My balcony gets a makeover!

This part of my home was neglected for some time, for lack of time. So, last week I decided to give it a makeover and went out shopping with my friend and spotted a beautiful jharoka at a Rajasthani store. That was my first purchase. And then the next purchase for the balcony happened at a li’l shop which is a favorite with we three friends Janani, Monirupa and I.

Monirupa reached this shop before me while I was ogling at a bedspread at another store and urged me to reach there soon. And then came the surprise. She pointed to a mural… half face of Budha (she knows my Budha fetish) and asked me how do I like it. I said it was stunning. She promptly asked the shop keeper to pack it and turned towards me and said, “That’s a gift from me to you for your birthday” J

And then another mural caught my eye… that of a flower. And, I treated myself by purchasing that. And then went about arranging all my purchases and of course, the gift on the balcony wall. And the result is something to die for.    

Binging on Melon sorbet

Ummmm, I went after popping a piece of melon sorbet I made. Yeah, yeah!  it’s not the apt time to indulge in sorbets, but I had to try this one out after I read it in a magazine. It turned out delicious.

I heaped a bowl full of inviting melon sorbet, made myself comfortable on the sofa and went ummmm every time I popped in a piece of the wonderfully colored sorbet.

Me and my beast

The picture you are seeing out here is of my vehicle, I call it a beast! J. Of course, because of its vast size! My good friend, Monirupa even has a name for it – Elephant. She says its ground clearance is so high you feel as if you are mounting on to rather than getting into a vehicle.

Yes indeed, I was scared to tame this beast but it was my husband who gave me the push and courage to drive it. Though I drove it gingerly just like anyone would a new born, I soon learnt to control it. And it’s now been my constant everyday for the last nine months. And yes, when I am driving this down the streets I do get all the eyeballs.

 The best compliment I get is when a man driver turns back and looks at me in awe, and the best a woman had paid a compliment is, “You look like a stud driving it” - and that compliment was paid by my colleague Ramya.

But the super compliment I got and cherish is from my hubby. He once said to my parents when I was ferrying them to a relative’s place, “Relax papa, she drives better than me.”

Unromantically Romantic

Like any girl dreams of having tall, dark, handsome, romantic, understanding, loving man in her life, I too dreamt of having one. And my husband fits the frame of tall, dark, handsome, loving and understanding to the T in the conventional context. Romantic is the element which does not fit. That does not mean that he’s not romantic it’s just that he does not fit the bill in the conventional terms.

He does not serenade me with flowers or chocolates, but brings to my notice any discounts being offered by spas and parlors and eggs me to try the experience. He does not get me gifts but has never said “No” to my shopping sprees. He does not plan surprise dinner dates or eat outs but gets all the needed groceries and veggies without me having to tell him. He does not and cannot dish out great delicacies in the kitchen but lays the table and picks up left over after a meal without me having to tell him. He does not whisper sweet nothings into my ears on a beautiful day but lets me sleep late, and proceeds to boil the milk and make his tea.

In the initial years of my marriage it was tough for me to come to terms with this perceived unromantic side of my husband. But it did not take long for me to see the beautiful other side of his - THE ROMANTIC SIDE.

Elated!

My b’day is a good two weeks away, but my friend Janani already started to make me feel SPECIAL. This friend of mine is across seven seas. She stays in Paris and we catch up with each other over chats, almost every day. Yesterday she pinged me and as usual we exchanged our girlie talks and then I shared an online shopping site URL with her. After raving about the site, the next ping I get from her read like this – “Choose something you like and let me know. Let me buy you a birthday gift. Pretty Please!”  The gesture took me by surprise. After initial refusals from my side and coaxing from her end I zeroed in on a pair of jhumkis. I let her know my choice and was just about coming back to normalcy from my super elated state when she pinged – “Ok… appram, what else venum birthday baby kku?” (what else does the birthday baby want?)

 I was like WHAT? I told her the same. She insisted that I choose something else too from the site in addition to the pair of jhumkis I already selected.  I was rattled. Nobody pampered me so and told her that. She still insisted that I choose one more. I tried to convince her saying “Podum da” (enough) to which she pinged back “You mentioned you liked their natural soaps, right?” and promptly went ahead and selected a chocolate soap. The gifts may be reaching me in a day or two. But what left a lasting impression on my heart are the gesture and the effort on her part to make me feel that am one of a kind – Special. I will cherish it for a long time.

Thanks babes.

 PS: I will soon post the pictures of the gifts.

My Bum Chum

As a teenager, I was low on self esteem. I was conscious about my height (no, I was not tall. My short frame was what bothered me), my brown skin color and bony frame. And, to top it, I had classmates and so-called friends who would take digs at me and ridicule me on these aspects. My confidence had taken a beating and got buried under heaps of insults and mockeries.

This was till the day Aruna, my now bum chum, soul mate, best friend - the synonyms may go on - entered my life.

Circa 1995, The English lecturer had given us a test and was well in the middle of giving instructions on the same, when a girl dressed in a navy blue skirt and sky blue top excused into the packed classroom. Her pensive eyes were scouting for a vacant seat when I signaled her to come and sit beside me. She took the seat hurriedly and expressed an equally hurried “Thank You”. Before she could settle down she asked me, “What are the questions for the test”. That was our first interaction.

After the exam and class ended we moved out of the classroom to attend Sanskrit lecture, which was scheduled in another wing of our huge college. Aruna was once again in a hurry, this time to catch up with her friends. She almost darted out of the classroom. My eyes traced her as she wound her way bumping into and squeezing through the trail of girls in the aisle and waving and calling out to her friends.

Later that day, we had a conversation and realized we both stayed at the same place and decided to go together to the bus stop to catch the bus. At the bus stop as we waited for the bus to arrive, she confessed with a lump in her throat how her friends ignored her through the day as she did not sit on the same bench as they did. Silly? Not during school/college days where jealousy creeps in for these very reasons. As for me I did not know how to react. I stared at her face, which was riot with hurt, and anger.

Our bus lugged into the bus bay labouredly. We boarded the already spilling bus and managed to find foot space. I ensured I placed a firm foot and hand on grip holders and proceeded to check if Aruna managed to find a grip holder when I saw a man taking advantage of the situation and leaning over her. I signaled her to move away. She did and whispered “Thank You” into my ears. I smiled back.

Over the days our friendship grew, we went to the college together and came back home together. We had loads to talk, although we were virtually stuck together for most part of the day time never seemed sufficient for our talks. We talked about clothes, fashion, film industry, our lecturers, accessories, starting a business together and all other girlie stuff. It was during one of such talks that my lack of confidence about myself came to forth. Aruna was talking about us wearing an almost similar outfit when I rejected the thought giving the reason, “it may not suit me”. Aruna instead of accepting the answer looked into my eyes sharply and asked “how do you know?” I could not give an immediate reply for I was taken aback. No one asked me this question before. I gathered all my thoughts, deepest of them and put it across to her. I said, “I don’t have the kind of height, color and looks to carry the outfit”.  She took a look at me before answering and said. “Do you know that you are blessed? You have perfectly moving limbs, good eyesight, proper face features, color of your skin and height should be least of your concern, in fact, not a concern at all.” She sealed the talk saying, “You are going to wear the decided outfit and no more discussion on this.”

That’s when the reality of her words hit me. Yes, indeed I am blessed. There was no looking back after this. Need I mention that I went on to try various styles, outfits and carry myself with elan!

Now my friend calls me style diva :)

Soulful Songs

Image Courtesy: http://www.rustyspell.com/

ABBA, the phenomenal Swedish quartet that reigned the dance-pop and disco scene in the 70s and the 80s continues to exercise its influence on present-day music – if you have listened to Madonna’s ‘Hung Up’ from her latest album ‘confessions on a Dance Floor’, you’ll know that she based this best-selling single on ABBA’s ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

Some of their songs have endured the passage of time and owe it to their strong catch melodies, fantastically complemented by synthesizers, electric guitar riffs and soearing vocals. The songs of ABBA seldom fail to set you going on the dance floor!

I was introduced to the music of ABBA on a humid summer afternoon of 1987 at my maternal grandmother’s place in Kerala. I instantly took a liking to their music. Though at that young age I couldn’t grasp a word of the lyrics, I quite enjoyed the beats as it allowed me to shake a leg.

‘Mamm mia’ displays ABBA’s uncanny knack for creating brilliant choruses. After listening to the track you might hear yourself exclaim: Mamma Mia! I enjoy beats of the songs and, especially the way lead singers Agnetha and Frida belt out ‘Here I go again my my, how can I resist her’.

SOS catapulted ABBA into mainstream British pop-music, and the band was no longer regarded as a one-hit wonder (waterloo was ABA’s first No 1 UK); the lyrics of SOS have an urgency to them, and the song itself has a danceable rhythm to it. Written by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, the song ‘I have a dream, s song to sing’ is very lyrical and like a gospel anthem. What I like about this inspirational single is the use of the large choir of children. Their other songs, ‘Money, Money,’ Chiquita, ‘I do, I do’ are all quite memorable too.

Note: This article written by me was published in Maharashtra Herald, April 22, 2006 (Reviews & More)