Identity Crisis :O

So y'all know why my name is aneri_masi, right?
Alright, if you don't know, here it is again.

My sister's first kid, Aneri, was born about 12 years ago. She and I were (and still are) the only ones here in the US, rest of the family was (and still is) at home, in India. (Funny how home is always India no matter how long ago you left without any intentions of returning!).

Anyway...so this little angel was born (I started to say brat, but can't. She was (and still is) a very good kid. And there are too many parantheses here!)

Anyway...so this angel was born (actually she was (but isn't anymore) a GIANT baby from a tiny mother. People would ask her, seriously? YOU carried HER? Parantheses overload again!)

Annnnyway...so she was born and everyone wanted to see pics. I was (and still am) the most computer savvy one in the family. So I had to figure out how to share the pics.

Yahoo was (aah, here, I can say, but it is not anymore!) one of the most convenient tools to share pics. So I got a new account, and called myself aneri_masi. The rest, you all already know, no? Half the world knows ME as Aneri!

Now, coming to the identity crisis part:

Aneri (the real one) is on my FB. I post comments to her comments saying "I agree with Aneri", and THAT feels weird! Or I say, "Hi Aneri, how are you?" and it feels like I have completely lost my mind...asking myself how I am doing!?

Looks like I am going to have to change my name and return the identity to the original owner :o|

Who should/can I be now?!

I was (but cannot be) aneri_masi anymore :o|

Sigh!

The Maaaa....

When I was a child, I thought Nirupa Roy was Niru Paroy, (since I only knew the name Niru...I knew three different Niru's... and Nirupa never occurred to me). I spent quite some time thinking what kind of a surname Paroy is! Whatever does it mean, which state do the Paroys come from.

Later, when I bothered to read the credits in the movies, I figured out what her name was. Oh well, so she was not from some exotic descent, just good old Bengali (Actually, she was Gujarati according to wikipedia!) So then I spent some time wondering what the heck kind of a name was Nirupa? I knew Rupa, Surupa, Rupali, Rupal, but Nirupa? I had just started Hindi as a second language in school, and according to what I read in the grammar books, "ni" kind of meant "lacking". As in नीरस was dull, निराकार meant without shape. Then Nirupa meant what? No roop? Too complex!

After watching too much of her sad depiction of Ma, I started to despise her! To the point that some times, I would actually try to tune myself out whenever she appeared on screen.

Anyway...so what inspired this thought process was this post by Indiequill. I forwarded it to my friend. She (and me too) loved the bit about the Maaaaaa....

And I started thinking about her yet again! Wondering if she actually had any sons, and did she expect them to be like Beeeejay (Amitabh Bacchan aka Vijay...duh!!!). Google came to the rescue, of course. I loved this line from wikipedia:

"She was notorious for always playing the mother that was either blind, handicapped, poor. She almost always mangaged to lose her kids somehow in every movie"

But coming back to her own son... here's what I found!

Maa ke naam pe kalank, huh?!

Blocked

Am getting requests to update my blog, but am at a loss about things to write about.
Anything anyone wants me to talk about??

2

2 years done....since the wedding.

Edited to add: I am in Pune with my family. All my sisters are here too, along with another guest family. So I celebrated with about 19 ppl at home. And the husband is back home all alone in the US, probably cooking his own dinner. Sigh :(

Highlights...

Some of the most interesting things of this trip so far...in chronological order. There were so many things I did this time that I had always wanted to do! And others were additional bonuses.

1) The plane I was in took off while my seat was more or less, completely reclined, and I was flat on my back! Now that was a first, and it better be the last!

2) Landed in Pune instead of Mumbai or Delhi. Being home within an hour is priceless!

3) Finally getting to meet my colleagues in India. Working formally through emails and conference calls is just not the same as brainstorming something and sharing gossip over tea and coffee! The ice-breaking was SO important and beneficial to everyone. Am glad I got this opportunity. (The length of this bullet point says it all I guess! I really enjoyed my time here)

4) Another road trip with my school friend, Sona. We had gone to Hubli by overnight bus earlier to surprise our very close friend. This time, we went to Mumbai, to surprise our school teacher. She was stunned! We met her after 20 years! She was still the same loving, Didi! This was an amazing experience!

5) Finally getting to meet Ria and Princess Mia. This was a huge one too! We connected instantly (at least I felt so!) and I wish we had more time, and more blogworld friends (Ella, missed you for sure!) And throw in Anuraag Baasu as a bonus! Right, girls? He took a picture of the three of us, and we didn't even realize who he was!

6) Watching a Gujarati play after a long long time!

7) Meeting Tabbu (yes, the actress!) at the foot massage place at Mumbai airport. No, I didn't bug her for autographs or photos or anything. We just exchanged smiles and went back to enjoying our massages. Yes, she is absolutely lovely in person too!

8) The BIGGEST thing ever on my wish list, I saw the Pyramids of Giza! I touched them! I climbed up on one of them too! Oh, I am so happy, you can't imagine!

9) Another first for me, I traveled alone. All the way to Egypt and back. And enjoyed it!

10) I won a belly dancing competition in Egypt. Against Columbian and Jordanian girls! How cool is that, huh?

11) I danced with a whirling dervish! That's even cooler, no?

12) I have actually been taking the bus to and from work. Not everyday, but some times. Another first for me!

13) Met my first "best friend" ever. Met her after almost 18 years. Yet another experience I am utterly thankful for! And Sona was with us too.

14) This one's weird, for me at least. The bus driver asked me to jump of the moving bus :) Ok, so it was not moving full speed, it was not completely impossible (thinking of the Mumbai locals!), but I still find it amusing.

I have another month or so to go before I return home. Hope it brings me some more pleasant surprises!

Being settled is unsettling!

Most of my "firsts" are done and over with.

First job ... lost of count of how many I have had so far...4 maybe? Love my job, but yet its just one of those things you do, you know like breathing or brushing your teeth everyday? The excitement is gone.
First car ... have my second one, and love it!
First house ... love this house, not moving!
Married ... and staying married!
No kids ... and not wanting any!

I am settled! I have pretty much everything that I want, and I am satisfied. This realization is unsettling me. This is it? Bass?

With most things I do, I am really excited in the beginning, then I lose steam in the middle. Where the novelty has worn off, and the end is no where in sight. Its the point where patience is the most important thing, where you really need to trudge along, dragging yourself some times, just to make it to the finish line. I have so many unfinished projects, it is embarrassing! And it is alarming that I am treating life the same way! The initial excitement, the gazillion dreams, the enthusiasm, all have disappeared. And life is one project that I cannot afford to get bored of and stash away in some corner to gather dust.

Everything just seems to be the same old, same old, same old. I really need to bring the spark back into my life.

Bill

One word, so many meanings!

A banknote, a receipt, a proposed law, a bird's beak?

Or this really sweet postal worker at my local post office.

He is always so calm, has such a soothing voice. Look at him, and you know this is one very caring person.

I had gone to the post office a few months ago to mail Rakhis to my cousins. Luckily, I got Bill to help me. He looked at 3 similar envelopes going to 3 different states, and he instantly knew what it was. (He is either Chinese or maybe Vietnamese). Ever so sweetly he said, you are almost a week late, but I bet your brothers will send you a nice gift in return :) They didn't, but it was so kinda cool to hear what Bill had to say :) Very cool that he knew such details about our culture.

The next time I went to the post office, I was helped by someone else. Was she scary! Asked me all sorts of rude questions (which she was supposed to ask, I guess, but they just sounded rude the way she mouthed them), and looked like she had formed some not so nice opinion about me.

Today, I went again, to send my passport over to the Egyptian consulate to get a visitor's visa. There was Bill, and there was the scary monster working the counter next to him. I wished and hoped and prayed that I didn't have to go to the monster again.

I didn't :-) I went up to Bill and said, I have a bunch of things I need to do. He looked at the envelope with the consulate's address on it. And said, ok, tell me how much the money order is for, let me make that out first, and then I will help you with the rest. I did not even have to tell him what I needed! We got the money order out of the way, then started to prepare the pre-paid, self-addressed envelope I needed to send to the consulate. He started putting stamps on it, and I asked him if he could put all different kinds, since my husband liked to collect them. Of course, no problem :) He found some real cute ones for me :)

He finished everything quickly, then patiently organized and handed me my tracking numbers, and sent me off on my way.

He didn't have to be so nice. Not part of the job requirement. But I do know that the next time, even if I have to wait longer, I will wait to be helped by Bill :) Its a very simple, ordinary story, but it makes me happy.

Some people really spread sunshine just by being themselves, don't they :)