Flashback!

Merry Christmas peepals! 

6 more days for 2013 and I am still wondering what to do for the New year's. I guess I will eventually land up in some random place either dancing or eating or just wandering!  Right now, I sit here in front of the laptop (on a holiday), listening to a song which annoys my hubby the most, trying to write a plan for a project starting in 2013 and in the midst of all that, trying to write this ;)

BTW this is my 3rd attempt at a blog post this week. I don’t know why (may be I know why) I have just not been able to either turn my thoughts into words, or found time to write, or found the words and the time, but just didn't get enough "meat" to put into a post. Lets just hope I manage to finish this one successfully ;)

For all the "end-of-the-world" hype this year had, we seem to have passed by the "Doomsday" smoother than anticipated. Wonder if the whole 2012 prediction was just another way of getting a new topic to frighten people  or make money! Anyways, for me, I believe this year went really well! "How do you say that?" You may ask. Let me try to answer that as convincingly as I can :)

January - Started the year in a rather boring way (sitting at home). However, managed to reach my 100th blog post on the Newyears'. So proud of me on that one ;). Made my maiden visit to Kolkata and attended Amit n Ruchika's wedding. Enjoyed every moment of their hospitality and made some real witty friends :-))

February - Vishnu and I got famous on our 3rd anniversary :) Our story was featured in Femina February edition.  Haven't read it? See here. We celebrated the "D" day at Masinagudi along with love birds Hussain and Rash. We also signed papers for our new House which is currently under construction :)

March and April: Well, nothing much, first wedding in the team. Padma got into wedlock :) and I managed to save myself from getting fooled :P

May: By far the best-est month of the year :) My first trip to Seattle, loads of re-union, some major bonding with sister. Sky dived from 12,500 feet above sea level (I have a Certificate to prove that ;) ..)  Road trip to 3 states in 2 days - From LA to Grand Canyon to Vegas!  :) Also did a cycle gap visit to Dubai (you know why ;) )

June: Back home and continued normal life ;) Akka and kids visited us :) Urvi found a new baby sitter to cling and climb on :) and Rashi found a new partner in crime ;) In-laws started for their 2.5 months vacation to US.

Team outings, dinners, lunches, treats at its best :) Stephen's first visit to Chennai.

July:  Met Rosy and Mallika after ages! Super surprise planned by both of them :) Spent some very "embracing" moments with Kishen, Ambika and Mariya ;)

August: Best friend Suni got married to her forever friend Kiruba :) Back at work, launched India Kindle Store on Amazon.com

September: Trip to Bangalore, met Phaphda. Took complete pleasure of bugging Prathi :) Streaked my hair Red :) and and and ….Celebrated my Birthday with awesome surprises, loving wishes and cake cutting! Completed 4 years at Amazon :D

October: One day trek to Tada, fun time with team and hubby. Mr. Awesome moved to Bangalore (sad and happy for him). Gangnam style outing at Raddison Blu (Mahabs). Found new girls gumbal at work to jabber with :) We also bid farewell to Zenab, she left Chennai to pursue her PhD, may God bless you and the phD ;)

November: First road trip as a couple from Chennai to Kodai. Adventure time at Elephant Valley on the Tree house ;) A good eco-friendly birthday for hubby;)

December: Numerous project launches at work (team is super proud of their work). In the midst of all that attended half a dozen weddings, practically every close friend of mine got married this month. Laughter filled trip to Dharmapuri and Hoganakkel.

So, "Bhaisaab aap convince ho gaye ya mein aur bolu??" - Hope you had an awesome 2012 too. Looking forward to New year party (wherever that is) and 2013 :)

Trip to the Petrol bunk

Driving back from work today, all my mind could think of was how eventful, hectic and tiring this week was (if you were following my Facebook posts you would know why ;) ). It suddenly struck me that I hadn't blogged for a very long time and feared that I had lost touch! So, just to let go of that fear, here I am with yet another set of thoughts penned down for you.

Hubby and I headed out today for a short drive to the petrol bunk and just as luck would have it we got stuck in very bad traffic. On a road which hardly qualifies as 2 lane, we had an auto rickshaw, a bus and a car all in parallel fighting to get ahead of the other without giving space to onward traffic. Where were we? We were sitting in the car behind the bus with a SWIFT Dezire on a 45 degrees angle between me and the bus. Not to mention, all the bikes in different colors and sizes occupying every spot between the vehicles.

Suddenly, the bus moves forward and the Dezire cuts in. I shout "What an ass?!!" and my hubby humbly answered "Comes with the car, Swift with an ass". "Well said" I thought. As if one was not enough, another Swift with an ass followed him and did the exact same thing! And I was like "Is it just a coincidences or everybody who owns this car is the same??!!:-S" Nevermind!

I continued to drive (inch by inch) until another "villain" showed up! A big Fortuner behind us on high beam killing my eyesight. I suddenly felt like being part of the Transformers movie where the Decepticon (SUV) is fighting against the Autobot (me) to destroy the Earth! If you have been driving, you would totally understand this description! Every such SUV thinks they rule the road and can honk and intimidate every vehicle passing by. I chose not to get affected and ignored the monster behind me!

We finally made it to the petrol bunk and spent a fortune. On the way back, just when we thought that we found a free road, we were surrounded by a bunch of bees buzzing in different directions! Didn't get it? These bees are the most annoying 2 wheel motor cycles! These bikers were as random as they could get, a guy with left indicator going right, a guy with no headlight overtaking a bus on the opposite side and the best of the lot, a  guy showing signal with his hands which I could hardly see in the dark background. I guess Size does not matter when it comes to being an annoyance to others.

Oh BTW, I almost forgot to mention the brilliant black and yellow auto 3 wheelers! They come from a different world altogether! From the time Rajni acted as an Auto-kaaran, all of them on the road think they are super stars (literally). They can fly, they can swing, they can twist and they can take their passengers any where any time in no time! Rascalas :P

Now that I am done scolding swearing and venting at every vehicle which came my way, I must confess that in spite of all that, I enjoyed this not-so-long drive. Just for the sheer entertainment and the small but good distraction from work it gave me ;)

Gujju Randomness

I was randomly listening to this song and without my knowledge started singing the words in Gujurati. My hubby couldn't stop laughing and then suggested I actually post the Gujju version on my blog.
So here it is, my attempt at so called "Patel Rap". You're welcome to all the hearty laughs ;)

aa su thai gayu che,aa su thai gayu che
aa su thai gayu che,aa su thai gayu che

Hooooooo
avi ja mara bahon ma avijaaaa

Mari hungg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che
Mari hungg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che

o Yaara, Avija mara bahon ma avija
o Yaara, Avija mara bahon ma avija

Mari hungg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che

Mhane aas thayi gayi che, thane paas me kari levu
Tari har adaa ne samjhi ane chahat ma bhari levu
Mhane aas thayi gayi che, thane paas me kari levu
Tari har adaa ne samjhi ane chahat ma bhari levu
ek ajnabee see jaanu tu mhari khaas thayi gayi che
tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che

o Yaara, Avija mara bahon ma avija
o Yaara, Avija mara bahon ma avija
Mari hungg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che
Mari hunngg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che

Tari nematon na khatir mari khushi thane aapi devu
Tu ek isharo kari dayi toh mari zindagi tane aapi devu
Tari nematon na khatir mari khushi thane aapi devu
Tu ek isharo kari dayi toh mari zindagi tane aapi devu
Tu ajh mari zindagi che mane vishwas thayi gayo che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che

o Yaara, Avija mara bahon ma avija
o Yaara, Avija mara bahon ma avija
Mari hungg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che
Mari hunngg udi gayi che
Maru chen khovai gayu che
Tara pyaar ma mari jaan aa su thayi gayu che
aa su thai gayu che,
aa su thai gayu che
Mari hunnggggg

Raksha bandhan Special

Today is Raksha bandhan/Rakhi which is a celebration of the unique relationship between brother and sister :) I do have 2 rakhi brothers whom i wish without fail on this day but haven't met for ages :(. Today, however, I started my day thinking, why rakhi was a celebration of a sis-bro relationship?? why can't it be between the same sex? I have an elder sister who is caring as hell and takes care of me and my parents, why can't i tie a rakhi to her? Good question, with no good answer!

As i am known for being a revolt and doing things my way (which is usually not what the society recommends) I choose to write this post today and dedicate it to my sister :) I surely don't praise her too often and a public display of my love in a forum like this is something I have never ever done :) So, here's my dedication to my darling sister who is miles away from me, but very close to my heart. 

A word of caution: this might get too senti to digest, so please read at your own risk :)

Dear Sister,

When I was born, I had no idea I had an elder sister who i had to match with. You gave me mixed feelings about being the "younger one". You were one hell of a competition to beat when it came to studies, and I had to always be OK with our school teachers calling me "Maryam"! Oh BTW, Mom still calls me Maryam when she is missing u too much :P 

You were the Tom and I was the Jerry! I do not remember a single day during my childhood where both of us have not fought. Our conversations would start and end in a fight, and we made no excuses for being as blunt to each other as possible. Thank God we didn't get physical! Nevertheless, I cherish every single fight cos that made us stronger ;) and then the unfortunate (read fortunate) happened - you left us to meet Uncle Sam!

You leaving to US was a big change for all of us at home, it was silence in the house for weeks. Mom, dad and me would look at each other and just have tears in our eyes cos we were missing u so much! I never knew i would miss you cos I initially thought "Happa! good riddance". But I was so wrong! After the realisation had struck i jumped at every occasion to talk to u on the phone and guess what, FIGHT! I didn't know the feeling was mutual until i came to the US and spent time with you. It was the best time i ever had with you and from then on, we bonded like best friends! 

I must say you have flaws (lol)!You are stubborn, You are impossible, You are bossy and you are impatient. You are short tempered and you irritate me (sometimes)! But!!!  You are the best sister one can ever have! The most caring, protective, unconditionally loving and super fun sister I could have ever hoped for! 

So to wrap it all up without sounding like I am writing a Love letter on the Internet - Happy Raksha Bandhan dear Sis. i accept gifts in Cash (USD) and kind! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :D

You and me!

I was bored, so was he. I wanted to chill out, so did he. I made the plan, he happily accompanied. This is a norm between me and Vishnu. It was quiet long since we went for a night show movie together and I started to think if we were really growing old (besides the age) to get thrilled about a movie plan! To get rid of that thought, I decided to just go ahead and make a movie plan and when i got on to my favorite theatre website I found the perfect movie! (I will educate you on why i call it perfect little later on this post)

Ek main aur Ekk tu - released just in time for valentine's day! From the trailers of the movie, it looked like a rip off of the English Rom-Com "What happens in Vegas". Ashton Kutcher did a real good job troubling the so-called wife and i was hoping Imran will have a similar role as well. But, I was wrong, the only part which is copied from the movie is the part where the 2 of them get drunk in Vegas and get married by mistake! The movie turned out to be more mushy than expected and Imran was the girl with a broken heart :P. Kareena on the other hand had a role which she is completely comfortable with - the bold, the beautiful and the bubbly. I am not yet sure whether I liked the movie completely but overall I guess it was a nice light hearted, no nonsense movie. I was just glad that the director and story writer did not add any unnecessary masala to it :) I specifically appreciated the ending :). One movie which begun with "The End" and ended with "The Beginning".
So, as far as the movie goes, I think its a decent flick to spend a few hours on and enjoy the songs for few days :) Now finally getting to the point: Why I thought I chose the perfect movie! Vishnu started watching Hindi movies in theatres only after i entered his life. Since then, I take the sadistic pleasure of torturing him with the bollywood dramas on a large screen for 3 to 4 hours :) Most of the times, I am successful with the torture and sometimes I fail (that is when there is a good movie like 3 idiots or ZNMD or something like that). So when I picked this movie, i knew that it will have a bollywood twist to the English movie and assumed that it will be a good plot to bug him. When the movie got over, I immediately turned to him and asked "Waste of time?" and he replied "Not really" - I disappointed :-| ..lol :P

Nevertheless, I re-discovered that we are still thrilled at a movie plan and can go for a night show anytime :)

The 1

Now this one is the most hyped blog post of the year. I finally got myself to complete the 6 day marathon of blogging ...Excited, thrilled and what not. Now this elated feeling doesn’t seem to be helping me at all. I have no idea what to write, how to write and how much to write! :(

So today there is no list. Obvious, 1 item on a list is actually not a list, or may be it is? But what the hell, the point is I am not really planning to write a list at all. But I would complete this countdown with the most craziest thing I have ever done in my life.

The craziest thing I did is probably not new to many of you. But I take a lot of pride in it because I managed to pull this off and show the world that sometimes just following your heart and doing something crazy is all you need to do! This crazy thing took me 5 long years of consistent persuasion and commitment. This crazy thing helped me become stronger and bolder. This crazy thing made me half mad and completely insane ;) This crazy thing is not really a thing :)

The craziest and the best thing I ever did in my life is marry Vishnu :-) hehehe.

Happy New year Guys :) Have a great 2012. And its not the end of the world yet :)