Celebrating Ranjit's birthday

Thiswas real special! On Thursday, we celebrated my husband's birthday! Being a weekday, unfortunately we couldn't do much, but I got the opportunity to take my husband out for a sadhya. Kerala is known for its traditional sadhyas, a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-dishes. The sadhya is complemented by payasam, a sweet milk dessert native to Kerala. The sadhya is, as per custom, served on a banana leaf. The southern Kerala dishes are often spiced with garlic, whereas in North Kerala garlic is generrally avoided in all vegetarian dishes. Traditional dishes include sambar, aviyal, kaalan, theeyal, thoran, injipully, pulisherry, appam , kappa (tapioca), puttu(steam cake) and puzhukku. Near our home, they have recently opened up Kerala House, where you they serve sadhya. Ranjit was delighted, to say the least. It had been quite some time since he got to have traditional "mallu" food that too on a banana leaf... made him quite nostalgic.

Vegetable Au Gratin & Tiramisu

This weekend we were with my Mum. Dad’s off to Calcutta or Kolkata as they now call it, so we decided to spend to be with Mum for the weekend. Sunday was real special. First, I got to do some baking (something quite rare out here!) and then we had dinner with my cousins. Although Sattik and Priya live in Bombay, we rarely get to meet. Moreover, my cousin from London came down as well.
Let me tell you about lunch first. Vegetable Au Gratin was the dish… I’m sure many of you have already made this or could be a regular dish, but for me it was a first. For those who haven’t yet experienced this casserole, try it out! I thoroughly enjoyed myself, more so coz Mum was helping me. Together sliced, diced, chopped, grated and voila la, Vegetable Au Gratin was ready. We topped it off with some homemade garlic bread and Ranjit, Mum and I devoured it completely. My hubby’s not too much of a veggie eater, but he really enjoyed the casserole. When there’s white sauce and cheese, I’m sure even the vegetable you detest can become delicious.

Dinner next… we met at Sattik’s house after church. All five of us are cricket freaks (especially when it comes to India playing!) We went out dinner at Spicetree, Bandra (lovely place!) Spicetree specializes in coastal seafood (my favorite!) The ambience could have been better. I felt the lighting was a bit too dim for my approval (couldn’t get proper pictures!) and the service got a bit slow towards the end, but food… 9/10. My only complaint was my garlic naan which turned out to be a bit overcooked. We had 4 types of kababs, after which we were more or else full. For main course, we ordered some naan with a prawn gravy as well as a lamb dish cooked with pepper, and some veg biryani for Priya, who’s a vegetarian.
Then came dessert… I had already opened my mouth about my love for Tiramisu. Unfortunately, they didn’t serve tiramisu at the restaurant, which led us to scout around for the dessert. My cousin insisted I fulfill my heart’s desire to have my favorite dessert. We drove up and down for 30 minutes trying to find this Italian place, Da Vinci’s that I had been to earlier where I knew they served Tiramisu. This was also the place where I first tasted the dessert. Aninda, my cousin from London also ordered one, saying it would be quite a waste if we came all the way just for one Tiramisu.
So after, our stomach full of all these goodies, we returned home at around 1 am, but completely content. I can surely say I had a memorable day!

Quick update

Just got my digicam back from a friend who had borrowed it. Found some old Christmas photos which I never got to upload. I've added them to "My Photos" link under the links :)

Family Reunion at Pune

This was not too long ago fortunately! On the weekend of July 20-22, our family, that's my husband, mum, dad, and of course Snoopy went down to Pune to meet up with my in-laws. Dad was having a golf tournament... yes at the age of 70 is fit and active enought to play golf! So, Friday morning, at 7:30 am we hit off in a small rented car for Pune. Snoopy, who's not too used to travelling around by car, was a nervous wreck! Unlike most dogs who love sticking their heads out and enjoying the view, Snoopy stuck himself between my husband & I and refused to budge! He didn't sleep a wink nor let us take a breather either!

We reached Pune around 10 am. Dad rushed off for a round of golf. The rest of us stayed behind to get to know my brother-in-law and his family better. Now the relationships get complicated... my husband's brother, who I call "Achachan" (elder brother in Malayalam, my husband's native tongue), his wife and son, Rishi all live in Kuwait. The three of them have come down for their annual summer holidays to India. For the past 10 months or so, they have been living in Dubai, but will now move back to Kuwait. They were real sweet and brought us a statue of Burj Al Arab. The Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel in Dubai resembling a billowing sail. It soars to a height of 321 metres and all guests are chauffer-driven by a Rolls Royce. The cost of staying in a suite begins at $1,000 per night and increases to over $15,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, at $28,000 per night.

So anyway, (kinda got a bit distracted there!) this was like our second reunion with them and the first time my parents would meet Bhabhi's (my sister-in-law) family. The "get together" was scheduled for Saturday. The entire trip was great with the only exception being the fact that both "Achachan" and "Bhabhi" have been bitted by dogs when they were young, so they were quite skeptical on having Snoopy around... so "poor" Snoopy was tied most of the trip!

My husband and I, with our parental instincts already in effecf, felt so sorry for him, but at the same time the situation was understandable. I mean, I'm sure if I was bitten by a dog as a kid, I too would be terrified!

Friday was spent in breaking the ice amongst the two families... it's amazing.. I come from a "Bengali" family, my husband is a "Malayali" and my sister-in-law is a "Punjabi." So it was East vs. South vs. West... well maybe versus is not the correct word... it was three totally different communities coming together. For most people abroad, Indians are Indians, however once you live in India, you realize how each state is different, whether it is the language, culture, food, etc. Fortunately, we all speak English and Hindi, so that broke the language barrier. None of us had actually lived in our State in the last 15 years breaking the culture bar and we are all food-lovers and have tasted each cuisine before. My mum made some lovely chicken curry that night which was well appreciated by everyone (I still say... there's nothing like mum's food!)

It was truly beautiful for us to watch our families together... laughing, talking, so at ease with each other. My mother-in-law was thoughtful to bring a traditional "Malayali" saree for my mum.

Saturday was a huge event. The menu for dinner was Idli and Sambar (South Indian food), Rice and Matar Paneer (more of a Punjabi dish), Pav Bhaji (a Bombay speciality!) and I somehow managed to rustle up some Chinese. It was a great success! Everyone gorged on the food and conversation was so natural for everyone (as though we had known each other for years!)

I came home on Sunday afternoon so content and blessed to have such a great extended family. We're hoping to have another reunion soon... can't wait for that!

Koraigad Fort

Well, as you know by now, I am real bad in updating my blog. I finally decided to take out some time to update all of our Company Picnic on 5th of July. I have posted the link of the photos taken by some of my colleagues. Unfortunately, my digital decided to be stubborn and not work that day! http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/560080571CJFePP
We started out early, can't quite use the word "bright", it was more dull than it was bright! Anyway, we left around 8am in two buses. The trip down to Lonavala took us about 90 minutes, picking some more colleagues on the way. The first photo shown in of us having our breakfast at a restaurant at Lonavala. Lonavala is a hill station in the western state of Maharashtra in India. For most of us in Mumbai or Bombay, it's probably the most common destination for a weekend away from all the hustle & bustle of city life.

After breakfast, we moved on to our first destination, Tiger Point. Usually the view from this point is apparently "breathtaking," but it was pouring to say the least when we got there. Visibility was down to practically 2 meters! People in Bombay love the rains, so most of my colleagues got down from the bus anyway to get drenched in the rain. Very few of us remained who had similar interests to mine and not see the excitement of getting fully drenched!

30 minutes later we moved on to our final destination... Koraigad Fort. This is one of the lesser popular forts till recently. It was one of Shivaji's forts. Of late though, the fort has has been in the news lately primarily because it offers a view of the Sahara Amby Valley. Now we were told that it was a 700-step climb. However, as we started up, we realized there were absolutely no steps in site. Considering the recent rain and the Amby Valley construction, the initial climb was a lot of lush green grass as well as the famous red mud of this stretch of India. After another 45 minutes of climb (especially for those of us like me who have lost all stamina) the steps came in to sight. With all the rainfall we've had this year, there were stretches where there was waterfall cascading down the winding steps. To enlighten you further, these steps were actually sharp, jagged rocks that had been carved to form steps. After another 45 minutes, we reached the summit. This stretches for about 1 km from one end to the other, rocky in some places, green in others and complete with a few ponds in between.

It was incredibly foggy on top, with gushes of wind that would literally topple you (if not your belongings at the least!) In between, the fog would clear away for some time, and you could finally see what the summit truly looked like! Most of my colleagues though were busy playing away in the pond (quite deep at some areas... 7 feet and below). Not sure if "pond" is the correct word, considering it was definitely 15 meters in diameter!

Those of us who had refrained from getting wet in the pond or had had enough of the water, decided to scout around. We soon came upon the stretch where below was the Amby Valley... beautiful sight! I had initially thought, considering the dense fog, we would not be able to get view, but we were fortunate enough to get an amazing view of this locality. Complete with all the amenities possible, (including an air strip!), this is what many would consider to be their "dream home!"

However, the only problem was that there was no railing or any sort of protection at the edge of the cliff. So if you decided to peer down to the valley and a gush of wind passed you by, down you'd go.

Amongst those of us who had gone scouting in my little group was my boss, the MD of the company. I was walking along in front of him, stopping once a while to get a look of the valley below. For those of you who really know me, know that I am extremely clumsy! So to turn the whole situation into an embarrassing one, I slipped on some mossy rocks, and fell right on my face. Of course, he was as courteous as possible (what could he do, except just ask if I was alright!), I got up immediately, blushing bright red (fortunately, no one was in front of me to see my embarrassment!), and tried to act all tough and say I was fine!

Having spent over an hour, up on the fort, we finally headed down. As I started back down, to add to my misery, I found my treasured Nike sneakers had become what we call "air-conditioned!" The rains and water had caused my sneakers' soul to practically dangle off my shoes! I slowly started back to base camp, with aching legs. I never realized walking down steps could be so painful until that day! It completely jolted me back to reality to realize how unfit I had become from my school days!

We ended the trip, with a late lunch at a cozy outdoor diner called "Joshi's." The food was hot and home made, and at that point that was all we wanted! I reached home around 8pm that night. My whole body was aching tremendously but I was very satisfied upon completing a hike that had initially looked impossible!

Games weekend

You never would imagine what a difference indoor games can have on your life! This weekend was filled with lots of memories and excitement!

For one month now, a boggle tournament has been taking place every Saturday. On one side, we have the master of words, the poet of our home, my husband... on the other side, we have ME!

My husband and I have been spending our Saturday afternoons, while it's pouring outside, to challenge each other to a game of boggle. I must tell you, that besides learning a lot of new words, some from each other, others words we have heard/read, whilst others which were just fluke... it's been a great bonding time. We both work in BPOs i.e. business process outsourcing firms getting stressed out to our guts. During the week, we're so busy with our own schedules and hardly find time to be with each other. And now with the monsoons looming over us, there's hardly any hope of us getting out; which brings us to the game of boggle. We started out with simple three-letter words; by the next week, we moved on to four-letter words. Now with all the practice, we get quite a few words five letters and above!

If you're married -- give it a try! Playing boggle together not only improves your vocabulary, but is a great time to give, to learn, to encourage and communicate.

I'm really looking forward to our weekends now, just to spend a couple of hours learning and laughing together!

Sunday was a nostalgic day for me. It was pouring outside, while my husband, parents & I sat down to play a game of monopoly. Now, this is a game very close to my heart. We bought our board back in 1981... yes it's THAT old! Cheers to my mum for preserving all these games. I remember days when my "best friend" back then & I would stay up practically ALL night playing monopoly... we were so addicted.
This has been our favourite family game too! There have been many vacations when my brother & I would come back from Woodstock and spend afternoons and evenings playing Monopoly. We also would have our specific tokens too... Dad was always the "car", Mum was usually the "iron", Dada (my brother) was inevitably the "ship" or he would try to snatch the "dog" from me which was my favourite token. Over the years, I've memorized the entire monopoly board starting from Old Kent Road to Mayfair. Not only that, but all the rents as well as the prices of the hotels. Yes, it may sound funny, but it truly was an obsession for me and I took great pride, being the youngest, in knowing something that my parents or brother didn't already know!
This Sunday, we introduce Ranjit to our family game... and I was thrilled to know he enjoyed himself thoroughly playing it too! I of course, was the banker (another thing my brother and I would fight for!) The only person missing was my brother... and we sure did miss him! I hope that we could pass on this game and start a family tradition of playing monopoly... wouldn't that be nice!

Mumbai Floods

This was one of those days, even if you want to erase it from your memory, the images will never fade. Above you can see in the photo in the middle over 100 people wading through water. Each one of them has a story. This one is mine...

It was July 26, 2005, My husband and I had just got back from Lower Parel, a suburb in Mumbai. I had made the decision to put my education in French to good use and tutor those interested to learn the language.

It had been drizzling the whole trip, and although I wasn't soaked, I was a bit frustrated with the never-ending monsoon of Mumbai. However, when I saw it begin to pour minutes after reaching home, I praised God that we didn't have to face the lashes… or so I thought.

I cooked quickly and we had our lunch and settled in to watch a movie while it poured outside. I actually liked the idea of snuggling next to my husband and watching a movie. However that too came to an end as our cable connection suddenly went off. We started talking about the rain and how it didn't seem to let up. As we were talking, I saw a puddle in my kitchen. Our home was on the ground floor and somehow water was seeping in between the tiles. To my horror, the puddle grew.

We began taking turns to mop the kitchen thinking the water would soon recede and all would be well again. Snoopy our dog meanwhile was taking his afternoon nap on our sofa. He was only 4 months old and had been housebroken.

The mopping continued, but there seemed no end to the flood in our kitchen. As Ranjit mopped for the umpteenth time, I saw what seemed to be a puddle in our living room! Initially we thought maybe Snoopy had an accident, but the puddle seemed to grow in front of our very eyes.

I decided to call my parents to see how the situation was at their end, about a 30-minute drive from our home. I was soon informed that they had lost electricity in Chembur and had opened up their home to us when they found out that our home was flooding.

We were a bit reluctant initially to move to Chembur. We wanted to be brave and handle the situation by ourselves and not run to my parents. By this time, we realized that the mopping wasn't helping. We decided to wait for the rains to subside and then begin mopping, but that wasn't happening either.

Finally, around 6pm, Ranjit went out to buy some vegetables for dinner. I started to panic. I wasn't feeling too confident about staying here for the night. The vegetable market is only 5 minutes away, but Ranjit took more than 30 minutes to bring some vegetables home. He told me that it was completely flooded outside. There was already 3 feet of water.

We realized we had to leave soon. There was no way Snoopy would allow us to spend the night. There was water on the floor, and Snoopy refused to get down from the sofa. He was petrified to say the least.

We got some of our belongings together. By this time, our bathroom had flooded. Water was pouring in from all directions. The empty gas cylinder toppled in the weight of the water. We put some of our things on higher ground and opened the front door to see a gush of water come into our home. When we left, our sofa-cum-bed was floating. Ranjit had to literally use all his force to close the front door. It was 7pm and there was already 1 feet of water in our home.

There was no way we could take our bike, so we abandoned our bike and our home and set off to my parents' home carrying Snoopy. We got out to the highway to find hundreds of people going in both directions, uptown and downtown. Our 30-minute trip took us 3 hours on foot. We didn't rest for a minute, just prayed and walked and carried Snoopy the whole time. I must give my husband the credit as most of the time it was he who carried our dog.

Most of the people on the highway were returning from work. Some were young, some old; men, women and children; rich and poor, all walking home. There were times when the water rose to 4 feet and places where there was no water at all (higher altitude). There were times where there was a force of current in the water pulling people away. Fortunately, we didn’t see anyone drift off in the flood in front of our eyes; although, we did see a train half-submerged; many cars full-submerged and abandoned.

What I do cherish about that day was seeing the spirit of the Mumbaikars. No-one grumbled, no-one complained. Everyone was determined and united. We were waling as a human chain as shown in the picture above. There were people who came out of their homes just to help others cross a drain that couldn't be seen; others who were serving snacks and food the next day when people still hadn't returned home.

Eventually, exhausted beyond means, we reached my parents home at 10pm. The lane to their home itself was flooded at over 4 feet. We hadn't called them prior to coming, for the very reason that we had no idea how long it would take us and we didn't want to add to their worries.

My parents were relieved and happy to see all three of us. Snoopy by this time was shivering uncontrollably, but he never made a sound the whole trip. We heard passerby's comment on how cute our dog was; others were surprised to see us carrying our puppy. Snoopy ran to one bathroom to relieve himself, while my husband and I worked to clean off all the grime and dirt and I don't know what else that touched our skin that night.

My mum made some hot soup for us and some milk-and-bread for our puppy. Lying in bed that night, I knew there were so many people walking home. There were people stranded in trains and buses. There were people stranded at their offices away from their loved ones. I praised God for bringing us home safely and soundly.

We didn't have electricity nor water the next day. It was another 3 days before we went home to find our TV and fridge had upturned. Some of our friends who had a spare key were darling enough to clean out our home or at least the remaining water. Our neighbors and a distinct water-line told us that our home eventually had flooded 4 feet. We lost a lot of our possessions: clothes, food, books, and photographs.

Looking back today, I'm still emotional about that fateful day. There were many lives that were lost. Many homes destroyed; many sicknesses that rose from the water. But, I am ever grateful to God for giving us the wisdom, the strength and the comfort of having a home to go to, a place where I was safe and sound.

Growing Up Part 2 - Woodstock

I still remember seeing these gates for the first time that June. It was 1990 and I was really excited. Most people dread boarding school, but for me, this was the moment I had been waiting for. The thought of being in a boarding school just gave me the thrills, maybe I wanted freedom at the age of 10 or maybe it was just the fact that I wanted to be with my brother.

Of course, it wasn't like I had never seen the Woodstock gate before, we'd been to Mussoorie several times earlier to meet my brother. But this time, it was a whole new experience. I wasn't here to just see the gate and spend a couple of days here, I was going to see that gate almost everyday for the next 7 years of my life!

We (my mum, brother, uncle and I) that rainy day only to find that I had missed my orientation day and had it not been for my brother already being part of the school, I would have missed my admission.

Well, the excitement soon faded and turned to home-sickness quite soon. Unfortunately, initially it wasn't the place I had dreamt about all these years. I hadn't made some good friends and was really feeling out-of-place. Back then, I was like a disease to my brother, so he would deliberately avoid me. I think I must have been one of those pestering younger sisters always wanting to hang around with him. He was in Grade 9 back then (just entered High School) and I was an irritating Middle Schooler at that time.

But over the seven years, I developed many memories (both good and bad) and many great friends, some who 10 years later, still keep in touch!

I thought of sharing some special memories from each year. Unfortunately, all the pictures to support these memories got damaged in the memorable July 26 floods that we experienced in Mumbai... have to tell you that story too!

Grade 6... What I remember most about Grade 6 was our room-wars. We were only 11 girls at that time. Four of us were new girls... Khandu-Om, Yuko, Laura and I. The latter three, Arpana and Honoholi were in one room, while Ruth, Nisha, Karuna, Priya, Vindhya and Khandu-Om were in the other room. There would always be some kind of competition between each room. We were never good friends with the other room. Yuko barely spoke english when she first came; Honoholi would have different haircuts everytime she went home; Laura was my first friend (I think we had a bit of a British connection) and Arpana and I would play "five stones" together.

Grade 7... The Uttarkashi Earthquake. I'll never forget this event. It was the first time I had experienced what an earthquake was. I remember clearly waking up in the middle of the night to rumbling outside. I first thought it was a landslide, Mussoorie being a hill station had quite a few landslides. Arpana soon woke up and we were discussing what we thought it was. Then we heard the other girls in our dorm screaming and running. That's when we panicked. We too ran upstairs to our dorm-parent's room. By then, the rumbling stopped and we were explained that it was an earthquake. The next night, we were actually told to sleep fully dressed and ready-to-run in case there was another earthquake. Alter Ridge (our dorm) apparently had moved according to some unreliable sources (a High Schooler).

Grade 8... Class Night at Mrs. Singh's house. We had a great time and were coming back, when I slipped and fell into a hole. That itself was emabarrassing enough. To top it, I couldn't walk and David M. had to help me back to the dorm, the worst of it being, I had a crush on David during those days.

Grade 9... Ok, this one has been a secret. Karuna and I were bored one Saturday evening, so we thought we'd hide near Alter Ridge and spy on the class guys. We were about to leave coz nothing exciting was happening, when we saw Joel approaching Ryan's room. I have no idea what was happening, since we couldn't exactly hear the conversation, but the next thing we knew... we saw Ryan mooning Joel. Of course, we felt bad for him, but we couldn't stop laughing all the way to back to Midlands. The other was the day Mark died.

Grade 10... Advisor Night with Mr. Hanisch, where we played a "game" with him where we put a bedsheet on him and asked him to take off "anything that he didn't need" and watching and giggling as he took off each piece of his clothing (fortunately only till his belt).

Grade 11... Going with Brian to JSB with my foot in a plaster. I had managed to sprain my ankle bad enough for it to be put in a cast just days before JSB. Brian, who never danced, finally got down from the AV Room where we had spent most of the night watching the others, and comically danced around. We got the award for being the "Most Unexpected Couple", which naturally we didn't mind at all.

Grade 12... Of course has to be Graduation. There's nothing more exhilarating than getting your diploma in front of your parents. My parents gifted me with a camera (which I still have). I remember singing with the choir for the last time and standing on the ramp while everyone congratulated us as they passed us by.

The memories will always remain... the many Open Houses, all my roomies that I've had over the years, being part of BC, sneaking into the guys' rooms and hiding in the closet, our wonderful apartment that we stayed in the first sem of 12th, celebrating birthdays with Karuna's creative ideas, JSBs, Choir, Retreats, Mrs. Biswas screaming at Ruth, Nisha and I for playing together in the cells, sneaking out of class while Miss Singh read "Why Bananas Don't Chew Gum", Activity Weeks... I could go on.

I can confidently say that I know that I'll NEVER forget Woodstock, for its teachers, friends and the memories that have been engraved in my mind and heart

Finally Got Time

Well, looks like it's been quite a while (September in fact) since my last blog. Got quite a lot of encouragement to keep blogging and moreover finally got the time to update my blog, so let's see if I can get myself to regularly blog from hereon.

Growing Up Part 1 - Zambia

For most people they remember their childhood from the day they were born. Although I was born in Chandernagore, WB, India and lived in London for a year, I consider my childhood from when I was 2 years old. That's when we moved to Zambia. I spent only 8 years there, but they were the most memorable 8 years of my life. I should add though that I visited Zambia at least once a year for another 12 years since my parents were living there, I still consider Zambia to be my home!

I spent my first 5 years in Ndola, a small town in the heart of Zambia. My first home was in 64, Petauke Crescent, a beautiful house. We had a huge garden in the front, where my parents built a tree-swing. I could sit on that swing for hours on end, of course I needed my mum to push the swing for me. My second most favourite pass time were my dogs: Tommy, Bingo, Snoopy and Paku. Those were the days of barbecues and summer parties. On the left is a picture of my mum, brother and I with our two faithful servants, Lakson and Violet. Whereas on the right is a more visible picture of my brother and I playing with an aeroplane.

As the saying goes: good times never last and we had to move to Kitwe. Below is a photo of what Kitwe looks like.

Kitwe was another wonderful city to live in. Although we lived in a housing complex, I fell in love with it at first sight. Our complex had a small playground (something very rare in Zambia back then) along with two small pools which I later found out were not to be used for swimming but rather to house some very melodious frogs croaking their hearts away at night. There was a lovely stream that would flow nearby our home. Well, initially it was lovely, but due to the lack of fresh water, that too became infested with frogs and many other insects. I still remember my friends and I playing around the stream and me falling in much to my embarrassment. Here below is a picture of Lubambe Complex, my second home for more than 10 years as well as my school in those days.

Zambia is basically known for what used to be at one time one of the seven wonders of the world: The Victoria Falls. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Victoria Falls although shorter than the Niagra, it's much wider. The other unique thing abou the falls is that it's the border betweent two countries, Zambia and Zimbabwe or Northern Rhodesia and Rhodesia as they were formerly known as. The second main attraction within the Copperbelt Province where I lived was the Chichele Mofu Tree. The tree I'm told was over 200 years old and was taller than trees of its height. This is a tree that lies in between Ndola and Kitwe. The ride between the two towns would take approximately 45 minutes, but growing up I would always want my mum to show me the tree. It was just so unique and one of the few excitements I would have on the trip.

If anyone ever gets a chance to visit Africa, visit Zambia. It may not be a great place for entertainment or parties, but the weather's wonderful all year round, you'll see a breathtaking waterfall, some exciting widlife sanctuaries, but most of all, you'll see what will aways be, my second home!

Snoopy

This is the lime-light of our lives currently. He was born right in front of our home in March of 2005. There were three of them, Snoopy, Caesar and Snowball (as we named them!)

Ranjit and I fell in love with all three. On 24th May we came back home from a meeting and Ranjit spontaneously said, "Let's take one home!" Since Snoopy looked the cutest, black and white and all plumpy we picked him up.

The next couple of days were just like having a newborn in the house. Snoopy would wake us up crying in the middle of the night, sometimes he was hungry and sometimes lonely. I'm sure he missed his mother those days. We would come home to find small puddles everywhere.

And so the memories began... Snoopy trying to climb into our bathroom to relieve himself. Attempting to climb onto our sofa with no success. Peering out of the cardboard box as we took him by bike to my parents' home. His excitement to see us after we had left him at a shelter for a week. The list continues...

Today he has many aliases: Mr. Snook, Beta, Mr. Spy, Chonu, Pooski-boy, Spoono, Puthu, Begusky, and Al-Qaeda.
Snoopy's well-known in our soceity to the extent that people don't know us but recognize us through our dog.

Each day he grows closer to our heart!

My Hubby

The first thing that I have to talk about is the love of my life. This is my hubby, Ranjit whom I fondly call "Love".

Our story goes way back to 1998 in Pune. I am one of those people who remembers dates (and I'm sure if you're a woman then you're smiling coz you can relate, and if you're a man, you're rolling your eyes)

It was on April 19, 1998 when I walked into the Church of Christ. I had no idea that I was entering the place that would change my life in every possible way! That of course is another story altogether! Later on that day, I had gone to a friend's house to study the Bible. We spent a couple of hours in her bedroom reading through scriptures... oops getting sidetracked here... Once done, I opened the door to find "my love" sitting on a chair tying his shoelaces. Back then, he was supporting a beard (yuck!) and looked about 10 years older. (Later on I came to know that he thought the same about me!)

We were introduced and if you told me back then that this was to be my husband, I probably would have gasped! But you never know how God works... very mysteriously I must say.
I was surprised to learn that he was a sophomore in college and I a freshman.

And so our friendship began... We went from being acquaintances to working together for our church as student counsellors. I, being me, made a huge number of assumptions about him (sadly to say most of them were negative!) and kept my distance from him. We were even leading the same "ministry" as we call it in church-jargon (basically a group of men and women living in a certain area)

Somehow leading together brought out a lot of character which made me further repel away from him. Then in 2000 he moved to Bombay and I remained in Pune. Somehow I felt relieved. But God has His own plans, and one year later I moved to Bombay too.

To cut this really long story a little shorter... jump to Jan 3, 2003 (Yes another memorable day!) This was the day when I was asked by a friend to go on a "date" with Ranjit. My mouth fell open! I was in no way prepared to get married nor start dating. Somehow, the date never happened and I was left with a bit of a disappointed, just for the very fact that I like it when people keep their word (a trait I've inherited from my Dad).

Our first date finally took place on Jan 25th. We went out with a mutual friend. I was on a fast that day and had a sweet-lime soda. We spoke briefly, mostly general talk about our families and hobbies.

And so the dates continued, until in July when we decided to set on a date in December to wed. Unfortunately, by the time October rolled in, I got the jitters and a whole closet full of doubts, enough to cancel the wedding! My fiance was heart-broken to say the least. I however justified myself by reminding me that this was the man I would spend the rest of my life with and didn't want to enter a marriage with fears and doubts.

We put our wedding "on hold" till June 2004. Meanwhile, my feelings blossomed! It's true distance does make the heart grow fonder. I started to miss talking to him and spending time with him and that made me realize that this was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with!

After much prayer, we decided on October 24, 2004 as our wedding date. This time however, as the days got closer, I was getting excited! I have always believed that God knows the right time and person, and I am just so happy that I was able to trust him with that.

Today, I can confidently say that with each passing day, my love for my hubby grows.

First attemt at blogging

Today's my first attempt at blogging. Had always wondered what the craze is all about and so I thought I'd give it a try for myself. I'm still trying to understand the entire "blog" thing... call me blog-ignorant.

I think it's gonna be a while until I get used to this idea... let's see how things go...