Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Happy to be instructed, bells and first meal

  1. The cute gym instructor.
  2. My mentor Anna is of Russian descent. She has the cutest ever way of saying 'Oy Mamma Mia' when she's a little flustered, and her laugh sounds like a tiny bell tinkling...
  3. Cooking my first ever meal in the new flat.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Country roads, the child in us and slimming jeans

  1. Driving down the old Mumbai-Pune highway. I've raved about the expressway that connects the two cities, but driving on this highway is a revelation of sorts. The road winds along liesurely and one passes many hamlets on the way. The highway is in top-class condition and there's not a bump on the enite stretch... And there is very little traffic on the road. It does seem like everyone is in a huge hurry and takes the expressway instead. First in Dadu's car and then as a pillion rider with Tanmoy on the bike, the journey is a pleasure through out. The feeling of freedom while on the bike, riding at close to 100 kmph, is exhilarating.
  2. Playing 'speed hockey' in a games parlor in Lonavla. Its a table game played by two players trying to score goals by putting the puck in the opponents goal post. We yell and scream and jump and spirits are high... passers-by look at us in amusement like they would at highly excited little children.
  3. The new jeans have been altered just perfectly... and I look slim in them! No kidding!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

  1. Finding a laundry guy who'll come and pick up the clothes to be ironed twice a week and will also drop them home...
  2. Gita Aunty. She's Bharti Kaku's childhood friend and dropped in while we were having dinner. She one of those who can bring life to any drab topic of conversation. She speaks with crisp clipped tones and looks like the kind can scold a lion into meekness! And she always has the most amusing stories to tell and acute and merciless observations to make...
  3. Finishing Kiran Desai's 'Inheritance of Loss'. She writes with a feeling that instantly touches a chord and her eye for detail is an absolute delight. There's a mix of tenderness and cruelty in her style and one is left wanting more even when the book has ended, for one falls in love with the characters so much...

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

First morning, minesweeper and one up!

  1. Waking up in the new flat.... the sun streams in through the window by my bedside and there's a warm glow in the room.
  2. Playing endless games of Minesweeper through a mind-boggling Unix session to keep myself alert.
  3. While Pinda and I are dining in an open-air restaurant, I start feeling cold and he makes fun of me... we continue arguing about whether or not it is cold. When he eventually drops me home, we the see the guard below the building all wrapped up in woollens and rubbing his hands together and I score a point with: look, the gorkha is from Nepal and if he's cold, its definitely cold!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Home sweet home, beauty secrets and guilty

  1. Finishing almost 90% of unpacking my stuff and putting it in place... now that the curtains are in place, the flat looks like home..
  2. Finding a good parlor close to home that's not only clean but also reasonably priced. And the girls there were ultra efficient.
  3. Pulling Rohit's leg. Just for kicks, I tell him that I've heard something about him, so he'd better tell me everything himself. Out comes an entire story about a drunken party!

The bird's mirror, my mum and chef-on-demand

  1. Sitting alone by the silent riverside, watching the reflections of the trees, dancing on the quiet ripples. A white bird flies really close to the surface of the water as if wanting to see herself in the fluid mirror, and I want to tell her, you're beautiful...
  2. Mum calls up from the train and says she was just checking if their cellphone was still within range and thought she'd call me just because I'd told her not to call... he he.. Mothers, I tell you!
  3. I reach Tanmoy's place in the afternoon and find a grated lauki. Apparently, I'm supposed to make lauki pakoras! We finally make them and dadu eats one and says "I've eaten worse..."

Friday, January 19, 2007

My own sun, the soup adventure and begining of the second honeymoon

  1. As I sit by the window in the training room, the gentle sun streams through and I'm kept warm inspite of the AC. I have the only seat that is thus kept warm, and it feels like I have my own private sun!
  2. Our soup adventure! Dipti and I wait eagerly to taste the soup of the day at lunch and we've never once been disappointed with the soup through the entire week... today it was a tomato soup with croutons, yesterday a carrot and celery soup was on the menu (and of course in our bowls), but the best (and I must admit, most surprisingly) was the lemon and coriander soup on tuesday... it was just yummy, and I almost wanted to give up lunch and have another bowl of soup instead! (Thankfully, sense prevailed!). The most exciting part of this soup adventure is the new and exotic soups they keep coming up with. More often than not, its always something unusual..
  3. I tell my parents (who, by the way, are all set to embark on their 'second honeymoon' early tomorrow morning) not to worry too much about calling us girls up everyday, to which my mum replies with a feigned annoyance "yeah yeah.. I'm sure both you girls will be more than happy not to have a nagging mother calling you everyday!"... Both mum and dad sound very excited, though!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Girl-talk, ID and setting up house

  1. Aparna calls up again and this time we talk for almost 50 mins! Its great yapping away about anything and everything... and we both realise how much we've missed the long talks we used to regularly have.
  2. I finally get my photo ID. It makes me feel less like an outsider in the new office.
  3. After dilly dallying for the past few days, I get started on setting up house. There's still much that remains to be done, and getting the kitchen in shape looks like a formidable task. I'm enjoying continuously having to come up with creative ideas to set things up as shelves are a luxury in this house! Also, I'm having to review my stuff and am finally throwing away things that I haven't used for a very long time.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

In the list, oranges and teddy bear..

  1. Aparna calls up while I'm still in the bath and I have to rush out to answer the phone... She's calling to complain about her name not being included in the friends' list on the 'taking stock of the year gone by' post... awesome to know that the list means something to someone! Aparna - that was something else, but I love the fact that you want to be in the list whether its relevant or not!
  2. I discover fresh fruit at the office pantry... a treat for me! I choose a huge big orange and it turns out to be really juicy and tangy!
  3. The girl who's joined with me looks like a cute cuddly teddy bear - she's short and plump and fair... and has an almost angelic look on her face...

Before the alarm, 'aawur playzurrr' and elegant room

Access to the internet has become a luxury... Alas!

  1. I'm so excited about my first day at work that I wake up half an hour before the alarm rings... Of course, I promptly go back to sleep till the alarm actually wakes me up!
  2. The charmingly incomprehensible Israeli accent of the Centre Head, as he addressed the new joinees - "Ee`t is aawur.. ayyeehh playzurrr `to welcome you all. Ayeehh... ze companee lookz forward ayyeehh... `to a long association wiz you.."
  3. My room at Kaka's place where I'm staying currently - it has a luxurious double bed, a sexy attached bathroom and is very elegantly decorated... in fact, the whole house is just simply out of this world!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Mad friends, quilts and teacher's pet

  1. First Gullu calls up to say that he'll be coming down to Pune to help me with my shifting, and then George (who, by the way, is suffering from a bad back, owing to an accident) to say, "this is not fair, I won't be left out... I'm coming down to help too" and I literally have to threaten him to keep him from coming over to Pune this coming weekend. I only hope I have succeeded!
  2. I get into the quilt in the afternoon, while I'm reading a book. The delicious warmth envelops me and before I know, I'm fast asleep... I sleep the entire afternoon off...
  3. I visit my school teachers Mrs. Pant and Mrs Kumaran, and they look genuinely happy to see me. We spend the evening talking like old friends, remembering my school mates and their ex-students... These teachers are people who have had a definite influence over me in my formative years, and I've never really been able to build similar bonds with my teachers after I left school and joined college. Their elegance and class, and their complete involvement in their students, their willingness to go that extra mile for the sake of their work - all this places them in a class of their own, untouched by anyone I've met.

Prayer vibes, pride and dozing in the sun..

Back to Normal... Flashback: Sunday, January 7th

  1. Papa joins us - mum, Jui and me, for our evening prayers and the entire ritual takes on a whole new meaning for me. As we solemnly say our prayers, his deeper tones mingle with our softer ones and the vibes that reach me bring me a strange peace and comfort. Isn't that what prayer is all about?
  2. Nikhil shows us his photographs from the valley where he's posted by the Indian Army. The pictures and his accompanying commentry are an eyeopener to us civilians, who take the comforts of daily life so much for granted. Looking at my handsome brother in army fatigues, in full commando gear, with his AK47s and snipers, I can only half imagine the dangerous and adventurous life he leads, patrolling the jungles at night, tracking down militants and risking his life every single day. I'm over-awed and immensely proud of being his sister...
  3. I simply love sitting on the swing in the balcony in the afternoon, soaking up the warmth of the sun, half-dozing...

Friends, Family and Prosperity - the year that just went by!

I'm back!! And how I love being back! The excitement of the new year setting in has started getting a little cold now, but for me the new year is yet to truly begin... I have been meaning to write this post for a long time, but my computer decided to conk off, and I have been virtually marooned for quite some time now! A whole year has gone by, and its time to take stock of the good things it had to offer. I'll stick to listing the best three, but the year certainly had more to offer... here goes...

  1. Friends. I begin as an outsider in the group and as the year ends, I feel like I've finally been accepted as an integral part of the group. I've been successful in building bonds with each and everyone and am now truly in the midst of everythings that happens - the fun, the quarrels, the controversies, the love, the friendship... everything... I feel so lucky to have such awesome and caring friends, who are also so much fun to be with. Thanks are in order to Tanmoy, George, Gullu, Dadu, Anuj, Saumya, Shreerang and Patty...
  2. Family. The term 'supportive family' takes on a new meaning for me. I take some unpopular and difficult decisions, but my family stands by me, rock-solid and never lets me waver. There is great comfort in knowing that come what may, my family will never lose faith in me and will always support me.
  3. My first ever promotion. The appraisal at the begining of the year brings me my first promotion and an appreciable raise in salary to go along. This in turn brings definite change in life style and the welcome increase in disposable income brings a change in perspective too. I needn't mention that I've enjoyed the prosperity!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Monkey business, perfect place and home theatre

Flashback: Sunday, December 31st.

  1. We're on our way to Mumbai to usher in the new yar with friends and Tanmoy's antics on the bus keep me entertained. He's trying to take photographs with my camera, but the bus is moving too much to allow him to catch a frame and click it before the bus lurches or turns a corner or enters a tunnel... and needless to mention, he reacts with choice words every single time! We're in the last row of the bus, which has 6 seats, with the two of us occupying the two corner seats. The gentleman sitting by Tanmoy's side is fairly disgusted, because we just won't sit still!
  2. Sangeeta immediately finds a place for the little terracotta pots I got for her... they look lovely!
  3. We're at George's place at night and we watch Nagesh Kukunoor's Teen Deewarein on TV. Its a very moving and engrossing film, and its great watching a movie at home with friends.

Last day, good wishes and exquisite craft

Flashback: Saturday, December 30th

  1. I take one last tour of the office campus and take tonnes of photographs. Its my last day at work, and I've never realised how much this place means to me... This is the place where I've grown up from being a college kid to an IT professional.
  2. Good wishes and 'All the best' emails pour in, in response to my good-bye mail...
  3. I go to my favourite gifts shop in the evenign, and find the most exquisitely made tiny terracotta urns and vases... the potter's skill is evident in the delicate pots and I can only marvel at his craft, and feel happy that I can own these little things, if not make them... I buy them as a house warming gift for Pinda's new flat...