No Title! I am tired of Titling!

I was driving back to work after lunch at Zorbas...they definitely have one of the best tasting food ever and the time they take to serve is even better...sometimes I go to a restaurant right next door to work and they delay me so much that I do not make it in till half past one...but here, I go in, I eat, pay and I am back at work all within 60 minutes...and this in spite of driving to Plano...but I digressed...

When I was driving back I was thinking of good old days, as I always do...my mind starts wandering to my life back in India, which I think I subconsciously miss but I am also aware that will not be the same if I ever decide to go back...which is another debatable topic that G and I keep going back and forth...again I wandered away...do you see how my mind works? I think of way too many things at a given time and for me to remember and pen them down is a task of its own...only 1% of the many things I think I should write about actually get written down...

So coming back to where I wanted this post to actually head let me introduce you to electric trains...In Mumbai they are called local, in London they are the Tube, and in New York they go by the name, Subway...and so on...but in Chennai we call them "electric trains." Simple name, because that's what they are, they use electricity to run and if there is a power outage somewhere then you are stuck in the middle of nowhere in a train...it has happened to me exactly once in the three years I have used it to ferry between my college and home.


For almost 8 years out of the 11 I stayed in Chennai, I rarely used the train. I had my bro drive me around for the first few years and then it was me on my two-wheeler and when I got a little older I had my Maruti 800 to take me wherever I wanted to go...I was very independent when it came to transportation...Thanks to my parents.

During the first two years of college, I used the college bus to take me to college because my house was so far away from the nearest station...until dad decided to move, since both my brother's were now living away from home we could actually move into a smaller house which might reduce the burden on mom. So we moved into a two bedroom apartment closer to the station...I made sure that this apartment was fun...I was going to live in an apartment for the first time ever and I did not want to live in any simple place...Dad paid a huge price but I had fun :)

But the point is, I finally had to take train to college instead of college bus because it worked out a lot cheaper and the station was just a ten minute walk from home...but who walked? My college guys who had motorbikes on their way to the station eventually gave me a ride, so everything worked out fine...

I thought about this whole train thing today because I miss the feeling of standing at the door of the train...(our trains' doors remain open 24 hours) and letting the wind touch your face and brush the hair off...sitting at the doors on the offside (the side the platform will not come when the train arrived at a station) and chatting for the entire hour with friends, writing homework on the way to college, reading GRE vocabulary on the way up and my friend testing me on them on the way back, missing a train so I could join my friend, eating at the station, making friendship bands on the train, my friend reading my palm after quackingly reading it from a book on the side, meaningless singing, yelling, getting ragged by seniors, ragging juniors, eating hot freshly roasted peanuts, making friends, last minute cramming sessions, bunking classes and going for movies (happened rarely...but it did happen), missing the train and cussing out aloud after running half a mile...and many more...

As the popular Tamil song from Khaka Khaka (modified) goes..."ondra renda varthaigal...ellam sollave...oru blog podhuma..."

I took those three years for granted and today almost 8+ years afterward I am reveling in the memories knowing very well that I can only go back in time in my mind...as bad as it may sound, I am glad that at least I had the opportunity to make some really fun memories that I carry with me...not just the trains but so many other things...they keep me grounded...

New Header

Ah! finally I got myself a new header...I did not spend much time on it...but I think that it is anyday better than the old one I had for so long.

Sometimes art needs explanation or else it is lost to interpretation...just to help...I tried to show the transformation...a single me, a married me, a pregnant (tummy) me, and a mom me! So that is where I am right now :)

If any of you need help doing something similar...send me pics and I can help :)

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ART

There is always one person who can drive you up the wall...no matter what...even when you are in your best behavior trying your best not to hurt anyone's sentiment...I try and avoid contact with such people but somehow as fate would have it we get put into the same room more often than I want...

And then there are some people I call the harami dosth...these are people who are my friends but those who actually do not care about me and hurt me a lot...Once again fate deals a wicked card...I cannot be without them and that is just twisted...don't want to say anymore!

A Weekend that was...

On Saturday I casually started cleaning the house when Babbi and MIL took a nap...I was halfway done with cleaning the floor and then our master bathroom when G offered to help me. I told him that our closet needed some checking in on as it was bursting with his clothes...in an instant he got into the mood of cleaning (mind you this happens only once in a year) and we were out and out on it full fledged...Finally our cramped up apartment has space...really...the closets have empty room for me to load things into, it has an open feeling to it and my heart brims with pride when I see the clarity some of the old spaces have achieved...

I will agree that I am a packrat. I had loads of boxes, loosely packed with completely useless things in it. I wonder why I had carried them with me all the way from K-State. I don't know and it took a lot of angry words from G before I got rid of them...but I managed to save a whole box of CD's I did not want to get rid of though I know that they will be obsolete in a couple of years, they are now up in one of the closets with a tag, "CD's-to be thrown out," neatly written in G's ugly handwriting.

But on the whole, the weekend was fab considering we spent half of Sunday also in cleaning. I have asked G to break his usual routine and help me do some organization one more weekend in this calendar year...

Weekend was Krishna Jayanthi...that's what we south Indian's call it...some people also call it Janmasthami...so we dressed up a sick Babbi in Krishna's dress and took some pix. When I get the pix done professionally I will upload some here...I also managed to do some Pesalapappu Payasam and of course Krishna's favorite Veg Puffs (well since all the guests liked it, I am sure it is Krishna's new favorite)...both a hit...also my sambar came out amazing...I was very happy as I finished my day with the brilliance of a never before and never ever Grand Finale and closing ceremony of 2008 summer Olympics in China...Absolutely loved it...

This is my honest opinion, I know that many are coming up with conspiracy theory on how China Cgi-ed the whole fireworks during the opening ceremony and all that...and how the whole ceremony looked so orchestrated and how the participants all looked stressed and not happy etc, etc, etc,...We can go on, but the point is...this was by far the most exciting opening ceremony I have ever seen and will ever see...not just me but for generations ahead too...No other country would shell out $40+ billions on an event such as Olympics...but China did, whatever the ulterior motive and against all the comparisonm was definitely spectacular...every show they put on had a surprise factor to it. There were things that you have never imagined seeing done before...the scroll, the painting on the scroll by agile artists, the perfect circles and shapes they formed were all so well done...I could only cry at the effort each of them standing on the ground that day would have put into it. For all you know they had no choice but to do what they did...but please do not take the credit away from them. Each and everyone of them deserve the credit and more from everyone who saw it...

It is not right to sit here in our comfortable A/C houses and offices to ward off saying that China cheated, China did this and that...they put in some effort that no other country could, can, or will so whatever they want to do henceforth...we will wait to see...but lets compliment them for what they did...it is ok to say that someone else has done a better job and it is also okay to try to better them next time and stop trying to find faults...once again all this is my humble opinion and I don't care what anyone else thinks...thanks.

With that said...

Ciao :)

Phew!

I am waiting for August to end. Personally things are going pretty smooth but then a few of my friends are going through a very rough patch that is hurting me a lot too...You know who you are and my prayers are with everyone of you. I am sure that whatever you all are doing is the best and in the best interest of everyone involved. Be brave and I am sure that everything will be fine...Life has to go on no matter what. If I could, I would really stop the clock go back and set things right so that none of you would have to go through what you are going through now!

On a more friendlier note...things that have been putting a smile on my face...Babbi...yes my daughter...now she is called Babbi...just shows the transformation of her name as she grows up from being Baboo to Babbi...there are some who call her Babli though...which is also cool...

For the last month and a half my MIL is taking care of her at home. Babbi feeds well, sleeps well and has been growing (brain size) in leaps and bounds...a few of the things she can do before her 10th month birthday...

• Walk...at least 6-8 steps without holding anything.
• Say 'Ba' when she goes looking for her ball.
• I taught her to say 'tat tat tat tat' when I ask her what does an OWL say...and she repeats it.
• Say "mam mam mam mam" when hungry
• Sleep through the night.
• Show where her head is when asked (08-14-08)
• Laugh at silly faces I make
• Play patty cake with me
• Follow me or either one of us to the bathroom.
• Play some home made games such as falling backwards on the bed when we say 'Boom.'
• Play 'Jhoom-Jhoom' on her rocker.
• Walk around the house talking as if she busy having a conversation with you.

Most of it are courtesy the patience of my MIL who repeated everything a 1000 times just to get her to do them...I don't think I would have the time or the patience to teach them to Sanj...a few of those are because she is bound to naturally do them at some point in life...and a very few of them are mine and mine only!

My college professor, Thirumeni, used to ask me if I started talking when I was 8 months old because I was so talkative...but hey my daughter really started to between her 9th and 10th month birthday...kudos to her!

Oh and one last thing...today is Indian Independence Day...Jai Hind...

We have this tradition called breakfast club at work...where one of us bring breakfast for the rest of us in the group once a week and take turns at it. It is really fun! This week it was my fellow-desi colleague's turn and she bought Sambar/Ildi/Green chutney symbolizing the Indian Tiranga. She also stuck the Indian flag in the kitchen and both of us have small Indian flags in our office space...it is so much fun. I also stood up for the national anthem card that this same girl had sent me.

With India winning its first individual gold in the Olympics and all that I am so much more prouder now!

Now that's what I call a long blog!

Go for it India!!

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ART