What a Trip!!

Had some one told me that I would end last year and begin the new one with a roller coaster ride that’ll test my strength, emotionally take me high and low, make me travel across the length and breadth of this country, I’d have thought those were pretty thoughts…..but that’s just what happened and when I look back at the recent past, I just wonder if it all happened at such short notice………

K and I didn’t go visiting his parent at Diwali due to his work and it was getting put off each month….we’d finally zeroed in on Feb when the distinctive longing of our parents compelled us to make the trip in the last week of Dec……this coupled with the upheaval that k leaving work for so long at such short notice and I having to meet a friend visiting from America and tying up lose ends meant that from the 27th of Dec when we came back to Hyd from Bangalore to 30th, we were too busy to notice even if there was an earthquake……..
Our loved ones have moved from Ahmedabad to a place near the kandla port called gandhidham almost a year ago…..this meant that we had to travel to Ahmedabad and then make the 10 hr bus/train journey to where they are now….simply meant more time spent…...but it was inevitable, we armed ourselves with warm clothes(most of Gujarat was around 4-5 degrees C!!) and got onto a bus….the ticket said ‘sleeper coach’ so I imagined something like a train berth…..what it turned out to be was more like a coffin draped with (thank god it was dark) curtains and a dhurrie…….with people having regular push back chairs under this berth….i lay down wincing….wondering how clean the dhurrie and who else had done what else…..coupled with the claustrophobic feeling it gave me…..K took one look and said not happening….he wangled his way into a couple of tickets to regular push back chaired bus…….i heaved a sigh of great relief…..it was meant to be short lived……an hour onto the highway at half past midnight, the bus stopped suspiciously and the verdict was due to a malfunction, the headlights were’nt working well and wouldn’t be on for long!! What!! On our roads, traveling that way meant danger of the most high…..protests, threats and middle of the night dharna in the middle of the road later, passengers began to complain about not reaching their destination on time, that the driver was perhaps used to this all the time etc……the transport company of course far from sending us help refused to even answer our calls…..so the solution was amazing, indigenous and the best at that time, but thoroughly frightening…….we were driving on the highway between two other buses that had their lights working…….. and this is the way we finished the entire journey…..praise god that we reached in one piece cos I never slept that entire time……….the welcome we got more than made up for anything we may have undergone the night before…….
By the time we caught up on sleep and rest I realized; a) it was very cold, b)this was as small as a small town can be c)I hadn’t seen as many cows in my life……..!! it was straight out of a travel documentary on India! Being used to the rural interiors of Andhra and Tamil Nadu, the cows, camels, mud roads and carts fascinated me…………there were bungalows with at least 3 cars parked outside, but no tarred roads but for the highways!! It has its own charm but definitely not a place I can live for very long……..
If there is one thing Gujarat can do to you, is cause serious damage to you with food……..the people are so hospitable that they ply you with a myriad variety of food, and no thank you isn’t an answer good enough!! All that walking and the four Kg reduction quickly came to a nought….plus all my MIL’s cooking…….its homely and comforting and so good that it can break the most resolute!!




We took a day trip to mandwi……..its a beach as virgin as virgin can get…….i mean kilometers of sandy shoreline, clear waters and no body around……in fact the shack run by the tourism dept has closed down…..now I know what virgin is……we frolicked and savoured every moment of it, watched only by the sea gulls and some dogs……it was worth the 150 kms drive……..on the way we passed lovely colourful jain temples, ruins of sentry posts (there were many of these), camel carts, women in colourful lehengas carrying wood, men in their shirt frock attire with dhoti and turban, it was as rural as a rural experience can be…..mandvi town also has a small ship (boat) building industry…….we saw many at various stages of completion and it was a treat to watch…..drove past some impossibly narrow roads to reach a restaurant called Osho…….theres an osho centre nearby hence the name……no one knows the real name of the eatery…… I’ve had one of the most unforgettable eating experiences here…..the saurashtran thali was unbelievable, I gorged on the hot jalebis…..and suffered, again because no thank you wasn’t a good enough answer….i should have tried ‘I’m going to die’……….a few more days spent in idyllic bliss, visited the school K studied in from class 2-6 (his family was here 2 decades ago) a temple, local market, picked up some handicrafts (how couldn’t i??), ate pav bhaji from a cart…….and then it was time to say bye bye…….hoping this time the bus ride wasn’t an ordeal was like asking for too much….this time around, my brother’s wife was in labour and as only labour can be, it lasted 13 hours after which they had to do a C section……..thankfully I was kept awake and welcomed the news of Rachel Aradhana’s birth at 6 minutes before midnight on the 5th of jan….praise god….both mother and daughter (and might I add father) are doing well……got back to Hyd via Ahmedabad on the night of 6th, all bundled up in warm clothes courtesy of the Gujarat cold, only to be greeted at 26 degrees in Hyd, with people looking strangely at us at the airport!!
I cant tell you how happy I was to be in my own home, on my own bed with the knowledge that all my loved ones (potted plants included) were fine…..actually flourishing!! I spent the next day washing 5 loads of clothes, before I caught the evening flight to Bangalore….at this rate there are dogs at the airport that wag their tails at me!!
Rachel was so small I almost missed her on the cot!! She was all bundled up!! I cant but wonder at the miracle that the creation of life is….brother and mother were visibly relieved to see me………I spent the next 36 hours at the hospital, carrying, changing and helping the baby suckle……its amazing how something so small can latch on with such gusto………the day after that, home was prepared to welcome the newborn and her proud but tired mother………Cindy our dog sniffed, snooped and appointed herself as bodyguard……….
The next 10 days passed in a blur, I have experienced happiness, joy, helplessness, fear, and tenderness and the span they all last for is very volatile……………the entire household went into a tizzy, I never knew I could feel something so strong for someone so small…….we fell over each other to do what we thought the baby wanted……my brother has yelled,, begged, cajoled and sung for his daughter….we’ve changed countless diapers, rocked her to sleep, agonized over dressing something so small, and even learnt to bathe her to her satisfaction……….all this while K was in Hyd, sorely missing each other, I was too busy but he got the flu…….he visited on the weekend……laid down some rules for us, audited our processes and gave us a certification!! Another week went past and I decided that SIL was well enough to want her space, so I got back home…….its been one hell of an experience…….and all I can do at the end of the day is thank God for all this………..

Christmas

k and i got back early this morning from bangalore after Christmas......as usual the fog in Delhi delayed the flight from bangalore to Hyd!! after many years we travelled to bangalore by a semi sleeper bus...tho touted as a luxury bus, i must say regardless of how much you can push back a seat, it isnt the same thing as being on a train....i love train travel.....the trip was much anticipated by my family and tho i'd have liked a few days to recover from the strain of organising K's surprise bday party....we didnt have a choice, with the 23rd and 25th being so close!!

its always the case when you are with family and worse so over a festive weekend, that all you seem to do is eat, sleep, eat, try to recover from all the eating and sleeping and then do it again!!

we also spent a tonne of cash...(as is becoming a habit) K dropped the battery and cover of his motorazr in an open drain and that was the end of a year long association....so we had to shop for a phone....and i had been hankering after a digital camera....so we finally made the committment and picked one up from gk vale.....i was so happy....almost salivating at my christmas gift.....i told K with all the travelling and purchases (some needed and mostly needless ones) for ourselves and the house, this has been one expensive year for us.....he just smiled and indulgently exclaimed...it has been a year well lived.....

so we touched base last night and since our car was with a friend rode home in a taxi...i sat in an ambassador after quite a while.....had a lovely night's rest and thanked god that i didnt have to wake up and rush to work......K has had to do that unpleasant thing while he left me at home to unwind, unpack and set things in order......

with Silus baby set to make an appearance in the first week of jan.....we're all waiting.....i hope she has an easy time......

the bestest compliment in a long time!!

yay!! the best thing that anyone can tell a woman who has been wanting to lose weight forever.....is "have you joined a slimming centre? cos you have lost so much weight!!"!!

(the process begins in your mind) i have spent months....calculating how much weight i would have lost by the present day if i had started a routine or worked on a plan since a day that has gone by...usually its a few weeks.......i have been imagining, calculating, planning, praying and begging in my mind but have'nt done what i really need to .....workout and control the intake of food.....cut to last week....i came back from bangalore after stuffing myself as i usually do when i am there and at my mom's place.....i have begun to face the perils of having my weight affect my health now and have had a nasty ache in my knees for a few months......its shocking!! the image that you have of yourself and what you really are.......there was a time when i had to buy clothes in the childrens section as i couldnt find my size in the adults....that was almost a decade ago.....but the rapidity with which the weight hits you when you are looked at and the shop guy reccomends an XL!! when people refer to you as "that plump girl" it shatters the best of us.....and so it happened to me......i know i am not a reed....but i hadnt realised that i was more than plump.......

so for the last 10 days, i have stopped obsessing about food....i am not cooking much to avoid temptation......it helps that K also is sick of my food supply!! and i have decided that atleast one meal of the day will comprise of idlies!! and the loathsomely lazy me has begun a 20 mintute brisk walk routine every evening!! the results are very satisfying......

saturday evening we went to a party and a very lovely compliment was paid to yours truly.....the weighing scale says 4 kgs...but i am unwilling to celebrate just yet....i shall not rest until i reach my targetted weight....and with all the christmas decorating that i have been doing....th knee pain has reduced a little...way to go girl!!

The mind going astray.......

i have tonnes of things to do....to straighten up....in my mind and otherwise too.......i realise that i am liking my solitary state...there are times when i wish i could be like that for longer periods of time....i am beginning to crab out when there are people around me....is this good or bad?? i realise that i can do exactly what i want when i am with myself......this week and the next always seem like the fastest ones to pass...when there are tonnes of things to do.....

i have made lists and then some....but i can never seem to go9 about them like i have planned out....the plans seem perfect on paper and perhaps thats where they shall remain!! the newspaper i spread out on the counter to catch spills while i am working always seems to have the one interesting article i missed out.....one thing leads to another and i lose track of what i set out to do....is this a span of attention issue?? i dont know.....i have christmas cards to make and post, the tree to put up, decorations to hang, a party to plan for, clothes to be tailored before the 24th...tickets to book, people to meet....and what am i doing?? reading the newspaper spread on the counter top!! yesterday this happened and i felt like the time when i was in school....the day before the exam is the day i want to organise and dust my study table and books...spend half the day doing that, then catch a nap that i cant wake up from and then panic.....

i watched "kabul express" yesterday....it was such a dissappointment......this was one that was on the airwaves for such a long time that it had to have me watch it first day albeit second show.....firstly let me say that maybe yashraj films publicity blitzkreig assaulted my senses to the extent that i expected a masterpeice....fault number one of my high expectations is something that i shall admit to......the cinematography is breathtaking.....the ravages of war make you cringe......but it ends there.....any thing else that you are looking for will not oblige you with its presence......firstly the script.....what was the writer thinking about?? in an attempt to give a human face to its characters, taliban, journos etc they make comic characters that are as out of place as noodles at MTR's...the corny one liners are so artificial and the most chilling opportunities are passed up for nonsensical dialogue......john abraham is seriously misplaced and has the same expression he had all thru a movie called garam masala....he looks and acts like the class dunce......arshad warsi is as good as the director wants him to be.....in the end you dont have an issue, you dont tackle one, you dont get your hands dirty, you fall flat on your face....and no there's no osama....the claims of which is what perhaps brought audiences into the theatre.....and no the attempt is not enough......to translate something of this satture onto the big screen and make sense of it all is clearly out of kabir khan's league......he doesnt know what he wants to present.....looks like all he did was googled for taliban and made a movie based on the search results......he needs to train with the most average director making documentaries for discovery or history or the natgeo channels to know what kind of research goes into tackling an issue of this sort.....of mounting a movie on it....pathetic....makes you sick.....its a joke......i must say that the producers have done a good job of selling the movie though.....thats why we bought tickets in the first place....but they'll get what they deserve......empty halls by monday morning.....this express aint getting anywhere....

I've been at it!!

yesterday was like a pilgrimage....you want to do it, look forward to it and something holds you back....yet when you finally embark on it, it seems perfect......it was like that with my chocolate making class....i have hounded the lady that conducts these classes for the better part of 2 months and finally made it yesterday....it was fun and all the imaginations of rocket science went where they belonged....out the window!!

today in a frenzy i accompanied K on his way to work.....dropped off at the wholesale market and armed with my shopping list, bought myself an awesome load of choco making supplies.......moulds, raw material, packing material and the works!! walked a little down the lane and in pure greed bought a tonne of christmas decoration ......i can do up two trees with what i have now!! got back home and surveyed the damages....there was this eagerness mixed with trepidation...what if i make a mess.....what if i set the chocolate on fire? what if i just totally flop? should i wait for K to get back home for moral support till i begin to finally do what i have been fantasising about?? all these questions going through my head and i had to admit i was dying to try it out....so i spread some old newspaper on the kitchen counter top......set up my supplies and begin.....i'll tell you that it was very scary to begin.....once i got the hang of what i was doing....it all happened very quickly....i made some marbled shell chocolates, plain mounds and one set with nuts.......i was very happy with the results but had some leftover melted chocolate.....so added about 3/4 cup maida, 1/3 cup cooking oil, sugar, baking pwd and whipped it up and set it in a muffin tray.....voila......lovely cupcakes.....i havent been this pleased with myself in a few weeks now!! i'm so happy....as i type this out, am waiting for K to come and pronounce his verdict.....!!