I’m 28 today :)

And I feel great 🙂 Not worried about the 30s looming ahead, I’ve no clue why. I’ve heard just too many of my friends worrying about being close to turning 30. Just finished chatting with a cousin, who said she’s terrified she’ll be 30 in two years 😀 Well, so will I; but I’m not bothered. No worries at all, about having turned a year older. In fact, I don’t even feel 28. I still feel 22. That’s when I first got out of the comfort of home and hometown, and stepped into a new city for good, and joined a college for my post graduation course. Ever since, it’s been a string of “new”s…be it cities, companies, job roles, people, situations. So, every new thing that comes along, makes me feel what I felt when I was 22. I’m stuck there, and I like it 😀

So, on to the birthday news…

I got wished close to 18 hours in advance by Hobbes. For some reason I just don’t understand, he seems to think I have a special kind of birthday that extends from start of 1st Nov to end of 2nd Nov. Interesting. Anyways, when I laughed at him for doing this every year (well, last year he was in the U.S., and he said it was because of all the timezone disorientation 🙄 ), he said he was in Goa, and time zones work differently there because of all the alcohol in the Goan air. And also, that he just wanted to be the first one to wish me, that’s all. Veenidathu kidannurundu, athra thanne. 😀

The Queen of Subtlety, when I texted her last night saying I’d be working from home today (for obvious reasons, birthday and work), threw a fit saying I was lying, that she knows I just want to avoid office on the second of November. Well, we all avoid office on our birthdays, she also did. So I was a little baffled by all the accusations. Anyways, after that she sneered at me with a “you wont be awake at 12, I presume”, to which I let out a deep, long sigh and quietly said “lol, yes I will. pls call (to wish)”. I was falling off my chair by 11 itself, but I thought I should stay up and wait for Her Majesty’s call.12 came and went. 12.01 came and went. 12.05 came and went. 12.10 came and went. 12.15 came and went. Well, you get the drift, right? So, me being me, called HER up. And guess what? She did not pick up 😀 So I called again. This time, after the 4th ring-ring, she answered. This conversation followed:

She: Hello…
Me: What behaviour IS this!?
She: Ehe ehe…I am so sorry, I slept off. Happy birthdayyyy.
Me: Yeah, I thought so! After making me stay up, you useless [in my mind I added ‘piece of shit’]
She: You won’t believe it…I stayed on till 11.45, telling myself it’s just 15 more mins…and next thing i know, there’s drool and my phone is ringing…ehe ehe
Me: Yeah, I figured!
She: But I still love you.
Me: I’m supposed to be telling YOU that!
She: Ooops.
Me: So much for being surprise queen, you bloody…I’ve never been THIS surprised before. I’ve got to be the first one to call someone to make them wish me! Pffft.
She: See, this is what happens when you don’t like surprises…this was all planned, this was my surprise for you.
Me: Realllly?
She: Damn, I should’ve said this earlier. AND. This does NOT go out to the public.
Me: I can’t wait to call the other two and tell them this.
She: Fiiiiineah! Be that way! [it is at this point that she sounded like herself; till then, there was a thick coating of embarrassment blanketing her voice, making her sound like a tiny little butterfly crushed under the weight of 3 quilts and 4 pillows!]

Soon after, I called my mom to remind her it’s my birthday. Guess i know her just too well, she’d completely forgotten. Again, “What behaviour is this!? I have just one birthday every year, and you forget that!?” And then comes an apology, a round of laughter and the “Happy birthday” 😀 Oh, this happens most times, and I make it a point to remind people to wish me 😀 Then i teased them all for forgetting Pumbaa’s birthday, and now mine too. Anyway, that shows that we’re both treated equally in the house 😀 Which is a good thing. Comparing me to him is always a flattery. Like how she once saw a picture of mine and said “Pretty. Almost as good-looking as Pumbaa. Almost.” 😀

Ok, that’s all for now. I just HAD to write down the spectacle that The Queen of Subtlety is, before I would forget that brilliant midnight conversation 😉 but I did not want to dedicate another entire post on her, or she’ll start thinking too highly of herself 😀

Thank you, everyone, for the wishes. The ones that were never expected, turned out to be extra sweet. And, thank God for the Internet and webcams 🙂

And while we are at it, Happy Birthday, Shah Rukh Khan 🙂

Now, I really have to get back to work

when life throws lemons at you…

I haven’t been blogging for quite a while now; life got on to a roller coaster (which has happened before) but got derailed this time (which has never happened before) 😀 No major casualties, but definitely left a few bruises will stay for quite a while.

Too many changes happened. Some were planned, some were expected (but hoped not to happen) and some just took me by utter surprise.

I don’t take too kindly to that kind of utter surprise. Sudden changes in decisions, plans, dreams, life, so on and so forth, do not really fall in my list of “I love”s. I am the kind that actually needs time to accept a change and adapt to it well. Even an unplanned movie plan can put me in turmoil. I’m not kidding, it really can. Ask Suraj, if you need evidence 😀 As someone who absolutely LOVES giving surprises, the poor thing has to think a million times before he can give me one (and finally, he always decides not to). 😀

I always need time to prepare myself to major changes: like job changes, relocations, letting people come into and go from my life…

So, when life suddenly throws lemons at me, my first instinct is to duck under the table, rather than make some lemonade out of them.

To start with, I had to quit a job I liked because of certain people and reasons. Then a relocation was briefly considered, which I finally decided will NOT happen. Then my parents relocated back to Trivandrum (and took Pumbaa with them for a while). And then we decided to move houses, which further depressed me, for I’m quite comfortable in the house we live in, and is totally in love with Koramangala (I now totally understand what she meant when she wrote this. And then a few other things happened, which I really do not want to talk about here. So basically, life’s not been too good so far. I don’t think I like 2012 too much 😀 2011 was fun and generally stress-free.

The good things: I’m still in the same house; I’ve got myself a new job (which also gave me a laptop, though I still miss my T410…but well, it serves the purpose well enough); I’m still in my ‘initial days’ at work, making me generally jobless and helping me get back to my blog; I participated in a Blogstar competition at work, and both my posts got featured in the top 15 of a total of 56 posts (yay!!) :D; I’m back to my travel-by-volvo days, and enjoying it much; I am back in charge of the kitchen, since the senior chef ran off to Trivandrum forever…and I’ve held on for a month and half now, without eating out most days like we used to before the parents came to B’lore (makes me pretty proud of myself 😉 ); I’m back to gardening and talking to my plants and making sure they’re happy—which is actually because of Pumbaa’s absence (he used to make sure he got all my time and attention).

So yes, there are a few good things that make me happy; but the bad ones are quite phenomenal, and damn depressing. I try to push them to the bottom of the pile, but well, they keep coming up for air every now and then. Basically, am not very good company now 😀 So, be happy none of you are we-talk-daily friends with me 😀

I’ve been reading all your posts, ‘liked’ some of them and just quietly left without making my presence known on some others. While it makes me happy to know happiness is happening to many of you out there, I’m also quite frustrated that I’m not in the frame of mind/life to be able to be blissfully happy that way.

While we are at it, I’d like to thank my brother, Hobbes, and Vimmuuu (without knowing at all that I’m in no mood to tolerate his nonsense), for making me laugh like mad in some of my down-in-the-dumps moments and making me momentarily forget that I’m dodging lemons. 😀

Life, I tell you! Sigh.

My dad’s 60th birthday!

Birthdays come every year…but the 60th one comes just once 😀 . Exactly why we decided to celebrate it with much ado and make it really, really special for my Dad on 6 July!

Early March: The planning started when I, in union with my brother, decided to dedicate a book to him! That didn’t sound too impressive, did it? Well, let me rephrase it—when I, in union with my brother, decided to actually write a book and dedicate it to him. Something to the effect of ‘Chicken Soup’ series…and since there are 60 members within the family itself, we thought we could get stories from all of them about their relationship with ma Dad. Well, the idea bombed! 😀

Late April: Then we thought we could kidnap him, tie him up, blindfold him and whisk him off to some place he would like…and celebrate with friends, family, food and the best of all—alcohol 😀 . The idea sounded disastrous for health (ours, especially!). 😀

Late May: Then we thought we could ask all his sisters and a brother to come down to Trivandrum…and give him a pleasant surprise—they are all across Delhi, Gujrat, Coimbatore, New York, Atlanta…But well, we knew few could promise attendance…and half the crowd is never as good as the full one (or so everyone says). So, we killed the idea. 😀

Late June: Then we thought we could plan a trip to the Bali islands…my brother had won a 7-day free package to the place—we’d only have to pay for the tickets. A bit too late, we realised Dad’s passport had expired. Damn! The idea died a sudden death. 😀 (The offer’s valid till August end, and Dad doesn’t want a ‘belated burrrday trip’…anyone wanna come along? 😀 )

Early July: Then we thought we could give him a ‘normal’ surprise party…with just the few of us who could make it. By then I had changed my mind just too many times, and was actually in danger of not getting any tickets. But well, I left my self respect in my bag outside the agency…and literally begged the guy to give me a ticket—and I got it. I called up Mom to tell her when I’d be landing and all that…and got the rudest surprise ever…e.v.e.r.! My Dad, who had till then got no inkling that there’d be a birthday party, was going out of town on his birthday! 😀 😀 😀 . The idea backfired!!! 😀

Hehe…I was shocked, but I actually went home without changing my mind further. And we made it…we bought him all sorts of ‘unlikely’ gifts—and well, a Blackberry! And loads of kisses, hugs, and of course, PJs…hehehe 6 July midnight was a fun time at home. He was stunned when he got the Blackberry, and as we expected, he was up till 3 a.m., fiddling with its features and technicalities.

And then, beaming, he said he loved everything! We didn’t even need any more proof since we actually saw him showing it all off to Mom 😀

Glad you loved it, Dad.  And you have no idea how glad we are that we didn’t get the whole family down for the ‘surprise party’…we’d all have been surprised to find the birthday man out of station!

And well, we didn’t even give him a birthday card, not to mention the book 😀 !