10

It was nice to see all the good responses I have gotten so far on my new year countdown blogs. Thanks guys for keeping me motivated :). Today I have numerous ideas on the 2 list. Some are mine, some are from my friends and some from the universe ;). So right now, the "dharm sankat" is, what the hell do I write about? Zimble. Everything!?! :P . So on popular demand, this list of 2 is actually a collection of 2 lists. Don’t worry about the math, just read on! :)

2 best films I saw in 2011: Out of the very few movies I saw this year, it is a difficult job to pick the best 2. Especially when you are a big Bollywood Fan and when Bollywood is hell bent on producing mind-blowingly awful movies. So, after a lot of scrutiny and deep thought, here are the 2 best movies I saw in 2011 - Kungfu Panda 2 - "Po" the Dragon warrior is simply the cutest, funniest, naughtiest, wittiest kung-Fu master I have ever seen in the movies :) he is totally adorable and all thanks to Po, the movie is on my top2 list ;). Second in line is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - Kabir, Arjun and Imran set out for a trip of a lifetime and discover themselves in the process. The movie has great locations, dialogues and songs. My favorite character in the movie- Imran Habib aka majnu  aka Farhan Akhtar:)

2 worst films I saw in 2011: Now that the best ones are out of the way, I think its far easier for me to pick the worst ones.  The movie which wins this gold medal is Dum Maaro Dum - I mean, why cant somebody please give Aby baby some shaving foam? And what exactly is Bipasha trying? Oh and why is Deepika even dancing on that song? Sorry, the most relevant question comes now - What is the movie about? This movie was such a Maar and no Dum!! The one with the Silver medal is Pirates of the Caribbean 4 actually I was going to say Transformers 3, but I think Penelope did a better job showing her pouted lips than  Rosie :) (pun intended). Can somebody please tell me why the pirates who are good at battling in the sea and conquering other ships go behind a goddam fountain of youth?? Seriously this movie was such a failure!

2 best reunions I had in 2011: I have had some very good reunions this year with some old friends, some of my cousins and some of my old colleagues. So the 2 get together' s I totally cherish are "The cousins day out" in Feb2011 - I think this was the best outing I have had with my cousins  Rashida and Mariya :). The second one is actually a small meet up with Rohini and Nivy :) We spent like 2 hours in Baskin Robins but had a great time playing around. Ro - please send me pictures :P

2 top achievements in 2011: This is slightly tough. You know how difficult it is for me to boast about myself right? That too publicly on the internet :P hehe. So getting rid of all my sharm and haya, these are the top 2 things I achieved this year. First, this is a joint achievement between my sister and me. Yep, you guessed it right - Mom and Dad's HAJ! We (Maryam and I) had a sense of satisfaction once they returned from Haj, a feeling of comfort that we could finally make this happen :).  The second one is on the lighter side. I did my first ever snorkeling in sea  during my trip to Andaman's. It was seriously an achievement as I was a little worried that I might drown and kill some fishes in the sea ;)

This is my 2's list for this year, and since I am running short of time, I will end my blabbering right here and welcome the last day of the year with this blog post :)

P.S. There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't

Thireeeee

So far, you have read the "Six" places I want to visit, the "Five" things I wish to do and the "Four" movies I like the most. Today the countdown is sitting at number 3 (oh man, I am so brilliant to figure that out, right? :P ).  When hubby and I decided on the "Three" list, it sounded crazy. We decided to make a list of "alternate profession" we would have been in if not IT.  This list does not qualify as a wish list or most wanted list but It is plainly a list contemplating how our life would have been, if not the way it is!

Now, the question is, If not an IT professional, then what would have been my profession? or what I would have done for a living? As a matter of fact, a part of this list has already been covered in one of my earlier blog posts. And just incase you feel that you have heard this story before, you have probably been following my blog for the past 3 years and still haven't given up on me :-)  Ok, so back to what I set out to write, here is my list of 3 professions I would have landed up in if not IT/Software/Testing/Whatever!

The profession which wins hands down is "Fashion Designing". I had very well explained on my blog "if <> QAE then" that the one and only passion I ever had during my school days was fashion designing. Looking at all the glamorous models walking on the ramp wearing a designer's creation completely excites me. This is one profession which needs loads of creativity and attitude to design something out of the world daily!  I still design my own clothes and mom thinks I am good at it :-)

Ok, after the gaga about the love I have for fashion designing, I would like to introduce you to my second passion.  This one is close to my heart. Hubby and me met because of this. May be that's why I can probably see myself being in this profession. Yes, I am talking about Dancing! I have been dancing from I don’t know when. In school, in college, at work (not my current work place), I have danced solo and group and won some competitions too :). Dancing is more like a hobby to me, but who knows, if I had been a little serious I would have been a pro!

2 down and 1 more to go, this profession is a little of the serious types. Imagine a lady walking in Saree with big soda glasses and a pile of textbooks in her hands. Now imagine her walking into a huge room and everybody stands up to greet her "Good Morning Miss' :-) Get it? - I would have probably become a teacher and spent my time teaching kindergarten students :-)

There you go! The 3 alternate professions I would have gone for :-) I actually had a fourth one but its not something which can be tagged as a profession. If I had the guts or the inclination I would have probably joined the Indian Army. But I clearly don't qualify for it, so I am going to leave that thought aside and end this list with a small note. This list is not a "WANT" list and I am no way indicating that I don’t like what I do right now :). And btw, "Thireee" is actually my grand mom version of three :P 

Ciao! :)

Four

Confused, distracted, perplexed, bewildered, dumbfounded – This is exactly how I felt when I started writing this blog post. This list of four "whatever", has taken more time to think than write.  Yeah, strange but true, I was actually out of ideas to write on my blog! What else can you expect from a poor soul with so many synonymous feelings ;)right? However, the good news is, I finally got my hands, mind and heart to write something and entertain you :)

Before I reveal the theme of my list, there is something I would like to ask you guys. If you are in a similar mood as mine, what would you do to get out of it? Go for a walk? Call a friend? Watch TV? Eat something? Listen to music? Or……..Watch a movie? I do many of these, especially the listening music, to be more specific, listen to one single song in a loop :-). But there is something which is very typical of me: I repeatedly watch the same movies :) I have a set of favorite movies, which I watch not once, not twice, not thrice but "N" number of times. I guess you got it, I am going to list my 4 favorite movies :)

My boyfriend back then and husband now gave me this movie DVD as a birthday gift. So crazy I was that  I watched this movie every night for 4 months from start to end without skipping a single scene or song. I literally know the dialogues of the movie by heart and actually play the role of the heroine while watching the movie :P. "mein apni favorite hu" tagline present under my blog heading was taken from this movie.  "Bhaisaab aap convince ho gaye ki mein aur bolu?" No brownie points for guessing my most favorite movie :) it is the one and only "Jab We Met" - I still have the DVD and anytime I feel completely lost and low, I choose to watch this movie :)

I saw this movie during my flight to New Jersey 4 years back. The usually boring and butt aching flight from Chennai to France to NJ made me browse through the movie collection provided in flight. A bunch of Hindi movies, some Tamil and some English. I tried to pick one which sounded light hearted and went for "27 Dresses". Jane, crazy about weddings, serves as a brides maid 27 times and finally has to arrange a wedding for her sister who is getting married to the guy she secretly loves! Cliché you might think, but the movie is damn cute, and you know who is cuter? James Marsden! Totally adorable movie with totally adorable James :)

Hiccup, A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed. - This is what imdb has to say about "How to train your Dragon". Vishnu and I have seen this movie many times and whenever we see it, we enjoy every bit of it. Hiccup and toothless (the dragon) have reserved a special place in our hearts.  Hiccup who is considered as an odd man out in the Viking crowd becomes friends with the Night fury Dragon and finally turns out to be the bravest Viking of the lot! Awesome movie to watch if you are a fan of animated movies :)

Last but not the least, reserving the 4th spot on my most favorite movie list is…..wait for it :). She is educated, sophisticated, ambitious and passionate. He is clueless, jobless, senseless and totally bhukkad! He meets her at a wedding , follows her in the bus and gifts her a DVD of her own dance. She completely hates him as he laughs at her "binness" plans and refuses to partner with him. She created "Shaadi Mubarak" and he tried "Happy Wedding".  I am talking about Bittoo and Shruthi in "Band Baaja baarat" :). Awesome songs, superb chemistry and dhinchak dialogues.  Perfect masala movie to end my list :)

Phibe! :)

5 days to go for 2012 and 5 more posts on the blog to hit a century :) though I would love to welcome the new year partying I have a feeling that I would  probably be writing a blog post when the countdown begins :-). Actually! Not a bad idea at all :P. Whether I party or not, one thing is for sure, I will complete my 100th post on this blog on New Year’s Eve :-) With that hope and spirit, here is my list of 5 things I wish to do :)

Streak my hair purple: I am crazy about purple and all its shades. I have collected loads of purple stuff in my wardrobe and have never gotten tired of adding something new. I have driven shopkeepers mad asking for a specific purple shade dress or purse. In fact, my parents simply jump at the sight of anything purple saying "Sakina's favorite color". Recently when I walked into the beauty parlor, I spotted a huge Schwarzkopf hair color poster with a lady having purple highlights! And boy, did I get tempted? Yes! I sure did! I decided to streak my hair purple or rather highlight them on my 30th birthday. But...I couldn’t and that’s why this one goes as a top item on my wish list :)

Buy a Purple Honda Civic: I love Honda Civic! The sexiest car I have ever seen and dreamt off! And the sexiness just gets sexier when it’s in purple! Most of you who know me have seen me getting completely distracted when I spot a civic on the road, especially when it’s purple! Oh and I also have a Civic poster on my desk which acts as a Motivation factor! ;) I just hope I get my hands on this car before the Honda guys decide to make it ugly :(

Get a Tattoo on my neck: Ha! This one is recent too. I remember hating the idea of torturing yourself and permanently encrypting something on your body. But hey! We permanently have ear piercings even though they tend to hurt, so what’s the big deal with a tattoo then, right? :) I want a nice cute small tattoo done on the back of my neck :) preferably in purple :D Any designers?

Write a book: From the time I started blogging, I have been wishing that one day I will write a book. I have written a lot about myself on this blog, may be one day I will publish an autobiography ;) or may be my love story or may be about purple ;)! Who knows one day I will be the next popular writer in town. Hehe :)

Open my own boutique: Fashion designing has been my dream for a very long time. I still hope that one day I will officially open a store and sell clothes which are “branded” by “Sakina” :) A day when people would come to my store and are ready to pay a fortune for my designer Saree” :). A day when people passing by my shop look at the mannequin and say “Awesome Ghaghra”! Well I can go on and on, but you get the point right?  

Here is wishing that at least one wish out of this wish list comes true before I die :)

Six!

I have always loved travelling, I have never hesitated to pack my bags and just go out there and discover the world. Be it a leisure trip, or a trip for a friend's wedding, or a small weekend getaway; I am the first to volunteer and probably the one organizing too :) After I got married, Vishnu and I have tried to make a list of places we want to visit and then pick up a place whenever we are ready for a Holiday :) That's exactly how we landed up in Andaman’s earlier this year :). I do have a very very long list of places I want to go to, but today, 6 days to 2012, I wish to list the 6 places I absolutely want to go/visit :) (Actually my hubby is making the same list and trust me, the places are different ;) hehe)

1. Tajmahal in Agra, India – As one of the  travel guides mentioned "There is nothing as beautiful as viewing the Taj by moonlight" - that's exactly what I want to do. Go to Agra during a full moon night, get special entrance tickets, sit at the Taj and enjoy the silver shine around the building! Absolute beauty!

2. The Pink City - Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan! Place filled with Mahals and palaces. One of the finest planned cities and a city of royal ancestors. I want to go for a weeklong tour to just Jaipur and walk into every palace built there, eat the bajre ki roti at a local restaurant and get myself dressed up in a Rajasthan costume :)

3. Kerala Backwater tour in a huge houseboat :) - This place has a movie connection, remember the Jiya Jale Song from Dil Se? I want to do a 3 day long trip from Cochin to Kumbarakom and simply enjoy the lush green view around me.

4. Venice, Italy - The first time I came to know of this place is when I saw one of the most romantic songs from The Great Gambler,  Do lafzon ki hain Dil ki kahani . I surely want to do a romantic boat ride in the city  of Water :)

5. The Alps, Switzerland - I have seen this place only in Karan Johar movies. I want to play with the snow, do lots of skiing, and go on the cable car and roller coaster rides on the snow!

6. The Grand Canyon, Arizona US - What can I say, when my dad told me about his experience here, I quickly made a note that I have to make a visit there. When I saw the move 127 hours, I was convinced that I wanted to visit this place before I die :) I believe that the sunrise/sunset view is simply spectacular.

These are not the only places I ever want to go to. I do have another list of short trips I want to make, but for now, these are the 6 most wanted places I ever want to go to :)

Why I like to be in Chennai

Recently lots of my colleagues crib about how much they hate/dislike Chennai. Thanks to my non-Tamilian look, people often assume that I would second their feelings and have a similar story of how this place ruined my social life or rather LIFE! Nothing personal against the people who don’t like this city, everybody has their right to liking or disliking something, however, this outburst from my colleagues really got me thinking, is this place that bad? Well my immediate answer was - No! "Why do you like this place Sakina?" you may ask. My answer - this blog post :)
- Chennai is what I call "home". I have had the most memorable memories, the best school life, the most fun filled college life, an interesting career and a very filmy love life. I have lived most of my life here, and do not mind living the rest here. In simple words, I am born and brought up here.
- I believe that this city is one of the safest places in India, especially for the girls. Try going on your scooty at 1 am in the night all alone in some other city and be sure to reach home safely. I have done this many times right here with no fear!
- The weather - yes! I mean it! The weather! (I can totally imagine your eyes pop out reading this). They say Chennai has 3 seasons Hot, Hotter, Hottest - Agreed. I rather enjoy being under the hot sun getting a tan, than wrapping myself in half a dozen layers of clothes. I rather have bath with normal tap water than from a boiling geyser. I rather sweat it out and get my body to cool down than freeze to death in snow. I rather enjoy those few rainy days with joy, than to carry an umbrella/rain coat daily and suck at it! I rather fall sick just once a year during change of weather than be sick all through the year due to erratic change of weather daily!
- The beaches - the world's second longest beach is in Chennai :) - well keeping that fact aside, having a beach at a driving distance is luxury. Beaches are a good way for me to unwind and a good adda to catch up with my friends. I don’t need a food court at the mall to meet someone; I would rather go to the beach with them and eat roasted peanuts instead :)
- The simplicity - the people here are simple and grounded. No show off, no bull shit. People here don't expect too much out of themselves or each other and are happy with what they have. None of us ever missed KFC, or a McD, or EA mall 10 years back.

This place is not perfect and has its flaws. But the point is, which place doesn't? I guess every city, every town, every village has its own good/bad and people who live there (or decide to live there) just see the brighter side of things. This city is special to me and will always be no matter what other people may think about it :)

Rocking Rockstar!

Saw "Rockstar" movie in the weekend and couldn’t stop thinking about it since then. I had already read the reviews of the movie and had gone with very less expectations in terms of story line. The first half of the movie was fun and entertaining. The second half was a little weird. Actually some people termed it depressing and some call it boring. I call it intense.I wouldn’t say that the movie has a very strong story line, but it surely has an effect on its viewers. The mad love, the passion for each other and the suffering both Jordan (Ranbir) and Heer (Nargis) go through when they are apart left me in awe.

The movie demands patience and concentration from the viewers and if by any chance you have come to pass time, this movie is surely not for you! There are several reasons I personally liked the movie, but the one single reason which will make me hate it is Heer! Oh God! What was Imtiaz thinking when he chose her?! Yes! I am allergic to women with pouted lips, and I have a reason too! They are too busy showing the pout that they forget the rest of their face is needed for something called "expressions", and the fact is, their pouted lips wont fulfill the expressions required out of them! The only time I think she acted well in the movie was when she was in "Coma"! No offence to all the fans out there, I really think that she needs some serious acting classes (actually dancing too) before she re-appears in another movie..

Anyways, I am going to completely ignore her presence in the movie and move on to why I really liked it :).
- First, I am a great fan of Imtiaz Ali after his creation of Jab we met. If you know me a little, you probably know how many times I have seen that movie ;-). When I came to know of Rockstar, I was just hoping that Imtiaz will create another masterpiece. I must say it doesn’t replace the love I have for Jab We Met, but he did create a masterpiece :).
- Second, the Rockstar music is extremely addictive. Rahman has done complete justice to Jordan's role and the theme of the movie. The album doesn’t have any dhinchak or item song, but it has some very unique notes :).
- Third, the lyrics; I am a very lyrics person, especially when it comes to Hindi Songs! I don’t mind listening to loads of Tamil songs without understanding them, but it’s a little different when it comes to Hindi. Rockstar song lyrics are simply awesome. Irshad (The lyricist of Rockstar) has added amazing words to Rahman's music.
- Fourth, Ranbir! Oh Boy, can Ranbir act? Darn he can! What a performance in this movie! from the ultimate loser in college to the self-destructive Rockstar, he played every part of the role perfectly! I mainly like the movie cos of him and his portrayal of "Jordan" :)

So what is your reason to love or Hate this movie?

A dream come true

 They say dream hard, dream a lot, dream something which will wake u up and make u achieve it, dream something which will bring tears to your eyes when they come true.

I spent the whole of last weekend with my parents. I got pampered and I pampered them. Mom was busy packing and I was busy executing her orders (hehe). Dad kept filling the house with savories, vegetables, eggs etc. for Zenab (she is going to be staying alone while they are out). I must tell you it was the funniest and most memorable weekend I have had. Oh btw, you must be thinking why I start about dreams when all I wanted to do was spend time with Mom and Dad? The actual dream was my parents’. They wanted to go on the pilgrimage that every Muslim longs to go on, the pilgrimage which has the most importance in any Muslim’s life. Yes, Mom and Dad were finally going for Haj!

When my sister and I started to work, our first and foremost goal was to get the family in good financial shape. Well we almost achieved that so we jumped to the next one and that was "Send Mom and Dad to Haj". We have been planning for this day for god-knows-how long. Beginning of this year, Maryam and I made up our mind that we will send Mom and Dad to Haj this year no matter what. The "no matter what" attitude really helped all the four of us to make it happen. There were a lot of people who had applied for Haj and we were just praying that our parent's application gets approved. It didn’t :(. But Mom didn’t lose hope, she went ahead and took all the possible recommendations to the Haj organizers and Mullahs and followed up every day to get their name approved. Fortunately (or unfortunate for somebody else) there was a cancellation and Mom and Dad got their approval! Hurray!!


After that Mom single handedly did most of the prep. From preparing a list of things needed to going for shopping and getting them :). She was motivated and enthusiastic, she was happy to see that she would be finally going for the trip she always dreamt of. Dad started his process of wrapping up work, so that there would be no unfinished business when he was out. Maryam and I were there to help wherever/whenever needed :) In fact, Mom and Dad were well prepared a month prior to their travel dates and the last few days before the trip were simply spent in spending time with each other and relaxing :)

Just the day before the travel, I felt anxious; I was worried about my parents having a safe trip. People who have been to Haj before have told loads of good and bad stories. They say going to Haj is life changing and I was hoping they would just be fine. This year they are expecting around 35 lakhs of people there, huge enough crowd to get lost and never be found :(. I am sure Mom and Dad are equally tensed. But they are being brave enough to make this trip.

On Monday Morning (Oct 3rd 2011) Mom and Dad woke up early, said their prayers and started getting ready for the long trip. They had to be in complete white from head to toe; White burkha, white chappal, white specs (the thread), white bag. It was an absolute overwhelming moment to see the dream come alive :). It surely brought tears of happiness in our eyes. Here's wishing them a successful and a life changing Haj!

Horn OK Please!

Like most of you know, I drive an awesome looking, jaw dropping, sexy car called Hyundai i20 (sorry i had to exaggerate for my own ego boost :P). Lately this piece of metal has been blessed with a unique feature. This feature is not available on any of the cars on Indian roads as yet (so proud!). It enables the driver to be humble to the fellow members on the road and also provides a kick of adventure sometimes. We actually go to the service center every 3 months and leave a note of Thanks for the "engineers" who make this possible for us and the special attention and the continuous support they provide.

For those of you who are envying this special blessing my car has - stop right there! I was talking about the presence of a silent horn or rather the absence of one! We have this pattern with the car. First week from the service center, car is screaming at the top of it's voice, scaring everybody on the road! second week and the car is still loud but now singing melodiously. Third week and there are symptoms of cough and cold. fourth week the throat is so bad that it makes a hoarse sound instead of sounding like an actual horn! Fifth week there is absolute silence! From then on, the car plays a "dumb" role on the roads!

Life.....

Today is my in-laws 39th wedding anniversary. 39! WOW! First, wishing them a great wedding anniversary and many more years of togetherness! We celebrated today by visiting an orphanage cum old age home 20 kms from Tambaram - New life Old Age Home. We started off early and drove on good and bad roads to reach the small place. We spent couple of hours there, went around the place, said hi to the welcoming inmates, ate lunch with them, heard a very nice old lady sing and came back. all in all, it was a great visit!
This place is owned by a couple who left their Govt Jobs and started "New Life" with a small hut. Today the place has around 64 kids and 60 Old men and women. Aunty (Owner) spoke to us about all the challenges they face in the day to day operations of the place and how they need to struggle to keep the place clean and livable. She had loads of stories and experiences they are going through to run this place. Few of the surprising things I heard were "There are so many people ready to donate, "money" is actually not a problem, "man power" is the problem. There is nobody who comes forward for voluntary service. Everybody needs salary. Lots of youngsters promise to come on weekends and teach the kids, but not many turn up! They tried recruiting MSW (Masters in Social Work) graduates and they demand 25K per month salary as a start!".
Well that's the "kadwa sach". WE have no time to spend on anything which can help the society! And NGO's like these just keep struggling without much support! I left the place with a heavy heart after looking at all the nice and cheerful oldies staying there. I have never understood how some son/daughter would have the heart to leave their old parents in a place like this. There are so many inmates who are from well to-do families and lived a very great life until they were suddenly thrown out of the house because they were of no "use" to the family. These so-called "families" don't even bother to visit them or ask about their health. That's worse than the kadwa sach I just spoke about!
Anyways, at the end of the day my in-laws were happy that they made a choice to help them and celebrate their anniversary by spending time with them :)

Chai ni Chah

Before I get started,Chai = tea and chah = liking.

It was our first breakfast at andamans, when Vishnu and I were enjoying the hot omelettes with toasted bread and a hot cup of tea! I was pleased with the breakfast served at the restaurant as they offered toasted bread, butter, jam, omelette and yummy tea. :) I dont know why, but a nice yummy cup of tea for breakfast makes my day! I was a big tea addict and now due to diet restrictions I have reduced to 1 tea a day (sob sob)
So back to the topic, of our lovely breakfast, I started enjoying my tea based breakfast and started telling stories about my lovely tea days (before marriage days to be specific ..;)..) and in the process re-discovered the lovely combinations of chai which I have personally enjoyed. I managed to consolidate this list within our half hour breakfast chat, and vishnu thought that I could write a thesis on tea and prove that tea can become the best side dish (in my case main dish) ever! :P

Here goes my list (in no specific order)

1. The most popular and obvious combination is Milk bikis biscuit dipped in tea (my team also enjoys this)
2. Marie Biscuit dipped in tea - Classy!
3. Butter biscuit with tea - Love it!
4. Rusk with tea - dhaba ishtyle (my style, apply butter on the rusk and then dip in tea!)
5. Toasted bread with butter spread and then dipped in tea - my staple breakfast during school days!
6. Porai biscuit soaked in tea (OMG my fav Ganesa bakery porai biscuits..Mariya are u listening?;)..)
7. Wafer biscuit dipped in tea (Another Ganesar bakery special)
8. Rumali roti, roasted on tawa with little oil (sidhpuri ishtyle: The roti soaked in tea is a desi breakfast for most of the sidhpuri bohri's)
9. Fried appalams with tea, and if you are a bohri, you would know meetha papad crushed in chai is super combination
10. Omelette and tea - yes, it is a great combo, ask my mom!

I am sure you would have heard one or more of these combinations for the very first time, and if you are a tea lover, try them and let me know how u find it :) My dear husband thinks that I can eat chicken fry and tea together and claim to be an awesome combination...haven't tried it as yet though ;)

The Cricket Craze!

India is filled with Cricket fans! Instead of blood, cricket runs in the veins of Indians (that's the heights of fanaticism here). Last 6 weeks, most of the Indian youth (and the oldies) went through a lot of anxiety, restlessness and distraction. Thanks to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. From  Media to politics everybody understood only Cricket language. Cricket was not only in the air, but also in their dreams!
Don't get me wrong here, Iam not trying to spoil the feeling of victory by quoting the extent of madness, I am a cricket fan too, just the level of fanaticism is slightly low. In the Semi's - When Indian team won against the Pakistan team - I jumped and rejoiced too (If I knew to whistle, I would have done that too). I clapped with excitement when Dhoni hit his winning Sixer at the Finals against Sri lanka. MS Dhoni was criticised for many of his decisions: Remember the disappointment when Ashwin was replaced with Nehra in the Semi's? All of us thought that we are going to lose so bad just because of Nehra's bowling talent! And then, what a performance, Nehra was the best bowler in that match and all the critics had to shut their big mouths after an awesome win!
Anyways, I am not technically sound with Cricket so I would continue to write what I am probably good at (stories). To make my point (again), I completely enjoy cricket, I love watching it with friends and family and also enjoy screaming for every 4 or 6 our guys make, and sometimes also dance in front of the TV when India Wins! Don't believe me? Read on!
This craze about cricket was introduced to me by my dad! He used to play cricket every weekend with his group of friends. I was very small then when my dad used to regularly go every Sunday to have a piece of cricket! When we got Cable TV at home, my dad was super excited about all the lovely matches he can watch in Star Sports with english commentary (I somehow hated the the painful Hindi commentary on DD). From then on, any Cricket match, ODI or Test, we used to watch as a family in the house!
The four of us (My parents, sister and me) are a bunch of enthu-patani's! We would do extra preparation when there was an India match going to happen. School homework would be done at light speed. Mom will make special snacks and keep it ready. Dad will close shop and come home early just to make sure he doesn't miss 1 second of the action. Our home was located in a central location (Parrys) where there were very small houses and loud TV sets. When the match starts, we could not only hear our TV blowing full volume, but the neighbor's too! My dad would get so involved and emotional that he would pile up Rs.2 to Rs.5 coins on the TV set begging the batsman to hit a sixer! (All that money eventually went to the poor). My sister and I would get comfortable seats on the Divan (a kind of couch) and start cheering when the match starts. We would also pick Hindi songs to sing when a sixer or four was hit!
During a typical India match, if India is losing too many wickets, Dad would pile up more coins and start switching channels (the logic was, we can avoid the evil eye on our players :P when there is so much pressure on them) and when the neighbors start whistling or clapping, we would know India is playing well and switch back to the sports channel ;). During a nail biting situation, mom would close her eyes and do a silly trick asking "India jeetse ke nai???" (The silly trick is matching her hands with eyes closed and if the fingers match right, we will win ;)..).
Yesterday, I was not in the usual craziness avatar and was watching the match very calmly, hoping that Dhoni will see me and play calm ;). When the champs won the match, Mom called me and congratulated with so much cheer that I went down memory lane! It was surely a nostalgic moment for me!

Here's for the team who won it after 28 years! Go India Go!

Dude! That was lame!

It was a Friday morning and I was sitting at work all alone trying to catch up with e-mails and preparing my list of "to-do". In sometime, my team mate silently comes and gives a wicked smile. Not knowing why, I kept talking to him normally (Hi, Hello, How are you, How come early, blah blah). He just kept staring at me expecting something different from me. I couldnt understand why the look and asked him "what's up?". He asked, "Aren't you surprised?". I said, "Huh. Oh I need to say Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii how are you, good to see you, what a pleasant surprise that you came in early!!" animatedly. He looked surprised (of course) but had the same grin on his face with the same stare. I had no clue what he was up to, he said "Haven't you read my e-mail as yet?". I quickly turn back to my laptop and hunt for his email and this is what I see:


From: Team mate
To: Sakina Adeeb
Date Sent: Fri 4/1/2011 9:26 AM
Subject: Will be OOTO for a month

Hi Sakina,

I wish to inform that due to a personal emergency I’m flying to Canada today in a few hours. I would be OOTO for close to a month. Don’t really have time to give a call and explain, but will do so once I reach Canada. Please inform the team on the same.

Thanks,
Team Mate

I burst into uncontrollable laughter and almost fell off the chair. I told him "Dude, didn't you get a better idea to fool me? How lame of you. You actually wanted me to believe that you have relatives in Canada which can cause a personal emergancy, and you already have the flight tickets to go there in a few hours?"

This was one of the lamest ways somebody has tried to fool me on April Fool's Day.
Accept it dude, that was a sad attempt! Lol

Silence! I KillYou!

If you are thinking that I am frustrated about something and am about to kill you, let me tell you, you are WRONG! I have cultivated this attraction to this new guy who is probably dead, looks like a Halloween decoration, has a huge skull and is also a terrifying terrorist :)
Didn't get it? Check this video out and you will know why the attraction ;)



Hope you enjoyed his jokhhhes ;)

Cousin's day out

Today I had such an awesome time that after a very captivating and overwhelming previous post I decided to write about this moment of my life where I truly enjoyed! My cousins and I have been planning to meet up and do something fun for years now, but due to some silly reasons our plans would always go down the drain! This time, i guess the sun and moon and stars were all aligned well and we finally found a day when we could actually go out and spend some time with each other! My husband is out of town, Rashida's husband is out playing cricket and Mariya is currently single! And finally we got a very good chance for the ladies to bond :)
We started our "Cousin's day out" at 11:00am in the morning and ended at 6:30 pm :) In that time span, I drove a lot (I was the designated driver for the outing) Mariya was our DJ and Rashida was the caretaker (providing snacks, water and cash ;)..). We didn’t really plan our day completely and wanted to just let the day take us where it wanted to. We were on ECR and just crossed toll plaza and Mariya sprung up and said "Let's go to Dakshin Chitra" - Three of us had never really explored the place, so we readily agreed and landed there!
The three of us had completely lost it and instead of appreciating the "art" displayed in Dakshin Chitra, we were too busy exploring our art of photography! We had so much fun just clicking away :) We sure had the "Self-obsession" part common in all the three of us..hehe. We spent some time in the bangles making session and saw the artist make a very pretty bangle out of already broken bangles! I must say it was quiet a process, but the end result was awesome! As usual, three of us indulged ourselves in bangle shopping and picked a few good ones to flaunt around ;) We started hearing sounds in our stomach and finally decided to just leave the Dakshin Chitra tour half way and eat!

We drove to Mahabalipuram and ate at Radisson Temple bay. The lunch was pretty good and we also got chocolate based desserts on special request :) well the best part of the day started after the hearty lunch! We spent more than 2 hours at the beach playing with water, analyzing the tiny orange eyed crabs, measuring the tide, getting pedicure done with the sand, sitting under the sun with coolers on, feeling the breeze pass by, letting our hair tangle and our minds untangle, watching the firangs getting sun tan and of course taking loads of pics!
We drove back to mummy's place and enjoyed the refreshing tea and biskut with Mom and Dad :) This marked the end of our meet and we said good bye to each other wishing for more such memorable days :) Thanks Rashu and Mars - it was super fun! :)

Rambling thoughts

Well here i am finally, trying to write what i feel like, but don’t think my mind is in the right state of mind to actually make my hands write something decent or something interesting to keep you sticking to your monitor and continue reading. While reading the below post, please understand that I am using this space to blabber and vent out some things which have bothered me for a while! This post no way indicates that I am depressed and need a counselor, so just read it and forget about it!
People say i have a perfect life! Well i don’t think anything is imperfect about that statement, but when i really think deep, i kind of tend to disagree. One day my friend told me "Sak, I envy you! You have a job every techie wants, you work on a product everybody likes, you married the guy you always wanted to, you got amazing in-laws, you have the coolest parents on earth, you are Miss Popular and you have whole load of friends!" Wow! First, I would like to say a BIG Thank you for summing that up! Honestly, I had no insight! But then, when i actually read that statement all over again, i feel if that's the case, i should be happy all the time and should be the most satisfied person on earth! Shouldn’t i? But at this point of time, while i am actually writing this, I am not in my best of moods and surely not close to being happy!
You may think, “come on Sak, what's wrong with you?” The answer to that is, “Nothing”! If life was always happy and settled, then probably i was not living! So, analyzing the statement my friend made, "I have a job every techie wants?" - I doubt! May be every techie wants to work in the company i work in, but surely does not want to do what i do every single day, especially my developer friends, they would completely hate it! "I work on a product everybody likes" - well I don’t want to use this space to comment on that! So let's move on..
"I married the guy I always wanted to" - Absolutely! No doubt about it, I wouldn’t have fought and consistently and patiently waited for him if i didn’t know that he is not the one! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and will be! But the sad part is, he is in a job which makes him travel, i mean travel a lot! I hate it when his boss calls and throws a bomb on him and asks him to go to US for a month! I have to not only support his travel and help him out but also have to behave sensible and mature and understanding wife who will be ok to see him go for a month! uuurrggh! "I got amazing in-laws" - Well if the guy is good the parents have to be better :) don't you think? They surely are amazing; I have never seen such understanding and accommodative parents in-law! They have accepted me the way I am and my work and have never complained about it!
"I have the coolest parents on earth" - well not literally, but yeah they are! If not for them, I wouldn’t have gone for all the random treks, trips and weekend outings and had the small accident which got a permanent scar on my face! They were also supportive when i wanted to stop with 10th Std and jump into Fashion Designing! (But that never happened :(...never mind!) So, yes my parents are the coolest parents, they are the most welcoming and warm hearted people i have ever seen, they have never frowned when we had friends coming home to eat Biryani and Kulfis and never complained when they saw 50 ppl in the house practicing dance and ruining the carpet! Yes, i have had my share of tiffs with them too, and may be that way we understand each other better and I get to have a small say in what goes on in the house!
Moving on to the last one: "I am miss popular and have a while load of friends" - Yes and No! My husband keeps teasing me with this "Sak knows half the world, and the rest of the half knows her!" I don’t know whether to be proud about it or not! I feel ironic, the reason being, I have 650+ friends on my Facebook account, I had close to the same number before i deleted my Orkut account. I have 300+ contacts on my LinkedIn and my Google account is overflowing with 900+ email ids and all i was looking for is 1 friend! 1 friend with whom i can share every secret, who knows me from child hood, who kicks me when i am acting weird and pats my back when i do a heroic job! A friend I would call immediately when i have something special to share! I am a loner in this crowd! At the end of the day, everybody has their own life, their own priorities, their own groups and parties to attend! It’s easier these days to say "hi" on the internet than getting somebody to come and meet you! (No bajji, I am not talking about you!). I have been trying to get our college re-union done for more than 5 years now, in my last attempt; exactly 3 people came from a class of 65! My bro is trying to do a re-union of all ex-colleagues from our ex-company for couple of years now, and we always land up with not more than 4-5 people! Our outing plans with friends from work have been canceled many times because of other priority stuff!

Now, if this how my life is, I am surely not happy at the moment and surely want this blog post and the day to end. I feel lot better just writing this down and I know when I come back tomorrow and read this post, I would be having a hearty laugh! This is hoping for a brighter day tomorrow!

See ya!

Mom's 60th Birthday

It was last week sometime when my sister pinged me and said "Machi what are you planning for Mom's 60th Birthday?" Honestly, I had no clue it was her 60th birthday, but now that i knew, I could not stay away from planning something special.
So Maryam and I went on a research mode trying to search gifting options, what to buy her, how to make her day special (especially when her birthday was falling on a week day - Jan 13th). Putting up a surprise? Well I had already done: Calling at 12 in the midnight, Making all my friends sms her the entire day, Arranging a surprise dinner; so what else??? While we were thinking of how to surprise her, we were lost in what gift to buy her. Dresses? - Naah Boring. Spectacles? - She has too many. Jewelry? - Expensive :(. Mobile Phone - she has one! (That was her last birthday gift). So here we were, lost and deprived of ideas :| and that's when thunder struck (ok, filmy!). Mom had recently broken her Motor Sewing Machine and we thought a replacement will be the perfect gift! Bingo!
Now that the gift part was sorted out, we were still thinking on the surprise. My sister was very confident on me that I will put up a good show and I had to keep up to her expectations :) (lol). So on Jan 12th I called up my dad and instructed him not to lock the main gate and leave the house keys in a secret place (known to me and secret to mom!). I wanted to make sure I don’t jump walls and get bit by the very alert street dogs! Vishnu and I got off early from work, bought a basket of flowers from our all-time favorite "Royal florist" (in Adyar) and picked up cake from Hot Breads. By now you must have figured out that we were planning to surprise her by just showing up! :)
My mom is an extremely inquisitive and alert person, one hint and she will figure out everything! So, I made sure not to call up at midnight and wake her up, that way she will lose sleep and hear us get inside the house. My sister luckily spoke to her earlier in the night and my mom didn’t bother to stay awake until midnight either. This means, the surprise will actually be fun! hehe
Vishnu and I landed up at her house by around 1 in the night, opened the main gate. The creaking sound of the gate was so loud that I thought mom woke up! We managed to open the house door and got inside. We got the cake out, lit the candles, arranged the flowers and then headed to mom's room. I quietly opened her door, patted her on her cheeks and said "Happy Birthday Mommy". She opened her eyes in Shock! the first thing she uttered was "How did you get inside? Did I sleep with the house open?". "Wow so many questions", I thought. I asked her to calm down and come outside to the dining area, she was pleasantly surprised! We did the cake cutting ceremony and got to the eating part as soon as we could ;) She kept repeating the same questions again and again until we told her that dad helped us get in! She finally showed signs of relief and started enjoying the surprise :) We handed over the cash needed for the sewing machine and promised to take her shopping soon! We took some zombie looking photos and was strictly instructed not to post them ;) hehehe. Finally, Mom's birthday surprise did turn out to be fun.

Happy 60th Birthday Mommy! :) Mwaaaah :*