omg omg omg an awesome surprize!!

I have to have to … rather MUST … post this rightaway.

I am in my bed at the mo. Just woke up. Saturday morning. And Pati came into the room with Parul’s Bringing up Vasu: That first year.

Omg, yes.

Why am I hyperventilating??? Well, because I had mentioned the book to him in passing a while back. I had told him that I love Parul’s blog and that I’d like to read her book but never got around to buying it because of various stuff going on at the mo; his family being here et al.

And he remembered that …

And he surprized me with it …

Omgomgomg, how lovely!!!!! :))))

Thanks Parul!! :D In some indirect way. I owe you a review. :)

human grit humbles and amazes

Every morning when I go to the studio around 7 AM, I chat with the security guard at the building entrance and the building’s maintenance manager who is often at job that early as well. Both of them are my good chat-buddies, I can say. Today, as usual, I ran into the maintenance manager again. He took the same elevator as me. Normally, we just joke around about random stuff, chuckle a while, and say our goodbyes. Today, something different happened. He dropped his cell phone by accident and leaned over to pick it up. When he did that, his locket slipped out of his shirt and hung outside; It had a picture of a young soldier.

“Your son?” I asked expecting a proud look on his face.

Instead, his eyes that I’ve always seen laughing turned dark and brooding.With the same grim expression, he pointed towards the roof of the elevator.

“With God?” I tried to speak his words for him.

He nodded. I’d never seen him quiet before.

“Where …?” (‘Where did it happen?’ is what I meant to ask but I couldn’t find the words myself.)

He didn’t understand my question. “Yes, with God,” he replied in a voice that couldn’t resist choking up.

“Yes, I am sorry … but where did it happen? Iraq?” I said as softly as I could.

“Yes”, came an almost inaudible reply.

I had no words after that.

It was he who smiled at me first. I smiled back. And then he said something funny and I did my best to fake a laugh. Thankfully, I’d reached my floor by then. I stepped out of the elevator and waved back at a man in his fifties (or older) who despite having lost his child was smiling at me with the best he had.

And that’s how I started my day.

Humbled, quietened, and amazed with the survival strength of my friend.

Just a few days ago, I heard on TV that there have been 4258 casualties in Iraq up until now since the beginning of the war in 2003. It felt terrible thinking that so many young men and women lost their lives and so many families lost their children for a purposeless war. But it also had me thinking that I didn’t know anyone who had lost someone in the Iraq war. It’s ironic that I finally met someone so soon after I was thinking about the same and, no, it did not feel good at all.

I have two cousins in the US army: both girls. One of them is deployed in Iraq at the moment. So far so good, and I hope and pray that it always stays that way. It’s a scary thought knowing that your loved ones are always in a danger zone. My respects go to those thousands and millions of families who have sent their children overseas to fight a war that rich #$#$#, who we vote into power, decided on sitting in the comforts of their orthopedic chairs in their cozy boardrooms chugging down beer obviously.

When I got back home today after the show, I told Pati that I finally know now as to why I don’t meet anyone who has lost a family member in Iraq. It’s because a good majority of these kids come from blue-collared family backgrounds. The same immigrants, the same colored people that some of the politicians and news channels who have a racist agenda continue to attack are the ones fighting these wars for the same politicians who attack them.

Irony at its best.

But this post is not to discuss the pros and cons of political policies and decisions. I don’t want to do that on this blog at the moment. Plenty going on in real life that demands energies that I can’t spend here getting involved in heated – yet informative – discussions. Maybe soon we shall fight blogging wars for causes – social or not – again. Inshallah.

Through this post, I just wanted to share the incident that happened with me this morning … and maybe that’d light up your thinking and/or empathy nodules too as it did mine?

Also, RIP Patrick Swayze. :|

Life truly does go on, eh?

north to south to north

Oye guess what? I’m going to share a nugget of trivia with you that you might not have read anywhere before. It’s easier to go North from South than it is vice versa. Ahem. “Whaaa”, that’s probably what you’re screaming in your head at the mo. :D

Well well well, my mother in law (god bless her; she is a sweet and a heart) is visiting us these days. She’s a full-on South Indian cuisine expert. Obviously, you say. She has X number of years of experience behind her. Then there is the Punju me with my x number of months of experience of cooking a fusion of this and that. I can take any cuisine cooked any which way but when it comes to desi food, it HAS to be Punju style. Full shtop. I can handle South Indian shtyle daal-sabzi for one day, two day, but third day, I begin to get cranky and start throwing childish tantrums where I have to be lured to dining table with toys as a bait. At that point, I NEED my tarka!! Full and final! As they say in des, I am like this only! Pshh.

So in order to avoid any such tantrumish situations, I’ve devised a way to keep my Punju taste-buds happy in the midst of all the multicultural cooking that’s going on in our house these days. The strategy goes as such: Amma cooks daal and sabzi her style, everyone but me eats, and I add cumin, ginger and garlic tarka to my portion. Tain tain taiiiinnnn!!! :D How EASY and FABULOUS IS THAT!!! Saves me the work of cooking!!! And I get to please my tastebuds too!! :D

Don’t get me wrong … mother in law is a fabulous cook … I absolutely love her food over any South Indian restaurant food I’ve ever eaten … but c’mon guys, a kuri’s gotta have that garlic and ginger kick to her daal after a day or two, innit!!!

Without digressing more, point of the post is that it’s so much easier to ADD tarka and convert a South Indian daal to a North Indian daal … but how would you reverse the process, kaaliaa? :D :D :D Unless you add imli to any south indian preparation, most of them can be perked up (or down as you might perceive it) to a Punju palate. The reverse can’t really happen with that ease. How are you going to remove tarka from tarka daal, bhai log? :D

Ah I think I am liking this multicultural wedding deal. It makes you much equipped with worldly knowledge that might come in handy when you are fighting off demons that attempt to destroy this world in our lifetime.

Now you can pliss thank me for this piece of life-saving important post in the comment space. :p

Water Tales

Blogging from San Antonio. Actually on the way back from SA to Houston. P’s on the wheel; so Roopie can blog :D.

We spent the entire weekend in San Antonio at the Sea World. Man, never have we had such a bittersweet experience. First day, both our cameras – point’n’shoot and SLR – got splashed with water and are not working. Yes yes – cue for a sad face – :( :( … We’d try to get it repaired but it’s going to cost a good chunk :( :( … That aside, you do know how much I love my lil cambabies :( :( … Can’t see them not working … That and we had no camera to take pics of our mini-adventures. :( :(

And, second day, today, we went swimming in the wave pool which btw has to be the highlight if the trip. To go to the pool, I had to change into my swimwear which I did and put my day clothes in a bag which I handed to my mother in law. She, being as lovely as she is, took great care of my clothes and P’s clothes.

When we came out of the pool, we took our clothes bags from her and instead of changing onto them immediately, we chose to dry off a bit. I bought a sundress to wear over my swimwear from a shop close by. So we walked ourselves dry and went to a restaurant to feed sis-in-law’s son. While sil, mil and our nephew waited, me and P went to order food. It was at that time when P put his shirt back on and I handed him my bag of clothes. “Give me your sunglasses et al too”, he said, “why are you carrying any weight at all?” I thought a second and said, “nope, I don’t trust you.”

We returned to the table with food, had lunch and were about to leave when I asked him for my clothes. Of course, you knew this was coming … HE LOST MY CLOTHES! Ugh! What were the chances of us finding them in such a huge overcrowded park? You guessed rite: none! I’m thankful to my luckiest stars that I didn’t hand him my shades!! That would’ve been another few hundred dollars in water. May curse be upon him/her who stole my clothes but can you imagine the look on that person’s face when he/she opens the apparent bag of winnings! A year old shirt and a pair of capris! Psssh.

But, guysss, I lost my clothes! Imagine haha. The following pic, forgetfulness-ka-baap, Pati took with this phone rite when we were exiting the park. I am in the dress that I had luckily purchased. If there were no places in the park to buy clothes from, I would’ve had to parade my not so nice bod in lingerie slash swimwear. Gosh! Pliss pour in sympathies. :(

Other than these two incidents, we had a fab time. :) I wish I had pix to relive the tales of these two days. Alas!

Aite I’m sleepy now. Very sleepy. I shall sleep now. We’d let P drive in peace. Night night all. More when we reach Houston slash home.

and life goes on …

One of the biggest disadvantages of not getting to blog regularly is that I don’t get to record any moments that I might look back at in a few year’s time and giggle at. One such moment passed just recently … two weeks ago in fact. I had to write a Uni entrance exam (I have enrolled myself in a couple of classes, I told ya) that I wasn’t much worried about. P, however, urged me to take it seriously and write at least one practice test before sitting for the exam. Only if I ever listened. ;p

The night before the exam morning, P asked me, “Did you manage to do any practice tests?”

“Nope,” I replied quietly, looking at the floor to escape his eyes since I felt bad for not having listened to him.

“Good”, he smirked and continued, “achha hai kal subaah practice ho jaayegi“.

:p :p

hehe I still can’t stop giggling.

Thankfully, I did well in the ‘practice’ test next morning and got admitted into the courses I wanted or else I’d forever hold me guilty for not having listened to him. :D

Another disadvantage of not getting to blog regularly is that things change at such a fast pace and I don’t get to update my journal in a timely fashion. As you know, we are building a house. Last I mentioned the house was post the Independence day weekend. They had started laying the foundation for the house at that time. Now it has been two weeks since that day and LOTS has changed.

This is how the lot/house looked like on the weekend of Aug 15, 2009 – Aug 16, 2009 … never mind P, he is a clown and some more:

A week later, things changed:

Yeah, that’s me. :p Welcoming you into our future humble abode. Time flies eh??? Imagine what happened within another week … before you can imagine, I’d post some photos:

As you can imagine, I am pretty excited about how this is all turning out. Nothing like having a place you can call your own. It might not be the biggest building there is … but it is something that’s yours. I really can’t wait to see the final product, and at the rate they’re going at, I hope to see it close to my birthday. :) This is a very exciting time for both me and P and I constantly keep thinking of the best wishes that you guys sent our way when I told you that we might not get the lot to build the house. Thank you so very much for thinking of us and blessing us with the best. :) I have to share the developments of this beautiful dream with you because I do feel strongly that if it weren’t for your prayers, we might not even be building our home. Thanks once again!!! :)

Weekend phone bloggin

At an all~American pizza joint at the mo waiting for the first couple slices to digest before I go for a second serving of the buffet. P’s sitting in front of me relishing his third serving and mocking my inability to eat larger portions in a go. I’m so not made for buffets. So not the money’s worth. I eat a small portion, walk out and am hungry within half an hour. Bummer. :( Today, I’m determined to persevere. I’d wait until I get hungry again. Psh! :! Second serving, just you wait! Hmph!

And how how how can we not look forward to the gorgeously decadent chocolate pizza? Have a look at the attached pictures.

Purr-fect Red Lip-Shtick

This morning, a cousin sent me photos from a party that she went to this weekend. She is wearing RED lipstick in the pictures. The color that I can’t carry to save my life! She looks fabulous, however. Recently, you must’ve seen the newly crowned Miss Universe wearing a beautiful red gown for her evening gown round in the contest with a beautiful red lip color adorning her gorgeous  lips sparkling up her smile! Needless to say, I lurrrrrrrve red lip color!!!! Love Love Love!!! Especially after Angelina Jolie wore it in Gone in 60 seconds! ;) But I can’t wear it!!! My skin be too ‘yellow’. Undertone is ‘golden yellow’, many make-up people you see in malls told me. So I can do pinks and berries and wines and burgundies at the most but red … umm err I am yet to find one that won’t make me look like I’ve just stepped out of a horror film.

Does anyone else have the same problem as me with red lipsticks? Is there a shade / company make that caters to ‘yellow’ people like us? :| I’d like to try a red that’s tested and tried by one of y’all yellow skinned people. :D Pliss to spray me with your fountains of wisdom?

incoherent rambles

I am d e a d f r i c k i n tired at the mo!!!!! Crashed on the living room couch. Leaning back. Laptop on ‘tomach. Held in place by thighs. Feet on coffee table. It’s around 6:40ish. Curtains drawn closed. Too tired to get up and open ‘em. Kind of dark in here. No lights are on. Getting darker by the minute. Lightening and thundering outside like a typical Houston evening. The kinda weather that one might call romantic. It used to be romantic for me … a year ago … when we moved to Houston. Now, it’s an everyday thing. Almost. Warm showers. Lightening. Thunderstorms. A common occurrence, all of them. What ain’t common is that I am soooo dead tired today and it ain’t even night time yet!

I had a terribly tiring day today (if you haven’t figured that out yet). Stood in lines all day getting some chores done. Nothing worse than having to sit/stand in lines waiting for your turn … patiently. Games on phone get boring within a few minutes. Internet surfing doesn’t appeal either. Walls don’t change color. Floor stays the same too. People around you change though. But they look equally frustrated as you are. Everyone’s frustration adds up to a restless frustrated room that you want to escape from the first chance you get. Sadly, the chance takes a bloody long time to come. Until it comes, each pore of your body bleeds quiet sighs. Your brain loses control over your body which, by the end of the ordeal, refuses to move. As is the case now.

I have to cook dinner. Cuz a girl’s gotta eat rite? Instead, I am sitting here … writing this. Aite, P’s here. I’ll whine to him and ….. god knows do what next.

This was yet another useless post eh. Psh. I needs to gets my bloggings grooves backs. Hey, did I tell ya that I enrolled in a couple of classes at a local uni? It’s pretty cool being back at school … except the waiting in lines part … which usually happens at the beginning of the semester. Oh yes, that’s where I was today. At the universe of learning. Getting all the admin work done. And, boy, once again, I am T I R E D!

Ishould go refresh me now or mayyyyybeeee you … well, you … umm err you … give us a smile and refresh us pliss? :)

fotu time

You know how I wrote a post a couple of days ago complaining about P not taking decent pix when I was on stage for India Fest (Independence Day celebrations) … well, a friend was kind enough to forward a pic taken by a professional photographer … is this any better? I dont know. :| you tell.

agle janam mohe bitiya hi kije

anyone watches it? Sakshi, i think you said you watched it?

i have a couple of questions … pliss to help reduce confusion?

why is the father making his younger son sleep with lali? why not the older son? doesn’t the older son already have kids? so why do they need the younger son to also have kids?

also, why is the older son always conspiring with that house-help lady? what does she have against lali?

oh gawd, i am so confused. started watching it cuz i like the bihari/bhojpuri accent. :D