Weekend update

It's been a fun week. I thought I would make the best of it since this was technically my last 'holiday week'. Will be joining my new office from tomorrow and though I'm really looking forward to it, I can't help but feel a li'l sorry about not being able to laze around now :P. Been about a month, wow that's really long. Sigh!

I saw Goal this Friday. It's an okish film...could have been done better. Bipasha was a complete blonde, Arshad Warsi was practically wasted and I have no idea why there was a 'Billo Rani' who kept sucking on her own lips like a nympho. The good point- obviously- was John. He is THE only reason to go and watch the film. And maybe, Boman Irani. It can be a disappointment for people who're gonna watch it for the love of the game. Na-ah.

Saturday night was fun. Had dinner at A's place. Pretty chilled out. Except for one little big thing. A fight. Between friends. Blown out of proportion probably because of an overdose of alcohol. Hmmm... my two best friends, arguing with each other. It's not the fight that bothers me. It's the lack of understanding between them. Worsened now, by the lack of communication. What ya... :(

Anyway, I know either of them will come to their senses soon. At least I hope so. At this moment, my recently-turned-bald 1 yr old neice is sleeping soundly next to me, making the most adorable faces. Makes me wanna curl up too...yaaawwn. Will write soon about my 1st week at the new workplace. Cheers folks!

I love my friends!!

You know, whenever I think of my happiest times, I only picture myself with my friends. Even if I'm at the most boring place ever, I can only remember how much fun my friends made it for me. I don't have a vast group of friends, I'm closest to only a handful. And I love each one of them! Let me now introduce you to the people who mean the world to me:

Milo: Hmm...I don't understand why people spend a bomb on "soul-searching". I do that everyday with my best friend! This girl knows me so well, probably better than I know myself. I can talk to her about ANYTHING at all, at ANY time of the day or night. And she'll patiently hear me out and give me the best advice she can offer. Sooo many times I've cribbed to her (these days that's my fav pastime) about the most insignificant things. She's scolded me, cried with me, laughed with me. We haven't fought yet (touchwood) maybe because we both know we can't live without talking to each other. Right now also, she's pinging me to go shopping with her! But really it's so great to have someone who understands you so well. I don't have to say a thing and she knows what's going on in my mind!

Nika: Niks! My atom bomb! Hehe! Unpredictable is the word for her. Niks is like my mom and my daughter- combined. Sometimes she behaves like an annoying teenager and other times she takes care of me like my mommy would- tucking me in et al. She and I share a different chemistry altogether. She's always full of ideas of something to do all the time. Be it watching films or discussing books, or playing scrabble. This one will not let me sit idle! I'm like an agony aunt for her- always giving her advice. But I can't imagine my life without her. She's just there...always. :)

Netra: Walky-talky Cartoon Network! She's so animated all the time! Netz has been there for me when I needed a friend real bad. She's a lil brash at times, says exactly what's on her mind. Fights like she's gna kill u, and loves like she's never gonna let go. She's lifted my mood in a less than a minute with her crazy cartoon-like behavior! She may sound like a very bindaas woman, but gets very serious when she has to. And makes me see sense when I'm being stupid! Netziee is also my style guru, coz somehow she just knows what will look best on me! Really luv her for being there for me when I need her.

Mehul: He has got to be the most patient guy on Planet Earth. The way he listens to my constant bickering...it's amazing! He's like my love guru...always getting me back on track when I stray back into my past. Sometimes coaxing, sometimes with a very bad scolding! He's been so very helpful during my worst times, always cheering me up with his silly jokes! I can trust him to spring up from anywhere, anytime just to make sure I'm doing OK. Thank God he's around or I'd have been pretty lost!

Tina: My mommy!! Hehe...she practically took me "under her cover" when I was in Mumbai. Our shopping excursions used to defy time and we used to hang out together so much, it's not funny. Now I haven't seen her in about 7 months, since I shifted back to delhi and our "meetings" are restricted to GTalk and telephone conversations. Miss her company so much!

Bhajji: She's small but don't let her size fool you! She's fierce when it comes to defending her friends. She's always always supported whatever I do. She's shown her concern in more ways than one. Even if she's super busy (which she is these days) she'll somehow make time and come and catch up. Just her unconditional and sincere love is enough to make you feel special!

Bhargav: He's one of my best buddies, but would you believe if I tell you I haven't seen him in a whole year? And I think we've spoken for precisely 3 times during this time. That's coz he's a shippie and is on sail almost all the time. He's lives at the other end of the country but still manages to keep in touch (with some effort from my end too of course). He's a complete joker and most of the time we have less conversations and more arguments. Waiting for him to get back so I can bug him again!

Well that's about it. These are the people who rule my life. And I'm ever so thankful for them to have them with me. I don't think I'd be complete without them. Thanks guys, I love you all! *Hugs*

Why arranged marriage is best for me

Yea so I’m talking about marriage. I mean it’s not exactly me talking, but I’m forced to think about it. After all I am 22 years of age, “ripe and ready” for my relatives to start talking and my family to start looking.

So yea, coming back to the title of the post: why arranged marriage is best suited for me. Well there are a number of reasons. I’ve given this a lot of thought (since these days, I haven’t got much to do) and have arrived at this conclusion.

1) Men are beyond me. If commitment is what they want from a girl and if that’s what they get, they outgrow it. They slowly start wanting to have security, then maturity, then cooking skills, then understanding, then patience, then space and eventually, they want to be left alone. Too complicated.

2) Kisi ne sahi kaha tha. Kalyug aa gaya hai. It’s impossible to find a guy who will (forgive me for being wishful and orthodox) love you for who you are and not the body you have. Seriously guys, there IS more to love than making out the whole time. I thought I’d found Mr. Right but apparently it was all wrong. So again, too complicated.

3) I have this funda in life: I can’t just be with someone I barely know, just for the heck of being with him. I have to be friends with the guy for an eternity, know him in and out, develop feelings for him (non forcibly), fall in love, think about the future and then step into a relationship. And that’s going to take a LOT of time and effort, and frankly I don’t have faith in my own decisions now, and neither do I have the patience.

4) If, for instance, the guy I end up marrying is a moron, guess what? It’s not my fault! I can easily nag my folks and tell ‘em “hey you found him, not me”! So life would be somewhat simpler, with lesser things to feel guilty about.

Besides, come on, they’re my parents. They would want me to be happy. How wrong can they possibly be in finding the right match for me? And there are so many people out there who are pretty happy with each other. And love’s only been reduced to a myth, or rather, an unattainable treasure. Only the lucky ones get to experience it. I’ve been lucky, just not lucky enough. And that’s OK.

Oh by the way, it’s not like I’m getting married right now. I still have a considerable amount of time. And honestly, I don’t even think I’m ready for this thing. This was just thinking aloud- sorry, forced to think. Aloud.

What a week!

Took an unexpected break last week, went to Manali and Shimla. Had to suffer a number of glitches, but had a great time despite all that.

I visited Manali when I was around four years old, so I hardly remembered any of it this time. My companions were my mum and my two massis. We got off to a bad start at the airport itself. The thing is, we’d booked our tickets to Kulu on the Kingfisher website, and by default landed on the terminal for Kingfisher. We were queued up to get our boarding passes at about 8:10 am when the kind lady at the counter told us we have Deccan tickets. That’s coz of the merger between the two airlines, yada yada but nothing was mentioned on the damned website. And now the big problem was that Deccan was on a different terminal and we had about 25 mins to get our boarding passes, get the security check done and board the flight. We were like three damsels in distress. Thankfully the Kingfisher ground staff coordinated with the Deccan guys and rushed us to the other terminal and we caught our flight 5 mins before takeoff. Whew!

We reached Kulu in a little over an hour’s time. We had practically the whole day to ourselves so we took a taxi and went to Manikaran, about 2 hours from Kulu. The weather was warm and comfortable and the long drive felt refreshing. Manikaran is really an awesome place. It’s amazing to see this naturally hot cave, where we just sat and sort of took a sauna. Then we saw a natural hot spring. The water was boiling hot and these guys were actually cooking rice in it. I was amazed. We visited the temple and Gurudwara and had yummy langar there.

After that we took off to Manali, and the drive was beautiful, with the roads lined with a mix of orange and green trees, and snow clad mountains at the horizon. We stopped for a lil while by River Parvati and soaked our feet in it’s ice cold waters. Felt soooo good!

We reached Manali in the evening, sometime around six. Our lodge was closer to the Mall, at a place called Aleo. It was next to the Mountaineering Institute and right in the middle of a forest. Absolutely gorgeous. It’s a place called Chandertal run by a couple who take care of you like grandparents fuss over their kids. The lady was so warm and always used to send us these extraordinary jams and jellies and pickles and absolutely yummy food. It was almost like a home away from home.

We stayed in Manali for three days. During this stay we visited all the possible temples- Vashisht, Manu, Hadimba and the Buddhist monastery. Hadimba was superb. It was in the middle of a beautiful forest and so calm and peaceful. Never felt like leaving that place.

We also went to Rohtang Pass and Solang Valley. It was super fun to play in the snow at Rohtang, though we had to wade through tons of slush to get to the top. The view from there…I can’t even begin to explain how it was. You have to be there to believe it. Oh and I also got a chance to do paragliding at Solang. What a thrill!!! I felt like an eagle in the sky, just floating about aimlessly. Felt absolutely at peace.

The underside was that my massi and I got separated from my mum and my other massi at Rohtang and wasted time frantically trying to locate each other. Apparently my mum had made announcements for me, as there was no network on the cellphones. And at Solang while I was floating in the air, my mum almost got run over by a mad horse. Thankfully, no one got hurt.

On our last day in Manali we visited Naggar. The Roerich Art Gallery and the Naggar Castle. Roerich was a Russian artist settled in India. His son, Svetoslav, was also a painter and had married actress Devika Rani. Her portrait was unimaginably mesmerizing and we couldn’t help collect some of his works as souvenirs. The Naggar castle had history of it’s own. It once belonged to the King of Kulu, who sold it to the Brits for-hold your breath- a gun. Bloody psycho. It was handed down to many other kings and finally it was given to the government and converted to a hotel. Too bad. The wooden carvings on the doors and verandas were exquisite. There was also a little museum in the basement with some interesting sculptures recrafted for our benefit.

During our stay, we also discovered that Manali has some pretty amazing eating joints. These are basically set up by foreigners who have married the locals and settled there for obvious reasons. (For the ignorant ones, read: hash). We ate at a place called Pizza Olive that had a-ma-zing Italian food. Then there was a restaurant at the Mall called Chopsticks where we had delicious Chinese food along with some plum wine (Himachal has excellent fruit wines). There was also a Johnson’s Café which was slightly on the higher side, but claimed to have the best trout in town. And we also picked up goodies from a couple of German bakeries.

We spent the remainder of the week in the Shimla, celebrating my grandfather’s birthday and just generally chilling. On our way back yesterday, since crises was the game of the season, we were blessed with yet another one. Mum had booked tickets for the two of us in the 5:30 pm Shatabdi from Kalka. We boarded the train well in time. At 5:15 this staff guy checks our tickets and casually informs us that our tickets are in fact for the next day. Ten minutes before the train was to start, my dear mom gets a panic attack. Somehow we talk to the TT and he tells us we have to buy tickets on board and pay double the fare. So lots of monetary loss, but we made it home safe and sound and in good time.

So like I said in the beginning, barring a few technical glitches, we managed to have a wonderful time. The scenic beauty of Manali was really admirable. I’m glad that I got to make it to this breathtaking land again- and this time I won’t forget any of it.