The story of a....

Dining Table!

Stop rolling ur eyes n read on ....

A rainy eve on the way back from off, waiting for hubbs to pick me up... But as ma mister dint seem to show any sign of appearance, I hop onto the nearest shop which well happened to be Fab India! Did ma by-now-religious round of window shopping! Jus as I was abt to wrap, tring-tring goes the phone n in the nick of stepping out ma eyes fall on a dining table and yeap as the lore goes it was ~~ Love at first sight! The hubbs was soon summoned n as luck would hv it he gave his nod of approval too.. So in 5 mins flat the sale was sealed!!

N if u thot I am a impulsive buyer ~~ Am far from it! I am usually a very calculative, balanced shopper! This dining table was in our to-buy-list for a few months nee years now ~~ But well there hardly seemed one tht we liked and which fit into our budget (K I dint really go hunting for it but still...)

This ma dearies is the story of ma life(at least post wedding) be it this dining table or come to think of it, even ma home! We do go thru a few cursory glances  but all were rejected post the quality checks n brain storming sessions!Thou when we end up buying ~~ the deal is clutched in flat 15 - 30 mins ~~ No quality checks, no brain storming nothing! Love at first sight did yea say ~~ My foot it is! The fickle minded I am, no soon is the deal signed ~~ My brain goes on a overdrive n starts fishing for all the possible mistakes with it! But Hubbs ~~ Ha did u ever hear "Love is Blind" ~~ Yes thts Mr. Hubbs for u!

Having subjected u to this long essay, lemme show u the pic of the dining table. To quote ma hubbs "I call it my magic table :) 4 seater to 6 seater conversion". BTW its jus the table tht we bought home minus the chairs(dough issue u c) .. now lets Wait n watch how long it takes before we fall in love with chairs!

Liked It?

Linking this to Color Deckors Weekend Wrapup ~~ Ages I hv linked up there Now!

Love or.....

A gal, a much loved one loses her dad at a v young age. Her other pillar of support - her sis moves to other city post marriage n is soon immersed in her life. so she soon unconsciously is looking for somebody to fill the void. Her friends slowly but steadily becomes her support system. Among them, one boy becomes a stabilizing factor - Her day is neva complete till she talks to him. To be fair to the boy, he goes outa his way to help her out.

Soon they grow up and its the time for wedding bells And you guessed it rt, they realize that possibly they are best suited for each other.

So whats it for the girl? Love? Comfort factor? A unconscious father-figure hunt that she mistakes it to be love?

Does anybody know the ans? I dono

You know ur mom is visiting when.....

When u r greeted early in morn with... no, not with morn tea or even the damn paper... but with  a ounce of kashaayam tht refuses to go down ur throat...

When all ur medicines (n bottles of them) that were tucked away to oblivion, are all dusted, lined up and then horrors of horrors.... Its stuck rt under ur nose until u oblige n swallow it up(saves hrs of nagging u c)

When ur undies which until then was strewn all around the place (n every morn there is a big hunting expedition to esp pair up the socks) is found neatly packed into separate bags - one for me n other for hubbs(the expression on hubbs face as he opened the drawer was worth a sight)

When U hv somebody who runs off every 15 mins to shoo off the pigeons who hv made ma balcony their home(the mess they make!)

When the food is xtra spicy cause her son-in-law likes it tht way!

:-). Yea yea u got tht rt ma mom - sis is visiting me for a good 1.5 months.... Yippppeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

N ofcourse with the sis visiting comes along god-worshipping her 'jeeju' (it can drive me up the wall!), with insolent requests to hug her to sleep(:-D), to bugging u till u shut the dam lappie down, to ofcourse being indulged with lotta new dresses - yum yum goodies to treat on :-D

When its raining troubles....

"Happinees brings the best in you while Adversaries brings out the worst" ~~ Yours Truly!

Hmmm true rt? On a good day, Look at the swing in your walk, you hv a ready smile for even a stranger ~~ ut on a bad day, God save the person who errs, forget the smile am ready to go grrrr at an unsuspecting stranger!

Now over to ma frnd whose day is as bad as it can get ~~ A bigg tiff with her hubbs, unwell parents, A big interview looming large and she jus oversleeps to wake up at 12 in afternoon ~~ shes somebody who cant sleep a wink beyond 6:30 even on a weekend ~~ I was subjected to her trying to pierce ma eyesopen at tht ungodly hr on a SATURDAY(with no luck ofcourse!)

Ha topping on cake ~~ the rain god chooses tht moment she steps out(No she doesnt drive)  to shower his blessings! So there she is trying to squeeze herself into her umbrella as, well the last thing anybody waana do is arrive at an all imp interview soaking wet rt? Now what does she sight upon in the midst of all this halla - gullla??  A young mom carrying a infant-toddler in arms and struggling to keep the little one dry with jus a duppata n no umbrella! So wht does ma good Samaritan of a frnd do ~~ Hand over the umbrella with no second thots to this perfect stranger n asking her to drop it off sometime next day in the small corner shop around the road! N her?? The wet clothes n interview be damned!

But as she says life is a circle of goodness, so not only did she get her umbrella back next day but managed to bag the job!

Hmm its these nothing-in-return favours tht make u like sit back n give the person a second thot n all u can do is be just awed at how goodness still exists!

One Pic!

The last of the 10 day challenge ~~ 1 Pic(of self!)

Heres ma pick..... Captures me in ma truest form ~~ 'The Happy-to-be-silly' me ~~ I luv luv luv the wind caressing ma face n blowing ma hair in all possib directions ~~ Trust me theres no betta magic to wipe away all ur troubles(at least for the moment) ~~ clicked on a hol by ma fav photographer .......

Hmm Enjoyed the Tag... The first few ones were tricky ~~ To dig deep to come up with the secrets, fears, wants ~~ The next leg was fun ~~ Fav books n FOOD!  As always I take up a blogging marathon when I hv things spearing outta ma control(This time it was work n loads of it!)

2 Songs!

Almost the last leg of the 10 day challenge!

Ala Movies, Music wasnt something tht I got eva addicted to! Biggest shame of life, I know! So music is not abt Music, Its abt people for me

So rt on top of the list is I swear By the Moon ~~ Hubbs dedication during the pre-wedding Dates!

N there is this Mal song - A fav Lullably ~~ A huge dose of Nostalgia there!

3 films!

.. Can I say 'pass' to this one! Am no movie freak.. Thou enjoy the fri - weekend night ritual of sipping a drink as I sit back channel shuffling(With a lappie around!) before we settle on a movie! Come to think of it.....  English movie is a comparatively new entrant in ma life! I was initiated to it a few years back by ma cousin., I became a fan courtesy hubbs(Well when push come sto shove ~~ I jus oblige  Cause the other option is 'No TV') thou I still rely on English subtitles :-/

So 'Pass' it is :-/

4 Books!

Hmm for the reader I am('voracious' should hv ben the adjective appended to it, But hving met hubbs n a few other frnds, I realize voracious is tooo much of an exaggeration!) - Am not able to pin down my  4 top picks! Lemme try thou:

Enid Blytons: Without doubt the book that hooked me to reading ~~ Thnx Dadu, for opening up this world to me!

Sidney Sheldons ~~ Jeffery Archers ~~ Robert Cooks : For the simple reaosn that once I graduated from Enid Blyton, these were the first set of fiction tht I hit on(again Thnx to dadus ~~ They were on his reading list)! But on 2nd thots, did a overload of fiction make me fiction- handicapped? (I cant for life of me read  non fiction!)

Harry Potter: Go ahead pooh pooh ma intellectual levels! But this is one book that opened the world o 'Fantasy' to me n this is one book that I can read n re-read without getting bored!

Palace Of Illusions: The one book that got me hooked to Indian fiction! Hv never been disappointed since then ~~ Be it Indu Sundaresan or Anitha Nair! Here hv a look at the recent ones I finished... Not a bad list huh! Here go ahead, hv a quick glance of the books I recently read!

Five Foods!

Hmmm as I begin to write what should be ma fav section of the tag, Realization hits me that for all ma being a foodie n eating out n happy-to-experiment, at heart am still a comfort-food loving Indian Food Lover :-/ . So here are ma few fav, staples at home!

1. Roti - dal - Sabji : The staple at ma home ~~ Na forget it being ma fav comfort food, I jus abt manage to swallow it ~~ Am v much ur Rice loving South Indian ~~ Thank U v much! But it so happens tht the Hubbs cant swallow rice unless its pushed down his throat! See what a hub loving sati savitri I am!
2. Fishy Fish: Yea yea so much tht its a part of ma name too ('Meen'(a)~~ 'Meen' is fish in mal ~~ LOL! Fish fry ~~ Kerala style, Fish curry ~~ Bong Style(the one made in mustard), Goan style Dry Prawn Powder ~~ Well basically evry possible sea food!
3. U heard of 'Maa-Ke-Haath-Ka-Khana' ~~ In ma case it should be 'Hubbs-Ke-Haath-Ka-Kaana' ~~ No No don roll ur eyes! He has magic in his hands(Runs in his moms side of faily I should say) ~~ Any damn thing he dishes out is invariably spicy but Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
4. Sweet Tooth! Anything remotely sweet will be swallowed in with no 2nd thots! The tyres around ma stomach can tell a tale....
5. Comfort Foods rt from ur curd rice - Pickle to Kichidi to Pulao to Rasam! Nvr realized am such a true south Indian!

Will leave u with a pic of ma favoute(est) fish fry ~~ Courtesy ma Frnd ofcourse!

Six Places!

Hmmm as soon as I heard '6 Places' I thot its gona be a freeze considering the travel freak I can be! But as I sit down to pen it, words don seem to be coming easy ~~ Which place to do I chose ~~ My favs(well diff to pick one), The places I want to go to (Too many to list!) ~~So decided to stick to places that I hv lived \travelled n loved!

Kerala ~~ Its ma fav hol destination in the world thou nothing it has to do with it being 'Gods own country' ... Its a place I hv visited on n off thru ma summer hols.. So but ofcourse I hv ma best memories of childhood associated with this place!

Hyderabad ~~ Home Sweet home ~~ The place I spent a good 2.5 decades of ma life, a place that I know like the back of ma hand... Funny how the description of a place changes as we move on in our life.. When I lived there I thot of it a 'Big City' but today I would call it as 'Quaint ~~ Slow Paced ~~ Warm'

Bangalore ~~ A place where I discovered myself! Where I made the transition from a 'Non-Confident\No-Clue-Abt-Life'\'Dreams-In-My-Eyes' to a 'Confident\Practical\'Been-There-Done-Tht' Lady ...Well well I know of people who think am still to make the transition... But yeap I would call it as a 'Work-In-Progress' and I know of the other lot who preferred the 'Simpletion-Me' to the current Me! Hmmm but yeap for good or bad I hv moved on...... And what helped in the transition isnt just the people around(Hubbs played a Big role) but the city in itself... The cosmopolitan\'don-give-A-Dam' culture here lets u be urslef as u r jus yet another anonymous speck in this Big city!

Goa ~~ A place I will want to go back to not for its beaches, not for its 'Party-Every-Night', Not for the booze(Thou I think thts the biggest incentive for ma hubbs) but thts one place in India(atleast among those I been) where a gal-lady can dress up how she chooses without worrying abt lecherous looks! Luved the freedom there!

Coorg ~~ A place I been with ma hubbs in the early months of marriage! I was almost disappointed thou thnx to the incessant rain! But today as I look back its a hol tht I think of with the fondest memories... A perfect hol with good food, a gr8 place, long walks n jus sit back n relax(n read) but the operative word tht describes the hol for me... 'Passion' :-D (Go figure!)

London ~~ Of all the places I hv been abroad(Not tht its a long list)... I luved this place for the way they preserved their history n ofourse their public transport is indeed something!


N before I sign off ~~ A special mention to all the road trips with ma hubbs ~~ The journey as they say is what makes a trip more memorable than the destination!
 
Now to Five foods tomo ~~ My fav of the lot u bet :-D

8 Wants!

Ha 7 Wants.. Only 7 is it :-D. K here u go...

1. A few rays of happiness n good luck  or rather a definite path maker in lives of certain people in ma life - So that the dilly dallying, this phase of confuSion is done with and they can move on with their lives! Include me in the list too.. I could do with a certain ray of good luck... The 'Good News' syndrome!
2. Remember this Adnan Sami song - Mujko Bhi Lift Karadey ~~ Basically all the works in it ~~ paisa,Gaadi, duniya ka ser ~~ U got it rt :-D
3. To Travel, travel n travel with hubbs to ma hearts content! A foreign hol\trip\assigment please?
4. A high flying job for ma hubbs! So generous of me did yea say? Well well only tht will let me afford a  'sexy-timepass' job :-D n even stay at home if i choose to!
5. To set up a restaurant.. Nothing fancy a basic place where they sell some chai - Calcutta style rolls, tea n stuff ! Did u go like 'Open Mouthed' cause ofcourse u heard of ma being a foodie but this was a newbie? Well well this figures in ma hubbs wish list not mine!
6. To hv a home in a biting-old hill station ~~ Imagine having the cold air mist caress ur face every day! Ofcourse 'Biting cold' can be a harbinger for many other things... yea yea let ur imagination take a wild trip :-D
7. A want tht pops in everyday as I set foot in the public transport(baa)... To be able to drive!
8. Last but I guess most importantly - to love and be loved!

Ha for 6 places tomo(nee today.. I missed a post yest).. Now now we slowly getting to things closer to heart!