Head Head Bang Bang..

Yup that’s the kinda constant feeling up there!! At least twice a week. And when enough was enough, Aman dragged me to the hospital. And when I say drag it actually was that. For the simple universal truth holds true for me as well. “I hate Hospitals”. Yes I do. Immensely. They are the most depressing places possible. The smell, the ambience, the faces, everything. It’s bad enough to even make a healthy person feel SICK.

And the doctor after all the checkup and tests confirmed what I always knew but kept pushing out of my mind. I suffer from migraine. Terrible one at that. So another feather to my unhealthy hat. Grrrr.

Looks like everything around me is getting the better of me. Doctor asked me to relax. Pray, explain how one does that? He asked me to take less stress. Again, who in the world takes stress. Isn’t that something that happens on its own?

Whatever, but I am seriously contemplating taking a month off from work. Going on a sabbatical. Going home to mum. Doing nothing. Maybe it will help, maybe it won’t. It’s not a solution for sure. But maybe its worth a try.

On another note - I am also suffering from the empty nest syndrome, although of a different kind. Younger sister has moved up north. After being together for the last year it’s very difficult to be in the house without her. We still address the room as “her room”. I really hope and pray that sooner than later we shift to the same part of the country where she is. People send in your good wishes.

2 Sisters and no Brother, God be with your parents.

Among the innumerable happy and carefree memories I have of my childhood there is also one gloomy memory that is quite engraved into my mind.

Having been brought up in a small town like Ranchi has had its own share of discomforts. Most of it, I never experienced. Thanks to the warm and loving family I have, Neha and me have had a very protected, lighthearted, affectionate and independent upbringing.

Coming to the point of this post, the most common childhood question I have been asked by every adult I met for the first time is “How many brothers and sisters you have”, my reply would be “I have a younger sister”. My response had always been followed by a quick “what? No brother, oh no, poor parents, 2 girls to marry off”
The adult could be anyone – friend’s parents, new neighbors, some vague acquaintances and sometime some god forsaken relatives. But the line of questioning was always similar.
Not only me, even my younger sister Neha has faced a lot of these. This one question followed by a quick dismissal and then the pity has made me go through a gamut of emotions. From the initial confusion to irritation to anger to rage to the ultimate indifference. If anything this probing left me a little more determined to make a mark.

This was outside. At home it was a very different scene. Our little family was picture perfect. Neither mom nor dad ever seem perturbed that they had only 2 daughters and no sons. This fact never bothered them. In fact in more occasions than one I had seen them shut people up when they started the usual course of “Oh Mr/Mrs Bhatia, but why didn’t you try for a third child, didn’t you feel a need for a son?”

So when we weren’t bothered why were others? When my mom was happy with 2 girls, when my dad was proud of his 2 daughters, when neither Neha nor I felt the need of having a brother, why was the society so concerned?

Today, both of us are doing well. I am well educated, have a good career and am poised to do even better. I am financially independent and happy in life. Neha is all set to follow suit, having just completed her MBA. How is it any different from a family which had 2 sons? Now the same old folks come and congratulate my parents on the having the proverbial “well brought up children”.

Why I say this today is because I saw the familiar story unfold in front of my eyes. I thought the world had changed. But be in the 1989 or the 2009, be it Ranchi or Bangalore, something’s remain unchanged. In the play ground of my apartment, I saw a 5 year old subjected to the same line of questioning. The little one, who had an infant sister, was visibly unsure of what she had said that had made the aunty so abject, simply shrugged and went off. I smiled, because I saw yet another independent and confident lady in the making.

June Update

It’s been a hectic and busy month. Work showed no respite, it never does, I guess its time I should stop hoping too.

Aman’s side of the family came visiting. And like good hosts we packed them all and took them to Coorg. (Pics are up on FB and Orkut, one on the header up there). Lush, green and raining. The heat tortured souls from North of the country couldn’t have asked for anything more. We stayed in the interiors of Coorg, in the midst of the coffee plantations. Lovely food, awesome weather and the most scenic surroundings. It was picture perfect.

We also did a quick 2 day trip to Chennai. For the uninitiated, the Bangalore – Chennai highway is splendid, be it the road or the landscaping. Parts of it are quite a delight. Chennai was horrible. I am sure the city is nice, but the weather was pathetic, and that for me is such a put off. For that reason I truly couldn’t enjoy it. It was sticky and humid and hot. You know the kinds where your own hair and skin irritate you.

For the good deed of the month – I forgo my official tour to Singapore to be with Aman’s side of the family. Now isn’t he lucky to be married to me?

For the highlight of the month – Younger sister has finally moved to Bangalore, bag and baggage. If you remember I was upset a while back and this was the reason. But now she is here and I couldn’t have been happier.

And yes, for the achievement of the month, I have learnt swimming. As in I have moved ahead from just the playful splash splash. I still have a long way to go, but who says I can’t rejoice small achievements.

I have missed blogging and reason being the lack of time. I have also missed reading a lot of your blogs, but I am doing the catching up. Bear with me all.

1 to 10 – my life in numbers

Interesting!! If life could be defined in numbers this is what my life would appear to be.
BTW this is a tag from Mumbai Diva

1 is for my one and only little sister who I adore beyond words. She is the sweetest!!

2 is for my 2 bestest friends both of whom I haven’t seen for eight months now

3 is for the number of exciting years I have spent being married to Aman. It’s also for the number of countries I have been to.

4 is for the number of cities I have lived in. It’s also for close to the number of years I have been working for

5 is for the number of delightful years I have been crazily in love with my man

6 is for the number of wine glasses I lost while shifting to the new house. 6 is also for the number of houses I have changed in Bangalore

7 is for the cell phones I have lost or broken in the last five years

8 is for my beautiful house on the 8th floor with the awesome view of the sunset

9 is for the number of years since I left school. 9 is also for the number of jewelry sets I got when I got married.

10 is for the number of Kilos I need to loose to get back in shape.

Done. Now this looks easier than it actually is. Requires a bit of thinking which I did on a hot, sleepy Thursday afternoon.

Cyn – since you complained that no one tags you, I appeal to you to take this up.
Anu – you too do it lady. One of my response refers to you too!!!
Monika – I know you love doing tags, so take it up.

Others – Like it? Pick it, and let me know. Would love to read it!!

Little one is not so little anymore

My younger sister has just started working. Now it’s a completely different story that I find it hard to believe that this little kid is going to office every day. She is yet to finish her course but the company where she got placed insisted that she start work right away. In normal circumstances her B School wouldn’t have agreed but I guess recession made them go with company’s decision.

With this all hopes of her having a good vacation at home before starting out with her corporate career came crashing down. She shifted to Mumbai the same day and joined office next morning.

Unbelievable!!! Coz for me she still remains the little one who loves to sleep. It’s hard to imagine that this brat dresses in formal business attire and reaches office on time. It’s equally hard to imagine that this little one will have her own money from next month. Now this little one is staying all by herself, managing her life on her own. Most of you wouldn’t find any big deal in that but I do because for me she still is my little girl.

This little one wants to surprise mom by getting her a new AC this summer. If this statement made me teary eyed god knows how mom will react to it.

I still clearly remember the day when she got a gold medal in Javelin throw in school. She was in Class 2 then. I still clearly remember how Dad and I dropped her for the painting competition and she made us so proud by getting the first prize. I still clearly remember the day when she wore a Sari for the first time for her school farewell and how stunning she looked. From painting lessons to being an athlete, from playing basketball to learning karate and yoga, from learning shorthand (yes even that) to being an exceptional swimmer, from trying her hand at cooking to being an excellent dancer this girl has been there and done that. Add to this the fact that she sings like a dream. With all this I had never imagined she would do well academically also.

Today when my little sister is almost an MBA and has kick started her corporate career there is no one who is happier (ok fine mom and dad are close!!!).Here is wishing her a very bright and a fulfilling career ahead.

Trip to Ranchi and Back....

I don’t believe I am back from Ranchi already. I mean just the other day I was frantically packing for this break. And it was like only yesterday that I took that flight to Calcutta and it was like just a moment ago that Aman and I sat at Flury’s for an elaborate breakfast to fill time before the connecting train.
Phew....

Home was such a delight. Mom has kept my room just the same as I had left it years ago, 5 years to be precise. All my soft toys and dolls still sit pretty on the shelves. She has even preserved all those little trinkets and accessories Neha and I picked up every now and then.

It was such a pleasure to be woken up by the familiar noises and the aromas that I have grown up with. Home is just the same.

But Ranchi looks like a whole new world. It is much more crowded than I can remember. Ranchi is loosing on the small town charm that we so proudly boasted about. There are more vehicles, more shopping complexes, more theaters, more restaurants and more of everything than ever before. So much so that even Big Bazaar hasn’t missed the opportunity.

But in-spite of all these “on your face” kinda changes I still feel the same about my home town. And taking Aman around was a joy of a different dimension. I get such a thrill in showing him places I frequented from my college to school to the ground I played in to the market I went to and the places I ate at.
Another highlight of the trip was the ever delectable delicacies my mom prepared. From breakfast to lunch to dinner each meal was better that the previous one. It was amazingly cute to watch her fuss over Aman.

This break has done wonders to our systems. Both of us are geared for some more grueling months ahead. Bring it on till we collapse once again to embark on another journey....

Alice in the wonderland

One thing that Neha, my little sister, absolutely loves doing is to SLEEP. She can do that anytime of the day. And strangely things like noise, light and people don’t matter to her at all. You can see the pleasure on her face when she is in that deep slumber. I use to hate waking her up as she was sweetest that way. Serene and calm, her joy was almost opaque for us to feel it.
Now this little kid (well not that little anyways) decided to do an MBA and choose for herself a college that has classes 7 days a week and 365 days a year, a minimum of 10 hours a day and that’s when the days are good.
Ironies of life, but that’s how it is.

So now this Alice had no option but to wake up and get going with the real world. Her dreamy ways have given way to a focused approach. And she is fighting like a true soldier to make things rock.

Want to wish her the very best in this new interesting and highly strenuous phase of life.

You will surely come out as a Champion baby...