

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“The President Is Coming”.

Oh yeah, I saw the Prez. He was on his way to inaugurate the ISKCON temple near my place (well, not really near my house, but you get it). The Prez’s entourage was to pass by on the road in front of my house. The policemen were everywhere keeping people off the road. In the 6+ years of my residence here, its the first time I’ve ever heard true silence. Not a single vehicle was allowed to move. People already on the road were asked to move to the by-lanes and stay put. Even pedestrians were told to keep off the road 😦 . The security was rather severe I must say, but it was rather sad to see hundreds of people standing under a really HOT sun (I’ve forgotten what winter looks like in Pune ), waiting for the Prez to come by. Motorists didn’t even have a chance to turn back, as there was a huge traffic jam in the junctions leading to the road in front of my house. Old men, women with little kids, babies even, weren’t allowed to cross the road.

The vehicles finally passed by, I got to see the President and even though I thought it would be a momentous occasion, I didn’t really feel that way after all 😐 .

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Shobby’s school bag was coming undone. The straps were practically torn to shreds and the side pocket for the bottle was….best not to describe it.

I struggled for a few weeks….debating whether to dump it and get a new one. With only 2 months of school to go, my middle-class-cost-conscious mind just wouldn’t allow me the liberty to splurge on a new bag.

So this weekend, I finally got down to it. Grabbed a big needle, a large scissor and oodles of heavy-duty thread. After much snipping, cutting and sewing, Shobby’s bag is as good as new. For added measure, I even soaked them bags in soap water and gave them a good brushing.

*Sigh*

It was tough work. But somewhere deep inside, I have this distinct satisfaction of doing some good for my kids, making an effort on their behalf, not to mention, saving a few bucks in the bargain 😀 .

At least my kids have learned that mending things gets them going and each time you needn’t just dump the old and get the new.

The stuff one has to take care of, I tell you 😐

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I went shopping. Doesn’t seem like a big deal but it was. Because I was out shopping ( and I mean, bona-fide shopping, with big lists and all) after months!! In fact, I don’t even remember the last time I went about it. So out-of-touch was I that I missed out on buying half the stuff that was listed (brown rice, whole-wheat bread, etc). But I did end up buying stuff I hadn’t planned on (cheesy-potato wafers, books, a bag of candies)  so basically, some shopper instinct is still alive 😉 .

Also, I really need to start buying stuff that is NOT grocery. Pronto 😐 !!

I’ll start with clothes for the twins…maybe sometime this week 🙂

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This weekend, I cooked a variety of stuff . The cook usually makes the regular food but on days when she doesn’t turn up, I take control. And how!!   A lot!

In two days’ time I came up with –

– Mutton Curry and bagara rice (1.5 kgs of mutton and 2 kgs of rice.  I really can cook large quantities, me thinks 😉 )

– Veg Hakka Noodles, plain noodles and cheese-tomato soup.

– Cauliflower manchurian

– Veg Pulao

Not really considered as cooking, but I did churn butter and make ghee. This time, we managed to get nearly a kilo of ghee (after 4 weeks of saving up the  malai). Looks like our doodhwala is giving us pretty good milk 🙂 .

It also means that the kids aren’t drinking as much milk as they should 😦

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I’m reading the book, “The Japanese Wife” by Kunal Basu.

The story is riveting, no doubt, but am I the only one who wasn’t touched by it? Apparently, Aparna Sen was impressed enough to make a full-fledged movie out of it!

In the book, the Japanese woman, Miyage proposes to Snehamoya when she finds out that he is about to get betrothed to another. For 20 long years they lead a married life, albeit separately. Never once does she visit him or vice versa.

Why then does Miyage visit his village when he confesses to her (in a letter) about his slight indiscretion? Was insecurity the only thing that drives Miyage’s character? Why was she so distant and aloof  throughout? How does she come to know about his death and her status as a widow?

Maybe I just didn’t get the story. Or maybe, I didn’t read it in the best frame of mind. Whatever the case, if anyone has read it before and understands the subtext, please take the trouble and explain it to me too. I really need to know how that end came about 😐 !!

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I finally saw “Harishchandrachi Factory”.

A long time ago I had confessed to making an effort towards learning Marathi (and what better teacher than movies, I ask you!). I saw a few movies and then got hooked. Something like the way the BF got hooked to South Indian cinema 😀

Anyhow, since this movie was India’s entry for Oscars a couple of years ago, I decided to give it a go.

Frankly, it is a rather sweet tale. Dada Phalke’s character loosely resembles Roberto Benigni’s Guido in Life Is Beautiful (if you haven’t seen LIB yet, make a dash for it. I don’t remember the last time I sobbed so hard. No, not even for Titanic. Or TZP ). Dada Phalke is a happy-go-lucky small-time magician with not a single shard of negativity to mar his persona. He dreams of bringing the first moving Indian film to India . The film is about his endeavors as he goes about fulfilling his dream. In this he is ably supported by his wife and two kids (which later become three 😀 ). He finally makes the film and gets recognized for it. But it isnt the film he makes that matters. It is the sheer enjoyment and dedication for the craft that matters. We feel the glee as he shows off his first moving picture, that of a growing pea plant. We laugh at his attempts to convince women to act in his movie. We also get to laugh at the valiant efforts of the motley crew which comprises of the cast.

Overall, the movie is full of positive vibes with the only negative turn being a blindness scare. Watch it if you get the time. The language is rather simple, but subtitles help 🙂

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Thats all for now folks…….I’m just glad to be updating this space after a really long time 🙂

If you’re around, do drop by and say hello 🙂

Have a GREAT week ahead 🙂

 

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Hey!! I’m Still Around!!

Dear Readers,

Forgive me my recent absence from the blogosphere. It is not that I suffered from writer’s block or anything.

Its just that too much has been happening lately and though my mind is full of stuff to write about, my fingers barely comply (sounds familiar 😐 !! Have I used this line before?!!)

The kids have been on their rampant best. Mom is in town and though I would like to spend as much time with her as possible, my visits to her were relegated to just weekend visits. The kids cooperated by promptly falling ill each weekend. Visits to the ped’s clinic took up most of my weekends. Mom, though a bit upset at the lack of time we have for her, cheered up each time we did make an appearance!

The twins have been bonding BIG time with their cousins (Aapa’s kids). Its sad that though in the same town, I dont get the chance to visit her often 😦 . Still, the weekends were great. The twins still clamor to go back to Nanijaan’s place because they’ll get to play with Baby Simrah and Big Bhaiya Bojo. Getting them ready for school this morning was a struggle in itself. Shobs refused to believe that Baby Simrah is no longer at Nanijaan’s place and has gone back to her own house. So adamant was he that I had to take him on a quick trip to Mom’s place and show him that the baby was indeed not there. The little detective in him grumbled as he surveyed all the rooms and then resignedly admitted that his beloved cousin sister wasn’t around!! Only then did he oblige and get dressed for school once we came back home 😐

Lui has been on impeccable manners recently. I’m half-suspicious someone’s taken over my daughter’s spirit 😐 !! I mean, no tantrum in ONE WHOLE WEEK!!!  Am I hallucinating or what?!! Somehow, her good manners, though a relief, are a little dampening. We are too used to her spicy self most of the time 😦 . Docility doesn’t suit her at all!! She isn’t meant to be meek! I’d rather have my eye-brow waggling, nose wiggling, zillion-expressions-per-minute baby back. Thank you very much!

Other than these minor quibbles on the home front, I’ve been meaning to write a lot on topics popping up in the news these days. Surprisingly, the bad news kept popping up so frequently (each one worse than the previous) and left me so appalled that I’ve been unable to put two coherent thoughts together. Thankfully, there are people who are doing a much better job of venting the outrage that I feel. For the record, I’m talking about all those news reports of baby girls being dumped in fields (thanks but no thanks SMJ 😦 , we really don’t like our baby girls enough to keep them ), girls being molested in public by mobs and the stripping of dignity of an athlete by the very institution that is meant to protect it. It is anger, it is hurt and it is fear that I feel…because I have to bring up a daughter in these very environs 😐 . Short of keeping her locked up at home for the rest of her life, I see no immediate solution in sight 😐

(I would have provided links to the articles written by others, but alas, WordPress isn’t allowing me to paste anything on this tiny box into which I type this post).

Anyhow, life goes on, even if me and the twins have a persistent cough that refuses to abate…no amount of home remedies, medications and soups help. I’ve stopped all medication for now. Only warm water and 3 minutes of steaming before sleeping, for the kids as well as me. Hopefully, it should bring some relief.

On that note, hope you all had a great weekend and have a better week coming up 🙂

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Weekend Updates

Hola people.

Its been simply ages since I narrated my weekend doings. Plenty of weekends went by with a lot of happening things and I forgot to post about them. But its never too late to write about what all happened this weekend (though I’m already midway to the next) and I’ll do it right here, right now 🙂

Saturday was a hot day! Hot enough to have the earth sizzling steam when there was a slight downpour during late lunch hours. The drizzle wasn’t heavy enough to cool the earth and it made the already hot day worse by adding humidity to it! Thankfully, the humidity wasn’t as bad as I’ve experienced in Chennai and Kolkata. The first time I went to  Kolkata, I complained to Dad that I had difficulty breathing. The lungs just weren’t used to the thick, heavy air.Luckily, last Saturday wasn’t that bad. The humidity lasted just that evening, next day , the air was reasonably lighter 🙂 .The one important thing I did do was hunt for mud/soil for the plants. Kind of funny that I had to pay 30/- for a plastic bag of soil. I mean, I’d never have thought that there would come a day when I couldn’t find a patch of land to dig the soil from. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that the day had already come and gone. There was no open area near my place from where I could get a little mud. The empty plots had a line of barbed -wire fencing with ominous threats to trespassers. The plant nurseries quoted some really atrocious rates. I had to finally  buy the mud from a road-side plant seller. The boy who sold it was a mean little thing. He filled the measuring pot with large lumps and then swiped a hand across the top to flatten the surface. Those large lumps had stones in them, a fact I found out after reaching home 😦 . I was taken for a royal ride by a brat less than half my age!! Whoever said that with age comes wisdom??

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I made a visit to the parlour. *Sigh* Sometimes, I just never learn 😦

After being inflicted with horrendous pain a million times, I still go there. What to do? Vanity calls out rather loudly.

But this time, I decided that for once,  For ONCE, I’ll be assertive. I’ll give that attendant a piece of my mind if I don’t like her service. Or her choice of songs. I was paying for that treatment and it better be according to my convenience!! So with all the indignation I could muster, I stormed into the parlour.

The attendant wasn’t there. She had left the job.

*Pffft*

(Thats my indignation balloon bursting, by the way)

Anyhow, the owner made up for the missing attendant.

“Your hair’s very dry. See how rough they are. You need some deep conditioning and a haircut.”

“Umm…I just wanted to trim my hair”.

“No no. That will not do. We’ll first wash it and then condition it. Then a little trimming and then wrap it up with a blow-dry”.

*mentally calculating the final amount I would have to shell out*

“Err no. Thank you. I just want a trim.”

The lady looked disappointed. She looked at me as if I was her child who had just returned with an ALL FAIL report card, after she had spent an entire year feeding me badam.

“Then why don’t you get your arms waxed. See what major growth you have”.

And once again, to the sound of drum-rolls, each and every head in that parlour turned to look at my arms. I once again learned how a guinea pig feels when all eyes are it just before a dissection.

Seriously, what is it with these morale-bursting parlours?!!

Anyway, I returned with just a haircut.

And some waxing 😦

I know, I know!! The flesh is weak. The heart, weaker 😦

I felt bad for not going in for the wash and shampoo and conditioning. So I shelled out for the waxing 😦

I’ll never learn!!

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I’m currently reading a book by one of my favourite authors, Dick Francis. Leaving the unfortunate name aside, the man has written some really good books on the world of horse-racing. Being an ex-jockey, he has in depth knowledge of all the wheels of the trade . The best part is how he weaves his stories (ALL OF THEM) around the horse business.

Anyhow, the BF had never heard of this author before. The first time he saw me reading the book, he just snorted in disbelief at the cover, which bore the author’s name. “Are you reading porn?” he queried.

When I threw a exasperated look at him, he just giggled and walked out with the comment, “Better not read such books when the kids are around”.

Gaaahh!!!

Why did I end up marrying a man who has no love for reading 🙄 ?!!!

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I made doughnuts. The fried ones, not the baked. And I made gujias. Its been ages since I did some senseless frying and what better time than a dull, hot, humid Saturday evening??

Yup! I LOVE standing in front of the gas-stove when the mercury inches towards the forties.

Could have kicked myself after straining out the first donut. But it was too late to back-out. So I suffered the heat for an hour longer. Worst part was that the donuts have to be fried on a low flame 😦

Anyhow, the end result was that the donuts and gujias disappeared by Monday morning 😀

(And by that, I meant that the family finished it off. This is just in case anyone was wondering if the elves visited us 😀 )

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Saw Paan Singh Tomar.

I really don’t have words to say about Irrfan Khan. A man standing on the verge of half-century can look /act like a youngster!! Who would have thunk it??

I cant think of any other actor of his age who could have pulled it off!!

And the running!! Boy, the sheer amount of running he did must have made him thin as a reed.

BTW, any idea what dialect was used in the movie??  It was awesome to see the sheer amount of expressiveness of that language. Loved it 🙂 !!

And oh (spoiler alert) wasn’t it cute the way PST used to send his kids away to ‘eat lemon juice’ , whatever that means 😀 !!!

If you haven’t seen this gem of a movie, then please do!! Its totally worth your while.

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I fell off the bed.

As far as my living memory goes, this is possibly the FIRST such instance that I know of. I was more baffled, than hurt, wondering how I landed up on the hard floor. Luckily, the BF was snoring and didn’t feel the earth shaking as I dropped down.

By the way, it isn’t really my fault that I fell. It was Shobby’s fault.

My son has been driving me crazy with his sporadic illnesses. He’s up and running during the day and by evening, his little body  burn with fever. We’ve changed medications, had blood-tests done, tried home-remedies, nothing works. He is still under treatment, so hopefully, he’ll recover soon.

Anyhow, so my son has a cute habit of burrowing into the person he sleeps next to. He loves to stick close to the adult he sleeps with. So he’ll keep snuggling up to us and we, in our effort to not suffocate or squeeze him, withdraw a little away to give him space. So, because of  this burrowing and withdrawing activity last Sunday, I dropped out of bed. Because my little son kept nudging me towards the bed’s edge 😐

Thankfully, the cursed fat came to the rescue which just implies that whatever fat you have is there a reason. Apparently in my case, it is there to prevent breakage in case of dubious falls.

Ultimately, Aal izz well 😀

(Except Shobby, of course. He needs another round of diagnosis for his ill-health).

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Somehow, this last weekend was far less hectic than the others. The guests have gone, except the BF’s aunt. We’ve asked her to stay till t he MIL begins her summer vacations. Life is back to routine, except that the kids miss school and wonder why we aren’t dressing them up in their uniforms every morning.

I’m going crazy, trying to figure out how to keep the two occupied for the rest of summer. Summer camps hardly last 1-2 hrs and even then, there’s no one around to drop them and pick them up from there. Also, I’m not too keen on sending them out in the heat. Its far too hot! Alas, none of the kid’s summer camp activities are in the evening 😦 . The nanny herself isn’t keeping too well and she keeps the TV on the whole day for the kids. Its ruining whatever little control I had on their TV viewing habit, but she really isn’t able to keep the two occupied for longer than an hour or so.

I guess this is a possible indicator that I must retire soon 😦

*Sigh*

Drat the BF!!! He never has to worry about all these things 😦

The week’s going on superbly, by the way. Work’s good. The kids are slowly adjusting to their holidays and I’ll be meeting up with some old and new friends soon.

How was your weekend?? Let me know!





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A Little About Lots Of Things

(I wrote this post yesterday. Just before leaving for the day, I had hit Publish, but for some unknown reason, it didnt show up! Thanks Andrey fro letting me know. And oh, by the way, I have restricted access to wordpress from work…that means, I cannot preview my posts or run spell checks. So kindly excuse any formatting errors or spelling mistakes 🙂 )

I’ve been away for long, but I had my reasons.

One, I needed to give my eyes some rest and secondly, I had to attend a training in Communication Skills (it helps to improvise on the existing, doesn’t it?)
So, the training was on rapport building and communication skills.
Till last week, I had nothing to do work-wise and this training came my way, so I applied for it. Its not as if I needed it, but after the first session, I realized that there’s a lot that I need to learn by way of being assertive (years of being a doormat does that to you). The trainer was a dashing woman so full of life that I feel like a relic in front of her. Whats this with personality development trainers, really?! Why do they have to be these super-energetic, running-on-revital people? There’s this other lady I once knew (who is a clinical psychologist, by the way) who conducted such a training for us ages ago. She was so ebullient, so full of vigour and vitality that me and the rest of the gang gave off the impression of being sacks of potatoes ready to be shipped off to the market. By the way, we were freshers then 😐
Anyhow, since the training is over now, I’ll be jumping into the project headlong (I just pray its deep enough 😐 )

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I have work to do, read up on the project I’ve been assigned to, go through the documents explaining the technology it is built on and the history of the project since its inception (how utterly boring but how essential !!). Problem is, I’ve been idling for too long now and probably I need some time to sync myself with the ‘working’ people again! And by the way, I do all this reading while precariously balancing the new glasses on the bridge of my nose. Why balance?? Because just after buying the said glasses and donning them in front of the mirror, did I realize that *gasp* my ears are not aligned!! So the said glasses sit in a slightly skewed manner on my nose…tilting to the right. If left like that,  they hopelessly slide down my  nose (damn you shiny nose!! You are no olfactory sense…just an oil-factory I guess)

And oh, I also bought spiffy new glares to protect my eyes from the harsh sunlight (I lost my older pair a month back and was driving around without sunglasses. Yes, yes I know *hanging head in shame* ). So now that I have glasses to protect me from the monitor/TV radiation and glasses to protect me from the sun, I guess I have all that I could ever need (except for maybe the penthouse with the attached swimming pool. Then, life would be complete 😀 )
Will post a snap of me with the glasses soon…atleast to show you how much skewed it really is!

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I got a movie from a friend once, an animation flick for kids called “How To Train Your Dragon”. The kids have seen it around 4-5 times by now.

I have seen it 8-9 times!!

What to do?!! I LOVE IT!!!

Its this story about a viking boy called Hiccup and a dragon of type ‘Night Fury’ called Toothless! I know! How can you resist such fun 😀 ?!!

And one more thing…..I was quite taken in by the voice of the guy doing the voice-over for Hiccup. His name is Jay Baruchal and I found that I have already seen a movie of his (She’s Out Of my League) where I didn’t think much of him (too lanky and I didn’t like the slackness of his mouth)! Just goes to show how looks can be deceptive 😐

As Hiccup, I LOVED his faint tone of derision in every dialogue.

Do watch it. It will please your kids just as much 🙂

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Do you know whats the most important accessory/component of your bike?? Guess what gets stolen the moment it is left ‘outside’, in view?
No, not the helmet, nor the rear-view mirrors.
Its that little rag you keep tucked in a corner for wiping the dust off your bike . Yes. That piece of old discarded banian or those fancy yellow/brown napkins sold at traffic signals. They are the ones most likely to be flicked off. After losing the ‘nth’ one this week, I’m trying my best to figure out the allure of that rag. I mean, what does one think when pilfering other’s bike of their chosen dust-cloths? Its not as if one needs to buy them! The worst part is that the pilferers are possibly the people you know! The ones who park their bikes right next to yours in the buildings parking area. After loads of disappearing rags, I’ve decided to keep a vigilant eye to spot those people who fleece fellow neighbours of their dust-cloths.
And when I find them…..I’ll…I’ll…drat it!! What can I do?

Any suggestions??

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This weekend was hectic and I wont bore you with the details (most of which you might have memorized by now  based on earlier posts 😀 ). But we did have a scare with GMIL’s health. A BAD scare. Last Friday, she had practically collapsed. There was no sound from her and she couldn’t swallow even water (which kept dribbling down the side of her mouth) ! On Saturday, we had doctors visiting, who immediately diagnosed her to be down with a throat infection which had percolated down to her kidneys! We were terrified, but the doctors assured us that it was curable. The GMIL was put on IV and some solid high-powered injections were administered to her. As of this morning, she looked relatively better, though she’s still having trouble swallowing.
Since granny is unable to talk or communicate much, we could not diagnose her problem in time, which caused the infection to spread to her kidneys. Everyone at home feels rotten about it 😦
I feel worse, because I know that the kids had throat infection a couple of weeks back. I shouldn’t have allowed them to enter their Big-dadi’s room, let alone kissing her. But thats what the kids did and I think, inadvertantly transferred the infection to the old lady.
Hoping and praying hard that she recovers. Kindly send your prayers and good thoughts her way too 🙂
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The BF’s  aunt (who is staying with us since the GMIL had her stroke) had an hysterectomy on Saturday. It meant that the MIL and FIL did a double duty of shuttling between home and hospital. I had the responsibility of managing the house in their absence, a task that I’m usually good at. But last Saturday was harrowing because the maids turned up late, the twins wanted me to play with them and the GMIL was rather uncomfortable and was groaning throughout. I also had to make breakfast/lunch and manage the visiting guests. I think that I should take the BF’s advise and go in for some serious time management trainings 🙂

Thats all for now ….will be a little more regular this week (fingers crossed 😀 !!)

Have a GREAT week ahead !

Love,

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The Weekend Update….not entirely :|

A thorough weekend update post is due and I promise I’ll post it as soon as I get my head off the keyboard.
I’m sleepy as hell (Thanks Lui/Shobs for keeping me awake wayyyy past my bed-time!) and there is a slight possibility of me getting a number for my eyes *shudder*!!
Though I’ve been avoiding it for ages, I’ve realized recently that
a) I’ve been squinting a lot lately and
b) looking at my monitor for more than a couple of minutes, makes me lose focus. The screen looks blurred and I have to do a blink-blink to refocus!

So yes, the eyes have it bad! I guess assuming that gajar ka halwa is just as good for the eyes as raw carrots, doesn’t really hold. Drat it 😐 !! After my failing dentures, this! What else is in store for this middle ages granny, I wonder 😦 !

Anyhow, the icing on the cake is that I got my license. You know what that means?? It means, I GOT MY EFFING LICENSE TO DRIVE AN EFFING FOUR-WHEELER. WHEEEEE!!! 😀
(Now if only someone lends me their car, I’d be most obliged!)

For the record, the BF refuses to sit in the same car as me if I’m driving. Yeah yeah….its this guy’s constant love and support that has brought me so far in life. Thanks BF. Love ya too…like those sores you get on your toes every month. Yeah…exactlylike that!!

And ohh…after Shobs recovered from the throat infection, it was Lui’s turn..and guess what? She lived up to her reputation of being a bratty, irritable kid. Makes me rue that just last week I wrote a post singing her praises. Aah..silly me! One would’ve thought that three years with the twins would have taught me something about them…but naah!! I fail miserably yet again!

Anyhow, I have an appointment with BFS and BFG shortly and out to meet them. Maybe some quality time with good buddies will make me forget the failing eyesight, the sore knees and the wobbly teeth. Hope you all have fun too.

Cheers for the coming week 🙂

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Weekend Updates

Thank You Thank You Thank You All.
For the wishes and good vibes sent our way. I’m really sorry for not replying to comments (being lucky that I got to read them in the first place).
GMIL is stable now (if not completely recovered) and each improvement brings with it a sigh of relief.
The last couple of weeks have been rather hectic. Matters at work didn’t help…there is still no end date defined for my release from the project. Rather, workload has been humongous and I’m turning up at home around 9pm each night. The BF and BIL are also similarly caught up and we are one busy household as of now, trying our best to hang on to our jobs and also give time to granny. Not a day goes by without guests visiting our place (at all odd times, if I may add). Since we aren’t home, the nanny has been assigned the role of serving tea and snacks. The poor girl has been rather accommodating with the additional work. Fact is, she’s quite attached to the GMIL, because the old lady was forever showering the girl with love and attention (and a little money on the side 😀 ). The girl was very upset initially, when granny had suffered the stroke. But slowly, like all of us, she has pulled herself together.
It has been difficult to see the granny go through the pain and discomfort each day. So great is her pain that a strong sleeping pill prescribed by the doctor himself failed to take any effect on her. The doctor was shocked when we told him about it the next day! There are times when we feel guilty of going about our lives as she lays there writhing. But then, would our staying by her side make her feel any better? Every time a guest visits, the old lady starts sobbing. It upsets her to have people see her in her present state. Its worse because she cant express her anguish, her tongue refuses to move. And we cant just shoo away people, can we?
There are times, when we ask ourselves why the poor old lady has to go through all this.Doubting the will of Allah is easy enough. But then again, there is redemption in every kind of suffering. We cannot and should not question the Almighty. All we can do for now is to make it easier for her as much as possible. By the way, granny moved her right-arm yesterday. Yay!! Take that Mr.Skeptical-BF!! She even looks a little fresher than before and even attempts to speak up, though the words are garbled. It is rather heartening to know that she at least makes an attempt to talk!
Since we are on positive news, I’ll mention that the release we were working on (maniacally) for the last couple of months is finally through. Its almost like a HUGE load off our shoulders and we can get back to living a regular life (read, start blogging). The twins are getting snarkier by the day. Shobs demands that he be served his cup of tea or milk on a tray. Handing it over to him just like that is not tolerated. He either bursts into tears or throws a major attitude by refusing to drink unless served on a tray. Lui has become more and more stubborn and intolerant. Any word or gesture of ours that goes against her will is met with a loud announcement of ,”Mumma…aap mujhe roz roz satate. aap bad girl hai”.
“That’s part of my mom-profile, kid”, I retort back (not that it makes an iota of difference on the brat!)
By the way, I’ve been a little sneaky with the kids these days. I get them to do chores around the house by claiming that they are now BIG kids, since they’ve had their birthday. The logic is, whoever has a birthday, becomes older and can do what grown-ups do. This immediately has the kids scrambling to do my bidding 😀 . They even have arguments over who will rush to switch on the light bulb 😐 !
Things had been hectic, but we are slowly getting back to normal. We now have two maids for the GMIL, one comes during the day and the other during the night. The morning one is useless though. She refuses to dress granny’s wound, saying it makes her feel icky. She refuses to feed the old lady anything that has a shred of non-veg in it. She is happy to sit on the sofa and stitch hooks on blouses while the MIL and aunt rush to the GMIL’s bed on every call. After two weeks of suffering her, it was the doctor who finally suggested that we get rid of her, since she wasn’t doing the massages/exercises for the granny that he had strictly instructed her to do! Hopefully, the bureau will send someone more competent this week!
As always,this weekend too was spent in regular weekly chores. I didn’t get to do any extra cooking that I had planned, but I did get some time to sort through the twin’s cup-board and discard clothes they don’t fit into anymore. It was a major activity I was putting off since ages. Glad that it finally got done.Other than that, I watched some late-night movies on the laptop. “The Shawsank Redemption” (I can’t believe I never watched this gem of a movie before! I didn’t even read the book 😯 .Which planet am I on?!!), “Ocean’s Twelve” (not a patch on “Ocean’s Eleven”) and a stupid, STUPID movie called “Luv ka The End”. Avoidable. Majorly.
So that was my weekend. How was yours??





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Weekend Updates

It seems this blog is now relegated to a single weekly post. I’ve been very careful in not making excess usage of the permitted net limit and ALSO trying my best to make the kids understand my need to blog from home. Surprisingly, they just don’t like to see me sitting at the laptop and not so surprisingly, I don’t mind their resentment. I haven’t done any post from home for the last 5 months 😀

Anyhow, I have all these random things I want to talk about, but not enough time to do a full post on it. So I’ll just jot them down here in no particular order :-

1) Its that time of the year again!! I mean, if someone were to hand me a negative probe in my left hand and a positive probe in my right, I’m sure the bulb at the end of the probes would glow bright as the morning sun! I’m practically sizzling with electricity. Everything I touch gives out a spark ! Yesterday morning was the limit! Shobs was happily chattering about how to feed his father to the big-bad-wolf and I couldn’t help thinking how cute he looked. So I extended a finger to caress his soft cheek. CRRRACKK!! Not only was the spark audible, it was also visible! Shobs, who was stunned into silence, just gave me a sad baleful look. “Did it hurt?” I asked him apprehensively. He nodded in the affirmative ! EGAD!! The one thing I always feared came true 😦 I’ve always known that I’m a good conductor of electricity…and I always feared that I might hurt my kids because of it. Till date I was always careful…but my little slip this morning has made my son jittery of touching me 😦 . What do I do now?? Does wearing cotton gloves help??

2) We went to see the prospective girl’s family last Saturday. I think in our exuberance at finally finding someone for the BIL, we might have missed out on some of the minor glitches from our side. Like the fact that the BIL is a tad over-weight. Ummm…make that more than a tad 😦 . It didn’t help at all that EVERYONE from the girl’s side was reed thin. All the men that is. Her sister was a different matter…but then, the sister had delivered a baby a couple of months back, so she can be excused.
Anyhow, they were a little disappointed (?) on seeing the BIL’s large frame and became reclusive. How else could you explain the fact that we stayed there just over an hour’s time when it took us 3  hours to reach there in the first place! BUT….They served us some really tasty dinner for which we were more than grateful :). As for the BIL, he’s a little disappointed. The meeting didn’t go as expected and though he tried not to show it, we could see that he was hurt 😦 . “Oh well”, said the BF when I mentioned the BIL’s sad demeanor, “a little heartbreak wouldn’t kill him”. I still find it hard to believe that this guy had a love marriage. Heartbreak doesn’t kill? Yeah right! Talk to all those guys jumping off cliffs and consuming not so healthy potions to prove their love!

3) I read Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s “Arranged Marriage”. What a collection!! This lady has a spell-binding effect on her readers (or me , at least). Un-put-down-able! Thats what I think about the collection. And the story called “Ultrasound” must have been the starting point of the other two books, Sister of My Heart and Vines of Desire, both which I have read and possess 🙂 . And oh, I’ve also bought Palace of Illusions, so that now my book shelf looks like a dedication to Ms.CBD 🙂

4) I GOT MY LEARNERS!!! I mean, so what if an average American kid gets it at half my age….point of the matter is that I can legally drive around in our car (that is, if the BF lets me touch it , which he is reluctant to do till date). “Pay the driving school a thousand more and continue practicing on their cars”, he says before swinging the car keys on his index finger and sashaying out the front door. Hmmpphh!! Time for me to start saving for the car I now MUST purchase (at any cost) if I have to prevent my driving skills from getting rusty!! As for the twin’s college fund, lets just say, I’ll let them do their Bachelor’s in Arts ,not because it is the cheapest course (well, mayyybe that too) but because they have some real skills in the art department 😛 .

5) Yesterday was a shocker ! No nanny, no maid, no cook and worst of all, no MIL!! I groaned audibly when the MIL informed me of the state of events before she left for a wedding. She was sorry about the whole situation and asked the BF to assist me. The BF indeed helped me, by bathing the twins and taking only 45 minutes to complete the task, by the end of which, he was too exhausted to lift a finger, except maybe to switch channels!

Surprisingly, I spent more time in the kitchen yesterday than I would have otherwise had to. I just made lunch in the morning, rest of the work was done in the evening. I churned butter, made ghee, spent a large amount of time grinding all the necessary pastes (ginger-garlic, coconut, green-chilli, etc), made dinner, washed utensils, clothes, tended to the GMIL and kept an eye on the kids. And I did all this with a contentment I rarely feel anymore. I mean, the same tasks which seem like a burden at any other time, were actually calming and therapeutic in their ordinary-ness. Peeling garlic, stirring the ghee, shouting out threats to the kids…..I never thought I would be smiling to myself as I knead dough for cabbage-parathas at 11 in the night 😀 . So yeah, the shocker was that I had to do EVERYTHING by myself and surprisingly, I enjoyed doing it all. So yeah again, no rant this Monday morning 🙂

6) HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY !! Though, for the life of me, I cant figure out why it has to be on the 14th of Nov! I mean Chachu Nehru and all that him-loving-kids story is all bunkum. Sure we were made to mug up all those tales in school….but I doubt anyone, anyone believed in it. The other story, the one about children’s day coming exactly 9 months after Valentine’s Day, now that one made more sense 😐 . Or maybe, we just lost our innocence too soon 😦 . Whatever the case, I forgot it was Children’s day today. When I called up home in the afternoon, got to know that the kids got chocolates at school. Good for them…. One more reason to love school 🙂 .

Thats all for now…maybe I’ll do a meaningful post once I get a little break from the hectic routine at work.

Till then, Ciao 🙂





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The Weekend Updates

So here’s the update on the weekend , in continuation from my last post 🙂

Warning : Long post alert !!
1) I took an off from work on Friday. There were many things to catch up with , stuff to buy and the twin’s school to visit. So after a quick round-up of the cooking tasks, I made a dash for the twin’s school (The twins were meanwhile busy snoozing their hearts out. Their Diwali vacations had begun 😀 )
As usual, I was surprised at all that the teacher had to say…in a way, I was prepared to be surprised. I know my kids are totally different people at home and at school. But this time, I was a little disturbed to know that my kids are lagging behind in the art department. Though they hold a crayon or do finger painting, they are yet to gain control over their fingers. Lui tends to draw slashes across the page, totally ignoring the bird or fish or elephant that she is supposed to colour. On the other hand, Shobs draws a tiny speck in a corner of the page and proclaims that he is done 😐 ! The teacher mentioned that this is indicative of their personalities in the long run. Lui will be brash and uncontrolled whereas Shobs will be timid and hesitant . Needless to say, I was a little worried, but a little action now can prevent this damage. Lui needs to learn restraint and Shobs needs to let go. Talk about opposites 🙄 . This is something that I need to work on and am working on since I got back home! Thankfully, I have a surplus of chart-papers and drawing sheets, courtesy of planning meets at work 🙂

2) I visited my company after a looong time. It felt good to walk through the familiar stairwells, meet old friends, sip on coffee, the taste of which brought back memories of times when a large gang of us friends used to meet up at break times. Those were wonderful days….alas, most of the people are now spread in different buildings around the city…some even in another city. The office looked empty without all those familiar faces 😦
I did get to collect my Diwali gift though : A wall-clock. Reactions on it varied from shock to disbelief to resigned acceptance 😀

3)Friday was also the BIL’s birthday! And since he LOVES Chinese cuisine, what better gift than to rustle up some quick Chinese dishes to tickle the taste buds and satisfy the palate ?!
The MIL and FIL strictly abhor Chinese 😦 . The GMIL refuses to look at the stuff. The BF eats it, but if he has another option, he would just as easily give it up! That usually leaves me and the BIL, the only two who LOVE Chinese food. Also, once in a while, the BIL would parcel something up for me and we two would gobble it down while ruing the fact that no one else appreciates the goodness of it all 🙂
So I decided on the menu, made my purchases after the visit to my office, picked up all that was necessary and made my way home. The twins didn’t expect to see me home on a weekday and were overjoyed when I dropped in home in the middle of the day. I swear, there is no better welcome in this world than the open arms and radiant smile of your kids. I swear I fall in love with them each time I lay my eyes on them 🙂 which just about summarizes how badly I’m crazy about them 😀
Anyhow, the twins refused to let me rest, so after making sure they were fed and off to sleep, I made my way to the kitchen to start the preparation. The menu was :- Chicken Schezwan noodles, Prawn Fried Rice, Chilli-chicken (of course!) and Gobi-Manchurian (gravy). The dessert was a layered chocolate/Vanilla cake topped with chocolate icing (the cake appeared more exciting in print than in 3D 😦 ) .I set the cauliflower florets and chicken to marinate, and then proceeded with the cake. An hour and a half later, the cake was done. After that, it was a non-stop cooking marathon till I made sure all the dishes were ready, which they were, by 8:30 pm. A quick call was made to the BIL who assured that he would be home soon. The BF would be delayed, but then it was okay….it wasn’t his birthday 😀 . BUT, we did wait for him to come back before cutting the cake 😀
As for the dinner, it was a total hit. The FIL, who never eats Chinese, had two helpings of the noodles and praised the other dishes to no end. The MIL, who was initially reluctant to even taste the noodles, not only had it that day, but also the leftovers the next day 😀
Nothing, and I mean nothing  beats the satisfaction of making a good meal for the family and I’m glad I took the time and effort to do it. The evening was a success (if I say so myself). Yeah yeah, I know! I is the Raawck!! 😀

4) Nothing much happened on Saturday, except maybe the minor case of me almost killing the instructor and myself in a near fatal car-crash 😐
Like a true-blue rookie, I did what most freshers  while driving do – under cases of severe stress, we push down on the accelerator instead of the brake !!
Anyhow, fact of the matter is, I got over-confident. It was my fifth day. I could drive easily at a speed of 40kmph (OMG) and even the instructor was happy with my performance. Then came a slope where I was asked to take a left turn. In my eagerness, I changed the gear and stepped on the accelerator. The instructor yelled “Brake, Madam, brake!!” and in my nervousness, I stepped harder on the accelerator. A Car was coming from the left and the old man at the driver’s seat nearly suffered a cardiac arrest as he saw a car hurtling at him in full-speed. Thankfully, the instructor pressed down on his brake before we could crash! A few minutes of silence ensued, in which I could see snippets of my life floating in front of my eyes. The instructor was furious and gave me an ear-full. I didn’t mind it, since I knew I was at fault. The rest of the drive back to the centre was uneventful.
The BIGGEST mistake of it all was confiding in the BF about the near-accident. No need to tell you all how he reacted ! Suffice to say, I would need to buy my own car for practice now 😀

5) Did I mention that I prayed hard that no visitors should drop by? Well, I think the Almighty up there heard me just fine 🙂 . We didn’t have guests, the maids dropped by on time, I played loads with the twins and after ages, spent a very relaxed Saturday 🙂

6) Got up early on Sunday….I think it was because of crackers bursting off early. I had a lunch appointment with a girl who, we are hoping, becomes a new member of the family 🙂 . After breakfast, I made lunch, got the twins bathed and dressed and got dressed for the meeting.
But first, a little background on the girl.

We’ve been actively looking at marriage profiles of girls for the BIL. Unfortunately, the BIL has not had much interactions with girls. He’s tongue-tied and shy in front of them. We were trying our best to figure out what kind of girl he prefers and one day he confessed that he himself is not sure. That put us in a dilemma…because like I told the MIL, we aren’t getting married , he is. So its totally vital that he participate in this hunt and take an interest in the profiles. We almost had to shove profiles under his nose and make sure he takes a good look at the snaps. The BIL would take a quick peep, say no and when questioned why, would sheepishly reply that he’s not sure, but he definitely didn’t want that girl as his wife. Obviously, me and the MIL were on a constant eye-rolling mission around this guy 😐

One day, the MIL spotted this girl (lets call her AM) at a funeral. Ever the watchful woman, MIL liked what she saw and immediately made inquiries about her. Shortly, we got hold of her profile and it was another week before the BIL laid eyes on the snaps. Initially, he was non-committal, humming and hawing and annoying MIL and me to no end. Then one fine day, he asked MIL if there were any updates . MIL pointed out that he was the one should be updating us! So the BIL magnanimously asked MIL to take the matter forward. MIL immediately called up the girl’s family and initiated the talks. The girl’s family were pretty keen too and though no dates were set, the two families agreed to meet up soon.

In the meanwhile, MIL asked the girl’s family if it was okay for the prospective bride and groom to meet. They said yes and we immediately pestered the BIL to fix an appointment and meet up with AM. The BIL kept postponing the meeting, obviously rattled to bits about seeing a girl for marital purposes for the first time in his life. After 10 days of his dilly-dallying, the MIL got fed up and fixed an appointment with the girl for the next day.  The BIL had no option but to oblige. The day of the meeting, he was pensive, worried, had butterflies in his tummy and a pleading look in his eyes, begging us to let him off. But the MIL firmly opened the door and asked him to get his butt to the venue ASAP! Before he left,I gave him a couple of topics that he could talk on, a tip on taking chocolates along and also a warning on what NOT to bring up in the first meeting.

AM had a terrific impact on the BIL. What else could come to our mind when this guy walks into the house in the evening and declares he is going to marry only her and no one else! What shocked us more?? The generally shy and reserved BIL spoke to AM for more than 2 hours , and immediately told her that he wanted to marry her, asked her if she was interested and when she said she needed to ask her family, firmly demanded if it was she who was getting married or her family!! He asked her for her reply and when she was uncertain, he was magnanimous enough to give her 10 minutes to think and answer 🙄 . AM was stunned, I’m sure, but surprisingly, she did call him up after 10 minutes and gave a tentative yes (crazy, I tell you 😀 ). The MIL nearly fainted with shock when she heard all this! The FIL refused to believe it all and the BF gave a prayer of thanks that finally, finally the BIL was ready to settle down 🙂

Whew! Talk about being fast-forward 😀 !!

Anyhow, so I called up AM and asked if I could meet up with her on Sunday. The venue was a mall near her place and since it was a long drive from my place, I left early. I settled myself at the food-court and waited for her to come. I like to observe people and I wanted to see AM before she sees me 😀 . She turned up shortly and this is what my impression about her was :-

• Taller than me
• Simple
• Straightforward
• Honest
• Big eyes (that welled up with tears at the mention of her father, who expired a few months back)
• Earthy
• Demure
• Reserved
• NOT a blabber-mouth, unlike the woman sitting opposite to her

Well, that sums up most of her in the first visit. We did talk, or you could say, I talked, I asked, I clarified and she mostly smiled shyly and nodded her head along 😀 .  But towards the end of the meeting, I could see what the BIL saw in her….her simplicity, the maturity of her speech , her frank opinion on the BIL (bordering on the favourable 😉  , because, frankly, she didn’t like to be pushed into a corner for her answer. Of course 🙂 ). The BIL cannot be faulted for being smitten *sigh* ……I think he’s experiencing his first rush of love! 😀 . For his sake alone, we are seriously hoping that this alliance comes through! Next week, she brings her mother back from her uncle’s place. The weekend after that, we go visiting her family. And probably the week after that, her family comes by our place.

And after that…..well…you’ll just have to watch this space for more updates 😛

The rest of Sunday evening was spent in discussions, plannings, what-ifs and what-nots! And that, my friends , is how I spent my weekend.

AND. Since its the eve of Diwali , I know very well what I’ll be doing this weekend. Meeting friends and consuming tons of faraal, of course 😀

How about you all??





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Weekend Updates

Warning : LONG post alert !!

Hello  people 🙂

Welcome back to the weekend updates from the MomOfRS household. Nothing of much importance happened, other than me yanking the hair off my head after the twins, running around for household chores, buying grocery (which my friends wonder why the BF and BIL cant do. *Sigh* Its a long story 😦 ), tending to the granny and the twins (Nanny bunking. YET.AGAIN 😐 ) and barely getting 18 hours of sleep from Friday night to Sunday night. And whatever I did get, was broken by

1) nightmares from Lui.

2) Crying-for-his-mumma Shobs

3)Worrying about over-sleeping and not getting up in time. So between 12 in the night and 6 in the morning, I wake up at least thrice to check if my alarm was set right or not.

Anyhow, I’ll quickly (hehe, just kidding 😀 ) summarize the jam packed weekend for posterity’s sake. So one day , when I’m too old to walk across the room, I’ll sit on one corner of my bed, open my laptop, connect to the web and marvel on the days that saw me busy as a bee 😀

1) Friday evening, I caught a few snippets of the serial “Kuchh to log kahenge”. Something seemed familiar about it. I mean, surely there have been loads of doctor-doctor, doctor-nurse romances in movies and serials (that reminds me, I’m yet to see a more authentic ‘Hospital’ saga than DD’s Lifeline. Does anyone remember that? It featured Ila Arun as the dope addicted doctor). I hunted a bit of info on the serial and what did I find?! The serial’s a blatant rip-off on Dhoop-Kinare. Dhoop-Kinare !! I mean, I remember fighting for the video cassettes at our local shopping centre. The guy had a diary of people who had booked for the series in advance…it was first come, first serve. So popular was it that practically everyone knew Ahmer (Rahat Kazmi) and Zoya (Marina Khan)!! Anyone who has lived in North India in the nineties would know what I’m talking about! Its a pity that we in India  can’t come up with original, block-buster tele-dramas 😦 !!

2) Since I was on the Web, I caught up with news on my favorite politician 😀 .

Mayavati

Did you check out the size of her statue ?!  The only thing larger than that would be her ego, I guess! Inflated. There’s no other word for it! Plus, is it just me or do you too see that her statue overshadows BR Ambedkar’s and Kanshi Ram’s ?!

3) Saturday morning, I woke up early, as usual. Tended to GMIL and went about the business of cooking, cleaning and minding the twins (who believe me, are totally non-cooperative when I’m home 😐 ) The nanny came in by 11:30 and thankfully, I could take a break, have a cuppa and get dressed to meet BFS (after ages 🙄 ) and shop for groceries and stuff for GMIL. In between, I also had a show-down with the BF, where I walked out of the argument mid-way, seeing that it was leading nowhere. I really , really feel the in-laws should have sent the BF away from them for a a few years ….or maybe at least long enough for him to learn to put his clothes in the cup-board 😀 . Too many years of the MIL and GMIL doing his work has resulted in a hubby who feels deprived if his wife doesn’t put away his stuff!

4) Met BFS after a looong time. Its a pity that we get to meet so rarely, living in the same city 😦 .But we did cover up for the missing time, catching up with each other’s life, with me ranting about the BF and his lack of homely responsibilities and BFS talking about her life, job and her family. It was a time well spent and I do hope we get to meet more often now.

5) BFS accompanied me for the shopping. There are some things that are cheaper in the wholesale markets (Like diapers for the GMIL which are sold for half the MRP !!)and that was where I was headed to. I bought a load of other household stuff at the same place. Alas, the store did not have pulses or grains and I thought of buying them from a store near my place. Since it was a weekend (and close to Diwali) the shopping area was packed with people. It was with much pushing and shoving that BFS and me were able to make our way out of the lanes and towards my park. Dropped BFS halfway to her home and dangling my legs on both sides of the bike (in my defense, your honour, there was no space on the foot-rest!) I made my way home, where after briefly washing my face with cold water, I crashed out. But not for long.

6) I had a splitting head-ache because of which I got up. The nanny served me tea (bless the girl) and my eyes could finally focus. I think the heat of the day got to me. The twins wanted me to play with them, but I could barely keep my eye-lids open 😦 . Thankfully, I brightened up within an hour. Played with them for a while and then set about laying dinner for the family. The twins were in no mood to sleep, so I watched a few nursery rhymes with them on the laptop, then read them a story from the new story-book I’d purchased a while back. We finally crashed out around 12.

7) Sunday was eventful. More than I would have liked it to be. Woke up at 5 am to make breakfast parcel for the in-laws who were leaving for another town by 6. Since the FIL does not prefer bread, I made chapatis and bhindi 🙂 . By 6:30, the cook came in to make the regular chapatis for the day. By the time she was ready to leave, GML was up and I had to set up the bathroom for her ablutions. After she was in the bathroom, I cleaned up her room (alcove, actually ), made her bed and swept the house. Since GMIL takes her own sweet time in the bathroom (sometimes up to 45 minutes), I went to my room to wait for her to come out. BIG MISTAKE!!

One look at the bed and I settled on it for a while, being sleepy from waking up early. The GMIL, on her behalf, completed her wash earlier than usual and started calling out to me. Alas, I didn’t hear her. By the time I jolted out of my sleep, it was good 10 minutes in which the granny had yelled herself hoarse. Worse part was that when I did come in to help her out of the bathroom, she started sobbing 😦 . Made me feel rotten…..

8 ) Quickly made breakfast for the BF and granny. BIL had left for work early. I made lauki-curry for lunch and wrapped up my kitchen tasks. Woke the kids and did my best to get them bathed and dressed. They weren’t helping me at all 😀 . The BF, meanwhile slept through all this. And when he did wake up, he got calls from various people and had to rush out . *Sigh*…sometimes, I wonder if I’m the only one who doesn’t get to spend a Sunday the way she wants 😐

9) We had guests. An elderly couple who had come to meet the GMIL. They are relatives of the FIL. Since they came around 12:45, lunch was a must. This put me in a bit of a tizzy, since I was planning on feeding everyone the curry and chapatis. But with guests, GMIL expected us to be as gracious as possible! So in spite of the kids howling for attention, I had to rush to the kitchen and rustle up some more veggies and make rice. I’ll be honest and confess that I wasn’t a little bit glad about all the extra work 😦 . Moreover, the twins started screaming for attention and GMIL was reminding me again about serving the guests lunch, so in my harried state, I took the twins to my room and locked them in while I did my best to hasten with lunch. The lady guest came in and started chiding me on my rude behavior with the twins. Thankfully, before I could blow my top and remind her that she was the reason for this mess, the BF walked in. The twins immediately calmed down and settled down to play with him while I scurried between the hall and kitchen feeding the guests and the granny (for the record, our apartment is a joint operation on two apartments giving our flat a ‘U’ look if seen from above. So while the drawing room of one apartment has been retained for guests, the kitchen of the other is used for our regular cooking. So if someone calls from the drawing room, we cannot hear it in the kitchen. So I had to make trips between the two places to make sure the guests and granny were fed well).

10) Post lunch, I tried  to put the twins down for a nap. Lui obliged, but Shobs was reluctant to sleep, acting like the energizer bunny (he is one, actually 😀 ). When he finally did doze off, so did I. I had settled the guests in the in-laws room for their siesta earlier. Couldn’t sleep much because I was worried I’d oversleep and miss out on making tea for the guests. So I bustled out, made tea, served it up with biscuits and seriously prayed that the guests leave for the day 😦 . Once they did, I settled with vegetable-sorting for the week. Once the cook came in, I asked her to make Veg-pulao and asked the BF to get curd. After the cook left, I called up the MIL to check when she would be back. MIL replied that they were close to Pune and were getting another relative along (the FIL’s sister). I could have kicked myself for not making that call before the cook left 😦 . Anyhow, since I hate wastage and had made sure the dinner was sufficient for family, I hadn’t put into consideration feeding an extra guest. Amends had to be made. Dinner had to be stretched. But how?? I thought for some time and came up with the idea of making sooji-halwa, an all time favourite with everyone at home and a filler to boot (plus, it doesn’t take that long to cook). Rustling up the dish, I realized that I’d spent more time in the kitchen that day than I had planned. Not that I don’t like cooking, but for some reason, I just want to take a break from it all….

Once the MIL was home, I served dinner and narrated my tiring tale to her. She was immediately sympathetic and ordered me to be off to bed at the soonest. I thanked her and asked the BF to mind the twins while I settled for the night.

Alas, the kids thought otherwise. So they came into the room and begged me to play with them, even as I begged them to leave me alone. The BF, oblivious to my plight, sat and watched TV with his family at the other end of the house, in the drawing room. By 11:45pm, I did think of giving him a call and yelling my heart out….but realized that the effort wasn’t worth it. I don’t particularly remember anything after that.

Monday morning, I was up and about at 6 as usual.

This has been one of the most tiring weekends ever. Somehow, I see no charm in these two days of the week, except maybe spending the time with kids. But the exhaustion I feel towards the end of it all makes me lethargic on Mondays, when I have to report back to work. BFS asked me if working was really, really important to me. And know what I answered? Yes it is. Because you see, I get to sit in one place for as long as I want . Thats the only rest I get throughout the week 😀

AND. Now that I have whined my heart out, I feel better. Much better. If you have taken the time to read till here, I thank you for being a patient audience 🙂 . Hope you all had a better weekend !





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