My Words...

Why cant I chew water and other questions

2015-04-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

Just noticed that its been an year since I wrote anything here. Thought I should write to you about the questions I am being bombarded everyday these days. Some questions that leave me baffled. Some that I know answer to, and just dont know how to explain.

Scene one :

S : Why cant I chew water?

Me: Um...because they are too slippery to hold between teeth.

S: why are they slippery?

Me: they are slippery so that we can swallow them without chewing.

S: why do we need to 'not chew' something?

Me: sometimes people dont have teeth.so those people can drink water.

S: why will some people not have teeth?

Me: babies wont have teeth. also some people might have lost teeth as they grow.

S: babies dont have teeth?

Me: little babies dont.

S: then they cant eat chapathi?

Me: no

S: no vegetables and fruits?

Me: no

S: then how will they become big?

Me: they drink milk. milk will help them grow and also help them grow teeth.
S: babies can only drink milk?
Me: they can drink water too.
S: only milk and water?
Me: yes
S: why only milk and water?
Me: because they dont have teeth.
S: why they dont have teeth?
Me: babies will not have teeth for atleast 6 months old.
S: after how many years will they be 6 months old?
Me: after "half" of an year.
S: how to make "half" of an year?
Me: ummm when 6 months of an year are over, it is half of an year
S: how will 6 months be over?
Me: huh? i love you....do you want to watch TV?
S: Yeaahh
Me: Yay!

Scene another :

S : Can you read this to me one more time?
Me: Noooo
S : Why not?
Me : Because we already read it 7 times now, and 10 times yesterday
S : This is not a good book?
Me : No putta, its great....but we should read other books too
S : Why?
Me : Read other books to see what other ones we can like
S : Why?
Me : Because there are a lot of books out there
S : Why?
Me : Huh?
S : Why? (Calmly as ever)
Me : Beeeecause, there are lot of stories
S : But why are all the stories not in one book?
Me : Oh, that would make the book very biiiig!
S : How big? Bigger than me?
Me : Yeah
S : Bigger than this house?
Me : Yeah
S : Bigger than earth?
Me : Yeah
S : Billion Trillion big?
Me : Yeah
S : How big?
Me : Lets read the book only one more time for today, okay?
S : Yeaaah :)

Scene Random Questions :

If I have to eat with spoon, why god gave us fingers instead of spoon?

If they dont flap their wings, then why do airplanes just have them?

Enjoy!
-Ritha

I have been you....

2014-03-26T06:51:00.001-07:00

I am 98 today. I used to be a writer. I cannot write a lot these days. I cant hold a pen steady. My knuckles hurt to type. But I want to write, I want to write one last time, to assure you that I have been you.....and when its time, you will be me.....

I was 3, with color pencil in my hand, I drew on the walls. I drew circles mostly. Anyone who saw it either smiled or frowned. I got attention and in my world, I was convinced they liked me do it.

I was 6, I composed 4 liners and called them poems. Dad encouraged and made me send it to newspapers and magazines. They never got published. Mom consoled and said, "May be your mail was lost. Keep writing, the "newspaper people will get it some day". I believed them. I was convinced that the world worked based on the "moral of the story" that ended every story that I read or heard.

And then....I grew to be a teenager.I kept writing. But I stopped sharing them. I did not care what my parents or the editor of the magazine thought of my writing. I rebelled, against the editors who did not even know I existed. I revolted by not sending them any of my writings. I wrote about my best friend, I wrote about the my jealousy, I wrote about my crushes. I was convinced that the world had its sleeves up to go against anything and everything that I thought was right.

I was 25, I still wrote. I wrote about hope, I wrote about love, I wrote on what needs to be done to make world the perfect place. I started sharing my writing again, but now I was only sharing the ones that I thought would be liked or approved of. I was convinced the world could be changed and made a better place.

I was 50, and yes it was in my blood, I was still writing. I wrote about the past that I cherished so much. I wrote about how my heart bled to see the decisions that the youth made for their lives, I wrote of the fear of facing my future. I no longer cared what others thought about my writing. I shared them all. I was convinced that I should write to inspire the younger ones to lead a better life.

I was 75, I still wrote. I wrote for myself, I wrote as not many around had time to listen to me. I wrote about how the times had changed in the past 70+ years, I wrote about the lessons that youngsters should learn. I was convinced that the youth were wasting their time on things that will eventually not matter in their future.

I am 98, I don't write a lot anymore. Instead I am the one being written about. The kids write about how they think I love them, the youth writes about how I have all the wisdom to make the world a better place. The middle aged write about how I am repenting about the things that I could have possibly done a few decades ago to keep myself in a better place today.

Truth be told, I have always been what you were convinced I was. I have been the reflection of your past or the future you wanted to see in me. I was the same child when a baby thought I was annoying and an adult thought I was cute. I was the same representative of youth, when a child found me inspiration and the ones elder to me found me immature for being too optimistic of tomorrow. I was the same middle aged man when the young respected me and the old thought I was being too critical of the youth. And today I am in that group of 90+ where the young find me loving or even pity me and the ones older than me who are very few, don't really care.

Every stage of life, we are convinced of a few things. One thing is for sure, no one can be changed. Don't lose your happiness in trying to change others. They will change as they grow up, they will not change because you are sacrificing your sleep over it. As any man my age, I know that I only have a handful of years left. I am you, I had success, I had failure, I had parents, a spouse, friends, teachers, doctors and more than anything I had, I had a life, something I did not realize then, but now I know. I had a life that some looked up to and some looked down on. With all the struggles and fights all these years, I know that everything ends the same. I have a calm smile on me always....I have been you...so I smile. You will be me...you will understand.

Have a LOVEly day!

2014-02-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

This happened more than a decade ago. Time and again, I have wondered about this, something that was said just as a joke. It was indeed a joke, and all we girlfriends watching that movie had a good laugh. The joke however came from a friend when there was a very emotional confession from the leading lady of a movie to her father. The actress said, "Dad we just talked, and never realized when I fell in love". Some of my friends, I am sure nodded for her. The pathetically non romantic like me frowned, and one blurted, "Really? was it a disease that you never realized how you caught it?" We all giggled. It seemed right for the more practical ones, and a relief for the others as we had one friend's mom watching with us too.

Its 2014 and I still wonder if that is true! Does anyone ever realize the moment which makes you fall in love. Which gets me to another, question - Why is it always 'fall'ing in love? Why not anything else in love? Rise in love? Jump in love? Well, I guess I will keep it for another time.

Now that valentine's day is defined in a more global way "a day for the exchange of tokens of affection", I somehow feel qualified to write on this day. To be more specific, my 4 year old's class is celebrating valentine's day by exchanging cards with classmates. And when I went to pick some cards for his friends, I noticed that there is one for everyone possible, or so I thought - mom, dad, teacher,grandparents, siblings and not to forget dogs, cats, fishes and parrots. What do I say? Love is everywhere! Love is everywhere in the stores. There is love in the card section, book section, apparel section, chocolates, cookies, makeup, bakery, flowers, fruits...really everywhere! There is no way I am going to forget valentine's day in this day and age. If the display in stores are not enough, I know there will be enough people posting on their FB walls. And ofcourse twitter, instagram and other stuff that the new age kids have got me into creating a login, but rarely check; or should I say I dont know how to effectively use them! But then again, that can be for another post about me growing old!

So going back to 'fall'ing in love, I dont think I have 'the' moment for anyone I love dearly. But for each and everyone, I have enough moments that justify my love. As I cherish every moment I spend with them, be it my husband, my parents, my kid, my sister, cousins, friends, and while I am at it, the internet, the facebook, my laptop, and a hundred other new age gadgets/inventions that make my life easier and more enjoyable. I love you all, and will love you forever. The old me always said, "Do you really need a day for this?" But now, the wiser me says - "Well, if its a way to bring one extra smile on anyone's face, its totally worth it."

Dont say - 'Love doesnt need a day thats not fair'

this is just a reminder of what we share

Its a celebration of us being 'we'

Let it be a day to set any bitterness free

I love you, and you better know it well

I rarely do this, but today may be I should tell....

I LOVE YOU :-)

Btw, can you guess the movie I am talking about in the first paragraph? It was one of the totally romantic hindi movies starring both the shehenshah and baadshah of bollywood!

I was curious what my son thought about all this. So I asked

Me: What is valentine's day?
Sacheth : getting lots of cards with hearts. Can I cut them and stick them to doors?
Me: No, you should give them to your friends
Sacheth : NO! I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY!

Enjoy maadi!

With lots of love,

Ritha Hegde

I need you the most, my girlfriend!

2013-07-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to all my girlfriends :)

When I get a new shirt

When I feel a little hurt

When I have cooked a new dish

When I have done something foolish

I need you the most, my girlfriend

When I see a great movie

Or one that had my head heavy

When I find a new makeup

When I just want to catch up

I need you the most, my girlfriend

When I know I have been lazy

When I know I am going crazy

When I want to crib about stuff

When I know the weather is rough

I need you the most, my girlfriend

When I am feeling totally bored

When my spirits are completely shored

I need your scoldings to lift up my mood

To start my gears and get me doing good

I need you the most, my girlfriend

-- Ritha Hegde

How are you?

2013-06-24T10:00:00.002-07:00

When there is someone who asks my son ‘Hi! How are you?’, almost always would get a prompt reply – “I am good thank you, how are you.” Yes he says it as a sentence and not as a question, because I am dead sure he doesn’t care how the other person is. And more over he is has just been taught to be polite and respond, but doesn’t really care about the emotions going with it. Well, as rehearsed as he may sound, I really wonder who cares anyway!

This reminds me of a time when my granny was staying at my Kaka’s place. Just for the sake of my writing, lets say An is my kaka (uncle) and my granny’s son, Jy is An’s wife and Sh is their son. Someone, lets say Xz called up my granny to just chit chat and this is how the conversation went :

Xz : Hello granny how are you?

Granny : Araam…all well

Xz : How is An and family?

Granny : all well

Xz : So how is your leg pain now?

Granny : Ya its there, it has increased a lot now…getting very difficult to stand up, sit down and all. And because of the cold these days, its even worse.

Xz : Oho…hope you will be fine soon….so what else?

Granny : Everything else is fine.. (My granny has the habit of saying this, and she never says ‘nothing else’, she will always say ‘everything is fine’ for the question ‘what else?’)

Xz : Ok…so you said it is getting very cold these days…take care

Granny : Ya…lil Sh(who is not little anymore) is down with flu….cant help winter season started na. He hasn’t gone to school for 2 days…looks like he will not go this whole week only.

Xz : Oh….really…that’s sad…hope he gets well soon. How is An’s work going on?

Granny : Ya year end time for him, so work is really hectic, but he also couldn’t go to office due to terrible headache and vomiting accompanied with that…He has some temperature also. Doctor thinks he has food poisoning; maybe he ate something in hotel for lunch that has got his stomach upset.

Xz : Ayyo…but why he ate in hotel? Is his wife not at home?

Granny : Oh no actually Jy was admitted in hospital and was put on drips as she had weakness. She was fainting and all.

Xz : Oh god…hope she gets well soon too.

Granny : Hmm

Xz : So…what else?

Granny : Everything is well…

And so a conversation that started as “everything is well”…ended as “everything is well” too.

We still have fits of laughter when we my uncle narrates this to us and says “We were the only people in the house, and all of us were not feeling well, but still it starts and ends this way!”

But if you just answer, “Not very well” to the person who asked you “How are you?” what would the reactions be?

I tried with a few :

Cashier at supermarket counter : “How are you?”

Me : “Not very well”

Cashier : “I know right, its terribly hot outside today!” (I like it when someone thinks their problems are universal!)

My mom : “How are you?”

Me : “Not very well”

Mom : Do some exercise, do some dieting (moms always care)

My so called friend : “How are you?”

Me : “Not very well”

My so called friend : “Can you call me later? I am in office”

My hubby back from work : “How are you?”

Me : “Not very well”

My hubby : “Oh internet not working today?”

My son : “How are you?”
Me : “Not very well”
My son : “Can I eat chocolate now?”

So.....How are you?

A little horror story

2011-09-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Finally I had gone to sleep after 3 AM
A little rewind before the time I fell asleep.
I had finally succeeded in putting my reluctant toddler to bed by 11. By 12, when I was still tossing in the bed seeing my hubby and son probably way down the dreamland I decided to slip out of my bed. First thing that I could think of, was ofcourse the laptop. Thankfully (atleast what I thought at that time) I got a friend on chat.

After the usual hows and whats about our lives, our chat moved on to the locations we were in. When she asked me what were the special attractions near the place I lived, I told her this state was more famous for its horror stories than anything else. (There are websites dedicated to the ghost stories of Ohio btw). And then I shared some horror stories that I had read. And then as it usually happens, there were some stories shared by her too. Time was around 1:45 a.m, and she had to leave. She is in India btw, so I wasnt actually keeping someone else awake like me! So then I thought even I should try to sleep.Went to bed, pulled my blanket and closed my eyes.

I was slowly drifting to sleep when I heard a loud 'COME LETS SING'. I opened my eyes (if it was a movie, there would have been a background music 'DHAN' at this stage). Both my sweethearts were sleeping.I just looked around, nothing. I told myself 'Too many ghost stories I have discussed, I am imagining..should go to sleep'. In such occassions like all do, said a lil prayer and closed my eyes again. Then again, 'COME LETS SING'. I sat up. I was sure I heard it this time. Now it continued with some weird music as well. It came from the living room.

"AAAwwww Sacheth's toy!!!!" I jumped out of the bed to switch off the stupid toy before it woke up the other two in my house. Reached for the toy in the dark only, shut it up and threw it in his toy box. Probably its battery was dying and so it cried...whatever! Slid silently under the blanket again. Within minutes there was a 'thud thud thud thud' sound, then there was a 'Hiiii I am baby ted' and then a little 'tup' sound and then a song 'Come on and play now, and say some colours too'. I uttered some curses after my usual 'Ayyo' and ran to the living room again. Switched on the lights this time and saw what was really happening. The first toy that I had put in dark had probably landed on some other toy making it lose its balance. it landed on a talking toy which made him talk, it landed on the baseball bat which hit another teddy which called me out loud to say some colors. Woow what a day rather night!!
When I reached the bedroom again, I was terribly jealous seeing the two souls sleeping peacefully even when the toys just finished a crazy party. Well I just hoped that the toy party was over, but did not want to take a chance. So I slept with my ipod blaring songs on high volume in my ear to be sure that I did not hear anything else and blame the ghost stories.

So my new routine now before going to bed, other than ofcourse the usual checking for doors locked and lights turned off - Make sure all his toys are switched off and none of them are in contact with each other. I dont want them to get in a mood and start a bash again!

Wow...or mmm what else can I say?

2011-06-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

`How else do I describe the feeling of eating something on a roadside gaadi? As I write I can feel my mouth watering.
I dont know who all feel that urge or love to have that street food. If you do love it, then read on....else you can just skip it. And if you havent eaten them, then let me repeat Rachna's words - "Just too bad buddy. You'll never know what you missed. A better life next time"

The first thing that I picked from road to eat probably was in front of my school in Mysore. (My memory is not going beyond that). The old lady who sat with the bamboo basket full of guava, cucumber, raw mango, some peanuts, some masala mandakki (masala bhel), some boti, some tomatoes....I mean no less than a supermarket of little eatables. Unlike the school bus or the autos that the kids today in India go to school in, I was going in a tanga (horse cart). On the last day of school, our tangawala uncle would give us a small treat of these things.Putting that salted guava in my mouth, feeling that salt melt which cannot make you hold the temptation to chew the piece in your mouth....wow or mmm what else can I say?

Those hot summer days with the sun shining to it fullest glory, when that old lady gave that thin sheet of cucumber smeared with proper combination of salt and chilli powder and said "10 paisa"....good looking cucumber is treat to the eyes, low price is music to the ears and that taste is heavenly for the tongue...well I dont know what it was to the stomach...but I have and many have survived many such trips of eating roadside food.

I was in Shimoga, another town of Karnataka, from my high school days to end of college. This was where my love to another famous street food developed....the 'puri' series. Burst of that tangy pani in the mouth when you bite that puri......wow or mmm what else can I say? Not to forget that last bowl of just pani.... The mysterious masala, which even my mom could never recreate at home was ofcourse the highlight of any of them...pani puri, masala puri, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo puri.....wow right?

During my graduation days one of my friends introduced me to another set of eatables.....tomato masala, boti masala, nippattu masala (I cant translate it to any other language sorry) and the the very famous masala pepsi or masala soda. I was a total fan of tomato masala...those round slices of tomatoes sprinkled with salt, chilli powder and some other secret ingredient, then it had a layer of churmuri (plain bhel or mandakki) then a sprinkle of grated carrot, onion and coriander leaves...then another dash of that secret ingredient. It was then all set to be eaten.....what a food it was.

And now I have a husband who is not in much favour of such food (he is one of those people who will never understand what this blog is about). He feels its not hygienic, doesnt matter I still have had pani puris from those places when he is around and muttering, "I dont want...you eat".

My world hasnt taken me outside Karnataka for street food tasting, but I am sure the feeling will be the same anywhere in India.....may be outside too. But what makes them tick? While having golgappas why is it that you have to tell that bhaiyya to tell you when one plate is over? Why is it that you have to see reviews of restaurants and dont really bother to try anything roadside in any city? Is it that warm smile of the person who serves you? Is it with the price that you pay? Is it that nostalgic chit chatter with friends while having them? Is it with the microbial germs breeding there? Or the permutation and combination of all of these?
Whatever it is, the wow quotient has never gone down for such eatables...

Are you at a hands reach to pani puri, take my name and have one :)
Do you have any memories with them? Share it...

P.S : Couldnt stop myself from writing this, after reading the post : http://www.rachnabisht.com/3/post/2011/06/roadside-rendezvous.html

Where are you?

2011-06-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

I keep asking this question atleast a hundred times every day....not to myself, but to my son...

"Sacheth where are you?"

With the magnanimous level of energy that only toddlers seem to have is really mysterious. He is always at work....sometimes happily running around for no reason; sometimes jumping on the mattress or the sofa; sometimes putting all his energy in crying to ask me for water, making people around feel that I am his stepmom who deprives the poor child of the basic need of water.....and only I know that he wants it to spill it around.....with all this he keeps his brain running too, as he knows when I am angry and gives me the warmest smile which calms me down instantly..

Basically....I cant keep him tied at one place for sure...so when I am in the kitchen or totally engrossed in something on the laptop, my little son escapes to his space out of my sight. He keeps blabbering something or there is some or the other noise with his toys that keeps coming when he is away....and I know where he is. Then there is silence which is a signal that there is danger........not to the child, but to the things around him.
Some instances I am sharing here, which could not have happened if I wasnt lazy, more vigilent and blah blah blah....but heck, I am not my mom....I am just too imperfect for situations like this...I am hoping that I will grow wiser by the time I have a grandchild atleast. Ya just hoping.....not confident!

Scene 1 :
I forget to keep away the paper towel roll away from his reach....dont even remember why it had reached down there...I went to see the answer to my question "Sacheth where are you?"
I see the complete roll torn to pieces. On a positive side, I see he is very skillful in that...he has control of his hands to tear even the tiniest paper to pieces. So you know I was late to the scene, the bigger pieces of tear were long gone.

Scene 2 :
I take out the dried clothes out of the drier, feel too lazy to fold them then and there and dump it in the room thinking I will fold it a little later. I go to the kitchen to make his meal. I can hear Sacheth's toy talking in the room....so I know he is playing with it. Then there is silence, then there are giggles...silence again. I decide I need to check. And yes let me tell you all this happened in probably less than 2 to 3 mins.
"Sacheth where are you?" I have never verbally got an answer........he hasnt grown old enough to tell me the truth about where he is....and he has some more years before he can lie me about where he is not.....but I ask anyway.
I see the answer. Clothes thrown in every corner of the room...I feel an urgent need to check the weather channel to see if there was a tornado that just struck that room.

Scene 3 :
Old McDonald rhyme is playing on youtube. I am trying to make him eat his lunch at a rate of atleast one bite a rhyme. There is a knock on the door. I leave the laptop, the kiddie, the plate and spoon together to answer the door. A courier man, I sign.....the rhyme stops playing in the background. I keep the parcel in its proper place.....by this time it seems like eternity of silence....I start panicking for my foolishness of leaving the room in that way....as usual "Sacheth...."
You have by now guessed it... Let me try to reconstruct what would have happened.
As soon as I left, he should have tried to grow up and eat the lunch on his own. Hand went to the spoon and tried to pick up some rice...in this process, a lot of rice went down on the carpet...some stuck to his little fingers. In the meanwhile the song stopped. He wanted it to start singing again....Realising the gravity of the situation that he is on his own, he becomes responsible and tries to put on the song. His fingers went to the keyboard.....hit some keys slowly....song did not start...he hit some more with some more force...
so basically when I saw my answer I saw his plate almost empty, carpet having relished most of it and some tasted by the keyboard...The next second some strange combination of his hits seem to work and the rhyme plays again...he sighs a sound of relief, smiles....looks at me points his fingers to the monitor and says 'eeya eeya'....I dont know how I should react.

Scene 4 :
Yaa the same thing...I am in the kitchen...there is silence from the room and the usual "Sacheth where are you?"
I go to see him.....he is tapping his chest to show me where he is and laughing uncontrollably thinking we are playing 'peek-a-boo'..... I was totally drawn to his smile.....played peek-a-boo with him for few more mins just to see him enjoying it... I was suddenly brought back to my world when I remembered that I had spread dosa on pan before coming here......I reached the kitchen in time to save my pan, if not the dosa.

Scene 5 :
Once I saw him in the below position :)

I need to run as there is silence again...."Sacheth where are you?"

Veggie alien!

2011-05-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

My status in US right now says 'resident alien'. I am that alien whose spotting is not seen as 'breaking news' by the natives here.

The past couple of months have been educating in every way possible. Though I knew few of them, out of practice I used the Indian words( thankfully with Indian borns) and got the American version for it in the reply and I silently said 'Okaaaaaay!'
Me : "Oh she is 8 year old? so she is in 3rd standard?"
She : "No in 2nd grade"
Me : "Okaaaaaaaaaaay!"

When I was watching some car driving tutorial videos...dont ask me shouldnt car driving be learnt practically? I will explain it some other time,aaah soo when I was watching those videos I wondered what 'step on the gas' meant..only to clarify later that it means 'accelerate'. Thankfully there is no three word translation to STOP, its quicker to stop the vehicle with a one word than three words which would take 2 more seconds for me to realise what it is. .....Adding to the things that differ are....you drive on your right, petrol is gas, diesel is fuel, engine is filled up with gallons and not litre (liter in American english).In the time when my granny has finally started using kms and kgs, I have switched to using miles and pounds.

She : "Oh you find time to have a bath? I just have a shower everyday"
Me : "Oh...ha ha..." I did smile but my brain was thinking - what the hell is the difference!!! In case you are as ignorant as me, then let me save you a google hit. Bath is when you sit in the tub and clean yourself, and shower is when you stand and do the same job.
Me and You : "Okaaaaaay!"

I thank my stars that I knew earlier that a brinjal is called an eggplant here.I can imagine myself standing in the store inspecting brinjal and telling myself "Looks like brinjal...but 'egg'plant?". My brain would have been stunned to realise that Okhra actually means ladies finger and is not a city name. I am sure this would be the case if I had landed here 10 years back or if I had no exposure to this world. I am sure a person from here would face difficulties back in India too. Imagine someone saying 'ondu Bhel puri to-go' instead of 'ondu Bhel puri parcel" :).

In a nutshell, I am still learning....if you have had any 'Okaaaay' moments, then warn me about it before I find out myself!

Like being an alien was not challenging enough, I am a veggie too. Unlike the bachelors who yearn for ghar ka khana, me and my husband look forward to eating something different. (Lets not debate if thats due to my culinary skills). So on one particular occasion, we set out for a restaurant which claimed to have 5 different cuisines. What we ordered and got is in the pic above. The one that you see in the far end of the snap is the eternal veggie appetizer- Veggie Spring Rolls. For our lunch we ordered a Japanese Rice and a Korean Rice. And what did we have on table? Two exact looking dishes. Even the 'spot the difference' pics in newspapers have 6 differences, this had only 2! One was ordered with Tofu..so visual difference one. Second one was that they were served in dishes of different shapes-oval and round. Thats all!!! Yes taste wise one was sweet and the other not sweet (they called it spicy on the menu though). Being a veggie is not so good here :(.

So you know my unofficial status....I am a veggie alien!

This post is dedicated to my near to 'Idol' :)

2011-05-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

While scribbling replies on Autograph/Slam Book questions in school/college I dont think I seriously meant the names I gave against 'My Idols' section. I definitely admired them....but surely not like Idol or anything.

Many of you have Idols....and they are the ones you adore, as that is what you want to be;you would love to be;you aspire to be...you dream to be.

People idolised are not always super famous.....it could be someone in our family.....someone in our friends list...anybody....and in my case she came from a newspaper column she had penned down...typed down whatever.

As a teenager, I fell easily to have idols changing every day....sometime it would be my teacher, sometimes Nelson Mandela, Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Sachin Tendulkar...

I remember my dad asking me once, "Who is your Idol?"...I said "Abdul Kalaam".

He said.."Wow...so what all do you know about him?" I told him all that I knew from being the current president of India at that time to the books he has written and some other random stuff. He demanded to know more. I told him that was all I knew. He said "that is what everyone in general knows". I felt...."how am I suppose to know anything else?"

I always wondered why a fan was heartbroken when Hrithik Roshan or Karishma Kapor was married. I would think the news that people broke their Television sets in Pakistan when their cricket team lost against India was totally fake....how can someone go to that extent? News that few died of heat attack when their favourite political leader died was a shock to me!

I never understood what made a fan frame his handkerchief which had Amitabh Bachchan's autograph on it.How could people build a temple for an actress? How can some shed crores to just get Bradman's bat in an auction? Now I know they are passionate about them....they really Idolise them.

One person who came close to being 'Idol' for me is probably Rachna Bisht Rawat. When there is a newspaper in front of me, the first thing I have been picking from ever since I remember is the supplement. It was in 2008, the month of February. All things on TV, paper, radio all talked about valentine's day. Being a 'not so romantic' person, the topic of love being discussed so much was getting annoying...some things seemed stupid...and it was wonders that I read this article from Rachna on a Sunday Herald (supplement of Deccan Herald).It was definitely on this topic, but the take was 'hatke'. I loved it...I wanted more. I googled for her name to find out more about her, with not much luck.

I even stuck to this newspaper for Sunday edition when we changed our newspaper just to make sure I did not miss her article when it appeared. I enjoyed reading every article of hers. Her writing was not predictable, her writing did not appear made up, it was not preaching. It had right amount of emotions....her writings were simple, crisp and real.She was all that I wanted to be as a writer....She was more than that too...

I adored her so much that I did not forget to google her name every now and then....and I wasnt finding anything....yes I was passionate about her writing...I wanted to know all about her...now I know she is getting closer to being my 'Idol'.

Just a few days back, I searched for her name again and found her website....there was no limit to my happiness. I was smiling throughout....I searched for words to tell her how much I loved her, then gave up that there is no other way than saying it in simple words...'I love what you write'. I sent her a message through her website and checked my mailbox every now and then to see if she replied. She had not. Did not even realise she could be in a different time zone than mine. I was sure she was busy, but was really hoping and praying she would respond to this fan of hers.

Saw her mail the next morning...I just cant explain the joy I had....I read and read and read those 6 lines she had written...just for me...I am feeling soo soo happy. I really love her writings...I really do...

Make time and go through her website....I hope you enjoy her writing too. Her website is :

http://www.rachnabisht.com

Do let me know what you thought about my favourite writer!

Why Sacheth?

2011-04-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Why is my son named Sacheth? Why not X, Y or Z? There is a story to everything right?

Before my delivery I always thought or felt I would have a daughter...not that I wanted one or something...it was just an intuition.....and so I was always searching for a nice girl's name. My husband also probably felt the same and he would also keep suggesting girl names now and then. We had thought of Khushi, Manvitha and some more...

Just about 3 days before my delivery Krish said...."You know what...I feel we might have a boy!"
And yes I did have a boy.The naming ceremony was on the 11th day after his birth. So we had to come up with a name by then! Almost everyone near and dear were put to work.

I was very sure that I did not want his name to start with A, yaar in college his will be the first lab batch for exams na....I really pitied my friends having to go first and face the external examiners without any caution....
Rosh(my sister) suggested lets not go for X,Y Z also...you know just in case what if they decide to start the exams in reverse alphabetical order....point was seriously taken.
So we felt the safest thing would be P,Q,R,S. But ya any name sounding good other than A,X,Y and Z was also ok.
Due to the stars under which he was born, we were suggested that we name him with names starting with sounds Ga, Sa or Sha. Someone told us you can keep any name and for the sake of it keep one more name with the letters to keep the gods happy.Name searching began only by the 5th day of his birth. By the end of first day we had named him 'Diganth'. Sounded good....almost finalised.
Next day morning I said "lets search some other name."
Krish was surprised "Arre we finalised one yesterday right?"
I stammered...."Yaa....buuuut...."
"You are feeling bored of that name after thinking over it the whole night?" Rosh helped me...I bet she knows me very well.... I had liked the name...but now was bored of it :P
So the quest began again.
There were some interesting choices - 'Shinchan' by my lil cousin....name derived from her cartoon character ofcourse. Then there was Kritrik (combination of Krish's and my name). both scrapped for obvious reasons!
There were many more weird ones, but I am not able to dig through my memory right now for them.

Then there were names which sounded good, but were shelved with reasons like :
"I had a classmate with that name in school. He was very very dumb....not that name"
"I have a collegue with that name....kaamchor...no!"
"I had a lecturer with that name...its a very old name!"
"Hmm....ya.....but....next"
"Sounds like he is a milkman"
"I know one guy with that name....too arrogant...something else"
God...what were we thinking!!!!

There were some names left out because we were scared of the nickname it would bring to my son.
Someone suggested Saptharshi.....Rosh laughed..."So what will his friends call him? Soppu?" (Soppu in kannada means leafy vegetable). and added "Why go that far, in another 2 years or so, he might be answering 'Yaa' to a street vendor shouting 'soppu....soppuuu'." Some regional issues there...some more names were left out like this.

Rosh asked me "Ritu...how do you like 'Champ' for a nickname?"
I said.."Wow..good"
She said.."Hmm...then name him Champak....his friends will then call him Champ"
My twisted lips and raised eyebrows made her shut up and stop her from giving any other such ideas.

Since the names were going nowhere.....Krish decided that he will sit with sahasranaama books (books having thousand names of different gods) and suggest on something. Then went another day or two for that. Krish would suggest a name, and we would either half heartedly approve it or reject it for one of the many reasons mentioned earlier here. And then we had to get a name, as it was the 10th day after my son's birth and the next day morning he had to be named. We had finally finalised on 'Satwik' and 'Sacheth'. One suggested by a dear one and the other lord Ganapathi's name. And then with a kind of voting done with different people, 'Sacheth' was chosen....and so 'Sacheth'
Since then, when I tell my son's name, I mostly hear a 'huh?' or 'oh' or 'sachin' or 'sachith'.
But that is fine, coz I have heard a lot of them for my name too. I dont blame them..coz I would have done that to some too :P
But one thing I have realised....if you keep calling a name hundred times a day any name like XYZ will sound as easy as a Tom or a Peter or a Michael. Happy Naming everyone...you will get there sometime or the other...naming a pet can be difficult too!!

Bangalore to Detroit...I did it :)

2011-03-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

Bangalore to Detroit is not the highlighting part.....'WITH A LITTLE ONE' is the major part :)
Well...as my facebook update announces, I have now reached Marysville in Ohio,US.
I travelled alone with my son all the way from Bangalore to Detroit..and this little blog is all about its highs and lows :)
As soon as I knew I would be managing my little one all alone in the journey of around 24 hours...I must admit I freaked out. Then as there was no other go...did all the preparation possible to keep things under control. Google came to help as always in churning out different write-ups other moms have written while travelling alone with a baby/toddler. Most of their tips definitely helped.A big thanks to them. I had the maps of Bangalore, Frankfurt and Detroit airport almost printed in my mind.....did not want to loose anytime searching for anything...But did any of it help? You will find out soon :)

My first flight was from Bangalore to Frankfurt. Sacheth (my son) was feeling fresh at that time, so did not have much trouble in fulfilling the formalities at the airport. He fell asleep as soon as the journey started, and continued sleeping for a marathon 8 hours....Good or bad? Well....good for the co-passengers...good for him...and not soo good for me :) As he was on my lap full time, I was almost immobile the whole flight....just moving my hand to gulp down something now and then. My seat was just after the pantry (I am not sure what is the name actually used for that area....)After serving the first set of snacks, the flight attendants kept some water and lot of chocolates in that area and vanished. It wasnt personally served, and so I couldnt eat it :(. I was quite hungry already....and the look of some delicious chocolates increased it even more. With the condition I was in, I could only count how many times every person came there to take their chocolates. There was one gentleman in blue who made around 12 trips to the pantry.Everytime he was there he would drink a glass of water and grab a fistfull of chocolates into his pocket and fade away from the scene.Hmm.....his love for chocolates surely beats mine!Nothing more worth mentioning in the first leg of the jounrney...

We had around 4.5 hours wait time in the Frankfurt airport before we boarded the flight to Detroit.
My first flight landed in the B terminal of the airport and my next flight was in terminal A. With the help of some officials, I could find out that I need to take the sky train to reach there.Took the train that came to reach there....but there was some confusion and I missed the stop. Train came back to the earlier station where I had boarded. A manager or guard whoever he was in uniform came up to me and asked "What is your final destination?"...."I need to reach the gate A62"....He said "Next stop" and held a firm face without any expression....Not sure if he was thinking if we were taking a joy ride.....or may be plain helpful but couldnt convey it through his expressions.But to be frank Sacheth was really enjoying the train ride, and I did not mind as we seemed to have all the time in the world.But after the strict instruction of "Next stop", I did not dare have a repeat trip and got down. Got down and started towards my gate. During the walk is when I realised that my bags werent as light as they seemed when I strarted the journey. The backpack, a side bag on the right shoulder, Sacheth in the left arm and a cross bag which had my passport, tickets and other urgent things were all seeming like a mountain each. I found a trolley, put my bags on them and tried to make Sacheth sit on it too to relieve my hands for pushing the cart. But he seemed to be feeling a little insecure...so just refused to let go off me.With him in my hand, I couldnt push the trolley too.So put back all the bags and walked my way towards the gate. I was praying badly that there be no gate change, as I had no energy left to go to some other gate. I was hungry, and Sacheth was cranky so couldnt really explore the shops there to find something right to eat. All the shops nearby seemed to be selling meat....and I thought why am I a vegetarian?And that was just a passing thought :)

Second flight first half, Sacheth again dozed off comfortably....and I wasnt feeling sleepy :( I watched Golmaal3 instead.When the movie was over, I was feeling sleepy and Sacheth got up all fresh :) Keeping him engaged and entertained and yet not allowing him to move around was challenge in itself. But somehow managed that too. One needs to have a lot of patience while dealing with kids of this age....as they dont understand what you say...but very well understand when you are angry at them and start crying even louder. With this, by the time I reached Detroit, I was more mentally tired than physically. The wait of even 5 mins at each counters after arrival seemed like eternity. Finally I saw my husband smiling and waiting for us....he relieved me of all the luggage I had....it was such a relief. And that broad smile on Sacheth's face on seeing his dad is unexplainable....and all the tiredness of the journey just vanished....And I felt like jumping and telling...."Aah...I made it..." Yes I did it :)

Did I just scare off anyone planning to travel alone with a baby? Dont be...this is a test that you will never get to do on yourself. Its a test on your mental strength, physical strength, how long can you stay hungry, how long can you stay without using the restroom in a cold weather...its a journey worth taking.....go for it :)

Long since I wrote....

2011-01-08T02:02:00.000-08:00

Its been long since I wrote
since I wrote to my heart's content
With so much of time gone unused
I hope in future I am not gonna repent
I might repent, as I am just loosing touch
The fingers moving once so easily to express
are resisting when I want to tell so much
I am fearing, the little writer in me is murdered
as the words I use seem so weathered
A lot of reading is what I now need
to be encouraged to give my blog a feed.

Aaja Bachpan?

2010-07-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

We have all read many variants of the line 'Aaja bachpan ek baar phir' from different poets time and again......But is bachpan worth giving a call?

Well for me, NO!!! I am more than happy ...

C'mon guys being carefree and all is ok.....but just imagine, if childhood returns to us with the age of less than a year....we wouldnt even be communicating properly then. I see my 6 month old son cry for something....but only he would know what he is crying for...He might be having an ant biting him, and we think he has stomach ache and try to soothe him out of that....GOD no...not this stage of bachpan for me!

What if it returns at a stage when I am just going to school....well I would hate going there and would still be forced to.....no..I dont want this stage to return too!

What if it returns at a teenage.....hmm..most dangerous..whatever you say...ppl would just ignore saying..teenage!!!..not this stage either...

well after this age.....I dont call it bachpan.....

If you ever want childhood to return....dont call for it (not that it would listen to us ;)) just re-live it with a child growing.....and thats exactly what I am doing right now....

Never ever have I been so busy and yet so relieved in my life before.

So...this would mean a break to my blogging for sometime, as I gear up to catch up on some responsibilities....

I will have to learn to control my temper....else I cant get my child do it.

I will have to make sure I dont miss to brush my teeth at night, else I cant get him do it!

I cant just lie down and watch TV.....else he will do it too..

I will have to control my urge for chocolates....else....

GOD....being a parent is sooo difficult!!! Give me the strength..

Praying...

Ritha Hegde

1 hour of tension......

2009-10-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

Ocotber 13th 2009
It was a normal day in office with the usual set of escalations, cribs and deliveries. Back home from work also had been the usual set of activities. Had cuddled under my blanket by around 10:30 and was driven away to sleep land in 5 mins…..something very usual again…. But something that happened after 45 mins from then, was not something very usual…

“Tring Tring……Tring Tring…..”
I opened an eye to see who was calling me at this time..My cellphone flashed – Anirudh Das calling….I couldn’t think of any reason why he would call me at that time…By the time I could answer the call, the ring had woken up my husband too. I picked it up and said – “Ya… Anirudh!” I don’t remember what the earlier lines that Anirudh said were, but my husband murmered…."oh your project!!!" and went back to sleep.
Anirudh was continuing on the call....“Ritha..Nishanth got a call from Vishal’s mobile. It seems he has met with an accident and is admitted in Vittal Mallya Hospital. We will be going there now.”
“Whaaat????”
“Oh you were sleeping!....sorry sorry”
“Nooo problem”
These had kind of woken me up completely from my sleep and I walked out of my room. From the living room window I could see that the rain was lashing outside. I talked.. “Take an auto Anirudh, don’t take your bike….its raining very badly outside.”
“Ab Ritha is waqth kahaan se auto milega….koi baath nahin….we will take care”
“Ok…drive carefully…. and keep me updated”

I don’t know what made Anirudh call me for this, but to be frank, I have no complaints either.
I sat alone in my living room trying to digest what he told me. Thoughts rushed in my mind..Vishal did not directly call…somebody else called Nishanth…that means he is not in a very good condition….Sent out a small prayer to God too for his well being.
Then thought we should try to contact his roommates atleast….Messaged Anirudh – “I think we should try calling up his roommates also”
After sometime, Anirudh had reached Nishanth’s place….all wet to pick him up and head to the hospital. Nishanth called me…"Hey Ritha, this is about Vishal..Anirudh told you everything right?"
“Ya Ya Nishanth tell me”
“Do you know any of his roommate’s or friend’s numbers?”
“Hmm…no actually….but I have Ramit’s Pune number… he will know someone… you can call him and check” (Ramit was in our project earlier, and had quit the company now for his MBA in Pune. Ramit was Vishal’s roommate when he was here)
“Ok can you send me his number.”
“Ya I will send it now”
“Alright Ritha….we will check”
I sent Ramit’s number to him…

Nishanth calling…. My cellphone flashed again…
“Ya Nishanth”
“Ritha…someone called again and they are telling a different hospital name now…Bowring or something.. he was talking in kannada…so could not make out properly also”
“Do you want me to call on his cel then?”
“Ya I think that will be good”
“Ok I will call Vishal’s number and get the details…I will call you back”
I dialled Vishal’s number….and someone cut the call..
I tried again…that someone who cut the call, picked it up now….
Below is the translation of what we talked in kannada
“Hello…actually we got a call from this number that there was an accident”
“Yes Madam…how many times should I tell? Why is no one coming? The body is here only!”
“Can you please tell me which hospital?”
“Bowring Hospital”
“Where is it?” My Bangalore knowledge is still very poor…I learnt later that it is quite a famous government hospital.
“Government Hospital Madam….Bowring Hospital…shivajinagar. Please come soon. By the way who are you?”
“I am his collegue…is there a ward number or something where he is?”
“No No….Body is outside only as no one has come….only when someone comes, checkup will be done.”
“Oh…..ok…. people are on their way….will be reaching soon.”
“Ya Ya come fast…and you can collect the mobile from Shivajinagar circle police station.”
“Ok..ok..thank you”
“Please don’t call again and again…we are on duty”
“Ya ok…but if we are not able to find it or we have any doubt…we will call again…please bare with us”
The guy did not respond and simply cut the call…

I called up Nishanth and told the whereabouts of the hospital.

Hearing my panic voice over the phone and getting hospital details, my husband also came to the living room. He said… “don’t take so much tension…do you also want to go?” I said… “No that is ok….Anirudh and Nishanth are going….they will tell me”. My head was reeling with words…"body lying outside"

I called Nishanth again – “Were you able to reach Ramit?”
“No not yet…trying…”
Few more mins passed…
Nishanth calling….
“Ya Nishanth”
“Hey Ritha..I talked to Ramit….he said Vishal is fine and he had talked to him an hour back.. Vishal apparently lost his mobile phone at around 10 in the night today…looks like the person who stole it met with an accident!”
“Whaat?? Oh god….anyway give me his roomie’s number…I will talk to him and sleep”
Nishanth passed on his roommate’s number to me and finally I got to talk to him.
“Could you not block your sim Vishal???”
“I did actually…they said it will take 2 hours….so in sometime I think it will get blocked”
So finally what we thought was a tragedy….ended on a happy note.
Not sure what happened to the thief in hospital…..dont know if that was a real call also or not….hope everything was good at his end too…

Thus ended the unusually panicky 1 hour………which shook away sleep off many people associated with Vishal that night.

Start Pessimistic!

2009-02-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hmm…what a thought… let me explain :)

Its just about some experiences I had in my life after the ‘marriage’ phase of my life. A dear friend of mine is getting married soon and she had sooo many questions for me….I had put down my thoughts in a mail to her and thought why not put it here….share my thoughts and ofcourse as usual…bricks n brats invited :)

In my spinsterhood, I always thought that when I get married, the husband I have would be very very cruel…..something of the type present in that movie of Aishwarya Rai….there was that real life story made into movie na…I cant recollect that name now….jist is….the most terrible husband, beating up his wife for any small thing etc etc. I thought my mother-in-law would be of the typical saans type…”Kalmuhi….&*%$% .... This lady stole my son from me!” or may be “This is what your parents have taught you!” My husband’s sisters, bhabhis, brothers and all would be ever-ready to plot against me and waiting for me to do a mistake and tell it to the whole world(too much influenced by the Ekta Kapoor soaps!). And ya, my father-in-law to be of very very disciplined nature and would shout and yell at me for putting a little less salt in the sambar!
I don’t know if I am just plain lucky to have got all the above notions wrong…..but this is also true that no one is always bad.

Try this out….you start off like this, and keep your mind wide open to see the right things. One small good gesture of their’s would make you feel really really good. Expectations maan….keep them low. Like someone said, “prepare for the worst and hope for the best”, low expectations can help you prepare for the worst.

Do you ever feel one little joy in your heart when you cross a road like Hosur road in peak traffic hour? (not at the signal….generally crossing in between when vehicles are rushing in). It might seem silly….but I do… my teammate says…I walk on the road expecting each vehicle to come and hit me. Probably that’s the reason, I feel happy when I cross it alive :).
Be totally pessimistic and be ready to see any good and 99.99% of the chances you wont be disappointed.

When I get a surprise call from my hubby dear that he is at home before me, and he is planning to put the milk on boil, why do I expect him to turn off the stove when its boiled? I come home and get the baaad stench of burnt milk and all my expectations are blown off….rather burnt off!!!

Why someone else? I have seen myself only thrashing away hopes of so many people, when I dressed up like an idiot to a family function, where many of my new family members wanted to proudly introduce me to their friends and family. Way to go before I improve upon this still!

Hey, I got the Aishwarya Rai movie I was talking about…..Provoked is the movie.
Why did I expect SlumDog Millionaire to be a ‘wow’ movie? I watched it with so much of excitement and it did not live up to my expectations…… Be pessimistic!!! Sometimes it really helps…

All in all dear, if you see that you are hurt by a person, think what has gone wrong from your side….after all the person on the other end is not that bad, as you can see her/him loved by sooo many others….and you are loved too…so it could be just some thought that did not match the frequency of both…..fine tune it….you both will rock…..there will be resonating sound (remember our physics lab in PU ? experiment on resonance?)

All said and done, its your life….hold more friends than foes, more smiles than grouches….

Oh maan….just got a mail…not a good news for the project….aaaaah my day is gone….. wait why did I start cribbing? I think more than anybody, I need to go back and read my post again with all that heavy philosophy!

Have a good day!

New Year... Problems....Resolutions...

2008-12-31T23:48:00.000-08:00

I found three topics really interesting to pen down on....
New Year..... Problems....and Resolutions...
Nothing connected to each other.....but may be they are.....let me see...
First of all.....wish you all a very happy new year....a year full of pleasant surprises.....a year full of smiles....a year full of blessings.....a year that would be really full of memories for years to come....
one second...hold on...
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
k....I am back now.....had got a call......naaaaa not any friend/relative wishing Happy New Year...... some Insurance related...."Would you be interested in our offer" call.... Hmm....with my usual tone I said...."No not interested"......the lady on the other end replied...."Ok Madam...no problem....Happy New Year!" Aaaaaawwww I should have talked in a little softer tone.....but it wasnt intentional also :( I hope that poor soul gets many many customers who would want to take her offer.....my new year wish for her......
With this, I think I should make a resolution to be more kind to people when I talk.......dont know....sometimes situations turn out the way you dont want it to.......Ok....Ok....nothing happened now.... I am Ok....very much Ok.... I thought I will make a resolution that I wont eat chocolates for the complete month of Jan09.....reached office, a cubicle mate offered Toblerone and I gobbled it......then all that I told myself was...."OH!" and then..."Itna cheating tho chalega yaar!"......Hmm I have a problem....what to do? I love chocolates/icecreams/some sweets/chat items/.../.../... the list will continue;to put it in one word "JUNK". Everyone has problems......no, I am not talking about the major problems....terrorism, pak, hamas bombings.....yes there are many....but we also have so many which are great ones at some point of time, someone wants to go on a trip with friends, but the manager is hell bent on not giving leave..."I saw Karzzz in PVR!!! Paisa barbaad"....see the problems...aur suno....My friend cribbing that she is bored of eating upma every morning for breakfast...and ask me who cooks at her home....its she only who cooks...now what problem is this!!!!!!One more saying..."Rithaaaa I lost my ATM card again"...hmm there is a serious problem... someone is desperately trying to reach to her crush....but the call is not going thru....see problem exists......and in many cases, the problem persists...
With all this as part of life in 2008, we have stepped into 2009.....We dont know what's in store (dont ask me which store..medical store or retail store......Did you shout NO PJs????)

Enjoy your year ahead....if Resolutions are a problem...just chuck them....leave it....one of my friends has put in her status message : "Resolutions!!!" sounds so broken... Do you like the sound of someone breaking a piece of chocolate with nuts??

Lazy Sunday....

2008-11-09T23:38:00.000-08:00

Do you feel the same too?

Lazy Sunday...

Waking up at eleven in the morning
Freshening up, but still yawning
Hunger is more and the energy low….
“Should I have breakfast or lunch now?”
Who cares about it anyway?
Life feels a waste sometimes on this lazy Sunday….

Pick up the laptop to check for mails…
Routine of checking new movies never fails….
Sit with friends and discuss just anything
Fight to watch your favourite show on tv
and end up seeing youtube videos and enjoying..
Life feels fun sometimes on this lazy Sunday…

Gobble up something in the name of dinner…
Play that last game online and declare yourself a winner…
Complain that the weekend is getting over….
Promising that we will not waste a weekend ever..
The promise which is kept never….
Life feels philosophical sometimes on this lazy Sunday…

-- Ritha Hegde

The journey begins.......

2008-09-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

I remember reading somewhere like - The journey to a destination is more enjoyable than the destination itself. Writeup today is something revolving around it.

I for the first time was about to step out of my country. I did not have enough time to prepare myself for this trip......and so I had the feeling that I would miss out somethings... But yes, I had to start my journey on the date my company wanted me to.....there was no other go... It was definitely a mixture of all feelings.....sad that I had to leave my dear hubby alone and happy that I would be seeing something new..... Anyways, will not get into the details of it, as this post is about the journey that I said.

With loads and loads of information from every possible source around, there I was in the airport...all alone. Little nervous and pretending to be confident, I moved along to the baggage checkin counter. A lady standing in front of the counter, smiled and handed over a paper to me.... I smiled back, folded the paper and kept it in my handbag. She also handed me the cabin baggage tag and I promptly attached it to my bags. Got my luggage checked in and was instructed to move to the immigration counter next. There were many queues and I went and stood there, with my boarding pass and passport in my hand. I was pretending to be confident and was looking around....and what do I see...hee hee....ppl are holding their passport, boarding pass and a sheet of paper....form like..... oh oh...i think that lady gave that only.... where did i keep it, did i drop it?....ok its in my bag.....went back, filled it and stood in the queue again and then cleared it and the next baggage checking also fine. Then there was this big seating area where ppl are sitting and waiting.... My flight was at 2:20 in the night. I had my dinner at around 8 that day and had started for the airport...was not able to eat much also with all the thoughts gng on in my head....

It was around 12:3o in the night that i started feeling hungry..... looked around to see what I could eat.....i saw a pizza shop, a cafe shop, some other shops of not much importance to me at that time (ya i mean the book store, the garment store etc etc...). There in the cafe, I saw they were selling fruit bowls too.... dont even ask me how much it cost me.....but ya it was all fresh and good.

I think I wil skip some details here, as it would be of no use to you nor its anything worth remembering for me.

I went and sat in one of the empty chairs......cursing myself for not getting along anything with me to read also........oh god how wil I pass my time....its just 12:45 and I need to wait for atleast an hour more :(

A middle aged gentleman came and sat next to me and said "Hi", introduced his name as some Santosh or something ..forgot now...and working for some company...forgot that also....

"Travelling alone?"

"Hmm"

"Where to?"

"US"

"First time?"

"No" :P

Ya I was behaving like the kid who has been instructed not to talk to strangers....so I told him "Not the first time" :-) But why was he trying to get over - friendly anyways!

Then there were general talks of "This new airport is good na" types....

After sometime...."Ok then its my flight time, got to leave now..... see ya"

Hmm.... clock is stil ticking 1:15...... oh man why isnt the time running now as it does when we are studying for our exams? or when we get up late to go to office?

Few minutes later..... an aunty took the seat next to me....smilingly she said "Hi".

She asked - "Tamil?"

"No aunty Kannada"

"bangalore?"

"haan"

"naan kooda bangalore.....tamilian....kannada artha ...." and she smiled and gestured.... I understood that she can understand kannada.

She said she was travelling alone, for the first time to San Francisco.

"Oh....ok"

She asked me to help me out if needed in the flight as we had the same flight till HongKong and she could not understand or speak english. I checked her tickets and found that our seats were way apart. In any case I told her that I would help her in all possible ways.

After boarding into the flight, I saw her in the HongKong airport only directly. She had her flight 2 hours before mine. Reached HongKong at aroung 11 in the morning, and my next flight was at 4 only. So I had all the time in the world to see the airport leisurely......
Oh god I think I wrote a lot today.... will continue some other day.....

Thanks a million.......

2008-07-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

I want to write on this, but just don’t know where to start it from…… I know this is the most wonderful topic on which probably anyone of us could go on and on…..so I want its starting to be a fantastic one too!
But if I just keep searching for words at this stage, then this special day will just pass….so I will just jump to where I want to go….

With the friendship day, friendship week and all in the talks this season…..I thought I should remember my friends who made me feel special sometime, made a difference in my lives and may be who just dint know that they did it….. Somethings that I was never able to tell them personally, here I want to make sure I praise them all…. Names not disclosed here for some reasons…but if your story is there, you will catch your part there for sure! If your name is not mentioned, that means I have told you already that I love you J

I will go with alphabetical order may be….

Arcs, I will never forget the way you made me special with your special birthday surprise when we were in college…. The roses you got up every hour or so…..what a wonderful gesture….I was thrilled…..one of the best surprises I have ever got…. Thank you…..

Ch, you have always been a mental strength for me when I was away from my family. You have always fascinated me with your matured behavior…. I have learnt a lot from you….you were strict, you sometimes scolded….but you were really adorable…..When I call you, the word you say ‘hmm helappa’…..love you for all that you are!

Gau, kya hua re tere poems ka? Kahaan gaya who saara passion? Lagtha hai client ne tera jeena haraam karke rakha hai…thanks for helping me send a gm message to KM :)

Hg, when the mobile technology was just booming and you were one of the guys around who had a mobile. Thanks for showing those n number of messages to me and help me quench my thirst of exploring the mobile at that time. Thank you.... I really admire the way you respect each of your friends.....

Na, the liveliness, the energy…..hats off… There were sometimes in my life when I was down….calling you up and talking to you has always instilled a smile on my face. I know we have fought so many times, but that I guess is a part of friendship. We don’t call up each other every now and then….but when we do, I still know I am talking to a dear friend…..Thanks for being the same always…..

Nith, a synonym for smile….She has that smile instilled on her face almost all the time… I have felt my tension melt when I am around her… Nith, love you dear…. Hope you are on your way to become the best cook by now J

Panna, a cousin, a friend and what not… you are one of the firsts who made me feel that someone can actually look up to me too! Thank you for making me feel important… You have such a pure and an honest heart…. I hope this big bad world does not change it anytime.

Pra, one of the most matured guy I have met…. With all the odds in your life, the way you have rose to the heights you are today…. I just am short of words….’WOW’ and a great applause for you….. Keep it up… Thanks for teaching me the trick of reminding friends of your birthday….If they don’t wish you, just send them a ‘Thank You’ message :)

Ra, if I have got great marks in my lab exams, I know I owe it all to you. What a mentor you were….I know many others also who felt the same….so don’t dare to argue with me over this point! When I asked a doubt, I knew I was asking the right guy, if you don’t know….no one else can know… Thanks helping to clear all the misunderstandings we had….and being the same old Ra to me as you were before….except that ‘re’ ofcourse!

Rosh, love you dear…. You are the one I disagree the most with….but you know I just cant say ‘no’ to you for anything….

Sen, one of the mostest intelligentest guy I have ever met who never makes the others feel he is so good! This is something anyone should learn…but for me its not useful as I can never dream to be as intelligent as him any day of my life. Thanks for getting the poet inside me to life sometime back…but its dead again now :P

Sham, the perfectly imperfect guy…its so difficult for me to digest how we became such good friends. Thanks for loosing all the fights we have…makes me feel intelligent…though from deep inside, from day one, I know you are a genius. Thanks for helping me be myself when with you.Thanks for all the surprise mails which make my day :)

Shi, I just cant stop adoring the way you are…. I have never seen you cribbing for anything….no complaints about anyone…however hard I try, I know I can never reach there…

Sup, I miss seeing that positive glow during lunch time… I miss those talks we had….I miss a person who would listen to all my cries patiently…. I miss you…

Sm, the one who got the child in me back to life….with whom I don’t have to think 10 times before I talk….You are different and be tht way…I know you are stupid, I know you are an idiot, but I know you also scored more marks than me in the exams…so no comments :P. You better get me loads of dark chocolates when you come back….

Sur, I love the combo of modernity and traditionality in you…. The perfect blend of both… Down to earth that you are inspite of thousands of accolades that come your way every day…. I really don’t know how you cope up with them…. Be what you are….everyone around loves you for that only :-)

Sush, never say die attitude… whatever you are today, I know its all on your own…Thanks.. I don’t know for what….but I love you as a friend.

Simi, Rash and Sush, thanks a lot for making it to one of the special days of my life...my wedding day.... I could feel the affection you had on me...

Va, what do I say about you? Thanks a lot for wasting your time to get the diagrams drawn for me in my lab records. Thanks for listening to my cries whenever I wanted you to....thank you...

You all and many more have made me the way I am today…. If you read it and dint find your name, then as I said, it only means that I have already told you many times what you mean to me.

You are the bright sunshine in my life
You are the soothing morning dew
You are the one there for me in any strife
God has blessed me, hope you are blessed too

Happy Friendship Day!

Stories of Vanished Mobiles

2008-05-06T03:16:00.000-07:00

"My cellphone is ringing, no one is picking it!"
"Now it says switched off!"
"Oh, out of coverage area! So soon they took off the sim from my cel already!!!"
These were the words my teammate uttered in breaks of 2 mins each, in the morning when she stepped in the cubicle.
Ya, she forgot her cel in the bus....someone saw it, flicked it and threw off the sim.....
This incident just prompted me to think back on different stories I have heard on mobiles vanishing.... Just trying to put it down...
Nothing great...but ya, most of them real stories as far as I remember.....may be I would have added a little masala wherever I forgot the link....

Let me start with my own story :
My first mobile..... I lost it in a overcrowded bus. I dint drop it anywhere, but someone very cleanly picked it from my carry bag.....Just my vallet and mobile were gone and nothing else touched. Dont ask me what else worth was there! Went to the police station to complain....with 100% guarantee that I wont get it back ( confidence aah?). Ya I will have to make sure my number is not misused na..... Ok I went to the police and he made me write the complaint the way he wanted saying I dropped it somewhere and all that. And then his lecture started.... "You know you IT people only have spoiled the public here.....you use major gadgets and tempt people to steal it." ( I swear his mobile on his table was atleast double the price of my mobile) . I was very upset with my mobile and a tear just dropped when he started blaming me. I guess he was not expecting that, he changed the course of his lecture.... "You know what madam..... you should help us catch the criminals. Next time you are in the bus, keep your carry bag open and act as though you are careless....but you be observing. When someone comes to pick it, you catch them red handed" (Hmm what an idea sirjee! Anyone wants to give a try?)

Story of Smith :
She had gone for some trekking. She left the mobile somewhere there only. She came and realised that it had vanished.... She and some of the friends tried to contact her number. It rang for sometime and later on we got "Its switched off" message. Then after 2 days we got a call from her mobile from an elderly gentleman (voice sounded elderly) saying he got the mobile in such and such a place. Its battery had died down, so he charged it and contacted us. He took her address and couriered the cel.... See miracles happen!

Story of Manoj :
Manoj sir was woken up from sleep at home when his roommate started shouting "Mobile Mobile". With the sleepy eyes he spotted that the mobile he kept on this table was gone....The window fluttering open said the story. Next day as usual police complaint and all happened. He reached home the next day and saw his sim kept neatly at his door. Very thoughtful thief.... What a message he gave us - If something is not useful to you, give it to the person who will make proper use of it! Jai ho.....

So what's your story? Do let me know in the comments section...

The 10 minute challenge

2008-01-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sounds like a tagline from a product ad? Well...its not....One of my friend, threw a challenge.... Challenge was simple....atleast what I thought at that time...
I had to think of something other than family friends and work for 10 mins at a strech....Sounds simple right?
I felt....aah anytime possible!

I was a little drowned in my work when this challenge was thrown.....when I was returning back home, I thought of it, and gave it a try.....infact many tries :-)

Topic chosen : ShahRukh Khan......why? just like that....
ShahRukh seems to be such a sweet guy.....there is something in him that makes me watch his movies.....I know there are many who like his movies like me....and there are some like my husband who just hate him....aaahh....aaah....no family member to be thought of!!!!!!

Ok no problem....hotha hai....will try after sometime....

Topic chosen : Cricket.....why? hee hee even i dont know...

Just to make it clear..... it wasnt that I had to choose a topic and think about it for 10 mins...i just chose them so that I dont get distracted.....

Ya cricket.....hmm Men in Blue .. Sachin, Sourav, Dravid, Kumble, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Sehwaag, Ishanth Sharma, Uthappa, Kapil Dev, Sidhu, Azaruddin, Mongia, Jadeja, ( I looked at my watch....damn....its just around 15 seconds!!!...Ritha....cmon you can do it!) hmmm Javagal Srinath, Ravi Shastri, gavaskar and ofcourse his son Jr.Gavaskar....his name....hmm... anyways...then....Irfan Pathan, Joginder Sharma, hmm.....Harbhajan ofcourse! and....... who else who else? some more names please.....arre.........whats wrong with me? Am I tensed? ( I think I am desperate to win this challenge!) hmm.....ok let me shift to Aussie team..... Ponting, Gilchrist, Symonds...... "Tan Tan Tananana Tan Tan......taaaanananana naaaaa......." my cell ringing ofcourse....and the call from office...."Hey Ritha, I have overwritten the file in LAN by mistake, do you have its earlier copy with you?".....I felt like 'eeeeeeeeh', yes ofcourse for the challenge being uncomplete.....and yes I did have the earlier version of the file with me.....so.......

Huh....So now? I am going to give it another try....yes and this time with my cell switched OFF....
And this time, believe me, I said NO TOPICS...let me think with the flow.....its just 10 mins after all.....

Pets at home, I have heard are real stress busters...... no no....something is running in the back of my mind....let me start again....

Relaxed for a few more mins and....

When I am free, I am almost always in front of the TV...... my writing habit has like kind of rusted.... I used to read so many books some time back, and now I am all the time hooked on to television......... and the chain of thought went of for a long time...and yes I did NOT think of family, friends or work in between at all......just glanced at my watch to check how much more time to win....and I was all smiles when I saw that I had completed 9 mins 5 secs......gooooood goooooood... so now I can say Arun that I did it!!! Arun by the way, is the friend who asked me to try this challenge.....
So........................................................

I will keep trying....... this is an interesting one for sure...... though for little over 9 mins, it really acted like a stress buster for me...thanks for this Arun!
And others....why not give it a try too?

The city I had left behind.......

2007-11-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

A little bit of background on the write up....

My dad being a bank employee, had to have a transfer every 3 to 4 years...and so along with him, our family moved on too.....thanks to the transfer, I could see different places and have friends from different places. On one such transfer, we were in shamshabad, then a small town near hyderabad. I was there in that city during 1988-1991. Very recently, I had a chance to go to that place again. The things that went on in my mind during my visit is what is being written about......

Around 20 kms from Hyderabad, there was this small town called Shamshabad which today is almost a big city!

When I reached this city, I could recognize nothing except a very faint memory of the bus stand, which stood well painted now. Enquired a person in a shop in the main road about the post office of the town and he showed us the way (Asked for the post office, because my old home there was above the post office). I saw the railway over bridge on the way, it looked almost the same. This was the same route I used to take with my friends from bus stand to home, every single day after I got down from my school bus. Almost a km stretch of this walk from bus stand to home flashed in my mind, when our taxi ran through this street. The driver stopped many times in between and my husband got down to confirm the route.....but I don’t think I was listening anything....I could feel the things happening around me, but with the thinking going on in my mind, I was just not in a position to respond to anything. 15 years back this road was never crowded; there wasn’t even a small house or shop till we reached the railway bridge. It was this part of the road where I and my friends would imagine being attacked by a robber, or getting kidnapped..... No doubt the movies had corrupted us. With just less than 50 paise in our pocket, we would imagine being robbed. I smiled, and a honk of our taxi got me back. I looked around and saw some apartments on the either side of the road...some huge shops of sarees, jewellery...... I guess robbers have a better chance these days.

Unlike the street I used to walk almost more than 15years back, the streets of shamshabad are so crowded....with so many vehicles and pedestrian traffic, our taxi was almost moving at the pace of a snail...ok...may be a bit more than that! With every thing I used to see on the street, I was getting nostalgic....traveling back in time and getting back to the present every now and then.

A board written on a closed shop that I saw made me giggle....it’s a very embarassing thing....but let me just put it down. As a kid, me and my friend on our way to school once saw this board which read 'TO-LET'. I think we were in the first standard then. We both wondered what it meant....and we went on to think what it would mean for quite sometime, and had finally come to the conclusion that the owner of the place was just being decent by writing TOILET as TO-LET :-) Imaginations....oh....

Our taxi had now moved some distance from the railway bridge. I saw a double storied building on my right and felt I was back.... With all smiles I told my husband that dad had a colleague who used to live there and that his daughters were my friend too....and with that needless to say, my mind went on to think about them. Me and his daughters, one a year elder to me and the other a year younger to me used to play a lot....but one thing that I still distinctly remember is our quest to find new colors....sounds strange? Well it was fun then, it used to be a fierce competition between all three of us.... Got confused? I am talking about the colors only...red, blue, black etc etc....we would mostly get new color names from the syrup bottles, and some times from the tablets, and sometimes through some colors mentioned in the clothing brands. The colors we used to discover were of course the variants of the basic colors, but then challenge was a challenge....Sunset yellow, Aaron orange, Carmoisine, liquid blue, bond grey, maine pyaar kiya ka pink and many many more.

Just as our taxi was about to take a left turn, I spotted a durgah which is standing strong even till this date. My right hand automatically went on to touch my forehead, the same act which me and my friends used to do as kids as a respect to the god inside the durgah. Just after some 100 metres from the left turn taken, our taxi stopped and he said - 'Jee memsaab, this is the post office on your right'. I was reluctant to get down. I knew this was not the place where my home was.....but then the board was reading loud 'Post Office'. I was still sure that this was not the place where I lived many years ago. But then I had to get down. I called up a dear friend of my dad, who still is in touch. He came down to the post office to greet us and take us to his home. I was just not able to control my curiosity and I confirmed from him that this post office was not the one over which our house was. He smiled and said if I still expected everything to be at the same place as it was years ago! Yes he was right, how did I think that the post office would still be in the same place even today! But thanks to him that he took us to my old home also. I met our old house owners and when I was trying to talk to them, I realized that I still can talk in Telugu. I felt as if these telugu words were hidden somewhere all these years and all of them were suddenly flowing out. With some grammar mistakes here and there, I was very well able to tell them where my parents were now, what my sister was doing and all those stuff. Got to know from them, that one of my friends had ran away with a north Indian guy (their local way of saying she had a love marriage), and that another friend of mine was now very active in politics, one more working in the US as a scientist, a small girlie who was a small baby then is an aspiring model today and most of my classmates like me had taken refuge in the growing software industries. Life has changed for all...it has taken everyone to places and none of them stayed there anymore........

After having some yummy puri sabzi made by dad's friend's wife, we thanked them for the hospitality and bid them bye and started off our journey back to Hyderabad. All the way again, till we left this small city, I was looking out of the taxi window like a small kid and awing at every single point and telling my husband, to be frank I don’t think he heard all of them!

"There used to be a xerox shop here"
" You know there was a biiiig grapes garden on this side of the road"
"Aaah this was a tonga stand, and look now its a garage"
" I was coming here to learn Harmonium classes, and you know my sir was blind but his fingers worked like magic on the harmonium"
"Oh my god, this doctor is still here, he used to give me chocolates to stop me from shouting when he gave me injections"
"Hee hee this studio, the photographer here once had a very tough time as I just refused to smile for a photograph"
" This...this playground, I have fallen countless times here while I was learning to ride a bicycle"

First Time!!!!

2007-09-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Firsts in life are always to be remembered.....always to be cherished.

When there is a talk about first something, many think of the first kiss....but hey think over and there are thousands of other things which gave a great feeling when you had it.....you waited long for it and finally it was there...for the first time....and it continued to happen....but the beauty of the first time still remains...

The first day in school : I just dint want to go to school.....i cried, i shouted, just dint want to go out of the comfortable atmosphere at home to the world of strangers.But this particular first time happened again and again in my life as i went on changing my school every 3 to 4 years!!! Change I think is necessary in life....i changed my school and i got to meet many different people with different viewpoints.Was taught by many gr8 teachers too......

The first appreciation that I got : Be it verbal appreciation or a prize won in some competition, all are cherished....The first one definitely gives you the confidence to go in search of more.Have you ever seen the smile felt in your heart when a new person in your life tells you what you have done is great?Many of us deny this....but once you stop having the hunger to get appreciated, you just might stop venturing out for more wins...think over! We dont need flattery, but yes ofcourse our work shouldnt go unnoticed!

The first salary : Is this not one of the main things that our academic education aims at? A sound salary to lead a sound life....but we dont start off with the greatest salary possible in any industry....but the first salary, how much ever it is..its your money....its something you have earned.....something that you own completely...something precious as always.....the first one!
I just wonder how would some youngsters feel, who get their first salary much less than the pocket money they get at home. I dont say its their parents fault....its their child and they have every right to give them the best of facilities.....but still...would they also feel the same joy on getting their first salary as many others who dont come from a rich background would feel.

The firsts blog that I wrote : Well, on the internet this is the first one I have, but have one already in my company intranet. The joy of publishing my first post there and getting some comments there can never equal the feeling that I have now for posting something here.....

The firsts will always be cherished.

First One!!!

2007-09-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

Finally here.....i have created a blog on the net.....now can have the contents of my diary transferred here.
Contents from my diary are not personal stuff though....some thoughts that just cross my mind, just for change, I wil put them here