India Here I Come.........................................

 

 

Three great weeks ahead...

Hope time passes slowly for me...

...

It was one of the busiest days at work for me today. I started work early intending to finish early but it worked the other way around. I skipped lunch, ended up working late.It was a bit annoying how people expect me to finish everything before  I leave. What is the point of having an hour long handover meeting if the person taking handover from me is expecting not to receive anything in handover?

Anyways, it did not sress me too much as I have my India trip to look forward to. Isn’t that amazing how nothing else matters when you are looking forward to something with expectations?

 I am flying out early morning tomorrow. I will be in India until 19 th of Februay. Eating, Shopping, catching up with relatives and friends is on the agenda. Hence, I am not sure if I can take some time to write here. I shall ctach up with your posts once I am back from my trip and begin to feel homesick. 

Take Care. 

Always Happy

Little by Little One Walks Far.....

Image courtesy: Deviantart

I visited my hairdresser today. I was a bit early for my appointment. While I was in the waiting room, it just crossed my mind that I have been visiting this place for nearly three years now. I vividly remember the very first time I visited this place. It was a Sunday afternoon and I suddenly out of no where decided to get a hair cut. I went around looking for any salon that was open and willing to offer me an appointment. That is how I landed in this salon. The Salon did not look great. I was not impressed with the look of the place at all but considering it was the only salon that was open on that Sunday afternoon and who readily offered to give me a haircut, I decide to go for it. The salon had been running only for three months then and did not look posh at all. But the owner and the hairdresser totally won me over. She was soft spoken, appeared very passionate about her work and very professional. She made me feel very welcome and I was more than satisfied with her work. Since then, I have been with this place and have not been disappointed once.

It is amazing to see how this place has grown so much over the years. Today it compares with few other big salons in my town and is flourishing. The salon now looks posh and  has four hairdressers. The entire team is very customer focused and willing to help. 

It is the lady's hard work, patience and perseverance that has got her to where she is today. She exhibits wonderful example of how Little by Little one walks far. As I was walking out after my appointment, I commended the lady for her success and she smiled humbly and pointed towards a poster by her billing desk that read - ''Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream, can I be''

Fultu Bakwaas - Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar

Once a bunch of frogs decided to hold a competition. The goal was to reach the top of a high tower in the centre of town. As the frogs engaged in the competition, a large crowd gathered to watch the race. But no one in the crowd actually believed that the frogs could make it to the top of the tower. As the race began, the crowd began to ridicule the frogs and started shouting things like – ''oh way too difficult, you wont make it, not for you, the tower is too high, give up so on and so forth. The frogs began to fall off, one by one except those who were focused in the race. The crowd continued to ridicule the failed frogs by saying, ''see, we told you, you couldn’t do it''. Listening to this, few other frogs gave up. 

One by one, the frogs began to feel tired and quit except for one tiny frog who continued higher and higher and higher. Eventually, this frog made it to the top of the tower. After the race, all the other frogs gathered around this frog as they wanted to know how he had managed to reach to the top while none of them could. The frog was innundated with questions from all directions and it turned out that the frog was deaf!

I am sure you may have heard or read this story before. Although this story is often narrated as a joke, I think it makes a lot of sense. Towards the path of success we often encounter negativity and lose focus. In such situations, I think one must turn a deaf  ear to negativity and stay focused in one's goal. What say?

Fly on.....Fly on.....I Am With You.......

.....I burst with pride at seeing you go

but I hide from you my loneliness and 

secretly scream 'please don't go'

Fly on my sweet, fly on

I will be here when you come home

I will hide my pain just for you,

For you to make it through

What you have to do

                              - L.M.Owens

... 

When my brother and I were growing up, we often heard our parents say how their lives revolved around us. I did not give much thought to that until that particular day five years ago when I left my home to settle in England.

It was a bright September morning.  Around 8am, the taxi arrived to take me to the airport. There was a buzz in the street, the usual morning buzz – people going to work, children going to school, the 'sabziwaala' with his trolley of vegetables, joggers returning from the park. It was just like any other morning. But the only difference was that, on that particular day, I was leaving home to go to a place thousands of miles away; from where I could only speak to my parents over telephone; from where I could not  return back at the end of  the day. I was leaving home to start a new life.

As the driver was loading my luggage in the taxi, reality struck me – The time had come for parting. I was teary. My parents’ eyes were misty. Bhaiyya was helping the driver load my luggage in the taxi. Few years ago, on a day like this, he had left home to pursue his career. It was my turn today. I sought my Parents’ blessings and gave them a tight hug and stepped into the taxi. I had requested that they do not come to the airport to see me off.

As the taxi reached the far end of the road from my home, I turned back to look at my parents. They were still standing outside the gate waving at me. To me they seemed a bit lonely (though they had each others’company). Perhaps they were sad that their nest had become empty. 

Indeed, for years my parents' lives had been revolving around their children's. They were always teaching me and Bhaiyya to be independent. The early lessons were in polishing our shoes, tying our shoe laces, packing our school bags, lunches. This was followed by learning to ride a bicycle, running minor errands for the house, helping Amma in the household chores. Further, their lessons enabled us to make appropriate career choices and more importantly face the challenges of LIFE. Thinking of all this, I wanted to get off the taxi and come back to my Papa and Amma but I had to gather myself. I had to be practical and move on. I am sure Papa’s and Amma’s hearts ached too to see their baby girl leave but they had to let me fly and face the real world.

My parents’ lives still revolve around Bhaiyya’s and my life. As much excited as Bhaiyya and I  are when we experience new things, they are excited for us too. They are always looking forward to listening to the stories that me and Bhaiyya have to tell about our daily lives. They still do feel the emptiness in their nest but they know that their children will return to the nest every now and then.

It is that time of the year again when I fly back to my parents’ nest. I am going to India on Thursday to spend good three weeks with my parents. YAY!!!!!!!!

A Random Post

  
It feels weird to be sitting in the office and writing a blog post but hey, I have been working really hard over the last few days to get to the top of my workload. Now it feels nice and today I can afford to take some time off work to check personal emails, read and write blog posts.

Over the last few days, I had been waking up early to get to work early and I also used to stay a bit late in the office in the evenings to get on with my work load. What I have realised is that the best way to start my day is to wake up early rather than letting the alarm snooze. How I start my day sets the tone for rest of my day.  Start off with some energy and optimism, then I am steered in that direction. Start off with a bit of lazing around, then the entire day appears to be dragging. Going forward that is the plan for the weekdays - To wake up early with a bit of spring to colour the rest of the day accordingly.

Ok, back to work now….will be back soon…………….

Say CheeeeeeeeSeeeeeeeeeee.........

''You get what you give.The more you give the more you get'' - Buddha

Here you go: I give you my biggest SMILE (eeeeeeeeeeee....) and warm greetings for this beautiful day.  Now its your turn. Give me your biggest, happiest and choicest smiles ever.

Keep Smiling because:

If there is something that is bothering you just like me, then let us SMILE together, for every smile is the beginning of a new phase of happiness 

 If you are reading this post then 

Have a good day dosts.

Cheers
Always Happy

Beauty is skin deep

I have spent good two hours responding to comments on  facebook this evening. Reason – I have been tagged in a photo from my school days by one of my friends. Because  I don’t normally put my photos on facebook, all my facebook friends are having a good time pulling my leg by commenting at the photo.

My god! I looked very different then. In fact, I only learnt today that I was an ugly girl then but Amma always told me that I was a pretty girl and I liked to believe her. To reassure my self, I had a look at some of the pictures from my college days..and eeks..though I wouldn’t call myself ugly in those pictures, I can believe that I looked different to how I  look now. In few years time, perhaps I will look at my current pics and think the same. Isn't that funny, how we always look back at our old photographs and have a laugh?

Well , it doesn’t matter how the photo looks, true beauty is deep within and it means to have a honest heart, warm smile and a belief in yourself, right?

Ring a Ding....Ring a Ding.....

          I am unable to take your call at the moment

Please do not keep ringing continuously

Leave a message 

And I will NOT get back to you asap.........

... 

Bah..these mobile phones! I tell you, they always ring at the wrong time. You are driving and there it goes ring a ding..ring a ding…(a friend calling to check if you have left home yet); You are kneading ''aatta'' and there it goes ring a ding..ring a ding..(a friend calling to have a casual chat); you are in a meeting and have forgotten to put the phone on silence and to embarrass you there it goes ring a ding..ring a ding..( a friend calling to find out what’s the plan for the next weekend).When you are queuing at the checkout of the supermarket with a trolley full of stuff and juggling some more stuff in your hands, there it goes ring a ding…ring a ding..Yes, my friends always ring me at the wrong time!

It happened this evening too. As I joined the dreadfully long line at the checkout at the supermarket, my phone went off ring a ding..ring a ding...ring a ding..ring a ding...Arrgh...the modern slender compact phones....you can hear them ring but cannot find where in your purse are they hidden! I just could not locate the phone and the caller could just not stop ringing my number!! My friends! Don't you guys know what voicemail facility is for????? or may be you guys know me too well …tho kya hua if I don't return your calls promptly...please do not punish me by ringing me until I pick up the calls - Trust me guys, at times I am really unable to answer your calls!

So the phone kept ringing and my pursuit to find the phone continued and thus occurred  the HAPPY ACCIDENT of  things falling off my hand one by one and it culminated with  a PHICHHHHIKKKKKKKKKKKKKK - the pot of yogurt fell down and broke into two spilling all its contents on the ground. The ring a ding...ring a ding still continued while all the eyes were on me. I gave up looking for the phone and followed the mass in looking at the flowing yogurt.

As I reached the checkout till, I informed the lady there of what I had been up to while I was waiting in the line. She frowned and went to the  accident zone with a tissue roll to clear it up. The queue was stationary for the next few minutes until the lady joined back after clearing up. I apologised to the lady as well as thanked her profusely and finally left the supermarket. I loaded the items in the car and as I was driving back home, there it was, once again, ring a ding…ring a ding…ring a ding......ring a ding...........

 

Fultu Bakwaas - Office Office

After the TGIF  here it is  OGIM  (Oh God, It's Monday!).

Shall try to make it TGIM  today by committing to work with all my heart. To do that, let me first try and show up at the office on time!

Have a good day friends.

Till next time, Byeeee

Yeh kya haal bana rakha hai??

 

.....Kuch letey kyon nahi??

 ...

Nah..I am not down with cold/flu. Not sure what is the matter with me. For the past few days, I have been feeling a bit restless and a bit disinterested in everything. I haven’t been watching my favourite TV shows, I haven’t been interested in cooking, I haven't been face booking much, I haven't been calling up friends.

On the blog front, I have been publishing posts that I actually did not intend to publish. I would set out to write on a particular topic but I ended up writing and publishing something totally different.

 

All I see around me is my neighbours taking down their Christmas decorations and putting them away in their lofts. All I hear around me is my colleagues in the office discuss about their New Year resolutions. I find this funny because they had discussed this at the beginning of year 2010  as well. After all,  it is the same resolution every year – losing weight, eating healthy, going to gym, giving up smoking and alcohol and so on and so forth - only to forget about these resolutions almost as quickly as they are made. I could have spent some time talking about my resolutions too, only if I had made any. I did not make any resolutions because I don’t believe in changing myself on one particular day of the year. I’d rather be myself and enjoy my life.It is a different thing that I cannot keep such resolutions even if I had made some.

So what is the matter with me? For sure, it is got to be ''January Blues''. 

A Lesson Learnt

This evening as I was walking out of the office door, I bumped into Henry,  my colleague. Today was Henry's first day back in the office after the Christmas and New year break. I had not had a chance to speak to him all day. So I greeted him with a big smile and wished him Happy New Year. He reciprocated. So far so good, but the trouble started when I decided to continue speaking about the festive season. Earlier, I had heard others in the office ask one another whether they spent their Christmas with their family. I threw the same question at Henry:

Me: So, did you spend time with your parents on Christmas day?

  

Henry: Nah...I just stayed at home and relaxed.

Me: Why not? 

Henry: It is very difficult and a long distance to reach them. 

Me: You had so many days off work and yet you did not visit your parents!!!!!!

''That's where they live'', said Henry, pointing at the sky. If I had not already felt awful listening to this, Henry further added, '' I am an orphan''.

I was dumbfounded at that and equally embarrassed. I am still mad at myself for having asked Henry so many questions. Honestly, I thought I was striking a casual conversation. I had no idea I would end up upsetting Henry and in turn myself.

Having said that, I learnt a lesson this evening to not to probe so deep into another person's life. I resolve never to ask someone something just because everyone else asks each other.

Phir kab aaoge???

“What will be the next seven days like? Ramaaa.....Krishnaa …help me pull it off well’’ prayed Devi as she waited at the arrivals lounge of the Bengaluru International airport to receive her mausi ke nanand ki devraani ke behan ke devar ki Saali - Sona and her family who were flying from the United States of America. Devi and Sona have been in conversation with each other for the last 7 years and they have developed a very close telephonic relationship. They made plans to visit each other on two prior occasions but it did not materialise until now. 

Devi had not slept well the previous night, partly due to the excitement of seeing Sona and  partly because of the nervousness of entertaining her NRI guests. In fact, Devi had been having sleepless nights for  weeks worrying how Sona would view her small  middle class 2BHK apartment in BTM Layout. Devi had made plans for each day of Sona’s visit - be it visiting relatives or shopping at Bangalore Central or a dinner at Leela Palace. She was going to show the best of Bangalore to Sona and her family so that they felt at home and did not miss the comforts of the USA. She had also made plans for the food that she was going to cook for the guests which should include breakfast lunch and dinner (with her latest Italian and Chinese recipes that she downloaded from Vah Chef and Show me the Curry on Youtube ). Devi had in particular requested Shantamma, the maid servant to come twice a day and had promised her Rupees 1000/ extra in addition to the American chocolates that Devi was sure that Sona would bring.

Devi got ready very early in the morning to get to airport to receive Sona and her family. Devi was at the airport an hour before Sona’s flight had landed up. She saw the arrivals timetable and learned that Sona’s flight was arriving an hour later.Yet she stood at the arrivals lounge and jumped with excitement every time the door opened and a passenger walked out. For Devi this was the longest wait ever.

Finally, the wait was over and Sona and her family arrived. Devi greeted them with a warm smile and a big bear hug. After loading the luggage, Devi’s husband drove all of them home in their Maruti Swift (It had taken Devi all of 3 years to change her husband’s mind to buy a new car and it had arrived just a month before Sona’s arrival).  

Next morning Devi was surprised to see Sona come into the kitchen just as she had woken up to help her with the cooking. Sona seemed to like the Indian cuisines more than anything else and hence dosas were prepared and Sona herself made a wonderful sambar to go along side it. Sona preferred to eat without knife and fork the simple south Indian food like rasam and rice with a pallya/upperi and a crispy karum kurum kerala papad. As a treat Sona would rather prefer the Mirch Masala on 7^th Main Road or Woodies than the posh Leela Palace that Devi had planned to take Sona.

Sona helped Devi in her household chores. She spent more time chatting with Devi than going to movies or shopping around in Lifestyle and Bangalore Central. Sona had no airs about living in the USA and most importantly she did not criticise Bangalore’s traffic or pollution. The week long trip was one of the best that Devi had had when guests visited her. In fact, Sona was no longer a guest but she had become family to Devi.

Sona is now back on the Lufthansa 924 to Boston and all she can think of is Devi’s kind hospitality and the good time that Devi’s family showed her and her family during their stay in India. As for Devi, she is now back to doing her household chores and cooking Rasam and Pallya before her husband gets home for lunch but she cannot stop thinking about the last few days she spent with Sona and she is wondering ….PHIR KAB AAOGE??

Back to School..

......I mean..Back to Blogging!

Hello Blogdosts,

Happy new year! Hope all of you are fine.

I am back to blogosphere today after a short winter break. Feels like joining back school after vacations!

I will spend some time reading your new posts now. I will be back with a post soon.

Always Happy