The gap, backup plan and nerve soother

1. You expect the worse. And then it doesn't happen.
2. I've been trying for more than an hour to get Picasa to upload my Kashmir pics, but apparently its not to be. I mention this to Tanmoy, and he says he'll bring over his laptop tomorrow, and we can try on it.
3. I invite myself over to Dharana's 'coz I'm a little annoyed and could use some distraction. She makes me a really delicious cold coffee.

Rare weather, coming home and corn on the cob

1. The weather in Nagpur is perfect right now - its cloudy, pleasant and breezy. Grandma and I sit on the swing on the terrace, gently rocking and chatting about nothing in particular. I'm happy to let her ramble on, telling me about the new neighbours and the birds that visit her bird bath and the flowers. Its a lovely morning.
2. After lunch, I plant myself on my mom n dad's bed, fighting for space with dad. It's good to laze around, doing nothing, being the kid and getting pampered. This is what I came home for - for what else is recuperation?
3. The best bhutta in the world can be had at the stalls outside VNIT's gates. The one's available in Pune seem rather poor fare, with their garnishing of salt and lemon juice. Here, there's butter and green chilly chutney (the kind that makes you go sssssssssssssss) to go along with it. Seriously, no one makes corn on the cob the way these guys do. We even got one home for grandma, and can you believe it, she ate it! She's 90!

Home cooked, song recall and bed time

1. For the first time in the entire work week, we've been able to come home at a time that allows us to cook dinner. The bhindi ki sabzi, the kasoori methi flavoured daal and the soft warm rotis are so immensely satisfying.
2. An unscheduled and unexpected short drive in the middle of the afternoon brings an unexpected pleasure. There's an unfamiliar voice on the radio and she plays a lovely old hindi song that I'm sure I haven't heard for years - O Sajana Barkha Bahar Aayi. I'm quite surprised that I not only recognise it from the music at the begininning, but also sing along quite effortlessly, as if I have been hearing it very often. It is strange, this ability of the brain to retain the words and the melody of a song and to bring them forth at the right moment.
3. It's bed time, I'm sleepy and there's nothing to stop me from cuddling up in my soft and warm bed and sleep peacefully.

Unfamiliar terrain, politics and lime n masala

1. I'm participating in a T shirt painting contest at work. Suddenly my mind is grappling with an unfamiliar challenge. What should be the theme, how should I design it? I find myself lapsing into thought every now and then.
2. At another game currently going on at the same event at work, the ten paticipating teams have to vote out one team each day, in addition to performing various tasks and earning points. There's much debate and calculations going on anywhere you go through the day, even though the vote-out only happens once in the evening. This drama will go on through the next week.
3. I have this crazy craving for something spicy to eat. I try to resist it, but finally give in and head to the cafetaria to buy a packet of potato chips, the lime and masala flavor. Finger-licking good.

Adrenalin, feat and reward

1. It's a new high - driving a hundred and fifty kilometers at a stretch on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. We don't stop for a break and at times cruise along at 120 kmph. The car's steady.
2. Despite having slept for only 3 hours and having driven for 4, I'm not sleepy and am alert enough to work. I had thought I'd be dropping asleep every now and then.
3. Hot toasted chocolate sandwich. Its a piece of heaven.

Breakfast, Hard work pays and Email banter

1. Breakfast is still hot when I go to the cafetaria.
2. A colleague comes to me with questions and I sit with her for almost an hour, explaining various things. At the end, she asks me how long I have been working on this system. A little more than 6 months, I tell her. She's surprised - "That's it? Only 6 months? But you seem to know this stuff!" I'm gratified by this statement.
3. There's a fun email exchange going on with Aditi. Its a pity I can't state here what we're discussing!

Unsweetened, the right reason for a traffic jam and alphonso sweet

1. I like the taste of cold unsweetened milk and the way it feels going down the throat. It's inherent sweetness is just right for me, and there's no need to enhance it with sugar.
2. Traffic in the opposite lane has come to a standstill and from afar, I can not figure out why. As I approach the standing column of traffic, I can see the reason. Right in front of the first vehicle, a little puppy is standing, very bewildered and lost. It finally finds the footpath and the traffic starts moving again.
3. For me, these are the first mangoes of the season. Alphonsoes, claims the fruit vendor. Me, I'm not so sure of the authenticity of the claim, but alphonso or not, they're sweet to me.

Cold in the heat, saving and nectar

1. Early this morning, I feel slightly chilly because the air cooler is on. I get up, switch it off and snuggle back into bed. Its so cool to be cold in this sweltering heat.
2. This month's phone bill is 30% lower than last month's.
3. Dinner is polished off with a glass of chilled kokum sharbat.

Breakfast, bonus time and touch my toes

1. Natasha makes lovely tea every morning. Oh, and today there's oatmeal porridge too.
2. Discovering that I don't really need to attend that two hour meeting. Bliss!
3. After half an hour of aerobics, I'm flexible enough to touch my toes.

Mini meal, cooling agent and Feast Bazar

1. The minestroni soup at lunch is thick and chewy, and almost a meal in itself. The rest of the food on the menu is quite boring and unpalatable, but the soup and some salad is more than enough for lunch.
2. A large glass of cool sweet fresh watermelon juice. It cools from within.
3. There's a show called 'Feast Bazar' on Travel & Living. The host takes us through Morocco and Syria, showing exotic middle eastern cuisine. Natasha and I sit drooling over the humous and the falafel, wishing we could go back to Israel and gorge on those once again.

Oh my God! Are ALL my good things about food today?!

Shared happiness, shared burden and puffed up

1. Gauri comes running to my desk, bringing with him a semi-eaten chocolate pastry. Rashmiiii, try this! This is one of the best pastries I've had in a long time, he tells me, not even attempting to hide his glee. He's brought along a spare spoon, so I can dig in without wasting time. We share the pastry and the glee.
2. I can start assigning work to the new guy who's joined the team. What bliss to have someone to share your work load with!
3. For the first time in my life, my rotis have puffed up perfectly. Each roti's puffing up is followed by a small dance of celebration. And when we have them a while later, they're still soft and warm, and of the perfect thickness. I deserve a pat on the back.

Just like mom, Straight and Punishment

1. Baingan ka bharta like my mom makes it. It turns out almost perfect - with the brinjal, the onions and the tomatos roasted over the flame and then cut and mixed. No oil. Very healthy and of course very yumm.
2. Straight. Its hilarious! Vinay Pathak is such a brilliant actor. He portrays the character of Pinu Patel with such sensitivity - the confusion, the straight laced innocence, the eagerness, the tragedy that's inevitable in overly earnest people's lives, the childlike joy and jealousy, he just does it all in so classy a manner that one can't help but get involved in the character.
3. Gauri is being rude and silly. I chase him in the parking lot and give him a smart rap on the back for being cheeky.

Cool car, washed and juicy

1. Its only february, but the temperatures are already soaring. We're safe inside the air conditioned car.
2. Washing off the day in a cool shower.
3. Juicy grapes after dinner.

Morning road, Tailored, Overfed and winning it all

1. The main road looks so empty and inviting at 8 in the morning. The usual traffic is missing and the air feels very inviting and fresh. Its an unusal sight for me, for I'm usually never out so early, and the road is bustling till late in the night.
2. I bring out my tailored white cotton shirt after a long time today. I'd forgotten it fits so well. And looks so crisp.
3. Natasha's mom has whipped up an enormous and yummy dinner (as is her way!) again. I'm getting fattttttttt! I even carried my lunch to work today!
4. The Oscars are being aired in the morning when we are driving to work and every award is announced on the radio as its being won by Slumdog Millionaire. At work the updates keep coming in and the euphoria continues.

Dip dip dip, Slumdog and overfed

1. Dipping a biscuit in piping hot tea till its just about to fall off, but not quite and then quickly eating it.
2. Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire. He's quite a natural. I realised one thing when I saw the movie today - It's no different than many mainstream Hindi potboilers. All the hoopla created around it being nominated for the Oscars and winning the Golden Globe seems quite amusing to me, because hey, come watch a good Bollywood thriller!
3. My cook was taking the day off today, so she cooked some extra food for me yesterday. When I actually open the fridge before lunch, I see an enormous amount of food waiting for me. She has obviously taken good care that I don't starve on her day off!

Steamy news, music of my choice and onion paratha

1. Sitting down on the carpet in the morning with a cup of hot tea and the news papers.
2. The car's music system has been repaired and is now playing CDs! yay yay! And the warranty covered the repairs and I didn't have to shell out a paisa!
3. Awesome onion paratha at Juice Corner on East Street. And fruit cocktail to wash it down.

Welcome, touch and grilled to perfection

1. Tanmoy is here.
2. My iPod Touch is, simply put, damn sexy. I can't believe I now own something so classy.
3. The grilled fish at Malaka Spice is perfect and quite unlike any that I've ever had.

Survival food, in a jiffy and

1. Maggi. What would I do without it?
2. Thinking that like all tailors, this one will also be fussy and will take a long time to stitch my dress, I ask him a little apprehensively when the dress will be ready. Tuesday, he says. Have it ready by thursday, I tell him. Er... tuesday, you mean? No no... Thursday will be just fine. I can't pick it up on tuesday.
3. I'm getting bored at home. So I call up Sriharsha and Kris and we try to plan what to do. We end up getting ourselves invited over to Kris's. Vrunda is sweet, she whips up a quick dinner for us.

Kulfi, grape juice and night air

1. Our Kabbalat Shabbat (a Jewish ceremony to welcome Shabbat, which we follow because our company is based out of Israel, but which we have modified to suit the friday mood to eat good food and have some fun with colleagues) gets cancelled, so there are no yummy friday afternoon treats. Or so we think. Another team has plenty of kulfi left from their Kabbalat Shabbath, which they come to share. The taste of the pistachio flavoured kulfi lingers on my mouth for some time.
2. Fresh grape juice. The sweetness is just right and the usual astringent taste is somewhat suppressed, creating a most satisfactory (and of course, healthy) drink.
3. Finally there's enough of a nip in the air to wear a jacket while walking outside at night. The cool clean night air is the kind that makes one want to keep walking. The tip of my nose and my cheeks tingle a little.

Jingling bangles, my day and aroma

1. There's a wedding to attend in the morning, so I get to dress up a bit in one of my better Salwar Kameezes. Its also an occassion to wear bangles - something I don't usually do, and I kind of like the way they jingle on my wrist at the slightest movement. And the best part is that I get a ride to the wedding - Suresh Kaka and Bharti Kaku pick me up and drop me home, so I don't have to worry about the traffic.
2. There's no where to rush to and no time table to keep. I put on soft cotton socks, get under soft covers and go off to sleep in the afternoon. Its my day.
3. Holding a steaming mug of soup in my hands, I take a deep breath.