Since the initial 16 yrs of my life were spent outside Gods own Country, all the knowledge I cud say i had about onam was limited to just having veg food n payasam.. which in those days was not something me n my brother used to look forward to…
Coming back to India changed me in many ways, for one I become more acquainted with how people in Kerala actually celebrate onam n other festivals. I still remembering all us cousins getting together in our maternal home n wearing set sari n mullapoo, n laying out the ‘attapoovu’ , after lots of pics n fun, eating a grand sadya together from a banana leaf.. mmm… I still get the aroma n taste of my grandmas cooking at the tip of my tongue…
Of course after coming to Bangalore, onam has not been the same, sadly.
My first 2 onams here, I went out with my friends for lunch to one of the restaurants serving naandan sadya,n last onam I went out wit hubs for a malu move.. this onam ,im still wondering what to do….hubby wants to eat sadya , unfortunately I do not have the time or necessary resources/knowledge for it :(
My plan is to leave early from office at 5 :) .. yes this is early for me considering that my project is in critical state n I ve been reaching at home at 10 daily for past 1 month….n maybe make atleast 2-3 curries like the essential sambhar, pachadi , parippu and some veg thoran. And of course a payasam.
Last evening hubs was drooling seeing a sadya image on TV , n then he pondered aloud in midst all this drooling wit ‘wonder how our kids will celebrate onam? They ll never know how much fun it is’.
That made me think n feel bad for our future generation. Hopefully I can try to make the onam as spectacular as possible but of course it will never match up to what we have known in our younger days. Everyone has become too busy n involved with their lives. And of course distance is also a factor. All those cousins who I celebrated my past onams with are all scattered in diff parts of the world. The only thing we do now is relive those earlier memories in our minds n through orkut scraps..What do you guys think?
Will we ever be able to pass on the complete joy that Onam gives us, to our kids?
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Weekend At Thiruvananthapuram!
Had been to Trivandrum over the weekend to attend a close friend’s wedding. The wedding went well but more overwhelming than the number of payasams served at a hindu wedding,are the memories I had associated wit Thiruvananthapuram :)
Trivandrum is a place which brings back a bunch of memories for me- some good, some bad n some UGLY!! Hehehe….
I had 3 years of my schooling there- n I ve had a mix of feelings when I was back after a very long time. It was in Trivandrum, I met some of my best friends n some of my worst enemies, had my first crush, watched my fist movie in a theatre wit friends, it was also there that I slogged for my first board exam, studied for my entrance, attended chemistry tuitions at insane hours in the morning( like I said – this constitutes the ugly ;)).
But there is something so magical bout the place that even when I return after 10 yrs its still the same…well almost… cos there s a new Big Bazaar- which Im told is the latest hangout for Tvm’ites, n then CCD, Dominoes pizza , etc which were unheard of then . The people are still the same nice , friendly ,smiling ppl. Very traditional. Early morning I could still hear the Suprabathams coming from the nearby temple… when I passed thru Kedaram shopping complex I remember the hanging out I did wit my frens there after tuitions, Triveni supermarket reminds me of the time I saw a rat playing hide n seek through the rice chaaku..ewhh. There used to be a store called Campus were I used to buy my clothes from- it was supposedly a trendy place at the time.. But I couldn’t find it this time .. maybe it closed down after competition from Big bazaar n Naaz. And of course there was Kalavara hotel were my parents used to take us for a once in a blue moon treat to eat burgers n chopsuey. Talking of hotels how cud I forget Chinnus near Kesavadasapuram, were countless ‘Gelf’ returnees ( including us) used to drop in after sitting for couple of hours in nauseating Air India flight hungry after eating the weird food combo served …waiting in anticipation for the chilly chicken n hot parottas . yummm!! It was always the first stop in our agenda after getting in the crowded ambassador car filled wit loving relatives who had come to pick us up.. the love was so intense they wud forget that there were 4 of us n our baggage n finally we had to sit on each others lap to fit in , wit the luggage on top of the car .
Those wer the gud old days… sigh!!
Now things have changes, I have changed … its nice to know that I have memories that still can bring a huge smile to my face
Trivandrum is a place which brings back a bunch of memories for me- some good, some bad n some UGLY!! Hehehe….
I had 3 years of my schooling there- n I ve had a mix of feelings when I was back after a very long time. It was in Trivandrum, I met some of my best friends n some of my worst enemies, had my first crush, watched my fist movie in a theatre wit friends, it was also there that I slogged for my first board exam, studied for my entrance, attended chemistry tuitions at insane hours in the morning( like I said – this constitutes the ugly ;)).
But there is something so magical bout the place that even when I return after 10 yrs its still the same…well almost… cos there s a new Big Bazaar- which Im told is the latest hangout for Tvm’ites, n then CCD, Dominoes pizza , etc which were unheard of then . The people are still the same nice , friendly ,smiling ppl. Very traditional. Early morning I could still hear the Suprabathams coming from the nearby temple… when I passed thru Kedaram shopping complex I remember the hanging out I did wit my frens there after tuitions, Triveni supermarket reminds me of the time I saw a rat playing hide n seek through the rice chaaku..ewhh. There used to be a store called Campus were I used to buy my clothes from- it was supposedly a trendy place at the time.. But I couldn’t find it this time .. maybe it closed down after competition from Big bazaar n Naaz. And of course there was Kalavara hotel were my parents used to take us for a once in a blue moon treat to eat burgers n chopsuey. Talking of hotels how cud I forget Chinnus near Kesavadasapuram, were countless ‘Gelf’ returnees ( including us) used to drop in after sitting for couple of hours in nauseating Air India flight hungry after eating the weird food combo served …waiting in anticipation for the chilly chicken n hot parottas . yummm!! It was always the first stop in our agenda after getting in the crowded ambassador car filled wit loving relatives who had come to pick us up.. the love was so intense they wud forget that there were 4 of us n our baggage n finally we had to sit on each others lap to fit in , wit the luggage on top of the car .
Those wer the gud old days… sigh!!
Now things have changes, I have changed … its nice to know that I have memories that still can bring a huge smile to my face
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Just another rant again!
Yesterday on my way to office, near a busy cross , I saw a couple of policemen beating up a guy on a bike. I do not know what the offence was but I was so shocked as they were hitting his head with the wooden lathis, that too very roughly . U can say I was unnerved for the rest of the day . I mean the guy might have done something to get the beating but they dint have to beat him up ,that to on his head… what if something happens to him, who will take the blame for that !!! Sometimes I feel that no matter what our position n education is, people r still uncultured at times…
Few months ago, I was getting my passport renewed . After months of running around finally I got it. One evening a (very senior) policeman calls n says he is coming to our residence to verify if it’s the right one. So he and another fellow police man lands at our place at around 7 , me n hubby r very cordial , we all engage in small talk n I m at my social best.
Finally it s time for them to go, at the door the senior police man stops… n says ‘madam , don’t u have anything to give us?”.. Silly me dint understand what he meant n I stared at him confused. Junior Police man explains ‘ some small amount, anything u have’ Hubby gets the point and goes to get some money…. I m still confused n ask ‘ but why ? ’ … junior police man now very embarrassed says ‘ simply just for service’ I got so pissed off , I mean what the F!!!!! isn’t it their job to do things like this
Aren’t they already paid for it.
How can they so coolly ask us for money like this.
The problem is that if we refuse to give it , it causes problems for us, my friend did the same and her passport got cancelled cos the address wasn’t verified.. finally she had to pay a hefty sum for that to get cleared.
So we do not have a choice…. But whatever respect I had for that old police man vanished in an instant, I just turned on my heels without a word n walked off, went n sat down on my couch n started watching tv… hubby did come back wit the money n pay them n say his good byes but it was quite evident I was pissed off, as I was totally ignoring them n concentrating on some heavy metal music. Not that it did anyone any good, except maybe putting me in a bad mood. But things like this r just not fair!!
Few months ago, I was getting my passport renewed . After months of running around finally I got it. One evening a (very senior) policeman calls n says he is coming to our residence to verify if it’s the right one. So he and another fellow police man lands at our place at around 7 , me n hubby r very cordial , we all engage in small talk n I m at my social best.
Finally it s time for them to go, at the door the senior police man stops… n says ‘madam , don’t u have anything to give us?”.. Silly me dint understand what he meant n I stared at him confused. Junior Police man explains ‘ some small amount, anything u have’ Hubby gets the point and goes to get some money…. I m still confused n ask ‘ but why ? ’ … junior police man now very embarrassed says ‘ simply just for service’ I got so pissed off , I mean what the F!!!!! isn’t it their job to do things like this
Aren’t they already paid for it.
How can they so coolly ask us for money like this.
The problem is that if we refuse to give it , it causes problems for us, my friend did the same and her passport got cancelled cos the address wasn’t verified.. finally she had to pay a hefty sum for that to get cleared.
So we do not have a choice…. But whatever respect I had for that old police man vanished in an instant, I just turned on my heels without a word n walked off, went n sat down on my couch n started watching tv… hubby did come back wit the money n pay them n say his good byes but it was quite evident I was pissed off, as I was totally ignoring them n concentrating on some heavy metal music. Not that it did anyone any good, except maybe putting me in a bad mood. But things like this r just not fair!!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Do you remember the time?
When I was in the 5th std, I remember I badly wanted a walkman, it dint matter that I hardly listened to music but all my friends had it n it was the coolest thing at the time to own( pls remember this is the age before MP3s n Ipods).. so I kept dropping hints to my parents bout wanting it for my upcoming bday n the response I got was.. Ashley- u don’t listen to music.. What will u do wit a walkman?
So determined me decided to watch MTV for some time n start taking an interest or rather, at least show that I have an interest in music… Mtv had just come out n the weird songs which my older cousins used to hear used to make me wonder if I d be able to continue watching it for atleast 15 min without switching to something more interesting like cartoon network ;)
And the song playing at the time was MJ s ‘Remember the time’.. I was just glued watching this guy do his moves n I was so fascinated seeing the video.. all the Egyptian palaces n the beautiful queen ..n this guy just vaporizing after dancing…..and that ppl, was the first song I remember listening to n actually liking….of course than gradually I did start liking music.. But this song sticks on in my memory …
N now he s gone.. No matter what all whacko things he did do, the fact remains that his death has shaken us all up at least a bit( even if we dnt admit it).. he was a true pop icon.. n we ll always remember him. ..his music will surely live on …. May he rest in peace….
So determined me decided to watch MTV for some time n start taking an interest or rather, at least show that I have an interest in music… Mtv had just come out n the weird songs which my older cousins used to hear used to make me wonder if I d be able to continue watching it for atleast 15 min without switching to something more interesting like cartoon network ;)
And the song playing at the time was MJ s ‘Remember the time’.. I was just glued watching this guy do his moves n I was so fascinated seeing the video.. all the Egyptian palaces n the beautiful queen ..n this guy just vaporizing after dancing…..and that ppl, was the first song I remember listening to n actually liking….of course than gradually I did start liking music.. But this song sticks on in my memory …
N now he s gone.. No matter what all whacko things he did do, the fact remains that his death has shaken us all up at least a bit( even if we dnt admit it).. he was a true pop icon.. n we ll always remember him. ..his music will surely live on …. May he rest in peace….
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wedding planning- bliss or ....?
Last week i saw this new movie 'Bride wars' starring Anne Hathaway n Kate Hudson.. 2 of my fav actresses.... Though the movie dint do well in the US i definitely liked it cos wen u think about it .. u can relate a lot to it... if not urself atleast some one u know ..
What is it wit girls.. all made of sugar n spice.. till the day their wedding is planned n then they turn into godzilla :D
Myself for instance..... its been 2 yrs since i walked down the aisle.. n i stil remember wanting my wedding to b the best ever...dunno if only Im lik that .... But i feel so happy wen i hear ppl say my wedding was wonderful... i wanted everything to b perfect .. so much that i was grumpy quite a few days....
the hours i spent googling on the best flowers n hairstyles n even latest sari designs.....
Hubby n i colour coordinated our clothes for the whole occasion.. spent hours n days in commercial street searching for the perfect shoe.....Hubby is a big perfectionist so dnt worry i did not bore the poor soul to tears.. in fact he did manage to bore me ,so much that i threatened him to just pick any bloody shoe else i wud hit him wit one !!!!!! The no. of cosmos i bought... no not for wedding nite tips ;) , but for the latest trends in shoes n bags n makeup n wat not......
Finally the big day did come.. n yes i did look lovely, hubby looked handsome, the clothes wer perfect n compliments wer flowing, ppl had a ball, loved the decorations n flowers, the party was a raving success..... n till date ppl in the family say it was the best ever!!!!
But mentally ,wenever i attend a wedding i compare it with mine and find joy in thinking that mine was better..even if its a close friend or family..... Does that make me a bad person? i hope not :(
What is it wit girls.. all made of sugar n spice.. till the day their wedding is planned n then they turn into godzilla :D
Myself for instance..... its been 2 yrs since i walked down the aisle.. n i stil remember wanting my wedding to b the best ever...dunno if only Im lik that .... But i feel so happy wen i hear ppl say my wedding was wonderful... i wanted everything to b perfect .. so much that i was grumpy quite a few days....
the hours i spent googling on the best flowers n hairstyles n even latest sari designs.....
Hubby n i colour coordinated our clothes for the whole occasion.. spent hours n days in commercial street searching for the perfect shoe.....Hubby is a big perfectionist so dnt worry i did not bore the poor soul to tears.. in fact he did manage to bore me ,so much that i threatened him to just pick any bloody shoe else i wud hit him wit one !!!!!! The no. of cosmos i bought... no not for wedding nite tips ;) , but for the latest trends in shoes n bags n makeup n wat not......
Finally the big day did come.. n yes i did look lovely, hubby looked handsome, the clothes wer perfect n compliments wer flowing, ppl had a ball, loved the decorations n flowers, the party was a raving success..... n till date ppl in the family say it was the best ever!!!!
But mentally ,wenever i attend a wedding i compare it with mine and find joy in thinking that mine was better..even if its a close friend or family..... Does that make me a bad person? i hope not :(
Monday, June 15, 2009
a rant bout autos guys!!
I dont get it wit these auto guys in bangalore.... do they think that other than them, all other ppl just get money from trees... aaaaaaaaaargh!! they just annoy me to the core......
From the time i landed in blore i have been fighting wit auto guys.. n this coming from a person who will do everything to avoid an argument is a big deal......
Take for instance yday i was late for a meeting and my bus stop is around a km from the gate .. so wat do i do.. take a rick!!!
Myself: Kitna hua bhaiyaaa? ( attempt to b sweet)
AUto KAaRan : 20 rs madam...
Myself: What!! 1 km bhi nahi hua...
AUto KAaRan : Return nahi milenga madam... ( grumpily) ( Pls note this is a busy road n ppl r throwing themselves at autos to catch one.... not only that it was hardly a km ... including return it wudnt hav been even 2 km which is the min charge)
Myself: What nonsense ( hindi is now out of the window) !!! I ll give u 15 rs
AUto KAaRan : Yaahan sab itna hi lete hai....bla bla ( some kannada) ( now angrily)
Myself: ( really pissed off cos he s yelling at me in a lang i dont understand ) LO !!!!!!!!!!!! 20 rs!!!! ( Walk off angrily without saying thank you n hence ruining my mood for the rest of the day)
ANother instance which pisses off even wen i think of it after 3 yrs....
Venue : Busy road in BTM...
I took an auto from nammude swantham forum mall to BTM at 8:30 pm .... price has been negotiated at the rate including one and a half.. i dnt hav a choice but to compromise
Half way to the place got stuck in a traffic jam in one of the complicated lanes of madiwala
AUto KAaRan : grumbling ....grumbling .... more grumbling ( in kannada )
After 10 min...
AUto KAaRan : Aur nahi chalenge madam.. get off .. bahut traffic ....
Myself: ( In shock cos its almost 9 pm its dark n im far from PG sweet PG) WAT!! No!!!
AUto KAaRan : (Now yelling ) HUM AUR NAHI JAAYENGE!!
Myself: Wat r u saying!! How wil i go from here
AUto KAaRan : AUR NAHI JAAYENGE!!
Myself: Kaisa insaan ho tum... how will i go from here. there is no other auto person too... u have to drop me.. i am paying u wat u asked for anyway
AUto KAaRan : *&%%$#@#$#@*& ( kannada theri??)
Myself: ( Really angry and at verge of tears) How dare you yell at me!! I wil not pay u if u drop me here half way....
AUto KAaRan : *&%%$#@#$#@*& %&$#$# ( more kannada theri??)
Hearing him yell at me just pushes my button n I jump out of the auto in anger and throws the minimum charge ( thats 10 rs ) at him .... and call him some nale puliche theri too... Auto Kaaran gets out in anger.. I run for my life....and since he s stuck in a jam cant run behind me....MUHAHAHHAHAA!!
i know many of u mite think it was juvenile behaviour on my part n can think of many other mature ways i cud hav behaved.. but then i think he deserved it .. bloody moron!
And many more incidents r there which confirm my belief that auto guys in blore r the worst ever... I appreciate the kerala auto guys so much more now.. of course i still do crib wen they take more than the normal rates.. but then that cant be avoided.... we dnt hav a choice do we.. cos we depend on them!
UFF i am so angry i think i need a juice to cool myself off : :/
From the time i landed in blore i have been fighting wit auto guys.. n this coming from a person who will do everything to avoid an argument is a big deal......
Take for instance yday i was late for a meeting and my bus stop is around a km from the gate .. so wat do i do.. take a rick!!!
Myself: Kitna hua bhaiyaaa? ( attempt to b sweet)
AUto KAaRan : 20 rs madam...
Myself: What!! 1 km bhi nahi hua...
AUto KAaRan : Return nahi milenga madam... ( grumpily) ( Pls note this is a busy road n ppl r throwing themselves at autos to catch one.... not only that it was hardly a km ... including return it wudnt hav been even 2 km which is the min charge)
Myself: What nonsense ( hindi is now out of the window) !!! I ll give u 15 rs
AUto KAaRan : Yaahan sab itna hi lete hai....bla bla ( some kannada) ( now angrily)
Myself: ( really pissed off cos he s yelling at me in a lang i dont understand ) LO !!!!!!!!!!!! 20 rs!!!! ( Walk off angrily without saying thank you n hence ruining my mood for the rest of the day)
ANother instance which pisses off even wen i think of it after 3 yrs....
Venue : Busy road in BTM...
I took an auto from nammude swantham forum mall to BTM at 8:30 pm .... price has been negotiated at the rate including one and a half.. i dnt hav a choice but to compromise
Half way to the place got stuck in a traffic jam in one of the complicated lanes of madiwala
AUto KAaRan : grumbling ....grumbling .... more grumbling ( in kannada )
After 10 min...
AUto KAaRan : Aur nahi chalenge madam.. get off .. bahut traffic ....
Myself: ( In shock cos its almost 9 pm its dark n im far from PG sweet PG) WAT!! No!!!
AUto KAaRan : (Now yelling ) HUM AUR NAHI JAAYENGE!!
Myself: Wat r u saying!! How wil i go from here
AUto KAaRan : AUR NAHI JAAYENGE!!
Myself: Kaisa insaan ho tum... how will i go from here. there is no other auto person too... u have to drop me.. i am paying u wat u asked for anyway
AUto KAaRan : *&%%$#@#$#@*& ( kannada theri??)
Myself: ( Really angry and at verge of tears) How dare you yell at me!! I wil not pay u if u drop me here half way....
AUto KAaRan : *&%%$#@#$#@*& %&$#$# ( more kannada theri??)
Hearing him yell at me just pushes my button n I jump out of the auto in anger and throws the minimum charge ( thats 10 rs ) at him .... and call him some nale puliche theri too... Auto Kaaran gets out in anger.. I run for my life....and since he s stuck in a jam cant run behind me....MUHAHAHHAHAA!!
i know many of u mite think it was juvenile behaviour on my part n can think of many other mature ways i cud hav behaved.. but then i think he deserved it .. bloody moron!
And many more incidents r there which confirm my belief that auto guys in blore r the worst ever... I appreciate the kerala auto guys so much more now.. of course i still do crib wen they take more than the normal rates.. but then that cant be avoided.... we dnt hav a choice do we.. cos we depend on them!
UFF i am so angry i think i need a juice to cool myself off : :/
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Halla PPl!!
Well this is my first post!! Congrats to me.... dunno wat made me finally decide to start blogging as I v e been a silent reader for soooo sooo long..... but the past one week... cant help wondering how it wud feel to put my thots on paper .. or in this case the laptop ;)
Today morn on my way to work.. I heard one of these nice romantic songs.... Hanging by a moment by Lifehouse... n it instantly reminded me of my premarital days ... young n single ;) n so much in love.... i used to hum this to my now hubby then BF :)
N i dunno if its just me or its a natural feeling but i miss those gud ol' days....The excitement of being in love- i am a die hard romantic n the minute i heard some soulful music i used to go of into one of my dream sequences lik those karan johar movies.... i know it sounds weird.. but i stil do that sometimes.. hehehe... n also the thrill of meeting him after work.... for an hour or so i used to b on cloud 9.... those unexpected lovey-dovey smses.... the first kiss...sharing that moment n giggling wit frens....
Now dont get me wrong.. im stil deeply in love... n i think my hubby is the best thing that ever happened to me... but then the excitement of all the 'firsts' i do miss that.. of course there r many more 'firsts ' to look forward to.. lik our first child n watching it grow....but cant help being nostalgic bout those magical carefree moments....n smile silently in my cubicle :)
Today morn on my way to work.. I heard one of these nice romantic songs.... Hanging by a moment by Lifehouse... n it instantly reminded me of my premarital days ... young n single ;) n so much in love.... i used to hum this to my now hubby then BF :)
N i dunno if its just me or its a natural feeling but i miss those gud ol' days....The excitement of being in love- i am a die hard romantic n the minute i heard some soulful music i used to go of into one of my dream sequences lik those karan johar movies.... i know it sounds weird.. but i stil do that sometimes.. hehehe... n also the thrill of meeting him after work.... for an hour or so i used to b on cloud 9.... those unexpected lovey-dovey smses.... the first kiss...sharing that moment n giggling wit frens....
Now dont get me wrong.. im stil deeply in love... n i think my hubby is the best thing that ever happened to me... but then the excitement of all the 'firsts' i do miss that.. of course there r many more 'firsts ' to look forward to.. lik our first child n watching it grow....but cant help being nostalgic bout those magical carefree moments....n smile silently in my cubicle :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)