Unloading my think tank...

Weekend was so good; I bought lovely chappal footwear from Mochi, bought an ubercool top from Levis, AND met Shivendra Singh, Ignace Tirkey and Raghunath at the Adidas shop! I spoke to them for a while, and wished them good luck for the upcoming matches. I didn't take their autograph or photo, cuz I have them already! I have almost everybody's autograph from the men's hockey team**, I have photos with them, plus a beautiful bouquet that Prabhjot Singh gave me. So I'm pretty cool around them. Next time, I'll invite them for lunch/dinner ghar pe. (I can almost picture it - "Maine yaha ke sabhi matches dekhe hai; PHL, Asia Cup, sab. Main to bahut avid fan hoon ji hockey ki :D Aap kabhi hamare ghar aayiye na khaane pe... aaj kaisa rahega? Nahi? Ok ji phir kal?" LOL)

I also started by German classes. Ich heisse [my name], ich komme aus Indien!

Yesterday V called from London. Its good to know that someone who you haven't met since 2004, still thinks of you as a close friend :-) though we worked together for only a year, we had a lot of fun. Working at that call center for 6 months was bad, but it did introduce me to some of my good friends. I caught him on Yahoo! and then he took my number and called me immediately. Saala he's put on a firang accent and says "bloke" and "lad". I see the Brits have done their job. We remenised about the times when we worked together. Me, him, Sania, Sachin, Ninoshka, Sanoska, Sam Gupta - with our trainer Jamshed (we used to persuade him to get married soon so that we could eat free Parsi food, he was a "good bloke, eh"), Sandeep (arrogant and swinged the other way) and Allen (he called himself Big Al - cuz of his size).

He recalled the time I fought with this optician cuz he delayed the delivery of V's specs. V called me and told, "Yaar usne mera specs abhi tak nahi lautaaya! Kya karoon?" I said, "Main uski khabar leti hu" and in my usual style went and blasted him. We got the specs right then and there! V you owe our eyesight to me man! And the time when a few of us didn't get our first month salary (I still don't know why) but we were promised that next month we'd get both salaries. I demanded to get my sal. I went to Finance and said, "I work odd hours, I hardly sleep, I have no social life and now you tell me I got no money?!! You better be joking!!" Hahahahaha.. looking back, those days were so much fun :-)

Oh, and V told me a secret about himself. I hadn't heard one in a long time; knowing that you know something about someone*** that he/she prefers it to be privy, gives me license to indulge in mean acts ;-) like blackmail V that I'll leak his secret. But he's not the type who'll buy it. He'll say, "ok jaa bataa de, tum mera kaam asaan karogi". No fun in that :-l
Jokes apart, I have a patient ear, and neither ear has a hole. Jaise elders tell, "is kaan se sunke us kaan se nikaal do", I can't nikaalo from either of my kaans. So V, your secret is safe with moi. He's going to Paris with his love for Valentine's celebrations! Sorry I couldn't keep quiet about this one V! (ab mera pet theek lag raha hai phew!)

I also watched The Golden Compass over the weekend. Good movie, its got that Narnia feel. But you'll be left wanting to know more at the end of the movie, so be patient and wait for part 2, and 3.

** - also from the Indian cricket team /:)
*** - means "friends" only.

I'm going to watch India vs Belgium today. Hockey match. Olympics qualifier practise matches. Ok lemme rephrase that ridiculous 3-sentence thing I wrote. I'm going to watch India vs. Belgium hockey match for preparation of the olympics qualifier this evening. Yea this sounds better.

Anyways, thats about today. I am badly in need of some good chappals. Hahaha that sounds so silly. I really some footwear. Good, stylish, wearable, shoulds suit all my salwar kameezes and sarees, right colour, and above all, should be a steal for its worth ;-)

I'm finally finally starting with my German classes with this sunday. 5 hours per week. Ends in April. Only on weekends. Fair enough. I can deal with that. I don't plan to take any exams; I just like learning new languages. Next on my list - French. Or Arabic. Or Swahili. There are sooo many!

I've had some wierd/scary dreams last week. Worst was me cutting my hair. I dreamt I cut my hair into guys' like close cut, and then starting pulling ends to make them grow before I leave the parlour. I woke up with a start, and decided its best if I get outta bed. Time - 9 AM. Mom used to say dreams that we see in the morning do (mostly) come true. And though I'm not superstitious, I'm determined not to let this one come true. Creepy.
Then in another dream, I went to audition for Roadies - 3. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA pretty funny. And the dream was too. Raghu and Nikhil torture people who come to audition, though its all in good fun. This is one reality show audition that makes me laugh. And looks like its not setup or anything. Anyways, in this one episode, a guy who was 26 came to audition and he was told that he was too old (the average age being 18-23). He did get selected, but I raised my eyebrow at the you-are-old-at-26-to-be-a-roadie remark. So in the dream, I went to audition, and it all went very well. I made them laugh with my wit (which is true, try me) and impressed them no limit (hardly an achievement I know, but what the heck, it was a dream). In the end, they did select me! And I said, "Oh I hope my hubby will be mighty pleased!". To which they said, "Sorry this competition is for unmarried people only. You may leave." and handed me an orange card. (Apparently, it meant I'm disqualified. Only in the dream). I came out, shattered. And then my eyes opened. Time - around 3 AM. Whew. (3 AM isn't early morning isn't it? Or, is it?)

I love to eat SUBWAY subs and salads (Veg only). Just a way to end this post.

I wanted to meet mom, since the last visit was for a day only. This time, I thought, I'll spring a surprise on her. She wouldn't know I was coming home!

Before I write it all, would you look at that clustermap down right on this page?! It looks like my journal is read by people even in Africa! Lovely! And apparently also someone on sea (?); check the tiny red dot to left (the reader's left) of North America. Whuda thunk?!

Moving on, I really wanted to meet mom. Besides, Sankranti was coming up and I didn't want her to be alone. There are a LOT of relatives at home right now, but it just means mom has to work hard and a lot of chores. I called her up to enquire her plans, and she told me K is coming too! With her daughter! Oh I have the cutest and the smartest neice in the world! Mom asks, "You coming too?". I said, no. I really didn't have plans at the time to take a trip to see her. Also I had work (in nearly 5months). But then, I thought I can finish the work stuff quickly and go see mom. I did! I got my leave approved and then scurried to find the train home. Too bad, all trains booked. I ended up taking 2 trains one way to go see mom. No issues. She still didn't know I was coming, so the surprise would be great. Moreover, mom was at Hyd with her bros and sisters (just for vacation) and would be coming on the same day that I was supposed to reach!

When I got the tickets booked, the departure time was 13.40. On the day I was all set to leave, it was 12.40 and out of curiosity, I checked the ticket again. Departure time was 13.20! Heavens! I had like 30 mins to reach the station! B drove like 10 mad horses were behind him. And thankfully, I saw the train still at the station! Phew! "Aaj to line cross ho hi gayi thi by God! Pata hai, aaj tak life mein ek train nahi chhooti meri. Thank you Babaji, mera record todne se bacha liya" ;)

Train ka safar kataa by watching "Eurotrip" some 100 times. No really, I've watched it so many times I've lost count; still I enjoy it everytime I see it. Fully bakwaas movie, dumb dialogs and absolute timepass! "Scotty doesn't know that Fiona and me do it in my van every sunday" :)) Journey well spent I'd say!

I called mom up at 9 AM from a station close to home. She had NO clue I was on my way to see her, and she told me how lovely a time she had at Hyd. I said great. After the daily dose of please-drink-milk-and-eat-chyawanprash-and-regularly-use-eyedrops lecture from mom, I hung up, supressing a chuckle ;)

Day 1:
Cut to 2 hours later, I ring the door bell to my home and mom opens it.... Oh the expression on her face was priceless! She kept staring at me! And then, guess what, SHE pinched ME to check if it wasn't a dream! Hullo?! Isn't that supposed to be the other way round? She should pinch herself to see if its for real! Welcome to my mom's world!

That day, we relaxed at home. I feasted on mom's cooking and it was finger licking good! Had a siesta and went to the temple in the evening. And there, you won't believe, people recognized me! "Oh aren't you the one staying in this building?!", "Oh you got married?!", "Where do you live now?". After I answered the latter question, I had a standard response from everyone - same response - "Ewww why do you live there of all the cities in India?!". I hear ya sisters.

Day 2:
Come sunday, I went to meet U mami and the twin cuties. Same thing, they didn't know I was coming. I woke up bright and sunny at 9 AM :D , had breakfast, took bath and left to see them. Just me, not mom. When I reached there after 50 mins, T just screamed on seeing me! S sprang outta bed (all her headache and fever flew right out of the window!) and we 6 of us, sat down to eating the kadlis from the kadli gida. :D I miss all that! Lunch was typical kannada affair - saaru, chapaati, navalkol palya (heavens I survived that) and masaru anna. G exhibited her idiosyncrasies, and so did R - which renders them famous in our family (and it also serves as fodder to me cuz then I can mimic them at family gatherings - Yea I'm my family's Russel Peters ;) ). All in all, it was their normal behaviour.
I went home and had dinner while watching Desperate Housewives. At the end of each episode, I wonder why did I waste my one hour, yet next week I find myself watching it again...

Day 3:
Next day, monday, was Bhogi. And the lunch was sooooooooooooooo yummy! You'd think I'm a glutton - and I'd say where's the next item, please serve!
Oh before that, I went to my college to get that certificate. Met my profs and HoD. College seems bigger than the last time I saw it; and now they are expanding the canteen and brining in two more departments - B.E in Telecommunications and an MBA program. Awesome :) I reached P moushi's place and find so many other moushis there! (I have a HUGE family!) Hugs and kisses followed (my L'Oreal blush almost wiped off!) and they urged me to mimic G and R's previous day's antics. I did ;) P moushi has changed so much. She's mellowed down. And is so so much nicer now. Poo didn't know I was coming, so she was happy on seeing me too.
Lunch was traditional Bhogi lunch - stuffed brinjal (tumbiddu badnikaai palya), tingla ourikaai palya, gojju, raagi bhakri and huggi. I don't know their names in English; but they were so tasty I don't even care. Check pics :)





After lunch, Poo and I sat down to discuss her latest boyfriend(s), and how many extractions did she do that day. None, thankfully. Extractions I mean, boyfriends - she has :)) She kept talking about 2 of them and I asked to show their pics. She looged in to her Orkut and showed their pics. Guess what happened next. We scanned their albums, whistled at other good looking guys in those pics, and scanned their friends list and looked through their albums! LOL. She kept circling the guys in photos who looked good, and at the end, narrowed the list of boiys down to 3. And said to me, "(phew) OK now there are 3 in line. Who do you think I should date??" LOL Hello?! You've only seen their photos on Orkut, what else you know about them?! Thats Poo for you! She adds "le" after every sentence in Kannada and says "oooooooo boyfriend iddra yeshtu majaa ala!!" Wonder what kinda dentist she is! Its all in fun, am sure. She's a great sis I'll give her that :)

Day 4:
My sis, her hubby and the neice to arrive in the morning. I woke up early, and had bath. Minutes later, they are at the door! The kid is so cute! She's started walking now, and even recognizes me :) She was so careful while crossing the hochhla (threshold) from one room to another, we all were stunned! She plays with anything and everything and doesn't fuss at all! She speaks 2 syllable words now - papa, mum mum (food), adu taa (gimme that), tou (take this). And if she sees a dog, she goes, "woofh woofh" and "meow" when she sees a cat! Intelligent! I'll put her pics here tomorrow. She wore those shoes which make sound when you walk in them, and kept stamping to make that noise hahahahahaha. She hugs the little stuffed monkey we gave her, and kisses it too! It all looks very cute. I took her pics when sis was bathing her - I can show the kid's nanga photos to her hubby later ;)

Mom made superb lunch. Kosambri, yellina undi (til ke laddoo), yellina holgi (til ke sweet chapatis), chapatis (plain ones), french beans, saaru (curry) and steamed white rice. Super yummy! I ate one full holgi (I don't like sweets much...). See pics...



Come 5 PM, I had to leave. Horrible. I got to be with my neice only for 7 hours. I boarded the slowest train ever - it went from Karnataka to AP, and back to Karnataka - poora round maarke! Took another slowest train from B'lore to come here. Super bore.

Oh one more thing, I met Amit on my way home. He is a gentleman. He insisted on carrying my bag, which actually made him a coolie, but he's a gentleman too :) We had dinner together. He's my bestest friend, and I'm glad its been like that since years. It won't change... he's my best friend. I hope he finds and gets married to a nice, sweet girl. I pressurised him to get married soon. He kept blushing all the while :)

This morning on my way to work, I saw this black auto decorted with flowers. It looked different among the sea of yellow-black autos, so I decided to peek in from my auto. I was surprised to see some non-Indian driving it! Plus there were 2 more sitting on the passenger seat, complete with luggage and all. What the hell, I thought and looked closely.

I saw posters of Rickshaw Run 2008 and WAYN (Where Are You Now). I thought I'll come to work and look them up on the net. Here's their website - "Why Not?? Rickshaw Run 2008". They call themselves "Why Not?" and "they" is made up of 3 guys - Stuart Darnley, Jeff Johnson and Scott Sveiven. Further reading the website, I saw that they are gonna cover some 3200 kms from Cochin through Nepal, and will raise money for charity through this. Check the charity page on their site. More about this here - The Rickshaw Run.

Hehe see their pic with the rickshaw



Personally, I think its just great to embark upon an adventure like this; have fun, explore new places, and all this for a noble cause!