Such a wonderful day it was!

I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful birthday than it was yesterday! It started with a big puchha and "Happy Birthday Mumma!" wish from Anirudh and a big nice hug from Hubby. I've lost count of the amount of SMSes and the phone calls that kept coming through the entire day till with the last one being at 10 PM. And last but not the least so many wishes that I got from all the blogger friends. You all made my day!

It makes me happy! Really happy to be remembered and loved and wished by so many people. I'm sure anyone else in my position would feel as happy and as elated as I was.

In the morning I decided to take some goodies to Betu's daycare and after talking to them they felt muffins would be a good idea to go along with the evening snacks. So I picked up some chocolate and raisin muffins from a nice bakery in New Friends Colony and reached about 15 mins before their snack time. I was told that their music class is on so I was waiting in the lounge. A little late one of the nannies came and asked me to come to the music room. I went and the moment I entered all these tinny little kids started to sing 'Happy Birthday' song in the their such sweet voices! I was so taken by surprise and had wet eyes by the time they finished! It was such a sweet and wonderful gesture and I just hugged them all and said thank you! I think that was the best birthday gift. THE BEST!

My eldest sister who lives in US ordered a cake online. It was a cappuccino cheese cake with a moist brownie base! It was just so delicious! It simply melted in the mouth! In the beginning everyone was saying to give just a little as everyone was trying to avoid eating too much sweet. But after one bite, everyone went for the second helpings! Now you can imagine how delicious it was! Here's the pic of that sumptuous, finger licking cake -

And this is Anirudh helping me cut the cake -

In the evening, when Anirudh realised we are going to have party in the evening, he was so excited and kept wishing me every now and then! And not only that. I got showered with so many kisses from him all of the evening :D

We all went out for yummy south Indian food at Sarvana Bhawan at Janpath, near Connaught Place for dinner. It was three of us along with Appa, Amma, Mausiji (Amma's sister who lives in US), Chacha-Chachi, Hubby's Mausaji-Mausiji and his cousin sister.

So now you can see what a wonderfully celebrated birthday it was for me!

Ahh..the winters...and the goodies that it brings!

I'm not fond of the real cold winters but I like slightly chilly and slightly sunny kinds. With just a shawl or a half sweater and you are all set!

And I love this weather even more for all the yummy goodies that we can gorge on like hot pakoras with dhaniya-pudina chutney, stuffed paranthas for breakfast and a nice ginger tea to go along with it!

Just imagine just off the tawa gobhi parantha or methi parantha or for that matter even mooli parantha with a dollop of butter on top of it and if you are really lucky a pickle too! Yummm....

Or imagine right off the pan pakoras. Of all kinds - aloo, pyaaz, gobhi, palak..just any kinds! They are so hot that as you break them open a whiff of steam comes out and you blow it cold and dip it into the freshly ground dhaniya-pudina chutney or a nice thick ketchup! Slurrrp....

And after such feasts enjoying a big cuppa piping hot ginger-tulsi tea which you need to drink sip by sip lest you burn your tongue!

Such are the simple pleasures that you can enjoy in this kind of weather! I have decided deliberately to avoid any talk of the calories intake or the weight gain after such sinful food so that we can enjoy them thoroughly without feeling even wee bit guilty!!

What more would a man want with such wonderful things to keep him happy! Right???

And what more can you expect from a foodie like me! :D Just lots of talks and pictures on food, food and some more food! Happy eating people!!

A new page in the book of life...

The book is withering at the edges, the pages are turning yellow and cracking because of age. The writing in the book is fading day by day, year after year. And as I flip on to the next page, it throws a number in my face - written in bold, font size 100, underline and in quotes!! The number reads 32!! I prefer to read it backwards though! Sadly next year it won't make any difference whatever way I read it!

I don't know if I should be happy or sad! Frankly I'm feeling nothing. And that scares me even more. Am I really getting so old that I don't get excited by my own birthday? And the worst is when you realise its your birthday when you look at a post you just published and looking at the date you think "The date seems familiar..." and its then that it strikes you that its your birthday!

No..I think the worst is when you have to remind an online friend to wish you telling explicitly that its your birthday today! Height of desperation ehh?? But its true. That's what I did just a few minutes ago :D

But I just don't feel like 32!! I remember when we were in college the numbers 27-28 seemed those of old haggard aunties. And now that I'm way beyond those numbers which used to seem scary to me as a teenager, make no difference to feel old or haggard at all. In fact I still feel the same. As happy, as lively (shall I say boisterous? :P) and as young at heart minus the backache once in a while and the few strands of whites on the head and a few tyres around the belly. I'm still the same minus these.

So come on, go ahead and wish me and just ignore the number...OK? *wink* :D

I soooo love it! My Blackberry Pearl!

Yippeee! I got my new Blackberry pearl this week and I so love it! Its super sexy!

And its so light weight too! Everything about it is just sooooo goood! The features are better so its much easier to use. I don't have to move my thumb far away from the keys to use the trackball since its right there in the center.

Its much smaller than the earlier one that I had and so much more jazzy looking too! My Jijaji had used it for a year but no one can tell its not new! Its as sparkling new as it can be! Thanks Jijaji, once again!

Now I can even take pictures from my phone and the quality is super cool too!

Today when I went to pick Betu from school he insisted that I click his picture from my phone and then went about telling everyone that "Humne naya phone liya hai!" (We got a new phone) What a brag and show off he is becoming already!

Chocolate Coasters!!

What more are they going to come up with? Of all the things a chocolate coaster!!?? But what a waste of chocolate to be used this way! At least I think so! What do you say?

The quirky me? Hmm....

Everyone has a few quirks and so do I. I thought its better they are kept under the carpet but our dear Mona didn't let it be that way. She wants me to write 7 quirks about me. 7!!!! Why so many Mona? You should have let me keep some of them secrets at least!! Now every thing's going to be out in the open! Poor me!!

The rules are:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Since you don't leave me with any choice, here are they..*sigh*...

1. I pick my nose often! Read that as every 15 mins. Do I hear some 'ewwwwwws'?? :P
2. I just LOVE chocolates and whatever chocolates come for Anirudh I hide them away from him because he's not supposed to eat them because of his bronchitis and so I eat them myself. :P :P
3. I can be really forgetful at time. Age has started to show I guess.
4. I can come up with excuses of any kinds and any numbers if I am not interested in doing anything. *wink*
5. I love to collect URLs. Did I hear someone say "Collect URLs? Huh?" I'm sure you would have heard of collecting stamps, coins, pens etc etc but never this. But that's me..different! Hehehe... Anything good I chance upon I immediately save the URL for it on a text file which I created just for storing the URLs right on my desktop!
6. I love food and can eat anything at any point of time as long as its something I like. And its very rare that I don't like something.
   
7. Every time I have Betu in my lap I just cannot stop myself from looking into his ears and nose to make sure there's nothing in there which needs to be removed :)

Phew...done with it! Happy now that you know such funny/weird things about me? :D

Now its my turn to take revenge on someone..heeeheeeeheee *rubbing my palms excitedly with a evil grin on my face* So go ahead and tell me your quirks Guruprasad, Timepass and Shobana. Come on..out with it! :D

Being judgemental? Whats wrong with it?

About 10 days ago we all went along with BIL and his wife to Dilli Haat at night. It was a Monday if I'm not wrong. The weather was chilly enough to wear a cotton shawl for adults and cold enough to wear full sleeved clothing plus a thin jacket or half sweater for kids. As were were strolling around I saw 2 twin girls. They were quite cute but I was shocked to see them in sleeveless frocks. And I saw the parents themselves wearing full sleeved shirts. I just shook my head at such stupidity/carelessness of parents.

About 5 mins later when we sat down to eat some goodies at the Maharashtra stall, I just talked about this to Hubby and the BIL-SIL. I didn't know that the Mother of those twins was sitting next to our table. And she heard whatever I said about her girls and about them. So when her husband came back with their order to their table, she started talking in loud angry tone as to how people have no sense to mind their own business and repeated whatever I had said.

I was shocked. Shocked because had I known she was sitting just next to us I wouldn't have talked about it at all. I have this much common sense for sure. And at that moment I even decided to apologise to her and to tell her that the idea was not to demean her in any way. But then she kept something like "These bloody people don't have manners and poke their nose in other peoples lives etc etc" I don't remember the exact words but when I heard her using the words like bloody I decided I do not want to apologise to her. She didn't deserve it. All the 10 minutes we were sitting there she just kept going on and on and talking in such rough manner. The mother took my statements as if I intentionally said so because I knew she was sitting nearby and so that she hears it. I just shook my head in disbelief at her outrage. Hubby also later said that he also thought of apologising but looking at her language and attitude he decided not to and that she wasn't being mature enough to realise her mistake.

However later I wondered if I was wrong somewhere about judging people and things I saw and talking about them. I know that day I talked about it at inopportune moment and situation but then I was not aware of the presence of the family next to us. But on the whole is it wrong for us to judge people in other circumstances? Should we genuinely make an effort not to say anything about others? Should we just see what it is and just keep it in our minds? I wonder....

What would you have done if you were in my place in that situation? How do you feel about judging others and talking about it openly (not in front of the people you were judging of course :D )?

'Sholay' fans out there?

Check out this link http://www.thakurkainteqam.com/

Its simply hilarious! A must watch!

Om Shanti Om

I saw the movie a few days ago. I think the last movie I watched (in a theatre) was the Bong connection which was almost 6 months ago. I liked the movie. Its a good one time watch. Light and entertaining. Nothing new in the story but still I liked watching it. But then I doubt I will like to watch it again :)/:P

It was mostly funny and the rest was a mix of romantic + thriller. There is one dialogue from the movie which left me thinking and nodding in agreement -
"Agar Kisi Cheez Ko Tum Dil Se Chaho Toh Poori Kaaynat Use Tumse Milane Ki Koshish Mein Lag Jaati Hai"

And the another great dialogue from the movie was "Hamari filmon ki tarah hamari zindagi mein bhi end tak sab kuch theek hi ho jaata hai. Happees Ending! Aur agar theek na ho to woh ‘The End’ nahin! Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost..."

I felt these lines give a very optimistic outlook towards life. And I liked them. Remember the first few lines from a song in the movie "1942 : A Love Story"? I so love them till date

"Dil na-umeed to nahi, na-kaam hi to hai,
Lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi to hai.."

Aren't these such beautifully written lines? With so much depth and feeling? I remember whenever I would feel let down and low I would hum these lines and things would start to look better :)

Coming back to Om Shanti Om, don't you think Shahrukh Khan has started to look old now? I haven't seen any of his movies lately besides this one so don't know how he looked in others but in this movie definitely he has started to show age on his face.

Its been so long...

..since I have been away from my blogs. Literally and completely away. I felt so disjointed and so disinterested to even go and take a look at them in all these days for reasons that I would not go into now since I'm over with them and feel happy that I decided to make a comeback. As I was writing this word 'comeback' I felt so funny as if I'm a great superstar who's making a comeback and as if all my audience has been eagerly waiting for me to write :) Hehehe..

And why I decided to start writing is that I was suddenly feeling quite happy since yesterday afternoon even though nothing amazing or out of the world has happened to make me feel this way. Probably I was just going through this 'off-mood' phase. It was so bad that nothing seemed remotely interesting or nice to read or write about. I didn't even want to read the other blogs much. I did try to make a forceful and strained effort to read and comment but stopped after a few random ones. It was so much so that my reader tells me I've 278 unread posts in all of my blog subscriptions *whoopie*...you guys have been going crazy writing or what? :D And I'm so scared looking at the number that I've to catch up on..once again. *whew*

Anyways, whatever it was I'm glad its gone. I'm sure you will get used to my such mood swings if you visit me here often. :D

Diwali@Jaipur!

We always celebrate Diwali at Jaipur with Hubby's parents. Hubby's brother and his family also travel down from Bangalore for Diwali. So its an occasion for family reunion too! :)

The buildings at Jaipur are decorated beautifully with various styles and kinds of lights. Although this year Vidhan sabha was not decorated at all. Last year it had looked beautiful! Birla Mandir was decorated in the same style that I've seen for the past 7 years.

We made some rangoli at the house like we do every year using rice powder and holi colours (gulal). Here are some pictures of them:

Although Anirudh was enjoying looking at the crackers being burst but he was hesitant to hold the phuljhari's himself. But once I held it with him, he started to enjoy it and then he didn't want to stop. So all the teachings from his school teacher that he had been saying over and over again since the past few days of "No crackers!" went down the drain! :)

After a long break!

I had been away to Jaipur since Nov 5th and arrived in the evening on Nov 12th. It was a good long holiday for me and Anirudh. Since I still haven't started working, Betu's Dadu-Dadi wanted to spend time with him. So we both went there early with his Chahu-Chachi. Hubby joined us there later on 8th morning.

On the way we stopped at Haldiram on the Delhi-Jaipur highway and had something to eat. Betu also had his share of rides there in the play area.
On the way we saw a motorcyclist riding the bike while standing. He seemed so cool and waved at us. We saw 2 more such cyclists on the way so it made me think if it was a kind of a road show.
Betu had a blast with his cousins and Dadu-Dadi there. But then he also realised he can throw tantrums there and Dadu-Dadi or Chachu-Chachi or his Bua will save him from me :) The kids are so very smart these days. Oh boy!

Ooh la la!

Who wouldn't love to have this?
A chocolate keyboard! But if I really had it, one key would be missing every hour :P

I'm amazed at the things people keep trying and creating! Such yummy inventions!

Of bondings and friendships!

Have you noticed how quickly you vibe so good with someone and with others even after tonnes of efforts, it is just a superficial bonding? A person may completely be an unknown stranger but when you start talking it feels like you are long lost friends meeting/talking after ages! And then there are people who you have known for years and may be even relatives but even after trying to bond with them, you just share this over the skin kind of relationship because you have to! So you just smile and talk to them, showing so much interest as if they mean the world to you!And its only you who knows its a farce.

I certainly have tonnes of people that I know which I can put in both of these categories!

Once I was talking to one such stranger and when it was time to go our own ways, I very casually said "Bye friend." And that person said "Are you sure you can call me a friend yet? I think I will still call you just an acquaintance." I agreed. But then sometimes out of courtesies we do tend to show the extended arm of friendship. I definitely do. Do you too?

Lets talk about the former group of people since the other group doesn't need much of our attention anyways..right? :D The ones with whom you just click immediately. With whom the chemistry is instant! So many occasions when I've been left awed and probably shocked too at myself that how could I be so comfy with a complete stranger in such a short span of time. So much so that we even decide to share some contact information so that we can be in touch from now on.

From a short meeting at a bus stop or on the road or in the bus or in the train or in the lounges of airports/malls and even a simple bump at a shop, how it grows into a deep friendship.

I may not be making any sense to a person who's not gone through this kind of a friendship. You might find me insane!

Dancing shoes for a parent and child!

The first words that crossed my mind when I saw the picture of dancing shoes for a parent and a child were "WOW! What an idea!"

Isn't this such a wonderful idea? I would have loved to have them when Anirudh was younger! Definitely not now unless I go completely insane and really want to break my toes! :D

Aren't these so very cute? I just keep looking at them and going "Awww!" But man, are they expensive? Euro 80 for a pair!! Phew! The producers made sure its not just the shoes that are mind boggling but the price too!

Lots to catch up!

Last week with in-laws visiting and then my friend dropping by for 2 days I had literally no time to read or write blogs. So yesterday when I finally logged on and opened my Google Reader I saw 163 unread posts just under the blogs section. I almost fell off my chair thinking how many posts I need to catch up with. Just a few days and so many posts written by so many bloggers? Gosh!

And at the same time I realised how many blog subscriptions I've under my belt and I also kind of felt left out since I didn't get to read them as and when they were written! So yesterday feeling something like I this I just closed my Reader. I got really bogged down by the number.

But today I decided I will read them all. No getting up from the table till everything is cleaned off from the plate :)

So all you guys who didn't get any comments from me on your posts and didn't find any new posts also on my blog, you will get to see them all now! As they say "Better late than never!"

Edited:
Its 12:15 Am on Nov 2, 2007 and I just finished reading and commenting on all the pending piled up posts! Yay! I almost managed to stick to my word of finishing them all today! :D A 15 min margin is allowed no? And now you know why would there be comments from me on posts written days ago :P