Another Candle

It is again that time of the year………. Time for introspection and time to finally get out my balance sheet. Considering that it has been a disgusting year…….. I am still feeling good!!! All my friends called also family……… everyone called. Dhir even put up candles for my birthday on his site!!!

Coming back to my dreaded and much hated balance sheet……. no assets this year and whatever was there in last year’s sheet was used up…….. Too many liabilities…… so like a true Indian I am having a major deficit that is going to take at least two years to make up that is supposing that i have some good stuff happening to me in the coming year. As far as growth is concerned I do have some growth there it is in the form of Absolutely new pain management skills and techniques……. not that I am successful using them but who said that I have to be ace in that. The important thing here is that I am aware of there being techniques available for the new addition in my life.

Plus point is that I got a few inches closer to my family and some friends who I was a teeny weeny bit away from and I learned to say NO, which again is a good thing I think!!! I did get a little far away from some friends which again I will try to bridge. I did some inventory checking of my school group and we are total of 43 as of today…… that is good. Career wise………. thumbs down!!! Have to take some major decisions there!!! On a personal level more of inside looking is on the agenda for the ensuing year.

Now that I have dealt with the worst part of my birthday I can enjoy!!! I have lectures to give today and then hopefully party!!!!

Happy birthday Sweety

Today is double celebration!!! Firstly is my niece Sweety’s (Anuja) birthday. Secondly today is Ashtami and Navami combined!!!

Happy birthday to you sweetheart !!!

May God grant you a long life, health, wealth, happiness and lots of cheers on your birthday today!!! May God shower you with all the choicest and best blessings today and all you life!!!

happy birthday !!!

This picture looks just like her !!! Yeah!!! to me she looks just like tweety!!! When she was born she was so little all red and pink. She was the first child that I saw, the first that I ever held. I was so scared because her head was soft and her neck just as soft.

She was born after a very long labor. My sis was in the throes of labor for more that 12 to 14 hours when the doctors finally decided to go in for a cesarean. I still remember that day. Ma sent me home from the nursing home as somebody had to be there to take care of cookie (my dog). When I went home they called me to say that Sweety was born. I saw her the next day all red and pink. I thought she had a rash or something. Till Sweety I thought all kids looked like the kids from the diaper ads. It was revelation indeed!!!

Today she has grown to be a beautiful young woman!!! I am so proud of her!!!

I am back !!! I sooo missed blogging !!!!

At last !!! I finally get to blog!!! Man I was so desperate….. and it was about time!!! First good news I had been HOME!!! yes to PUNE !!! beloved Pune !!! beautiful Pune !!! I have already started missing it….. that means today the salt in the stuff I cook will be more than normal!!!

In the two days that I was there I managed to make dad very uncomfortable and as promised completely ruined his peace. I know that sounds blasphemous to you but believe me that is the only way you deal with the men folk in my home. He has lost three kilos which is totally mind boggling because after working out for two hours everyday for a month, not to mention all those motivational posters of body builders I have not been able to lose even one gram, rather put on two kilos. He is not feeling well!!! so I have coaxed and threatened and I would like to believe that I managed to put some fear in his heart which I hope will take him to the doctor…… at least he is talking things lightly right now…… which is accomplishment indeed for me.

I spent a long time with Ma….. guess what it was her birthday so I landed at home with a HUGE bunch of roses and a cake!!! It was a total surprise to her as she never celebrated her birthday before and let me tell you she totally enjoyed it. Of course it was heightened with the presence of my two beloved nieces.

The surprise party for her was a blast!!! She put on a new sari and dressed up in her finery and smiled for me to take lots of pics…… (Well I forgot to take my camera along but koi gal nahi….. mobile phone hai na…. though I am having a bad time sending all the pics to my mail id via gprs)She even cut the cake and blew the candle while we sang the traditional “happy birthday to you“!!! It was fun because for years she did just that for all of us. Dad was the one cribbing and telling us “You did not celebrate my birthday!!!” So this time I promised myself that I will celebrate all the birthdays and anniversaries!!! They can refuse me but I usually put the bandook on my little niece’s shoulders and shoot and they cant refuse her. Yes !!! along with being a person with anger management problems I also have a manipulating streak….. but as Lord Krishna said in Geeta (I hope he said that….. atleast that’s what I think I heard Ma say he said or was it shakespeare!!!) the end justifies the means !!!

By the way I have this on authority from Ma in one of my conversations with her that my grandma said that all the people from my family with anger management problems (100% of the members) are justified because they come from FAMILY OF ANGER (literal translation of the bengali phrase “raager barir maiyya”….. sounds weird) which in turn nullifies all the accusations of people who have in the past accused me of being a bad person because I lost my temper…… are you listening M??? I mean you…… especially you alongwith lots of others of course. I know you never read my blog all the more reason I can say what I feel but who cares I can say what I please…. atleast I am not maligning anybody!!!

Another very interesting conversation that I had with Ma was the about the arranged marriage business…… yes I say business because that is what it is…… negotiations, bargains, just like cutting any other deal….. well I will have to devote a whole post to it…… OK as I was saying the discussion was about the arranged marriage scenario then and now…… quite a thing actually, quite hilarious as well….. some of the stories had me, sisters and hubs in splits!!! I miss ma so much I wish I lived close-by then I would be able to spend more time with her.

I could see the whole thing was already affecting dad and ma’s mood and they were actually even being social with each other considering they had a terrible tiff some days back and don’t like each other very much at the moment but then I thought that if I make the effort I can make this a very routine affair after all within the family we have 14 occasions which include birthdays and anniversaries and if I club in festivals I can definitely hit a bingo of at least one a month!!! that should lift everybody’s spirits and get the family together more often….. not to mention my own selfish reason of having a legitimate reason to go to Pune every month. In any case if I can bring together 30 different people from different parts of the world and hold reunions why cant I do it within my own family where I get the added bonus of screaming, raving, ranting…… not to mention feeling grossly important and guess what getting away with it…..

For now I am in deep pits with Mumbai heat and load shedding and with the MTNL guys giving me grief over broadband and also the research proposal I am STILL working on also the research paper….. It will end someday!!! I am patient and trying to be optimistic….. something like touching the end of the rainbow….. who knows I might just be able to do it….. Fingers crossed!!! Amen!!!

guys don’t miss the arranged marriage post I cant promise it being fun but the way I heard it….. it was real fun!!! I hope I can reproduce it just the way I heard it!!!

You Take care till then
and have a wonderful weekend
see ya
Ranu

happy birthday to you Bodidi

TODAY IS MY OLDEST SISTER’S BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BODIDI

MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DHIR

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU DHIR

MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE AND ALL THE HAPPINESS OF THE WORLD BE WITH YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAYAL

Today is my niece Payal’s ninth birthday!!! So I want to wish her

(that is my sis, PAYAL, & my bro-in-law)

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU PAYAL

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY SWEETHEART

AND

MAY ALL YOU DREAMS COME TRUE

AND

HAVE A FABULOUS PARTY TONITE !!!

Aftermath of the killings

As Mumbai’s elite get back to their routine of parties and their trips to counsellors to get over the trauma of the killing, I would like to point one thing that was very much evident everybody spoke of the killings at the elite five star hotels but somehow nobody mentioned the people who died at the gunfire in VT station….. is death glorified only for the rich and the elite??? or maybe you need to have a different color skin and eyes and hair to make headlines and get international support….. guess the guys understood that

There were a fair number of text messages going to and fro about Raj Thackeray not being there anywhere in the scene….. probably asleep in his Shivaji Park home.

Yesterday I read an article in the Times the link of which i am posting HERE do go through it. It is interesting because it gives a new perspective to the Jihad that the LeT and Al Qaeda believes in also there is this one by salman rushdie which throws new light on the situation

Tomorrow is a very dear friend’s birthday with whom I have no contact. So I would just like to wish
“

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY….. MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

“.

I close today with that note. Have a nice weekend !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BORN DAY !!! I was born today !!! and all you guys who were born with me…… happy born day!!!!

This was the day when Ma said “FINALLY”!!! because she had got admitted three times before the due date……… false alarm and then when the due date passed and i refused to make an appearance Dr Banoo Coyaji had to force me out!!! guess i really liked it in there!!!!

Guess what…….. I completely forgot about my birthday…… but again thanks to Christy……. she sent a mail reminding everybody about my birthday and bingo i remembered !!! I thought there were a few more days to my birthday…… my fault did not change the calender. Was actually preoccupied but wat the heck this is something to remember….. because a narcissist that I am i have never ever forgotten my birthday and reminded everybody at home about the same days in advance. So i guess I am not so much of a narcissist after all!!!….. [but a little self obsessed i guess because yesterday rather today (never know whether 12:00 is yesterday or today) at 12:00 midnight I actually woke up rajdeep to get him to wish me!!!] As Meeta said I am definitely becoming buddhi……. Guess my birthday resolution this year, will be to read up all about Alzeimers!!!!

It is just 11:00 and everybody already called me !!! Ambu even sang a happy birthday to me and sent it via voice message. It feels great that all my friends and family remember me!!!! Ma and dad were going to come in from Pune but some last minute thing happened and they wont be able to make it….. probably next week. My friend with whom I had no contact with almost a year sent me a message and so did all my other friends. My whole family including my bro in laws called up and wished me….. It feels nice…… though I am going to miss Ma and dad!!! They told me today morning that they were going to surprise me by just dropping in. I would have LOVED that…… but i guess I cant expect everything to be perrrfect.

Rajdeep gifted me a new handset…… mine was this basic model which i soooo hated and really wanted to change since eons. It was a disgusting walkie talkie that I never could hear from and the phone never ever worked when i wanted it to work….. always died up on me!!! I used to have to hang my self from the window/balcony just to talk to anybody. So I am more than happy to get this new handset.

Birthdays for me are days of introspection. Today I sit down with my diary and review the year that went by and make plans and strategies for the coming year. Sound dreadfully boring na ??? but this is what keeps me in check and shows me where i stand in my life and helps me from guilts and hurts and make ammends to mistakes that I have committed. In short make my balance sheet…….. and my emotional and financial budgets for the next year. Also have to manage my liabilities…. well my assets always take care of themselves so it is only checking my sinking fund to make sure I have enough for my sundry debtors and most importantly managing my losses(all of them emotional because financial I always take care of them as and when they come). Also make sure that they are paid off this year.

Every year I always decide to do a quarterly review but then when it does come to it I get real lazy and never get around to doing it. So I just have to accept my pitfalls and cut my losses when i can. Like the indian government though my balance sheet always shows growth I never ever really make profits. Though I reach my projected growth (not always) I never really achieve the graph that shows going up and up and up. This year too I am not expecting much from myself. But my greatest fear of all is showing no change in the graph or a negative growth……..That is something out of my nightmare….. a ramsay brothers production……. which is named as “Ranu the vegetable”….. where i resemble a cabbage or an aubergine!!!

My afternoon today will therefore be spent in preparing my emotional balance sheet and I am definitely going to balance it….. I do it every year…… balancing is one of my assets!!! and no i don’t cook today…….. It is definitely a leisure dinner!!! I heard of this new place which had excellent grills….. maybe if the hubby is ok with it I will go there. I sign off today by again wishing all you guys who share my birthday with me…… HAVE A NICE DAY!!! I will definitely have one today.

PS: Just to surprise you all…… rather flaunt my memory……… today is Sanjeev Kumar’s death anniversary!!!………. NAHHHHH!!! Not me…….. courtesy My fabulous sis who mentioned it when she called to wish me….. guess she wishes me to pray for his soul!!! I AM GOOD!!! so will do it… pray i mean!!!

CUTTING CHAI AND SUTTA

Its finally raining in Mumbai and the rain gods have finally relented to favour us with their presence and we have the “MUMBAI RAINS” at last.

“RAINS”……. brings mixed emotions today….. one is of being real scared on being reminded of the 2006 floods and cloud bursts….. and the other one of the rains in Pune…… of Sinhagad and of bhajji-tak and cutting chai and sutta…… I miss those so much. Occasionally when i am really into the nostalgia i cant hold myself any longer and leave the confines of my closed environment to that of nature’s bounty. I think a walk in the rain is one of the most beautiful things in the world.

I went to the Pavana dam recently….. Man was it beautiful !!! I was apprehensive!!! as of late anywhere u go in Lonavla, u r surrounded by masses and masses and masses of people. This was different!!! It reminded me so much of my favorite place – sinhagad, that it actually made me miss the place helluva lot. I remember the clouds touching my hair and face and getting wet even though it is not raining at all. I remember the different shades of greens. I remember mist and fog and the beauty of the hills and the ruins of sinhagad….. to me that is paradise !!! I have never felt happier in any other place as it did there…. It is a place that warms my heart on a bleak and depressing day. Just the thought of the place fills my heart with security i very often crave.

Pavana dam was one such place. The dam is situated on top of the hill and unlike my other drives when i was “RIDING” (thts wat u do on a bike… I was told recently…. I always thought i was “DRIVING”) here i was inside a tin ka dibba…. though my husband reminds me very often…. infact every time i say this….. that if it wasnt for the car, i wouldnt have been able to go there……. Even thru the tin ka dibba, man was it beautiful!!! I loved the drive!!! I had the wind breezing through my hair and my face and i really felt alive after a very long time. We crossed small villages, lots of them. We went by the small tubewells where women filled water and the small houses…. I love those !!! They so screech of the simple existence that i always craved for that i couldnt hold back the tears that welled up!!! Of women baking the bhakris and washing vessels……. Simplicity !!! Man…… i love it !!!

We reached the dam and i was stunned to see it!!! It is surrounded on all sides by hills and in the middle is the tranquil water of the Pavana river. It was real beautiful!!! It sort of sucked in all the strain unhappiness and all the worries that i was seething with. I had the best company in the world too!!! Sanjana !!! Can the world get any better ???

Sanjana is rajdeep’s friend’s daughter. She is so cute and so innocent that everytime i meet her i come back with a smile on my face and she so touches the realms of my heart that i cant say anymore. We actually have a conversation for hours and i love the way she so trustingly holds my hand !!! I love the kid and i was so glad to have her for company than anybody else in the world. I think the place became more special to me because of her.

The waterfall in the hills was amazing no i didnt venture into it, but it really looked very enticing and tranquil. I was told that there are boating and other facilities as well there and we could see that the place was getting developed. It was a paradise among the busy cities of pune and mumbai and when u reach there u really dont believe that something so beautiful exists so close to u and it is something that really puts back the peace into ur heart that the city takes away from you. I cant say that the place is the most beautiful place but it is one of the most peaceful place that i have been to of late. I cant rate it as the best place as Sinhagad still reins in my heart but it is BEAUTIFUL!!! Something nature has really spent time in creating. I was told that “there is a lot of peace and happiness in the world enough for everyone” If i believe in this statement, I think this is the place that puts back peace in your heart. The tranquil waters of Pavana, the protective hills which make u feel that nobody and nobody can hurt u, the greenery cools down the aching temples, the cham cham waterfall that sings its melancholy song made me so happy and the rain which destresses u. It is definitely nature at its best.