2013 Beckons.......

Cause I don want this space to be as despondent a "Mayan Doomsday site"(Ho my frnd Sabs used this v term term to describe it!) as we welcome a new year, I will leave u with a pic of the X-mas celeb at home(pic as well as the cake is courtey hubbs)

Here is wishing all of us a V happy New year n hoping that this year gives us more chances to smile, to be happy n fill us with hope!

Ho 2013, Plz be nicer to me.....

Sky is the darkest now....

Almost a fortnight for the year to end, but its a year that I will thru this life remember as one where the most precious of the gifts was handed to me only to be taken back before I had a chance to even relish it!

They say the sky is darkest before the dawn... but will the dawn be here soon enuf?

My Teacher!

From the time I remember as a student, one of the biggest banes of life was my 'Handwriting'. It was the subject of many a ridicule and pulling-up by my teacher and fellow class-mates. As I reached the dreaded class 10, many predicted that this handwriting will be the reason of my downfall! But things soon changed, my then class-teacher decided to take it as a challenge and change it for good!

So everyday for next month or so, she would literally hold my hands and painstakingly make me trace the alphabets in the "4 line copy" book. Well miracles of miracle , slowly but surely my handwriting changed for good ~~ it at least is no more a eye-sore! Come to think of it, she wasn't being paid a penny more for this extra one hour ~~ she could have chosen to spend this time at home tutoring her own sons who were in class 12th and 10th then . But she instead willingly chose to spend that time with me and all other students who needs that 'Extra help'!

This is just one of the many instances where she has permanently changed a students Life for good. Speaks tons for the kinda person she is.


Today when I met her after more than a decade, the tears that welled up in her eyes(and mine) touched me
like nothing else has in near future!Of course the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.

Indeed more teachers who will go beyond their call of duty with a heart to love is all the doctor has prescribed for India . Thank you for being there to be one of the biggest influences in my life

Linking this to  As Beautiful As Your Work  as a part of Mia contest, for Womensweb!

 

Linking this to Write tribe prompt "Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart. "

 

Spine Poetry....

.....seems to be the latest rage on FB! For those of u who hv been hiding under a rock, its basically "books arranged in  clusters so the spines(read book title) could be read like a sentence\poem". Here hv a glimpse of the pic n u will know what am talking of.....

This one is courtesy Sabs ~~ A classical example of "Spine Poetry"

The White Tiger
eats,shoots & leaves
in search of a distant voice.

N here is another - This one is courtesy hubbs. Need I say its one of ma favs too :-P

Yea yea its courtesy these two tht I for once wasn't caught napping under the rock :). Would you ike to join in too - If so you may choose to jump onto this FB group - "Where's Your Spine Poetry?" Imagine poring over the books in ur collection, arranging-rearranging them till the 'play of titles' fall in place... sounds definetely like fun rt :)

Happy Diwali....

A diya lit on a Diwali eve is supposed to abolish the darkness of Amavasya Night. May this Diwali banish all the evil n miseries in ur life! Hapy Diwali ....

The litt pleasures......

Isnt she a doll!

Sometime early last year I wrote this post on my cousin who was expecting her baby soon. What I dint mention then was that she was the first(and to date - the only) cousin\sibling of my age circle(as against your elder cousins) to become a mother.

So yesterday when I first had a glimpse of her daughter, almost a year after she was born - my heart literally went out to the little imp! Tht naughty glint in her eyes will have you gush with warmth n love. What I wanted  to really give her was a big-tight hug! But the danger of having her scream murder, ensured that all all of us followed her mandate of "Keep distance - Min 10 ft" v meekly! Love u sweetheart, muah! Cant wait to see you again.......

This along with the fact that my maid who was AWOL for more than 10 days has finally shown up today and the promise of some retail therapy with ma sis post lunch today, promises to make this a happppie weekend!

Before And After....

                                           The theme for thursday Challenge is

DRESS UP (Costumes, Uniforms, Rain or Snow Clothing, Ceremonial clothing, Wedding Dress, Formal Clothing,...)



Before&After!



A pic of artists in their full costume ready for a performance of Yakshagana - a folk dance from coastal Karnataka. This was clicked @ The Bengali durga puja Pandal this dusssera and the story being told thru this dance form is of Maa Kali and the Demon Raktabija.

This was the first time am seeing a live performance of Yakshagana. The accompnying song in Kannada was beyond my cpmprehension - but I guess the beauty of the dance is that you really don need any words to capture their essence.

The New Eatery In Town!

Thts my pretty little chef in action whipping up her fav Jelly! Now that she has up her sleeve the tricks to whip u up a delicious meal - read jelly\pudding from ready-to-make-mixes, tea(which is more milk than chai) nof course assortment of cookies, cakes from the next door bakery - She's decided to start in collaboration with two other partners(her aunts - me n my sis) a small "Next-door eatery"!

On the menu are of course all the usual suspects listed above( jelly-cakes-biscuits). But the entrepreneur that she is, she already foresees a problem of not being able to cater to all sections of crowd(read - people who don consider jelly-cakes-biscuits as a meal) and so has decided to rope in her uncle(ma hubbs) to whip up any fried rice, nong-veg dishes of your choice! So there u hv ur complete meal.

But due to logistics issues(of the entrepreneur n partners being in different cities) this eatery will be operational only during X-mas-Summer-Dussera vacations! As a freebie, the first 100 customers would be provided a free personalized signed photo with the chef (photographer is ma BIL)


So the next you in vicinity of B'lore, U know where to drop in for a complete sumptuous meal :).

Linking this to Color Deckors and ABC Wednesday(P is for Pretty litt Chef!)  

PS: Now u know what I did last weekend - conceptualizing n freezing up on this entreprening idea of my litt niece :)

Book Review: The house of Blue Mangoes

If there was a book written around "growing up",  set in an Indian context, then one definite contender for it would be  - "The house of Blue Mangoes" by David Davidar. Just that the "Growing Up" bit spans not jus a litt boy but actually he n his Gen-Next! Set in a idyllic south Indian village, it touches up on all aspects of life in India- of castes, of religion, of poverty, of 'brawny' men, Of Indian mothers and DILs! 

One thing,  I liked about the book is its a "Men's" Perspective of the Indian world - not something I hv read much before. lemme tell thou, this really ain't a breeze read - Its a book you sit, mull on and read it over a few days. (Hopefully am slowly getting "there")

30 on 30!

*** LONG POST ALERT***

This post was originally written on April 15, a good week before i was supposed to hit 30 n has been sitting in drafts since then. But huh a 6 months post is a good time as any to post it rt :)
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Sigh! Am hitting 30 in less than a week(sob sob sob!) :(. Now I would hv hit this milestone happily only if I had become a mother by then :(. Yea I know age is no bar(K upto some point at least) when it comes to having a baby but well this is more of a personal goal that I would hv been happy to have a tick mark against! Now there is no point in crying over spilt milk. So here's a list of 30 things(in the order they pop up on my mind - that am Happy, unhappy, proud, not-so-proud,of in the 30 years(eeesh! Sounds like a LONG time) of my planet on planet earth

1. I absolutely look up to ladies who hv gone places with their own steam n hv a strong persona! As year tickle by, the person who seems to be right there at the top seems to be my mom(I hv my mouth definitely wide open at this revelation... yea its been a revelation to even urs truly)
2. Delirious that I was always a daddy's gal
3. A great regret of life is that there are mistakes I hv done as far as he's concerned, tht I never got a chance to correct
4. Happy that I hv a hubbs who will unflinchingly be a partner-in-crime
5. I should learn a thing or two from my litt sis - from being happy with what she has(as long as she has her share of dresses that is :-P) N being generous(too much for her own good) n jus having a loving heart!
6. Proud that I hv a in-laws I can be proud of!
7. Not-so-proud of not having made them grandparents yet!
8. Never eva knew that there was a feminist(too strong a word thou) hidden in me - its no more a surp to me that I go ballistic or at least put a token of protest the moment I see anybody being smartie pants!
9. Glad that I discovered that the hobby I enjoy most is reading n devouring books! A good book can ensure tht u don hv a boring moment!
10. Not-so-glad that music, dance, painting don't show up in ma hobbies list!
11. Proud to have gone para sailing .
12. Not-so-Proud that I cannot drive! Restricts my freedom-of-movement like nobodys business!
13. One thing I wouldn't regret having a wee bit more in life is to rake in a litt bit more moolah!
14. Not-so-proud tht I still hv trouble in keeping frnds! One would assume tht 30 odd years was good enuf time to correct this folly
15. I definitely love good things in life ~~ but hubbs has taught me the art of looking at silver lining in even the not-so-goos-things!
16. I should thank this certain friend - sabina (ha yes yes shes shown up here!) for inculcating some dress-sense into me!
17. My biggest insecurities - of growing old alone, of aliments n financial insecurities!
18. I am still a foodies foodie thou I realize my palette aint good enuf to distinguish not-so-good from good!
19. Surprise! Who would hv thot tht theres this (thou tweenie-meanie it is) tiny bone in me that loves homely homes!
20. I wish as a child I wasnt this sad-geeky creature n learnt to shake a leg!
21. Love travelling - N I can truly get into the spirit of the place am travelling - from eating the local food to scourging the local market - yeaaa to me n hubbs for it!
22. Not-So-Happy that I have not got to travel around the world with hubbs n hey a peter-pan time u grew up :-P
23. Wish things came to me a litt easier - ho yes they do work out k at the end of the day but should I pin n crave for it everytime before the apple is dropped into my lap(now wht kind of a similey is tht huh)
24. I betta learn to concentrate on the task-at-hand esp when its not I enjoy! Jus hoping that the hour will pass or tht it will get done magically jus doesn't work.. does it!
25. When you do your homework pretty well, the worst-scenarios never even play out. But huh, dare to do a shabby job then Dilberts principle of "What can go wrong, will go wrong" plays out to perfection
26. To always hv a belief to hold onto - U can cal it god or whatever!
27. When u do something - from work to cooking to home - do it with a intention of doing a good job n not make it a race to finish!
28. Speaking good English isnt really a trademark for well anything(should be commonsense rt - but man! I still hv hangups if the other person cant speak decent english! Phew!)
29. Take each day as it comes! Give things a chance to fall in place, they usually do.
30. Jus be happy :-)