I love Sunday...'coz it's a BIG chicken day

As I mentioned in my last post that I had promised Imli to cook honey garlic chicken for the whole family on Sunday, I had one more important issue to focus upon Boo was supposed to come for dinner at our place. I woke up at about 11 am, messaged Boo, thankfully he replied immediately thus I learnt that he was unable to make it for the evening so I messaged Kin to carry on with his plans with Hash since he had kept those on hold to meet up with Boo. I fell asleep as soon as I received a courtesy text from Kin!

I woke up on the vibrations from me BB. It was Imli and I had overslept the lunchtime. I rushed as soon as possible and saved the grace by cooking decent honey garlic chicken. We had a nice happy family lunch at 4 pm. As soon as we were done I spent some girls time with D which was terminated abruptly with a long lost friends call(for them). The moment I entered our kitchen I went on a cooking rampage which started with cleaning shrimps for stir fry, steaming and de boning chicken for chicken mayo, shredding coleslaw stuff, cutting, cleaning and cooking cabbage with bell papers, paalak dal and finally methi pulao. As D frequently says it was an UNBELIEVABLE cookery weekend!

I spoke to Looloo Lemon for a while, we enjoyed the conversation a lot. It is always fun catching up with her in her best of moods.  We laughed and laughed for some silly things. Overall, the last weekend went well and now  back to school. 

Girls day out!

It all began right on time, well slightly by IST but it was all good. I met Viv`s at the TC. I had checked weather update before leaving the house and it said -15 but then me being me, I left with moderate precautions that is without a hat and a scarf. My face and ears were numb in that 15 minutes of walk. I was sh**t scared about the day after that experience since we were suppose to walk in and out of stores the whole day. We met Nash at VicP and then the trio headed to the destination of the day the much talked about Orfus road.

OR is nothing great. The girls shopped a bit and thanks to Viv`s I picked up a pair of jeans for ten bucks. The whole walking in the cold without food and water was a bit challenging and thus we ended up in Yorkdale mall. Girls did Toony Tuesday and again me being me I ended up spending six more bucks on Chinese food. We were in the mall till Viv`s shopping bug came to rest, Nash was too tired and fed up with the whole tiring shopping spree that she left a couple of hours early before we both left. I wanted to go for a movie thus showed a keen interest of parting ways at Ward but then Viv`s tagged along for drug mart. Ultimately my movie bug was rested by the hour spent in the drug mart. Boo called while I was in the drug mart with a news of he visiting the city, which kinda immediately shot my mood to cloud number nine. Mind you, I actually live for that day when he`ll be in the same city as I am, since my definition of fun life is incomplete without him. However, I felt bad when he told me the real reason behind his sudden visit. His maternal grandpa had passed away, may his soul rest in peace.

When I came home, Malli was waiting for me. We chatted a bit, Kin had survived the day on all the leftovers from the fridge and thus I had too cook for myself since there were no more leftovers left in the fridge. I made upma for Malli and myself. We watched The debt over popcorns. It was a day well spent. Oh it was my Veeraa`s b`day and I could not wish her. My love and blessings are always with my girl but as you know me I am slowly detaching myself from a lot of emotional attachments off late.

Divine Intervention : Lord Venkateshwara!

Ever since I started figuring out stuff on my own, I always wanted to visit Tirupati/Tirumala Devasthanam. DidiM, BalaM and AhkerusM regularly visit but none of them could be of any help to me. About six months ago, during a family vacation in Kerala I wished to visit TTD for my 25th anniversary and the topic was out of my mind by the time we were back home. Ever since Bapu's agreement to the whole 'study-abroad' thing I had conceived the whole 'Thailand' dream for my 25th and was very serious about it too. In the middle of my 'study-abroad' plans there came a time when things got too tough and the whole thing started appearing impossible. In a moment of despair I had booked maa n me to a train for Tirupati for 'the day' but I had to cancel that ticket immediately since there were no options available for the return journey then.

Things got moving and once again I was back on my 'Thai' plans. As per my planning I was expected to get maa's and mine passport 15 days prior to 'the day', the consultant goofed up and thus my 'Thai' plans were screwed. While I was looking out for some local escape routes, BalaM announced his visit with no date of return. I was stuck with no options but to wait patiently for his departure. Finally after a week his departure was finalized, three days before 'the day'. While booking his ticket I just tried my luck with TTD tour for maa, poopoo and me. This time I could book tickets for both ways, wait listed though! I booked us for a 3 days trip to TTD and kinda kept it a surprise for maa since I wanted to avoid the whole 'our kinda' discussion. I had kept a day's breathing space for us post BalaM's departure before our tour.

BalaM's departure was delayed because his ticket was wait listed till the last moment and thus his departure plans got hazy. We couldn't leave till he was around and thus I had to break my silence on the whole 'surprise' thing. Thankfully there weren't many discussions around the whole deal and BalaM left the next evening, leaving no time to catch our breath. Our tickets were still wait listed and none of us wished to travel without reservation. When I came back after dropping him to the station, maa raised the whole itinerary thing and what if things aren't favorable doubts of hers. I had no certain answers to any of her queries but one, ''have left it to Lord Venkateshwara, if he has called for us then he shall take care of our trip. Let us take our reservation status as his signal, if they don't get confirmed then he doesn't wish to see us and our etickets will get canceled automatically!" Next minute I logged on to check our PNR status and to our surprise our tickets were confirmed.

Our train was scheduled for 3:30 pm and thus after our BAU(Bickering As Usual) we left home at 2:30 pm. I don't remember a single incident of train delays in my life so far so none of us bothered to inquire with IR before leaving from home. As soon as we reached the station, we learnt that the train was delayed by two hours. There was no point going home and coming back since it would have taken us one hour to commute in total and about 200/-. I had not slept on the previous night so I decided to take a nap on one of the benches on the platform.

I woke up in like 5 hours only to see tired and long faces of maa and poopoo. Poor guys had survived for 5 hours on that platform, while I rested. So, apparently the train was delayed by 6 hours and my comrades were almost about to give up. I suggested a quick dinner at Comesum, we had packed lotsa stuff from home and we bought malai Kulfi from the vendor out of courtesy. The jolly dinner boosted zeal in maa and poopoo, they were good to continue waiting at least for next couple of hours. By the time we finished our meal and dessert, we heard arrival announcement for our train. After a lot of confusion and crazy running around we managed to board our train.

The compartment was full of men it did not appear worrisome and honestly we did not face any struggles during our 18 hours of journey. Poopoo and I had literally invaded the window seats. We reached Tirupati  station at about 4 pm, whereas we were supposed to reach at 10 am. As soon as we got down, I started inquiring at random places for 'hows' and 'whats' of the destination. Post my terrible bargaining shots we reached TTD Srinivasam by 4.30. After sitting in a non moving que for little over 45 minutes I started panicking out since I was responsible for two other lives who kinda were helpless due to their lack of knowledge of English. I somehow 'pattaoed' the guard and bargained his commission charges from 500/- to 100/-. As soon as I was about to pay him money for special arrangements for one AC room, the que started moving and I got lucky with one nice AC room without any commission.  :p

After some rest and bathing we were ready to head out, since it was 'the day' maa insisted on a fancy place for dinner. In stead I took them to the roadside 'dosa on thelas' place and ordered for three masala dosas. By the time I got couple of water bottles (less than 5 minutes) maa and poopoo were holding their respective dosas. I signaled them to eat, to both their surprises, it was indeed one of the best dosas both of them had eaten. I kinda louved the twinkle in poopoo's eyes. After finishing our firsts Poopoo and I shared another dosa. Maa and I sipped some steaming sips of some amazing tea. Finally around 7.30 pm we boarded a bus to Tirumala since we were very keen on making 'the day' some extra very 'special'. The bus was kinda funny, since apart from three of us there was only an elderly couple in the whole bus, it had a lady conductor and the driver would stop at various eateries and the conductor would pick up food and together they would eat in the bus.

I was nauseated on my way up since it was a ghat road and my dosa was also rising up, the last thing I wanted to do was to throw up, so I kept my eyes closed throughout the journey. When we reached up many people including the security guards started misguiding us, most but a few insisted on purchase of special 300/- special darshan tickets. There were few true and godsend folks who guided us to a que for free darshanam. After walking for a little over an hour from the bus station we reached a hallway. Devotees had laid down groundsheets and were getting comfortable to sleep/rest. Initially it was a bizarre position, nobody understood us and we had no plans of spending the night in a communal hallway when we had paid a grand for our room in Tirupati. Maa was kinda losing her patience so she engaged poopoo to run some errands and bought some munchings from a vendor. It was the vendor, who explained me the whole thing, apparently it was going to take us a little over 2 hours of waiting in that hallway and then an hours time in the que for the darshanam, on our way to dashanam we could buy prasadam laddoos by paying 20/- for 2 laddoos per head. Much relieved with the information all three of us dozed off within minutes.

At around 11.15 pm on 'the day' I woke up to a divine Conch sound and woke maa and poopoo too. Since we were amongst some of the early risers we could skip and run a huge distance and finally at around 11.59 pm I was in front of Lord Venkateshwara's idol for little over 90 seconds. I literally concluded 'the day' in front of the deity and I couldn't think of a better way of making it one of the most memorable expeiences of my lifetime. The journey that followed this whole experience  was equally miraculous/coincidental and interesting. We met a godsend angel who took us for the all temple darshanam tour organised by the devasthanam, followed by the ISKON temple darshanam and miraculous confimation of the return journey tickets.

I feel special, at times elite, smarter than many others but this time I felt blessed. The whole tour thickned my belief of existence of a stronger governing force. This definitely doesn't make me quit my chores and sit in front of an idol for hours or give up on every other ting that I enjoy and is considered as 'ill or evil' by my religion.
My take out, ''Be true to thine own self!''

P.S. Yes it did rain on 'the day'! :)

25!

Turned 25 a week ago!

It was the first ever b'day without cake.
For the first time there were no so called "celebrations".
The whole 'Tirupati darshan' phenomenon made it very simple, spiritual and divine.
I was responsible for AtoZ of the total 3 days time off for the three of us and I think I did a commendable job at managing stuff, small incidences of losing my cool could have been avoided though.
I did not wish Oge and honestly did not even think of him, "jo hota hain, acche ke liye hi hota hai!"
Bammi was the first one to wish and Bapu was the last(I missed many of his calls, so completely my fault).
I have reduced my circle of influence to the minimum possible radius.
Its more of 'SELF' now and less of 'OTHERS'.
Maa still is the center of my life and I never will try to outgrow that.
Bapu seems to come closer and I have no feelings about it.
I am looking forward to next 12 months, studies and lotsa fun time out and away.
I hope my time in ON will be 'thik-thak' without Bammi, I know I am gonna miss him like crazy but thats kinda need of time.
I must fair well in following areas before my next b'day:
Weight loss
Studies
Driving
Swimming
Foreign language (French)

lost in search of a fcuking apt _________!

Lost in search of a fcuking apt TITLE. So many things on me mind, not sure which is more important and which is less. Here I go...
BalaM is finally gone from our's. His departure was dramatic three train tickets and many bike rides later finally he's off. He's one heck of a guy, it will be interesting if I could ever study the functioning of his brain as a psych student.
Train tickets have been booked for Bapu and us separately also the whole farewell thing has been sorted out at least I hope so.
Ate loadsa non veg in these couple of days, enjoyed cooking lamb ribs and mutton mince(kheema).
Window shopped in a computer store and found out some really interesting stuff to be procured before I leave. Also, bought a decent iball webcam.
Photocopied most of my stuff and kept the necessary documents with maa.
Balanced out one year's track record and quite satisfied with my work.
I am worried for my basic shopping, since bapu's pooling money for my expenses out there. He has put a no spending clause on the whole deal and that's very uncomfortable.
Its ABC's anniversary today and I am happy with my personalized gift :)

check list(ed)!

Have booked my flight ticket for 2nd Aug.
Have booked maa's and mine rail ticket, haven't spoken to bapu yet but if he insists then will book him for some other train.
Spending my 25th b'day at Tirupti, nothing can be more special than getting blessings from the almighty.

BalaM will be leaving morrow night and thus I'll be celebrating with wine :P.. not his departure but the formal approval on my plans of a new begining.
I have literally fried BalaM's brains with BhejaFry 1 n BhejaFry 2. I am glad that he liked it, poor thing had not seen a movie since 2003.
It's kinda weird that I am never hungry and sleepy these days, unlike during the wait.
Planning to install a web cam for my desktop and will give it to maa, my laptop to bapu and maa's desktop to poopoo.
Cleaning my computers, hard drives since they won't be mine soon.
Right now mind is at a very peaceful disposition. Things are moving but at a very soothing pace.
Happy :)

Stamped!

Finally!!!

The wait is over and thankfully on a very positive note.
My passport has been stamped by the embassy and it has been received by the consultant, I am yet to see it with my eyes though.
I am getting, all that i always dreamed of and thankfully maa and bapu are with me on this whole thing.
I couldn't celebrate since BalaM is at home and OnH's death.
The wine bottle is still waiting for me to open it, I think I'll just do it anyways.
I am kinda nervous 'coz I'll have either one of my parents sending me off at Mumbai airport.
The feeling is yet to sink in me since I am not ''overjoyed'' about my planning.
Bammi's the only person who has been constantly reinforcing the magnitude of the day's development.
Finally, Bapu's agreed for 12K additional also for my preponing the whole movement by a month's time.
Had taken BalaM for a long ride and then for a lime soda but my heart wasn't into it.
OnH's death had resurfaced and had created an issue in the family.
Did cook chicken biryani and it turned out really well.
Did miss out on ctching Cars 2 first day, first show but will watch it some other time.
Finally I am glad that God has been kind enough to set me free, just the way I wanted to!

This old song fits apt to my current state of mind... Happy :)

Siblings...

Maa n BalaM :D

They love each other but they hardly realise it. They never express their feelings that doesn't mean that there are none. I am new to this phenomenon about siblings since I don't have any but I am learning. BalaM is here with us and I have observed so many nice changes in Maa. Just to set the records straight, maa n her siblings are not the loud expressive types but more of love to keep it low types. All are very practical and materialistic when it comes to transactions. It's fun to be around BalaM when he's free and it's kinda emotional to be around DidiM, I enjoy both the feelings and otherwise. So, Maa's all geared to be an excellent hostess, which she always is but this time it's little more than normal. I like the way Maa has told me all li'l li'l things about their childhood. I think from my generation, I am the most learned about the last generation of my maternal history. I know almost all random stories of Maa and her siblings. Anyways, even though Maa pretends not being bothered, she still cares and thus today's food was awesome!

Morning was full of M's business expansions, profits, settings and the 'dream-home' that I have been hearing for forever now. Finally, I managed to corner myself aside and caught on some sleep. I woke up in the evening to find out that internet was down. I just anted to check on the status of my application thus I tweaked both hardware and software of our broadband connection. Internet resumed by fluke and I am getting a download speed of 500 kb/ps. Anyways, its a part of daily routine now to check on the application status. It was the fourth day since 20th and I wasn't expecting any miracles since I was anticipating the official SLA of 10 working days . No buzz here but the passport has been dispatched, I haven't received any call though! Anything can happen but I am hoping that I get through. I am glad that things have got over sooner than expected and my fingers are crossed for a positive news.

Deck(ed)!

BalaM is visiting, he arrived this morning with poopoo. I had promised him that I would receive them at the station so I had kept me awake the whole night and was right on time, very unlike me, eh? We had a miscommunication last night, I had hinted him to get down at Ajni rather than the main station. Since this was his first time to get down at Ajni, I wanted to confirm if he was game? I started buzzing him from 5am but bledy his phone was switched off. Finally I left home at 5.30, maa called while I was just about to start my bike that he is getting down at Ajni!

Internet was down for past two days. Didn’t miss much except when I had to check the whereabouts of my visa application. Bammi wasn’t reachable and Ashu couldn’t help, in desperation blew all my talktime balance on gprs, only to find out the f**k up done by the consultant. No internet and no mood for any torrent based entertainment drove me to pick up ‘Freakonomics’, half done but taking it slow now since I am back to broadband. Maa and I played kitty and rummy after ages. It was so much fun to see her wild competitiveness. That woman can’t accept defeat it was fun to watch her win her defeats were even more fun and dramatic.  I often cheated on purpose just to make her mad. I am too fed up of fighting over food so daily I am cooking religiously. My garlic tomato trick is a success, it tastes so well that maa has literally pushed her lunch from 12pm to 4pm. Tried my hands on the chariot special chocolate smoothie and succeeded too. Printed some of the good clicks and now presenting a framed version to whomsoever it belongs to. The joy of giving, nothing can beat that and by the way I hate receiving!

My bank loan papers were finally ready on 1^st June after so much of running around the whole of May. Even after submitting every damn paper related to me on the face of Earth. My visa application has been submitted on 20^th June. The Consultant was simply sitting on it, until I inquired. On my inquiry the excuse given for the delay was so silly that any poor dog would have sniffed suspicion. This whole thing has killed my Thailand plans. My 31^st July departure has been postponed to 3^rd August now, since the airfare has shot up like crazy. Bledy morons!!!  They don’t even realize that they are dealing people’s careers and hard earned money. 

(un)necessary (over)conversation!

Initiated new communications and I am not feeling right about that. I hate to get dragged in other’s affairs yet I have fallen prey to my curiosity one more time.  I hate this whole need of validations over rubbish issues.  I hate the triumph of correct assessment and hate the attention drawn by the whole bragging. In the end like I always say one can fool others but can’t fool self.

The only satisfactory outcome from the whole conversation was when Udnav T commended maa’s efforts of raising a decent human being. I feel blessed with my ability of gauging people and striking an engaging conversation. I only wish that I could use my ability to bring out best in people rather than being the vent machine or confession box.

Each moment somebody or the other is washing their dirty linen in public. I don’t wish to be the witness and if I have to see it I hope that I don’t contribute in any way. I think I am at a blissful disposition with the whole self dependency mindset.  I made a mistake and I shall never repeat the same. Another thing that’s bugging me is for ditching a friend’s mother. In my defense I am not in the correct mindset. I am also not comfortable with the whole out of proportion affection. This whole deal with excessive emotions compels me to judge people and relations and honestly this one failed as per my assessment. Though as per the law of quid pro quo I have given more than received. I am not very proud to buy happiness but what the hell, I am a realist and I give what’s required. I don’t put my emotions on gamble. I admit that this is selfish but this is the only and the ultimate way to survive that I have learned. I am out there, my resources and my help are accessible but that’s the end of it. I totally believe in cherishing the moment while it lasts, I never think about the molasses while enjoying the cane juice!

finally undeclared!

Undeclared!

 Done watching Undeclared! It was fun to see Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Amy Poehler like a generation younger. It was kinda an extended 'American Pie' movie but the lesser dirty n funnier version. It felt more realistic than the AP flicks. Charlie Hunnam was a hottie and rest of the others were cuties. On an on it’s definitely a good contender for my favorite sitcoms list, not the addictive types though!

Spoke to Eww yesterday, she seemed disturbed hope things do move real quickly for her. I wasn’t comfortable probing into her issues ‘coz I am scared to use my ‘ITYS-meter’( I Told You So).   Well, lets just say that the girl is not in for any bad surprises in the future and may God bless her.

Cuz had called for some career advise and since I had no idea on what so ever about NAVY I had called EP.  It’s always nice to speak to her. I miss her a lot. I have spent some of my best times with her.  Today, I am much better than yesterday, OnH isn’t haunting anymore. It rained this evening, I guess that was OL’s and PB's intimation that they had found him in the clouds!

End of a generation!

Old n haggard is dead!
He's gone for sure this time. It happened this afternoon at 14:30hrs.
May his soul rest in peace!
Unfortunately the13th day falls on June 30th, I guess that puts this incident in memory-lane forever!

P.S. I wish he could have grabbed a better place in my memory lane. This concludes a whole generation!

Setting sun!

"For he once was a son, a brother and an educated man. He married an aristocratic beauty, thus became the husband, the provider. He fathered four children, three boys and a girl. Fate took away the girl when she was 9, shock and grief left him a lunatic wife. He was a miser, a failure in business and a stone hearted noble man. He discouraged his sons about education, refrained them from meager luxuries of life. Only one of his boys was determined enough to be somebody in the world. Against all his wishes the son got him the ordinary, out of their league daughter in law. Unhappy yet accommodating he managed just fine with her. In his greed, he compelled his heir to give up and thus lost his second son. Birth of his grandchild, the baby girl was may be the happiest day of his and wife's life. He always saw his dead girl in the latest addition of his family. With evaporating time, his wife lost faith in life thus leaving him alone with his youngest boy, a grown up man by now. Lack of love and family made his son the black sheep. Lost the third son to what must not be named. The son that he kicked out of his life once was the only one left for him. The son and his families tried their best to accommodate him in their lives. Incorrigible as he always was tore himself apart from a life of comfort and royalty. Back to the life of misery and poverty he recalled the son. Son couldn't ignore his father's melancholy and took him back but with a half heart and a haunted mind. Son had given up all his feelings for the murderer of his childhood, his siblings and ultimately his mother. At 83, instead of leading a peaceful life in his territory our man gets involved in brawls with everybody around. Run awayed the nth time, no one waits for him now. Nothing to eat, no place to call home. He brings his misery on road. It's the duty, reputation and social influence of this son for whom he had never been more than a limitation in life that finally earns him a bed in the old age home!''


In the loving memory of Kokaliya's dadu...

Me World!

I Baked for Mother's day!

My life began in her and it still revolves around her. Mum is the world for me and I know she will always be the main reason for me to feel alive. All my dreams, aspirations of life are more for my mum than for me. If you think that my mum is out of the world, she personifies sacrifice, love and care then you are totally wrong!

Me mum is just an ordinary woman, with her own set of strengths and limitations. In fact, me and mum are like Tom n Jerry, always delighted to fight. I always had a very different relationship with mum, different at every phase of my life. I love to live in my present rather than in past or in future, so this current phase is my most favorite one where she is everything to me!

These days, she has her secret insane joy reserved for my these lines, ''you know maa, there are only two people who love and care the most about you, one was your mother and the other one is you daughter. Unfortunately, these are the only two who get to see the crazy and stubborn you, unlike the rest of the world. These are the only two people who are insanely considerate about you and may be these are the only to people who have to face the brunt of your tantrums!'' always followed by a good laugh from both of us.

As time goes by, I am growing more and more concerned about my mom. I only hope that she manages well in times without me, until we are together again. I feel that we have kinda swapped our places where I have become the worried soul and she's become the incorrigible one ;)

Needless to say, Love you mama, love you so very much!
Happy mother's day...

Couldn't think of a better song than this!