Inked!

There lived a girl who was fascinated looking at the big, colorful, unique tattoos on her friends’ arms, legs, shoulders, ankles. She always wanted to have one on her hand but scared of the pain. One day she made up her mind and had the courage to go up to a tattoo artist. She waited for fifteen minutes for her turn to come. While waiting, she heard a loud cry; the sound came from inside where the artist was working on a girl’s tattoo. She was not discouraged; she ignored and pretended to be strong. However, that didn’t last for long. She stood up, took her bag and ran for her life without even looking back. That’s the end of her dream to get a tattoo. She forgot about all this until today.

The same girl meets a friend over for breakfast and while chatting away to the glory sees her tattoo. She likes it instantly and tells her about how desperate she was in the past to get one. She even narrates her story about the trip she made to the tattoo artist. The friend laughs at her and tells her that it doesn’t pain that much and I can easily put up with the pain. Co-incidentally the place where she got it done was walk able distance from the place where they met up for breakfast. The friend decides to show her the place and introduce her to the artist. They go inside and the girl decides to get her tattoo on the same day.

Yes, you heard it right! The girl (that’s me) who can run miles away by looking at the syringe of a flu shot got inked today. It’s just not one, two of them. I did it without any proper ground work about the artist, design, font style and even the pattern. Isn’t it an impulsive decision? Do you think I am crazy?

The crazy side of me was a little adventurous and decided to surprise N today. This plan was made years ago but never got executed till now. Today was the day my dreams came true. By the way the friend is Sandy and she was the one who motivated me.

Sandy, if it was not you, I would have never done this. Thank you so much!

P.S. N doesn’t know anything about this till now. He gets to know only when I reach home tonight. I don’t know how is he going to react to it. Suppose, if he is not happy and throws me out of the house, I have two backup plans:

• Plan A: Call up U who stays 10 minutes away from my place and go with her
• Plan B: Sriku has already volunteered to pick me up and take me to his place. So just call him.

Good bye 2011 and Hello 2012!

These were my last year’s resolutions. Let me review them first:

1. Stay with my husband (Bangalore/Delhi/Kolkatta: ?) Yeah! Finally this happened
2. Stay healthy and fit (exercise regularly) I can’t cut this off as I don’t exercise regularly.
3. Stay connected with the blog (update regularly) Did okie, but can still get better on this one!
4. Learn to cook (consistently on my list- hope to execute this year) I can’t believe I did it!
5. Learn to Drive-confidently (It’s of no use if I just have a driving license and not drive. I better pull up my socks this year) this one will still be on the list
6. Joy of thanking campaign (for more details see my next post) I did it!

I could strike off four of the above, not bad isn’t it?

What happened in 2011:

• Personal: My hubby is back, we set up our home and living happily (touchwood!). My brother got engaged, a new entry to the family.
• Work: Things went really well on work front. A new office space, new colleagues and change in work brought a fresh air in me. I got an award as well!
• Travel: None, no time for any vacations this year
• Friends: Made some new ones and also managed to stay in touch with most of them. Oh, Su and Suraj are proud parents of a little prince (Siddharth).
• Blogging: A good improvement compared to last year.
• Fitness: Have I heard that before? It’s totally sad that it has taken a back seat. Should I blame it on cooking, cleaning and managing the house? The only bit of physical activity is a game of badminton (that’s the new addiction in me).
• Health: Hale and hearty!
• Movies: Watched plenty but none made a great impression.
• Cooking: Full fledged! There is a dedicated blog for that
• Books: Bought plenty of books but found very little time to read all of them

All in all personally it was an eventful year for me.Let's see what 2012 has for me.

What I am looking forward in 2012:

• Stay healthy and fit (exercise regularly): No looking back on this one. I need to shed some weight before my bro’s wedding
• Own a four-wheeler vehicle so I can drive independently.
• To be confident enough to share my blog with others (I still think I can’t write well).
• To update regularly on all my blogs
• I am craving for a vacation. N, did you hear that?

As per Doomsday predictions the world is going to end in 2012? Will that really happen? Let's wait and watch. I have already made plans for 2012. So my dear world, don't end it this year. You wait for some more time. OK?

Image courtesy: Google

Bliss!

Wake up without the maid knocking at your door. Not worrying about what to make for breakfast. Not seeing the kitchen sink filled with yet to clean utensils. Not watching the laundry bag that says “come wash me up”. Not entering the kitchen to make your first morning coffee. Stretch your body; connect to the internet, read your favorite blogs by sipping aromatic coffee. What a blissful moment!

Do you ever forget your password or ATM pin number?

Have you ever blanked out while unlocking your computer/laptop? Or while punching in your pin numbers at an ATM?

I have experienced that fewer times with my laptop, but somehow retrieved with trial and error method. I never had issues forgetting my ATM pin number. Couple of days ago, Niranjan and I went for a movie. As usual, we didn’t book the tickets in advance, instead tried our luck going to the theatre. We both were lucky on that day, we got the tickets. I gave my card to pay, the girl in the counter told me that the machine was not working and asked me to pay by cash. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough cash with me. I told her to block the tickets and rushed to the ATM which was on the other side of the mall. There was a big queue and I had exactly fifteen minutes. I stood in the queue hoping to get the money faster. The queue kept growing and I was frantic on missing out on the beginning of the movie. I stood patiently waiting for my turn. Finally my turn came and I had exactly five minutes. I inserted my debit card and punched in my card number (XXXX). Bang- incorrect pin! I thought it was a fat finger syndrome. I re-entered slowly; it didn’t accept my number. I was apprehensive to try again, thinking about card getting blocked with three invalid attempts. I decided to use a different debit card. Phew- incorrect pin again! I tried to calm down and re-entered, it didn’t help. There were many people standing in the line and staring at me. I called up Niranjan and asked him to come immediately. Luckily he was around; we got the money and collected the tickets. What kept me thinking is, for the first time in many years I forgot my pin number, especially the time when I badly needed the money. I couldn’t believe it myself! How can I forget those four-digit-numbers on two different cards? I went crazy.

After a day, while I was busy doing something at work, I suddenly remembered the numbers. I went to the ATM and punched in the numbers, Voila! It worked!

Note to self: Always keep some money in the wallet; you never know when the emergency comes!

If I had just ten days to live:

Don’t get scared looking at the topic, this is just a random one. If you think I am crazy, well I am not, I am sure one or the other day we all need to set off, let’s be realistic and prepare ourselves to face it.

Day 1: Shocked & Disappointed

I would probably sulk for few hours and look out for options that make me live longer or at least buy some extra days. That means, running behind doctors, consulting astrologers or praying god.

Day 2: Planning

If it’s confirmed that I won’t get any extra days, first thing I do is to prepare a To-Do list. A to-do list that contains the things I longed to do throughout my life. I am a sucker for life and I am sure I will have million things to do, so prioritizing what I need to do itself will take a day.

Day 3: Spend time with my better-half

I feel sorry to leave him half-way through. However, it’s not a choice that I made. I will spend the entire day with him telling about things, which I have never told him before, doing things which I have never done before. Walk with him on a country road/beach/park holding his hands, sharing all my thoughts and feelings openly and honestly.

Day 4: Shop till I drop

I really wish I can prove this line. I know this doesn’t make any sense at all, for once I want to buy things without looking at the price-tag. For once, I want to buy clothes that fit me properly, not hoping that it might fit me when I lose some weight.

Day 5: Meet up with all my near and dear ones

I would like to spend the entire day spending with everyone who is close to my heart. I would use that opportunity to thank everyone for what they have done and apologize if I have hurt them by some ways.

Day 6: Wishful eating

I want to eat heart full without cribbing about anything. I will visit all my favorite eat out joints in Bangalore and eat without worrying about calories. I will gorge on Pizzas, burgers, chaats, sweets, ice-cream, and chocolates.

Day 7: Outing in the beach

I would like to spend an entire day in a beach, preferably clear water beach. I would love to laze around in the water not worrying about getting tanned, not thinking about people and not being conscious on how I have dressed.

Day 8: Write with all my heart

I want to spend an entire day just blogging. I would like to document all the best things that happened in my life. Just write everything that comes in my mind, without worrying about spelling mistakes, grammatical errors.

Day 9: Long drive & Reading

I want to go on a really long drive, playing my favorite music, preferably to a hill station with books of my favorite author. I would like to read all the books (if possible) that I have it on my check-list.

Day 10: The end

I will make short phone calls to all my near & dear ones and say good bye. I will get a nice hair-cut done, dressed in my best, take loads of pictures with everyone. Last but not the least will update my status on all the networking sites LOL!.

Enough I can’t write any more, this is too depressing :-(

Addiction

I Know I show up very little these days on my blog. I don’t know what to blame it on; not getting enough time, too much work or my mood swings. Anyways I promise to write something regularly now on. You all know about my varying obsessions right? I am a cancerian and my mood swings at the snap of a finger, so does my obsessions. My new obsession is to give up sweets and coffee. These two things have been integral part of me. It’s not an easy thing to let go of these addictions. Over the weekend I decided to quit eating sweets. Though I had made up my mind several times in the past, but never was successful. I was all geared up in executing my mission this time; there comes a big box of cashew nut burfi (Kaju burfi). My uncle bought a new car and wanted to share his happiness through the sweets. How can I say no to him? How can I make him feel bad? So, I ate one. Can anyone just stop with one piece? I ate one more and then goes the list. My decision can be postponed not his happiness right? ( It's such a lame excuse right?)

Though I failed in the sweets segment, I can say I am better with the coffee one. At least I am able to quit my morning coffee. It’s not that I am addicted to coffee, just that we share a very strong bonding. I can never start my day without a cup of coffee (filter coffee to be precise). It was nearly impossible to quit my morning coffee. But I did, it’s been a week now that I had my morning coffee. I would very soon stop my evening coffee as well.

Happy birthday!!!!

I'm so thankful for a husband

Who cares for me so

And for all the love

To me that you show

You're one of the best

With a pure heart of gold

You're thoughtful and kind

You have a good soul

That's the kind of person

I see in you

Someone I can count on

Without you, what would I do?

Thank you for overlooking the faults in me and bringing me back when I was down in the dumps. Though we had our arguments over the years (some of them even brought me tears) but I always like the way you made me laugh after those fights. I cherish the good times we’ve shared and the things you’ve done to show me that you care. I can’t express my love to you in words, all I can say is that our love that’s made our marriage grow. Thank you for standing behind me in all that I do. I hope you're as happy with me as I am with you.

Wishing you a wonderful birthday

Walking through the parks:

It feels so good after a nice long walk in the park. There are so many wonderful parks in my locality. I just realized it today. I got to explore all of them. It’s truly magnificent! Though Bangalore has become a concrete jungle, we do see some greenery around. Thanks to all these parks, this is adding up beauty to our ‘Garden city’. We should appreciate our government for investing more money on parks and gardens. These parks are favorite destinations for joggers, fitness enthusiasts and for walkers (that’s me!).

We have an entire stretch with full of parks. This road is called as ‘Park Road’. It’s wonderful to walk on these roads. I have so many beautiful memories attached with this road. As a kid I walked to reach my school, spent my lunch breaks, played with my friends on the same road. I even learnt how to ride a bicycle, two-wheeler and a car. Today it brought back all the old memories.

I enjoy my evening walks in the park. I am habitual these days on the weekends. It’s a good way to unwind my week. Usually I return home immediately after my walks. Today I decided to sit down and relax for some time. While doing that I looked at people around me and realized my instant blissful moment :-). It was really nice to see so many people spending quality time with their families. An old couple playing with their grandkids, a boy-friend-girl-friend patch up, soon to be wedded couple discussing their future plans, girls complaining about weight loss and some aunties discussing about saas-bahu fights.

 I noticed so many things in such short time :-)

Instant blissful moments:

We all feel happy when we achieve something. Isn’t it?

It could be an awaiting promotion, buying a new house/car/phone, love life, marriage etc. Just about anything. When we eagerly wait for something and we get it, we are on cloud 9. We relish that happiness forever. There are some little things that instantly bring a smile on our face (without our knowledge). I was thinking about all those little things that makes a huge difference in our routine life. Let me know your instant blissful moments:

Here’s my list:

1. Watching Sun-rise and Sun-set
2. Meeting an old friend in an unknown place
3. Hug from/to someone who really cares about me
4. When I hear my favorite songs on the radio
5. When I get a gift- A book (of my favorite author)
6. An evening walk in the park
7. Eating Paani Puri
8. Befriending a child (orphanage)
9. Receiving a “sorry” message (SMS) after a dreadful fight
10. Getting drenched in rain and eating ice-cream
11. On a rainy day sitting next to the window with a good book and cup of coffee in hand
12. An unexpected phone call from a friend
13. Words like "Love you" and "Miss you"
14. Finding my childhood friend on Facebook after many years
15. Finding money in my jeans pocket 
16. A genuine smile from anyone definitely puts a smile back on my face.

"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day".

Adios 2010, Hola 2011

If I had to remember 2010 for two reasons that would be, I still remained employed and I visited a place that I was longing to visit for years. Oh no! How could I forget the most incredible thing that happened? Fitness, yes that’s me who is talking about fitness, the same person who totally believed exercising is a punishment (I know it sounds weird). I take this opportunity to thank each and everyone who added value to my life and made a difference.

 It’s time now to rewind and plan for the next year.

(1). Remain Employed: With all the organizational changes, thank god! I still have a job.
(2). Health & Wealth: I did have a bit of both.
(3). Visited Taj Mahal: Yes, finally visited “Taj Mahal”. The most incredible experience!
(4). Tolerance: Thanks to my dearest hubby for tolerating me for 3+ years. We celebrated our third anniversary in Manali.
(5). Gym: Joined a gym and improved my fitness level. I am glad I still love it.
(6). Prized Possession: Of course, it’s my book collections. Got to read a lot of books this year and did add up to my collection.
(7). Addiction: Photography (just started) & Blogging (long way to go!)

2011:

Not a big asks in 2011.I wish for simple things:

(1). Stay with my husband (Bangalore/Delhi/Kolkatta: ?)
(2). Stay healthy and fit (exercise regularly)
(3). Stay connected with the blog (update regularly)
(4). Learn to cook (consistently on my list- hope to execute this year)
(5). Learn to Drive-confidently (It’s of no use if I just have a driving license and not drive. I better pull up my socks this year)
(6). Joy of thanking campaign ( for more details see my next post)

Is this normal?

How often do you talk to yourself? Is this normal? Does it happen to everyone?
I do this quite a lot these days. I wonder if it’s normal with everyone? Or is it just happening with me? I am so preoccupied with my talks, that most of the time I don’t realize what’s happening in and around me. This goes on from the time I wake up in the morning till I doze off in the night.
I ask questions to myself and then answer all of them. Isn't it weird? It could be anything like what I need to wear to work? What do I eat for breakfast? blah blah blah.. I keep talking to myself about my whole day activities. Luckily I am not loud, if not people would have thought I was mad.

Birth of my Blog:

I attempted several times in the past to blog but failed miserably in executing my mission. This time alone I decided to do it. And finally, I did it. Here I am with my first blog (should I say it’s my second?).Well the first one disappeared even before it was published. So I can officially call this one as my first blog.
I love to write. I love the language. The reason I fell in love with the language is probably because I read a lot. Whenever I read some good books I always dreamt of writing the same way (I know I can never write like them). It’s a way you can express your thoughts, emotions, feelings and whatever just comes to your mind. Especially, when you don’t find anyone around to vent out your frustrations, it’s easier to get rid of your anger/irritation etc this way. As I said before, that I did make an attempt to blog earlier but I was hesitant to even execute. I always feel that I can’t write well. When I read others blogs/posts etc I feel jealous about “why can’t I write like others”? Anyways, I realized it late that unless you write, you can never get better with that. So this is my experiment to know if I can write well or not?
I really want to improve my writing skills. It doesn’t matter if I make mistakes. I assure you that one day I will be able to write well. I promise I will work towards improving it. I need your support. Please bear with me for a while till I get better with this.