The new year begins on a Sunday...

The year 2011 begins on a Sunday...does that mean we get a lot of leisure time in this year?

Finally 2011 is getting over..and we are entering in to 2012. A new year brings hope, happiness, cheer, joy and pleasure. I am grateful for one more year in my life that had its own ups and downs and made me a better person :)

Oh how I wish it was true. My wish list for this year is:

• Let there be more reasons to celebrate this year
• Let there be more long weekends :) We have a lot of festivals in India and I would love to celebrate them with my family
• Let me shake my bum and do some work around the house. My new year resolution is to finally clean my cupboard :) (I had offered Deven my complete 1 month salary for it, and he still refused :( :()
• Let me know how to manage my finances better (This is a resolution I make every year)

On the advent of the new year, I would like to thank all those people who matter to me. People who helped me, people who love me, people who taught me new things- knowingly or unknowingly, people who hurt me - yet made me stronger from within, people who appreciated me and criticized me likewise :) cos they helped me realize my own shortcomings, people who stood by me when I needed and who supported me with their love and friendship. For all the gestures, all kindness and care, all love and friendship, I am grateful.

Thank you for being a part of my universe and would hope you continue with me further!

Wish you and your families a happy, merry, magical and beautiful new year!

Christmas Magic

Check this out: The Ugly Dance

My blogging family

I don't remember whether it was me or my elder sister who first started writing a blog! So I wont take complete credit for being an inspiration for people in my family to start their own blog :)
I, my sister Shilpa and Hemant already write blogs. Shilpa is an avid and new quilter (if that is indeed a word), hemant is an out-an-out foodie, like me and he writes about his experiments in the kitchen.
My friend Ishani also has her blog, Moments of Life, which is a sheer pleasure to read! She writes in a very straight and lucid manner. I loved her recent post - Au revoir 2011; a cool way of saying goodbye to the year 2011 :)
We have a new addition on the blogosphere with Sayali, my cousin starting her own blog - My world today! She is a new blogger and her blog is sure gonna be interesting to read!
So here we are, a big blogging family :)

My plants

I have a small terrace in my apartment which currently serves as a home for all my plants. I love to have a few plants around me, even in my office; (I just have a chinese bamboo on my desk and I want to add more :)). The plant I am most proud of right now is the Basil. I had got basil leaves for cooking and when I hosted an all girls party, I put (shevanti) and basil leaves in a small glass just for decor. It lasted fresh and blooming till one week and when I started removing it, I realised that the basil leaves have got roots. Without wasting a minute, I planted the small sprig of basil and today (after two-three weeks) I am happy to say that it is growing :)

I am still researching so do not know if it will really bloom and become a plant, but that's what I am hoping for. This will also be the start of my kitchen garden, where I plan to plant tomatoes and chillies as well.

Here's a look of my basil plant and all other plants in my गार्डेन

Manogaat

माला माहित नाही असा का होत, पण गाड़ी वर बसला की सगले एक्सिदेंट्स आठवतात! सगले लोक मलाच धड्कायला आली आहेत रस्त्यावर असा वाटत, cyclewale तर कारस्थान करूँ आलेत, कार wale पण त्यातलेच!
असो, माझा गाड़ी वरचा प्रवास साध्य तरी सूखात चालू आहे :)

Christmas in Panchgani

This year I went to Panchgani, Mahableshwar on Christmas day. I am absolutely crazy for strawberries and the season for these berries begins in December. Even if we got them a little expensive than what we would have got in Jan-Feb, I hogged at them like anything. Instead of me blabbering away to glory, let me just share some pictures of the trip :)

This is my husband and mom-in-law, getting Strawberries with whipped cream and ice cream for us.
The Strawberry vendors out side Mapro Garden, panchgani.

My parents and brother-in-law :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All

Even if I do not celebrate Christmas, I can feel the magic in the air :) We also played the Secret-Santa game in our team and I got a cute white stuffed puppy :)

My first day on Independence – Kindof!

I drove my pleasure to office today (albeit Deven sitting behind me). I have such an immense pride and pleasure to announce that I drove on my own to the office. I didn’t knock anyone on the roads, followed all the rules, swore only little, was afraid even less than that and yes I did reach office in 20-25 minutes.

To top it all, I met 2 friends, Kunal and Pankaj accidentally just at my office entrance. They had come to meet me J . This was the best thing that could have happened today, a surprise that put a smile on my face all day long J

As if even this was less, Deven (my dear husband)said I drive much better than what he had expected J

So, cheers to my independence and booo to all rickshawallas (OK, maybe not all, I have met a few who were extremely helpful too, so yayyyy for them :)

'Daughters of Arabia' is mine, finally :)

A few months back, I and a friend of mine had started reading women centric biographies. I have read Not without my Daughter, The Princess and My Feudal Lord. I was hunting for the second book in the Princess's trilogy by Jean Sassoon since a long time. Finally I found and grabbed The Daughters of Arabia in Crossword yesterday!
This makes me think - Why do I like to read women-centric stories?

The roots lie in my upbringing and my childhood. Ever since I remember, I was always getting into trouble with my elders, my teachers in schools, my peers sometimes on my opinions about the gender equality or inequality as I must say. I still remember having major fights with my Marathi teacher in school about the conventional roles women, girls are supposed to play in our society. I never believed in conventions much (something that has been passed on by hereditary by my grandmother, Inni) and still do not. That could be a dangerous thing as I was always considered a rebel and trust me, that is not something I am. I don’t rebel out; I just do not do things that I do not believe in.

When I read Tehmina Khar-Durrani’s My Feudal Lord (which I finished in one night, just fyi J) I literally thanked God for giving me a sane, kind and a loving life partner. I do not know what I would have done in a situation where your partner is abusive, self-destructive and who destroys you slowly and steadily.

So, back to the Daughters of Arabia book; this is a sequel to the Princess book by Jean Sassoon. There is a princess belonging to the Royal family in Saudi Arabia. This story is the journey of a young girl through adolescence, womanhood to her own role as a mother of teenage son and daughters. In two books, we come to know the history, geography of Saudi Arabia as well as the psychology of common men and men belonging to the royal family. It talks of the subservient status of girls in their country. As much as it is scary to even read the atrocities and dominance men have over the women, it is an eye-opener for girls like me and I am sure it makes me appreciate living in a country where I can be free, independent and do whatever I choose.

Needless to say, I completed the book in two days. It is a compelling story that is well written and illustrative. The pictures painted in the book appear in front of me in a very lively manner. I recommend the book to everyone who wants to know how women are still treated in other countries. It is also a good read to understand how women are trying to raise against the secondary treatment they get!

Work at home experience #1

Today is the first day that I am seriously working from home and I like it :)

I started checking my mails at 8 AM and decided the priorities for the day.
Worked till 10:30 AM, then had a bath, got ready, chatted with my mom-in-law for sometime.
It was 11 AM, got dressed up, went to attend a wedding.
Came home by 2, got on the machine, work resumed!
A tea break at 4, lasted for half n hr, but man was that needed!
Got back to the machine, listened to Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas to put me in the Christmas season, resumed work.
Read three blog posts on topics ranging from technical writers in agile environment, games users take on user manuals etc.
Watched Meher Malik's belly dance video suggested by a friend, what was that huh! :P
It's 7 PM and I finally wrap up for the day.

Wish I could work from home everyday :)...well not really, I need to interact with others once in a while for getting charged up for new assignments :). But, I would have to agree, it does feel good, to work so undisturbed and in peace :)


PS: I got a leeway today as I had to attend a function. My organization does support, but not encourage working from home everyday.

Family Happiness Time

I don't know if this is becos of Christmas or what, but being with your family this time induces the happiness quotient in your life. My parents-in-law, brother-in-law and uncle and aunt had come down for the weekend. We went to the Corinthians Club in Pune for a nice Sunday night dinner.
They brew their own beer, which is an added attraction for this place (My family is a HUGE beer fan). To add to the happiness was a local band played Beatles and John Lennon all evening.
The air was filled with fun, music, beer and family time.
The atmosphere rang with joy. We had a best time out there in company of our elders.


Image source: The image is taken from the Corinthian Club site.

Planning a Holiday

Inspired by my "all-gals" trip to Goa, we cousins (3 cousin sisters and one sister-in-law who is as good as a sister) have planned an "all-gals" trip to Mahableshwar. Each one of us is looking forward to the trip for various reasons, such as-

Shilpa: A break from being a full-time mother :) and looking forward to the spa
Shweta: Eating strawberries, break from work and looking forward to the spa
Radhika: Spending time with beloved sisters and forward to the spa
Sucheta: Break from work, home, eat parsi food and looking forward to the spa

To sum up, you might now be aware that we are "spa" people :)

Oh and how can I mention the single most important thing - shopping for chappals :)

20 Second Reading - Reality on TV

I like this concept of writing blogs which readers can read in or less than 20 seconds. This is a complete inspiration from Paulo Coelho's blog posts - 20 second stories
So, now to polish my concise writing skills, I am going to write posts out here that you can read in max 20 seconds.
To start with, my today's post is about kitch on TV. Do you know what is the most favorite or probably most watched TV show format? It is Reality television. I always remember my professor - Mr. Samar Nakhate, you used to scream at us (literally) when we spoke about reality shows that are entirely fabricated. They have to be, I have enough faith in our TV actors that they have some sense which they lose completely in big boss. Why would I want the life of my sister and I splashed across the TV, with all our sibling rivalry spread open in front of the viewers?

I would consider reality TV shows equivalent to kitch. They are attractive, blingy, but 2 years down the line, you cannot remember either of the sister no matter what!

Joke of the Day

What is the name of the assistant of Santa Claus?
Subordinate Clause :P

My list of To-Do things before the week ends

These things are pending since ages, but I hope I finish a couple of them at the very least:

1. Book a bike
2. Buy a cell phone
3. Investment time!
4. BLOG and record a podcast (God knows how long have I been trying to write a new post on my Tech Writing blog)
5. Clean the house (this is a never-ending one!alas!)

If only there were flights between Nashik and Pune

If only there were flights between Nashik and Pune, I would have:

• Traveled almost every night to Nashik
• Attended parties and get- together's of friends pretty easily
• Looked fresh and pretty on Monday mornings, and my colleagues would not be looking for the cat that dragged me in.

This can be an open list with unending things to add :( I wish if only there were flights from nashik-pune!

Preparing for a bachelorette party tomo night

This is the first time I am planning a full-fledged cocktails and dinner party at my place for two of my gal friends who are getting married and boy, am I exited :)
My lists are not getting over... I am planning and planning and planning and I hope I get enough time to actually implement it. I don't wanna end up like Monica during Carol and Susan's wedding.

How does this sound for a menu?

1. Cointreaupolitan with pepper baby corn
2. Pasta Salad
3. Prawns curry + rice
4. Choco lava cake with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and a drop of Baileys Irish Cream.
   

PS: For those who didn't get the reference, there is an episode of Friends on this one! Do see it!