Name Calling

There I was at the Seattle Tacoma international airport waiting at the gate for my ride to come and take me home. I settled down in one of the comfy spots and started looking around me. Out of 7 rows of chairs filled with passengers, I spotted way too many Desis and probably 5 Firangs. Thinking about it, The Desis are the Firangs in this country(US) and the so-called Firangs are Desis here. Applying that logic, that place was actually filled with way too many Firangs ;) Never mind.

Ahem! Moving on with my story - I was sitting there making my last few 'Good bye' calls to my friends and suddenly the Emirates announcement starts which went (something like this) - "Hello Emirates blah blah paging Naraaayaanaa, Ramaaaswaaaram".. and a lot more other people. She just killed all the Indian names in the best way possible! I was on the phone with my jiju and both of us just couldn't stop laughing! What started next was a situation story which I had to tell and show off :P So here it goes...

This was my first time ever to the States. I was travelling to NJ via Air France. We were just landing at Paris and my connecting flight to NJ was an hour away. The air hostess on the flight started to announce all the names who had to take the next flight as they had a separate bus arranged to take us to the flight directly. If you don’t know, my full name is SAKINA KHUZEMA ADEEB. Though my first and last names are pretty straight forward, the middle name is complicated.

The air hostess announced a series of random names and amidst those I heard "Kujima Aaadib".  "Damn! it sounds so familiar" I thought. She probably repeated it 5 times before I realized it was me!!  I hastily walked towards her and said "I think that is Khuzema?".  Her face literally glowed in happiness. She smiled at me and said "Finally! Somebody came!". I thought, "Yeah right, if you screw up names nobody will show up". Actually, cant blame her. She was French and English was not even her second language. Her calling out a list of Indian names is like me riding a CBR! Not gonna happen without disastrous results.

I was standing next to her watching her break into a sweat and  read out names in a way I have never ever heard. I took the list from her hand and saw names like "Venkataraman", "Srinivasan", "Ananthamurthy".  I felt sorry for her and offered to help. Without any hesitation she handed over the Mic to me and there I was calling out names as if I knew these guys from childhood. All of them started coming in front and boarded the bus waiting for us. The air hostess was so relieved that she gave me a hug and said "Thank you!!!" (in her French accent of course).  Proud is what I felt!

Ok story vover - now get back to whatever you were doing :P

Cousin Connection

Recently one of my cousin sisters sent this message which read -

This message just struck me like a lightning bolt! "So true!" I exclaimed. I have grown up with my cousin sisters around me (especially mom's side family). We used to stay in close vicinity and would spend an entire weekend at each other's place doing nothing! Back then, we (luckily) fitted into each other’s clothes and would shamelessly dig into each other's closet. There have been numerous occasions where we have confused our parents as we would look identical in each other’s clothes. Well, we don’t do this anymore; we neither stay in close vicinity nor do we fit into each other’s clothes ;)

Coming to think of it, my cousin sisters and I share many similarities. Some of them are because these traits are running in the veins and arteries of the family tree
>We are totally self-obsessed; we get ready and stare at the mirror until we impress ourselves!
> We love posing for pictures and clicking millions of self-photos (in the 5 star hotel loo of course)
> We love food - one likes to cook, the other likes to take a pic of it and the other likes to eat. Well the love for food from different angles! (HEHE..keep guessing who is who ;)..)
> We LOVE HANDBAGS - I don’t think we have realized this as a group of cousins, but each of us separately drool over handbags and long for having a cupboard full of it!
> If you haven’t guessed this one already, we can oscillate between being "Gaandi" (Mad) to "dhai deekri" (obedient/silent/calm gal)
> We love giving "dhamki" - well not in the serious way of course, this is a bi-product of our nautanki character ;)

This list goes on-and-on. So, while I sit and figure out this list, why don’t you go ahead and probably send the same message to your long lost cousin :)

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 :)

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

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

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 :)

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! :)

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 :*