The Prankensteins….

After Murali and I got engaged, he was to leave for US on the same evening. So Dad and I went to the airport to send him off. For some reason, Murali’s flight to Delhi got delayed by some 2 hours. Being newly engaged, Murali and I decided to camp at the airport until his take-off time. Giving us some privacy, dad went home alone. When he reached home, here is what he did.

Mom probably waited for few minutes for me to come home after Dad, knowing that I have a lot of things to do while walking those 3 floors up..

Mom: Where is Dil?

Dad: Hmm..

Mom: What? Where is she?

Dad: Looks like the boy’s flight (Yes.. that time he was just called boy ) from Delhi to US is delayed for the night. So Dil also went to Delhi with him. She will take tomorrow morning’s flight back to Hyderabad.

Mom: What? She left already ?

Dad: Hmm… (Imagine Raj Kapoor’s sad face here…)

Poor mom. She bought everything dad said. Sas-Bahu-Serial impacted Mom couldn’t hold it a moment. Yet, she had to act bravely. After all, if the daughter left her without even saying good-bye and without even telling her that she was going to Delhi, why should she cry? So she was feeling really bad, yet didn’t say a word out. And the Prankenstein Dad was sitting in the corner, calmly reading the newspaper without letting a clue out.

After three hours, saying good-bye to Murali, I came home. Mom opened the door. And when she saw me, for a second, she was confused, not knowing how come I was back so early. A moment later, she realized that this was one of my dad’s pranks, she laughed out loud. When dad filled me in on what he did, I couldn’t control myself. We three laughed and laughed non-stop.

Of course, the next two weeks, my dad and I attacked mom on the fact that she didn’t trust her daughter.  She had to endure our torture for a longer time, actually. Even now, when I say something and she doesn’t believe, I say, “Anyway, you never trusted your daughter. Remember that time, when Dad told you that I left you without even saying goodbye and you believed him…”. LOL. Poor mom.

That’s how my dad is. No matter how many pranks he plays, mom always falls for him.

And somebody had to take the Prank torch from him. Right? I did. Well, I am not as good as him, but I do try.

My mom is also the ultimate home-maker type. When she buys something, she would bargain for the last penny. If she spent money on something, she will expect it to work 100%.  Once she got a leaking brass pot repaired. The guy who fixed the leak did a decent job. But mom wouldn’t believe until she saw for herself. After giving the guy a hundred warnings that she will come back to the store if the leak wasnt fixed, she decided to put the pot to test.

She filled up the pot with water and left it in a corner. Her idea was that if it was still leaking, there would be water around the pot. She also decided to check on it every few minutes. Enter me. Right before the (few-1) minutes, I would sneak to this corner, open up a nearby tap and spill some water around the pot. And when mom came she would see the water and assume that leak is not fixed yet. Mom would walk to corner, see the water around the pot and start complaining that nobody offers quality service…etc..etc… We did this couple of times. It was getting damn funnier. I actually wanted her to go to the store again and complain that pot wasnt fixed, but she finally caught me spilling water. And my act was complete. Thank God she laughed instead of putting me to another kind of insanity test, but she did make sure she does a new test on the utensil for confirmation, of course, when I was not around. One thing I don’t understand now is when she knew the pot was still leaking, why did she need to check on it again? Maybe she was trying to find out how big the hole was. I don’t know.

Huh. I miss all these pranks. But on the brighter side, when I visit India…I can pass on the knowledge to Kousik. I am sure he will add his own touch.



Fall Is Here…

And each time the word ‘Fall’ is uttered in a group, people cannot help but go gaga over how beautiful it is. Alright. Alright. It’s pretty. I agree. Before I click some pictures and upload them here and before you guys say the same, I am uploading fall pictures from last year. That is, fall pictures from California. Yes. I want you guys to like My California better than not-so-my Washington.

Last year, even though we wanted to, we couldn’t go visit all the fall colors at those famous scenic drives. So all these pictures are from our home sweet home in Sunnyvale.

When my parents were here, the leaves just started changing colors. But mom and dad had to leave before the change was complete. Until today, this transition is so amusing to my dad. He keeps asking, each day, how much the leaves have changed. And we would update him saying that they are 10% red, half yellow, like mom’s that maroon saree etc. They would have loved it very much if they could see the real fall.

Meanwhile, our apartments turned prettier day by day. Leaves all over the place. Beautiful combinations of colors.

Ahh..I feel so nostalgic looking at these pictures. My mom, dad and my aunt used to go walking, shopping around our place. By the time I come home, they would tell me all their day activities. They even discovered a Murphy park behind our house. That park is still my favourite. Only because when I remember it, I remember my parents being there. After my parents left for India, my aunt was still with us. Poor thing, she was so bored after they left. I can’t forget her complaining about her boredom, the cold weather; All this while enjoying the pretty colors.  

One day when I came home from work,  the trio so proudly exhibited this plant to me. They said they plucked the pudina leaves from some where and re-planted it. Given how much they loves gardening, I wasn’t surprised to see the plant growing up very well.  And all of this in a yogurt container.

Miss you lots people. Can’t wait to see you all in December and hear your awesome stories about everything.

Wait. How did I come here? Wasn’t I talking about Fall? Sigh. Can’t help folks.

Okay then. I will leave you guys with more pictures. Wait for Washington fall pictures, which, btw, may not be as memorable as the earlier fall pictures to me. But definitely pretty. I agree

A Happy World

33 men…69 days…All rescued from the chile mine. Did you guys realize that this is one happy incident where nothing went wrong and everything was a happy ending?

Meaning “All 33 of us are fine in the shelter”

We are already in a dearth of good news in this world. So before any body from media starts pointing anything wrong about this, I am going to say I am happy for this one happy event.

Flying…Raining…Boring…

Hey You..Yes you irritating house fly. How dare you? First of all, you enter my house without my permission. Secondly, you show no sign of remorse for doing so. And as if that was not enough, you continue to irritate me by flying around me, no matter where I go. You fly around so cautiously, I couldn’t even kill you. But then how was I able to almost catch you on camera. I bet you slowed to get clicked. Didn’t you? If I am talking to you like this, you should have understood by now that I am not even that sweet. So, why? Get out of here. Alright! You wont. I know. But listen to this, no matter how long you do that, I am not going to get up from here without saying what I wanted to.

Soooo…Hello folks…what I actually want to say first is that…finally…it paid off. Our moving here. One of the two ideas of us moving all the way from bay area (Miss you sweets..miss you..*A heavy emotional hug*) to this rainy land is that Murali can go to school. That is to do MBA. His dream; To go to a good school to do MBA. He got admitted to University Of Washington after we moved here. And poor thing, he patiently waited for his school to start. And now, it has. Things began kicking-in in the end of september and now he is officially super busy. I heard that classes, projects etc. can get pretty hectic and now I am seeing it. First week of classes and he already had assignments to finish. Last Sunday, he slept at 2 am and woke up at 6 am. Sigh. (Oh, btw, I was sleeping all the time, as if I am the one who is doing all the assignments.) I guess his schedule will pretty much be the same for the next two years. The last two weekends, he spent time preparing for his classes all the time and I spent my time wondering what should I do to make my weekends productive. You see, planning is very important. Especially, when you need to plan for two years. So, that being said, let us move on to what I wanted to say next. Oh, btw, Good luck Murali….Hamara naam roshan karo…:)

Just when I wanted to make my weekends productive, weather changed completely. It is now raining. Not that it wasnt earlier, but now the uncertainty of will it rain or not is gone. It is raining and raining. And I couldn’t find a better time than now to finish the scarf I was trying to make from last December. It was a bulky yarn and no pattern would suit it. Finally I managed to do a scarf out of it for Venna. As I was running out of yarn, I had to make it shorter than usual, but I am going to say that it is okay because she is just a kid. However, I did add a little something to make her forget about the length. Venna is all girly and she would love the extra color and jingles. I cant wait to see her wear the scarf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And today, while I was trying my best not to disturb Murali, I started drawing a small smiley on a balloon for him and finally ended up drawing this. This, my friends, will come to know in the future as the first of my famous art. So order your copies today. Note: No funny comments on the picture will be accepted. You just have to say its awesome. Because it happens to be the first one that is decent enough to be displayed.

There you go. I wrote it all. Now, I have to get back to the fly. Where is it?

AAAHHHHH

I feel so terrible, so unlucky. At work, I had to do 2 things. I did those two things, in addition I also did another 2 things and made sure everything was fine. But there was this one extra thing I didn’t and now it is broken. Now, no body is going to notice that I did two extra things. What is visible is only that I didn’t do that extra one thing. Even when I sent out a report, I clearly mentioned what I have done. Nobody bothered to look at and tell me what is missing. Because things are taken for granted. Nobody is even going to notice that a simple review would have saved us from learning things the hard way. Now, I am staring at the monitor, looking at my email, not sure what will happen next or tomorrow. Aah! I hate this. It feels so awful.

Its Time

It is time. Its time to remind people that I exist in this world, although on the other side of the world. Its time to see the familiar faces that have waited for me, for a long time now. Its time to see the little one, now nick named Poori-Boy; Its time to really see how much he likes pooris that the mere mention of the word gets him to do all of his homework. Its time to show him that I am just not a Santa who sends him chocolates. Its time to face the big question from every person,”Kids????” (The question takes a new form when asked in person. Isn’t it?) Also, it is time to experience the frantic traffic that my dad keeps complaining about.

And that time is a trip to home. Coming up, during December, almost all of the month.

I can hardly wait after I booked my tickets today. Mom is already planning on what she will be cooking for me. Sis already slipped me a note offline that Poori-Boy will be busy with his exams and I can’t disturb him. (He is Five; How important his exams could be? Besides, who else am I going to teach the teeny-tiny pranks I know.) Dad, however, has asked me not to plan any trips to places than Hyderabad. He has a point; So I have asked my friends from Bangalore to come over. I hope they do. Thankfully, most of my other friends are still in Hyderabad. I just hope I would have wonderful time with them, making those trips to shopping, movie theatres, restaurants etc. I am also super excited to take my mom shopping. She loves it, when I buy her sarees. Especially, when she proudly exhibits our shopping bags to dad, who is equally happy too, but for some reason, says nobody should shop for clothes, but only for stocks. And mom starts rolling her eyes in the background. .

62 days to go. I can hardly wait.

 

Appy Appy Bday!

<Sad Post Alert….>

Birthdays are so overrated. Especially when you are not turning 24 (Yeah. Turning 24 is better to me than turning 18). Of all the years of my life, my undergrad birthdays and those while I was working in India are the only best ones. I cannot recollect most of my childhood birthdays and its been a while I looked at any of those pictures. Apart from these, all my birthdays are very silent. They are nothing better than a normal day; probably a new dress and a quiet dinner. This, however, didn’t stop me from dreaming. After all, if there is an eternal optimist society, I could be a grand member of it. So, each years birthday ends with the hope of having a great birthday next time. (yeah, yeah, I am thinking surprise parties, everybody calling me, wishing me, with friends, movie, dinner, gifts, loads and loads of fun, laughing out loud, a day in Disneyland with non-stop chatter and laughs and etc. )

So what happened today? Two of my best friends I was expecting to wish me didn’t wish; Nobody in the office knew about my bday; I walked to office alone in the cold weather; Had another unproductive work day; And still stayed at work until 6:30,that too on a Friday evening; And now I am here writing this and watching some stupid show on TV. And that’s it; Birthday celebrations are over.

Today, I have to recollect my best birthday moments, otherwise, this time, I don’t think I will hope for a better one next time.

My first teen birthday, our phone wouldn’t stop ringing. When I had friends over for a party, we talked and talked and talked. All my friends were there and all of them got me gifts . 3 or 4 hours of masti time. I spent the next couple of days looking at the personal notes my friends wrote on the gifts. Of course that time, I didn’t have the after and before birthday celebration idea. But when I started working, my friends at work made up this idea. So those 3 years, I almost celebrated my birthday 9 times. . But the best among those 9 was the one when they all brought me small gifts. Took me to a small restaurant near office and each of them started popping up a present. That was so cute. The minute I thought I got all the gifts, another one would give me a present. Not expensive gifts though, but very nice ones. My all-time favourite Jurassic Park: The Lost world DVD was also a part of the package. Oh, I almost forgot. They also got me another new dress and made me change in the office wash room. Interestingly, most of the people at work noticed that I was wearing a different dress than in the morning and then I had to tell  them (if they didn’t know already) that it was my birthday. And then there were many more ‘Happy Bday’ wishes.

Hmm…I guess my expectations will stay the same. But, I don’t even want a bday like the earlier ones, but something better than a quiet birthday. I don’t want to be treated like a princess or etc, but I just want to laugh. But I know, when my daughters are here, they will. I will make sure their birthdays are the best day of their year. I swear.

 

Morning Star Or Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Okay. I am trying to change. Trying to become a better person than I am now. There are multiple reasons behind why I want to get better, but that is not the point now. The point (and the problem at hand) is that all the bad habits I have, almost always boil down to my sleeping habits (at least according to my mom). Sleeping really late and waking up even late is part of my life. In the 3.5 years of our marriage, not once did I wake up before Murali. (okay, may be once or twice). But in my defense, here is why I dont do that..

   ♥ I love my morning sleep. That is the only time of the sleep when I actually sleep.

   ♥ If you are thinking all wives should rise and shine before the husbands do, is it fair to compare me to a human who is waiting for the clock to strike 6 so that he can get out of the bed?

   ♥ When I have kids, would they let me sleep? Or even worse, what if they are like Murali and wake up at 6?

   ♥ All of my beloved grandmas and grandpas complain that they can no longer sleep because they are old. If I am going to be one of them in future, why would I want to spoil my happy sleep now?

   ♥ What do I do waking up so early? (Okay! fine. This reason is no longer valid)

Anyway, never mind my reasons not to. Again, the problem here is how-to-wakeup. And so, like a normal aaj-kal-ka human, I binged “How to wake up early”. (Binged..Sheesh…I dont like the sound of it. ). And what I found was very uninteresting and stupid. For example,

   ♥ First stupid idea: Setting alarm and keeping the alarm far away from the bed. The idea is that one will wake up and go switch it off. Yeah. Sure! As if that is going to happen. Do you know what will happen…

             ♣ On the first day, I will get up, switch off the alarm and come back sleep. Just as in trance and like that alarm was far away for no reason.

             ♣ On the second day, Murali will get up, switch off the alarm and try wake me. Instead of me waking up, I would make him sleep again.

             ♣ On the third day, Murali will get up, switch off the alarm and keeping yesterday morning’s experience in mind, he would silently slip away from the bedroom.

             ♣ On the night before the fourth day, Murali will give me some silent-cold-killer looks and switch off the alarm and I just can’t care less.

             ♣ And for the rest of the days, I wouldn’t even remember that I was trying to wake up early.

   ♥ Second stupid idea: Get a friend to call you in the morning and keep talking until I wake up.

             ♣ Sounds good. But who is going to wake up this person? And where does he live? On Pandora?

             ♣ Instead of trying to help me get rid of one bad habit, are you asking me to develop another bad habit of talking before brushing? Yikes.

   ♥ Another stupid idea: Take a hot shower and cut the heat and blah blah and blah blah.

             ♣ Did you say a hot shower on a cold winter morning that would make me feel very warm and cozy and soothi…..Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Now you get the point. Don’t you? These ideas are so superficial. Given that, I used my brain cells (in their most active time, i.e. night) and came up with a personalized plan to help one wake up in the morning.

  ♥ Have kids. I bet one won’t be sleeping a minute more than he or she can. Even better, follow this.

             ♣ Send your children to far far away schools (No matter how old they are)

             ♣ Make sure you spoil them so that they only eat exotic breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

             ♣ Even if your work place is close to your home, take a busy city bus/train, tour the city and then go to work. (It is important to stand in the bus/train)

  ♥ Get a nagging husband. Otherwise,

             Murali: Please wake up ra

             Me: Just  5 more minutes.

             Murali: (After 10 minutes) Please..You are getting late.

             Me: Just  2 more minutes.

             Murali: (After 10 minutes) Please…

             Me: Its late anyway. 10 more minutes.

           …… and the story continues.

  ♥ Get addicted to coffee. Why do you think Murali doesn’t wait a minute after he is awake to get out of the bed? To meet his best buddy. He goes by the name ‘Folgers Classic Roast’.

  ♥ Miss out on satisfying things in life. To wake up early, we got to sleep early, remember? That means no more reading blogs, writing on blog, no more commenting, no more.. etc. etc. etc.

  ♥ Follow the 90 minute sleep pattern cycle. Oh, btw, that means sleeping 90 minutes early. As we know that all the tv shows run for either 30 minutes or 60 minutes, this means that one might have to watch TV for at least 3 hours before going to bed. Isnt this idea better than the others?

  ♥ Devise a machine that will automatically throw you out of the bed at a certain time.

  ♥ Than eating a bit of yogurt or protein after waking up, drinking a little something before sleep has proven to solve many of the major problems.

Now,did you read all that? Tell me, is it worth it? Not you coffee lovers! But people like me. The Morning stars..because we sleep and let others sleep….

Memorable Weekend

♥ Because I heard Monday is off! Yeah, yeah I know I have to be back to work on Tuesday, but I heard that monday is off!!!

♥ Because I heard  a set of ‘wow’, ‘very good’, ‘nice’ from my mom and my aunt (who has even increased the probability of her visiting me).

♥ Because we cooked two sabjis, pulihora, sambar, two appetizers and two desserts in one evening and managed to come out of the kitchen without any traces of soot on the face. And the best thing is feeling good after cooking. Oh boy, when was the last time that happened?

♥ Because the pleasantly surprising sight of a clean kitchen after so much of cooking, lots of visitors, things moving all over the place is perfect (Thank you-know-who).

♥ Because cascade loop scenic drive is really a scenic drive and eating a so-called one scoop ice cream that is as big as a three scoop ice cream is heavenly.

♥ Because it is exciting to be getting down to see a waterfall, but instead getting scared on seeing the ground some 200 ft below your feet through the bridge gaps.

♥ Because it feels very happy to sing along “Phoolon Ke Rang Se Dil Ki Kalam Se…” with every one in the car.

♥ Because it is surprising to drive some 200 miles to a place called Winthrop, only to find that it is a two lane old cow-boy styled town.

♥ Because it is funny to pick on one large scoop of ice cream all day and bring it into the conversation every time.

♥ Because it is comforting to come back at 11 in the night and have food ready to eat.

♥ Because the cloudy and rainy Sunday is a perfect reason to stay home and play “Apples To Apples” and perfect time to learn a new card game. (My first ever)

♥ Because it’s wonderful to sit together with friends and eat lunch, ice cream, almond swiss chocolate and have coffee in a row.

♥ Because Murali said,”If you are worrying now about going back to work tomorrow and not having fun there, you are missing the fun this moment”.

Bark Off ??? What???

I am not sure if this is for real or if it even works, but this just sounds insane to me.

 Whats next? Shuttin up crying babies, nagging wives?