Sleeping with Mommy

I am almost ten months old and I lovvve sleeping with mommy. How could they even think that I will sleep alone in my crib where monsters have direct access to me? This way, they have to fight through snoring daddy and drooling mommy to get to me! And trust me, they seem to wake up pretty fast. All I have to do is stick my finger up daddy's nose or pull a lil strand of mommy hair and they stir. Surely, monsters will be much more tough on them! And that means that I will be much more safe.

Moreover in a crib, I spend atleast 30 minutes crying and then some time playing with that Dino who can only sing the alphabet song in every nap schedule. And in mommy-daddy's bed, I wake up to grumpy faces trying their absolute best to put me back to sleep. I cant help but smile and play at that. Well, who can blame me for that?

The best part is that this bed is much more softer and has no rails that makes it like a prison. And the pillows. Ohh, the pillows and cushion-y soft comforters. Wowie.

It was just yesterday that I kissed daddy awake. He kept telling mommy that I licked him awake at 5. But hey, that guy doesn't know everything. He still has facial hair which I know for a fact falls off as you grow up!

But there are cons to this whole adjustment - mommy just doesn't stay still. All I ask her for is to not move through the night. But does she listen? Ohh God, no. She keeps moving her hands and turning around and sometimes even breathes into my neck.  And then complains about me in the morning.Trust me, I am the troubled one here. Once I figure out rolling my tongue and saying those words aloud - they will know. I should infact add this to the list of a million things I have already jotted down to tell them then! They better watch out for that day!!!

Well - what more can I say? Even with the pokes that come my way, I love cuddling upto my folks and the feeling of being far-far away from under-the-bed-monsters. I will move one day to a bed of my own. But until then, probably a few years, I need a lot of kisses and hugs at night mommy-daddy. Love ya...

-Adi Kuttan

New Mommy In Town

Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a beautiful part of life. And now that I no longer have a big tummy obstructing my view of ground beneath my feet, I am sure to miss a few things about it(and there are other things I can always live without and do not want to make a note of!). Let me try and make a list. These days I live by lists and checklists and looks like this habit is here to stay.

• the joy that a simple snack brings to your life 
• long drives in search of samosas and pani puris
• making the best out of all-you-can-eat-buffets
• the smiles people throw at you
• the joy of jumping queues without a single glare
• special care in public transit systems(and ofcourse at home)
• hubby's cooking 
• frequent dine-outs
• laziness, at its best(or do I say worst? ;)

Labour & Delivery
But then life is not a bed of roses. It will take you ultimately to this beautiful looking section of the hospital.This section is aptly named. This is no picnic place however well they look after you. It's true labour which happens here, and working on the fields is better any day. There were moments when I thought it was the end, not of the delivery process but you know, 'The End', like when they put me on oxygen when my blood pressure went low. And boy, didn't I work hard!!! And that too having nothing but just pieces of ice for a little more than a day.

Mommyyy
Anyways, after pushing, crying, screaming, silenced, shouting at hubby, pleading looks at the nurse and praying like never before - all in 25 hours, I could hear a loud squeaking(which is called crying) and I became a full-fledged mom - to a sweet little handsome guy. I call it 'full fledged' because until then there was no diaper changing or consoling a crying baby. Just carrying around(take my word for it, its much easier that way however bad you puke!). Looking after him is no small thing and it took me a couple of days(and nights, oh yes, nights) to accept the fact that such a small one can cause sooo much work(and noise, I should say noise).
Days of trial and error methods followed, and despite all the advises you get, you will learn to accept the fact that advises rarely hold. You will find a method that works for you and your baby and that's what you stick to. And oh yes, let me not forget the fact that the same method might or might not work again. That was an element of surprise for me. But then, I am being surprised by our little miracle every now and then that surprise is no surprise anymore :)
Dirty diapers, sweet smiles, loud 'hawa ka jhonka', small hugs, pursed lips, loud cries, cute to watch stretches and sooo many other magical(and not so magical) moments. I now know that every single gesture which comes from your baby is special. And after overcoming the initial fear and pain, the mom in me is now wide awake even when I am deep asleep. Yes, look out world. New mommy is in town.

An American Vishu

Vishu is around the corner and am about to get into a panic driven state. I am one who truly believes that the better the Vishukani, the better the year ahead. And this year, I have no clue about what is in store for me! And the fact that we are in the States does not help either.

I decided to start with a picture/statue of Lord Krishna. And on a rainy(and cold) Sunday evening dragged hubby darling through a bath and set off to ISKCON. It was nothing like what I had imagined(do you remember those rows and rows of shops in ISKCON Bangalore?) except for the kavi-clad 'sayips' and 'madammas'! I was really happy that we had a plan B in place and started off to Bridgewater temple. There, I could see a small store near the entrance and a super-duper-happy me rushed through the Darshan and dashed to the store(without even waiting for the Prasadam, which is otherwise a highlight!). But only to see a 'closed' board hung over it! I was kind of sure then that I will have to make do with the small pic I had carried with me. But hubby had a better plan. During our drive to Philly, he stopped at the temple again and this time we went straight to the store and it was indeed open, much to our delight.
And 'Krishna - Check' says our list :)

The next on the list was even more tricky - yellow flowers. After trying out a couple of stores, and after making 'completely' sure that hubby doesn't plan to stop the car by an interstate where I saw some yellow shrubs looking very much like 'kani-konna', I decided to invest in a disaster recovery plan immediately. Read, an artificial yellow bunch. After that came the real search for yellow flower bonquets. Afterall, nothing can beat the fragrance of fresh flowers, and nothing can beat determination too(talk about oil prices and we may have to rethink about this statement!). We found a dozen yellow roses :)
Flowers-Check

Incense stick(Agarbathi) time! This one wasn't all that difficult. Though selecting between cinnamon/vanilla/chocolate/strawberry flavored incense sticks was a new experience. Should say that I enjoyed it though :) Check.

And now for yellow fruits and veggies. A trip to Indian grocery store covered the whole part, and I even bought a couple of apples and a box of strawberries to liven up the occasion. The sad part was that while in the checkout line, I saw this big piece of jackfruit with this old uncle who was directly in front of me. I couldnt stop myself from asking where he found it. As I rushed to the stand he pointed, got to know that they had run out of it. A sulking me came back to the line and stole another look at the jackfruit this uncle had, wondering how close I had been to having a jackfruit for my kani. What I do not understand is why he immediately took it out of the basket and carried it like I might steal it and run away, or could I have???
Anyways-check.

And then it was time to arrange my precious finds, hoping that the fire alarm will not go off at 3 in the morning for all the incense sticks and the lamp. And lo, we got ready to open our eyes to a new year... One of happiness, prosperity and togetherness...

Wish you all a very happy Vishu...

From the campus... SMS

We were a part of the crazy SMS maniac campus generation. Thanks to service providers like Airtel and Aircel, ours was controlled frenzy. The maximum number of free SMSes per day was limited to 100 for student pack. And for those who think that 100 is a good figure, trust me, it wasn't.  To survive a long day of boring lectures and that too with the numerous gossips floating around, it was actually too less. I remember the day when I woke up to my best friend/roomie promising me my ever fav Diary Milk. I realized that something was up since she is not this sweet, usually. And the reason became quite obvious in a few minutes - my free SMSes for the day were done for, and the day had not even begun! Moreover she didn't look like she had lost her sleep!! Those are the figures we are talking about. Hope you get a picture now.

SMSes helped classmates let the late comers know what was in store for them, or if the lectures had been shuffled (so that you can plan and avoid a particular subject for which you already have enough attendance). For cross-department friends, it was absolutely necessary to synchronize their bunking. And while in auditorium, who doesn't like a well coordinated booing? And most of all, it made one feel like a hero(ine) for mobiles were banned in the campus. There was a friend of mine who had made a storage closet for a mobile on her notebook. She had carefully cut a neat dwelling fitting her phone in one notbook, and one befitting the charger in another. Such were the ingenious methods devised to smuggle the phone in and out of the college hostel and to charge them inside empty classrooms.

Not to mention the numerous funny, crazy, and chalu forwards, silent sorries, fights and as my friends recently reminded me, pranks! One of us once received a forwarded message. What made it special was that it was sent by a spirit(or so it claimed!). All we had to do was to give a missed call to a number at night, and the ghost will call you back at midnight. And well, the courageous ones gave miss calls, and midnight swept by without anything happening. But the phone did ring, early in the morning. As we picked the call all so scared, there was a guy at the other end of the phone shouting and screaming. He was indeed blood-thirsty, caused by the fact that he received numerous miss calls during the night spoiling his sleep!

And oh, this will not be complete without saying about messages gone astray. How would you feel if a gossip about you landed rght on your inbox? Well, definitely not an intended gesture, but a small 'spelling' mistake :) The consequences depend on how well you manage it at the moment, and of course, on your luck. I really really do not want to explain more.

There are probably numerous more incidents to quote, but the point is made. Campus was where we enjoyed everything to its most. And simple as it may seem, SMSes contributed big time to it. Love you, my dear friends... such a time will not come by again, but the memories are ours, forever...

My relationship with ghosts

As the girl walked towards the tree on a no moon day, there was suddenly an eerie silence, and the screech of an owl from a distance disturbed the silence. But she continued walking, and then suddenly, there was a figure right in front of her... it was a little girl, and her face was distorted and she walked  towards her....


It was at this point of the movie that I heard a knock on my door and boy, wasn't I scared to the core? As I walked to the door taking teeny-weeny steps and checked, I found to my immense relief that it was my neighbor who had dropped in to ask for a cup of milk!  But nevertheless, this incident made me think about the hate-hate relationship I share with ghosts.

I know that there exists this class of 'abnormal'(what else?) people who love to watch horror movies, and later (can you believe it) do not flip or flinch about it... and then the other class who actually watch these hiding behind their chairs. Cowards, really! Why take the pains of watching it and scaring oneself to death? I have never understood the psychology behind that behavior. And then comes the third section, the one I am proud to belong to, who changes the channel as soon as they see its a horror flick. But wouldn't mind watching ever favs (read, Manichithrathazhu) or a few minutes of some gross horror movie(though we later regret it and walk around as if ghosts are all jobless and in search for you!).

But then horror doesn't really start or end with movies. I remember that as a child, I had listened to numerous stories of ghosts haunting paddy fields at night. It might have been a clever parent who floated those stories around as we kids, never strayed alone after dark listening to those (which now seem like) crappy stories. But ghosts had made a permanent scar on me right then. I have never been scared of the lack of light, but the notion that there are unworldly creatures lurking in the dark waiting to pounce on you, has always always always scared me. And with me grew the fear which gradually gave way to hatred. I hate ghosts (well, who would want to love them, eh? )

This reminds of an incident from my college life. Onam was around the corner and to make sure that I get good seats in a bus bound home, I woke up before dawn and walked down to the bathroom area. It was while I was brushing that I heard a sound behind me. I strained myself and tried to listen. A panic-struck me could not bear to turn back and see what's happening and hence opted to look in the mirror right in front of me. The mirror gave a good view of the corridor and I couldn't spot anyone/anything. And then suddenly, from nowhere, I saw a figure on it, with a long robe draped around it and hair all around where the face should have been. There was no mistaking that it was staring at me, I could feel it, I could sense it. But I couldn't make a noise, it was as if I could no longer talk or make a noise. As it walked towards me, I turned around with all the energy I had and managed to throw everything I could find then at it and ran. At the door I met my roommate, and she saw me on the verge of tears, but I wouldn't explain anything, she said later, I just ran! As she put her head in, and checked to see what happened, she was blasted, in full-fledged Tamil, by some bewildered girl in all so drenched night clothes! I had thrown mugs of cold water onto some girl who decided to use the bathroom when she woke up in the middle of her sleep. My best friend did her best to explain to the girl that I was scared and mistook her for a ghost. But that kind of alleviated her feelings (I wonder why ;). And once I had calmed down enough and they managed to pull me out from under the blanket, it was not just the wet girl that I had to face but also my best friend who by then was agitated by all the Tamil bad words showered upon her so early in the morning!!!

And now, my husband has resorted to hiding in the house and scaring me every now and then so that I get around this fear of mine. But a couple of days back, when he did this at a time I least expected, I threw the spoon at him. I had a knife with me on the other hand but thankfully, I did not throw it! And now, he has withdrawn from his attempts too. Oh, dear life!

Scary houses, Halloween stories, and all horror movies freak me out. I make out strange patterns lurking behind the shower liners. And the strange coincidences drive me crazy. Anytime, I talk about ghosts, I feel its eyes on me. And oh God, there is a knock on the door, and am not expecting anyone at this time of the day!

I, Me, Myself...

I have been in another country for 15 days now. And it has been a totally different thing for me. Before coming here, I thought I might not be able to take it at all. Not being in another country, but the fact that I will not feel the adrenaline rush that the working-lady in me used to experience . But surprisingly it hasn’t been all that bad. I realized much to my surprise that am not a bad cook after all. In fact, I can even make it taste good. I can read books and watch movies whole day, and even bug my husband to take me out for long walks in the evenings. But something was still missing. No, and am not talking about sprint and scrum – something more than that which I was not able to recognize.

And when this chore of going to post office came up, I wanted to back out, just like how I would have in Bangalore. Just that it was for a different reason this time - I was scared. And even more so to accept it. The new surroundings and way of life had got me. And I was desperate, to break open, to break free…

As I got ready, I dropped the plan many a times.  I was not sure of the bus routes, and everyone who knows me well that road sense is something God totally forgot about when he made me. The thought of my hubby who did not let his fear show upon his face and trusted in me when I volunteered for this drove me this time. I was determined to make it. And I stepped out of the house, alone, for the first time since I came here.

As I walked to the bus stop, and got into wrong bus not just once but twice, my confidence level was more like our economy – shooting right down. But thank goodness, I had a friend on the other side of the phone who tried to help me out of it with google maps. My confidence boosted again. And at last, I boarded the bus, paid the amount right and even picked out the right pamphlet with the bus route and timings. As you can guess, I was already feeling better.

I got off at the wrong bus stop(which I ofcourse didn’t know then)  and walked nearly 2 miles and found no post office (‘no surprises there’, I can hear you say!). Thankfully my map-reader was still over the phone and I realized that I will probably get back home walking the way I did then, but definitely not the post office. This time, I was not scared. I just had to make up my mind and make use of the good one hour I had before taking the bus back home. Talking about maps, work and life with her, I walked all the way back to where I got down and sat down for a coffee at McD.

There was a ‘Walmart’ nearby and I decided to spend my time there. And after my exploration where I actually found some stuff we needed for our home, I set off.  I was right on time for the bus and made absolutely no mistakes and got down at the right point. The elated me made calls to my hubby and my friend to announce that I had got back safe. I am not really sure if they heard the pride in my voice, but I definitely heard the sigh of relief in their voices J.

This was most definitely not a Herculian task. I had gone in search of a post office, and had not found it in spite of walking a few miles in the hot sun. But I still feel triumphant. I feel  good, I am no longer scared. I have taken the first step and am sure that I can make my way. I have found me – I, me, myself…

From Bengaluru, To Amrikaa

Chapter 1 – Bengaluru International Airport Limited

All set to check in. Luggages intact. Those which are not intact have been opened and reshuffled right in front all the astonished onlookers in front of the check-in counter. Immigration counter in sight and we soon reached the front of the queue. ‘We’ here refers to me and SreePriya – both participants of ‘onsite-offshore’ programme. The guy at the counter looks up and asks what he feels is a very obvious question, ‘can you please show me the invitation?’. It’s obviously non-obvious to me and I chose to respond politely, ‘may I know what you need MY wedding invitation for?’. He probably thought in his mind ‘here comes another lousy passenger’, and said ‘not yours, your husband’s’.  This time, the frustration clearly showed up on my face and he proceeded to explain,  ‘did your husband send you an invitation asking you to join him in US?’. I chose not to respond when he asked the same question to Sree. The look on her face was much better than mine for it spoke a thousand words and he immediately shut his mouth up. 

We soon passed all the hurdles, and were all set for boarding.

Chapter 2 – The flight

We boarded into the Air France flight set to Paris, and chose not to look at the good looking flight attendant.  It’s very true that we made that choice ourselves, and this was not a reaction to the fact that he not even threw as much as a glance at us. Guys can be really stupid at times.

After 2 failed attempts to upgrade ourselves to the Premium class, we soon settled into our respective seats, and fell asleep discussing about the CSAT(Customer satisfaction) points for this particular flight. It ought to be in the negatives. And before long, the Captain made a very smooth landing in Paris. 

Chapter 3 – Paris

After frantically searching for Eiffel tower during the landing and having seen only a couple of mobile towers, we realized how beautiful Europe was. Every single field, every vehicle and all trees reminding us of DDLJ and SRK J. We were looking forward to see Charles De Gaulle Airport. As good Samaritans, we waited patiently for the bus to arrive, did not scamper for seats and Sree even made the silver lining by giving away her seat to an elderly person. But the next few hours at CDG did not live up to our expectations. The picture-hungry beasts in us died of starvation! I had to console myself clicking a pic of that of Sree lying down in a make-shift bed of 2 chairs(yes, she fits in!). Soon, I went in search of 3-4 beds lined up(and yes, I don’t fit into 2). After a short nap, we fought a war of Dollars and Euros, and we finally found coffee. It was over coffee and croissants at CDG that this particular master-piece took birth.

Chapter 4 – The flight, yet again

The next flight from Paris to Newark definitely scored better CSATs(Air France, again). I slipped into sleep and pusued my dreams(literally), and Sree browsed though the movies available before falling asleep. By the time, we woke up and got all set, the crew announced landing. Probably the flight was indeed long, but having good company always helps.

Chapter 5 – United States of America

We moved into the immigration counter. One look at us and we were both placed into this huge room which was most definitely not the place to be, as far as we knew. There a girl sobbing and this set off another animated conversation between us – whether we will be bound on a passenger flight back home or will that be by cargo! 

Not sure which of these helped – our innocent looks/never ending conversation now in whispers/complete info about our lineage on their screens – but they soon let us out. We sighed out of relief. But alas no, not so soon. The customs officer decided to check our luggage in the next counter. Hooooray(n uff) we came out clean!

At this point, we had this huge grin pasted onto our faces as we collected our baggage and this further widened on the sight of our wonderful husbands standing at the Arrivals gate. As we ran to them, it was love and hugs and stories and smiles everywhere. To hell with jet lag, there is so much to say…

Badminton couple

Yes, we have taken the decision at last. After months of hogging and more hogging, and of course - more hogging, we have decided to start with our exercise regime after what we call a quite short 'wedding break'. After deciding upon our over spaced terrace to serve as the badminton court, we went shopping. As you may very well guess, we are now proud owners of brand-new light weight badminton rackets. Only sad thing that he had to encounter was that we could find only pink shuttle corks(to his utter dismay!).
And we started off today with a half an hour game. Needless to say, my hands started aching and I felt a cramp in its coming-soon mode, and immediately stopped playing (not that I was lazy, I just dint want to over do it, you see...). The reluctant hubby was convinced for the same only by Mr. Maruthi (a.k.a. wind :). Guys!
And now, a strict pattern is in its blue-print. We have decided to wake up early every morning and spend some time playing. I am a little scared because I know that if we do stray off the idea, it's mostly going to be because of me - an avid morning sleep lover. And to think that I used to wake up at 5 and go for 2 hours badminton session with friends while in school!! Gosh, that thought is depressing!!!
Anyways, the alarm is set and the game is on. Let's see if we make it. Three cheers for us.

The fun of being "committed" :)

To all the workaholics around, I am NOT talking about being committed to work.. I meant "Committed" as in engaged to be married. The fun and joy of being committed is beyond words and cannot be jotted down in a few points - but then, I thought of penning down a few things I love the most (not necessarily in any order):

* Being fussed over - for the silliest of things!
* The fun of rushing to movies together - both planned and all so unplanned
* Those loong bike rides. Oh, how we love them!
* Shopping and swiping (his card!!! ;)
* Dine-outs : be it at Chettans Appakada, or at new places we experiment (some of them soo very drastic that we don't even think of eating out for next few days, and a few others enter our fav list)
* Corner house Ice creams (even without chocolate sauce!)
* Calls whole day - by which I do not mean calls which last for a whole day. Rather, calls throughout the day
* The wonderful feeling of having someone to listen to any crap you say (while he repeatedly says that he hates the word crap!)

Well, that's my list and now before you think that love is all about just happiness - let me clarify. There are flip sides of these coins too. (Exceptions: The movie and bike-ride coins have heads printed on both sides, and the shopping coin actually has heads minted all over it - but again that will be flip side #1 if he decides to print his list :) But then, forgive and forget is the rule of the game. Forget the fights, the words of anger, credit card and telephone bills and live the moment. That's the game called love, or is it called life???

@amazon.com

Joined Amazon, and now trying to go to bed by 11 and wake up by 7 - both tasks seem to be Herculian. The environment here is very different. People are so very involved in what they do - I think most of them are really passionate about what they do and this makes it very different from what I have seen around me in the service industry. Well, I do not how I will fare here, hoping for the best.

And as about this blog, I found a widget from Amazon Associates programme which we can integrate with our blogs to download and play songs from Amazon, and as you can very well guess I have done that to my blog with a rapid selection among a few Bryan Adam MP3s. Do check it out!
Meanwhile, All the Best to myself :-)

A decision made is a decision made!!!

I have(had ?) been thinking that am too good at decision making and recently discovered to my utter dismay that am not! I had 42 days of utter chaos in my life playing "aar ya paar" - not knowing whether I should move along this comfort/safe zone at IBM or move to 'amazon.com' which everyone around me says is great and I have no idea about. However, I have cleared 7 rounds of interviews there, and I have made my decision(after troubling myself and others, ofcourse) - am not looking back. There a lot of things about IBM that I will definitely miss, including walking up to the floor at 12:00 pm remarking that am quite early today, fights for cakes and chocolates, and fights for misc reasons. But more than these stuff and flexibility, its people whom am definitely gonna miss.
Rohan - ever-ready to help - be it keeping my MBA books safely locked in his cupboard or saving sweets for me on the days am late - he is the one I look up to for almost everything here
Sandeep ettan, who fights with me more than talking with me - but changes very serious and very attentive once he senses tension or fear in me
Raj - with his silliest of comments and fear - one of the very few whom I get to counsel (usually, am on the patients chair!)
Sree - The one who had only smiled at me earlier but became quite close when she was across the oceans, the one with whom I lovve to pose for photographs and shrieks "kollum njan athine.. " ;)
Prasanna - The "Damager" who can embarrass anybody with his comments and ofcourse, "The Paa Effect" is patented under his name.
Siba - the food-lover who will believe any cock-and-bull story if you say it with a straight face (me n Prasanna once even told him that Prasanna is gonna get married to Trisha and this fellow believed it ;)
Gayathri - the person with a Scooty, currently on diet, and whom I can never forgive for digging onto the center of my choco-lava cake and scooping out all the chocolate in one go! And yeah, I think she tops the list in the number of lifts anyone has ever given me
Abhishek - who is now pooling info from 'Manoja' about her guy, too very good at taking treats and my competitor in number of hours spent on phone
Siva - whom I can never thank enough for the wonderful collage he sent me for my birthday last year, and whose excitement in sharing Krishna songs and movies always inspire me
Ilay - who for some reason hides his mouth while speaking. You know, the typical "shy-type" :-)
Soumil chettan - who goes thinner day-by-day
Neeraj - The ever-so-demanding fellow. If only Microsoft knew how much he made other people use their products, they would have made him Marketing Division head for sure
Pradeep - who doesnt forget to wish anyone on all occasions and the official secretary for CTP
Karpagam - Our "chechi" whose fish fries are sooo very yummy
Radha - with her kiddish looks and serious talks
Suresh - who fell down from the bike on hearing a dog barking elsewhere
Apurba - Bengali sweeeeeetssssss

And this list is still not complete. There are still so many people left!!!

God, aint I gonna miss everyone? Thanks all, for making my stay here worthwhile and happy and am sure gonna miss you guys. Do miss me and my "ee" smile in all the photograps you take from today...

To my mother, who I know has read it even before I wrote it...

I can feel you all around me,
My mother, Who rocked me to sleep
And this makes this life more worthy
This feeling, this presence...

There were times, of tears and smiles
Of pain and love,
When I could touch you,
And whisper to you...

And one day, all of a sudden
As you faded behind the curtain
I could only look by
Not knowing where you went to

And today, my eyes get moist
And my heart even more,
When I think of you
And all these years without you

It would have been different
With you smiling at me,
But more than the difference
It's the smile that I miss...

I love you, my mother
And all the memories we hold
I love you, my mother
For hugging this crying child;

I can feel you all around me,
My mother, Who rocked me to sleep
And this makes this life more worthy,
This feeling, this presence...

2010

It's 2010, and I just realized there haven't been any posts from me this year. Ohmy! Not that I cant get sleep without blogging, but 2010 has been really good to me - year of miracles, probably, I dont know, and I think I should keep that verdict to some post later in December ;)

The year started on a good note on the personal front (yes, am ringed and my grandma is much better now), the professional front (with new business coming in), and on educational front(I haven't had any exams until now, and missed the only one which came up ;) And still, I haven't made a post! Cant believe how lazy I am, so very lazy that I did not even wish you all a happy new year.. Ohoh.. So here I go, Happy new year :)

Oodles of fun @ IBM - Part 2

We had a cubicle decoration competition at office yesterday, and that was great too. It was at 11'o clock that we decided to participate and by 11:30, we decided upon the theme - Indian festivals - one festival each in 4 corners. And now came the challenging question: which festivals and how to portray? Prasanna came up with a notepad, and we all sat together and an animated discussion followed. Christmas, for sure was opted since the spirit of X'mas was all around us. And we the Mallus just could not do without Onam. Pongal - said a few and Ramzan - shouted someone. But none of us actually knew what people do for Ramzan except for the biriyani part of it, so we settled upon Diwali. So XMas, Onam, Pongal and Diwali were finalized. And off we went to get stuff. The rest is best explained with pictures.

Pongal-o-Pongal: Note the papercup sugarcanes, cow and the pot with foaming milk



Pookalam depicting Onam



Paper boats (thithithara thithithay music in background)and Mahabali enjoying the show



Diwali - couldn't take a snap with the sweets, You see, people here all have a sweet tooth!!!



Christmas in the air



Santa and his sleigh



And guess the outcome. We won third prize - few packs of temptations and Kitkat family pack - for the CTP family :)

Oodles of fun @ IBM

Just rushed back to a meeting with the client after a fun@work programme for this year, and as he is talking about an application I need not be bothered about, I thought of penning down the evening events. Needless to say, fun@work was indeed fun. Today's events were 'Voice of IBM - a singing competition', 'Dance your way', Quiz and a DJ.

After Aarthi's song(zara zara behekta hein), which was well sung, I dont think we heard any bearable music until Sree went on stage. There was this lady singing to her own 'thaala' and 'raaga' while the karaoke was going elsewhere with the crowd clapping madly, not encouraging but praying to God for Mercy and for asking him to ask her to stop! And there was this guy who was dancing in his own African manner(kaatala-bhaavam). And sorry, there were other songs in between about which I have no comments - Absolutely. Sree was the 7th on stage, and started off on a wrong pitch, but intelligently and cleverly brought it back to track. Even without the karaoke, it was well presented, and well accepted by the audience. And after this song came a dance by a lady who was soon joined by Akshay Kumar of our team, Rohit ;) He was in full josh as he swung around her and then to a side, and was really surprised to see her leave moments later. Boy, the look of surprise on his face is just beyond words - like, 'how can a girl ever stop dancing with me?' ;)

There were other performances by both IBMers and a few kiddies after which there was the finals of the Quiz competition. The quiz kind of proved that most software engineers never read newspapers(some are worse than me, if people who who really know me can believe it!). And hey, I got a pack of Kitkat goodies for answering a question correctly in 'IBM' round - what are the values which IBM stands for? (For the sake of IBMers who do not know the answer, and others who are interested in knowing about it, the answer is Dedication to every client's success, Innovation that matters-for us and the world, and, Trust and Personal responsibility in all relationships). But then, the whole fun part in the quiz were the answers from the crowd, which were just, well, plain stupid nonsensical stuff :)

After this came the prize giving ceremony where we found out that Aarthi came second and Sree was first. And the person who was the most astonished about the first prize was Sree herself who was until then asking everyone how badly did she perform. But then, she was indeed glad and even more so on seeing the big box of Ferrero Rocher that came to her as a gift (secretly, I was probably happier about it ;) After that came the DJ, where everyone slowly got into the dance-mode and got onto the floor. I was more of a silent smiling onlooker with my sore back restraining me from going anywhere near the stage. But then, how many times in life do you get to sit in a chair right in the center of people dancing and at that again, with a box of chocolates in hand? I guess that explains what I did during that part of the evening. But then watching Rohan doing the cheerleaders dance would have cheered anyone up!

And as we slowly walked back to the work floor, taking snaps along the way, we all had a smile playing on our lips, and that makes up for the few hours of work we missed(which we will most definitely have to put in later, read, now)!!!

A diary milk, and its impact :)

Can you imagine how much of a sunshine a diary milk can bring to one's life? Here I am, confined to bed for a week, and when my best friend came to meet me now, he got me a big diary milk! Boy, I was real happy. I knew that even he had a tiring day at office, but when people show that they care, it really makes one happy, especially if you are sick and tired of being sick!!!

And that makes me think of the brighter part of bed rest:

1) You have loads of time to yourself - which means you can sleep when you like and getup when you like.
2) You can catch up with movies and books, and re-read or watch all-time favorites (To name a few, I watched High School Musical Series,Hangover,Unnai Pol Oruvan,Mein aur Mrs Khanna,Malabar Wedding,Taken... and finished reading '2 states'-a new novel by Chetan Bhagat and False Impression by Jeff Archer)
3) You can see sunset (I dont want to mention sunrise here, coz I prefer to sleep, and be happy with sunset, thank you!)
4) And now, lemme face it, you get to know whether you really like your job or not: The last time I was confined to bed with a broken bone, I was happy being at home, and this time, I wanted to go back to work and see a lot of black unix screens around me!
5) You dont have to cook, and better still, not wash the heavier and messier vessels at home.
6) No college.. Hooray to this one! (Though I will have to attend makeup classes later, I need not bother about college right now)
7) You can write blogs like these where you need to think of every single positive thing out of something entirely negative :)

Oops.. wonders that a diary milk and a loving smile can do to one. Ain't I happy?

Exercise maadi!!!

I am a certified software engineer too.. not because I finished some very complex certification exams which doesn't have dumps(Sigh!) but because I am currently asked to take bed rest owing to a bad back ache. And I thought its very much my responsibility to write about the 'syndrome' I have now since I know for sure that many of my techy friends do take their time to read this blog :)

Well.. first of all, as we all very well know, sitting in the same posture for long is bad, and doing that regularly with no exercise is even worse. We have all been thinking of exercising daily(I know, I have been thinking too like, say, for 2 years now :), but never do since we are not able to take off for 30 mins(so we say, but the real reason is, stand up to it, we are just plain lazy!). But then, from my experience over the last week, lemme tell you, its better to do 30 mins of exercise everyday rather than to be confined to bed for 1 whole week. Take my word for it, its boring, to the core!

And coming back to the problem faced, its called 'Disk Prolapse'(mine is a minor one though). It mainly happens for youngsters today because of the above mentioned reason(no flexibility for our body, incase you have already forgotten).

So dear friends, don't think that am being a Guru, but do flex your muscles, and take good care of yourselves - because ultimately, that's one thing that really does matter!!!

Awesome weather @ Bengaluru

Its 9:00 pm at Bangalore, and its awesome weather here, and I just thought I will describe how it is and how it impacts me (well, this post definitely is the impact of this weather)...

First and foremost,for us, the techies who are very much responsible for the addition of a word to Oxford dictionary(Bangalored), who do not see much of daylight, do not see any at all nowadays since the sun shines barely, or so it seems. Its great to sleep late mornings with a quilt over head, and then wrap the Reebok/Nike jacket(I rarely see software ppl without this accessory and hence its mention here) close against the body for warmth, on our way back home in the cab, which is nearly always, midnight!

And on holidays like this which makes us all mutter a biiiiig thanks to Gandhiji, its great to stay inside, and fry fish, and eat it, when its raining outside. I know that we should be into non-violence atleast today(being Gandhi Jayanthi), but since the fish were already dead when we got it, I guess that's ok :) And in the evenings when the sky is cleared, get dressed in some warm clothes and go for a ride. The cold air can rejuvenate the body. But if you stay out in the cold weather for long, instead of your nose turning pink, it will turn, hmmm, moist ;) So stop at the nearest comfy coffee shop, and again wrap your pashmina shawls against yourself and take a piping hot cup of coffee. This when done with loved ones gives rejuvenation# 2.

And in the late-evening(late-evening, not night), get back home and take a refreshing hot water bath. After that, get all curled up in the sofa with dinner and watch a movie(am not sure whether it rains/drizzles outside at this point of time, but believe me, it IS cold). And well, what else, just drift off to sleep!

Friendship Day

Today is friendship day, the day we used to look forward to, as college students, and celebrate.. the day I used to let my friends know that I totally adore them for what they are(and what thay are not).. This was the day for which we were all prepared with gifts and cards for each other, when we tied friendship bands(which I have saved even now) and fought over ice-cream parties(not real fights, mind you, it was almost always 1 ice-cream and umpteen people ;)

It meant trips to CCD/Barista with friends with cash long-saved for the very purpose,cake cutting at class and a lot more untold stuff. It was all about the colors of life... about how being with friends can change the black and white frame of our life to rainbow colors. Wow, man, those days were lovely(and lively).

And today did not go bad either, I did go out with my friends for a newly released movie, Love Aaj Kal, which was good, and another round of shopping. Only thing that was missing was that I had failed to realize its friendship day. Never thought THIS will happen to me. Things that a professional life can do to you!!! Too much, na? Just hoping that this will never ever happen again. My friends are all special to me, and I would definitely want to let them know of that fact. So let me make a note to my friends, "Love you guys, for all those wonderful times we had, let it be at school, college,or office(and the times we bunked all of these:), and for being there for me, trusting me and above all, being friends. Happy friendship Day!!!"

Happy Birthday to Me :) :)

I have always lovvvved my birthdays, right from my childhood days when I used to be all set for it with my new "color dress" which I can wear to school that day. And I love it even now, and that great day happens to be, mmmm, TODAY!!! I just turned 23. Wow!!!

I got calls from my dear ones both near and far right from the moment clock struck 12 (and even before that, as a matter of fact). And after that we cut cake (It was yummy, will post a pic here). There were 6 of us here(me, Su, Simi, Lisha, Treasa n Amulya), and while me n Simi indulged in the art and fun of cake splashing, smashing, throwing etc etc at each other, others intelligently stayed out of it and indulged in a more benefiting job of finishing the cake off. After that came the gifts part and I got my long dreamed Reebok Jacket and a salwar as gifts. Well, and after that I went off to sleep, and had a good sleep with occasional phone calls in between.



Now in the morning, there is a beautiful collage from Siva in my Inbox, and am setting off to office with a box of Diary Milk. Looking forward for a great day...