Unloading my think tank...

My Orkut profile today says - Today's fortune: You will have some wonderful new experiences. AMEN to that!

My 5-day vacation to my hometown was great. But I got lots pending here. My mailbox is flooded, I got lots of packing to do, change my spectacle frame, buy few warm clothes - and probably something more that I haven't realised yet.

Anyway, the engagement function was so grand it looked like wedding reception! Poo looked radiant :) She's all gung-ho about moving to US. I even went to Belgaum to meet my elder relatives, which was actually the main purpose of the trip :) My kaka was li'l sad that I would be leaving him and going so far. And my kaku cried a little. Makes me feel that I should've done more for them. I get overwhelmed everytime about it. I feel that I should've done more for them, for my mom, my sis...

Confession - there's never a time I'm not guilt-ridden.

Anyway, the towns are as dusty as they were when I left them. Why? Hardly any development. I pay my taxes regularly. And I expect them to go to develop such places. Or isn't what I pay not enough? I'd say it is. And when we passed these even smaller towns and villages on the way to meet my relatives in B'gaum, I saw small wheel-shops on the roadside, selling Lays ke chips and Coke and Pepsi. Even the diet variety! I thought, "Coke and Pepsi aa gaya, saala development nahi aaya!". But people are warm-hearted as ever :)
One man (a raeeta (farmer)) said - "Eee bus raylay tashannakka nindar taeetenri?". Translated to, "Does this bus stop at the railway station?". I burst into laughter hearing his accent.
Another man (again a raita (farmer)) goes - "Oh conductraa, wand swalp sheetee hodi paa bus nindars lagootne!!". Translates to, "Conductor, please blow the whistle and stop the bus quickly!". He could've just asked him to stop. It can even without the whistle. LOL. I again laughed out loud. Auto rickshaws still take 25 to go to any part of the city. Man, I'm really going to miss all this.

I had no time to meet Madhu or Krishna. Been ages since I met them.

And this one time we were going to B'lore, I remember seeing small star marks near our names in the list attached on the train bogie. Legend below said we were upgraded from 3AC to a 2AC compartment! Wah wah Lalooji ki jai ho!

Since then, me hourat girl (hourat is greedy in marathi), I always check for star marks near my name everytime I travel :D hoping that I am upgraded to 2AC :D What?! Who doesn't want freebies?! Sadly, this time, both ways, for all 4 trains, I had to travel in 3AC. No upgrade-shupgrade. And to top it, the train from to Chennai, arrived 45 mins late. And because the waiting room closes at 11 PM, I had to wait on the platform in biting cold until 12.15 AM. Lalooji hai hai.

Waise, he has done a great deal for the Indian Railways. And its actually a pleasure travelling in trains now :) The comfort, the options to take a train, the service - is all good :)

I'm gonna miss that too :(

I watched Quantum of Solace last night. In theatre. From 10.30 PM to 1 AM. And I fell asleep post-interval HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No the movie wasn't bad, just that I was too tired. When hubby woke me up, I asked, "Oh! Movie khatam? Kya hua end mein?" ("Movie over? What happens in the end?"). He replies, "Bond jeet gaya. Ab chalo ghar chale!" ("Bond won. Now lets go home.") LOL.

... key... well forget it. There will be thieves everywhere. "What can you do? Leave it."

Lately, the kind of people I seem to encounter are jerk-people. You know, the kind, who are narrow-minded, or are overtly-proud of themselves (not in a nice way) and mean. It bugs me no end to face these people every single day and if I didn't have my priorities right, I'd show them where they could all go.

I say "if I didn't have my priorities right", because I'm not going to jeopardise my future for a bunch of people who don't even figure in my future.

Yesterday, I went to get a solid case for my guitar. I took a bus which I thought would take that route. The bus conductor says this bus takes a diff route, you can get down at blah blah stop. I'm like okay. But I got down few stops earlier and went to opp side bus stop, thinking I can take a bus that back to where I wanted to. Not wanting to take the wrong one this time, I asked few people which bus to take. ALL, can you believe it, ALL replied, "I don't know!". So I took whatever bus I thought was right, and ended up getting down one stop before a bus stand thats close to my house! Well! Its so confusing with the names all written in Tamil, and conductor nodding his head when you ask before you board, only to be told while taking the tkt that this bus goes nowhere where you want to. So at the bus stand, I marched into the control room and asked which bus would take me to place A; my sentence spoken very very slowly, clearly, and supplemented with actions.

Finally! But guess what. The market was closed as it was a Sunday, which of course doesnt apply to "pattu" saree shops and "thanga maligai" shops. Silk sarees and gold jewellery. So I didn't alight from the bus (I could see the music instruments shop that I wanted to go to, was closed), instead went all the way upto a stop where I knew that crossing the road to opp. side bus stop would help me take the same bus back. Else, I would've got entangled in that whole "I don't know" and wrong buses and one ways again.

So this was one uneventful weekend.

Can't wait for Nov 11th, then Dec 14th, then Dec 26th, finally! :D

... so says my Today's Fortune on Orkut. Well then, lets start with a post!

I am back from a 6 day vacation! My cousin, the beautiful, talented, intelligent Kanch, got married and this was a perfect opportunity to meet few relatives I hadn't met in a long time, and wouldn't be able to do so for a long time either. Weddings are such a fun time. Dress up, tease the groom, eat good food, hugs, good wishes - ah!

Best part was meeting my neice. What a cute kid :) I want herrrrrrrrrrr she so pretty and thin and tall! She kept saying "Naaanni beku" ("I want my grandma" - she loves my mom!), "Aaaaaiiii aaai aai aai" (calling out to her mom), and loads of such cute things. During the reception, she saw my hubby and stretched her arms, a sign that she wants him to take her in his arms. :O She NEVER did that with me! Bataati hu use... no boyfriend tips, or supporting her when she wants to take up tatooing as her fulltime job!

I will get to meet few more ppl at Poo's engagement, dunno after that. The tickets are booked. Now is the time to dispose of the things at home we won't be needing.

I was watching America's Next Top Model, and my! Beauty is overrated isn't it. But I guess as long as you are willing to go the extra mile to look good, it shouldn't be anyone's concern. Its purely upto the individual.

Everytime I login to orkut, I look at my fortune and go into a deep, extra, too-much thinking mode (not that I need a trigger for that... ). I start wonderting if this is what it means, or what it doesn't mean, and begin relating things that happened recently, or I might do differently because of it. What crap. I need to snap out of it. Things will happen. Look at the past 2 months. Its all happening. Dekhte dekhte it'll be Dec last week. Life does throw challenges to us doesn't it? Or we dive head first into it. Who knows. Sab maaya hai. I got my passport in 2002, and the "Date of Issue" was same as "Place of Issue". I tried getting it corrected, but somehow it never happened. Then, in Feb 2007, 5 years after getting it, (which means half the validity period is over :)) ), the kind man at the Regional Passport Office corrects it. Without bribe, without us needing to stand in queue, without needing to fill any forms. He says its a "clerical mistake" and corrects in 5 seconds. Lo! So things happen. Will happen.

I'm currently reading Midnight's Children. Who's read it? Any thoughts?

Who's not seen the movie Transformers? Anyone? You? Pls, take the nearest newspaper and roll and whack yourself on your head with it! Its an amazing movie! Full AI and robotics. Fun, with a message and extremely enjoyable! I bet you wished you had a Bumble Bee to protect you :)

I have lots to write and now I'm going to do just that.

We have taken some important steps in our life, both work and personal, and those steps are huge. Hell, its not a step, its a leap!

It all started with a thought - how about if we... ? It seemed like a right thing to do, so we printed out the forms, filled them. After 2 attempts at me (alone) filing the application as independent candidate, we finally did it the 3rd time (for me), 1st time (for him) and applied together on same day. We got the results a month and 21 days later, again on the same day.

The tickets are booked too. Its all going to work out. It has to :)

I'm going to look at it as an opportunity to learn, grow and enjoy. Think of all the places I'll see, people I'll meet, cuisines I'll get to try, new friends I'll make! It's going to be a lot of fun!