Funny innocence..

My sis-in-law's husband came home tired one day.

Sis-in-law : "You are tired ? You look different today..."

 "No mummy.. he is our daddy only.. he is not different"

It was Sashi, their 4 year old daughter, looking closely .

How clever !

Something that I remembered suddenly.It was my b'day in October Sush asked me what I wanted as a gift.

"I want a surprise ! " I said cheerfully !

 That sent him bonkers for a few days because I kept enquiring ( and thus reminding ) how the surprise was coming along.
"Looks like you are doing a good job, because I havent got a clue as to how you are gonna surprise me..I am thrilled ! "

You should have seen that look on his face !

Aren't I clever  :P

Some Random things...

1.Here are 3 of my secret wishes.(Hushhh..please dont tell anybody..)

~ Dance like crazy.Forget I cant dance.Forget there are people around..Forget that I will live the next day too and have to see these people in their eyes.Just dance to the music I love.

 I am scared I will be confined to my home with 2 little kids skimpering around me and then to my age and then eventually die before having my "moments" of dance. I had so few of them.The last one I remember was during my mehndi...when we did a little jig..well..among aunties ,but it was fun !

~  Be a part of Just For Gags.It would be sooo nice if somebody played a prank on you..and you reacted soo well.. somebody shot all of that and then you had a hearty  laugh at the end of it.

I wish somebody would do that to me.Too much to ask? 

~ Drink and get a high.Drool..sway..and stagger..I associate drinking to - Dont remember anything.Find yourself in a mess.Be a mess.Deep slumber.Fresh start.

2.Why do we have to eat 3 times a day ? I seem to be hungry all the time ! Eating is fine....but cooking... just beats me ! Every night I sleep thinking what to cook in the morning for breakfast,lunch and dinner.

I seem to like my cooking.. but my man doesn't seem to share the same opinion.Phew !
And to make matters worse, some  ***hole said  the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - I am sure I am nowhere on the treacherous "way" .


3. You know about the new invention ?BPS ? Budget positioning system?

We invented it.

The minute you spend a 100 bucks , this thing whirrsss around and calculates how many pennies less you would end up with.and what you will have to cut down on.Just like how the GPS "recalculates" when you change direction.
We are running on such a tight budget these days, that when we locked ourselves out from our home, and when we realised we will have to spend 125$ to break open the lock, our BPS didnt stop whirring.
We spent half a day in the car..in the scorching sun.Hungry and tired and dirty ( no bath you see), contemplating what to do.
The irony was, our owner had a duplicate key with him but he chose that weekend to go out of town.
The pesticides company campbell also had a key, but they were closed on a Sunday.Nobody was picking up the phone.
We ran through the list of secretaries' and treasurers' and the you-know-whos' names- ran to their homes to seek help,hoping to hear the golden words ' Oh.. we have another set with us .." or maybe " you can stay with us for the night until your owner comes back !" Dont know what we were expecting.. but we ran from pillar to post to avoid spending those 125 bucks.
This running helped in a different way, when the treasurer suggested we try opening the window or break the lock as they are not too strong.
Luckily for us, we found the window was not latched too properly and we broke into our own home.That was such a relief !
We laughed like crazy after our little mis-adventure.and ofcourse the savings !

4.I got the shock of my life yesterday, from none other than my dear hubby.

Tired of munching on serials and plain puffed rice, deprived of things that fit into the category of "snacks" , we decided we will make grilled sandwich to break the frikkishly boring eating routine.I hunted for that booklet that came with the grilling machine for any tips to make a "good" sandwich.
When I didnt find it anywhere, I turned to Sush for help. He asked me to look in the CSC bag, that is not less than any storehouse.. it has all the bills, receipts, documents from bank, credit unions, insurance etc.

I looked at the messy stack of papers and books in it and sighed.

"I wish we could use a Ctrl + F here too ..."

"Ctrl F ?  Whats that ?!  " That was hubby dearest.

Now you cannot imagine my horror when you know that he had lost it, despite being an IT guy !
I think sitting at home for 3 months without work does that to you.

 October - how I am waiting for you !!


Just some random things - 

Times that are not to be forgotten.

Moments that needed to be remembered.

And  wishes that needed to be reminded... to hold on to them.

The moment of truth

I am not going to write about how I love my mother or how she had been there for me all through my growing years and what a beautiful relationship we share...

I am going to write about that day.. that one fleeting moment.. which made the earth below me slip .. which shook the daylights out of our family.. and gave us a rude reminder that we are ever so vulnerable...



I remember that day .. when mom and dad were making hurried discussions in the bedroom.I was watching TV with my sister .. but I was slightly aware of what was going on in the bedroom.

"Have they gotten into a fight... I just hope not..."

They came out after a few minutes. I saw my mom's face.. it was ashen  pale . We immediately knew she was crying, but was trying to hide that fact.

"We are going out for a couple of minutes...Will be back in 30 minutes.The food is ready.Take care of Grandma"

And then she set off to get ready.I went inside and confronted her gently.

"What happened ma.I know you have been crying.Now dont hide anything.Did you guys have a fight ? Where are you going now ?"

Just then dad came..."Nothing beta.. we didn't fight.. we are just going out to meet somebody"

"Dad .. please.. tell me whats going on.." .They realised I was not going to give in.

Mom broke into tears.Dad took me closer.. hugged me tight.

"Wh...What .. happened ??" There was a look of fear on my face.My heart beat faster.

"We are going to the hospital.Mom has a lump in her chest.And we got to get it tested"

"Wha.. Whatt.... Mom.. you didnt tell me before... when did this happen .. is this..this.. serious..."

"I talked to Dr.Anjali.. and Teja mami... when I first told them about the lump, the first question they asked was if my family had a history of cancer.."

And I knew what this meant.My grandfather, my mom's dad, had died of cancer.We looked at each other in silence and that's when the ground beneath me gave way...

We all hugged tightly.. as if braving to fight off the evil that was trying to shatter our lives.We didnt want my sister and grandma to know any of this..one was too small to take this and one was too old.

We three went to the hospital - Vijaya diagnostic center.My mom was trembling.She went in to take her mammography test, while we waited outside.

My dad had been strong all along.Not a drop of tear.He held us strong.

I was praying hard. She was the most wonderful mom..wonderful wife and the most wonderful daughter-in-law and that's the last thing she should be getting in return.My dad's entire family loved her..treated her like their own daughter. The neighbours respected her..came to her for advice whenever they had a problem.
She used to teach in a school years back, and there are still some students who wish her good morning when they bump into her on the roads.. there are still some parents who greet her as teacher.. there are still some students who send us some Sheer Khurma on every Ramzan...

That's the kind of person she is. So lovable.. so respected.So happy.

And now this . I prayed hard.We need her, dear God.

And then we came back home.The test results will be out the next day.We didn't sleep all night.We just wanted the wait to be over.

The next evening, mom didnt have the courage to see the results herself.So, dad and I went.
We didnt say a word to each other..but we both knew each was praying hard for the most important lady of their lives.

As we collected the reports, my heart was thumping loudly.Then I saw.. my dad's hands trembling.We immediately went to the seating area, and tore open the reports .Thats when we saw the word

"Non-malignant"

My dad wept like a baby.I wept like a baby.We hugged tight.Everybody was looking at us.. but they didnt know what we had been through.They didnt know that my mom was just re-born ...

We went out to the bike..called Mangala ajji.. our family doctor, my dad's aunt.

"Its non-malignant... Dr saab.. Its its....non-malignant ..she is fine...oh I am soo happy ..  " My dad was still crying. I just wonderered how he had held all this while.

Mom was sitting on the sofa.. waiting anxiously.Wishing she would hear exactly what she wanted to hear.She was afraid. She looked at my sister..and grandma.. who were busy reading a book, unaware of what was going on .. She thought of me and dad..

"I want to be here..for them.." I need them.They need me.

When we finally reached home, mom instantly got up and ran into my father's arms.Grandma was shocked..Sahu was shocked.
They came rushing to us... Dad hugged everybody together.. and cried "She is alright .. yahoo !"

There was no dearth to tears of happiness that day. Amidst crying.. hiccups and what not.. we told grandma and sahu the whole story.They hugged her tighter still and that's when we realised - " Mom was a great gift to us.And a greater gift was God just made us realise how much we loved her and how much we needed her".

Mom and dad singing at their 25th anniversary ! Just love them!

Somedays...

...   Some days you just feel low.The pain and failed efforts that you suppressed and successfully ignored all these days suddenly start screaming their presence.All that you did patiently and religiously to improve things arent getting any results.You are surrounded by doubts..you start losing confidence that things will ever become better...you begin to get scared that you might get used to being like this..sometimes, a mistake which is smaller than a mistake costs you dearly..you are forcefully taught some small lessons the hard way...the very strength that pushed you all along comes crushing down on one single day..The problems are not seemingly great,but they are affecting you every day.You want to cry out loud but you find no voice,just the tears.

...  And exactly on the same day, some other things also choose to go wrong.That is not making you feel any better.A bad day has just become worse.All you want is to duck, shut your eyes and just turn off everything.You try to smile through it, pacifying yourself that tomorrow will be better.Or much better,just laugh at how your day had been,take pride in that fact that you survived it and hope for a better tomorrow.

Just like I did.

What happened to me today?Well here it goes..

There need not be real problems to feel low.Its just the feeling.

My first problem - Some zits have cropped up on my face and they refuse to go.It has been 40 days and my every earnest and  desperate attempt went in vain.I have begun to hate my mirror.I tried ignoring them but the fact remains that one zit can shatter a girl's heart like anything.

I learnt a stupid lesson.The hard way.

I had popped a tablet and without drinking water, went straight to bed almost immediately.That fellow of a pill decided to stop by my whatever pipe in the throat.Overnight, some reaction happened and Lo! there was an inflammation.Since 10 days, my throat is hurting like anything.I am unable to drink water.I get very hungry but cant swallow.My food intake has reduced to half.And the worst part? I am taking 4 BIG pills now.

How my day became worse ?

I was supposed to make cabbage paratha.I started out with interest.Put my entire heart while adding the ingredients.But things went wrong.I messed up.Added more water than required.Any amount of adding the flour dint help.I added more flour.That made the salt and chilly powder less.I added salt and chilly powder again.Cabbage looked scanty.So added more of cabbage.Now cabbage also oozes some water.The dough again became softer.This cycle of events went on until I was tired and fed  up.

With some moral support from Sush, I was able to make the parathas and my family was able to have dinner.

Now as I sit tired and vexed and totally disappointed at how my day had been, I am still able to smile.Because it is just a day.It was bad ,no doubt,but I fought it.

Tomorrow is going to be better.

PS : I borrowed the title from one of the bloggers that I follow, without her consent. But it sounded just apt for what I was going to write.