Green morning, hot shower and roommate

1. In the morning, standing in the balcony and letting my eyes drink in the greenery. The part of the yard that we can see from both our balconies is currently densely coloured with many greens, and standing there, it seems like our private little garden. I often just sit there, staring out, doing nothing. The morning does not afford me that luxury, but the even the couple of minutes that it does are a good way to start the day.
2. On a rainy day, a hot shower after a sweaty aerobics session. I stand interminably under the running water, soaking in the warmth.
3. A roommate who will cook dinner when I'm feeling a little below weather.

No mess, take care and rain song

1. Taking the effort to put things where they belong and to smoothen out the covers and straighten the cushions. It's good to see the house look habitable again.
2. Massaging foot cream and then slipping on a pair of socks. It'll stay for the night.
3. Listening to the soft fall of rain while lying on my bed near the window.

No flooding, picnic weather and computer

1. The drain pipe below the kitchen sink has been leaking heavily for the last few days. All our efforts to get a plumber to fix it have been in vain. Today we come home from work to find a new pipe in it's place. The maid has found a plumber.
2. The weather has been amazing all day today. It's the typical Pune weather. Cool breeze, cloudy sky and a drizzle at times. I want to go for a picnic!
3. My computer is getting repaired.

Neat and tidy, helping hands and uninterrupted sleep

1. The maid is back from her holiday. After so many days, the house looks clean. Everything is in it's place, there are fresh new bedsheets on the beds and even the water bottles are filled.
2. Just when I had started to feel a little overwhelmed by the mounting work pressure, there are more hands on the job. Suddenly it's not so bad.
3. The nights have gotten cooler. I don't know why, but I sure am glad, because I don't keep waking up in the middle of the night because of the heat.

Temptation's fruit, deadlines met and I have a roomie!

1. The new Reebok T shirt I picked up a couple of weeks ago when I wasn't meant to be shopping makes me look slim. I'm glad I gave in to temptation that day.
2. I feel like a free bird. The huge mountain load of work that I had on my shoulders is now over. I feel especially thrilled at having met the deadlines. There's still work to be done, of course, but it isn't pressing and I can take the time to goof off a bit and not feel guilty about it. In fact I feel as if I've earned it! Oh, and I leave office on time (after coming in late!)
3. After almost three years of my staying alone, Natasha and I have decided to share the flat. She moves in in the evening, and there's the general chaos of unpacking and talking and excitement. We're also very thrilled that we had underestimated the house. After all her stuff has come in, there's still plenty of space where we'd initally thought we'd be a little too crowded. We're already making plans of stuff we'll do together as roommates.

Shy, no mouse in the house and fine writing instruments

Internet woes continue. But that doesn't mean beautiful things have stopped happening!

1. I wake up and still sleepy eyed, open the balcony doors. The first thing I see is a brand new shy little rose bud, still very tiny and still very green.
2. The mouse that has been scaring me has been gotten rid of and I can go into the bathroom without my nerves being on the edge.
3. Jui wants to buy a pen for Papa, so both of us start searching the net for one that's worthy of being held in his hands. I like the way the sites use the term 'fine writing instrument' rather than the mundane 'pen', instantly upping the glamour quotient attached to it.

Neat and tidy, towards better health and prankster

My internet connection is playing the traunt, hence the irregular posting. I hope to be back online soon!

1. I come home to find the house in neat order and the dinner cooked. The rose plant has also been watered. The maid's back! Yay!
2. Even though its too late to go to the gym by the time I'm done in the evening, I still find the time to come home and do some yogasanas.
3. Tanmoy calls me up very gleefully to tell me about a prank that he's played on Shreerang. "Its going to drive him crazy!" I'm told with much delight.

Lighter, friends and mint n chocolate

1. I raid the kitchen shelves looking for something to eat and in the process find a lot of stuff that should've made its way to the dustbin a long time ago... I put it where it rightly belongs, and the kitchen feels much lighter...
2. A very pleasant evening spent with the gang at Kris's... Both Kris and Vrunda have taken great pains to cook a lovely dinner for us. But the best part is the easy level of comfort that I've reached with these people. We spend many hours together, but no one runs out things to say.
3. Mint Chocolate Chips ice cream at Baskin Robins... just try it! Whoever thought of mixing mint and chocolate together was a genius!

An ear, mended and salvation army

1. I'm mad at the world. Sriharsha calmly hears me out as I rant.
2. The mason's finally found it in him to come and refit the broken tiles in the bathroom.
3. The last alphonso of the lot I had bought, which I had given up hope on (having forgotten to eat it) is salvaged by the cook. I hadn't had the heart to throw it in the dustbin, which is good, because she's turns it into aamras, and I realise that it hadn't gone bad at all! It just looked a bit worse for age...

Leafy luxury, bear hug and decorations

1. The clean new white bedsheets that mom got for me. They look as if someone has taken a very pristine, milky white canvass and drawn lots of different coloured leaves on it. Sleeping on cool and white sheets feels so mmmmmmmm...
2. As I get to work and plop down in front of my computer, Dharana gets up from her seat, tells me she's soooooooo happy and while I'm still sitting in my chair, gives me a bear hug. I suddenly realize what a rare thing a hug has become!
3. Arminder and I keep our shopping date. We go simply gaga over all the gorgeous home decor stuff... The glass stuff is so delicate and pretty. After much deliberation and going back and forth over options, she helps me pick up a nice painting and a very elegant candle stand. Oh, and I find some really nice dry decoration stuff for mum, which I'm sure she'll love... and guess what! all of this is on sale! Could it get any better?? And we didn't even know the sale was starting today before we hit the store.

Tastier, sibling and fashion decisions

1. The meals somehow seem a lot better with mom, dad and sis to share them with...
2. Bickering with Jui... we take it up as if there's no gap of months in between...
3. I offer a skirt to Jui which I'm too fat to get into. She dismisses it first, then tries it on, parades around the house, asks everyone's opinion on how it looks, starts wondering what she can wear it with and in the end decides to take it... all in a span of 10 mins...

House to home, peeping tom and shopaholic

1. Having mom, dad, sis and cousins at home. There's lots to talk and laugh about and bicker over. My house transforms into a home.
2. The quiet lanes of Koregaon Park. The city's cream lives here in huge mansions which have splendid gardens and tall gates. As we go through the lanes, I keep trying to get a peek into the gardens. I don't think I'll ever get tired of doing that.
3. Going shopping. Frst we buy lots of book, music and movies. Then we go shopping for trinkets and I get to replenish my lost stock of earrings. And I have very enthusiastic company - everyone loves to shop... ok, maybe not Dad and Sameer, but majority wins!

Welcome back, dressed up and digging convenience...

1. Aparna calls up and we have a long chat. I'm glad she's started contributing to this blog again...
2. The way the house looks just before a party, when everything's in place, spic and span, the table is laid and everyone is dressed. After quite a few days, even I get to dress up.
3. Ajju's look of absolute glee when he reads what his new keychain says - "Why do Gorrilla's have big nostrils? - Because they have thick fingers."

Plump, check check check and pat on the back...

1. Spending a quiet day at home, with no hurry to get anywhere... I can relax, or do the chores around the house in my own sweet time. Its a great way to recharge, and at the end of the day, I feel rested and peaceful - actually the word that keeps coming to my mind is 'plump'... I feel nice and plump... :-)
2. I finish a lot of pending work. There's a certain satisfaction in ticking items off a to-do list. Most notably, I wash my sport-shoes, after having this on the list for nearly a year!!
3. Being appreciated for some silly little thing I do for somebody...

Food, Old friends and house-keeping..

1. Bringing my own lunch to office...
2. Smita calls up. She's in India for a few days, and we exchange a lot of gossip. Old friends are such a comfort, even if you get to talk to them only once in a while... there's no need for pretense and they're no longer judging you... Smita's so excited to know that my company also works out of San Fransisco too, that she insists when they send me onsite, I should stay with her... this when there isn't the slightest plan of me travelling for work, and I already have a place to stay!
3. I come home to find the flat clean, bed made, clothes washed and hung to dry and a full varan-bhat-bhaji-poli-koshimbir meal waiting for me... aaaaaah! After a long day at office, this is bliss! And the thought that this is now going to be a daily occurance drives away all the fatigue....

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!