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 :(
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!
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.
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 :)
When I was around 5, I thought "izzikwaltoo" was a word. Then I actually learnt the language properly, and found out what it really meant when I said 2 + 2 izzikwaltoo 4 (2 + 2 = 4)
I also thought "zaa" was a word.
As in, 2 2 zaa 4, 2 3 zaa 6
Hard work finally paid off :)
Have been working out regularly for the last 5 weeks, and have come very close to my goal!
I had gained weight after my knee surgery last year, when I fell off the exercise band wagon.
5 weeks of dedication and I can fit into my pre-surgery clothes again :)
Awesome, awesome feeling!
I went to the Indian grocery store today. They usually have some bhajan videos running on screens around the store, which I mostly ignore. The one playing today totally caught my attention. It was in Punjabi. A Sikh guy was singing. The bhajan was about Balaaji. I thought this is new, a Punjabi song for Tirupati Balaji, and I looked at the screen. He was singing it to an idol of Hanumanji!
I agree that I have been away from the country for a long long time. I agree that I don't go to the temple at all and thus not following the religions of India too closely. But when and how did this happen? Nothing wrong with it, of course, but still. When and how did this happen??
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To all those who have missed me, sorry for being away for so long, and thank you sooo much for thinking of me! Have just been busy with a lot of different things lately, hence the absence. Not sure when I will be able to as regular as before, but definitely try to write more.
