Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna!

Goodbyes, of any kind, I hate them. I don’t know how some people can do it so easily. Really. We live in a world today where, we are gheraoed by too many people, and come across lots of junta across various walks of our life. But that’s about it. People come and go, easily. This is unlike our previous generations. 

Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai!

-          Some people are like clouds. When they disappear the day gets brighter.

-          I think stupid people were put on this planet to test our anger management skills.

-          Kuch log bubbles ki tarah hote hain, dekte hi fodne ka mann karta hai!

I’m sure this happens to many of you. Sometimes its them, sometimes our mood. Bottomline is Albert Pinto ko Gussa Aa hi Jaata hai!

I believed, wait why believed, I truly am quite a calm person unless someone rubs me the wrong way. Don’t get misled. I am not a Gandhian. I will not offer my other cheek if somebody hits me on one. But I do tend to control my emotions in a lot of provocative situations. Lately though I’ve started realising that the emotions are not just under our control in today’s overly modern, overly technological, overly connected, overly loud and over-the-top world. 

Haan re Haan Haan 50 50 – With An Award!

Today, no tomorrow, no day after. The mahurat just wouldn’t arrive. I kept telling myself that I’d pick up the laptop soon (the modern day equivalent of picking up the pen) but it just wasn’t happening. My 50^th post was just not meant to be, from what it looked like. Reasons. There were tons. Mood swings, bottlenecks, jams, blows, punches. Let me share a few.

5 Guidelines For When Your Toddler Starts Preschool

If your toddler barely raises his hand to wave you goodbye when you drop him off, what is it that you should exactly feel? 'Ja Master A ja jee le apni zindagi' or ‘Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee, Kisise Ab Kya Kehna’?

I was told that I should pat my back, for having bred an independent kid. 'Yeah' (read, what do you know!) I said, as I hid the tissues.

Aashiqui 2

Sun raha hai na tu, ro raha hoon main ….

10 Tips For Traveling With A Toddler

♬ One little, two little, three little dinosaurs ♬! No this ain’t a Jurassic Park promotion, it’s a popular song for babies. Yeah yeah, these are the kinda songs that keep springing up in my head, been more than two years now. There’s no room for Arijit Singh or Yoyo Honey Singh, or even the Ed Sheerans of the world.

Toddler On Board ….

As I sat at the airport, filling the immigration forms, I was humming this song even without realizing it. Using both hands in ways I never knew I could, and keeping an eye on one whole human while still writing on paper, these are some of the skills I discovered I had, after I entered the motherhood phase.

Daadi Amma Maan Jao!

Do you remember this classic number? Trust me people, blessed are those who have not one but two sets of parents, pampering and supervising, overseeing and looking after them, every step of the way. The second set of course being doting grandparents. I'm one of those lucky grandkids who had the fortune of having her Aaji (grandma) around till she was well above 80, and Ajoba (grandpa) till he turned 89.

You know there's a local saying, that if your children are milk, grandchildren are the cream on the top. And believe it or not, but that's how the Aaji-Ajoba treat their grandkids. We were completely spoilt and sheltered by them. Of course, the strict dad ensured that the laad-pyaar didn't get into our heads.

Life's A Messi Motor!

WHO ………….

When it comes to exhibiting power, no other title in the world can match this one. The power to change moods, the power to change the tones of a tea party, the power to play mind-games. Hell yeah! The MiL. For the ignorant men, that means the classic Mother in Law.

You can love her, you can hate her, but you just cannot ignore her. It all begins from day one. They tell you, you are embarking on a new journey, not just with the guy, but the whole family, blah blah. They could cut the crap, and keep it simple. ‘You are entering the MiL space, good luck with that!’

M's For (nothing but) MOM!

You are surfing (read googling), jumping windows, reading up, writing down, sipping tea. Scroll, scroll, scroll, like, like, like and dhan te nan, it pops up, that one notification! Dreaded by some teenagers, scorned by a few others, and simply causing some eye rolling for daughters like me who are way past their adolescence.

‘You have a friend request from Mamma.’ Feelings? I'd be lying to you if I said I was jumping with joy. It was much more. I felt a sense of pride. Why, you shall know.

Calendar, Khana Do!

You float and float in a dream world, until all the helium is exhausted and you hit the ground with a loud thud….. Aaaaaaaa…… Congratulations to the newly wedded couple. That’s where it all begins ;-).

I had this absolutely over-the-top amusing notion that I would never cook in my life. And then? I got married!

Ganpati Bappa Morya, in Singapore!

You read that right! I had the privilege of screaming Ganpati Bappa Morya right here in the garden city we call Singapore :-).

Come August, and every Indian starts looking forward to the upcoming months of festivities. By the time you are done celebrating one, next one’s lined up. Being away from India therefore in the festive period breaks your heart. The ache begins right from Raksha Bandhan and goes on till Diwali.

Bappa all set for Aarti!

Gaana Aaye Ya Na Aaye!

♬ Pau-bhaji, Patties, Samosa ♬ … Did you think this was the sequel to Afghan Jalebi? Nope, those are not the lyrics of any new age song! That was the menu, which we gobbled up and got set for a night of music masti magic.

So okay, what does an Election Day mean to you? Other than the ardent desire for a change, a revolution, an awakening, it signifies something very big. Don't be shy to admit it, it's a Holiday! Totally! Each one of us deserves family time and doesn't get a lot of it, so days like these provide perfect opportunities for happy long weekends.

BOND 003

A younger brother, a first cousin and a second cousin. I’ve been blessed with three such brothers whose ears I can squeeze when needbe. Those are the 003 I’m referring to. The occasion – every Indian knows that. ‘Behna ne bhai ki kalaai pe …..’

It’s been a while since I’ve done some emotional blabbering, so today’s your lucky day ;-). Not exactly emotional, but I’m surely in the mood for some sort of an abstract rant. The end result, you get another peek into my not so unusual life!

And The Affair Began!

Ok stop thinking dirty! I’m sorry to disappoint you, if you’ve clicked on the post thinking you’re in for some juicy gossip. This one is a neat and clean affair, one I have started with the city which I’ve made home currently.

The Bintan Holiday - Part 2

So here they are, a few more details about Bintan and Banyan! The follow up post to A Long Due Family Holiday - Bintan - Part 1.

After alighting from the ferry at Bintan island in Indonesia, it took us around 15 min to reach Lagoi, the area which boasts of the manicured resorts. The rustic Bintan, with the local touch is further away and houses some resorts as well. We were stationed at Banyan Tree, and our train didn’t really take many stops :-). Simply put, we hardly ventured out after we checked in!

A Long Due Family Holiday - Bintan - Part 1

Okay, so when you are gonna take a holiday with a toddler, even the planning stage, believe it or not, takes a whole lot of your time and efforts. We planned and planned, prepared ourselves mentally for the stress around our toddler’s eating sleeping and entertainment, settled on a destination, zeroed down on a hotel, decided the dates, and guess what! Weather in Bali had different plans. 

The Bollywood Quiz

I had in my The Dil Maange More Sequel! post mentioned that I would be coming up with something interesting in my next post. Due to some pressing issues that had to be dealt with in subsequent posts, this one got a bit delayed, but I assure you it's worth the wait :).

While I was writing on the sequel, I was reminded of a game a couple of our lovely friends had treated us to, a few years ago. Back in those days, when we were Londoners. A had actually gone all out and had come up with this 'dhaasu' (if you let me use the word :)) quiz. And his wife M had done her bit, by helping (or as some of you may call it, cheating ;-)) me with one or two answers here and there. It was girls versus the boys. The yelling and the screaming, the excitement and the arguments, oh my god! I can't stop smiling even as I write about it. It was a nail biting game right till the very end, with the girls team losing by one point, ufff..

The Hubby's Birthday.....

As he drove home that night, he wondered if she was indeed giving him a silent punishment for having mocked her on her 7 births' funda and her driving skills (Refer Till Death Do Us Part...A 7 Births' Contract). Scene two, dominating mother-in-law’s arrival. Scene three, mother-in-law on his bed, in his bedroom, apparently in need of some emotional flushing. Until the mother-in-law’s psychiatrist had spoken of it, his humble soul knew only flushing of one kind, the one that cleaned the toilet. Scene three had begun some 3 weeks back and didn’t seem to have a last dialogue. He wanted to shout out loud, ‘Cut!’

The Dil Maange More Sequel!

'Pehli baar koi ladki hamare car ke front seat pe baithi hai.'

'Aap purush hi nahi mahapurush hain!'

'Bade bade shehron mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain Senorita.'

You do know what I'm talking about, of course you do. Especially if you've grown up on the 90s and late 80s Hindi movies. You know that the above is not a conversation, but famous lines from movies of that era :-)

One of my earlier posts Dil Maange More! warranted a sequel ;-). Our childhood entertainment discussion is so not complete without the some classy and mostly nonsensical list of movies we relished then. 

Dil Maange More!

Really, no exaggeration!

Byomkesh Bakshi, the new Bollywood movie I was told is worth a watch. It's a few weeks old isn't it, or is that months? Well, thats how much clued in I am currently to be honest! The last time I visited a movie theatre was in London, like 2.5 years ago. A movie who's climax had driven me nuts. Though my brain had been hinting at what could be the suspense, my heart had refused to accept that plausible explanation even after the director slammed me in the face with it. A ghost causing accidents in an Aamir Khan movie, it took me a few minutes to digest that story even after stepping out of the theatre! 

Enough about AK having let me down, it's an old story. Let me get to the point. So all that this movie (BB) did for me was remind me of a certain tv serial which went by the same title in those good old days of Doordarshan. The pre-cable era, the golden era filled with quality tv stuff. Tenali Rama, Kille ka Rahasya, Chitrahaar, Fauji, Indradhanush, Flop Show, Karamchand, Malgudi Days... I could go on and on. I know it's unfair to those series whom I haven't named, there are so many more worth mentioning.