Back after a week

I am back after a whole week of sadhyas, travel, and lazy moments. The days were rainy, cool, and lovely. I loved the travels when it was raining. Since it was Onam, we had sadhyas on almost all the days.

I got to stay for two days at my home with my parents, brother, hubby, and Mittu. Got to see my cousin, Raji's daughter, granny, and few more of my relatives down in Kerala. Even got a chance to attend a wedding. That was perhaps the first wedding I attended after our marriage! I am always excited to attend a Keralite Hindu wedding. It will have lots of ladies in lovely silk sarees, lighted lamps, stage decorated with jasmine and rose flowers, a lot of relatives and friends to catch with, and finally a hastily eaten marriage sadhya. Hmm.. and as you guessed, I have put a few more kgs :-(

This time I felt a little bad at having to come back. On all previous visits to Kerala, I had to get a bit worried about the work accumulating as I enjoyed my holidays. But this time it was different. I had quit from Sasken. And hadn't joined HP yet. So I was completely relaxed. It was a tension free vacation.

But now that I am back to Bangalore and have to join HP tomorrow I am getting a bit tensed. New place and new people. Somehow I am a little nervous. Wish me luck...

Bliss

I was on 3 days leave the last week. Guess what I did! We went to Kerala. :-) It was a much awaited vacation. It was our first trip to Kerala after marriage. I was so eager to see our parents and Mittu. And did I tell you that my cousin sister, Raji, delivered a baby girl just a week after our marriage. This was the time to visit all.

There was one thing which we didn't enjoy about our stay there. It was too hot! We were sweating all the while. Luckily there was never a power cut when we were there. And unluckily, it never rained there as well! :-(

Coming back to Bangalore is always a pain. But this time it was not. I was very much excited. My parents were coming along! And so was Mittu. But there were some hardships in the journey. First was that we got a station prior to the one we booked and in the hurry forgot to take the ticket. So, was charged a fine by the TTE :-( Secondly, our tickets didn't get confirmed! We got 3 berths for 4 people. So me and my husband had to adjust on that one berth, all crumpled up. Not to say, we couldn't sleep properly. Last, but not the least, we had some co-passengers who kept blabbering and throwing tantrums all along the journey. So, an uncomfortable journey on the whole!

But after reaching back, it feels good. There is noise and more happiness in the house now. Adding to the happiness, it rained the last two evenings, I am crocheting a new mobile pouch, have lots of time to spend with family. And my shallot, which I planted a week ago, has started sprouting.

Missing Life...

My cousin Raji got married last Sunday. It was a wonderful occassion; my childhood friend, sis, and ever best companion. A few days in Kerala, along with all those friends and relatives, it was a cherishing experience. But now that all is over I feel somewhat sad. She, as I mentioned, was my ever best friend. Now she has lots of newer responsibilities and morover a new person to accompany in everything.
I am jus remembering how nice it was when we were kids, and we were together. Loads of fun and mischiefs. The night we stole our grandma's dentures, the wrestling games we played, the fights, the pretty pranks, carelessness, happiness, griefs - everything was so wonderful that the memories are still live within us. Those days will never come back. But those memories will never leave us either.
There were times when we laughed and cried together. But now, in two different places and two different situations. Perhaps we can never again become what we were but I am glad we had such good times together.
Love you Raji!!!

Treasured ones...

We always treasure some people in hearts. Be it somebody whom we see since childhood, or one we saw only once in our lifetime. It gives us immense pleasure at times simply just to think of them.
I have few very good treasured friends and people in my life. And guess what I either communicated with some of them today after a very long time. This is actually giving me lots of joy. Know not why!
A roommate for a year and a half, who was always a great friend as well. But time parted us and put us in two far locations. Its been more than an year since we met. Some incidents in the meantime, seemed to test our friendship. And to an extent we failed in the test. But today after a long time, I had a pretty long chat with her. It seemed as if, we were never too far. May be that's the feeling when you speak to a true friend. :)
Since childhood, me and Raji were together. Our growing years and overgrown years (;-)) we spent together. But somewhere when life took the serious turn we were thrown on the two sides of the path. This kept us a bit far from each other. But our liking and sharing was always there. And now she is about to get married soon. And after marriage, I have heard, nothing is nomore the same. :-( Sadly I realize, she would now on lead a busy responsible life of her own, and me mine own. But still both of us would treasure those wonderful childhood memories! :)
A few more friends - scrapped and mailed all of them today. Feeling so happy that I am rich with good friends - though far! :)

Awaited Onam Vacation…

It’s a long time since I had vacation. Well there’s no point in wishing for that also. In school and college, we just had to go on a holiday or vacation and come back with a sick note. But now with work, it’s not so simple. Of course we can bunk, but not so often and long as we did in schools and colleges.

This time I have applied for three days leave to go to Kerala for Onam. Earlier I never had to do that. Of course Onam meant 10 long days of holidays. At SunTec also we had three to four days off. But here, there is nothing like that… :( I have to take three days off from my well counted and meager, so called Privilege Leave.

I’ll be starting on my journey within a few hours and am quite excited to be at home again. The thought of payasams, chips, and Onasadya has already made my mouth water. Onam was a celebration when I was in school. Ten long days of vacation just after the Onam exams. Onam vacation meant holidays, relatives and cousins, swings, and lots of food. And cousins meant Raji especially. This was the only day when we had our baths early in the morning. We have never put pookalams for Onam, but I enjoyed doing that in college. Payasam is another aspect that keeps my love for Onam still alive.

Now all are busy. Not all have time to get together during the festival. But still I look forward being at home and having my Onasadya on a plantain leaf with my family members (Mittu included :)). Happy Onam to all of you well in advance!!!

Things I miss badly

I miss all these:

1. Trivandrum
2. My room at our home in Kerala
3. My cousin, Raji
4. Reading
5. School Days
6. My friend, Anupriya
7. SunTec
8. My hostel, MTTC
9. College days
10. And what else I don't know

What I feel I must actually do at this point of time - Keep those memories fresh and start building new ones.

My sister, My FRIEND

Raji is my cousin sister - my mom's brother's daughter. She spent her childhood in Rajasthan. It was only during the vacations that we met. But I really don't remember those vacations. There are a couple of photos of us together. That's how I know we did meet frequently. I remember seeing her for the first time only when we met for our Standard IV vacation. To me she appeared as a north Indian girl who spoke in Hindi, talked about Bollywood films and actors, and was always restless. During that vacation all the cousins were there. So I really never took much note of her, and she of me.

For the next vacation, we went to Rajasthan. That was when our bonding started. We gelled together so quickly that parting after the vacation was the worst part. I still remember how she cried infront of the railway station while we were leaving. And as fate was, two years later, we were together. She had come to Kerala to continue her studies. The previous year, I had also come down to Kerala to continue my studies. We stayed at our grandmom's place along with Radha Maami (Raji's mom). Vinu is her younger brother. Perhaps he was too young for us then. Whenever we plotted any mischief, he would hide somewhere and spy on us, finally getting the matter to the elders.

We stayed together from standard VI to X. For the first two years I was in my boarding school. So we met only once a month. From VIII standard onwards we stayed together. Life turned out special for both of us then onwards. We ate, slept, studied, and did every mischief together. We made cards for each other on occassions. Rented out video cassettes and watched movies. But fights were unavoidable. We fought like wild cats when angry. But as it goes, fights happen where love is.

After our X standard, our parents took us. She went back to Rajasthan and me to Muscat. But few months later, we were together again. I went to Rajasthan. We were together for the next two years also. But after that we went separate ways for our higher studies. Now also we share a special bond, but are not together. We plan to meet during the next vacation.

My Grandma's Dentures

My grandmom, Janaki, had been the victim of our pranks. We - Raji and me, we were the pranksters then. Everyday we would be caught up for something or the other. But the scoldings never stopped us.

And here goes one of the stories that was very interesting to us. Whenever we all get together, we still laugh at this incident. To say about my grandmom, she has dentures from very long, even before we were born. And till date she is shy to come in front of anybody without her dentures. We had actually tried a lot to see her dentures, when not intact. Even when she brushed, she never allowed us anywhere near us. So just imagine hw much our curiosity would be.

One night, after watching the 10 pm movie on Doordarshan, we developed a plan - to steal grandma's dentures... :-D. It was already something around midnight. All were asleep except we two. We briefly charted out the plan. First move was to remove our anklets. We tried hard but it didn't come out. So we pulled it up and tied it well so that no noise would be produced. One by one we tiptoed into grandma's room through the dark. I had already got a tickly feeling in my stomach as I suppressed my laughter imagining her face the next day without the dentures. We reached by her side. Raji leaned over and took the container in which the dentures were put. We tiptoed back into our room, bolted the door, switched on the lights, and gave a vent to our feelings. We laughed to our hearts' content. I placed the container safely in the cupboard, instructed Raji on how innocent we would behave the next day, unbolted the door, and slept.

Next morning, I woke up to the voice of my grandmom. She was calling to my aunt sleeping in the next room. When aunt (Radha Maami) answered, she said that her dentures were missing. Maami was all confused. She didn't respond for some time. A few moments later she called out, "Raji". Raji was fast asleep. I didn't respond. Next was my turn. After being called for two or three times, I answered in a very sleepy tone, "Yeeess, Maami". She asked me where the dentures were. I didn't respond. I didn't want to give it away so quickly. Even Raji was asleep. I didn't know what to do. Finally I said, "Its here in the cupboard". I saw my grandmom rushing into the room and taking away the dentures without uttering a word. I felt sad. All our efforts gone in waste.

A few moments later, Raji opened her eyes. I told her very sadly that the container was gone. To my surprise she said,"I know, I was awake". Thus we both were sad. What followed was a few scoldings for both of us from aunt and grandmom, and in secret Raji also received a few beatings from Maami. I was saved, my mom was not with us that time.. ;-)

Now what our effort has left us with is a sweet memory to cherish on forever... :-) And this is a picture of my grandmom. Look at her smile... :-)


And well, if you are really wondering who Raji is, read my posts categorised under the label 'Raji'. She is a wonderful and interesting character.