the aftermath....

its been a full day after the seige in bombay has ended....atleast the worst of it anyway....i havent been able to do anything other than catch some glimpes on tv....read the papers.....and hope and pray that this will be the last that we see of this kind of terror .....

my heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives.... in the line of duty ...and victims of circumstances....words mean nothing i know.... but that's all i seem to have right now.... i hope we always remember thier supreme sacrifice.... 

i am in deep gratitude of the men who defended and protected us....the Marcos, the NSG commandos, the RAF, the firefighters, the cops.... who showed us what they were made of....of what they are capable of and just fought on to uphold peace ..... i will not make a single joke about the armed forces anymore.... i will not crib about paying taxes...... if the bulk of it goes to finance the cushy lifestyles of the obese system, i will hope, that some part trickles to these men of valour who i know will defend my life.....

in  the staff of the hotels and ordinary people who showed amazing courage.... i dont know what i would have done...its a hypothetical situation....and i wont trivialise it by trying to suppose....it isnt easy...that much i know....while the live telecast on TV made it look like an action packed movie....the reality i far far from that.... to be crouched for hours.... sometimes hiding under corpses....biting on fear....in darkness....not knowing what will happen next....huddled together....even scared that the sound of the breath that you draw may be too much noise and put you closer to death.....of not knowing if you will be alive or dead....it isnt the things life is made up of....it is terrifying to put it mildly....and yet....in these circumstances, some men and women, put the lives of others before their own.....some of them live to tell the tale...some of them wont.....

i cant believe the news channels behaved the way they did....what began as breaking news....became peddaling of the "exclusive shots", exclusive footage and exclusive macabre that they had....each one trying to out do the other.... giving running commentaries when the commandos were being airdropped.....isnt that too much information being given to us? can that not be used by the very same people who planned this to the last detail that brought us to our knees? why didnt they shut up? or use better judgement?

each news anchor, goading the reporters onsite to get more and more exclusive sound bites....i wonder what kinds of sources they have......each one getting hoarser by the minutes.... more gore....the more blood and destruction, the more excited they got....i dont know if that was a good thing or bad.... i was just numb......

there are more questions.....how and why did the intelligence fail...collectively we have failed as a nation.... we either didnt know what the hell was happening....or we didnt pay heed.....what is the plan forward? is there going to be any concrete action taken, or is this too going to be milked for what its worth and then be forgotten?

one thing is obvious to me....we arent dignified even in our times of absolute destruction...our politicians land up with bags of money, to pay for the dead....they hold press conferences on the site where battle rages on, not caring for the complications in security they are causing.....they make irresponsible statements and shift the blame... and our people.... well what can i say...they resort to sloganeering.... they crowd behind reporters to come into the frame....i saw one man dressed as sachin tendulkar standing behind the reporter at the funeral of slain ATS top cop karkare....we want a good tamasha.....dont we care that we are contributing to a security nightmare....that the last thing we needed at nariman house, was thousands of people watching like it was film shooting.......there was an ocean of people there.....they couldnt even move the trucks and ambulances if a bomb fell right on them....and everyone seemed to be standing around....how and why did the authorities allow people to come so close to the site?? when will we learn??

there are so many things going through my head right now.... i have to stop ....

i just wish hope and peace to us all.....

mind numbed......

40 hours and counting…. Warzone Mumbai ….Mumbai carnaged…ravaged Mumbai…….Exclusive television footage has brought the terror right into our homes…exclusive coverage that served us blood for breakfast…..I sit glued to the TV for hours….watching as people are trying to make sense of it all….i cannot believe that this is all happening….in front of our eyes….people desperate to be safe….waving from their rooms in the Taj and Oberoi….holed up…not knowing what would happen next….the scores of security personnel…..policemen, firefighters, Army men, NSG commandos and Marcos…..the last two groups of men said to be among the best in the business……all of them doing what they can to “flush out the militants”, “minimize civilian casualities” and make us feel safe again….At least 125 have been killed in the Mumbai encounter, including 14 policemen and six foreigners and 327 people have been injured.  And this is the official estimate………

Some thoughts going through my mind right now

Chef Banja, who shared our church bench for 4 yrs, has died. He was an Executive Chef at the Taj and was shot at in the kitchen……I can’t believe this….it somehow brings all of it closer….

When will we realize that this is a real time war situation and this is urban warfare? That it needs to be dealt with the severity and seriousness….much more than we are doing right now?

How many more people should lose their lives and how many more attacks like this should happen before we appear to take measures to send a clear message that we are not a soft target anymore? When will be associate a little more value to the life of a citizen that has been lost?

Why was there such a time lag in bringing in our top trained commandos? Were they stuck in bureaucratic red tape?

Why am I paying taxes for the bills of politicians and bureaucrats instead of buying better equipment and training for cops and soldiers?

How did the guys just jump into a speedboat and land up at the gateway……isn’t this checked at any point of time? Where are the intelligence reports?

Why are the reporters and journalists the ones asking questions on policy and a way forward? Isn’t this the job of the people who govern us to do this?

Isn’t it the duty of the government to provide a secure place for its citizens?

I’ve just refreshed my newsfeed, and as of 11.48 a.m there is fresh gunbattle going on at the Taj, earlier this morning, this was supposed to be secure and handed over to the police….what is happening? Gag orders have been given to the media as it is believed the terrorists are getting access to the movements of the commandos….WTF!!

I am quite numbed by all of this….i don’t wish to conclude….i don’t know what to conclude with…. Hope maybe a good place to start…..and my prayers are for all the warriors who are helping us tackle this as best as they can.

 

Half a Decade ..... and Counting

A white train, veil and an entourage….. a dapper groom, awaiting his bride at the altar, a church full of people, singing …..and a priest waiting to say “I now pronounce you Man and Wife” ………..

Whatever else I dreamt of, this montage was never to be…… in its place instead, was a terrible excitement that we would finally spend the rest of our lives together…….hoping that the frayed nerves would hold up till everything was over….making all of the arrangements……staying at the venue till a few hours before the reception to get everything done…..i telling you my feet were paining in those ridiculously high heels (because k is a foot taller) and you asking me why I wore them in the first place…. You grumbling over how many more hours of handshaking was in store and me asking you to shut up and smile since pictures were being clicked…..

five years then seemed like such a long time…..now I can’t remember when it flew past…..knowing each other as long as we have, it seems like forever….. in a nice way!! In the end it isn’t about what we did, or how we spent time, or where we’ve been and what we’ve achieved…..

To know that I will always come home to you…..that I share my life with you…that marriage wasn’t the end of all that we wanted…it was just the beginning of what we have together….to know that we don’t have to be Siamese twins…..that we can be our own people…..with opinions and ideas fiercely our own…. That it’s ok to not agree on anything and yet know that that’s the way it is going to be…..that we are chalk and cheese….that we don’t have to share anything…..religion, language, culture, interests or even food….and yet, we share the life we have together…..to take a line out of Jerry Maguire, “you complete me”….

I am so glad I found you K…..if I had to do it all over again, I would……and not change a thing….Happy Anniversary!!

am i shallow??

Consider this:

i like to watch reality shows (one bigg one in particular) instead of news and analysis or something more serious......

i like to watch soppy mush instead of war/ political movies....

i like to eat chinese instead of some other exotic cuisine.... 

i love reading pulp fiction against all the other hard hitting award winning fiction that's always available

i like to talk about people and places and movies and food and annoying habits instead of earth shatteringly serious stuff like philosophy....

i love watching people... at public places...malls, airports, stations, does that make me a voyeur??

does this mean i am shallow??

Listed and listless

As I sit here on my first day at work, several thoughts go through my mind….. its pretty amazing that I am able to have normal conversations while my mind is running all over the place….it also strikes me….at how much we all use technology to appear busy….

Right now, I am sorely missing my laptop. A couple of times today I contemplated going home to pick it up and had to restrain myself…. It's a good place to hide, behind the screen of a computer….also my sheer dependence on it…..like an extension of myself!!

What do you do when you are at a loose end?? I plan….more like, I make lists….many kinds….endlessly sometimes…..so right now I have a few going…..things to do at work…broken down into for the project etc….. stuff for home…..lists of important and unimportant work which nevertheless needs to get done…..Why do I do it? it helps me plan. Its like laying my entire life out in front of me and prioritizing, organizing and purging. I feel a greater sense of control when I have lists…they empower me…

The workplace is a huge bungalow in a posh residential colony….in so many ways like the first place I worked for when I returned to hyderabad after my master's and a stint at the corporate offices at Bangalore and Chennai…there was no air conditioning and artificial light, just a small flat to work from….here there's a maid / cook and lunch gets made on the premises….eaten at a real dining table with placemats!! It can get too comfy!! I haven't yet taken up on the option of working from home, cause right now I need to see people to keep me sane…..i will find myself driving to work each morning till I need to be left alone….

The day has been pretty nondescript. I need to sift through a load of training material before I can put something together….so I better be gone…..if the title was anything to go by, there wasn't really any point to this post…..maybe I will do better with the laptop!!

 

 

time to get back!!

by the time this gets read, i would have begun working again........ i will come back to tell the story of how it feels.... and all that jazz.... but today i write about the hazaar things going on inside my head...some time back, i wrote here about why and how i quit working....seems it was yesterday...and now i am actually going back to work again.....

its been two years now since i quit fulltime work....initially i didnt have any agenda other than that i wanted to spend time with amma and take a break for a few months.... when my neice was born in january, i devoted a couple of months trying to help out with the frenzy that hits a household that has a new baby..... so officially for 6 whole months, i just went with the flow and enjoyed doing everything that didnt have an agenda.....everywhere i went people were intrigued / interested and downright nosy about why i stopped working and how i spent my time.....while it never got the better of me, i was quite surprised at how many questions you get asked if you said you were'nt employed. 

i took some hobby classes i wanted to, including salsa, i spent time with friends, paid more attention to my home and started a food blog and each time i said i was a housewife (for want of a better term) jaws would drop.... really?? i'd was the response i'd first get all the while....while it amused me at how i was being categorised and a label put on me, it also surprised me that it actually happened....

i had the time to do a lot of other stuff....for one i have become more interet savvy and i take better pictures than i ever did in my entire life!! i cooked and cooked and cooked some more till k was really tried of his patience.... not of the food really, but of the endless discussions that were food centric...i began baking....i spent a lot of time and money shopping....i went out a lot.... to malls and movies and friends places....my balcony garden took on a new life.....i plunged into home improvement.....i sewed...curtains, cushions, even clothes for myself.....i block printed.....i made christmas cards....celebrated the best christmases and diwalis ever.....and amma spent more time with me than she ever did.......i stopped wearing a watch....i lived for the first 8 months without a cell phone.....i stopped setting the alarm (except for when i had to catch a flight!!)....i began waking up naturally....when my body was satiated with sleep....something that hadnt happened in years...and no it wasnt at noon that i woke up!!

more importantly, life for me changed like i'd never thought possible....i stopped having those headaches......i began to see myself becoming calmer....my temper for sure had ebbed...somewhat.....

i wont pretend that it was all rosy and lovely..... from being reckless with my spending, i suddenly was more conscious of what and how i was spending.....when you have been on your own financially for so long, suddenly to not have the comfort of a monthly pay cheque was something that i took time to adjust to..... financial independence more than puts a spring in your step....for me, it was a confindence i took so much for granted....

when i quit, i wanted to start a restaurant.....i worked on a plan and saw dreams of my eatery flooded with people....of the food and ambience being so fabulous that we had everyone literally eating out of my palms!! that was the first thing to crash land!! i had to accept that it was far too much a risk that i was willing to take....so i let it go....

in a moment of extreme self doubt, with a friend telling me i could do it, i began chocolate classes at home.....what that did to me, is more than i can describe here.....from a day when i was convinced no one would sign up, to doing three classes a week, appearing on TV and having festival orders to keep me awake till midnight, chocolate making did to me in a few months, what i didnt even dream of.....

i loved my job as a trainer....and continued to work on it ..... work as a freelancer trickled in....i began writing training web content..... my days were now fuller than when i had fulltime work.....i have thoroughly enjoyed this.....with the food blog and the friends i made in the blogging community, writing and classes, life was pretty good....infact nothing that i should complain about and appear ungrateful....

However, increasingly over the past few weeks, i have been plagued with questions that i need to answer myself ..... my classes will remain since they are over the weekends, i am at a plateau with the writing and training....for the time being, i feel the need to go out and see different people....i need an office environment......i wondered about things such as my professional worth and the two year break on my resume.....

for starters...this time, i am working out of choice, unless the last time where it was natural progression from being a student..... i spoke to a couple of friends.....from the industry and who were able to talk to me objectively and not give me answers i wanted to hear..... 

while i am not really sure what i want, i am very clear about what i dont want.....i dont want employment that will engulf everything else in my life....i dont want a job that will force me into the rat race.....i dont want to do meaningless work that adds up nowhere....i dont want to give up the pursuit of the things that i have enjoyed these past two years....if all this sounds like i dont want to work...well its farthest from the truth....i was hoping i would get all this a...nd do the work that i love so much

an opportunity that fits all of my do'nts has presented itself.... only time will tell what happens next.....so as of today, while i sit and type this out....i am full of apprehensions more than anything.... apprehensive about how i will fit in.... how i will manage work and home.... if i will be able to do good work....and all the jazz that accompanies starting a new job.....coupled with a very real case of butterflies in the stomach.....i will begin working on a project that involves about 7 hours of work a day....enough to tell me if i want to wager on....or bolt back!!

blogging this and that

i purged this blog of ridiculous labels.... i tried to the best that i could to put all that i have written here in the last two years into less innane categories.....

i am troubled that i do not know html any better cos i seem to believe that is the answer to my drab blog woes.... i wonder if the only way to add elements on the right and left of my blog is to write a new one.... cos the template page isnt helping me..... or maybe more correctly, i havent figured it out yet!!

i wonder if i should continue to write this blog...because i seem to have no idea what i want to do with it.... yes it does help me with ranting.... which was the whole point.... but it seems to be pretty aimless after all this time....

i am...at this point, as confused as i was when i began typing this...

updated to add: i think i figured out how to add a few elements to the page....i feel rather silly that it took this long!!

more magazine gyan~~

ok when i first tried out all this stuff, i imagined my mom rolling her eyes and saying "hmmphh when i tell you its rubbish...but if it comes from a magazine its the gospel".... yeah right... i needed them to validate it!!

but over the past year now... i have really really made drastic changes in the way i treat my hair and skin.....hitting 30 does that to you!! suddenly you count all the strands that wash up in the drain!! and notice that you look so sallow, its hard to believe you ever won a prize in college for having flawless skin!! yes.... now i have skin issues too.....hence the conscious effort to use natural products minus the chemicals....and do some simple stuff which isnt a chore... but can be incorporated into your regular routine with less fuss.....and i have seen some very good results...especially my hair.

Hair and Skin

• it is not a smart thing to not oil your hair for 15 yrs.... it makes your hair like coir!! oiling it before a shampoo is a good idea... its a great idea...just plain coconut oil....squirted straight onto the scalp....and worked into a light 60 second massage with your finger tips.
• warm equal quantities of honey and olive oil, massage into your scalp... let dry... it feels hard and sticky when dry (but obviously), shampoo after an hour.... touch and feel your silken strands!! awesome!!
• commercial shampoos have far too much detergent than we have the courage to acknowledge in them to give that lather they advertise.... dilute it with water by 1/2. notice that it washes as well, and doesnt dry hair as much. this works for all shampoos - mild/ herbal/ for silky hair/ dark hair / curly hair and everything else....
• despite what we may think... it is necessary to trim hair every 8 weeks... 10 weeks at the very least... keeps it well groomed and tidy.
• coconut oil: you may not like the smell.... but its the best before bath body lotion.... slap it on for a few minutes before your bath and use a mild soap like pears / nivea....man!! your skin feels like velvet
• vaseline is the best for dry chapped skin... to feel less icky, use it at bedtime on your hands, feet, elbows and lips....throw out all those overpriced body lotions...they last just a couple of hours
• after years and years of using commercial cosmetics and body washes and lotions and potions....i ate humble pie and got back to the kitchen shelf.... it has been awesome so far....
• equal quantities of rice flour and chick pea flour (besan), some oatmeal and a little granulated sugar mixed with milk / rose water / plain water is THE best body scrub you can have.... mix the dry ingredients and put it all into a container and store it in the bathroom for easy access. 
• Plain honey on your face is a good thing. spread it with your fingers all over your face. keep it on for 10 mins before washing off. it is very hydrating.
• out in the sun and have a tan you want to get rid off? whizz 1/2 tomato with 2 T curd, the sourer the better. apply on your face and wait till dry and wash off... the tan washes right off. ask me!! i never use sunscreen... not because i practice reverse snobbery but i never remember...so i resort to this.
• i find extracting cucumber juice painful, i just whizz a couple of slices with a little yoghurt and put it as a facepack to take off tan. its a great cleanser too..... i think mixing some oatmeal will work too.
• mashed papaya for your face washed off after 10 mins is like a miracle worker.... use it as often as ye shall want lovely skin!!
• oh yes... inspired by a certain friend, i decided on a one soap always policy .... and switched to pears... will keep you posted on the changes....

i didnt expect the comments (albeit my friends!!) on my post on magazine gyan part one.... i edited this part from it since i thought it was an overload!! so here it is!! do let me know what worked for you!!

magazine wisdom....

k is forever accusing me of being very hackeneyed and boring....headings for my posts....captions for pictures on social networking sites...even the name os my blog.... etc.... i am ignoring him....

now that i have that out of the way....onto some magazine wisdom... i dont know how else to put it.... really cool stuff i learnt from years of reading home and decor magazines.... somewhere i think i mentioned i was a home decor magazine junkie.... no?? ok...now i have.... i have been lapping up goodhousekeeping and be

tter homes and gardens since they launched in india.... and occassionally some others off the check out counter in the supermarket...while i wait to be billed for my shopping (marketers of magazines... you have your product placement bang on!!)

while everywhere there are tips to help us organise our lives, homes and person....these are a few that have worked for me.... so in no particular order are the following life lessons that have always been one of the three: time saving / nerve calming / pretty awesome 

Random : Around the house

• i put flowers / leaves in empty bottles/ glasses/ vases... they can be wild flowers from the garden, coleus... anything... it perks up the room instantly
• to extend the life of wilting flowers by cutting the stem off close to the end of the bloom and putting it in a shallow bowl/ deep saucer/ urli
• this is a one in a million..... i dont know about you, but i hate it when bathroom mirrors fog up....to stop your bathroom mirrors from fogging up, rub it with a little shampoo / liquid soap on a soft cloth.... its unbelieveable!! repeat every other week
• soak up a soft cloth in a few drops of coconut oil and water and rub polished wooden furniture with it... gives it an instant new life

• to tidy up in a hurry ... like when friends call to say they're around the corner and will pop in: put stuff that does'nt belong in that room into a pillow case/ plastic bag and stow away...this way you dont have to bother about finding a place to keep them... just bag it...works like a dream... if you are bothered about the mess enough to clean up that is.... and dont make a habit of piling up filled pillow cases...then you've completely lost the plot.
• the pillow cas clutter management also works when you need to empty out cupboards/ drawers and dont know where to put the stuff. put it all into a pillow case and just empty it out when you need to. this way, if you need all the stuff to stay together...it does. when i had to empty out 5 whole wardrobes recently while we had woodwork being done....this was a lifesaver
• it is good sense to always have a book handy to write down stuff: lists, reminders, to do's
• spend 5 mins a day, at anytime, to tidy up / put away 5 items that do not belong in the room/ on the table / fridge / wardrobe.... its kind of like "a stitch in time" and goes a loooong way
• store bedsheets along with matching pillow cases. saves time and energy when you want to change them... you wont go on a wildgoose chase... picking up just one pile at a time
• i use this thumbrule of organising and getting rid of clutter: if you dont use / need something you have put away in a box/ bag for 3 months, you wont EVER need it...there's your cue to sorting out stuff and guiltlessly throwing away horded stuff... that includes stacked up books and magazines!!

In the Kitchen:

• set the table and serve food in pretty crockery... it immediately makes it look and feel better (i have a lot of inexpensive khurja ceramic crockery which i use daily, they can be used in the microwave, so heating leftovers isnt an issue)
• ALWAYS boil enough dal to last atleast 3 meals....freeze as individual portions
  
• chop veggies all at one go....preferably after you buy them and store in plastic bags / boxes... life is pretty chaotic without having to deal with veggies to chop after a long hard day at work
• chop tomatoes and zap in the microwave for 4-5 mins.... cool, puree and pour into ice trays to freeze.... remove and store in a bag in the freezer.... dals, gravies, pasta....here i come!!
• better still double the quantities of any gravy, freeze and store
• scraped fresh coconut stays good in the freezer for 2-3 months as opposed to in the fridge for 2 days
• its good to keep instant food for emergencies....but reaching for it three times a week is one too many emergencies!!
• making a meal plan for the week saves you the hassle of racking your head (whilst stuck in the veggie tray) about what to make for dinner / breakfast (multiply the same four times and you have a plan for the whole month)
• impose a "no more buying" till you finish groceries in your pantry...works better than tossing them out after they've crossed their best by dates
• grouping things together according to category / end product for storage makes life easier.... all baking stuff including dishes, electric mixer and decorations/sprinkles..... all kinds of pasta with spices.... 
• never have more than 5 takeaway containers at a time.... toss them out once they exceed 5 in number 
• home made cookies and cakes, jams, chutneys etc make for great personalised gifts

Phew!! thats a lot of gyan!! so i am going to stop!! 

activity overdrive

by the time you read this....amma will be here....for a few weeks.....

what this has catalysed, is for me to set a few things in order.... you know how it is.... you organise a few things...and then papers, books, linen, even groceries get put away in not exactly their own places... groceries lie in the bags they came in at the bottom shelf of the pantry..... half used packets of whatever lie with rubber bands around them....not yet put into boxes or bottles.....clothes don't get sorted, but lie in the pile they were brought in by the dhobi.....and well.... things like that.... which i put back saying "tomorrow"....

why does all this get catalysed because amma's here?? her cupboard, is my favourite dumping ground..... for things other than the groceries....so i need to get that into order.... as for the kitchen and pantry...she busies herself in it, making her coffee and fixing a meal...much to my chagrin.... i keep telling her she's on holiday and shouldn't do this...but moms!! when was the last time they listened?? so i need to get the kitchen organised so that she can find her way through.... so the cereals, raagi flour and diabetic sweeteners come out of the recesses of the higher shelves to an easy reach place for her.... things that can confuse her (she's got failing eyesight) get put away..... all this means that i have been on an activity overdrive.....

all the things that i dumped out of sight finally get their own resting places....and i, stand back....happy with what i have accomplished....

the price of beauty

Month after month, we march ourselves into torture chambers...to inflict upon ourselves various kinds of painful procedures in our bid to look better/ feel better/ beat age/ lose weight/ gain personality/.....i could go on..... why do we do it? i still cant figure....

i began threading my eyebrows at 18.... now i cant believe i waited that long.... cos in orignal splendour they look like two caterpillars....i remember having to muster my courage up each time, because it was that painful....did i mention i have thick eyebrow hair in addition to them being bushy? which means if i dont get my act together every 3 weeks, i can star in the nightmares of people i know.....ofcourse in the real world, it doesnt happen like clock work should..... the first time i ventured into waxing, i spent the previous night imagining my skin would be ripped off after being scalded by hot molten wax....over the years now, it has become something that i dont quite pay any attention to....not that the intensity of torture has decreased, but i think my threshold for it has increased.....

i dont particularly look forward to these sessions at a beauty parlour....they dont translate into "me time" as peddled by various women's magazines....the only reason i endure this is because i'd like to not end up looking like a grizzly bear.......i tend to keep the pedicure for the end, after i have been plucked and prodded at.....while i can never get why all pedicurists hold the nail clipper upside down! i always trim my own nails.... i go there for the scrubbing and the massage that my feet need after walking around all month barefooted at home....something i never learnt to do was to wear house slippers...

there's a way in which all parlours big or small function....the matter of factedness with which business is conducted.....the way the beauticians go about their job, while to me, to be sprawled in front of one and sometimes two other women, is cringe evoking....while i obsess about my cellulite, uneven colouring and fat deposits, they go about their jobs most non chalantly, and i envy their ability to pay no attention to a person in near undress.....

it never fails to amuse me...how we check each other out....and the beauty parlour isnt an exception....women of all ages and kinds, sitting, in the hairdresser's chair, or for a pedcicure or some other service, sizing each other up......clothes, shape, size, age and money...all either real or imagined...i do it too..... never has it made any sense....because for one, i believe we all look our worst when we're there....hair in a mess, face oily from the aftermath of a facial...sometimes with bits of the facemask still stuck in your hair/nostrils/ears....skin looking like it needs some soothing after the trauma of hot wax.....and yet we check each other out, to see what effect the hundreds we've spent on ourselves so far will look like in a couple of hours when we're back in our togs and wearing our made up faces again!!

i always emerge from a parlour looking worse than i did when i went in.... my hair in a mess.... face oily after a clean up and freshly threaded eyebrows make me look like a plucked chicken.....my feet are the only part of me that look like they had a good time!! but back home and a wash and change later....man!! the difference is so amazing!!

yeah seriously..... it lifts the worst mood....makes me happy and enthu enough to want to venture out of the house after hiding under a rock.....

and unfailingly after each visit i promise myself that i will go back on schedule to follow up the next month.... but some promises are made out of a habit..... just like breaking them....even if it is to yourself!!