For 2011, I Pray...

-That I reach ideal weight in 2011

-That the creative juices keep flowing and I write more and more posts in 2011 and that I get many many comments on my blog posts- c'mon guys, you owe it to me

-That the maid does not bunk for so many days without notice

-That the flow of books do not stop for me and the reading never stops for the kids

-That the vicious cycle of account receivables get cleared - much depends on that Godji-Give the husband as much persuasive skills as possible

-That the salary goes up by...err you know how much I want God, just start thinking beyond needs and consider the wants also dear God.

-That only the good remain with us, the bad, the ugly, the stupid, the rubbish and the evil are totally weeded out and that they too get their just desserts - you know what I mean God?



Hey!!!! Are you listening God?

Random Wisecrack

One gets so swamped with deadlines after one is back from a long holiday that it is very tempting to take another holiday just to escape them deadlines...

Winter Wonder

So I am back from my funfilled Gurgaon trip. And yes I have truly become the madraasi from Chennai who hasn't been introduced to the concept of winter.

So I was gleefully staring at each and every sweater visible to me, mentally oohing and aahing at the patterns, secretly wishing to own them and publicly declaring that I am glad I don't have the headache of acquiring, maintaining and wearing winter wear!

I was goggling and giggling at the trendy coats that all the dogs were proudly wearing and getting amazed at the captions like "don't mess with me" printed on their brightly coloured coats.

I was ogling at men in their coats and ties and wishing I could see the hubby wear the same.

My solo plain black sweater and black shawl paled in comparison to the variety each person was wearing everyday. Oh and the shawls- plain, printed, embroidered, knitted, crocheted.... I miss the fun of coordinating them with my clothes each day. While the woolens do mess with your fashion statement, they have a charm of their own when worn otherwise.

Hot baths, loads of moisturiser, room heaters, blankets, sun soaking, foggy mornings...I miss them all so much!

Chivalry is not Supposed to be Dead

Wife Pleasing Tips for Men

1. Gallantly hold the door for her and let her pass first in the mall, restaurant, lift...
2. Take lots of photographs of her when she dolls herself up- just don't let her walk out of the house without taking pictures of her from all angles
3. Keep her most flattering photo on your office table, laptop desktop and wallet
4. Praise her cooking- tell everyone that if I continue to eat her food, I will never have the will to diet. It serves the dual purpose of pleasing her and giving others the excuse for not being to lose weight.
5. Praise her profusely when she dresses up for an occassion- even tell her you don't match next to her.
6. When you go out, ensure you sit next to her and give all attention to her while talking to your friends. The key is balance. You should make her feel included all the time and ensure that she is within the circle.
7. Support her, fight for her... see how AB is supporting his wife on the Hindi-Marathi issue!
8. Repeat after me- so nice of you to take care of all my little little needs- what would I do without you.
9. Repeat after me- How can you go alone for a week? I will miss you so badly.
10. Repeat after me- I would rather be home with you than go for that Business trip to Europe

The 40-Point Plan

Agar kissi cheez ko dil se chaho to saari kayanath tumhe usse milane ki koshish me lag jaati hai....
So I need to just commit on my blog on the 40 Things I simply have to do before I turn 40 and the wishes of my blog friends will ensure that I achieve them all, well most of them...
(This tag was doing the rounds in the form of 30 before 30 but since I had already crossed 30 by then, I didn't have to do it. And I was not really thinking in terms of the next decade. But then since I have ignored all what I wanted to achieve the last 2 years, I am putting them on paper typing them on this post so that I have promising them on my blog.
"pssst- scouted around for lots of such lists to get fantastic ideas..."
1. Lose excess kilos- I know it is not a SMART goal but then we don't want to announce our weight in public right!
2. Travel - atleast 1 country in each continent, Europe
3. Try my hand at entrepreneurship- culminating the ideas I have in mind like .....*****censored****
4. Write a book/ story/ publish something atleast and make money out of it
5. Drive something other than a small car, like, err, a bigger car
6. Become an ace interior decorator for my home and change it's look from its current state of storm ravaged wasteland homely look and get the garden shipshape
7. Teach/atleast do guest lectures
8. Take a sabbatical
9. Highlight/ Streak my hair
10. Take a holiday with my husband (yes, it is a rarity for me- only 1 so far and I am in the 5th year of my marriage) (sob)
11. Become an expert cook rather than a random, tentative, no frills cook- develop a fairly extensive repertoire of recipes and menu items (again goal not SMART enough because I really don't know how many I can do but I will know when I am fairly equipped to cross out this item from my list)
12. Experiment with different cuisines and continue to make them on a regular basis rather than one off kinds
13. Visit my birth place (Scotland)
14. Start celebrating festivals the way it has to be done setting a good example to the kids
15. Buy jewelry for myself (on a regular basis instead of just doing gold coins)
16. Start wearing sari on a regular basis to work
17. Go to theatre/ concert (never done it) (shame)
18. Learn Western dance
19. Re start music lessons (?)
20. Have our own house rather than a poky flat
21. Change my furniture
22. Institute 5-S in my home - already started the Seiri (Sort & Throw)
23. Go to atleast 1 or 2 non English speaking country after learning the (basic/ functional) language
24. Go in a helicopter
25. Learn to Control my Temper
26. Job related ******censored******
27. See the Himalayas
28. Go for a couple massage with Hubby off course
29. Send my parents abroad
30. See the Taj with Hubby & Kids
31. Travel in Palace on Wheels
32. Learn to bake 5 - 10 varieties of cakes
33. Learn 5 different chicken recipes and make them on a regular basis
34. Restart playing kalaeidoscope
35. Do combined puzzles with the kids (as soon as they are old enough- incl crossword, jumble, kalaiedoscope, jigsaw)
36. Start playing Monopoly & Scrabble with the kids also Carrom (though I am lousy at it)
37. Read more authors than the usual (already started)
38. Visit all the Indian States esp North East, and North- done with Bihar, UP, MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat, Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra, Goa...a loooong way to go but kya kare bad luck hi kharab hai
digression- I always though I would be taking annual dream holidays post marriage but that has never happened!
39. Get a makeover done and do it regularly- basically be an aunty "maal" - learn how to do a proper make up - get funky glasses, multiple ear rings, no made up look, hair style, eye shadows, eye liners, the works added to my just lipstick look.
40. Turn 40 in style

Those Were the Days

1. When I would spend an afternoon playing Kaleidoscope and leave the board lying on the glass centre table without worrying about pieces going missing/ misplaced...
2. When I had the glass centre table placed in the designated place
3. When I had my prized perfumes displayed on my vanity shelf without any worry
4. When I could leave my bag lying around without worrying about the contents getting scattered all over the place
5. When we could just walk out of the house at whim
6. When we could stay out all day and eat all rubbish and not worry about reaching home on time 7. When I could read in bed all day without disturbance
8. When if I don't want, I could manage without cooking
9. When I didn't have loads and loads of clothes to forever fold and stack
10. When I did not have to worry about the little fingers trying to put dosa batter on the hot tawa just when I walk out of the kitchen for something.
11. When going to bed meant simply plonking on bed and going to dreamland.
I miss those days and wish I had made the most of them while they lasted.
But then, those were the days when-
1. There were no warm, cuddly, tiny bodies to cuddle up to.
2. There were no ready, sweet smiles and faces lighting up on seeing me
3. And I did not have the Super star status in 2 pairs of eyes.
While those days were good when they lasted, I wouldn't want to trade them with the present for anything!

If Only I Could Sing...

I would put all my energy to it.
I would add fun and laughter to pep it up.
I would never do melody- it would be spicy and loud.
It would force one to get up and dance. Even if one were in a store they were playing the song.
It would force the non dancers to clap non-stop.
I would never close my eyes and sing- I would always keep them wide open and connect with the listeners.
That's why I like Sunidhi, Shaan, Kunal and the singers of this genre.
And I admire Himesh for the totally new genre he has given to Hindi singing and the separate following of listeners he has created- by just adding the nose to the voice.

Waiting for Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

Call me nuts but though I got into Harry Potter a little late in the day, I have read every single one of them multiple times. Sometimes I thank God for making me discover the series late. Otherwise the suspense would have killed me. I got to enjoy 5 books in quick succession that way. Call me silly but at times I have found myself wishing that such things really existed.
I wish Tejas & Ojas grow to like and enjoy the books eventually.
What I really like about the books and admire Rowling for, is that each element in the books are supposed to fit in like pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle. Whether it is the so called “gleam of triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes in ‘The Goblet of Fire’” or the death of Sirius Black not being a mere tear jerker introduced to make Harry’s woes even more profound. Rowling has got logic for every incident, name and character she has used. The legends and beasts she has employed in the book are solidly backed so no wonder there is a book written on the background of the legends cleverly hidden in the Harry Potters.
Just to recall a few of my favourite episodes in the books, apart from the fight scenes-

1. Philosopher’s stone- Dumbledore dishing out points in the end to Gryffindor and the Chess scene.
2. Chamber of Secrets-Harry’s encounter with Riddle’s Memory
3. Prisoner of Azkaban- Lupin’s lessons with Harry on creating Patronus, the one in which Hermione discovers Lupin is a werewolf.
4. Goblet of Fire- Harry & Cedric decide to take the cup together- loved them playing fair game, Rita Skeeter’s secret getting out
5. Order of the Pheonix- Umbridge and McGonagall pitted together, discovery of Dumbledore’s Army.
6. Half Blood Prince- Everytime Harry uses the Potions book and Hermione’s reaction to it.
Well, right now, I wished I had paid more attention on the details and therefore could have drafted my own thesis on the whys and what next and what may happen in the next. But, I read the books more for the story than anything else. Not to try to find out gaps that would be answered in the subsequent books. Not to try and identify potential spoilers and do a lot of guesswork on what will happen next. But as each book got launched, the heat and excitement seems to catch on and I find myself wondering what happens in the next book.

Here’s my wish list for book 7 apart from Dumbledore & Sirius comeback-
1. Neville gets to use the Crucatius curse on the Death eaters that tormented his parents, his parents get cured and he gets to do something impressive
2. Dolores Umbridge gets her punishment – not death- something that she lives to remember and get tormented.
3. Snape getting redeemed- I wish Dumbledore was right about him and he is indeed my favourite villain character. Sharp witted, sharp tongued and talented.
4. Another wizard Chess equivalent from Ron. He always seems to get overshadowed in brains by Hermione and talent by Harry.
5. More of McGonagall
6. Lupin avenges Greyback
7. Do something about Draco please, he is so pompous and sure of himself.

That makes me look so sadistic right!

Go on, tell me what your favourite scenes are and your wish list for book 7.
Which character do you identify yourself with most and why?

It’s Hermione for me- always in the library, worried about homework and being proper in school, being ready with complete notes for exams.

Edited to add- I wonder what reason Rowling has to make Dumbledore mess up some things inspite of being the greatest- whether it is the way he misjudges Harry by not telling him what's going on- the order, prophesy etc, Occlumency lessons, not being around when Harry needs him the most and eventually dying!

Right of way- ambulance

When the VIPs pass, all traffic is halted for hours together.
Some celebrations cause traffic to be diverted or halted or blocked.
But when an ambulance waits at the signal, stuck behind waiting vehicles, I have never seen the traffic police allow that lane a green signal so that the ambulance gets a clear passage.
Why?

Computerising Life

Today I decided to pick up my pen, that was threatening early retirement, and write down my thoughts instead of straight away tapping them on the pen's arch rival computer's buttons. When I was 15 minutes into this shubh kaam (auspicious work), boss called me to his room. I stood up, flexing my fingers that were as tired as they felt after I wrote my entire class ten English Literature exam which had generous helpings of Julius Caesar quote unquote doled out for the unfortunate teachers chosen to evaluate them. I stood there foolishly looking at the paper, my mind instinctively searching for something. A few years back I could have been looking for some form of paperweight. But no, I realised I was subconsciously looking for the Conrol-S button to save my work on the sheet of paper.

The other day we were frantically looking for the car keys which my terrible two had misplaced- the likely places toy drawer, puja, their potty, under the bed and even the music system and A/C louvers were duly searched with zero results. I desperately wished we had a search button, hell I was even willing to press 2 keys- Control- F to make my job easier. If I had to search for one more lost key or the silver spoon or my book, I will have to install a security camera in my house.

Some other keys that could make life simpler would be-
1. Change Case - suppose we want to yell at hubby or kids, you could just change case to caps and need not spend the energy on actually screaming
2. Auto complete- you have to spend time with that boring neighbour aunty or the I-am-here-to-teach-you-how-to-run-India-business colleague from overseas office, you need not expend energy talking. You could just say the first few letters of the intended word or sentence (may be I am asking for too much)and bingo, the entire words and sentences start flowing out beautifully in the receiver's ears.
3. Undo/ Delete/ Back- Most useful if you have goofed up or divulged a secret or eaten some tempting high calorie dessert (have the cake and then don't eat it too type of thing)
4. Redo- You have cooked something delicious by randomly mixing ingredients while bitching with your friend on the mobile and simultaneously talking in capitals to your kids/ husband/ maid (remember you don't shout if you have an option of changing case- you simply talk and the shouting is perceived) and now people want a repeat performance of the scrumplicious dish. You just press the redo button and voila.
5. Crop- You want to lose weight/ inches- you get the picture, right!
6. Move Here- You have a number 2- auto complete situation above and you feel too lazy even to exercise the auto complete option- Just move [that damn thing (person)] here ( specified location)
7. Fill Colour- You bought this dress and the colour looks awful on you. You could use the tab that looks like- "bucket pouring colour"
8. Home- save fuel- just press the home button or if you are lost you need not do the elimination round of- who-is-the-most-likely-guy-to-tell-me-the-correct-way-and-who-is-the-least-pervert-looking-one-to-risk-talking-to and ask for directions
9. Control- most useful and all encompassing. Apart from the obvious benefits, one can even use it in situations which demand an obligatory visit to the yucky toilet in the shopping mall/ train