Kulfi Kulfi Kulfiiiiiaaaaaaaaa!

As I hogged the very famous "Rajasthani Kulfi" today, I started narrating this story to my soul mate. I couldn’t stop myself from blogging this small and short story of my connection with "Rajasthan" and "Kulfi".
First, let’s deal with Rajasthan - As per my dad, his dad was from Rajasthan who stayed in Madhya Pradesh for most part of his life and then settled in Maharashtra. So, even though i am born and brought up in Singara Chennai - i still have traits of Rajasthan, Madhya pradesh and Mumbai in me! - Wat a mixture!
Second, KULFI! - I used to stay in Parrys corner locality when i was doing my studies. At that point, Parrys corner was supposedly the "heart" of the city and was the most happening place too (in terms of business). It hasn't changed much w.r.t business and crowd but yeah the heart seems to have been misplaced. Anyways, back to kulfi...every evening after dinner, my sister and I would impatiently wait for a cycle wala. In those days, there were many Kulfi walas in the small galis of Parrys area who used to sell the kulfis on a cycle. This specific cycle wala had a unique style of ringing his bell and shouting "kulfi kulfi kulfiiiiiaaaa" The moment we heard that chant, my sister and I would run to the small balcony and start jumping with joy and shouting back "kulfi kulfi kulfi" (yes in the exact same way I do "see see see" also :P ). The cycle wala became so used to us, that sometimes if we wouldn’t go to the balcony, he would come to our home and check if we were doing ok and a kulfi would help :). How sweet!
Gone are those days of yummy kulfi offered in Rs.5 with a caring hand. I must say his kulfis were the best from the rest of the kulfi walas in the area. Until one day, he probably became greedy and stopped making yummy kulfis for us and made the ones which would sell for less price..:(
After narrating this story my hubby said - you have a story for everything!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, today is my Mom's birthday. Now you may think, what’s the connection with Rajasthan, Kulfi and Mom? Of course there is! Rajasthan connection is for the same reason as above :) The kulfi and Mom connection is the yummiest ever. Why? Because mom makes the best kulfis in the world! My friends would be specially invited home when there was stock of kulfi in the Freezer :) - The so called "Kulfi Party" :)

Mom may you live longer and make yummier kulfi's for me :)
Oh, forgot to mention - the Rajasthani Kulfi at Ascendas Phase 2 was pretty good ;) 

Wish List For me, To me, By Me!

It’s finally 2010!! Another big year went passed and another big year to come. Almost everybody seems to be making "New year Resolutions" or "2009 flashback list" or "Best of 2009" or "Worst of 2009" lists. Well, I tried my luck too, but didn’t get anywhere. I don’t believe in waiting for a New Year to make a resolution. I neither like to see the past only when the year is over (I see my tumblr blog from the most recent to the first post every other month!) Coming to Best and Worst of 2009 - A lot of it are there - I rather write a novel than spend time posting it here (I can probably get some royalty out of the book ;-)..)

 I am just hoping for a great 2010 and hoping to have some things fine tuned in me. These are no way “resolutions” (I don’t want to get caught guilty by the end of the year for not fulfilling them). All I can promise myself is that I would try as much to get these things done! It has no end date, no priorities and no dependencies. It's a long due Wish list, a Wish list for me, to me, by me!

#I wish for a brighter day each day.
#A routine of my own, no alarm clocks waking me up, no emergency calls making me stay awake.
#I want to get back to the sakina I was couple of years back, in size ofcourse!
#I want to stop looking at that packed treadmil daily but put it to good use!
#I wish I can prioritize better - Its not important if its not for your good. Period!.
#I want to learn to say "NO" - I am capable of doing everything, but i am not capable of doing everything at the same time!
#I want to become more practical and less sentimental.
#I want to stop explaining myself to people who are just not open to understand me. No Point making a Point when there is no Point in making a point…did I make sense?
#I want to get my Dad out of his financial problems and allow him to retire and relax.
#I want to travel more and more! My travelogue cannot survive otherwise
#I want to get back to my dance classes and brush up my skills :)
#I want to spend more time with my old friends (I just seem to be ping them when its their Birthday..or sometimes even forget that - But I Miss them :(...)
#I want to write more, I want to improve my vocabulary and become a better writer. I want more followers to my blog and more stories to write :)
#I want to make the 365 project a success - I have lot of my friends who started with me and left me behind!
#I want to probably start singing too - I am a good singer (at least in the bathroom :P)
#I want to facebook less and orkut more  -- sheesh bad one, I totally dont want that..lol
#I want to get a hike, probably get promoted and help Vishnu retire so that he can read books on the Kindle forever and always stay lazy! :))
OK except for the few funny ones in the end, I have a serious list of things I wish/want to do! I am gonna keep this list of things in front of me and check it whenever I think I have achieved it!

All the Best to ME!

The Pepper Spray Story...

Yesterday's topic at RJ Kanmani's show was "Should we use pepper spray in Chennai?" - Well good question. I didn’t really listen to the answers but immediately drifted away into my own Pepper Spray Story! I used to carry Pepper spray in my bag when i was in the US.
I was staying with a couple of girls in a shared apartment and had my colleagues staying in and around the same area. One of my friends who helped me find the apartment was finally wrapping up his tasks at work and was getting ready to get back to India. In order to give him a good farewell another common friend invited both of us for dinner. In the evening after work, we walked to our friend's place and settled down when suddenly he remembered that he had to pick up his last set of clothes from the nearby laundry. He promised to be back in ten minutes ..sharp! All of us started setting up the dinner table and waited for him to arrive. 10 minutes became an hour but no sign of him. His phone was not reachable and we waited impatiently!
He came back after 2 hours, sick! His eyes swollen, wounds on his cheeks, his stomach was hurting bad and his cuts on the face were bleeding! He was MUGGED! The laundry was in the parallel road and 2 huge guys had attacked him while he was returning and tried to take away his purse and cell phone! He started screaming for help and the more he screamed, the more they punched him. Finally somebody spotted him on the road and called 911. The 2 guys fled after they got what they wanted and left him stranded on the road. The Cops and ambulance arrived soon and he went through emergency medication and filed a police complaint.

All of this happened at the door step of my friend's house and none of us heard it or saw it!

We freaked out and were in a state of shock. We lost our hunger and all we could think of is his safety! We booked a cab from her place to his place (which is the parallel road again). We had no courage to walk on that road in the dark again! Everybody around us looked suspicious (the Cab driver included)! I dropped him home and went to my place, Shivering with fear in cold weather!
We went to the nearby hospital next morning, got him checked and confirmed no severe injuries and bid him farewell at the airport! I must mention, the entire team in the US called and checked on him (Including our CEO). It was heart filling to see the care people showed around us.

I was strictly instructed with the following things after this incident:
- A pepper spray in my bag ALWAYS
- Nothing more than $5-$10 in my purse.
- When mugged, don’t scream - just surrender and give money or spray the pepper!

A lesson learnt and an incident which can never be forgotten! RJ Kanmani is surely reminding me of a lot of things through her not-so-commonly-spoken-about topics :)