An open letter to the judgmental people out there

Dear Judgmental person,

  You told me I was too old to have a baby. I freaked out for months before asking my doctor.. She laughed at me.. and said I was the right age. You predicted I wouldn't have any milk because my lactation didn't agree with your timeline. The milk came in on time.. only, my daughter wasn't ready to drink. You told me I wasn't feeding her enough, or dressing her right. You took every opportunity to tell me how she was too small. How conveniently you forget to notice that she is very healthy and quite smart.

 You tell me my baby is crying, yes thank you very much, I can hear that. That is called a tantrum. I don't like giving her a phone or a tablet to entertain her. If you like to do it, I will not judge. You tell me all moms do after dads go to work is sleep with the baby. You are a mom aren't you? How on earth did you get to sleep that much?

You tell me I was lucky to have had a c section. It's nothing when compared to what moms who gave birth naturally felt. Hmm, how about we cut you up? It's nothing right? (I am not belittling the moms who have had a natural birth. Both ways have their complications. and both ways hurt like hell. and I am especially sympathetic to those who went into labor and then had to have an emergency c-sec)

 You make other moms who've had complications feel guilty as if it was their fault. If she works, she doesn't care for her baby. If she's at home, all she does is laze around. The mom who takes care of her baby is paranoid and the one who doesn't(according to you) should not have had the baby in the first place.

Since you know so much.. Let's do one thing... next time you pass a judgement, I will send my child to live with you for a week. Since, you are so good at raising children, I'm sure you'll enjoy running after her.

Sincerely,
Every frustrated mother.


P.S : Just pissed off with the amazing inflow of advice I and some friends have been getting off late. Even I have been guilty of being judgmental occasionally. This judgmental person is not one person but many people I and my friends have encountered. Please let people raise their children however they want unless you feel what they are doing may harm their child. Nobody is as paranoid as a parent. So, if they need advice they will definitely ask. 

Things they don't tell you about pregnancy - First trimester-2

I thought I would directly skip to the second trimester, but with the response to the first part I decided to add a few symptoms that I skipped. The ‘oh so gross’  bodily functions that I said I wouldn't elaborate on.

The first thing I can think of is constipation. Yeah ,I know, but it happens. The increased amount of progesterone in your body and the added iron from the supplements you are taking will cause constipation. This could be mild or really bad. Eat food rich in fibers and drink lots of water to avoid the situation.

Heartburn is another symptom that is caused by the slowing down of your digestive system. This, like constipation is not as bad in the first trimester. A cold glass of milk can help reduce the problem and increase your calcium intake. That’s win-win.

Another fantastic side effect of pregnancy is frequent urination. Since your uterus is growing , your bladder gets smaller. Between all these issues, there will be days when you would want to move into the bathroom and stay there.

I was talking about everything hurting in my previous post. One of the scariest pains should be the round ligament pain. The round ligament is one of the many thick ligaments that surround your belly. As the uterus grows, the round ligament stretches like a rubber band around it. Remember what happens when a rubber band snaps on your skin? Pretty much the same thing happens when you make sudden movements. The round ligament snaps like a rubber band around your lower belly. Fun times!! Thankfully the pain lasts only for a few seconds. However check with your doctor if the pain becomes unbearable.

Quite a few of these symptoms can be reduced if not cured by taking supplements. It is a good thing to start taking folic acid and other prenatal supplements before you become pregnant. It is never too late to start. These supplements provide you with all the nutrients required especially during your first trimester when you might not be able to keep your food down.

Your pregnancy test is not the only test that is done in your first trimester. Quite a few blood tests are done to make sure both you and the baby are healthy. These include tests to check your blood group, any infections, and also the check for trisomy 21 also known as downs syndrome. An ultrasound is also done to check the number of foetuses. Measurements of the foetus body parts are taken during the ultrasound to check for downs syndrome.

Things they don't tell you about pregnancy - First trimester

Babies have always fascinated me but I never bothered with the intricacies of how they come into this world 😊. Indian movies had taught me well. You vomit once, then nine months later you scream once in the hospital and you have a beautiful baby. Or so I thought when I was naive. Turns out there is a whole lot more to pregnancy than they tell you. Some weird and some wonderful aspects. I will take this by trimester and then postpartum.

As soon as you let people know you are expecting a baby the unwanted advice floods in. Everyone and their uncle wants to share their experiences or give you tips. And yet people forget to tell you many things. So here is some info from a new mom..

The movies have got it right about how it starts. Nausea! Morning sickness, as it is often called. Don't let the name fool you though. It can happen at any time of the day. Trust me, I had to puke in the middle of a job interview. No wonder I didn't get the job :P .

 Certain body parts get big. I already knew this thanks to reruns of How I met your mother. What I didn't know was that they hurt like hell. Since you are making a little human inside you, everything is moving aside and making way for the little one. So, everything hurts.

You have to give up not just alcohol and tobacco,but coffee, colas, some kinds of fish and cheese. If you end up having Gestational diabetes like me, you have to give up sugars and carbohydrates too. Yeah! That was fun. More on that in the third trimester.

You get TIRED! The word is capitalized for a reason. I was so tired, I thought there was something wrong with me. There is a possibility that the men in your life and the women who haven't been pregnant would think you are faking it. They know squat. Ignore them , go ahead and rest. Just because it's the first trimester does not mean your body isn't working hard.

This might come as a shock to my Indian friends who are absolutely pampered, but you are allowed to exercise. Prenatal yoga and aerobics make you feel great. My midwife said I could even lift weights. I didn't think I had it in me so I never tried. However always check with your doctor before starting any exercise regimen.

Contrary to popular belief, you will not want to eat. Yeah cravings happen, but they come into the picture much later. For the first trimester all the nausea might make you swear off food. In fact, you might even lose weight. Nothing to worry about. It won't affect your baby.

Your nose works double shift. You can smell anything from anywhere. And you develop an aversion towards certain smells. Also your nose starts to swell. Wonderful! They say it goes away once the baby is born. I'm still waiting five weeks postpartum.

Another thing that the movies have got right is dizziness. This is rare but might happen due to exhaustion or low hemoglobin levels. So don't exert yourself when alone.

My favorite part, emotions. The pregnancy hormones make you unbelievably emotional. So if you feel like crying, get it out. You can laugh about the reasons that made you cry later. I remember crying because we ran out of potatoes when I really wanted to cook. I sobbed my heart out for a few minutes  then walked out to tell  the husband and we shared a good laugh.

Your bodily functions get messed up big time. The internet is full of symptoms if you look. So I won't waste space on that.

I also have to stress that not everyone has all the symptoms. Some people are lucky to have no symptoms at all while some have all of them. Also don't let people share their birth experiences with you already. You don't need that pressure this early. Learn to take things one at a time

The Crush

It was three in the afternoon. Karthik was was standing by his bedroom window, from where he could get the best view of the main road. Every few seconds he would look at his watch. Suddenly his face lit up. He closed the window and ran downstairs to the living room. He plopped on the sofa and turned on the T.V.After about five minutes, there was a knock on the door. 'Karthik' called his mom from the kitchen 'Open the door, son. That must be Chitra.' Karthik smiled to himself and walked to the door. He waited a couple of minutes and then opened the door.

"What took you so long?" demanded the pretty girl who walked in "It's really hot outside".

"Some of us have things to do you know" replied karthik "It's not like we sit by the door waiting for madam to walk in"

"Why do I even waste my time talking to you? Where's Krithika?"

"In her room. They've already started studying, I guess. How come you are so late today?" he asked trying to sound as non challant as possible.

"As if I'd tell you" replied Chitra as she shoved him aside "Now out of my way. I need to catch up with them"As she did this, her bag slipped from her hands and fell, scattering it's contents everywhere. Chitra hurriedly started picking up everything and dropping it her bag. Karthik noticed a binculars among her posessions."What do you need binoculars for?"

"Don't you have THINGS to do?" , Chitra retorted as she walked up the stairs to Krithika's room. Krithika walked out of the room when she heard Chitra."There you are.Did you get the ..." her voice trailed off when she saw her brother "Come in Chitra, we've got a lot of studying to do." she added. She shut the door as soon as Chitra entered.
Karthik could sense something was wrong. He knew these girls were up to some mischief and wanted to find out what it was.
He walked outside and looked at krithika's window from below. Nothing! The window was open but the girls were nowhere near it. He knew he couldn't listen by her door as his mom would be around. But he badly wanted to know what they were up to.
The next day at three Karthik was at his usual perch waiting for Chitra. Chitra and Preethi were walking along the road together. Instead of going downstairs like every day, karthik stood there and watched them. They seemed deeply engrossed in their conversation. As they reached the gate they both turned around, looked at something and started giggling.They straightened their faces while entering the house, and shut the door behind them as soon as they entered Krithika's room.
Karthik could not help but feel suspicious. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. He followed their gazes and looked across the road. He could not see anything except for a block of houses. What was in there?
Karthik decided to stay home the next day and poke his nose around the house. He stood in the balcony and tried to find out what the girls were spying on. He waited for hours in vain, but could not spot anything unusual. At around one P.M his mother called him downstairs. "Could you put these clothes in Krithika's room?" she asked, as Karthik slid down the stairs. "Sure thing mom!" He said, and ran upstairs with the clothes,after giving her a mock salute.
This was the chance he was looking for. He went into the room and looked out of the window. The scope had narrowed but he still could not focus on what they were looking at. He put the clothes on her bed and looked around for the binoculars. Krithika's room was very neat and organised, completely in contrast with his room, where it was impossible to find anything. The binoculars was on a table facing the window. He picked it up , walked to the window and looked out, but again he was faced with the same dillemma. There were many flats and a lot more people out there. Who or what were they looking at? He watched for a few minutes, but he knew he couldn't risk staying there long. His mother might come upstairs or worse, Krithika might come home. He put the binoculars back where they were and was about to leave when he accidentally knocked a couple of pens off the table. As he bent down to pick up the pens his eyes were level with the binoculars and suddenly he knew what they had been looking at.
A young boy was standing on the balcony of one of the flats across the road. He seemed to be in his late teens, almost the same age as Karthik. Karthik felt a strong surge of jealousy as he looked at the guy. He was unusually good looking. He had floppy hair and a very cute smile, which he knew young girls would die for. He also seemed very muscular and strong, probably an athlete. As he was looking at the guy, he heard Krithika downstairs. In his hurry to leave, Karthik did not notice the other person who walked out on to the balcony.
That night, Karthik could not sleep. He kept picturing the guy he saw in the afternoon. He hoped and prayed that it should be Preethi who was interested in the guy. If it were Krithika, he would kill her and if it were Chitra, he would die. He had a crush on Chitra for more than six years now, since they were little kids. He would tease her, irritate her just to make her talk to him. And in all these years, he could not gather the guts to tell her how he felt about her.
He was a reasonably good looking guy, a bit of a nerd, but Karthik knew girls found him attractive. However, he also knew he was no match for this guy. The only thing he could think of doing was telling Chitra how he felt about her.
The next afternoon, he waited down the road for Chitra. Unfortunately for him, she was accompanied by Krithika. He walked down to them and said "Chitra I need to speak to you, alone. Kriti, go home". Krithika started to walk away, but when Chitra turned her back on her, she shook her head as if to say it wouldn't work.

"Chitra" Karthik stammered, "I've wanted to say this to you since many years"
"Please don't say anything" Chitra interrupted "I have known for a while now, that you like me. But I don't feel the same way for you. There is someone I really like... "
"I know, I've seen him out on the balcony. I know what you were doing with the binoculars" he smiled wryly,"I must say, he is very good looking"
"You dog!" Laughed Chitra and slapped him playfully on the back. "I know he is older, but I can't help it. I am so attracted to him, I feel helpless at times"
"He did not seem a lot older, he was probably my age"
"No, he must be in late twenties or maybe even early thirties." said Chitra " You are talking about the guy from flat 21-b, right?"
Karthik thought for a while and replied, "Yeah, but I felt he was younger"
"I do hope he is younger" relied Chitra, " And even if he were older, I don't care. Oh! Karthik, I know this is too much to ask, but could you find a way to introduce me to him?"
There was a conflict in Karthik's mind. He felt selfish and angry and did not want to help her. At the same time, he knew this would mean a lot to her. After a little coaxing, he relented.

Two days later, Karthik and Chitra met at the park down the lane.

"Ok! Here's the plan" said Karthik, "Krithika told me the first time you saw him was when you went to that building to collect funds for flood relief. So we can do something of that sort again"

"Don't you think it would be too selfish to wish for floods again?"

"Chi, I'm just glad you are pretty. With a brain like that.... " muttered Karthik " We don't need floods to collect funds. Ganesh chaturthi is around the corner. We could collect funds for the pandal"

The next day, Karthik and Chitra took a leaflet of old reciepts and went to the building opposite to their house. In order not to look fishy, they first went to a couple of houses before knocking on the door in question. A very good looking man, probably in his late twenties opened the door. He looked inquiringly at the pair of them. Chitra, who was talking non-stop until then, stood there with a dreamy look in her eyes. Karthik quickly got into action and explained that they were part of this youth association and were collecting funds for ganesh chaturthi, and were also on a drive for new members

" Would you like to join our assocation"? Chitra chipped in.

The man looked at Chitra for a few seconds and then started laughing. " I'm not all that young little girl." He said.

There was a flicker of disappointment on Chitra's face.

"Just a second" The man said as he turned around "Rishabh! Come out for a second will you?" Karthik looked at Chitra expecting a happy face, but she still had the dazed, dreamy look. The young boy whom Karthik had seen earlier walked to the door.

"This is my son, Rishabh" The man said with a smile "He would be fit to join your association I guess"

Karthik was taken aback "Oh! I thought he was your younger brother" He blurted out.

The man laughed again and said that he heard that often. He welcomed them inside and then Rishabh and Karthik got talking. Chitra however, was unusually quiet. After a short conversation and Rishabh agreeing on joining the non existant youth association, they started to leave.

"Excuse me" Chitra said to Rishabh's dad " Can I know your name?"

"Kumar" he replied.

Chitra and Karthik bade goodbye to Rishabh and his dad and walked outside. They took a few steps when Karthik said " Well, Now that he agreed to join the association, you can meet him whenever you want"

"I did not know Kumar was married, I thought he was younger.. and you said he might be your age"

Karthik turned so fast he almost had a whiplash. "What?"

Soon, all of them became good friends with Rishabh,Kumar became Kumar Uncle and everybody forgot about Chitra's little crush.

Eighteen Years later, it was Chitra's daughter's fifteenth birthday. Rishabh walked in and wished the young girl and gave her a gift. And then he fished another big package and said "This one is from my dad".

" And this" He said as he took out an envelope from his pocket "is for you Chitra".

Chitra took the envelope and opened it. There was a note in it which read

Chitra,

I thought this was the right time to get her one :)

Love,

Kumar Uncle

Chitra urged her daughter to open the package she recieved from Kumar. Inside was a shiny new Binoculars...

What if I deny the truth

I have heard innumerable times that speaking the truth requires courage. But there were times when I used to wonder, how hard is it to speak the truth?

When we were kids, a few of my friends used to complain that I could once in a while, make an effort to be nice to people. I could never fathom what they meant by being nice. To me, being nice always meant, telling people what they 'needed' to hear and not what they 'wanted' to hear. As I grew older I realized , it's not very important to speak the truth always. I had to teach myself that being nice was sometimes more important than being honest and that if people wanted to hear the truth, they ask you.

It took me a few years to understand that speaking the truth is an art. Honesty, if not dealt with properly would leave you with your foot in your mouth, more often than not. That was when I adopted the policy of denying the truth. If I ever had an urge to speak the truth where it was not required, I would deny it. Not to the world outside, but to myself. So that if I believe it was true, I would speak like it was true. Sounds messed up, doesn't it? But it works like a charm, every time. I only made sure, deep down I knew what the real truth was. Too complex?? Maybe.. But it worked for me.

Very recently I came across a truth that I could not digest. I came across something, which I was consciously avoiding for many years. It took me a few weeks to wake up to the fact that, I so badly wanted it to be a lie, that I denied myself the truth. Unconsciously of course, but I was doing it. Okay, now I agree, not only does speaking the truth need guts, accepting the truth needs a lot of courage as well. Took me quite long to accept the truth.And now I have decided I will speak it out. Wish me luck peeps :D

Yes, I like spending time with myself

I am an only child and spending time with myself is quite normal to me. When I was a kid and my parents were at work I used to keep myself busy with my toys or books. When people hear that I am an only child, the one thing they usually say is 'That must be boring'. And my usual answer would be 'Not really! What makes you say that?'

Today, I live alone in a studio apartment. Yeah I have friends living around me. But I enjoy the peace and quiet living alone has got to offer. A few days ago I decided to take a trip to some place all alone. Well, just the decision made a lot of people livid. And the first question many people asked me was 'why?'

Sometimes I don't understand why people get so hyper whenever I mention that I enjoy spending time with myself. 'Me time' according to a few of my friends is a sign of depression. I, on the other hand believe being happy even when nobody is around, is one sign to show you are not depressed. It shows that you have confidence in doing whatever it is that you do, that you have confidence in you.

Four years ago, when I was in Hyderabad, there were days when I used to work late and would go down to the cafeteria to grab a bite at around 7-8 PM. The few people who were around at that time, would look at me like I was off my rocker. Seriously, what do you expect me to do? Call a friend/colleague who had already gone home to accompany me?

Being alone has it's advantages too. I have made a lot of friends in the office cafeteria or travelling alone in the office shuttle. Even today, I do end up talking to a lot of people when I travel alone. And ladies, here's a tip. I've noticed, it's easier for a guy to ask you out if you are not surrounded by an army of friends all the time. Now that's something to think about isn't it?

Try spending some time with yourself sometime. and do let me know, Am I really being weird?? ;)

A pinch of salt??

I have a friend who is quite well known for asking questions in a rather strange manner. We used to say that he 'explains' his questions. Whenever he asked something it was usually so long drawn that we would mostly occupy ourselves with something else until he finishes asking. I was thinking about him the other day and realized, well at least his questions had answers.

I have come across questions, which do have answers, but are asked in such a way, more often than not, you don't know what to say.

One of my friends recently asked me ' Why don't you laugh at my jokes??' . A straightforward answer to that would have been ' I don't find your jokes funny. And if you ever catch me laughing at your jokes, you can safely assume I'm laughing at you.' But, how can you say that to someone??? I got out of it by making myself look stupid. I said ' Your jokes are so high funda, I don't get them most of the time'. Damaging to my ego, satisfying to his. Definitely not the way to go :D

Another friend of mine once asked me while I was eating ' How come you are so fat when you eat so less??' Fortunately, I choked on my food at the same time and did not have to answer that.

The most common question I used to get was ' which school/college are you in??' One kid took it a bit too far, he asked my cousin ' aunty ee akka 7th class a??' (is she in the 7th standard?) , I stood there gaping at the kid. He looked at me a little longer and said ' 8th class a??' . I was 21 and never visited my cousin again :)

And of course there is the regular tirade of questions most of us have to put up with ' when will you get married?' , ' party kab hai (for any and every occasion)' , 'What are you doing here? (at a shopping mall / movie theater)', ' Are you busy (like I would tell you if I were not)' I get through

all this with a pinch of salt. Being sarcastic helps too, as long as you are dealing with someone who understands it.

I leave you with a quote from sheldon cooper ' Bazzinga!!'

My stranger

Sitting by the lake , enjoying the cool breeze,

I watch the sailing boats and the lovely birds,

but why do I get a feeling,

That I am being watched?

I turn around and I see no one

Though I still feel an eye on me,

From the corner of my eye,

I see a man, A stranger,

Tall, dark and handsome.

His deep voice is like music

as he walks by and says hello.

He sits by my side and talks to me,

no track of time, unaware of people around,

I am lost , as if in a trance,

He reminds me of a centaur,

wild and untamed one moment,

suave and charming the other.

Even in a crowd , he smiles at me,

Lost in the crowd, he worries me

He comes close to me and whispers in my ear

'close your eyes, and let the magic unfold'

One little blink is all it took

there was no lake, no birds, no boats,

no stranger smiling down at me.

I lay alone on my bed,

shaking my head for being a fool.

days have passed but I still wonder,

was it just a dream,

coz I still feel watched, I still see his shadow,

I still smile in a sly way, when someone questions my rosy glow.. :)

It's Time

It's been a long while since I updated my blog. Of late I've been reading about the happenings back home and it pains me to see how messed up things are...

From far away I watch you,

I grumble when you take a wrong step.

I Complain when someone wrongs you,

Coz I believe they wrong me.

I hate it when you lose a game

I am jubiliant when you win,

I cheer for you when you fight a war,

I mourn your every loss

I love the way you entertain the world

how you sing and dance and make merry

How I wish you'd draw the line there

and not regale them with how you make money

Yes, they looted you,

I know you were plundered

but that is still no excuse

to cover up every blunder

when people questioned my loyalty to you,

some even called me a deserter

I reasoned, the heart is where loyalty should be

I see no reason to wear it on my sleeve

So many times you faltered,

and I stood by watching calmly,

Hoping that things would get right

that eventually, all would be well

Now I know, it's not up to you,

but to me , to come to you,

to force you, to steer you,

to make you right all wrongs

It's time to show the world

you're not all about elephants,

rope tricks, snake charmers and liars

Or maye customer care and software

It's time to bring back that land,

where truth prevailed,

where people were valued more,

where love conquered all

The bright red star

Written on request by MNK again :)

Pearls! They dazzle when you smile at me
A smile as sweet as ever could be
They knew when you were born, that's true
That smiling star, Is that you?


Stars! They shine so bright when you look at me
Eyes, as kind as there ever could be
You came down to earth and that's when they knew,
That shining star, Is that you?


Music! That's all I hear when you speak to me,
Words, as Naive as ever could be
They named you after a star, Well it's true
That Glowing star, That's you!

The journey

It was a foggy and cold day. Priya was trying hard not to snooze.'What a waste' She thought 'Sitting in this stupid bus at the crack of dawn, so that I can get to that hell hole and spend the day doing what I hate most'.


All of her life, Priya never got out of bed before eight in the morning. Two years ago, she landed a job and that was the end of that habit. Her office was on the other side of town and she had to spend a good part of the day travelling to work. What made it worse was that it was not what she wanted. It was not her dream job. To her it was 'a job that paid the rent'.


The bus was cruising at top speed. There was hardly any traffic so early in the morning. The bus lurched to a halt and Priya woke up with a start. She looked out of the window and said 'Shit!' loud enough for the guy in the front seat to turn around and go 'You forgot?? Again??'
Priya just glared at him and whipped out her phone and started dialing.


'You don't even have him on auto dial? Honestly, I don't understand why he does not ask one of us to call'


Priya was trying her best to ignore him and was muttering 'pick up, pick up, pick UP'.


"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered the call.


"I forgot to call again" she squeaked into the phone.


"Oh , that's alright. I'm on leave today. Not feeling good. Sorry I didn't let you know before"


"Ohh! Take care of you!! "


"Yeah I will. Bye"


"Bye". Priya looked slightly disappointed. The guy in the front seemed satisfied with what he saw. He turned around in his seat and fell asleep.


Priya fished out a novel from her handbag and started reading it. But she could not concentrate. Something just did not seem right. She tried to read a few more minutes and then shut the book and shoved it back into her bag. She picked up her phone and dialed Neeta's number. She let the phone ring for a few seconds before she cut the call. It was a signal to Neeta that the bus was approaching.


After a few minutes, the bus stopped and a pretty girl got in.Priya could smell her perfume even before Neeta came into view.


"Hey Pri. Where's Suraj?"


"Hey babe! Not well, won't be coming today"


"No wonder you look so frumpy. I mean if I don't talk to you first thing in the morning, I feel like I haven't had my morning cuppa coffee"




"Great" said Priya moodily " As if I were not addicted to enough things, I am now addicted to Suraj"


"Haha. And If you do not get your daily dose of Suraj, you sulk and act moody"


"Very funny Neeta!!"


The guy in the front seat turned around to let them know they were disturbing him. Neither of the girls looked at him and continued talking. He turned towards the couple sitting across the aisle to complain, but they were too lost in each other to notice. He grumbled something about disturbance in the buses and went back to sleep. Neeta and Priya giggled and continued to gossip until they reached their destination. They bid each other goodbye and went on to their blocks.


Priya sat down at her desk and switched on her PC. As she checked her mail she realized it was going to be a long day and started working right away. It was 8 P.M by the time she finished all her work and rushed out to catch the evening shuttle. Luckily, not many people were working late that night and she managed to get a seat by the window. The bus crawled through the traffic. Priya sighed inwardly, she knew she would be very late today.


An hour later they were still nearer to the office than her home.Priya was hungry and tired and felt really irritated. She was no mood to talk when she saw her phone flash suraj's ID. She answered only because she thought it was polite.


"Hello"


"Hi" Said Suraj. He sounded better than he had in the morning. "Are you still not home?"


"No, took the 8'o clock bus. Traffic is horrible, I guess it's gonna take another hour. Did you want something?"


"You sound really tired.. Actually, I just called to tell you that I would be coming to office tomorrow. Don't forget the signal"


"I'll try not to " Priya said smiling in spite of herself.


Suraj asked Priya if she heard A.R.Rahman's latest album and their conversation veered towards music. They continued talking for more than an hour. Priya got off at her stop and was walking home. She was feeling exceptionally cheerful.


"Ahh! home at last. I'm really hungry. What did you have for dinner?"


" Nothing yet, I think mom made parathas"


" Well then go and eat. You should have told me earlier"


" You said you were hungry, I did not have the heart to tell you"


Priya smiled and said " You know you are so silly at times? You are not well .. go eat. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye"


"Bye"


The next morning Priya made sure she alerted Suraj on time. When the bus stopped and Suraj walked towards her, she realised she felt really happy. She felt like she hadn't met him in a long time. They started off where they stopped their conversation the day before , only to pause to signal Neeta that the bus was there.


As soon as Neeta got on to the bus she went " Hey Suraj, how are you doing today? Somebody missed you a lot yesterday." and gestured towards Priya.


Suraj turned towards Priya with a questioning look.


"Ohh! you know how boring this journey can be" said Priya airily, hoping that Suraj did not notice her blush.


Suraj looked at her in a queer way for a few seconds. Then Neeta started telling them something she heard about the HR guys and they spent the rest of their journey arguing about that piece of gossip.

It was a busy week for Priya. She also had a job interview the next week and she was busy preparing for that. It was the same story everyday. She would get into the bus, alert Suraj and then bury her nose in a book. Suraj and Neeta would give her pointers for the interview.

On the day of the interview Priya felt really tense. She wanted the job badly. She knew she could do it, yet she had an uneasy feeling about it. She had reached the place an hour early and was trying to calm herself down by listening to some music. She recieved a text message from Suraj "I'm sure you'll do well :). Treat in office cafe tomorrow?"

Somehow, the message seemed to have done what the music couldn't do. Priya felt a lot more confident now. She did very well in the interview and got the job.

Priya was really excited the next day. She did not take calls from Suraj and Neeta the day before so that she could surprise them with the news. She finally got her dream job. Suraj almost ran to her seat and said "Well?" Priya kept a straight face as long as she could and then she squealed "yessss!"

"Awesome" roared Suraj "when are you joining?"

"Can you keep it down?" the guy in the front seat muttered.

Both Priya and Suraj grinned at him sheepishly. Priya turned to Suraj and said "I have to join next week. I've got so much to do before that. I am so excited."

Suraj's smile faltered slightly, but he recovered quickly and said " Ohh that's too soon. But I guess you can manage. I knew you could do it"

Priya raised an eyebrow and said "Really?? You did not look that convinced a minute ago.."

"Well, you wouldn't take my calls. So, I thought you were depressed or something.By the way, Neeta will not be coming today. She said she had to go somewhere"

"Ohh, then I better message her that I got in. She'll kill me if she hears from someone else"

The week rolled by too soon and it was already friday evening. Priya finished all her goodbyes and got into the bus. Neeta and Suraj were waiting for her. All three of them were very excited. They chatted away happily until Neeta's stop was there. Neeta hugged Priya and then got off the bus.

Once Neeta had gone both Priya and Suraj fell silent. They usually never ran out of things to say to each other. But that day, they were unusually quiet.

"Don't sit like that, say something!!" urged Suraj after a while "We might never meet again"

Priya just stared at him for a while. Then she started talking about her new office.When Suraj's stop came, he shook her hand and gave her that queer look again. Then he got off the bus.

Priya felt a sudden sadness engulf her. She would never see him again. She looked out of the window, Suraj was walking down the lane. It was no use denying it, she was hopelessly in love with him. She wanted to call him back and tell him that she loved him. How she wanted to turn back time. But she knew, that even if she could turn back time, that journey would end exactly how it did. She did not have the guts to tell him how she felt about him.

Priya joined her new job the next week. It was a great place and her colleagues were fantastic. Of course, she still had to travel to the other side of town. At least now, she felt the journey was worth it. But she really missed the fun journeys of the past two years. She missed gossiping with Neeta, though she tried not to think of Suraj. She reasoned with herself that she could not have it all. She had a great job and that she should be happy about it.

As months passed Priya slowly got used to life at the new place. She now had a lot of new friends. Neeta and Suraj called occasionally and they used to talk about old times. One day Neeta suggested they meet up for lunch over the weekend.

Priya was waiting for Neeta at the lakeside restaurant. She was checking her watch every two minutes. Neeta was not usually late, but then as she always says 'sometimes, traffic can be a bitch'. Just then Neeta walked into the restaurant. Priya's heart sank when she saw who she brought along. It was Suraj! She had forgotten what looking at him could do to her heart. It was beating like crazy. And then it stopped beating abruptly as she noticed something.

They were holding hands, and they looked great together.

Priya sighed and waved at them.

" Hey guys" she said, trying to smile, but she wasn't really sure if it was convincing.

They joined her at the table. Priya could tell Suraj was trying to avoid her gaze. He picked up a glass and started drinking some water.

" Hey babe" said Neeta , beaming at her "Guess what?? I'm getting married"

"Aren't you supposed to say 'we'?" asked Priya gesturing towards Suraj.

Suraj almost choked on the water he was drinking. He was looking at Priya with his eyes wide open.
Neeta looked at her as if she were insane " What on earth are you saying?"

"Well you were holding hands when you came in" said Priya defensively.

"Are you crazy or what?" said Neeta "This guy developed cold feet after reaching the restaurant. He wanted to go back so I was dragging him in." Neeta was glaring at Suraj all the while. She seemed to be angry with him about something.

"I'm sorry" Priya said to her knees. She did not know where to hide. She was feeling really stupid.

"Priya" said Neeta in a different tone "Do you really think he could?"

Priya looked at Suraj, who was still staring at her with wide eyes.

"Priya, I couldn't.. I never would" he muttered as if in a daze.

"For heaven's sake stop muttering and say what you want to " Neeta growled.

"Priya, I could never marry Neeta" said Suraj "she's not..." he trailed off.

"Me!" Priya said with a faint smile.

It was a foggy and cold day. Priya was trying hard not to snooze. She woke with a start as her phone beeped to indicate a text message from Suraj.

'Miss u already- hubby'

Priya sighed "What a waste! Sitting in this stupid bus at the crack of dawn going to spend the day away from him"

Five years

I just sent a mail to my friends with the same text, but I can't help but repeat myself. It feels like yesterday that I stood outside that gate. Scared and excited at the same time.

I met quite a few people that day and never did I know I would make friends for life.
The early days in CMC, sitting with adi and trying to work out programs. Feeling jealous when someone scored more than us on a test. Making new friends. Bike rides with jyothi. Anu me and jyo forcing adi to eat pani puri. Making detours just to eat pani puri. My huge brick of a nokia phone. Parvez eating pani puri with a spoon (most of my memories revolve around panipuri). Pinki naveen and kakuls huge fight.

Kernex, first thing that comes to my mind as pavan said is the great food we had. We all used to sit on the floor , I used to save my sweets so that murthy could eat them. And when the heavy breeze would take away our chapatis and papads.. Sam would shout 'are murthy egiripotav jagratha.' Giving a 'hand' to Adi everyday after lunch. Sitting next to parvez and siraj in the first row and managing to talk throughout the day without the faculty noticing. Dressing up for dandiya night. The early edisanus of RAKtv. Bhupi telling me he'd donate some money so I could buy clothes which were not torn. Sandy's comments about me combing my hair. PRP!! Studying, failing, crying and studying more.

Then moving to work. The antakshari in QP, days(months) spent in freepool. The bus journeys on sundays.Sriram and bhaskar bribing sailu to shut up. Bhupi, Sandy, Mahi, Hari, Sriram, Bhaskar moving to blore. Bindu crying till the fountain was full. :)

And most of all how can I forget ' mr braganza!! ahhaaa!!'

Now five years have passed. We don't share the same equations with everybody. But somehow the bond remains. Add your memories here everybody. not just with me.. whatever you shared with We43. Add a comment.

FRIENDS

Staying away from home, from family, from friends, from your beloved city. A few special moments keep coming to your mind. So I decided to pen down those special moments when I first spoke to a few good friends. Or those few moments which helped us grow as friends. What I thought of them then, what I think of them now. I must mention that the people are mentioned in the order that I met them and not how important they are to me :P



The only kid my age in our colony, jayanthi. She was a couple of months younger than me and we were great friends. I used to go to her house to play every morning and she came to mine in the evening. So thick we were that everybody in family knew her.(atleast her name). She was my junior in school and I used to help her with homework and were friends from when we were 2 year olds to 14 year olds. And then we lost touch. Heard she got married. Not very sure.



My first friend in school on my first day at school. My mom left me at school and left for home because she was told to. I was 2.5 years old and stood a few inches tall :P (I mean seriously, if you think I'm short now , you should have seen me back then.) So they ended school early and all moms came to take their kids. I was told to go home , so I went. I walked to the road and then realised my home was not there :D and started crying. One of the teachers saw me and took me back to school. There I met kalyani. She was smarter than me and a year older too and was waiting for her parents (how intelligent). She even gave me a chocolate!!! And we were best friends that day. Later we 'performed' a school dance and went on to become good friends. Both of us moved to another school and from there I moved to another school and we lost touch. I do see her in the bus stop once in a while. But now that we are grown up , we act like we don't know each other and walk past.



There was Radhika, who simply adored me and took care of me all the time. She used to scoop out food into a spoon and then flip the spoon into her mouth. At that age I thought it was amazing :P. We lost touch later but we still smile at each other when we meet.



There were no special friends after that until I joined a new school when I was 10 years old. This girl and boy came with me to school on the bus. And we just spoke to each other. And we've been friends ever since. Kiran and I have been inseperable in school. Lost touch in between but got back again. I missed her wedding and her baby shower and still she wasn't mad at me. Praneeth and I have lost touch now. But back in school he was one of my closest buddies.



In tenth standard I joined another school and there were a few friends. One day we had a school excursion and none of the girls from my class turned up. That was when I met sowmya. She came upto me and said. Hey don't worry that you are alone. Join us. She is one of the most level headed and intelligent girls I know. We were not that thick in school but became real good friends while we were in college. Lost touch now. Her smile is the no 1 genuine smile in my list.



My first day in intermediate , I sat next to this real tall girl we smiled at each other and exchanged names and they sounded almost similar. She was yasmine and I am yamini. She said 'don't mind , I talk too much'. I said ' No problem, So do I' and we never stopped talking after that. Partners in crime , always upto some mischief. And strangely I never felt odd walking next to her. She was almost a foot taller than me. She used to talk to her boyfriend for hours on the phone and tell her mom she was talking to me. And her mom would always scold me whenever we met :) . yasmines married to her boyfriend now and has kids. Her number has changed and whenever she tries to call me I'm never at home. And my folks forget to note down her number. So we've lost touch.



Graduation days, BARDAASH, Almost all of us met during dance practice for the farewell party of our seniors and became really good friends. I went up to these girls and said 'I'm going to dance for the farewell will you join me? I'll teach you don't worry' and then we were all great friends.

Bhagya - tall and fun. She is cool and unassuming, boyish and I dont remember how I met her. Sorry dear missed ur wedding.

Aruna- Pretty! stunning! beautiful! intelligent! and very very sensitive. We were art partners. She was a lot into writing poetry and I too was bigtime into poetry back then. She calls me up after 2 years to tell me she got married :) . Lives near my place but never got to meet her yet.

Let me skip the R and the D.

Anitha- lovely long hair crazy about icecream and the most traditional among us.

Sharani- My darling! We used to go to college together every day. We gave our first job interview together and been together almost all the time for the better part of the three years. She is really sweet and cute. A little slow at times but that adds to her charm. We all used to crack up on some silly little jokes and after all of us stopped sharani would start laughing saying ' oh i got it now'.

Harika- The guy of the gang. Used to tease me about how little I ate. She'd be proud of me if she saw me eating now. I used to hate how loudly she spoke and she used to hate my hatred of loudness. Nevertheless we were great friends. I always used to say I would never wear a sari even to my wedding. I wore one to her wedding and fell in love with sarees. Now I own 25 :). She has a baby but I could not visit her due to work commitments.

And then I joined WASE and had an explosion of friends.



My first friend in WASE Ayisha. We stepped into this world together and ended up joining the same project. She was the serious kind while I was everything else. As they say opposites attract. Still in touch.

Then there was Dipti. Dips was always fascinated by my earrings and she used to ask me if my ears don't hurt wearing them. We then performed at an office event and there was no turning back. We have been really good friends ever since.

Naveen and I fought with each other during our early days in WASE over who gets to sit in the first row. But we became friends soon enough. He calls me akka coz I look like his sister. (He is older than me though). I must say I have never seen anybody more talented than naveen. This guy is good with almost anything. Except language. He is no good at any language :D



Parvez. Where do I start and what do I say! My bestestest buddy. We have been inseperable for a loooooooooooooong time now. He is almost like family now even to my parents. One day (2 days before my birthday)I came to class on my sunny and my hair was completely dishelved. He asked me if something was wrong with me. and told me he'd gift me a rubber band on my birthday. He actually gave me a rubber band on that day. don't remember whose band it was. We used to study together early on but after that we went on to know each other and became very good friends. He is the one who made me realise my potential in whatever I did. And he is the reason behind my addiction to non vegetarian food. We share a love for animated movies and KFC. Good or bad every moment shared has been wonderful

Pinki, she and I are so much similar, yet so different. Saw her first at the entrance exam for WASE. She seemed like a snob and I really hated her. over action chestadi.. that was my first impression of her.It was much later that I understood overaction is her birthright. 100% senti 120% mental. Again dance was the reason we became friends :) . We are crazy when we are together , but always in a logical and sensible way :P . Nobody but pinks and me can do that. What I like best about her is that she never tires praising me :P

Pavan , Jyo, Ajju, Anil, they were my busmates at different times and it was always a lot of fun being with them.

Rakesh and I first sat together in class because I had no place to sit that day. We found out we had a lot in common. The conversation that started that day lasted more than a year. People had to force us to stop talking. Ego , misunderstandings and mistakes on both sides led to the end of this friendship. We are changed people now and I don't expect the friendship to grow back anymore, but I cherish the loooooong conversations we've had.

Arindam dasgupta, how I hated him. Good looking in a careless sort of way and always upto nonsense. Dance and music were the foundation of our friendship. Later, he became a good friends boyfriend (soon to be husband) and I had no choice but to accept him as a friend. :)

Sourav, I was never comfortable talking to him. He always seemed so distant and aloof. I only knew him as the guy who was crazy about miss XXX. The number of friends I've made from dance shows, Sourav is also a part of that list. We never spoke much to each other for a very long time. I remember how he was dancing like crazy on a DJ nite and everyone thought he was drunk. He came upto me and said 'I swear achi, I'm not drunk'. That was funny and scary at the same time. Thanks to Gtalk we are really good friends now. And I know what he thinks about 'everybody'. :P

Bakka ravi, he and I used to travel on the same bus but never spoke to each other. One day I was sitting on the last seat depressed about work, he came out of nowhere and started talking to me and cheered me up considerably (he dint know I was depressed). And from that day we spent every bus journey speaking to each other. Right from Hariharan's silky smooth voice to how to flirt with gals (both of us don't know how :P ) , we spent our journeys talking and talking and talking. WASE ended and the bus journeys ended but we do make time once in 2-3 months to stand outside our ODC and chat.

Dave and kavita, Late entrants into my friends list. They both have always been so much fun. And I must say I'm a huge fan of kavita's poetry and the way she speaks. So much to learn!!!

And then there are Sofia, Shailaja, Kamala, Sunita, jyotsna, Y madhu, S srikanth, Vedavyas, Raghava, Pooja, Farida, Vandana, Shyamala, Shanthi, Ramu, Srikalyan, Indu, Sush, garima, shaifali, aarti, rajani, shailaja, sailu pinni, sailu potlakay, anu, adi, rohini,neetika, sujata, vidya, anil, mithul and Hanu. All of you have been very special and have played a part in moulding me into what I am today.

pics!!

I need the pics of these ppl.. i'm updating my wase album.. if you have them send em.. and if i missed out anybody else.. remind me.. and if you have the pics.. send em to me

bhupi (found)
sandeep G (f)
hari (f)
sriram
chirag (f)
sourav (f)
kishalay
kuldeep
deepika (f)
sudip
amit dutta
amit chakroborty
archana kodati
purnim
payel (f)
bharat
archana
ramya
raghu
vijay
lavanya
debarati
soumya
santosh
kishore
rhitwik
lavanya vunnava
jamal
heeresh
radha

Insatiable

I draw aside my window curtains to let in the bright morning light
One look at the clock tells me it's not morning, but night,

I take a look out of the window surprised at natures ways
oh what a pretty sight, isn't it like i dreamt always

Trees with no leaves ,neither shrivelled nor dried
With the promise of a full bloom, so they can show off with pride

The sea beyond seems asleep, so steady and calm like a lake
not like the one back home, rumbling, roaring and so awake

The birds seem to have the same chirp, the same way they twitter
They wake me up every morning, never have I seen so many together

The strangers on the roads are not very friendly,
but, they neither push nor jostle nor speak to you rudely

Peace is what I yearned for, yes that is true..
Happy and content, is the way I would seem to you

yet, satiety is just an arms length away
and as I reach, it seems to stray

I realise , insatiable is the human soul
how much ever it has, It always wants a little more

Not at that age!!

I came across an advertisement last week where a little 'bespectacled' girl asks her dad if she is not pretty. Dad replies 'of course beta' without even looking at the kid. and then she says 'but nobody looks at me' . they show her talking to a little guy and he does not even look at her. So dad gets a car and takes the girl on a ride and everybody starts looking at the car while the poor little one believes everybody is looking at her (every body's ogling at the car). And she goes 'Am I so pretty)

Normally I might've considered the AD cute.. but of late I've been subject to a lot of MCism and also a lot of prejudices regarding looks. I have come to terms with the fact that we cannot weed out these prejudices and women (of late men too) will be subject to such insults regarding their complexion or height or the lack of it. I am dead against criticizing or putting down people because of their physical deformities (except overweight coz that is most of the time due to carelessness and needs to be checked) . And considering bespectacled people ugly is one thing I simply cannot tolerate. Excuse the narcissism, but I wear glasses and I think I look equally pretty with or without them.

We have always considered teenagers impressionable and have come across endless discussions on how one should not pressurize them about how they look. I have read hundreds of articles about how such prejudices should not be created and how it creates pressure among adults.

And now these guys decide to regress and create pressure among kids. They have enough things to worry about already (homework growing tall, which cartoon channel to watch). Do we have to create complexes among them about how they look. And also that people will look ONLY if you go around in a car. puhleez!!give them a break.

India me aisich hota

I was at the delhi airport last week, I noticed an old man arguing with the officer at the security check. Here's how their coversation was.

"Officer I am travelling all the way from USA. No one stopped this item till now. How can u say you wont allow this? "

Officer replies "Sorry sir, We can't allow this. In India this is sharp Item"

:O

My sunshine

Written on request by MNK- who is currently composing a tune for this song.
Naveen , copy right petta choodu
© MNK

i'm feeling good in a special way
ur smile takes my breath away
you are the sunshine that makes my day

My heart soars in the cloudless sky,
like a bird i'm gonna fly
let me soak up all the morning rays
i'm feeling good in a special way
you are the sunshine that makes my day

your smile lights up the skies
when the sunlight twinkles thru ur sparkly eyes
I long to watch that special sunrise
i'm feeling good in a special way
you are the sunshine that makes my day

my pain has gone with yesterday
life seems pristine today
a special gift from the new day
i'm feeling good in a special way
you are the sunshine that makes my day

No entry

Sign in a temple "No entry for slippers!!"

I'd want a pair that could enter on it's own!

Happy memories in WASE

Such wonderful days they were
I had to study no more
Tired of having so much fun
I went to visit a friend of mine

She said there was an interview
Please accompany me.. will you?
I went coz i had nothing better to do
was surprised as she did not, but I got through

Confident yet scared I stood in line
Telling myself everything would be fine
Saw a lady pushing everyone as she walked
came to know later, she holds ur hand when she talks

A quiet looking girl came over
and said let us go in together
we ended up sitting together for more than a year
She did DCI, I did KM, but we were still near

A fair, cute girl told me we were destined to meet
we missed meeting earlier, that we meet is fate.
A dimpled girl rode on my bike and we were quite a pair
from pani puris to bus rides we had a lot to share

The curly haired brat was such a pain
I swore I'd trip her if I'd meet her again
Slowly she danced her way into my heart
Now, only a mirror can tell us apart.

The lanky girl asked if my body doesn't ache
thanks to my heavy earrings and long drives on my bike
She dances with gusto and her song is loud and clear
She is so much fun to be with and is such a dear

The bright eyed girl wanted to know if i wore lipstick
A laugh riot I tell you, she's one funny chic
I fought with the short boy coz he wanted to sit in the front
I did not know back then that he was stuffed with talent

The wild haired boy wondered if i lost my hair band
He was the right seasoning in a life which was bland
Exams, movies, lunches, dinners and bike rides too
Together all the time, ppl joked that we were stuck with glue

The chubby boy was interesting so we chatted
'sir, ma'am will u please listen?' The faculty requested
The fair boy's baby I stole, coz it looked underfed
He probably thinks I'm a bitch and fame is all I wanted

The long haired girl gave everything an artistic touch
To wear a saree she does not need a reason as such
The fair skinned girl and the talkative boys took the same bus
Journeys to work were never boring for us

The two skinny boys taught me how to dance
the lanky girl got one in a trance
I chat with the other one almost everyday
I wonder why he's not online today

Fifteen hundred days and a hundred new faces
Each with a different Mindset, all from different places
I wouldn't really say they were wonderful days
But these are a few happy memories from WASE