Coincidence?

What would you call if you find the library stamp of your school (which is more than 300 kms from where you live) on one of the second hand books you buy in a book store???

Recently I bought some old books from a second hand store on Church Street in Bangalore – actually I purchased a lot of them and when I opened one of them, I was shocked to see it carrying the stamp of my school “Holy Innocents High School” (Wellington, Conoor). Obviously this was least expected and left me pleasantly zapped… I carry a lot of fond memories of my school days since it was a boarding school and we as boarders, were left to act independently at the age of 10!!! :)

I quickly called my elder sis (just a year senior to me) who was one of the head girls in school at her time and gave her this news… and guess what??? My sis happened to know the girl who's name was mentioned in the book (and this girl stays 300 kms away on the other side of B’lore.... that's from my hometown of Tiruppur!!!)

Bizarre or what???

The Winner takes it all

The loser standing small/tall... is all I feel for the glorious game with Hyderabad winning it... They deserved it as I said before.

As far as B'lore goes - well we sure did come a long way but the best team won, at least we came till the finals - that itself is a proud moment for us.

IPL Fever – Semifinals

Continuing with the IPL fever, we decided to meet up at the 8th floor (Shaatz &Dia’s place) to watch the second semi-final between RCB & CSK yesterday.. With some light drinks and some light Chinese stuff for dinner, we had a ball of a time watching the match… And obviously the victory of B’lore was the icing on the cake… Though some of us (incl me) didn’t want them to win but what the heck, the best team won at the end!!!

It turned out to be an eventful evening with Chiins and Shaatz cheering Dr. Mallya’s Bengalooru guys while Sundru just bummed on losing again (his bet was on CSK)… Well, actually it’s like this - whichever team he chooses the always ends up on the losing side… So much for luck huh!!! So the next time you bet, you know whom to call up ;)

All I can is it was one helluva night and whatta match – can you believe it!!! The 7th and the 8th teams of last year’s IPL season in this year finals… Phew!!!! Is that a coincidence or what! Though Dia and my dad have a different story to tell (giving a match fixing angle to it) but I honestly think that’s definitely not the reason for their success… They have done all the hard work and I can definitely say that Kumble will be extremely happy that the numerological twist from Sanjay Jumani did work for sure and looking at the way these guys are playing, I wouldn’t be surprised they take the cup!!! B’lore is definitely on a roll!!!!!

Am leaving you guys with some snapshots of last night’s get-together while I catch up with the spicy match that’s currently on, Kumble is on a roll… Don’t wanna miss this ;)

People at UB city – watch out for Mallya’s free pitcher of beer for everyone in the building after B’lore’s victory on Sunday ;))) High hopes for sure!!!
That's Chiins, Sundru, Moa and Dia with breezers and Vodka

Shaatz, Chiins and Sundru celebrating B'lore win!

Dia and I posing while the husband peep!

That's Chiins, Sundru (drunk) me and Shaatz...

IPL Fever!!!

It sure has got me gripping and the whole nation as well I suppose… well it definitely has turned out to be one of the most exciting tournaments, though I am a bit sad that the team I am supporting, RR, didn’t make it to the semis but what the heck, they won last year and its only fair that some other team deserves to win this time around... Also because I personally think that RR wasn’t up to the challenge this year and their lack of practice showed up clearly…

Leaving that aside, I am really happy that RCB made it through… being the underdogs for sure, from last year’s second-last place to this year’s no.3 as of now, they sure have come quite far... I won’t be surprised if they finally hold aloft the cup on sunday seeing how things are turning over its head so far...

Though always brought up on a staple diet of cricket, I have not really been a crazy follower like my dad or Sundru but being an emotional fool, I would always follow the game esp. if it concerned India… after all it is nothing short of a religion here… I still remember there were times when Papa had actually recorded old matches in our VCR and played it over and over again until I suffered from “cricket indigestion” (if you could call that!!!) and now I am with another lunatic who eats, sleeps and drinks cricket :-)

Coming back to the league - today begins the semi-finals and I am happy to be at home to watch it… It is going to be a tough competition as there are some amazing guys playing in all the teams; my personal favourite now is definitely CSK and I sure would want them to take the trophy this year if not RCB atleast… DD, I feel is somewhat arrogant and though they are playing wonderful cricket, I am not really loyal to them… and last but not the least, DC…. what can I say… they were at the bottom of the table last year and this year they are in the semis because they have done all the hard work and definitely deserve it…

Clearly IPL is turning out to be a wonderful platform for our young talents to show their abilities and say – look out, here we come… way to go guys!!!

So there you go… confused as I may sound but one thing is clear… IPL has caught the imagination of one & all and has everyone asking for more… It is definitely one of most glamorous events in the sports calendar and I guess that’s because it has everything –style, arrogance, controversy, entertainment, thrill etc… and of course, some good cricket!!!

Super Sunday

Long drive in a perfect weather… What else could you ask for an enthusiastic end to an eventful weekend… first, a day out with my nephew and then this long drive…

The wives of the Boyz club decided to take some time out from our respected household chores and came up with the following options for the weekend… It was left to the husbands to choose the best one…

1) Lunch/dinner
2) Any movie – maybe 8*10 Tasveer
3) Long drive to Taj Kuteeram
4) Home Crash - watching Sivaji, The Boss

The Boyz decided on the Taj Kuteeram option during their tennis / breakfast meet on Sunday morning and we ladies couldn’t have asked for better.

It was around 12ish by the time we started – Sundru & I joined Shaatz & Dia while Ranji & Barry came in their new Linea… When we started off while it was hot and stuffy though the weather got better every passing moment… We passed through some amazing country side full of mango groves and what not!!!

Finally reached the place at around 1.20 types in the afternoon but still couldn’t make it to Nrityagram, the famous gurukul style dance institute built by late Protima Gauri Bedi (ex wife of Kiran Bedi & mother of Pooja Bedi)… Apparently Nrityagram is closed for the summer (March to May) and was supposed to reopen on the 19th… Gosh…. We were 2 days earlier :-(

And so, we then spent time at Kuteeram (which is right opposite Nrityagram)… Had a very expensive lunch (not worth the price though) and finally started back at around 4ish… By then dark clouds were starting to develop and we were definitely preparing ourselves for the pleasant pre-monsoon showers!!! Our return trip was rather quiet, sleepy and sort of introspective I should say, as each one was lost in his/her own thoughts… After a quick stop at the Hesaraghatta lake, we drove nonstop in the rains till we reached the outskirts of Bangalore…

Our last and final stop was at CCD for a cup of coffee and after saying our good-byes, it was time to end our short and sweet trip, uneventful but yet fulfilling the purpose!!!

A trip down memory lane

Is what I’d call my day out with my nephew today… First time, just Sunil, me and the kiddo… The day was packed with fun, heat, crowd and badly maintained public places and children spaces. Having said that, I won’t argue on the fact that my nephew enjoyed, I think the smile on his face said it all. :)

Let’s get into the details now – Our first stop today was the Nehru Planetarium here in Bangalore. So poor and badly maintained I should say; we did manage to book our tickets for the Solar System show at 12.45. Well my nephew is around 4, so I don’t think he enjoyed this bit, though it was more like a refresher course for Sunil and me… No complains there, I was always fascinated with stars and things from my childhood days :). And as far as my nephew is concerned I think I shall come back in another 4 years from now – he’ll understand constellations and Orions by then hopefully!!!

I unfortunately can’t help but compare this with the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad, the best one that I have visited so far… The Govt there is so willing to cooperate and have managed to maintain it so well. That’s what I can remember it. This sucks!!!

Next was a trip to the Govt Aquarium on Kasturba road – stinking & smelling and packed with local crowd though… I can definitely say that the nephew had a wonderful time and so was Sunil I think, explaining all the fishes to him. ;)… I am unfortunately the impatient types and hence have no patience with children at all… The husband is crazy about kids! Suits me :)

After a quick lunch at Subway, we ventured towards Cubbon Park for the toy train ride… First and foremost, the crowd management was very poor and I think they definitely need to do something about it... So, finally after much waiting & pushing through the crowd, we finally got onto the train… Boy was that fun or what!

We then let the kiddo play for sometime in the playground / park, which, though designed for kids, was primarily occupied by elders!!! That was that… phew… it was really one tiring day I tell you!!!

And btw, time for some gyan and insight now; how I long for some change in such public places. These are places that really need maintenance and am surprised that the Govt has ignored its duty completely and isn’t doing anything. These are the things for which we pay taxes and I would like to see that being used wisely for the well-being of the people… It’s disgusting to say that our future generation will be devoid of childhood fun if things continue the same way. We need a start somewhere...

Blogger Friendship award 2009

Surprise Surprise (yay!!!!!)… My blog has managed to bag an award – The Friendship Award!!! And thanks to Rads who has honored me with it. Does it feel great??? Feels awesome!!!

I am being very honest when I say, when I first started this blog it was a mere extension of my thoughts and feelings and nothing more – so it revolved around writing and posting… I had no time to stop at other blogs or read the others except for the husband’s of course… I had no blog friend for a very long time (in contrast to my hobby blog but that’s a different community altogether). And then all of a sudden I realized that my blog was getting noticed, people started looking at it, admiring me (if I can say that), laughing at my silly jokes, leaving a nice little message… And then I started making friends on this one too…

Ok; now coming to the point… First of all, I want to thank everyone who have time to linger on my blog to read all the mindless mundane stuff and leave a comment, however torturous the content may be! (hear hear). It really goes at length to prove, atleast to me, that there are people on whose faces I put a smile on or rather who laugh at all the dull jokes I try to crack (the husband has just gotten used to my joking techniques!)… It’s time to push it on to others. Sorry guys you’ll just have to bear that!

And now to pass this forward, I have strictly been advised to do so: - well the thing is since I have very few in my kitty, the list become exhaustive! Here goes,

Neilboy -The husband’s blog - there gotta be no choice on this…

Vijay – the stockmarket fanatic who cooks as well...

Finally there is Rads – the so humble and down to earth friend who always has a comment or two about my posts, come what may.

There are a lot of other blogs which I read every day but don’t leave a comment or make myself visible to the reader – not like a mysterious/anonymous reader or someone but just that blog has been blocked where I work and by the time I get back home, well the sob story starts… so, amongst them are:

An Indian summer – a lovely interior blog I have ever come across

The ketchup Girl – the writer

Lemondrops and Norwesters – Doppelganger - I can so relate to her blog, the same things we muse upon.

And that’s about it… but since my blogging community is growing I am pushing myself to make more and more friends… it’s a start…

I also want to thank all my non blogging friends who leave me a comment here and there…

And last but not the least, a huge applause to all my readers – you guyz are the best!!!

ZooZoos

ZooZoos - Unconventional characters in the world of animated ads… Well I don’t know if we can call them as animation but they seem so much like it... They are just awesome and I never realized that they are actually humans, in fact I still find it difficult to digest the fact that these cute creatures are actually thin women models from local Mumbai theatres, clad in body suits, dressed in white costumes that are stuffed with foam to portray the characters.

For those who haven’t heard of them, here’s an introduction – These Zoozoo characters have been created by O&M for Vodafone to convey different value added services offered by the mobile phone company including travel tips, music downloads, fashion tips, cricket alerts, etc. Apparently there are around 30 ads produced and only 15 presented so far – so there is hell lot more to see. If you have been following the IPL matches, then you would know what am talking about.

What I like most about these characters are their funny laughter (makes you wanna laugh out loud) and their stupid way of communication. So far the best of the lot (according to me) is the travel alert – with the boy dancing behind the girl while she explores the world!!!

Oh and there's more - you can follow them on facebook as well. How cool is that!!! I am in for sure.

Latest fetish of mine

Yummy yummy paani puris /gol-guppa / puchkas… by whatever you call it, my mouth just starts watering at the very thought!!! This is my new craze, every time I see a tehlewala, I’ve to stop for a plate. Had two plates on saturday during my romantic evening walk with the husband and had two more today evening after our grocery shopping!! ;)

5 years back the story was a bit different – it was sev puri all the time and now God only knows how the fetish changed. I used to hate the very sight of paani puri earlier and look at me now; I just can’t stop myself from having a plate!!!

Well… I can’t explain the reasons behind this latest fetish of mine and not sure how long this would last!!! This is one of my favorable changes in my life which I definitely don’t mind at all.

Here you go, have one yourself :-

Of sweet somethings and busy nothings

So this long holiday has been a refreshing one for sure, but I don’t think I can take much of it… as I am most of the time all alone at home and the only thing I seem to get addicted to is the TV which btw is not a good habit. Therefore I don’t think I’ll make a good housewife at all.

I actually took this long absence from work just to see if I’ll make it through – I was just testing on how I’d take it just being a housewife in future and I think I am not yet ready for it. I’d want myself to be occupied with something and feel am not cut out to be only at home. It’s definitely very nice to be at home on a “holiday” and during weekends but nothing more than that, at least not yet :-)

The long weekend is here which means that I won’t be alone and when the husband is at home, it is a double joy (sometimes, not always) considering the past 10 lonely days I spent at home… When he’s around at least I have company to eat and chat with… So after the refreshing holiday, I was just dying to do something apart from lying on the couch and watch TV… And what’s the best and easier way to do it? To cook of course… so there you go, put my best cooking cap and voila, daal ka sheera, corn kebabs, corn soup (very corny affair I must say!!!) kabuli (Jaipuri biriyani), chocolate milkshake… the poor husband… I was kinda feeding him all this at one go!!!! Not sure how he took it but from the looks of it I think it just went down ok ;-)

Looking forward for Monday – I have to make a most important decision; I can’t be sure how that’s going to go down! It’s not the right time to share about that now… will blog about that later – for now let that be a secret!!!

So long people – have a great weekend (whatever is left of it!!!)