Green Veggies Anyone?

I went to a supermarket today. To a supermarket which I had never stepped into till last month. I have lived here for almost 8 years now and was probably one of the rare variety of species who never visited this Indian supermarket! And must I say, I was so proud of not stepping into that boring, messy,cheap place?!(Yes I was a judgemental). Till someone told me how nice the place is, how good the vegetables are and that how she drives 30km. just to come to this store which is at a disctance of 3 kms from my house! So you see the power of "word of mouth"? (Well more about it in the next post!).

As I stepped into the store, I saw green vegetables. Every possible Indian vegetable - neatly arranged for you to pick and choose. Long green bhindis (okra), peas, borcolli, spinach, methi (fenugreek), dill, coriander...everything! I got so excited! I know I might be sounding stupid here but I have to admit I get a high when do grocery shopping now!!

As an unmarried girl, I would get so impatient with my mom when she would stop the car if she found a vegetable guy selling good gobhis(or any other veg for that matter)!! She would stop and move from one hawker to the other, chosing and haggling all the way. To top it all, the driver would be as excited as her and guide her on the way - whenever she missed a hawker!

*"Auntyji papita 10 rupaiy kilo mil raha hai yahan par"

"Nahin woh ghar par thele wala 8 rupaiy me de gaya hai aaj"

After a short distance...

"Auntyji aam acchey rakhen hain yahan. Dekengi?"

(It was as if he was getting a cut from those sellers and he would'nt stop enticing her till she stopped!!)

(Another reason why I wouldn't drive her around. If I drove my condition was clear - the car would not stop anywhere mid-way! She agreed most of the times, but well she still made me stop everytime!! That's what moms are made of you see:))

This would go on till my mom would finally decide that something is actually cheap and good. Then the haggling would start and I would lose my patience. I would want to go home at the earliest so that I can do something better like watch TV, listen to music or talk to a friend on phone...

Life has changed in so many ways. Not that I regret it or anything - in fact I enjoy it much more than I ever did. But sometimes you remember old times and small things in life which bring a smile to your face. Today is one of those days. I mean literally - I was smiling and shopping. Guess the guys over there thought I am one lunatic woman! Or maybe they didn't...they were too busy working to notice me smiling away to glory...

Now I truly understand the thrill my mom would get from grocery shopping :)

*Aunty (that's how he referred my mom) papaya is for Rs.10 over here"

"No the hawker at home gave it for Rs.8" (In india most people buy from hawkers who come home to sell the veggies))

After a short distance...
"Aunty the mangoes are good here. Do you want to see?"

Pic Credit

Recession Depression?

I have gotten very busy with work and that takes up most of my time. Everyday I decide I want to write a post and read some, but it never happens. Off and on, I have been going through some of your posts - sometimes commenting sometimes not. But I am still here and finding it hard to give up on blogging!

Recession has hit everywhere - but I hear it's not as bad in India? Is it true? Dubai is different story altogether. With the real estate sector booming in the last couple of years, most people were dabbling their hands in property. Many made tons of money (I am not sure how many of them have been able to retain those profits, as they always reinvested to get greater returns you see). Suddenly that sector is wiped out. Companies are downsizing and people are losing their jobs left, right and centre. Banks, Steel industry, Oil sector, Retail - everything has been spiralling downwards. Yesterday I was told by someone, a local bank announced to the top management that they will be downsizing. Within 1 hour they had a list of people to be fired. Those people were to empty their desks and leave the office in the next 30 minutes! And they fired over 300 people.

Dubai is a rootless place. When I say rootless, I mean the people living in this country are mostly expats. And they are here either for money or to break their journey towards West. Since one can almost never get a citizenship here, as soon as the job/business is lost, the expat is ready to leave. There is no real attachment or reason for one to stay back. In fact even if one wants to (for whatever other reason), one cannot because the visa is cancelled.

So as I was saying, a friend pointed a very different perspective. If people lose their jobs and leave the country, how will the economy ever pick up? Is job cutting the real answer to this problem? Is it possible to cut costs by cutting salaries of people rather than downsizing? That way atleast the person has money to spend and would thus keep the demand for things going (however slow that might be, atleast it won't be zero).

They say "the pain has not even started". I wonder what a real depression would be like. Not that I am dying for a first hand experience, but I am curious! And we are starting a new business - yes a new one - at this time. It's good because the costs are coming down, but then so is the demand. So keeping our fingers crossed!

PS: Saw and read about the Pink Chaddi Campaign. Fantastic effort by these girls. Ram Sena deserves a super "moohphat" jawab like this!! Check out their blog here

Edited to add: Did you watch the NDTV Greenathon? I wonder why none of the politicians came forward to adopt a village? I mean that would've earned them brownie points and some votes too! As much as I applaud the effort, I also wonder if this is in any way freeing the Government from doing their duty? Afterall we pay taxes for this very reason - so that every village/city/town gets a decent infrastructure including electricity. Right?

New Year Celebrations

Before I start this post, I'd like to wish all of you a very happy new year :)

I have been itching to write a post on all that we did but wanted to wait for the pictures as well. Yes my camera ditched me so waiting to collect them from my friends. And I don't know how much longer I have to wait so I have decided to write about it anyways.

We started from Dubai on 31st afternoon and reached the desert camp by early evening. Since it was our first time there (the rest of the group went there for the last 2 years), we were warned that the place has very basic facilities and we should not expect much. But we were pleasantly surprised to find a huge area just for our use, with 10 very neat and clean chalets (all ours). There was a Majlis where we would be partying in the night and a dining hall (for all the meals and tea). There was a swimming pool which we obviously couldn't use because of the cold weather and then there was a separate area for team building activities like a spider web, wall climbing, skiing etc.

Chalets were lined up on one end of the property

The vast area had some well highlighted trees

The Majlis was our playground for all games, fun and frolic

Most of the evening was spent talking with friends, setting up the projector and sound system in the Majlis and general chit chat. This was followed by a barbeque and then dinner. After dinner we all were supposed to get dressed and assemble in the Majlis for our skits!

Much as I was excited about the skit, hubby ditched me last moment :(. He refused to do the skit and well so I just did a karaoke song to cover up. He had had a bad day and I didn't feel it right to push him too much. Rest of the group did some funny stuff. One couple danced on a song, one family did the Gujju thingy in Kal Ho Na Ho (G-U-J-J-U...Gujju...something - it was hilarious!), one family did the Jay Leno show where the wife became Jay, the hubby a guest (as SRK and then as Gabbar Singh) and the son was a rock legend and played guitar. One family did jokes the Goodness Gracious style and the other did mimicry of all famous stars as to how they would record their voice message. Then we all danced and welcomed the new year. This was followed by a bon fire which lasted till the next morning.

1st morning was very relaxed with most people getting up late. Then it was time for the guys at the property to take over. They divided our team into 2 groups (all couples were separated) and each team was taken to play one game. By the time we finished both the games it was evening and I need not mention the amount of rivalries that were created! But in the end, both teams scored equal. Evening again was chilled out with most of the time in the majlis doing karaoke, playing roulette and recollecting the previous day's performances. But the highlight was a quiz organised by one friend. The teams were in action once again and the quiz master had to take care of a lot of accusations ;)! By the end of the day, one team was leading by 2 points.

Next morning was devoted to 2 more games - one was a race on wooden skis which was a lot of fun. We had 5 people on each ski, who needed to coordinate their leg movements in order to lift and move forward. So one person would shout orders left right left right, and the rest would follow. We had to cross a particular path and reach the finish line. The other game was more creative. Each chalet was given a set of 8 captions. We needed to click pictures for these captions in one hour and submit. To give you an idea, here are some captions:

1. A thumbs up to 2009!
2. Look overhead
3. Hum hain rahi pyar ke
4. Pool dude
5. If you were attacked by the terrorists

This was great fun not only while shooting but even to review everyone's pictures and voting on the best ones. After all the fun and frolic, we parted finally only after a group photograph!

PS: I will try and update this post with some more pictures as soon as I lay my hands on them.

Santa Comes My Way

I had finished writing a long post and was trying to format it. I don't know what's wrong with blogger, that whnever I try to select the entire post using the touchpad, everything disappears. And at that very moment it automatically saves the post!!AAArrrggghhhh!!! I will now try and re-write the entire thing as much as I can... :( - only this time on a Word document! Arrraggghhhh!!

Christmas this year has been an eventful one for me. It started with an award by IHM. It’s a cup! I have never received such a cup in my life so I am happy! I am adding it to my award column on this blog. Since there are no rules mentioned for this award, I will just pass it on to, Renu and Nisha.

Another first that happened to me was to attend a Christmas Lunch today. Yes, I have never been to a “Christmas Lunch”before. Never. Ever. Till today. I mean we do go out for Christmas eve every year, last year we were in Goa at this time and it was amazing, but going for a porpah chrsitmas lunch – never before.

This friend had organized a sit down lunch for a cozy group of 15 people. Each guest was advised to get a unisex gift under Dhs.X. We deposited these gifts under the christmas tree and were given return gifts while leaving. When we entered the apartment, it was buzzing with children running around, glasses clinking, casual conversations and laughter all around. The view of the sea was stunning. We sat down for lunch on a balcony way up in the sky. Actually we could call it more of a supper since the “lunch” started at 4:30pm and finished at 7:30pm! The food was yum and each course was served with utmost professionalism.

The conversations hovered around the Mumbai terror attacks and how Mumbai has become so quite now. There is excessive security everywhere and there is just no mood for celebration. Another topic that kept doing the rounds was the speculation on the today-released movie Ghajini (in Dubai the movies are released on a Thursday). That reminds me, the maid at home got a holiday today since it’s her Christmas today. Yes, we do not have a public holiday for Christmas here. Neither for Diwali. Every nationality has the freedom to take off on their festical, but rest of the staff works. Anyways, so the maid went to watch Ghajini today. Her review? The Tamil version was much better! It doesn’t convince me. Being an Aamir movie, I would like to check it out myself!

BTW here’s an update on the New Year’s Eve party – Hubby and I are contemplating on doing the RNBDJ pair. He would wear a trouser with a plain shirt, white sneakers, black square glasses, a moustache, carry a bag with the saying “I work for Punjab Power”, and an old mobile. I would hand him the tiffin at some point, which he will accept with a without-showing-teeth-smile. We still have to figure out the skit though. Yes we haven’t worked on it as yet! Any ideas?

Before I finish this post I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
(Just in case I do not write till the new year!)

Pic Source

Mishmash Of This Weekend

This weekend we met some friends for lunch. It was my first time meeting the wife and kids. From the moment we met the conversation revolved around how unsafe every place is. The reason? They are from Pakistan and they hate the terrorism as much as we do.

Living in a neutral country and interacting with all nationalities, there are times when you feel awkward facing them after such acts of violence. Like now with the Mumbai attacks being traced back to Pakistan, conversations with a Pakistani has to be very diplomatic so that we do not hurt anyone's sentiments. After talking to them I realised, everyone is sick and tired of the violence around them. They seem to be hating the new government, and were openly in favour of the military raj. Law and order is in a mess across the border and the citizens there are just like us. It made me rethink - do we really want to go to war with Pakistan or we only want to get rid of the terrorists?? Their media is blaming the Indian government for framing them (Have a look at the video D put up on her blog). They said they have stopped watching TV as everything seems a farce.

There was a sense of shame in their behaviour - as if they were disowning their country for the violent acts committed by some of them. It is a sorry state to be in - to be covering up for something your people do - something you never agreed to in the first place.

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“Punjab Power, lighting up your life. Surinder Sahni this side ji.” That's what I came out rattling from the movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Got my usual dose of caramel pocorn (God! how did I survive all the movies in India without caramel popcorn?!). This is SRK's first appearance this year and I must say I liked it a lot. I am usually not a fan of SRK - liked him only in a handful of movies, but this one shows he can perform well in different roles.

RNBDJ is about a love story AFTER marriage. Simple situational humor goes ahead once again to show that a good screenplay and good acting is all you need for a good movie.

Inspired by the mutli-starrer song Om Santi Om, this movie has one too - Phir Milengey Chalte Chalte (A cheesy line SRK uses in his new avtaar Raj to impress his wife Taani ji). Kajol, Preity and Rani looked lovely in the song while Lara did a forgettable job once again. (Well she was less forgettable than the other two whose name and face I can't seem to remember right now!)

The new actress Anushka Sharma (a model from Bangalore) has done a good job of a punjabi girl in Amrtisar. Liked her simple Chikan salwar Kameezes with multicoloured dupattas. Will do a feature on this on Styalogue soon. But what hubby and I were discussing is Deepika was heavily promoted during the OSO release. Anushka on the other hand didn't get as much exposure. We wonder why?

And well instead of telling you the entire story etc, I will recommend you to watch the movie and discover it yourself.

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Read in a report that due to the recent recession, a hotel in Dubai has come up with this unique idea of providing one free meal to anyone who has lost a job as of 1st Nov! All one has to do is visit the hotel and show them their redundancy slip and viola! the meal is on the house for you!You can read the full story here.

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And before I end this post, here's a hilarious video - a spoof on Jingle Bells. Hope you enjoy it!

To India and Back

I am finally back from my trip and still feeling quite lazy. There are so many things I want to write about but am getting confused where to start! So in this post I will tell you all about our experiences and observations back home.

We landed at the Delhi airport at dawn. As soon as we reached the arrival area we were overwhelmed by the number of people reuniting with their families. While waiting for our pickup Hubby and I were amused looking at the people around us. A typical scene at the airport - families uniting, children meeting their uncles and aunts after a long time. The most amusing quote was "beta tauji ko pehchana?" We heard this one from atleast 3 different families...so well loads of nephews/nieces were meeting their uncles on this day!

The first day H and I took the car and went for some work. And boy it seems we have to follow everything but the traffic rules here. Even though we have lived mostly in India and driven there a lot, it takes a day to come back to our ruthless selves :). There are some simple rules one must follow -

• cross a signal no matter what the signal light indicates - that's just a colour!
• if you see a pedestrian crossing the road - NEVER stop! remember you have to win the race here
• if you need to turn right, stay on the left most lane and then cut at the last moment
• you are free to overtake a vehicle from any side - afterall we live in a free state!
• keep driving forward till your bonnet touched the vehicle in front - coz if you don't someone will surely come in front of you (remember? it's a race...)
• The side mirrors are supposed to remain CLOSED. Yes if you try opening them, someone will just brush against it and break it. So it is safe till the time it is closed
• Blow the horn at every opportunity you get
• All drivers must compliment their driving skills with some verbal abuse without which it is just no fun!
• Remember - it is a race - and you have to win!

Nevertheless we were back to our normal selves the next day - driving as if we never left.

The weather was very good and I hated coming back at this time. I love the wintry cold hazy mornings with fog (which sometimes meant no school in the good ol days :) ), the festive atmosphere, winter clothes, red cold nose, drinking loads of ginger and tulsi tea. In short everything that Renu is enjoying in Lucknow right now...

Well other than the weather, going back to India means loads of treats for us. It's as if we don't get any food here in Dubai. Everyday was reserved for one speciality which we had to eat since we were in Delh/Lucknow. So from Moolchand ke paranthey to Haldiram ki chaat in Delhi and Basket chaat and yummy Chilly Paneer of Royal Cafe in Lucknow, we ate it all. To top it all we carried Tundey ke Kebabs for all family and friends in Delhi and Gourmet Ice's Chocolate Truffle for the folks in Lucknow. That's our way of showing we care ;)

What do you do when you go back home? Other than meeting family friends and relatives, what is it that you must do when you visit your home town/country?

Your Opinion

Elders are always considered right in our Indian culture. Can an elder of the family ill-treat their children? By ill-treat I do not mean physical abuse here. We always here stories where about children ill-treating their parents and elders, but does the reverse happen as well?

Are You Right For The Job?

It's been a long time since I blogged. I guess I am going through a writer's block...but the problem is I am not a writer...do I still qualify? To top this, I have been busy interviewing people for a new company I am starting. So I thought just to break the ice, let me tell you about a couple of things that bothered me.

I am totally in for a casual friendly atmosphere at work and I conduct interviews in a similar manner - over a cup of coffee.Having said that, is it right for the candidates to be over friendly?

Like there was this one guy who came

1.5 hours late (after me checking with him 3 times), wearing casual clothes (shirt out). He kept laughing and showing a very casual attitude. Thankfully his work was good and so was the CV. But then again, was it a good idea to come late for an interview? (Note: the guy needs a job immediately as he is getting married in 2 weeks time and currently does not have a job). And was it a good idea to not inform me of the same?

Then there was this other guy who reconfirmed his attendance for the interview but never turned up! H says that's how people are over here - too casual and not bothered. But well this bothers me.

Once my fil told me that when he conducted interviews he would make sure he asked the guy to write something (to check he was carrying a pen) and to tell him the time (to ensure he was wearing a watch). According to him anyone who is serious about their work, would always carry a pen and wear a watch. I cannot agree with him more.

Other small things that matter in an interview or for that matter any meeting, are the courtesy to call an hour before the meeting to reconfirm, call and inform if you are running late (even if it is by 10 mins) and ask relevant questions. Relevant questions reminds me, there was another guy who got so friendly that when I told him we are hiring a team, he started telling me about his friends back home whom I should consider as well! I mean I appreciate the help and wouldn't mind checking them out, but hello isn't this a wrong time to promote your friend when you yourself haven't secured a job?

Sometimes I feel I should get more strict and ask the usual questions like "where do you see yourself in 5 years time", "what is your strength/weakness" - but then I believe these are predictable questions which we are taught to answer right from college! I remember in MBA we we wrote our CVs, went for mock interviews and got plenty of phrases which you can use to your advantage. Like "My weakness is that I am detail oriented" or "My weakness is that I cannot leave something unfinished. No matter how late it gets, I like to finish my work. So my colleagues get angry with me since they also have to stay back" (this was one answer I got from a candidate).

Another candidate had already ordered a drink for herself even before I reached the venue. Even though she had already paid for it, she was still meeting me for an interview. Is there any difference between a meeting and an interview? Is an interview more formal than a business meeting? Am I confusing the candidates by calling them to a cafe instead of my office for an interview? What is your opinion?

Picture Source

I Believe I Can Fly

I used to think that I could not go on

And life was nothing but an awful song

But now I know the meaning of true love

I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

If I can see it, then I can do it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away

I believe I can soar

I see me running through that open door

I believe I can fly

I believe I can fly

I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down

Sometimes silence can seem so loud

There are miracles in life I must achieve

But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

If I can see it, then I can do it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly...

Hey, cuz I believe in me, oh

If I can see it, then I can be it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly...

Hey, if I just spread my wings

I can fly

I can fly

I can fly, hey

If I just spread my wings

I can fly

By R Kelly. To listen to the song click here

We visited Kathmandu this summer and were mesmerised with the scenery there. Like all tourists, we visited the temples and I saw something I had never seen before. At the foothills of the temple, there was a guy with hundreds of birds in a few cages (see pic above). You could hear them chirping from far away. Cute looking birds of all sizes and colours.

I wondered who would buy birds in a tourist spot! Out of curiosity I went up to him and he started selling me the birds.

"Nahi bhaiya hum yaha nahi rehtey to hum ye chidiya nahi le saktey"

"Madam ye chidiya paltu banane ke liye nahi hai. Aap jitni khareedengey mein utni chidiyaon ko azad kar dunga"

At first I loved the idea but then I thought - is this ransom money he is charging me to release the birds? After all he only would've caught them in the first place right? Moreover what's the guarantee it's not his own pet birds who will fly back to him after some time?

"Madam bahut sabab ka kaam hai. Bahut punya milega aapko"

"To tum sab ko aisi hii kyon nahi chod dete. Sara punya tumhey mil jayega"

"Hum gareeb aadmi hain, rozi ke liye kuch to karna padta hai"

"Acchaa ye bahar reh payengi? Aakhir itney time se pinjre mein rahi hain to bahar kaise reh paengi, apney liye khana kaise dhund payengi"

"Aap chinta mat karo, yahan itney ped hain, ye araam se bahar reh sakengy"

"Ye tumhari paltu to nahi, ki jab hum jaye tum inhey vapas apne pinjre mein daal do?"

"Nahi madam, isse to bahut paap lagega. Kasam hai. Aisa kaam main kabhi nahi karunga"

By now I was too tempted and no amount of reasoning would work for me. I was itching to see the birds fly out in the open. I looked at H and he looked convinced too. So we told him to release 2 birds. BTW each bird was priced differently! The "joda"(pair) was more expensive, bulk of 6 was cheaper and so on.

We relased the couple and they instantly flew out and went on sat on a branch of a tree. They looked so happy and free. I looked at my hubby again and he nodded.

"Bhaiya char aur ko chod do"

4 more were released and they seemed to be loving their independance.

By now H was charged up and he said "Do aur chodo"

We were getting addicted to this and needed to stop before we went overboard. The guy insisted we relase more, but we were not sure. By now a few passersby were stopping to see the spectacle as well.

Another man started the same conversation with him...and we noticed the birds were sitting in nearby trees only. Somehow they seemed to be his pets. As if accustomed to this act, they were his friend and accomplice.

We quitely walked out. Hoping and praying that the birds were not put back in that cage...but then we will never know...

Din Kuch Aise Guzarta Hai Koi

I came across this poem by Gulzar and thought I'd share it with you all. You might have heard it before, but it's still a good read.

दिन कुछ ऐसे गुजारता है कोई
जैसे एहसान उतारता है कोई

आईना देख के तसल्ली हुई हमको
इस घर में जानता है कोई

पक गया है शजर पे फल शायद
फिर से पत्थर उछालता है कोई

फिर नजर में लहू के छींटे हैं
तुम को शायद मुघालता है कोई

देर से गूँजतें हैं सन्नाटे
जैसे हम को पुकारता है कोई ।

Hum Tum

Today I'll tell you a story of a boy and a girl. Let's call the boy "Tum" and the girl "Hum". (I know I know it's not very innovative, but what the heck! What's in a name? I want to be a bit filmy too!) The story is about how Hum Tum met and fell in love - and not in a trditional way where boy sees girl, falls in love at first sight - but boy messages girl and love at first type! Yes the story of love on the internet.

It dates back to the early times when internet and chatting had just started in India. Hum had just discovered the world of chatting and dabbled her way into creating conversations with strangers. With friends spread across India and abroad, she loved being in touch with strangers and connecting with them in some way - just like we make friends on blogoshere now a days! A small picture which may/may not show how a person looks, but their writings tell a lot about them - how they think, what they like, dislike etc.

One day while chatting with her usual set of friends on the net:

Tum: Hi!

Hum: Hi

Tum: Will you marry me?

Hum(amused by the line): What?

Tum(happy to get the attention and reply of a girl): Hi, I know you

Hum(now even more attentive and curious): Really? Who are you?

Tum:(happy to get undivided attention and rapid replies): I know where you live and well you are cute!

Hum(happy to hear the comment, no matter how silly it may be): Ya right. My location is mentioned right here. And if you know me then tell me who are you?

Tum: I was just joking. We don't know each other. But you sound intelligent.

Hum(smiling at the compliment): haa, I'm not so sure

Tum: Why?

Hum: Coz I am talking to you?

Tum: Smart woman! Marry me!

And so the conversation started. An hour into the conversation, the two discussed everything under the sun from food to movies to music and books. Not to mention their love interests. It's easy to guess they were both single and ready to mingle and Tum left no stone unturned by proposing Hum to marry him after every second line typed to her!

Things were going good between the two of them. They were loving the attention each got from the other and the non-committment factor in the relationship. Each lived their lives the way they wanted, but end of the day had someone to share their thoughts, anger and emotions with. Someone - who understood them well. This continued for a while and the two got closer to each other. Unlike most internet relations, they had found a connection which confirmed the other was telling the truth about themself. This took care of a lot of worries but there was still no reason why the family would recognise such a relationship. But then who is thinking of tying the knot here? It's just timepass!

Then one fine day on their usual chat this is how the converstaion went:

Tum: Hi

Hum: Hi! how are you? What's up?

Tum was silent for 10 seconds

Hum: What happened? Did you have a fight with someone

Tum: Yes

Hum: Was it that colleague again?

Tum: Yes. I wish I had a way to deal with him. He doesn't seem to understand anything...

Even silence spoke millions of words between them. And time went by with the two of them chatting and emailing everyday for a long time. Ultimately the two got married and lived happily ever after.

Now I know you'll ask - why such a long kahaani with no twist? Why such a Sooraj Barjatiya diabetically (I wonder if that's a word!) sweet story? Aisa bhi hota hai kya? Bina dekhey shaadi et all! The guy might be fooling the girl - after all you only said that it was timepass! He might be an old harried man and she a teenager just discovering a new phase in life! Maybe they were both guys! ;) Maybe everything was fine, but what when they saw each other upfront?

But well I wrote the story coz I felt like writing something positive, something nice and yes something diabetically sweet today! Hope this post can kindle some mushiness and some romance into your life. I am now off to call my husband! :)

Weekender

The weekend has been a busy one with a dinner, movie ramadan tent and outings packed in.

Booked a ticket for the movie Hijack. In my haste I hit the wrong button and boom - I had bought the tickets for the furthest cinema from our house! Great this is what I need on a weekend - a cribbing husband who hates long drives, to take me to a distant cinema for a flop movie. Anyways my motive of heading the cinemas usually is the caramel popcorn ;) So as long as I get my fix, I can bear his cribbings and I am ready to go watch any movie!

So we reach the cinema just in time for the show and are told by the lady at the counter that our tickets have already been picked up! We wasted 20 minutes trying to fugure out what the problem was. It so happened that another couple came in before us, and the lady at the counter heard the booking number wrong and instead gave them our seats!

We insisted on taking the same seats as we booked, coz there is a reason we pay online and reserve a seat right?! So the staff came in with us and tried to move the other couple to their original seat. They refused to budge. The movie has just started and they created a scene by blaming the staff. They were right in their own way. Luckily for us the row behind our orignal seat was empty and we got to sit there. After 10 minutes into the movie, guess the couple realised their mistake and shifted, but then we were well settled in our 'new better' seats.

The movie was a big let down with hardly any emotions, or story line. Shiney and Esha gave a dismal performance. And can you imagine - a song in the midst of a hikjack!! I mean there has to be some sense of direction here. One one side you are showing innocent passengers being killed, and then suddenly a song starts! They show a scene where the Indian Anti Terror Unit is sending an email to the hijacker (an email when you are already speaking to them on the phone?! And an email in an emergency situation?!) and the screen shows "Indian Mail" with the Ashoka emblem on top! Now I haven't seen any Indian email system personally but am pretty sure this is not how they look!

The movie finishes and we heave a sigh of relief. We were begining to feel empty and hopeless in our lives. Didn't we have anything better in life to do than watch this movie?? ;)

Then we headed to Mai Tai Lounge at JBR. A branch of Trader Vics, the place was buzzing with people. So much so that we had to wait for 30 minutes before we got a table. The guys got lucky as the table next to us was full of girls ;). The menu had limited choice and almost nothing to offer to vegetarians. But again, Trader Vics is known for it's Tiki puka pukas rather than food.

This was followed by a visit to a Ramadan Tent which is a unique thing they do in Dubai. Every Ramadan, all major hotels build a marquee/tent, which now a days is air conditioned because of the heat, with majlis/lounge eating, sheesha etc. It's nice to chill out with a bunch of friends, play cards, puff away some sheesha and enjoy some lebanese sweets. How we got to sit in this busy tent is another story!

Unorganised to an Organised Diva

www.humorandlaughter.com/images/organize.jpg

Obtaining genes from my mom who loves to live life as it comes - I would hate to plan and organize things. It was easier to pack in stuff based on the "Just in case" phenomenon. If anything is planned to the tee it loses its charm for me. I like the idea of not knowing, the thrill of the last moment decisions. And just as they say, your spouse should complement you - I landed up with a super organized hubby. And not only hubby but a super super organized family.

So where I dont even know which place I want to dine tonight, they even know which route to be taken to reach the restaurant! "Today is Monday and at 7:30, the BRT corridor would be packed, so we would take the...." and so it goes on. Bags are packed 3 days in advance so that everything is taken care of. Lunches, dinners, outings, shopping - everything has a lead time of 1-2 days.

Over the years I have laughed and humored about the need to organise things before hand. And all this while, unknowingly I have been emulating the same! I was amazed when this year I have managed to pre-plan all the parties and dinners at home. We have already decided on the party date and venue for this Diwali! And to top it all I have even started looking for Diwali gifts which I normally do not start till the week before the distribution! I collect stuff for a new house we have bought and would shift into maybe 2 years time?!

Another thing I kept fighting with my mom was that she would stock anything new - till it was at least a couple of years old. From crockery to bedsheets to decor stuff, everything would be stored to be displayed at the right time and this would annoy me to no end. I want instant gratification - buy it and display it. To my astonishment, my hubby says the same things I told my mom - to me! I have become a hoarder who loves to hoard good stuff for my new home. And well everything that's new is good. So there you go, the story continues.

Is it just me or it happens with everyone? You have certain views in life and hope to follow them all the while. And along the way, you change into exactly what you laughed at a couple of years back. Without notice and without a warning, I changed from being unorganised to an "organised" diva! (Well I like to think I am organised now! People may have different views)

This post is inspired by MySpace's Travel Light post. When I was going through the post, I felt as if it was meant for me and not her "darling hubby".