On hibernation mode....

Hmmmm... its been quite a hectic period past few weeks both officially and personally...and had been out from the blog world.......!

Guess will take some more time before I will be back with a bang...yep! back with all my junk posts ;):D

Chak de India .......!!!!!!!!!

The winning moment....the historic win........the nail-biting over.....the ecstatic crowd.......the day that turned all Indians proud...!!

Finally......Chak diyaaa India :)

Those were the best days of my life.... :(

Ohhh I miss .....I miss my childhood days the mosttt !!....Sometimes the thought of it itself makes me smile :)...the fun we had.....the masti we did......the games we played....the noise we created.....the scoldings we received.....the roads we cycled on...the songs we danced to......the neighbouring terraces we jumped and climbed......and the best of all the friends I made :)

I remember our colony had the max girls....and it was damn fun bullying the guys,since we outnumbered them he he he!!.....We enjoyed teasing and fighting with each other the most!

I still remember the cookery competitions we had conducted... My team quietly slipped into the nearest Eat-Out and packed parcels of pani puri and masala puri and claimed they were done by us ;) and another team did some spywork and tracked our moves and somehow let the judges know that we had cheated ;).... I still dont agree why the first place went to these spies who had prepared 'so-called' burger!!...How difficult haaan....Buy buns and cut few cucumber slices...stuff some cabbage leaves ....add some cheese or so and lo Burger ready!!!...Hmmmmm.....tough work haan :))...and even till today we fight with them regarding this issue :D .. [Am sure if the guys(the first place winners) read this post my life's gonna be in risk ...he he he !!]

I remember the summer vacations were the days we kids craved for the most to come sooon.....the times when we ourselves conducted fancy dress competitions....painting competitions......the dance competitions .....am grateful to Swapna who was my dance partner often in these competitions.....and I made her dance to my tunes ;) ...poor she...literally struggled with the training I had given ;) "Dance like Madhuri" was the mantra I gave her to chant :)

As days and years passed by....we all moved and took different paths....and slowly we moved out from the famous "18th cross area" .... but I feel so lucky that I had the best of my childhood with these fun loving guys and gals :) ..... and I owe a lot to these childhood friends of mine who have given me loads and loads of wonderful experiences I can carry along in my life's journey :) ....

Luv ya ppl :))

Onam in God's own Country :)

My first Onam in Kerala :) ....................

Snaps seen are taken from my MIL's school where all school kids were given good lunch on occasion of Onam.I felt so good to have been one among the people who attended this special occasion.

I was touched by their innocence.....all that they told me - "Teacher...teacher....one snap of me " ;) ...and this is all that I could click !

Mera Bharat Mahaan!!

It feels nice that it is Independance Day today :)...and more nice that she is celebrating her 60th Independance day!! Its gives me great pride that I was born an Indian.

Makes me nostalgic of my school days where we used to hoist our national flag and sing the national anthem with pride and honour,speaking about the historical figures who dedicated their lives for us...added with many patriotic songs and speeches by our principal :)...the best thing would be the climax......Lolly Pops!!...we used to get sweets and chocos on this occasion;) and then one would see the immense happiness on each of our faces!...whatever it is I miss those childhood days in school wherein remembering our country and taking pride in being an Indian was inculcated in each of us.The thought of appreciating and thanking the people who fought and sacrificed their lives for us were remembered....And nowadays..?... nowadays, August 15th is considered just to be another break from hectic schedules and work... and if it falls on a Friday/Monday...the better the weekend turns out to be!

Now it gives me a nice feeling when I see the big tricolored flags waving high with the wind on the streets and also being sold to the junta @ traffic signals....did they have to wait for an Aug 15th or Jan 26th to sell them?....
It feels nice to see people displaying the Indian flags on their vehicles....be it a cycle or a brand new car!....did they have to do so since the Independance day is around the corner?..... It feels nice to see various wonderful TV programmes/movies related to India or its independance...did they have to telecast this just because its an Aug 15/Jan 26? .....I am kept glued to the idiot box to see an endless debate on a news channel claiming itself as the 'First ever Historic Indo-Pak debate" to be telecasted ...isn't this debate going on since ages?.....I hear the music stations playing continuously old and new patriotic songs...hmmmm,they found a new theme for the day ..huh! .................My friends and colleagues celebrating Independance Day @ their offices......eh...an excuse to display their latest designer wear sarees/kurthas they shopped over the weekend? :) I should feel guilty too,coz me too celebrating Independance...er Ethnic day @ office tomorrow...he he he ;)

Another year passing by....India still remains the same as how it used to be before ... poverty .... unemployment ...... infrastructure ..... child labour .... any change??....all the same!... sad:(

That just reminds me of a beautiful scene which touched me when I watched it in this film titled Swades.

The scene below is self explainatory!

I see....I hear.......Now u gotto say!!

I get into my cab and look out of the window....

A loong distance I have to travel...A loooong way to goo....thanks to the traffic jams in Bangalore I get to watch many interesting things as I go....

I get stuck @ the traffic signals...
I see the people on bikes hurrying and tryin to squeeze through.
I see some teenagers sittin behind their dad's bike with big fat text books in their hands probably trying to mug up some last minute studies.....
I can see a crowded bus filled with ...with....ehh......is it people??....

My cab moves on and zoom across amidst many angry drivers...I spot few senior citizens and I can assume
what they would say -- "Ohh God...what rush...what pollution...is this today's generation?? Did I have to see this dayy?? "

I see some shopkeepers giving a grin or was that a smile as they unlock their shops...welcoming their new day in business .
I see a cow almost on the middle of nowhere yet looks happy and tension free, unaware how it has also contributed quite well to the traffic jam.
Ahh...I see the stray dogs too...all looking fiery like as if they are hunting for prey.....

Soothing music is it or is it someone screaming??...Oh!!! its from the radio in my cab..I concentrate closely and I hear the RJ say -- "Traffic jams...traffic jams...message us where and we will announce it so.." I sometimes wonder how the RJ's would have earned their bread and butter if not for the thankful citizens like us who create the traffic jams and they get us 'entertained' with their contests and gupshups.

I look beyond the crowded streets.....spot a few....very few 'green' trees...and I feel that I hear them screaming and this is what they say -"Lord....gimme water....gimme some oxygen to breathe..." I simply wonder then what should we humans say...!!!

I stop @ many traffic signals....I see that the traffic rules are meant for a minority to obey and some like the cab I travel to generally disobey.

And I give a glance at the school kids who are wondering when they would be able to reach the other side of the road...they look all tensed and worried that their school bell might just go tring tring ..."all thanks to the disobedient drivers"--- I hear them say!!!

Amidst this chaos and confusion..I also spot a couple.....maybe newly married or maybe not ....yet their faces explain and have a different meaning to say -" I hope the meeting hasnt started" or is it "I hope my clients have nothing to say for the proposal I had displayed"

I have almost...say a few more kms to my office.....when I spot the posh shops on the busy MG road exhibiting their beautful new designer wears and collections which attracts my attention and tempts my heart to say --- " Hmmmmm....loong time since I shopped!!...today evening?? what say ?? ;) "

I see this..I see that....I hear this and I hear that.....but I finally reach office and I get out of my cab...trying to look fresh to start a new day....yet a feeling inside me says ---" Half the day looks already over.......let whatever happen outside the gate I really should have no say ...ehhh...hope that today too turns out to be just another good day :) "

An adventurous fun filled weekend !!

Thank God I took an off on Friday.....Vivek and I started our day packing up for his trip and then drove till Nimhans at Koramangala to fight with the officials regarding my sister-in-law's study certificates...then followed shopping @ Forum Mall...then again returning back to NIMHANS to get the certificates...and then a trip to Sarjapur where Vivek's office was,he had to get some stuffs from the travel desk since he was travelling to Canada the following day!...And then we were so damn tired that we headed towards a restaurant just next to my home to have a cup of tea with some snacks to eat...Then we headed towards Vijayanagar as we had to drop in Vivek's trip luggages there...had dinner and again headed back to Banaswadi home!!.....phew...indeed a dead tiring day as we had travelled all round the jam-packed city and we were both flat by the time it was 12AM.

Next day was even more exciting!!! Got up early ...went to temple....went to shop @ Com Street....rushed in @ every shop and bought some footwear/clothes etc for Vivek's Canada trip.After we shopped Vivek smiled and told me - "First time I am shopping and you arent ;)"
Then we rushed back home ...did some final packings and headed towards Vijayanagar...had a delicious mommy-made lunch and headed towards Chowdiah Memorial Hall!!...why??? to watch a play called -"Five Point Someone" (a humorous story about three friends in IIT who are unable to cope).

A short note on the play......the play was damn good....the artists looked like theatre professionals...they enacted the play so well....like as if I were reading the book all over again....Five-point Someone was the first ever novel I had read till now...and it was the first time I was watching a play ....to add in more excitement the book's author,Chetan Bhagat Singh too had come to watch the play....wowww!! it was sooo nice....!! The actors were damn cute...esp the person who played the role of Ryan looked cuteee...the person who enacted Alok played his part well and so did Hari's role!The people who played the prof's character were damn good....especially their voice modulation was remarkable!Not to forget the person who played Neha was a pretty dame too....quite soft yet she gave justice to Neha's character.All in all a humorous play by the 'Evam Group'!!!

The play got over by 6pm ...It was raining quite heavily....Still somehow me,Vivek and my bro managed to get an auto and reached Vijaynagr by 6:45pm...again did some final touches on packing...actually speaking re-packed again ;) ....then we thought of sitting an relaxing down to watch TV....but the power went off...When the power came after an hour,it was almost time to have dinner.....at the last minute decided that the whole family would go to see off Vivek at the airport!!!.... Left to airport around 10:30PM as his flight was @ 2AM....Reached the airport ~11PM.....said bye-bye and wished him bon voyage....he looked like this little kid jumping with joy all excited for a trip to a beautiful place....and I looked like this sad soul waving out happily to my hubby but feeling sad deep within since I would be missing him for a month!!!

Also met Madhu and her hubby who were planning to take the same flight as they were heading to US after their marriage.My other colleagues - Vinayak and Aruna too had come to see her off. Hugged Madhu and wished her too a wonderful journey and headed back to my mom's home!!

Indeed an adventurous and fun-filled weekend it was :)

Whats in a name....

Yesterday I received a mail from my cousin sis from US.She was mentioning about the funny things I used to do when I was small,and she was asking about my mom whom she calls "Muruku Aunty",since my mom used to make yummy delicious 'murukus'(also known as Chaklis,is a savoury snack popular in India) when my cousins were kids.Infact that reminded me of the funny names both my bro and I used to call our uncles and aunties.......Some of them were :-

• Biriyani Uncle - This uncle was my dad's close friend . When we were small this uncle used to bring good chicken biryani for us often.....since then we have started calling him Biriyani Uncle :) Even today me,my bro including my parents and their other friends call this uncle by the name christened by us :D....everything's the same only except that we dont get biriyani's now from him :'-(



• 'Jeddi' Mamman/Uncle - He was our neighbour in my childhood days. We used to alwaays see him on the road in his 'Jeddi's' a.k.a Bermudas now :D ....but when we were small we could hardly understand what a 'bermuda' was...so since we used to alwaays see this uncle in his shorts...we named him as "Jeddi Mamman" :D...I remember my mom used to tell me not to call him like that......so now since we have grown big;) and also since he has 2 grown up daughters, we refer him by his own name itself :)



• White Aunty - It actuallys sounds soooo funny when I have to call this aunty by this name even now. This aunty was my childhood neighbour,an old widow.I used to see her always draped in white saris.Since the rest of the aunties were always seen in colorful saris except her,we used to call her "White Aunty"...and call her the same even now!



• 1..2...3 Miss - She was my montessory Mathematics teacher....I was barely 4-5yrs old,I never knew her name,even till now!I remember when I used to run back home after my class, I used to narrate the days events to my mom and tell her - "Today na..my 1..2..3 Miss told me this.....1..2..3 Miss scolded me...etc"

I vaguely remember the other funny names I used to give my uncs and aunts....including my school teachers :D ....it was difficult to remember these people by their names hence they were named by us either bcoz of their attitude or dressing style or behaviour :). Also remember an aunty whom we call as "Baby Aunty".Her name is something else but I guess it was her pet name,so now since she's quite an elderly person...we call her Baby 'Aunty' now :) sounds funny actually ;)

Yeah ofcourse vice-versa too worked well...my school teachers remember me because of my initials 'T.V'.....my teachers used to give me various TV names....those days it was -Dynora...Solidaire and all....So they used to call me with such weird TV names.I guess even now sometimes I get teased because of my initials....but whatever it is I zimbly love it when people call me "Anu TV" :)

Encounter with a strange auto driver !

Friday evening 7pm .....I had accompanied my sister in law(Vidya) and her husband(Kishor) who were out on a shopping spree @ our very own Commercial Streets. I did not have a tiring day at office hence I had some energy in me to walk around the busy streets of ComStreet! We walked into many shoes/dress/bag stores,fought with some shopkeepers on the huge prices they charged and bargained and finally had 3-4 heavy bags with us and were waiting to be chauffeur-driven by 'Baasha Bhai' a.k.a auto drivers to common man ;)

It was ~8pm and I guessed legally an auto driver shouldnt be charging "1 1/2 fare" but knowing our very own auto drivers I was almost expecting the demand fares to range from 60-80's. Normally it takes ~50Rs/- to reach my home. I walked few steps and saw some lazy auto drivers who were busy with their evening chats with their friends and smoked away happily,in between gave us 2-3 glances but still continued their gupshups with their friendly colleagues. 2-3 of the drivers standing @ the auto stand looked fiersome like as if they had just been freed from jail and were hungry for victims. I almost walked away from them when I suddenly spotted an autodriver who looked like he was in his teens,maybe 20's something and looked quite like this boy who is thrown out from school kinds.Felt pity for him and I started my usu style of bargaining - "Banaswadi....yeshttu?"...He happily said 70Rs.....I laughed and said -"Fifty inda start maadona?(lets start from 50 bucks)" . Somehow he reached "60/-" then I still insisted "50/-?" and walked off when he came behind me and said "Aayithu , 55/-" I thanked my stars for that moment coz one needs to be damn lucky to get an auto in Bengalooru and then we Vidya,Kishor and myself jumped into the auto with our shopping bags!



Watta an experience...my oh my!! he zzoooommmmed and sped so fast in that heavy traffic jam on Mosque Road.He took so many huge deviations for turning a simple right or a left or overtook many 'friendly' vehicles [I call them 'friendly' coz these vehicles followed the traffic lane principles and rode smoothly] and my auto driver zoomed past cab drivers too!! :-O...Can u believe that??? Overtaking a taxi/cab driver in Bengalooru needs some guts mannnn!!!! phew!!

Each time he escaped traffic signals and disobeyed the traffic lanes principles and zoomed across,my heart almost skipped a beat! We three passengers stared at each other and crossed our fingers almost hoping that we would reach home ALIVE!!

Before reaching my home ,there is a small lane which one needs to cross which consists of BAD roads with many potholes and pits and cowdungs and what not...Its actually feels terrible to ride on these roads before reaching my home sweet home !!But one cant expect anything less in Bengalooru roads:) ! And then started a small tiff!

My poor auto driver felt frustrated that he wasnt able to zoom on these 'junk' roads...he could get the smell of cowdung and s!#$% and so could we but we patiently complained nothing! Then he almost got pissed off and started spitting out and looked at us and said in his local language " You guys stay in this area....this bloody area....myy!! you made my auto come through these stupid roads" We three still remained silent....but he continued complaining!! Spat again once or twice outside and again looked behind and shouted - "Senseless ppl,what kind of area is this..Youu live hereee??.....damnnn!!" I spoke - "Look here Sir(one needs to give respect to these ppl sometimes only),you are not the first auto driver to have travelled on this lane" and I pointed at few more autos who had just crossed us and said -- " they too are travelling without any complaints and whats wrong with u" He stopped his 'possessed' vehicle...scrrrrrrreeeeccccchhhh!

"I am not driving any more further...come what may" said he and spat again outside. He was almost getting onto my nerves ,but I still spoke calmly and said "Look here our house is hardly 1-2km away and you can drop us there and I will show u another route to come out of this area".He started his engine :)...phew...I looked at my SIL and her hubby who looked almost puzzled and had a mixture of shock and amused type facial expression! His 'Mercedes' went just a further and again stopped....got out....spat twice or thrice(like as if I had dumped him into a pool of cowdung or S##%) and said -"Get out ppl,I am going no further". Enough was enough for me,firstly I have this special grudge against these autodrivers and somehow I was thrilled in showing my anger at this guy too! The three of us got down as he continued his usually spitting game and spoke some local slangs to himself .....I said with almost no patience - "Look here Mister I had promised u the fare which u said provided u brought us till the place we mentioned!I think its your duty to drop us at our desired place and not in the middle of a dark road(dark since that area had a power cut and it was pitch dark!)Mind u ,you are not the first auto driver in this world to travel on this kind of route....moreover is this the way you behave to a passenger??...I am going to give you 10/- less and nothing more" I somehow felt pride within for the simple feeling of having spoken such hugggeee dialogs in kannada ;) And then he again argued badly.....I continued again...I added - "Fine ...Kishor you give him the correct fare and I am noting down his auto number and make sure his license gets cancelled at the earliest for such a rude behavior" ...I said that and I almost felt my heart beating faster than before! Pin drop silence for 3 secs....he said in a loud voice - "Okiies.....fine ...reduce 10/- and give me my money and I will make sure the next time when you come to Commercial Street how to handle you ppl"..Dhamkiii.....I too responded harshly - "Fine fine....go and lets see what you will do at CommStreet anyways I have ur number noted down...huh!! " Kishor intervened in between now and spoke calmly,not knowing the local language said "Jaaoo bhaiyaa jaaooo...baad mein dekhenge..abhi tak kuch nahi bola...lekin start kiya thooo...."

The next moment I saw the angry autodriver ofcourse spitting out once again and take a turn and drove away in fulll speed into darkness! We three walked for another 10mins to reach our home and laughed and teased about how he spoke and spat and acted :D.....We walked back home ~9pm happily and excited to narrate this funny story to Vivek who at this time was almost worried waiting for us :)

..and she made the difference!!

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints in our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
-Author Unknown

Today I am thankful to God that He has showered me with some wonderful people whom I call as "my good friends"...most of all I thank Him for sending a 'best' friend in my life.

I still remember the day she came and sat next to me @ my tutions.She did not speak to me and I used to have this thought in my mind,"Man,watta attitude she has....damn why cant she sit somewhere else" .....As days passed ....months flew we became the best of pals...and I am so happy that I met her quite early in my life....

I still dont understand the meaning of a "best" friend.....But I know she is that one person with whom I can spend a day with loads of fun and laughter....one who understands the meaning of my silence........one who sheds a tear when I am sad.......one who is more happier for me than myself.......one with whom I can get pampered and also pamper....one who can give me a solution even before I narrate the problem...one who stood beside me when everyone thought I was wrong......one who gives me that inner strength and confidence......one with whom I can trust on anything ........People generally used to tell us "You are like one soul in two bodies"...shez made that difference in my life.

A day had come when I cried as she had to travel miles away from me...But I was happy for her as she was getting married and settling in the US ....Even today I chuckle when she calls up from Unc. Sam's land only to end the conversation with ->"Anu daa when you coming to San Diego".....

I miss those days we had lots of fun...I miss those times we played some pranks....miss those days when we simply laughed for nothing ;).....I miss being myself when I was with u.....I sometimes miss my dearie friend Poonam :)

Exploring the kitchen...!! :)

Well yes indeed..I should have named this post - A newly discovered place @ my home ;).....!

I remember even a month before marriage,I was like this lazy goose not even planning to explore the kitchen in my house.Mom must have been almost fed up scolding me and advising me that I need to learn some good culinary skills and get to do some work in kitchen...I somehow used to believe that "Necessity is the mother of invention"hence would somehow convince myself that I will learn when I need and will do when it matters :)

Thus,began my new journey to an undiscovered place in my home! I call it 'undiscovered' because I have realised that this place is one of the best places for the lady @ home..Its in this place I have discovered other skills in myself(Self-praise No:1).....;) Actually speaking I myself am surprised @ the amazing skills I have in preparing dishes! (Self-praise No:2) . I remember when I was small and even when I grew up I used to feel sad..for what??..sad for the chicken when my mom used to prepare...I used to have this dumb thought when I was small that the chick's parents/siblings must be missing it @ their home (chicken's home :) ).....I used to never enter the kitchen whenever mom would be cleaning the raw chicken;but .....would be happily feasting on it once prepared ;)...Yummm Yummm...slurp! slurp!!..WoWW!!! :))... But now I can consider myself an excellent cook in preparing chicken items(Self-praise No:3) :) Now I happily clean it and wash it well and then prepare the yummm stuff;...the only thing is that the disease has been transferred to my hubby,now he never enters whenever I am cleaning the chicken but loves it once prepared...ha ha :)

I still know that I need to excel myself in vegetarian items....Ahh there's still time ;) moroever I have this feeling that basics in cooking is to learn veggie items and Advanced C++ is learning non-veg items :D...so am sure I have graduated in cooking good food(Self-praise No:4) !

The next item I love to make is idly-chutney [Fast and soo simple to make ...he he he ;)] I rememeber once I happen to speak out some rubbish to my friends ;)..Instead of mentioning that idly's get overheated ,I said "Idly's turn BLACK"..Boy o Boy then started leg-pulling.....I wanted to explain something but it turned out to be something else ...since then my friends started questioning abt my so-called black idly's :'( ... Hmmmmmm foolish me :)

Apart from idly's I love to make sambhar tooo...the nice aromatic dish made with freshly prepared anu-made-sambhaar masala powder simply tastes yummm!! (Self-praise No:5)

Apart from the above I would also like to mention my few new short term discoveries --- pizzas/vadas/paneer chilly/chinese manchurian! I call them short term coz I prepared them for the first and last time :) (Self-praise No:....? lost count ;))!

Given a day in kitchen I guess one can experiment many many new things and feast in them as well !Now I have gradually developed a liking towards exploring various dishes ....and finally what matters for me is when Vivek says - Anu,the food is edible ;) I simply loved what u prepared :)

My first "so-called-blog".... :)

Okies….finally me did decide :)...Well,never I would have thought in my life that I would be also “tempted” to write a blog.. anyways:)....Generally books start in with the first page about “Thanks to blah-blah etc etc..“ so me too have decided to thank all the people who used to send me their blog links with interesting and unusual experiences narrated which finally probed me to start in my own blog space.

I had a notion that people write in blogs for timepass, or maybe just to narrate some boring incidents in an interesting manner or maybe to educate the “junta” about the happenings around as in opening one’s eyes :D or maybe just because they have a habit of writing day-to-day activities in their small “my-diary” kind of thing or maybe even let one’s friends know what they are upto or maybe for people who talk a lot - writing blogs keeps them satisfied that someone might listen/read what they have to say ;)...Whatever the reason maybe Anu has decided to start blogging....hmmm...reminds me of my childhood wherein I used to start every sentence with “Anu”..I somehow loved my name so much...I used to say “Anu wants to eat...”.. “Anu wants to buy...” “Anu wants to...” :D..Everyone used to say it sounded cutee....But eventually when I grew up, thankfully I stopped this habit :D..I find it quite funny that I used to do so....Aww.. I think I am going a bit off track ;)...but this is also something interesting, people go off-track and go into some other imaginary world and then finally forget where they had started with. I often tend to do so...”Going into an imaginary world” is something which my friends have told me that I do...I don’t know how this happens but it often happens that people discuss things and I might invariably lead them thinking differently into some imaginary things and conversations and then lead them or the conversation into something which doesn’t make head or tail of it and then put them wondering in a big mess like how I am doing it now ;).....My o My I rather not deviate again..:)

BTW I usually prefer blogs to be written short which means covering every single minute detail written and described incredibly in a matter of few lines/paragraphs. I feel the longer the blogs,the more time it takes for one to type and the more time it takes for one to read and the more time it takes for one to understand :p hence I have decided to keep a resolution that I would somehow stick to writing in short blogs...anyways resolutions can be broken :)....And hey,by the time I could think of what I should be writing next I guess I have already or almost written in a page hmmm...or is it that I have purposefully increased my font size so that I could restrict myself not to write more?....upto you to wonder:D. Actually I really wonder if anyone’s going to read this or would be interested in reading this :D ... Whatsoever it may be I am sure the next time “me-myself-anu” reads it, definitely I am going to laugh at it(or at least pretend to do so :D) for the 7 mins I took in typing this :(.... I somehow promise myself that the next blog I might write I should somehow keep it interesting and informative as that’s how I assume that blogs are meant to be :)....!!