Circle of Life

Life comes a full circle when...

You friends tell you your mom is sooooo cute
As opposed to HER friends saying YOU are cute!

You take your parents sight-seeing ... to the Zoo (I took them to the San Diego one, and they loved it! We saw a newborn Panda!)
As opposed to them saying, "Look, that's a MONKEY!"

You teach Dad how to type in a URL (I did this a couple years ago)
As opposed to Dad teaching you the alphabet!

You tell Mom, ok dear, enough sweets for this week (wish I didn't have to do this :( )
As opposed to Mom bribing you with candy to finish off that last bit of roti!

Your Mom telling her friends, "Oh my daughter has a convertible"
As opposed to you bragging to your friends about Dad's new car
(Dad and I still compete though, he hates my BMW, and I hate his Honda ;-)

And yet, we will still be their little ones, they will still "be there" to protect us from all harm!

I would like to continue with the list, but its starting to turn a little serious. Not what I intended to do!

Here's a pic of the folks I am honoring here...Mom and Dad with their brat ;-)
The pic was taken a couple years ago, when we (my sisters and I) gathered together our entire family (0f 150 ppl!) and took them on a cruise from Bombay to Goa to celebrate Mom's 60th birthday! Awesome time, since it was a surprise for her! 150 folks managed to keep a secret! Quite an achievement!

Note: Removed that picture, will put up another one soon.

This was at the party. My mom's brothers framed these really old pics of my parents as birthday gifts. We had NEVER seen these pictures, so we were really delighted (see our faces?) to get them. And also a little emotional (Dad and Uncle both have glittering eyes). And that's my Naani in the red sari. Imagine going to your daughter's 60th birthday!



And this marks the end of my 100th post :)

Da tomatoes...

These are technically my hubby's since he takes care of them like little babies. I just eat :)
The cherry tomatoes are growing wild now. We got 2 kgs in a single day!
Tomorrow is another harvesting day, I think it will be more than 2 kgs!




This is an average sized one...


"Mommy and babies" is what a friend said when she saw this one...

Traditions - II

Thanks everyone for sharing your traditions. I got a little bit from everyone...

So here's what I think I will do.

1) Rangoli (suggested by: everyone)
2) Diyas (suggested by: everyone)
3) Mithai. I think I will make some kaju barfi. (suggested by: everyone)
4) Donate something or volunteer. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do exactly.
(suggested by: Ankur and Sourish)
5) Make a gift for hubby (suggested by: Prashant)
This year I am going to make some sketches of his favorite things to hang in his office. The kurta will be next year :)
6) Decorate the house...as in change the settings, etc. (suggested by: Renu)
7) Buy some small (since I already have more than I need!) piece of jewellery (suggested by: my space)
8) Either invite someone for dinner (suggested by: everyone :) or watch a classic Bollywood movie (suggested by: Megha)
9) Send out cards to friends and family. At least they will think of me once a year ;-)

THANKS ALL!

Traditions

My previous post about the upcoming festival/holiday season got me thinking about how I would celebrate Diwali this year. I thought and thought and thought and came up with ... nothing :(

See, growing up, we didn't have any traditions we followed for the festivals. All we ever did was travel! Diwali, Christmas, summer holidays, any holiday and we were out visiting some new place. I would love to follow that "tradition" forever, but the hubby is not so keen on it. His family also didn't have anything in particular that they did, other than the fireworks.

This being my first Diwali after my wedding, I would like to start some sort of fun tradition that we can follow on every year (goes easy on the planning too!). We're not religious at all, so pujas and things are out. I can go visit the temple, but that's kind of einhhh....I know I want to do the rangoli and lights thing, but that is hardly anything.
So far, all I have come up with is this...
Rangoli
Lights
Cook something nice (the same thing every year though, and make it ONLY for Diwali!) Need to learn some good mithai.

That's all... a bit too boring if I may say so. So please help! Share your holiday traditions with me (diwali, christmas, eid, any kind of family tradition is good!) The more unusual, the better :)
So go on, inspire me! Pleeeeeeaaaase!

Google knows what I need...

...apparently!

Picked up this tag from xh. The rules are google "your name + needs" and list the first 10 results.
Didn't work the first time I tried it, google thought I was Kashmir and decided that I needed to break free from India. Nope, don't need that.
Tried it with quotes around it..expecting to see stuff about that actress Kashmira Shah. I got some of that, and some other stuff. Here goes:

1) kashmira needs to stop dying her hair blonde it makes her look gross.
Wokay! Won't do that! ROFL

2) To be whole, Kashmira needs the one and only thing Michael won’t give her.
Who is this Michael is what I really need to know!

3not all that ) Also I believe kashmira needs the boot.
sniff..sniff...am bad now, sniff..sniff

4) The person Kashmira needs to judge her priorities and think of her family and resolve issues with her spouse, if she has any
huh! :/

5) Kashmira needs to be kicked out
Again!!!! :-(

6) Kashmira needs a proxyer ectully... her computer is broke and her parents won't repair it
Hehe, my parents are not that mean! They give me everything!

7) kashmira needs to learn --"its nice to be important, but more important to be nice."
Wokay! Lesson learnt!

And that was it... most of the results were about the Big Boss show.
May be I should search for "aneri_masi needs..."

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There is a new post I had put up right before this one. Do check it out.

Just like that...

One of my favorite pics of me ...

And some MORE good stuff!

Looks like Uncle God is happy with me, and is sending unexpected gifts my way.

We have been looking for a "kadi patta" plant for the longest time now. So long, that I don't even remember since when! I went to the Indian grocery store an hour ago, and walked in to see a whole LOT of very healthy plants. I called hubby right away asking if I should get one (they were a bit expensive...$40). He was a bit like..hmm...$40, what if it doesn't survive. After a bit of coaxing he said, ok, get it if you like.

So there it is...standing about 3 feet tall!

Now I need to find instructions on taking care of it! Don't want it to die!

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While I was browsing the aisles in the store, I heard a tiny voice somewhere saying, "Mera Bournvita lena hai". I totally went awwwww......! Bournvita was my favorite too! I drank 3 glasses everyday! Kids still like it, thats total awwwww.... inspiring :)

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More good stuff...

Got more awards :) I am brilliant, people :D

First from Sourish... and then from my space

Thank you so much both of you! Am shining a little brighter today ;)

Changing seasons...

I LOVE the time of year when one season changes into the next.
April...when spring is in the air.
And September...beginning of Fall and all the festivities that follow.

I can feel a crispness in the air these days, autumn is just around the corner! I can't even begin to explain HOW much I enjoy this season. The colors are just beautiful, and it is the beginning of the holidays. Am waiting for Navratri, Diwali, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year...

Maybe I will carve a pumpkin this year, and draw some rangoli too (mom sent me the colors a LOT of years ago, I gotta use them!).

Yippee :) I find myself looking at the trees hoping to see some yellow and orange and red. I hope to go on a "Fall Color Tour" somewhere this year...keeping my fingers crossed.

Ahhh... so much to look forward to!

(Just rambling...my happiness is spilling over I guess. Please ignore if it seems too silly ;)

Kuch meetha ...

Figuratively speaking that is...

I was DEAD tired when I got home today. Slept for an hour straight and was still tired so we decided to just get pizza for dinner. So I ordered it, and went to pick it up...all groggy and basically dragging myself to the restaurant (It was one of those mom-n-pop ones, a bit far from home, so we are out of their home-delivery range).

I got there, and this girl behind the counter immediately brought out my box and said, "Kashmira?"

I nodded, she handed me the box, I handed her my credit card. She looked at it closely and said, "Kashmira, huh?"

I nodded again, and she said, "Like that place in India?". I was pleasantly surprised because no other American had made that connection before. They all said, "Oh, like in the sweater...cashmere?".

Then she said, "Its beautiful. You know, in Arabic..I know Arabic..so in Arabic, Mira means Princess. So you are the princess of Kashmir!"

I smiled and said, "Thanks, that's so sweet of you". And she insisted, "No, I am serious. You should give that explanation when someone asks. Tell them I am the princess of Kashmir"

I said I will, took my box and left with a big, happy smile. It was nothing big, didn't even mean much, but made my tired self feel like a princess :)

Thank you, stranger! (I was so full of myself, I forgot to ask her name, and now I am regretting that) But...stranger, you made me very happy!

So many questions...

and no answers...

Where do egos come from? Where do insecurities come from? Its funny how these two go hand in hand.

Why do we behave politely with strangers, but scream at the ones close to us?

Why do we want to impress those that do not know us, but take for granted those that care for us?

Why do we expect our family to "understand" when we don't give them that same understanding in return?

Why is it so darned hard to just be nice to someone who is smiling and happy to see you?

Why do we give a cold shoulder to someone who is being nice to us, but try to please the one that is ignoring us?

Why don't we think a little bit before raising our voices? Its really not worth all that anguish I am sure. What can be said in a raised angry voice, can be said in a polite way too, in fact it will be more effective that way. Why then do we lose our patience at insignificant misunderstandings?

So many questions, no answers...sigh...
Life does not have to be so complicated, but we just make it so!

Do elephants sneeze?

If yes, then do they sneeze through their trunks?
If yes, then how long after they "feel-a-sneeze-coming" do they actually sneeze?
How do they blow their nose..err..trunk?

I feel so sorry for the elephants!

Fortune

Orkut always provides some food for thought. Today's fortune for me:

You have an unusual equipment for success, use it properly!

Can't wait for tomorrow's fortune. I am hoping it will tell me what that equipment is, and also provide a user guide!