Pampered!

Its strange how ppl treat u when u r carrying....u invariably end up getting a lot of attention....I have had ppl open doors for me at work n wait patiently  ...while I happily nudge along...carrying food and trying to put up a sheepish smile as I try miserably to acknowledge their courtesy...

N then I used to get some very pleasant surprises at my desk at work....talk abt ppl leaving dabbas of upma[my all time favourite dish] or pulao or bisi bele bath or or egg curry or andhra all greens curry or masala dosa  or sweets....thr used to be a point when I used to wonder if the dabbas belonged to a Vanita or a MS or a Jayashree or a Megha or a Madhur or a Manju...

I kinda made it a point to meet some of my friends before I set out on leave n the moment MS got to know Im going on leave the next day onwards....he had got upma n gulab jamun to office on my last day at work :)

Talk abt Badri...n I m short of words already....he comes up to me on my last day at work for now ...n hands me 6-8 dairy milk chocolate bars...wishing me "Happy hols!" !!!:)

Archu has this aunty who makes the world's best tomato bath n pongal...n everytime madam gets this for lunch....she happily offers her dabba to me n I usually torture her with my cook's chapathi n sabji combos:P

Have lost count of the number of times Saurabh has treated us to ice creams...n the number of people offering to buy me food....n how can I forget the ever so generous Ravi here....:P

Well...u get so pampered to the extent tat one aunty staying in our apartment complex offered to make me anything I wanted ...all I had to do was to just name it :P

Y only sday...my neighbour aunty happened to c me walk on the road...n she told me...I have made some bisi bele bath...shall I send some over?.....she said it wud make her feel gud if she fed me:P....U think I have any probs eating my fav stuff even if it makes them feel bad :P

Ditto with ganda n family....its like they arent even waiting for me to ask.....My sister has baked cakes, cookies for me... those yummy vadas......pulaos... .my mother, the rice ladoos....the only sweet I like....my in-laws have sent fish fry n fish curry knowing the craze I have for it...

Im also told the pampering stops after the baby is born....n while I might be enjoying the last few days of being this highly pampered in life...its made me very happy while it lasted :)

Boy or gal...

Im sure that almost every other post of mine will mention pregnancy somewhere or the other....for obvious reasons....so bear with me :P

After 38 weeks....I have no clue abt the sex of my child....as here...it is a crime to let out this bit of info before the child is born...owing to huge incidences of female infanticide...

The hospital I go to...is so strict that after my last visit...they have stopped allowing another family member into the room where they do the scan n they always make it a point to make u sign a declaration before the scan stating that u wont ask the person doing the scan the question regarding the sex of the child...

Infact they show you the baby in such a manner...that till date....it has always looked like an alien enclosed within an oval looking space...n everytime they do the scan....as the monitor is always away from me...all I get to c is the technician's face...n somehow they have such expressionless solemn looking faces....that even if they raise their eyebrows...it scares me ....

So the only option left is to turn to family n friends....a lot of hot shot predictors as they call themselves based on the shape of tummy...the glow on the face....n also on sheer intuition have predicted it will be a gal....

But then the day Manju...who claimed to be an expert in palmistry ...took one good look at my hand...n predicted it wud be a boy....I have kinda disowned him whenever v discuss abt this in office :P

Then people talk to me about seasons...when u hear only abt gal babies being born or boys being born...I almost LOLed at the season theory n was pleasantly surprised to find a link: http://www.babycentre.co.uk/tools/baby-gender-predictor/ which has a disclaimer: Just for fun!!

Well...boy or gal...will know it soon...

Beaten!

Ye...Im jobless ...not that Im complaining too much...its officially been 2 weeks...n Im glad I dont have to bear the backaches ...I do miss people though....n they better miss me too :P

The last break I had like this was when I took 2 weeks off from work to visit my sister with my family in Singapore. But then my father was there .....

Now...I kinda miss him a lot more than I have in all the years he was alive.......

I get to watch a lotta television...hope my child doesnt end up in front of it all its life :P...n today happened to watch a programme on Amma's mallu channel abt a daughter beating up her old mother in extremely poverty stricken conditons...

The victim here, the mother used to manage a meagre income until abt 6 years ago...after that she fell ill....n tats when her daughter started beating her up to vent out her frustration given the fact that she can neither take care of herself or her family....

The programme interviewed the mother-daughter duo...the neighbours....on the callousness of the "beating up act"...on what can be done......n all of that....but there was just one thought which came into my head...


Forget the delivery pangs or the pains that parents take to bring up their kids...Im not gonna get into all tat senti stuff....But one thing I can talk abt now is abt all the senti stuff I feel abt the pangs of pregnancy!!!

I dunno if some women have it easy...but for the entire duration of my pregnancy...whenever I have had to endure a pain thr or one here....or when the baby inside moves...or when I have to drag myself out of bed ...or when I cant sleep coz of breathlessness or coz I can literally feel the baby move to the sides I sleep on n hear the sounds of fluids inside....I appreciate my mother a lot ...a lot lot more!!!

I know its not easy raising a child..after all ...it will have its own personality once its out...but no matter what...to me...its unforgiveable...... biting the hand that fed u!!

Hungry...

My current physical status...Im 38 weeks pregnant....had me lurching back in the car waiting for my mother to return from a supermarket.....

I dont like doing the waiting part...but my mother is kinda soooper sensitive abt the fact tat Im pregnant n sometimes I dont feel like standing up to her...

I see 3 kids hovering around the entrance of the supermarket....requesting the security guard to hand over a fruit from one of the boxes overladen with fruits.....at first he shoooes them away...n one of the kids....also manages to steal a fruit...when he turns his back to them to oblige a customer's bill...

The next thing I c is the security guard wallah handing over 3 fruits to each of them.....n at the same time ensuring tat no one catches his act...

This reminds me of a wonderful book I read called "Grapes of Wrath" where in the author brings out a point telling us that the produce[fruits or vegetables] is allowed to rot, but it would never be shared with the needy...glad the security guard thought otherwise :)

Thanks Ceej ;-)

For getting me to install the blogger app on my phone :-). . now I can get back to my cherished hobby;-)

Wish-list

Really dunno how it works...or even y it works....but it does work!!

Jan 2009...I had made one wish-list...tat I wud try n do tat one thing which wud make me really happy atleast once a month....tat one thing was "travelling outside B'lore"....n till date thankfully...I have been able to keep tat up!!

Maybe as what Pravs was once describing abt a book called "The Secret to happiness" ...if you really wanna do something....then somehow knowingly or unknowingly ...u start working towards it....

In this case....thr were times when I went out seeking for such opportunities....but most of the times....the chances to travel came seeking me:)

Will I pass?

On my way to work, sometime back, I happened to c this gal riding pillion on a scooter holding up a book, cramming up for exams....n it brought back a whole lot of memories...

To start off...I was always the last min types....for most of the exams I have faced after college...school being the only exception...where in my sister used to closely monitor my grades and ranks...n so I used to be so well prepared...tat trust me...when I tell this..on the day before the exam....say if it was a Social Science paper prep...I used to be able to blurt out everything tat was in the text book with ease!

By the time I got into college...my sister had gotten married n had moved out..n now I was all to myself....this was when laziness was at its peak...thr used to be days when I used to just while away my time doing nothing...during the study hols....or actually picking up far more interest in reading up the newspaper or watching TV than during my vacations!

I will never forget my preparations for one paper....no matter what!..The paper was on "Engineering Graphics"...this was one subject which never made any sense to me...though I was also taking extra classes after college to try n understand this topic...it did me no good!!...the day b4 this exam...I was in tears....so full of tension tat I will definitely fail....I was so upset...that I still remember what my Amma told...."After all its an exam...if u flunk it...try the next time!"...I guess her support meant the world to me..especially since I was going over the guilt of not even attempting to understand the topic...On the day of the exam...this one was at 1pm...I  remember Praveena teaching me an entire chapter..telling me tat it was very simple n I got easily get 20 sure marks out of it....after sensing tat I was genuinely ill prepared for this one.....I will get back to the word genuine used here :P

I used to keep wondering tat what I didnt learn in 6 months...I learnt it from Pravs in like an hour...n attempted this ? in the exam...n got my due too :P...ya ya ...I cleared it....as the paper was damn easy tat year!!

Genuinely ill prepared...hehehe.....well I used to be damn superstitious too when it came to exams....only old ...tried n tested clothes...which had given me good results in the past....were to be worn....n then thr was this other belief tat only if I told myself I was not prepared too well....n also to the ppl arnd me.....then I wud do well...heheheh.....Will never forget the time when Pravs n Shila were consoling me after my "Microprocessor- 8051" paper ...d tuffest paper set in years...tat no matter wat ....I wud pass it....they were in fact doing what my sister used to do ...totalling marks for the independent sections n telling me...so u attempted this ?...u will get atleast 2 marks here....finally I did manage a "55" which was not bad tat year...n I remember how those 2 wanted to beat me up!!

Aha:)

Its been the longest time since I started blogging that I have actually written... after such a huge gap!!! Why did I choose to stay away from something that I enjoy doing the most??....read on….

Well firstly I do have very little access to the internet and when I do get the time to browse the net…..or rather browse the nut:P…hehehhe….well a guy who came home to see my sister regarding a matrimonial alliance had told us then that... one of his hobbies included “browsing the nut”…I still remember how much v laughed then n how much v laugh till date when v talk abt this…

Ya ya …so as usual….urs truly has drifted off…..well….well….tats my forte…U c:P

So my internet browsing these days is limited to accessing gmail n making sure that I don’t miss replying to important emails….tats it!!!

N to imagine that a few months ago all I ever did was to get online….wait for other pals to get online…n chat O chat with them ..be it gtalk or facebook…..n then blog even if I had sneezed!!!

The best part I used to enjoy abt blogging was to persuade n literally force my pals to read the blogs…n sometimes even force them to say good things abt it…n making it very very clear that negative comments were only most unwelcome :P

There used to be days when my pal…Shila used to ask me…during lunch….so Cma…wat did u do last weekend??...n I used to tell her things like…”READ MY BLOG”

There are a lot of stories to tell….a lot of experiences to share….n Im waiting to call/sms/mail/ping ppal n tell them….heyya…..did u read my blog?:P

Jumbo!

Now while its fun to narrate a story....being in it is far more exciting :)

Now..the story I narrated was abt how my manager's jeep had once encountered a lone elephant during a safari...n abt how the jeep driver saved their lives by driving quickly in the reverse direction away from the charging Jumbo!!

Now....Imagine finding urself in a forest at the dead of the night ..having lost ur way thanks to a non-existant sign board n no GPS signal coverage...n u c a lone elephant 500 m ahead of ur car n the loud trumpet of yet another behind ur car....

When I find myself in such situations...one of the 1st things I ask myself is "Am I dreaming or making it all up?? or " Will thr be an adventure to it or a story to tell later"...n ofcourse the pessimist in me coming up with " Will I survive this one".....

As u must have already guessed that other than trying to figure a way out ..I have pretty much thought of everything else...

After all this build -up to us spotting the jumbo...it wud be a real dud to also know tat after cing a bus overtake us n the elephant...v followed suit....:)

But to be thr n just to think of all this...was gud enuf :)

Ooooh la la

Two conflicting thoughts always cross my head when I look at a dangerous looking ride....shud I be all sissy n boring n stay back n watch others have fun....OR ...shud I brave the ride....letting the whole world know tat I call out "Ammme..Ammme..." when Im scared outta my wits!!

Now, Wonderla is a theme park located close to B'lore. It has the best attraction in terms of a good combo of dry and water rides priced reasonably well! I have been to Wonderla twice before with my pals as a volunteer with the 200+ refugee children from a school in Yelahanka. I have seen girls half my age sit on the most scary looking rides..keeping their eyes open n enjoying themselves...while I used to sit beside them meekly....with my eyes shut...n call out to my Amma n to all the gods I cud come up with....n with loud screams of "Stop it".."Enough..enough"....hehehehehe..

Now, what on earth causes this fear...I have always tried to reason it out.....Is it the lack of trust on equipment or all my nightmarish dreams of a ride doomed to go wrong...ye ye...a lil bit of final destination 5 after-effects..where in they show a roller coaster ride going awry!!

I have sometimes wondered y pay so much to go n scream ur heart out...or what fun is thr to fear.....

But the bottomline is only this....while I fret n worry before the ride n after it n even during it...thr is somehow an experience of trying out something new....a new challenge ....or maybe amidst all tat screaming n having things churning in my tummy :)...or maybe tat feeling of hopelessness n helplessness all coupled together is fun after all :)...coz Im sure ....if Im going thr another time...NO WAY...Im standing out thr watch others have the fun :)

All this fun was thanks to a team outing v had last Friday from office...with a very wise old Subhankar lead us from the front pushing us to take the non-scary rides n waiting for "thy own will to decide for thy self :)" in case of the scary ones ....

The laser show was awesome....the 3D-very very short movie..an absolute delight...n d giant wheel, which is located atop a tower, a must ...even if u have suffered from childhood trauma :) of going on a giant wheel ....coz the view of Bengaluru from thr is soooper cool!!

As a child, I used to dread the thought of going to fairs or to theme parks...only coz of giant wheel....while I used to brave the roller coasters easily..the giant wheel always made my worst fears seem possible...especially when u have an older sister sitting by ur side...telling u things abt how this ride cud crash any min :)...ye so it turned out that she had all the fun....while I was busy shouting at the giant wheel operator ordering him to stop!! :P

Freedom of expression!!

The title here may be a wee too bit heavy....but then offlate I have been witness to a certain incident of prejudice and intolerance!!
I have lived all my life in Bangalore. I take pride in being called a B'lorean. I can speak the local lingo and have imbibed it in d way I speak English also :)....Coz being a Mallu, u kinda fear adding the Mallu accent to English ...but a B'lore upbringing has added its effects to my English....so the 1st thing u will hear me utter to most of my female counterparts is "What ya" :)

On the 31st of December, 2010, I went to attend a new year party in Ramanagaram, located around 50 kms away from B'lore. There were party games organized for children and parents with the MC anchoring the programme in English. What happened a while later was that we had Kannada activists or so they called themselves hijack the stage, kick the MC offstage and then actually stage a performance on some chakravarthi, making complete fools outta themselves and sadly of tat historical character as well. That they wanted a stage was pretty evident, but to torture the audience to such a performance and that too when the performer is not even in his senses!! They later went on to abuse the MC for his English baashe and delivered a lecture on y we shud not forget who we are and as proud Kannadigas, we should not allow any non-Kannada programme.

They then played Kannada songs and were dancing to tat on stage in their drunken stupor...one of them even had the audacity to get down from the stage and hug and kiss an eight year old gal, standing close to the stage.

The programme was off for most people, who were in a hurry to leave, forgetting the time and money spent, rather than having to witness such hooliganism or further trouble.

Love for your region is not a bad thing, but its also important to be tolerant to other regions or languages. Its a sad state when u have to be a silent witness to such fanaticism!!