30 Questions

Dipali tagged me and so did Lavs with the surety that I am going to respond first. Since it is not my way of not humouring a preggie, I am doing it as quickly as I could.

1. Last movie you saw in a theatre? It was so long ago that I have forgotten. I think it was 300 or Mozhi
2. What book are you reading?Innocent Man by Grisham- ultra boring.
3. Favourite board game?Not been playing them for long but Monopoly it is. Does Kalaidoscope qualify? Or does the kids' jigsaw puzzle inset on a board qualify?
4. Favourite Magazine?Femina...every woman of substance ought to say it. well wait, let's say Filmfare types are read cover to cover - immense potential for passing long hours in boring company- you can pretend to be engrossed in it and not participate in what's going on. You can actually become engrossed in it- femina does not guarantee a good read but a good dekkho only
5. Favourite smells?Food, flowers, perfume, smell of sunlight, grass, first rain
6. Favourite sounds? Kids' voice
7. Worst feeling in the world?Helplessness
8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up? Gosh I am late
9. Favourite fast food place? Does Coffee Day qualify? If not Subway
10. Future child's name?May not happen, but let's say- we will do a fantasy - if it's a girl, Asmi, Arushi( I love the meaning- rays of the sun, now I am not sure as my brother told me that the Arushi in her class used to be poor in studies), Ishanvi, Vanshika, Ritika- Combines mine & hubby's name perfectly
11. Finish this statement- "If I had lots of money, I would"buy a grand bunglow with hugest possible rooms and a huge garden)
12. Do you drive fast?Yes. What? 40-60 is not fast? It's top gear c'mmon
13. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?hell no! I hate that types
14. Storms- Cool or scary?Cool yet scary
15. What is your first car? Wagonr
16. Favourite drink?Coffee Frappe & Ice Tea (I don't take hot tea/ coffee at all)
17. Finish this statement- "If I had time, I would" take a break, be with the kids
18. Do you eat stems on Broccoli?Yes
19. If you could dye your hair in any other colour, what would be your choice?Brown, reddish brown, burgundy (because I like the name of the colour, I am sure it will not show on my hair)
20. Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in?Chennai, Pondicherry, Varanasi, Ranchi
21. Favourite sports to watch?KBC, reality shows. What? They don't qualify?
22. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?She has loads and loads of patience & perseverence
23. What's under your bed?A bag of to be discarded clothes, a trunk of to be stiched and not to be worn again clothes, a bag containing change of night clothes & sheets for the susu boys...in a 2 bedroom house, you ought to use up every available space, esp the ones that cannot be seen
24. Would you like to be born as yourself again?Yes, just without the fat, little better features, little shapely, with some more money, with more patience.... basically me with some modifications
25. Morning person or night owl?Night OWL, with a morning vision. (I love going out in the day time but hate waking up in the morning, can stay up as late as possible but prefer doing all jobs by daylight- if all this makes sense)
26. Over easy or sunny side up?both sides cooked (i cannot have half done eggs)
27. Favourite place to relax?BED, Sofa, but now I don't have access to the sofa
28. Favourite pie?did not try a great range of them
29. Favourite ice cream flavour?not so fond of icecreams but chocolate is fine
30. Of all the people you have tagged, who is most likely to respond first? not tagging, any one can take it up

Riddle-me-Ree, Who can she be?

Greetings wonderful MTBs!!!
and good work to all of you!
For having solved the riddle before
I give you all this clue.

The letter " I "

Write it down, add it on...
And let’s move on to the next little song.

“This lady says blogging is fun
If only she got paid for her puns
This lady – funny, witty and ever so jolly
She does enjoy a good ice lolly
Citron is definitely her flavor
She works out regularly and has a personal trainer.
Who is she ? Oh !! Who is she ?”

Solve it and you get your lead
Misguess, and you lose your speed
Solve it slow but solve it now
And before you go, take a little bow

Go to 'Comments' and leave me a clue
Tell me which blog you are off to.
Good luck! Good luck! Be on your way.
You have your work, cut out for the day!

Edited to Add for the readers who are wondering where this came from...
This was a gam of treasure hunt for Mothers to Be - a group by invitation.
The MTB's landed from argees
“Double double toil and trouble
Home fires burn, and office deadlines bubble
Light and brightness she has twin
many a smooth tale she can spin
who could this be, can you unjumble.”
and lead to paruls

And Maggie- Thanks for this return riddle on Argees post

Itchy has to be this one

Mom to twins and lots of fun!

Both riddles are extremely flattering? Who dunnit? Organisers pls stand up and take a bow!!

Edited to record- Kiran was the lady who wrote my riddle...

Fairy Tales or Feary Tales

I really find it very difficult to pick up the right story book for kids. My Blogging Mamma Mind doesn't allow me to pick up any random story book now.
Snowhite- All this while a loved story that I reject because of "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of all" and stepmother issue.
Pied Piper of Hamelin- I never really enjoyed this story. The punishment went to someone not even involved in the transaction. But I loved the ballad form that I studied for ICSE Board. I reject this because of the sad ending, because in the end the kidnapper won inspite of the fact that he was wronged.
Hansel and Gretel- Great to talk of brother-sister love but step mother bit caused me to reject.
Cinderella- I always enjoyed this story but my blogging brain started thinking about step family cruelty, father not doing anything to support cinderella and child labour. Reject.
Ugly Duckling- Stigma of being ugly. Still it is the most acceptable among the rest inspite of theme. It has lot of other animals that take the attention away.

Every story I pick up has something related to step mother, witch, cruelty, father not involved in the child, fair is beautiful, child labour.
The relatively safe stories were - Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood (scary but can do a lot of action drama to nullify that), Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Jack & the Beanstalk (though it carries tales of deceit I found it less offensive than the rest).
Fairy Tales are so foreign and my patriotic & traditional brain wants to look for Indian stories which are a mixture of fun & moral- jatak katha with animals, mythological tales, panchtantra tales etc. There is a whole lot of options available for as low as Rs 20. Large print books with pictures with a moral behind it. Lot of animals to help send the message across.
And off course there is always Noddy books.

Another Dress Code Issue

My regional counterpart wanted to know the dress code for customer visits in India.
Both of us Marketing ladies were in a dilemma on what to reply or rather how to word it.
Her queries- Are skirts acceptable or are suits best?
We know that the issue of dress code is not so high with corporate clients. With globalization and travelling and the fact that India is so attractive as an investment we always have global bosses coming down to meet the Indian arm. So in a way our men folk are more than used to northward hemlines and plunging necklines. Yet every one likes a good dekkho one in a while and it didn't seem fair to subject her to the stray stares.
But we did not want to sound matronly and prim and behenji by telling her wear anything as long as it is not too short in length or too deep in the front.
We could not tell her to Indianize herself and wear a sari or a salwar suit like we try to westernise ourselves on our abroad trips by buying suits & trousers irrespective of our genetically typical Indian buttocks, so that we don't stand out and are considered one among them?
We needed to tell her about the hot sweaty summers so that she doen't bring her lovely suits and toast in them.
Ultimately we summed up our views in a few lines- it would be hot & dry, cotton would be the best material, we would be meeting corporate clients so dress code no issue, skirts are fine, knee length ok.
My question,
Was our line of thinking right?
What would you have suggested in such a situation?
Do you believe in westernising yourself for abroad visits or do you be what you are- some days Indian/ sari some days trousers? Do you feel a sense of inacceptance or lack of confidence in Indian clothes in a global setting?
Is it really an issue- wearing Indian clothes for abroad trips? All my memories of photographs had Indira Gandhi standing in the ubiquitous sari for all Global summits. Yes she stood out but she was the most visible in the crowd. I never felt anything odd about her in a sari and she was the most graceful among all similar dressed people.

It was all Gurgaon Actually

Just because I landed in Delhi does not mean that I have to visit Delhi.
It was all of Gurgaon barring one meeting where we just barely crossed the border.
A lot of shopping, setting back my credit card by a few thousands, gaining in terms of plenty of gifts for the kids and some for myself from the relatives, a Chinese dinner at Golden Dragon sauced up with on the spot humour and an amazing lunch at Punjabi by Nature comprised my short & sweet trip. Punjabi by Nature typically serves portions not as per a normal Indian appetite. It embodies the largesse of Punjabis- the portions are gigantic. I had a keema naan which actually turned out be more like a keema paratha – a little oily which I could not have fully because of the kabab platter and aampanna I had been freaking on.
They had interesting alcoholic gulabjamuns & ethnic alcoholoic drinks - golgappa/ chaat etc. Wonder how they tasted!
We also visited the Haldiram factory cum outlet in Gurgaon to sort of make the global visitors aware of all Indian cuisine under one roof.
The summer heat prompted me to pick up a lot of whites.
HT had proposed Punjabi by Nature as a must do today. Talk about coincidence.
Posting in the car way back home

Dear Delhi

Landed sometime ago in Delhi. Having a meeting plus a day of shopping tomorrow with the regional boss. While I really don't subscribe to the whole thing, as long as it gives me a trip to delhi, I welcome it.
Funny to note that drivers leave their cabs in neutral to enable pushing further to make way for more cars. Our cab got stuck in a corner and there was a pushing shoving episode of 3 cars and finally the last car was backed bumper to nose into a swift, to enable us to move out.
Well, I love Delhi for what it stands- an amalgamation of cultures, shopping opportunities and vastness.
2 days of delhi awaits. Here I come

Coffee Shop Poll

Out of the 13 respondents, most feel the beach is the ideal location.
My take on the problem would be-
A format like a coffee shop or a pub comes with inherent disadvantages
-Timing- get populated only during specific time of the day- afternoons or nights. No amount of happy hours can bring a sea-change in consumer behaviour.
Menu- They don't serve our 3 meals. They serve largely cold beverages. India is a hot beverage nation. We want our tea strong and piping hot. And our coffee bitter and rejuvenating, not laced with plenty of milk and cream.
-Visit occassions- A customer will not make time for coffee & snacks. They would be largely impulse led, or semi-planned impulse built around meetings/ casual dates/ between friends for a relaxing hour. This is not to fill your stomach but to replenish.
So one cannot hope for a constant stream of customers and queues waiting for a seat. One may do the same for a square meal but not for a coffee pub.
On the Locations, th pros & cons would be-
1. Beach- overcrowded in evenings/ nights, empty by the day.
2. Highway- have a franchisee at the location just to cover that stretch but not do obtain revenues. The highway coffee / juice shops are always deserted.
3. Food Court in an IT park- I was surprised that no one selected this. This has a huge captive audience throughout the day, possibility of 24 hours. The guy at Ascendas makes Rs 25k per day profit on coffee. I have seen business meetings happening, guys working on their laptop, additional audience from outside coming down to the food court. Impulse + Planned customers here. The disadvantage is that it is a destination point. You need to go out of your way to reach here. If you have a large group each wanting to eat different stuff you can go to such food courts. But if you want a relaxing coffee, you will not come here, you will go to a stand alone coffee shop
4. Shopping Mall Food Court-All day long crowd. More possibilities of impulse & rejuvenation seeking customers. Tired after shooping all day? No time or patience to eat a full sit-down meal or not yet time for a dinner/ lunch? Coffee would be ideal- quick, on the move, replenishing and a place to rest tired feet.
5. Catchment Point in a Colony- A large possibility of floating populace to drop in. Advantage is that it falls on the way to a destination. One may want to go someplace for a full meal but for coffee, it is ideal if it falls on the way to somewhere or like a shop next door. Disadvantage is that it caters to a small audience. Unless you are lucky to get one in a colony that is a satellite to a larger commercial hangout. May not be ideal for a first store but okay for a branch.

Wierd Stuff for Babies

Some absolutely useless stuff
Grooming Baby- Whatever happened to smelling like a baby, plunging your nose into your baby's neck and hair and taking deep breaths imbibing your baby's unique scent- we have perfumes for babies. Personally I would have less chemicals on their skin. I would have avoided talcum powder too but I don't have an alternative for that.

Tooth Fairy's Nightmare- Aren't these cute. You are encouraging bad dental hygiene above all and the message is - it is ok to have wierd and bad teeth. Like I was told that I worry unecessarily about rotting teeth - it's only milk teeth that will fall off eventually. Why the hell do I encourage bacteria co-habiting in my kid's mouth? I would rather prevent even if they are milk teeth only. My kids have a right to look good without a view of rotting black teeth.

And now an outsourced lullaby or what- Don't complain later if your kid does not listen to you. You have more than trained him just so. Take a stroll and instead of listening to the birds chirping and the dogs barking and the other kids squealing and playing, your baby lives in its own world of music. Now that is what I called conditioned switching off or rather switching on. Am I a fool? I was talking 19 to a dozen to my kids pointing out stupid stuff like lizards and butterflies when I took them for a stroll in their stroller.

Taking the Gory Forward- A shipwreck set complete with skeletan. I am glad they have come to their senses and discontinued it.

And we lament about leaving kids home when we go on work. What about this new design of the playpen. This is a cage with cedar chips lining the cage, baby blanket, a bottle and feeder. Training you for every evenuality that might come in future. And we though Harry Potter was the ill-treated child.

Baby Hanger- Picture this, you and your kid are shopping or travelling and you have this sudden urge to pee. This will be most useful!! Practical but wierd and I would rather control the urge or rather not travel alone. More than anything else, I would be forever scared that the harness system may fail and the baby may fall right down.

Monopoly with swipe card- And now monopoly that keeps up with the times. A debit card system. So no more thrills of counting the green bucks. What happens with the batteries play hooky in the middle of the game?

Now this is what I like...

Does someone has a T shirt in the lines of "Powerchick Mom" or "supermom", something to that effect?

Tiny Thoughts- Tit for Tat

I no longer call you when I am in your city, inspite of the urge.
I will resume when you or your children start calling my parents once in a while.
I know it does not hurt you but it does not please you too much also.
Unknowingly and unwantedly, the blood thing runs deep.
========================================
Tiny Thoughts- About
A new series, sort of antithesis to the factual fiction series. The factual fiction is in the 2nd person, Tiny Thoughts (punning on Tiny Tots intended) in the 1st person.
Factual fiction loosely connects actual incidents happened during different times using author's license- a mix of factual and fiction- a sort of have been and could have been.
Tiny Thoughts have happened in isolation. They could just be thoughts not necessarily implemented. Or snatches of conversations converted to individual thoughts. They may be mine or someone elses.
Tiny Thoughts intend to convey thought processes that change the course of normal, usual or expected behaviour. It brings out the fact that nobody really knows for sure what goes within the minds of an individual- not even the person closest to the said individual.

Bangalore Post

Blogging from Bangalore in the car driving to airport.
Height of Coincidence- coming face to face with a co-traveler from the morning flight at the client’s place. I am dying of curiosity as to who she was. Twice I almost asked her but she had a “ignore-value” look on her face that discouraged me from confronting her with my queries.
Had lunch at the Mexican place Miller 60. Interesting cardboard menu card with tidbits about the Mexican bandits, cattle branding and steaks.
I took a lamb steak sizzler with Mexican rice. The pepper preparation was yummy but forever hot, served on a bed of cabbage leaves and baby corn/ beans/ carrot. The sizzler plate was a seated bull.
The décor had wooden panel wood (bull hide colour), bull heads, rifles mounted, lanterns, saddle, glass tables with log base,
to be continued...
Ok..Like I said, kahani abhi khatm nahin hui hai....
I am back to blogging from Bangalore airport. Tough luck that you finish the meeting early, rush to the airport after the sizzling lunch (see above) and find you have seats to the earlier flight. The only thing is that the 4.15 flight is delayed by 45 minutes due to the craft not incoming on time and you are better off in the previously booked 5.30 flight.
So as I was saying, the mexican ranch decor also included funny shaped chairs, waiters wearing the cowboy style belt, and a totally modern-rustic appeal. I am amazed that the look and feel of the place is similar to hubby's office which is based on the stable theme with wooden panelling, cowboy belts, hat, lantern. We were discouraged from displaying the working rifle since we do not have a license and found the old leather saddle a little too expensive at this point- Rs 4000 from a guy roaming the roads on his horse. Interesting thing is that he gave his visiting card for future contact if we changed our mind about the price.

Anyway, back to the sizzler, the meat was too tough for my liking and I was seated in a such a way that the hot peppery steam was blowing into my face. I had to tilt at an awkward angle furing the meal. A fast eater like me will feel annoyed at the super slow pace the sizzler needs to be eaten if like me you cannot tolerate stuffing your face with sizzling hot food. To me meat is best enjoyed at the just right temperature so that you savour every morsel and chew it well and do not gulp to save your mouth from getting singed. I am glad I took the sweet-salt fresh lime soda to mellow the sizzle. Normally I don't select a sizzler for these reasons but I am glad I took this chance this time. Learning for the day- it is absolutely foolish to serve complimentary breads with cheese. You fill up the stomach with them while you are waiting for the main course and end up deserting the dessert.

Speaking of food, I am appalled at the lack of a decent eating lounge at Chennai/ Bangalore airport. The best place to be stuck in the airport is Mumbai were you have 2 coffee Day lounges where you can have a lazy meal and browse in peace. Bangalore airport to me is the worst place to get stuck.