Bring it on 2011!!
2010 was one record breaking year. It started with my water breaking and ended with my toe breaking. It has been THE most happening year so far. I have had enough things happening to me all my life but this one takes the cake. There have been so many firsts it doesn't make sense to enumerate them here. What I however do want to do is throw light on things that happened in MY life.
I became a mother. Enough has been said about motherhood right from purely soppy to utterly ridiculous. All I want to say is that it is one helluva ride and I don't feel sick
most of the times.
I turned 30. It definitely is a big deal. However the fear of turning 'old' somehow diminishes once you cross over the dreaded Three Oh. Suddenly people who are 35 don't seem that old. 30 does not become the new 21, but 50 definitely becomes the new 40.
I broke my toe. My first fracture. Pity it came 4 days after I turned 30. Kinda shook my faith in '30 ain't that old'.
Sachin Tendulkar scored 200 in an ODI innings. I know that has nothing to do with me, but it is still a part of my life.
And that's all I can think of right now! A rather poor score for a happening year. But the happening part has been all about the little bundle that came into our life in the beginning of the year. I had heard how babies change your life forever, but I had underestimated just how much!! Now if I list my achievements that include Mihir, I would have a long list. I just wish I had something exclusive with Aditya as well.
So here's my goal for 2011 - my highlights of the year would feature me, we two and us three in equal measures.
Bring it on 2011, its your ass and my foot (with a broken toe).
A Tale of a Table
Its funny how one piece of furniture can change your life…
We have been here for more than 6 months now and settled quite well. Aditya’s been busy with his office, I have my library and other domestic chores to keep me occupied. Weekends are a blast! Everything was going well and yet something was missing. The feeling of permanency was absent. This still felt transient at times. But on Saturday we bought our dining table and life suddenly is complete!
When we moved here, being on a tight budget meant we could buy only the ‘essential’ items. That included the sofa and the bed. The kitchen was already equipped. A kind friend lent us his extra TV (which was kept on the floor for almost 3 months). And thus began a new phase of our life. Coming from a completely ‘settled’ home in Bangalore, it was very difficult to make do with just the basic stuff. But slowly we started adding stuff. So in the kitchen the number of dishes went up from 4 to 10, our spare bedroom got its own lamp and our house guests were no longer required to bring their own bath towels. In spite of all these riches, we still ate our meals sitting on the sofa in the living room. We kept postponing buying the one piece of furniture that was to bring so much joy to our hearts. Buying a dining table meant investing long(ish) term and we were waiting for a signal that would justify the investment. We got our signal last week. In the current economic situation what else should the signal be but layoffs! Aditya did not feature on that unfortunate list and we made it! (How narrowly and for how long, only time will tell.) But this was the signal we were waiting for. And thus on Saturday we made the historic journey from Ikea to home with the table tied on top of our car. (The ‘tied table’ actually made the trip historic. More details on that topic will be supplied by Aditya on demand.)
Thus on Saturday we had the most satisfying dinner we have had here so far. And on Sunday it was a moment of joy and pride to see our guests enjoy their dinner sitting on a proper table.
Its funny how one piece of furniture can change your life…
A Good Year
It’s been exactly a year since I quit my job and became a full time house wife. In short, it is appraisal time. Well, at least self appraisal. This one year can be divided into two major parts, 7 months in India and 5 in the US. It definitely was one of the most happening years in a long time. A lot of things went according to plan, some didn’t and some absolutely didn’t.
The reason I used to quit my job was that we were to move to US. After a lot of contemplation and re-planning we finally made the move. The transition was anything but easy. Leaving Bangalore was heart breaking. But I am really glad we moved here! We have been here 5 months but it feels like we have been here forever and yet how time passed! We have made some great friends and gotten back in touch with some long lost friends. My weekdays are quite busy and weekends are super happening! We have explored some places around and have already had one great vacation. And with spring round the corner, things are about to get hot!!
I always believed given time, I could read all my life. My dream job apart from a lot of money includes lot of reading. But in reality that hasn’t quite panned out the way I thought it would. I am not spending every waking moment reading. As a matter of fact, I read only at night. In the last 2-3 months, I must have read just about 4-5 books, which is less than my average. But on the plus side, since moving to US and started volunteering at the library, I have started reading different type of books (which kind of explains the amount of time each book takes.) But I still could do better.
My fitness level and my resolutions to improve it has always been a joke at home. I had tried working out before in office and as with most of my trials this too failed. So after literally sitting at home for 2 months, I decided to join aerobics, even if just to kill time. And that brought about a new revelation: working out can be fun! I could not pursue it for long in India, but after coming here and settling down, I am hitting the gym so regularly that even Aditya has stopped taunting me about my ‘resolutions’. It has definitely improved my fitness level. I shall, however, refrain from commenting on how it reflects on my weighing scale.
During my stay in India I got to spend an obscene amount of time watching cricket. I watched every single minute of the games India played in Commonwealth Bank series in Australia last year. (And ALL the repeat airings.) Not only was the result very satisfactory, but I also witnessed the rise of the Great Indian ODI Win Machine. I devoted a lot of time to IPL as well. Even here though my eternal quest for a website streaming live cricket action continues, I follow every ball on cricinfo and get vicarious pleasure in our victories. Its been the most rewarding year cricket wise (since 1998). And with T20 world cup coming up in a few months, life looks very promising.
I have never been an enthusiastic cook. I cook only because I have to. However during the last year, I have started experimenting a lot in the kitchen. I actually devote quite some time browsing recipes on the net and try out at least one new dish once a fortnight. I don’t think it is a direct effect of sitting at home because my cooking routine is same as before. But I think the leisure I have during the day helps. Well, I am not complaining and Aditya definitely isn’t. Or so I like to believe!
So such has been my year at home. It does get boring sometimes and my bank balance does not help in lifting my spirits on a low day. But all in all I have enjoyed it and definitely would not mind another year like this!
Overall rating: Exceeds expectations!!
Paradise Found, Paradise Lost
I read 'The Lost Horizon' for the first time when I was in 9th standard. I was going through a very rough phase at that time (as most teenagers do). And the book had a huge impact on me. Shangri-La was just what my troubled mind and heart really needed at that time!The beginning of the book is intriguing enough. Some colonial friends meet up for dinner and reminisce about an old friend, 'Glory' Conway, who was one of the victims of a hush-hush hijack case and was never heard of again. However as it turns out, one of the guys, Rutherford, had met Conway after the hijack and had written a manuscript about Conway's adventures and he hands over the manuscript to the author, who in turn recounts it to us.During a political evacuation, a special plane carrying a diplomat (Hugh Conway), his assistant (Mallinson), a Christian evangelist (Miss Brinklow) and an American, traveling incognito, (Barnard) is flown off the course by a pilot who, initially, seems to have lost his sanity. However as time progresses and with certain events it becomes clear that it is not an accident but a case of hijacking and a planned one at that. Eventually when the pilot crashes the plane and dies in the crash, the foursome are stranded in deep Himalayas, miles away from civilization. To their surprise, a rescue party approaches them soon after their crash landing and they are taken to Shangri-La, a lamasery with its limited habitation. Its in the middle of nowhere and access to civilization is extremely difficult and not encouraged. And so the four rescuees become unwilling prisoners of the lamasery and thus begin their adventures at Shangri-La...The author has built the whole atmosphere in the 'Valley of the Blue Moon' beautifully. You get awed by the Blue Mountain, fall in love with the beautiful valley on a full moon night. Chang gives you the creeps every time he smiles his benign smile. Every minute with the High Lama is so peaceful. Lo-Tsen's fragile beauty makes your heart ache. Shangri-La definitely has more to it than meets the eye. And the four different personalities of the main characters lend different dimensions and perspectives to the experience they all share at Shangri-La.The lamas' philosophy of 'moderation in everything, including moderation' and the longevity of the monks at the lamasery, redefined the concept of Time for me. Shangri-La gives you the time to just BE. And I think everybody wants that at some point in time. On a personal front, I could totally empathize with Conway. His stoic state was what I was trying to achieve at that time and was almost there. But at the same time, I could understand Mallinson's insecurity about the unknown and his reaction on knowing it. 'Lost Horizon' is not a classical adventure tale. Its more a philosophical kind of adventure. The end haunts you for days after you finish the book, the title couldn't have been more apt. And you start the search of your own Shangri-La...
My first days in America
Its been exactly 10 days here in the US of A and a week in my new home. I think its a good time for me to put down my initial experiences for posterity. (I have always wanted to use that phrase!)
Let me begin with the things I really like here.
Well, to begin with I really love our apartment. It felt like home within a few hours of moving in and with every passing day it is bearing a decent resemblance to actually being a home. I enjoy the excitement of setting up a new house. The budget constraint is a bummer, but that's what makes it more exciting. (I think this belief helps keep the disappointment down.) I am enjoying doing all the housework. Of course I haven't been here long enough to get sick and tired of it. The absence of a maid is sure keeping my
BP in control. I feel more in control when I do things my way. (Who doesn't!) I really cherish the fact that our going out is not determined by the hour and by that I mean traffic. Oh yes, I love our car. (Aditya would be really disappointed if I don't mention our car!) The scenery around is beautiful. I guess beginning of fall is a good time to visit this place for the first time. The stores are big and well stocked. I haven't been able to explore that area much since I have been mainly involved in very functional shopping. But that looks like a very promising field! But amongst all these, the best so far has been the library. Its too good. The collection is amazing, the drive and the location is beautiful and its all free. I was so overwhelmed the first time I went there, I just didn't know what all to pick. I sure need to do some homework before I raid it the next time!
Apart from these, there are the usual ones like its so clean, quiet and everything is so organized and easy. People are friendly and law abiding. There are no power cuts. I actually feel sad when I think that these are the things that are novel and hence worth mentioning.
Now to things I do not like here.
My honeymoon period is still on, so there aren't many things I find myself passionately disliking. But I really wonder at the need to have the switches work the other way round! I just do not get the logic behind it. I am still getting used to people driving and walking (if any) on the wrong side which is actually the right side of the road. At times, I miss watching mindless Hindi movies on TV. And I am dreading all the cricket matches I am going to miss because of the stupid time difference. (Tendulkar retiring doesn't seem like a bad idea now. ) I hate all the spam calls on the home phone. (Just got one.) This might sound a bit snobbish, but whenever I go out I see a lot of Indians around and that disappoints me a lot. It kinda kills the romance of being in a 'foreign' country. Maybe I am yet to feel foreign to really appreciate this
desi diaspora around.
Most of the things mentioned above are very domestic. That's because most of my time has been spent in setting up the house. I haven't yet visited any place nearby which is a record considering I have spent 2 weekends here already! But the future looks good. We have already made a lot of plans about visiting different places and people. The fact that I am not allowed to work is a little scary but I am excited about the prospect that I could finally pursue my dream of studying English and history and maybe even find my true calling. I have a lot of friends living close by and that is an assuring feeling. I feel accepted and welcome and that I believe is all that matters. I have arrived. I am home.
IPL = Ila's Parted Loyalties
One major advantage of being at home is being able to devote as much time as you want to CRICKET! For me it is like going back to my school days when my life revolved around cricket (and a certain cricketer). I enjoyed the entire Australian tour and it was made doubly enjoyable thanks to the result (yippee we won!!) and a personal discovery of a new hero. And with 24 days to go for IPL, I can hardly wait. Though I am glad about the SA series that would distract me from the ‘Dharma-sankat’ I will be facing once IPL commences. With ‘my’ team distributed amongst different teams and actually pitted against each other it’s very difficult for me to decide my loyalties.
For the last 2 decades Mumbai has been my favorite Ranji team for obvious reasons, though geographically is should have been Maharashtra. And with IPL I would definitely want to support Mumbai, again for the most obvious reasons.
But Bangalore is home! And even though Bangalore team’s captain totally turns me off and the team isn’t really that exciting I would want my home team to bring home the laurels. If it was just a matter of these 2 teams, I could have wished for a final between these two teams and hoped for the better team (Mumbai, Mumbai) to win.
Chennai is amongst my least favorite cities. (Actually it’s my most hated city; I just did not want to hurt anyone’s regional sentiments.) But the team’s acquisition of the highest bidded player of the IPL and my recent development of a serious form of attachment towards this certain gutsy cricketer (who shall remain nameless) has added a third angle to the dilemma and has rocketed the odds in Chennai’s favor. So now I am stuck with 3 favorite teams out of 8!
So my latest policy: whether the winner is Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai or Jaipur (yeah right!), as the cliché goes, the game would be the real winner.
My Heroes
I just finished reading ‘The Summer Moonshine’ by P G Wodehouse and fell in love with the character of Joe Vanringham all over again! This set me thinking about all the guys I have fallen for over the past so many years.
Here’s the list. Let’s stick to fictional characters for the time being ;)
Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride & Prejudice):
I am yet to come across a girl who’s read Pride and Prejudice and not fallen for Darcy. He is proud and haughty. But that’s exactly what makes him so attractive! He does not exactly make me go weak in the knees, but let me just say, out of the 30 odd times I have read Pride and Prejudice, at least 10 would be for Darcy ;)
Rhett Butler (Gone With the Wind):
The stereotypical irresistible rascal! You know he is no good, but you want him to sweep you off your feet! (And Clarke Gable playing Rhett Butler in the movie did not help!!!) When you see his relation with Melanie or the way he loves Bonnie, you realize he is capable of emotions, he is vulnerable. I feel bad every time Rhett walks out on Scarlett. But some things are never meant to be…
Kabir Durrani (A Suitable Boy):
I fell in love with Kabir as soon as he walked in the book. He is charming, attractive and there is something boyish about him that you cannot resist. Let’s add to that his being a cricketer and having curly hair, and you have the perfect package :) And his being a ‘Durrani’ (you have to read the book to know what it means) doesn’t affect me one bit.
Amit Chatterjee (A Suitable Boy):
Lata had so many better options to choose from and she chose the boring Haresh! Amit is quite opposite to Kabir. He is a poet and a serious one, at that. And I am a sucker for the brooding, thinking types!
Conway (Lost Horizon):
Stoic. I think that word sums up ‘Glory’ Conway. As I have mentioned in a blog before, I read Lost Horizon during a very susceptible period of my life and the book had an impact on me. I could relate to Conway big time. The USP of Shangri-La was Conway.
Joe Vanringham (Summer Moonshine):
How can I forget the guy who started the train of thought? It was love at first dialog with Joe. Fresh, romantic, charming, funny, strong (and a writer!). He is too good to be true. Well, he IS too good to be true. Sigh.
Nanda Pradhan (Vyakti ani Walli):
I knew I was missing someone. Nanda Pradhan hit the scene same time as Conway. He is tall, good looking (something I noticed only during my 5th reading!). But that’s not what attracts you to him. There is something tragic about him. He is one guy I don’t want to meet in my real life. I think reality will kill the romance.
When I look at the list I realize, all these guys have been around for the last 10 years at least. Its time I find some new heroes!!!
