11th Second-Birth Day: Gratitude Day

Today is my 11th "birth"day. If I am here, smiling and happy then all the credits go to the people who have supported me for so many years. I am blessed to have a beautiful family and amazing friends.
But, apart of my family and friends, there are a few special people whom I am eternally grateful for, they played a very integral part of who I am; and today on my "second" birth day, I want show my gratitude to them

Dr. Anil Bhatia 
I wouldn't be me, if it wasn't for you. You are, and forever will be my favorite doctor for life. I think its your optimism that rubbed on me and made me confident enough to show my "scary" looking hand and proudly walk in that hospital when others were covering their injuries.
Thank you for everything that you have done for me. You gave me my life back

Subhasis Sir & Prashant Sir
You hired me when I was nothing. I lacked skills, I lacked on experience and still I was hired. I have learnt all what I use on the technical front from you guys. I have learnt 80% of my MS Excel from you.
Thank you for encouraging me to do my Masters and help me complete it too.


Mini Manakame
She was my manager a few months back. She was a mentor to me. An amazing leader for her team. She had this regal air to her. The way she walked, she way she talked. I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to imitate everything she did. I wanted to learn so much from her in that small 10 month stint. She never got angry, always calm. At her position, she really didn't need to accompany us minions for lunch or actually come out of her office and say that she won't join. At that Level, she had no need to ask us minions about our lives, but she cared, she was compassionate towards her team, she dealt every situation so beautifully, be it a team achievement or a team issue, she just knew what to do.  She gave credits to a good job done. she taught me perfection. she taught me little things. she was there to guide me, very supportive every time. 
If I ever I have a team, I want to be like her. I am and will be in awe of her all my life

11 years, and some things just remain with you for life. Now, when I say what happened then, I feel like I am narrating a story. It is a story though, the longest, most influencing chapter in the story of my life. 

CTT: Happy Homecoming

I dropped you there, and saw your car go

I stood there, and looked as far as my eyes could follow

I start counting the days, hours minutes until I see you again from that moment on

I came back to an empty house, and sat on the couch until dawn

Your fragrance lingers everywhere

I may not admit, but so much I care

I feel your touch and miss your smile already

To stay alone, not yet, I am not ready

You are away just for a few days and it feels like ages

If my life were a book, you are its most beautiful pages

I lay alone in that cold bed

All I can think is you, in my head

I scroll down my phone and smile at your pictures

Those videos and all that cuteness

I couldn't sleep a wink, you are coming tonight that I know

I realized I love you so much, much more than I care to show

PC: Charoletteville

CTT: Teen Mundi Bhoot (Three Headed Witch)

This weekend, we were driving back from somewhere are started talking about ghosts and ghouls, then the topic diverted to beliefs and rumors about ghosts.

Then I told Awin about the "Teen Mundi Bhoot" (The headed witch) rumor that was spreading in our school when I was about 7. (which I am sure many of my friends would remember)

The rumor was that the Teen Mundi Bhoot is a lady with long hair, bloody teeth and red eyes, wears a white gown and floats, knocks the door and eats up all the little kids at home. My brother, then was 3 and I started weeping my heart out saying "I need to go home and save my brother" 

I remember the teachers had to call my parents to pacify me and ensure that my little brother is safe.

Today, when I look back, I feel, even now if there is a "Teen Mundi Bhoot" lurking around to eat my brother, I would still weep and try to save him. (while I was saying this, my eyes got moist, my voice started to quiver)

First time ever, I saw the "Awww" look in my husband's eyes.

CTT: Do you mean it?

So, here I am on a weekend, plonked on my balcony swing with nice hot chocolate and a plate of shortbread.


I take a bite of a yummy shortbread, drop a few crumbs on my laptop that has a few social media sites open and very frequently I read people on social media sharing "I would travel and gather memories than gather a huge bank balance"

I wonder, how many of them really mean it.

I mean, honestly I can touch my heart and say, I would rather have a huge bank balance, a nice house of my own and limited travel memories than be broke, on the road and a lot of memories when I am old.

It's a personal opinion though.

#Dashtalks Hi House

The situation was like this

Last evening, the husband was supposed to be at work and was coming home late, we spoke about it on the phone a few hours back and I reached home earlier than him.

I unlock the door of my house and enter the house, which was as expected, Dark

Then just for fun I said loud...mind you real loud "Hi House"

And deep inside my master bedroom a muffled sound comes "Hi, You are back"

I was stunned, scared, and was about to shit bricks and run ouy of the house when the husband emerges from the bedroom wrapped in a blanket with a stupid grin on his face "I thought I should come home and work, but I slept"

It was a mixed emotion moment for me - Relief, Anger, Dumb, Scared.

For one full moment, I couldn't trust if that blanket wrapped thing is my husband or some entity, but that stupid grin confirmed that this can't be no ghost. Phew!

I swear to the heaven up above, that never, never ever will I say "Hi House" again in my life

Hi 2017....Ok Bye 2016

This is the mandatory new year post

Dear 2016, 

I loved you. but I think I would move on.

You were nice and everything. You did give me a lot of memories

But 2017 is giving me more hopes.

Bye....

So that's how we parted ways with 2016

Why did I break-up with 2016?

It was well...nice...yeah that's it.

I grew up a bit. There were few significant decisions in my life. I traveled less than I did in 2015. My friends have got very busy in their lives and we hardly got to catch-up this year. My health was not that good most of the year.

We lost a few people in my country, which was pretty sad

Well, a few good things did happen; I went for a half month long vacation to one of my bucket list destination "Ladakh". I got creative and made some super cute DIY decors for my house and....this year ended too soon.

One really good thing this year was that it did keep up all my resolutions that I had made last year. 

2016 Resolutions

More attention to Rantzz of A Drama Queen: I did write a lot in this blog

One Week One post: I promised myself 48 posts by the end of this year. But, I almost doubled it up. 90 posts in Rantzz of a Drama Queen and 112 posts in my other blog at the end of December 2016 *applause*

But, I think I was over 2016 and he had to go. Well....so long.....

I have been told to make just three resolutions, its easier to remember and to manage so.

Hello 2017 *winks* 

This is our agenda for the year,

* Write a lot in both the blogs: By the end of the year, from May onward, I started writing much lesser than I used to. I just made excuses to not write. This year I am sincerely going to try again. Amen!

* Shop Less, Save More: I impulsively shopped way too much in 2016. This year I am going to try hard not to. I have started making amends too, so that looks like a good start for now

* Read more books and, complete at least 3  TV series: Last year, I did read but very less. I started seven TV series and completed just two, which is bad.

Now, 2017 I want you to be nice and bring me and my family a lot of good things, great news, plenty of money and a lots of peace of mind.

XOXO

I love you already 

CTT: 12 Months of 2016

Twelve Things I am grateful for in 2016

January: Thank you for being the birthday month

February: Thank you for the scrabble Valentine

March: Thank you for the guts to color my hair

April: Thank you for a supportive family and colleagues

May: Thank you for the many DIY ideas

June: Thank you for the good health

July: Thank you for a tick on my bucket list

August: Thank you for the prizes I won this month

September: Thank you for Ganpati, Navratri, free dandiya, and lovely durga pooja

October: Thank you for Diwali and the mesmerizing lights at home

November: Thank you for Mumbai

December: Thank you for being a beautiful year.

Good Bye!

CTT: Rainy Day

I stand at the frosted french window

Prim and proper, feeling limbo

With steaming coffee in my hand

And other in the pocket of my pants

I stare far at the pitter-patter rain drops

The grey cloud, and the tiny little shops

The city wears such a gloomy look

Like doom just overtook

I feel so sleepy

Work is making me weepy

Coming back to work after a vacation

Feels nothing less than a retribution

CTT: Generation Alpha

Today evening, I was coming back from work with a heavy backpack and empty silly looking lunch box. All tired, and my hair sticking out of my head like twigs.

I see a group of kids near the elevator playing with a fallen bicycle. The kids would be around 3 to 6 year olds. They looked at me with this "Who? What is this? Thing" kind of look

I heard them talk and I was in awe, what impeccable manners and what good English. 

"Rahul, Could you call Aryan. I need to speak to him now"
"I am sure I called him. But I will try calling him again"
"I hope he comes this time. I really need him here"
"We need to move. The elevator is coming to zero (zee-row)"

At that age, I was blubbering in street Hindi and Tamil. I knew lift. Elevator..What elevator?

The standards, the education, the quality of these kids are a total different level.
I'm so proud to see such an amazing future of our country, errr..the bright future of our country who might be working in some other country.

#DAshTalks When its all about ?

Those days when both of us feel meh...and the chats look meh...

CTT: My travel diaries

I went to my Mumbai to my "mother's house" last month for some reason.  Normally, when I travel home, my husband is with me, very rarely have I gone home alone. He couldn't join me in this trip.
I travel quite a bit, but why this trip deserved a post? Well, because it was different.

Flying from Bangalore to Mumbai, was like a well planned operation(I ain't elaborating that). I took a bus to the airport, next to me seated for this man, 35ish, serious looking, but had this dimpled charm to him. I started reading a mafia book and that I think got him interested and we got talking. This man is a criminal lawyer in Indian Supreme Court. He had come to meet his family here. I asked him about his best case, his worst case. He amused me with his stories, with smart, dumb, stupid, criminals. The airport came and we parted ways.

In Mumbai, I met my cousins and after years we were really together again, and it meant a lot to me to see the whole family together and smiling.

I had a flight back to Bangalore after 3 days, I met my old friends, colleagues, my old boss, saw the new revamped office and had this nice feel good thing in me that morning.

I reached the airport pretty early, and incidentally got talking to a security there. She said, she keeps meeting celebrities day in and day out. She works for 12 hours, standing with an hour's break. She lost her husband and misses her children. We shared a cup of tea, a lot of smiles and parted ways.

In my flight, I got the aisle and a young girl, very athlete looking, wearing a rugged woodland shoes took the window, her friend was sitting on the window one seat ahead of us and a lady known to them, was sitting on the opposite seat. There was this man sitting behind us who knew the woodland shoe girl in my seat, and they started talking in Marathi.

Background: The boy and woodland girl were classmates. Boy works in Bangalore. Girl is studying in Bangalore. Boy is going back to Bangalore from home and the girl was having a stopover flight in Mumbai after a Himalayan Trek

So, moment I heard the Himalayan trek, I knew I had to talk to her, and the 'networking mode' in me switched on. A group of these kids, were studying "Glaciology" Its a study about glaciers. I had no idea that there is a dedicated course for glaciers. That got me all ears, she introduced me to her professor, the lady in our opposite seat and all three of us got talking about Himalayas and few more passengers joined us. It was like one big meeting by the end of the 90 minute flight. We reached Bangalore and parted ways.

I took a bus back from the airport, I met a "hippy" looking man seated next to me. He asked me about my new phone and that's how we got talking. That man is an artist, and an IT enthusiast, and has a 5-year old daughter. He had been travelling for the past 90 days, without luggage, he buys on the move and recycles or gives it away. All he has was a camera bag and a rucksack, he was now coming back from somewhere in the northeastern part of India . He and his friends, make a point to take off every year to anywhere. My stop arrived and we smiled and parted ways.

I met so many people, in different walks of life, in different professions. What I realized is, all it takes one "Hi" and one smile to start a conversation. No numbers, no names, no emails, nothing got exchanged. But, a lot of goodness did get exchanged.

I write this with a coffee on my desk, full moon shining through my window and someone playing a guitar somewhere far.

Happy Birthday Blog!!!!

I started writing 8 years back. Then, I was sad, lonely and wanted to talk it out. I wanted to yell my feelings. I was naive, stupid, a bit arrogant too. I started blogging in October 2008. I have never celebrated my blog's birthday, mostly because I think of celebrating around July-August of every year but forget by the end of September.

So, this year I have decided to celebrate my blog's Happy Birthday.

I have chosen a few couples; my classmates, colleagues, and friends.

I am going to have real life love stories.

Each story will be written by the couple themselves and one story each will be published every Monday, all of October.

Enjoy reading them, and don't forget to wish "Happy Birthday" to my blog.

Love Story 1 - When Kolkata met Mumbai

Love Story 2 - US

Love Story 3 - Destined to be together

Love Story 4 - Raja Hindustani

Love Story 5 - Knight in Shining Armor

8th bday guest post 6: Knight in Shining Armour by Sandhya

I wanted the best story of all to be on the last Monday of my blog's birthday month and the last day of the birthday month.
When I was scrolling my Facebook searching for a couple for my last story, I came across one of Sandhya's post, and I was like why not, I was sure that a super cute girl like her has to have an amazing story to share.
When I asked her to write, I knew nothing about her life, all I knew was this bubbly, beautiful woman with a great penchant for food. She was nervous when she submitted her post. And I fell in love with this post instantly.

This post is written by the very pretty, Sandhya. She has used the third person voice in her love story. 

Here is Sandhya's story

Through blurred eye she stared at the mirror… the swelling reduced, allowed her to look at the pale lost person staring back. Bruises from the day before and of many days of the past still showed. She felt groggy…..The details of the night before still played in her head.

It was the day she realized who her true knight was…..he wasn’t who she pictured like that at all.

But it’s he who saved her…

All of five, the little one staunchly stood between her and the figure that towered over them both.

There, curled up on the bare floor, through a bleeding nose and groggy eyes, she saw her true savior… her faith in the most unselfish love renewed.

The little one, of who she was the protector for 9 months and more, was suddenly the reason she was alive…. her reason to be alive.

But was she really?

For her little knight, she was the ultimate …supermom, super ‘Boss’ best tickle bunny partner…super chef…super everything. But only she knew the burden of not loving oneself.

But suddenly, that day, in front of the mirror, things started getting clearer and more vivid than before.

PC: clipartkid

As the day wore and the evening set in, Sandhya decided it was time to put things in the past, and move on…it was time to fall in love again. Find that person who she once was…that carefree happy go lucky person she once was.

It’s not easy you know… once bitten twice shy. But her little knight egged on….. unknowingly , nonchalantly , every day…every moment.

Determined she moved forward, promising not to stop till she finds herself…finds Love …again

Then , when she did set on that journey of discovery …every day has been a celebration…every moment to be rejoiced.

The little girl hidden within slowly emerged, shyly at first…little by little, day by day…

Cooking with a hum, learning something new every year, taking that morning walk, gardening, sketching, travelling with her knight, exploring new nooks to have that hot breakfast or the best new ice-cream in town, catching up on a movie , reading that bestseller with the nicest filter kaapi, she suddenly enjoyed this new company … she discovered the best relationship she could have.. that one self she could love… needs to love the most …. Herself. Not the shadow that she had become, but the true reflection of she was…. And thus she fell in love again.

Suddenly , there was new meaning in life again, letting go of the past was her best way to find herself…find love

Laughing  unabashedly.. that loud laugh, head tilting ,loud ,unapologetic filled with true glee,

Following her little dreams, making honest memories to cherish , watching her knight grow to be promising your lad , in loving herself did she truly discover what loving anyone else was.

Suddenly, all the songs were about her…… sigh! And the journey has only just begun…picture abhi baaki hai dost….. definitely not yet The End!

My Note: I have edited some parts, some words, some tones in my previous birthday stories of my guests. But, this story, I did not feel like editing anything. I wanted the story and its emotion to be the way it was written by its author. Thank you Sandhya for sharing this lovely post and making my blog's birthday super special. I have read this story at least 30 times before posting just to get the feel of that emotion. XOXO. God Bless you and your knight.

8th Birthday guest post 4: Raja Hindustani by Pranali

Its guest post birthday Monday again. Our fourth story is from an ever bubbly, super cute, model looking girl Pranali. She is an inspiration to look up to. Salutes to her achievements at this tiny age. She is a rock star in my eyes. 

Pranali says -

So "Raja Hindustani" that's what our friends  say about our relationship. Roller coaster ride of 8 wonderful years.  

From the time I was a teen I had been clear about one thing in my life, that any heart related matters, any boy related matters will first have to be approved by my family.

Valentines day of 2009 is the day we met for the first time -14th February 2009. 

He was my neighbor. Tall, dark and charming is what I would say, my eyes saw. I was kind of floored already but I had my self set "family approval" conditions in my head.

So when Mr. Raja Hindustani proposed me after a week, I went to my mother and explained, I told her what I felt and after two weeks of discussions, arguments, changing conclusions, I managed to convince my family.

PC: youtube

That evening, I confessed my love to the man who loves me much more than I do, and the joy, the blush, that butterfly feeling cannot be explained in words.

I realized its not the end of this story, its just a tiny beginning, the journey from I to We and in that "we" its not only me and him but almost all who do has significant contribution in our life like our parents, siblings, extended family and ofcourse our friends

We did have our moments of downs too. Those fights, arguments, tears, long phone calls, smses. We have more up's than downs I must say, had those super cherish able memories in the past 7 years.

We are both family-oriented people and we want to fulfill both our families expectations. I am grateful to have a very supportive family and more importantly my Raja Hindustani- Sachin, who stood by me in all my thick and thin.

After 8 years of wonderful journey, when I look back, I can only be grateful to God who gave me Sachin and I pray to be blessed by Ganpati Bappa to continue my journey forever as Mrs. Sachin from November 25th on wards.

My Note: 8 years and many more to come. God bless you Pranali and Sachin, you guys make a cute couple. and Thanks for sharing your story with me. Lots of Love.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!!!

8th bday guest post 3: Destined to be together by him

This is not just another Monday. This is the third Monday of my blogs birthday month and here today I present the love story of one of the cutest couple I know. A boy with an amazing sense of humor and a girl with a charming smile. Their chemistry is so evident in the pictures they post. Both are animal lovers and have adopted a a cute and shy little dog

Well, here is the story from His side

I had no real reason to hate Her. I just did. Every time I saw Her in office, I would wonder “Who the fuck does she think she is?!?!” 

She had joined work just a few months before me but she already seemed to walk around like she owned the place and everything and everyone in it. And that included me. And that I couldn’t take. She had a boyfriend, who worked in the same office and every time I saw them together, I didn’t know who to feel bad for. We worked together for a couple of months and then I moved out of that job.

I moved around for a few years, freelancing for different companies just to see all that was out there. I wanted to try out all the pastures before I settled down with a little piece of land for good. I had the exact same philosophy when it came to relationships.

About 3 years later, I was on a new project and a few days into it, I was told that some new team members would be joining us for a meeting. As I walked into the conference room, I just saw the back of Her head and knew who it was. I made a sly, mean remark that was intended to imply friendliness and familiarity. It wasn’t taken kindly. 

Over the next couple of months, I realized that I couldn’t connect with any of the other team members and that if I was to have a friend in the entire team, it would have to be Her. The fact that she felt the same way made it easier for us to get along.

By the time that project had come to an end, we both had realized that there was more to this friendship than either of us had intended. It didn’t bother me so much but I imagined my girlfriend would have something to say about this and Her boyfriend (the same one), would definitely have fistfuls to say. As time passed, things started to heat up and after a point they were too hot to handle. I was single again, not because I wanted to be with Her forever but because I realized that my current relationship wasn’t going anywhere, at least for me. Soon, we were in that strange zone where neither of us knew what was happening but we wanted to see where things could go. When things began to become serious, I did the only thing I knew how to do – I ran!

I ran away, out into the open. Ran into a couple of girls but then kept on running. All this, while I was still in touch with Her. She was also single now. After a lot of meetings and discussions, we decided to officially start dating. It was great to finally be with her and not have to hide from the world. Things moved ahead, she moved in and once again, life was good. Soon, her parents, who were more than happy that her previous relationship had ended, started pressuring her to get married to a nice boy. Meetings were being setup and profiles were being shared. I knew all of this was happening and when she asked me about our future together, I still had only one phrase that was harmless and yet effective, “I don’t know”.

PC; quoteaddicts

One fine day, she put her foot down and asked me what I wanted. I told her that I wasn't ready for a lifelong commitment yet. That night she moved out, with all her stuff. The next morning, when I woke up and my hand searched for her on the other side of the bed and found nothing, I knew I was in trouble. I woke up! I decided that I never want to wake up and not find her beside me, ever again!

I decided that in the evening, I would meet her and propose to her. I met a friend and told her about my plans. She was excited, more so because she had never seen me so excited. After a while, a fear set in – what if evening would be too late? I made the call. I told her what happened in the morning and I told her that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. We waited till the evening to actually meet up. I got her a nice little symbolic ring and we had a little celebration that night.

This was the fun part of the story. The drama was yet to begin. Parents got involved. Religion became a problem. Conversion was thrown up as an option. Parents got angry. Eventually we realized this is the price we had to pay and that we were more than happy to pay it as long as we could be with each other. In the years that followed, she managed to turn me into a more responsible man, a more sensitive man, an animal lover and so much more. It’s been 4 years since we exchanged our vows in front of the fire but the fire still burns and she still wows me every day. And yes, I never wake up to an empty bed.

My note: My first reaction was, "This could be a movie script". I love love-stories especially the ones that are so cute. I so want to know her version of the story too. 

Thank you buddy for sharing your story. May you and her be blessed forever.

8th bday guest post 2: Ush + Sid = US

Its the second Monday of this blog's birthday month and as promised here is the second story of the birthday month.
This is the story of a very cute friend, whom I know from Orkut days, and then we met and I realized she is such a cute Leo. Her man, Sid, well I don't know much about him.
Let me introduce our couple of the day, Usha and Siddharth and their POV's on how their story started

Usha says,

The moment I met this guy, I was super disoriented. So charming!! But my brain sent out warning signals to my heart: Don't fall for this guy. And with good reason, too. I mean he's cute and has a heart-melting smile, but He is also super forgetful, very unromantic (which is very difficult for the romantic in me to digest), no sweeping-off-the-feet and he talks more than me (which is saying something). Basically not what I had in mind.

But seldom does the heart listen!

Differences apart, Sid and I are alike in so many ways. We both love travel, and love to eat. He does random, stupid shit with me and balances out my crazy with his sanity. He chatters away endlessly and is the most enthusiastic, mad, crazy person I have met. 
He gushes when I do the smallest thing for him. and once in a while, if I'm really lucky, he does cute romantic gestures too, and is then engulfed by disbelief at how I've managed to make him a sappy cow!
You can never be pissed at him for long - he'll smile and sing a cheesy song, and you will instantly forget what you were mad about. He makes me laugh like no one else can, and makes me feel very special and loved.

As I said, he is not the kind of guy I had hoped to end up with. He is much, much more than what I had hoped for. And I'm glad that I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with my best friend, who happens to be my lover, who happens to be my everything.

Siddharth says,

It was love at first sight. Not quite the orchestra playing Beethoven symphony or anything, my lame heart just chose to skip a beat.  And trust me, it persists even today when I see her.

That smile of hers, oh which completely blew me away and made me go to a world of the pleasant unknown still reminds me of the first time I had rajma in college. Yes! rajma was exceptionally good. Speaking of which this girl is an amazing cook. This I assume is a quality every foodie would want his spouse to have. I'm lucky that way.

Her giggle will make you forget all the sorrows in this world and her anger will make u recollect your slightest mistakes. You act all funny with her and you've had it.  It's amen from there!

Her eyes tell a story which one would never want to see end . She hates it when people lie and loves it when pampered.  
I suck at the latter and am too good at the former. Guess I would eventually learn to suck at lying too. She'll support you and pep you up while you're at an emotional ebb and convert all that negative energy to positive ones. She truly has the Midas touch.

She is the best gift i never thought would get to spend the rest of my life with and would love her with the same zeal I did when I first met her. And that's a promise I'll keep until I live!

My Note: Super cute couple. God Bless you guys forever and thanks for sharing your story for my blog's birthday month. Cheers!

8th bday guest post 1: When Kolkata Met Mumbai by Lakshmi Ajoy

The first story of the birthday month starts with a post from my school friend. A very talented, bubbly girl Lakshmi and her husband Ajoy. Lakshmi is a jewelry designer and a mother of two beautiful daughters.

Lakshmi says

Where Mumbai meets Kolkata...
------------------------------------------
The year of 2005 saw me turning into a young, dynamic, confident, educated and bold young lady- all of 23! I had a great job, was about to appear for my graduation finals in March and already had a degree in Hotel Management. 

The Tamil festival "Pongal" was round the corner and the family had the opinion that the birth of the harvest festival would usher in some good news. Thus, began the soul-mate hunting for me without 'My' knowledge. 

A trip to Shirdi later that month revealed the secrets in my parents' minds. They had begun hunting for an ideal "husband" for me.
This revelation was shocking and I, being a rebel, fought with my family for days end before a sick bedridden grandma and my overtly emotional parents convinced me that the hunt that had just begun would take no less than two years to finalize a match. That sounded a bit convincing to me, two years is enough time to set my career.

A few eager parents of the prospective grooms made random calls to try and match horoscopes and exchange pictures. Nothing seemed to be  working and I was secretly feeling elated. I had better things to focus on; a job as a duty manager in the hotel industry and the finals of my Bachelors in Arts that was round the corner. 
Amidst serious preparations and the exams lurking around a week ahead, the phone bell rang one lazy afternoon with everyone else tucked in bed enjoying a post lunch siesta and me buried with my head in one fat book.

With no one else to pick the call, I reached for it and a sweet voice on the other end went: "Hello! Is this the residence of Mr. Radhakrishnan?"
Me: "Yes, it is. How can I help you?"
Voice: "We have found his daughter, Lakshmi's horoscope matching out son's. Actually, we are from Kolkata and a trip to Mumbai is soon on our cards. Would it be convenient for us to visit your place anytime next week?"
Me: (pausing in shock)" Hmm... I guess I could note your contact number and pass the same to my father. He will get back to you by evening today"

What followed was a series of fast forwarding events. The return phone call, the visit from the parents of the prospective groom-to-be with their elder daughter in law, exchanging photographs, some songs, long conversations, evening snacks and then email ids, my final graduation exam papers, our visit to the groom-to-be's aunt's house at Andheri and done!
The match making was finalized by the parents of both the parties without the groom to be and the bride to be meeting each other face to face.

Way back in 2005, India was still way behind in technology and Yahoo! was probably the only most popular mailing site and Yahoo! messenger was probably the only chat option available with voice hearing technology. The video calling, Skype and chats were a distant dream.

From the first mail that I sent out to the prospective groom whom I hadn't met him and only seen a couple of his photographs on the 2nd of April, 2005, the return mail acknowledging the receipt of my mail, from the first phone call on the 5th of May 2005, to several hours of International satellite calling every single day thereafter, the Cupid had already struck!
By the end of June, both Ajoy(the groom to be) and me (Lakshmi- the rebellious then; not so rebellious now bride to be) were head over heels in love. All without even meeting each other in person.

The dates for the D- Day was fixed, the venue was booked, advance payments made, shopping had fervently begun, decorators and caterers were finalized and yet, both Ajoy and me were waiting to meet eye to eye. The long wait of this long distance love was finally set to break when the dates of Ajoy's arrival was fixed. The company had booked his tickets and his sign off dates were decided from the ship on which he was sailing as a third mate at that time.
His parents had booked tickets to Mumbai from Kolkata as Ajoy said he wouldn't fly Kolkata directly without meeting the girl he is planning to marry.

PC: Pintrest

Eager preparations were on and the day arrived on the fateful month of July, 2005 when Mumbai was drowning in its monsoon floods. Nevertheless, no calamity could keep at bay the love birds longing to catch sight of one another. 21st of July, 2005. Ajoy's flight from Geelong, Australia to Mumbai landed at 19:45 after hours of delay owing to rough weather conditions. The family of both the parties were all set to welcome the groom to be. I was dressed in a royal salwar suit with minimal makeup but a natural glow on my face and sparkle in my eyes. The announcement of the flight's arrival was made, passengers had disembarked and crowd from the flight had begun to thin out. My sailor boy was no where in sight. I was nervous, hands had turned icy cold in anxiety and every second seemed like an hour. Finally, from far, I could see a figure emerge from the corner. My heart was quite sure it was "him" but my mind refused to accept. As the figure drew to a close, Ajoy headed straight towards me and just pushing his suitcase and jacket he had in his hands, his majestic frame and muscular arms enveloped me into a warm, comforting bear hug. The moment was frozen and their dreams had come true at last. The love birds had met.

My note: I loved the narration, so heartfelt, gives this warm feeling all through. Thanks Lakshmi for sharing your story. May God bless you and your family forever. Amen!

Book Review: The Calling by Priya Kumar

I believe in Karma, I believe in the law of attraction, I believe that everything happens for a reason.

With that thought, I believe that this book “The Calling” by Priya Kumar came to me for a reason.

About Priya Kumar

Born and brought up in Chandigarh, her journey from there to today, an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker, nationally renowned and award-winning bestselling author & the CEO and Chief Facilitator of Priya Kumar’sTraining Systems has been, in Priya’s words, “my sheer drive and purpose to make people’s lives better.”

An international publication once introduced Priya as “When Priya speaks, people listen.” A leading national daily wrote, “Priya has the power to change lives.”  All this and more, resonates the impact Priya has had on the lives of people across the globe, through her work and books.

(Source: www.priya-kumar.com)

Priya Kumar us the winner of six international awards and has been voted the most popular book on 2015 on Amazon India in the Biographies section. She has written quite a few bestselling books. One of them is “I am another you”

A brief about the book

·     The Calling: THE ANSWERS LIE WITHIN

The Calling is a spiritual adventure. It is an encounter with the truth, the wisdom and the force that is innate to us all. At the brink of a divorce and personal breakdown, Arjun took a trip into the heart of the Himalayas, on the insistence of a sadhu, who predicted that the journey up to Hemkund Sahib would align him to his purpose and change his life forever.

At every turn the mountains holds secrets and tests that urge Arjun to evolve into the person he had denied to be – himself. Pretenses, falsities, confusions and untruths fall apart as Arjun is forced to confront the mess he had created in his life.

What started off as an opportunity to escape reality, turned out to be an opportunity to escape from the dwindling spiral of self-created misery. Filled with spiritual insights and sprinkled with light humor, this story will help you find your calling, your voice and who knows, even your true self. 

What I felt about the book

Recently after being to a vacation at the foot of Himalayas, I loved the cover of the book to start with. Its about this man, Arjun who has a successful but not so-satisfactory career, his family life is disoriented, his wife has filed a divorce and he is away from his daughters.

Arjun, meets with an near to death accident, with a broken neck, fractured limbs and a crashed car nowhere. He is almost sure that he is dead, but encounters a sadhu, who ties a purple thread on Arjun’s wrist and asks Arjun to go to Hemkund Sahib to find the answers to his life’s problems. The sadhu asks him to find the thread on the tree. Arjun wakes up next morning on the street at nowhere miraculously healed of his broken body.

He was sure he was dreaming until he sees the purple thread tied to his wrist. Later, the thread vanishes from his wrist and Arjun remember the sadhu’s words of finding the thread on the tree in Himalayas. After a while, he makes a decision to go to Hemkund  sahib to find that thread and solve this mystery. 

With the help of his best friend Jay, Arjun starts his journey at the foot of Himalayas, where he meets Chandu, an 18 year old, spiritually high,a man with amazing knowledge about leaves, herbs, so much so that he can bring a dead back to life, with two of his donkeys.

NOTE: I loved the subtle inflicted humor with Chandu and the donkey

The lessons this book gave, has to be implemented in life this instant

• This world is yours, its your responsibility to keep it beautiful
• Everyone in your life is there for a reason, put them to use else they will become redundant
• Being positive is a state of mind, and you are responsible for your own happiness. Do not let negativity seep into you
• What you sow, so shall you reap

Everyone in this world has a bigger purpose, finding yourself, feeling happy inside will make everyone around you happy too.

As a reader, you can feel yourself travelling with Arjun through the Himalayas, you can see Chandu, you can get the whole experience sitting where you are. Its like attaining sadhana exactly where you are.

When the book ended, my heart was beating really fast in my chest, I let out a happy sigh, I fell silent for a while, pondering everything I read in my head. I loved the way something peaceful, something calming washed over me.

 There are a few quotes that I loved in the book

 “The end is the beginning. The beginning does not have a past, it only has the future”

“Regret is to life like termite is to wood, it will eat you up”

“I haven’t done anything that will worry me. You have however done a lot to work yourself up that you have no control over yourself”

“God is a spiritual potential in action. When one feels spiritual compassion. They feel divinity”

This is not one of those positivity preaching books, its forms a story that gives you very positive vibes.

It’s a must read for everyone. Read it for you, read it for your soul.

I give this book 4.5 / 5

CTT: We are God's books

Its been a week with lot of expected, unexpected holidays in my city. And the unexpected holiday, with a curfew like situation is very boring. You can't get out of the house, there is nothing on TV, videos on Youtube has got boring, the books I have are read already, I could sleep...But for how long?

Well, so this early evening, I was sitting on the swing of my balcony, with nice warm breeze on my face, it was peaceful. I could hear the "click click click" of the keyboard in the husband's home office, I could see those stupid pigeons on my neighbors balcony, in the opposite house a mother trying to feed her kid. It felt like some story book existence.

Then far somewhere, I heard the bells of a temple, I thought then, maybe...just maybe God will have a of book in each person's name. He will have many scriptwriters in his payroll, and all of them would be weaving a story for us everyday, their stories will depend on their mood that day. They will have targets for a year, say 100 happy days, 10 fight scenes, 100 romance scenes, 50 sad days, 105 random emotions days. The scriptwriters might bill according to the person's man days on earth. The book closes and goes into library after the person is dead. Every dead person might be employed as a scriptwriter after staying in heaven for like 10 years. A retired script writer maybe reborn on earth again.

How cool is that! I was grinning on my geniusness and I was almost on the verge of convincing myself of being one of the story books in God's library when my celestial thoughts were disturbed by a police siren on the main road. Sigh! So much for my devil's workshop.

#DAshTalks Comments Gone Wrong

It was Friday night, 1 am and after watching a movie at home. We were sitting on our bed with our respective phones, in the soft glow of the bedside lamp.

Me: Listen, I want you to comment Awwww on some couple display picture I put

Awin: Ok

Next morning, I put up a super cute picture
of ours as my Facebook picture

In an instant, I get a notification that "Awin has commented on your picture"

I get exicited because, the husband rarely comments

I go to the comments section and see

Awin: Awwwwwwwwful 

He slept in the living room that weekend.