Sunday, September 29, 2013

Men at work

There used to be a large hoarding just outside our office. For the longest time Swatch had hired the billboard. Aside from loud advertising it had another use. I used it to direct the cabby towards the office by describing the giant wrist watch on the hoarding.

Then overnight they took it down and the view outside my window became wonderful and uninterrupted panorama of the city sprawled below. Today I went to the balcony and saw men hard at work putting together a new hoarding. It seemed like a good photo op so I took a picture but inwardly I sighed a little bit. I'm not looking forward to a giant watch or any other product being plastered outside my window.

Last night or rather this morning I dreamt that I was hacking off my hair in big chunks with a pair of scissors intent on making it as short as possible. I was very upset and angry but when I woke up I couldn't remember why. 

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Assistant for a day

So my husband very enthusiatically told me he was taking me for a ride in the Cayman S on Friday morning to Fujairah. I was happy to accompany him but what I didn't realise was that he needed an assistant for the day. So I was writing down the route including exactly where the speed radars were the entire way to and from Le Meridien Al Aqah Resort. It's a very nice place and we had a leisurely lunch there. I ate way too much dessert. The next time I see my doctor with the blood reports he's going to cluck
disapprovingly and tell me to curb my enthusiasm for sweet things and lying on the couch. I will look down guiltily and promise myself never to eat chocolate mousse again, at least till the time it presents itself in the form of a cake meant to be demolished completely. I think ever since I've been diagnosed with diabetes I've begun to enjoy sweet things more than I ever did before. Anyway it was a nice way to spend the Friday. The best part of going for a drive is that you can sing together with full power of your lungs. It was great fun as we sang to some nice hindi numbers on the radio at least until the next radar. Anshuman is planning an event and he was mapping a route to Fujairah with the least number of speed radars so that people who will drive to Meridien can speed away as much as possible.

Anshuman drove as fast as 240 km/hr to his great delight. The joy  on his face was really something to behold. The rest of the weekend has been pretty quiet just the way I like it. A much needed trip to the beauty salon and a feast of five bananas later I'm all set to finally begin reading 'Dracula' again. It's a really good book and I promise I will finish it. 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Sugar

So there were two birthdays in office today so I've already had two slices of cake which means my sugar levels will go through the roof. I need to get a blood test tomorrow as I was diagnosed with diabetes about an year ago. I remember I was really distressed when I got to know but since then I've managed to keep my sugar level in check through diet and medication. It's no fun having to pop pills each day of your life, sometimes it can make you feel like you're actually sick but those times are few and far between. I know that if I watch my diet and get some exercise I should be fine. Giving up sugar hasn't been really that difficult for me. I still do eat sweets once in a while but I don't miss it much because fortunately I've never had a sweet tooth.

But exercising each day is another ballgame altogether. I've joined a gym three times and wasted money each time because I usually quit after a month of vigorous exercising. Everyone has a different suggestion but I think I'll stick to walking if only I could get off my couch after the day's work. Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Selfie No. 79712938686235

So iOS 7 has been a pain in the ass. The keypad got defunct and then I had to go back to factory settings and then personalise all the settings again. Yes it's been a pain in the ass. The only thing I had a bit of fun with is the new and improved camera which basically means that you can turn your photo to black and white or a ghoulish green if you want. The picture on the left is the result of my late night boredom.

On another note I started reading Bram Stoker's book Dracula a while ago but I've been in the middle of it for such a long time that I feel as if I've forgotten the story and might have to start all over again so I'm simply not reading it. Yeah I know it's a sad sad excuse of a sad excuse.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Winter's knock

One of those days
winter is lightly knocking on the door
sunlight has begun to kiss instead of her summer bite
 and your eyes hurt.
The seeming perfection of all those people who are strangers, acquaintances, friends and nobody fleetingly inspires you to sprint
towards a momentary photograph of success.
The trouble is that it is nothing but a photograph,
a reflection of a reflection at best. 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Songs so sweet

Sometimes one does stop and think about why this particular life path? Sometimes I look back and things make much better sense today than they did when they were actually happening so even today when I cannot understand some things I try to tell myself it's all going to make perfect sense in hindsight. It makes me feel better for a few moments and then the doubts and questions rise up again and yet again I try to rationalise life but as of now it is not playing dice. The only thing I'm sure of is that it moves only in the forward direction and the only thing worth anything in life is love. On that very profound note I'd like to share some music  with you as it's been a while... So I've been listening some more to Alison Krauss and also Sarah Jarosz. Here are a few tracks that I'm addicted to these days along with some of the lyrics. If I include all the lyrics this post will become inordinately long and we can't have that!

Long journey by Sarah Jarosz

I have just begun
A long journey that will run
The length and width of summer time
And the cool fall air will guide me home
Yea the cool fall air will blow me home

Run away by Sarah Jarosz

Come take my hand while I’m waiting here
Get away from it all and find what’s real
If we don’t get out now the chance won’t reappear
We can run away

Hold me tight and don’t let go
Sweet and soft no one will know
We can run away

End of a summer storm by Alison Krauss

It's easy to be happy on a sunny day
But I often like it better when a day is grey
May be it rains
And may be you'll stay
Here inside, here with me

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Blue Sunday

A bit under the weather today. All the restaurant and theater food over the weekend didn't quite agree with me. Remind me never to eat spicy nachos for dinner again. Well at least the movie last night was totally worth it. I saw this movie called 'Prisoners'. It's a suspense thriller and explores the evil which can sometimes erupt in an otherwise moral person when he is faced with extreme circumstances. It was a thrilling movie and I was at the edge of my seat the entire two and a half hours of the movie. I really enjoy suspense whodunits and this one is definitely worth the watch. Both Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal have acted superbly. Jake Gyllenhaal especially has turned out to be such a revelation. I loved him in his last movie 'End of watch' as well. In both the movies he plays a policeman but the characters he portrays are so very different from each other. In Prisoners there are hints of the troubled past of detective Loki but it is only evident in his controlled aggression and tattoos on his fingers and neck. I could almost imagine that he wasn't always on the right side of the law. Both Loki and Keller Dover, Hugh Jackman's character are desperate to find the missing girls but they take two different paths. While Loki relies on good old fashioned police work and evidence; Dover goes with his gut. During the whole movie it was very tough to decide if Dover is justified in what he does or has he taken things way too far. If you love a good mystery don't miss out on this one.

A building caught fire today on Sheikh Zayed Road and there was a cloud of smoke billowing upwards to the sky. I hope no one was hurt. 

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Luck

The other day I was telling someone I'm one of those rare people who is lucky in love and in cards. He replied, "That deserves a blog post!" and it certainly does so here we go. Thursday night was teen patti night at Anshuman's cousin's place. They have a lovely villa done very tastefully and they're great hosts. I always look forward to playing cards as I'm a bit of gambler but a pretty cautious one which is kind of a paradox. I love playing poker online even though I haven't played in a while. Someone at the gathering told me that there's a group of people who play poker every Thursday. I'm very tempted to join them but will refrain and not encourage my gambler's gene.
So I dressed nice in my white garb and off we went in a Porsche Carerra 911which Anshuman had for the day. He was driving in the middle lane and for once I encouraged him to take the fast lane. The car is so low that it literally hugs the road and the best part about it is the moment you hit the gas, the engine roars and you get thrown back in your seat. Anyway coming back to cards, I'm still a novice at teen patti and the various variations that people play with. I was playing with my chips and made the two flowers above while Anshuman won the first game and someone remarked that it isn't good luck to win the first hand and that seemed to be true because all through the evening neither of us won a hand. In one of the variations of the game some cards are opened and the jokers keep changing as when someone throws a hand their cards become the jokers. It's a bit complicated and basically means that you might feel like you're winning at one point and then someone throws their cards and you have nothing. The game wasn't making sense to me because obviously I had little skill in it. Anyway we played on and I won the last game with an ace trail and my husband threw his hands in the air and said,"That's my wife!" I love it when he does stuff like that. So it turned out to be a good game finally and I won the very variation of the game that wasn't making sense to me. All the girls suggested going shoe shopping with my loot.

So I did go to Ibn Batuta mall today but I bought my husband a nice perfume. My cleaner had broken a bottle of the same perfume last month even before Anshuman could use it so I thought it would be a nice thing to do. Tim Horton's is opening in Ibn Batuta soon and I'm thrilled about that. I love their coffee. There were the usual array of tourists taking pictures in the mall. I must put a photo of the most photographed elephant in the world on my blog next time. Everyone takes a photo of the elephant and you have to be very careful not to get into the frame of someone so you oddly duck and scurry away at the point.
On the left is my husband pulling a funny face as I try to take a 'nice' picture of us together. I love him to bits but I wish he would be serious once in a year at least. On second thought he's fine the way he is.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Saree story

So it's been a fairly quiet day aside from the very loud music while driving in the morning. The weekend is almost here and there's a cards night on the cards tonight. I was thinking about what to wear and I think I will go with one of the two decent churidaar kurtas I have. I don't really wear ethnic Indian wear much ever since I moved to Dubai. When I joined this company the dress code was western semi casual and I remember I had to literally gather an office wardrobe within days before joining.

Sometimes I feel like it's a pity that I don't choose lovely salwar kurtas over formal tops, skirts or the staple life savers we fondly know as leggings. The office dress code has pretty much transformed itself to totally casual and yet I've only worn a salwar kurta when I've forgotten to do the laundry for a whole month and hence was left with nothing else to wear. That reminds me of that amazing Indian thing we call the sari which I cannot drape. I did drape it once and went for a friend's birthday party and most of it fell on the floor in beautiful green layers in the middle of the buffet dinner. A dear sweet lady whose name I didn't ask helped me get to the restroom and drape it back on again. Thank you dear sweet lady. I have not worn a saree since that day and if I could have my way I never will. Above is a diagram explaining how to wear a saree which I know will be of no help to me but I thought if I can help one, just one Indian woman learn to drape a saree perfectly this post would have been worth writing.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

My Muse

I prefer to buy CDs of my favourite artists even though I could easily download their music off the internet. I really would like to support them in my small way so I persist in buying CDs. A wonderful source of music is Amazon.com. Even though you cannot hear the whole song on their website they do have a sample of each song and I've found many new artists that I love quite recently. I found  Sarah Jarosz today and I loved her voice and style. Apparently she is as old as Taylor Swift. I cringe as I write Taylor Swift's name on my blog for the second time. Sarah is lovely and fresh as a dew drop with a passion so deep it moves me. I loved two of her songs and here they are. I'm only including the lyrics of 'My muse' because it reminded me of Anshuman. So enjoy! Run away by Sarah Jarosz

My muse by Sarah Jarosz

I spin around in your love
In a place of wonder
I want to wander
With you, my muse

In a dream of carousels
On waves in caravels
Collecting seashells
For you, my muse

I peruse and conjure
Sit and ponder
Then go under
The blanket of your words
The way I feel
The things I sing
The songs I write
The joy you bring
To me my muse

Stillness surrounds me
But you have found me
And I have found you
My muse

In a night of silence
I’m settled by your sounds
In a dream of quiet
Contentedness surrounds

I peruse and conjure
Sit and ponder
Then go under
The blanket of your words
The way I feel
The things I sing
The songs I write
The joy you bring
To me my muse

Delightfully exhausted
Willingly this way
Always yours, always yours I’ll stay
With you, my muse

The sexy bride

So our ex creative director and our ex digital sales manager worked on a bridal book and this cut out was made for an event. Once the project was over the lovely bride was hung by a pipe in the ceiling with a scarf but since it was too ghoulish a thing to do they took her down and painted a pair of glasses on her pretty face and it doesn't end there.











Yes that wasn't quite enough so the back of the bride is clad in a sexy bikini with a lipstick mark on her bum!











Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The evening

The evening has begun to move closer and closer to the afternoon. The days are getting shorter and each day as I reach the flyover which takes me home I'm greeted by the sun setting on my right and the moon rising on my left. It's a beautiful moment and if the right song is playing in the car it is damn near perfect. I managed to take a picture of the moon but the sun had already dipped below the horizon. A lot of people complain about the traffic jam that is a daily occurrence at the exit to Discovery Gardens but to me it's time to relax and enjoy the music. The perfection of the evening would have been complete if I didn't have to carry seven grocery bags in two trips from the car but hey you can't have everything. 

Digital silliness

So I did learn a lot of drawing at my esteemed design Institute where I spent five great years but I don't think I improved much during my stay. I chose to specialise in Film and Video because I knew it would require minimal drawing input. I cannot even draw a straight line and yet I love to paint. Thankfully it doesn't need a lot of discipline to splash your favourite colours on canvas. I read somewhere that one should practise some form of art even if one sucks at it. I heartily agree. On the left is my attempt at a really bad self portrait which I made on this website . I think I might look like that if I was a thirteen year old Chinese girl. 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Selfie No. 56473683876263737

So someone once sent me a link about how people who take a lot of selfies (a picture of you taken by you) have self esteem issues. I read through the article and found it to be very well written although it felt like complete bullshit in my case. As my husband will testify I'm in love with my face. I love the way it has changed with time and age. How the hair has gone grey and I've not bothered to slather henna into it for almost a year now. I took this picture last weekend and my friend commented the following," "Nice pic btw. I like it. Looks posh. And promising lol" So I inquired," Promising??" To which she explained,"Promising model with future prospects being very bright." Yes just like you I'm laughing my ass off too. 

Movies and quiz

So yesterday was a pretty tiring day and there was much to do at work. I like such days as they leave you with a satisfying fatigue in your bones. I drove home blasting music in the car as always. Sometimes I like to dance in my seat and if it makes someone smile even better. I made some tea and lovingly poured it in my new mug and when I was all settled down on the couch I realised that I hadn't connected the hard disk to the TV so I had to rely on cable for my evening entertainment. My laziness knows no bounds as people who know me will vouch for. There was no way I was going to get up from my couch.




With Ninna by my side I started flipping channels and decided to rent a cheap AED 2 movie on du- The skeleton key. It's supposed to be a horror movie and since I was alone at home I thought why not scare myself a little. Halfway through the movie I wasn't scared even a little bit and the whole hoodoo thing was pretty boring. If you're wondering what Hoodoo is, Wikipedia had this to say "Hoodoo, also known as conjure, and "Voodoo" (which strictly speaking is different in many ways) is a traditional African-American folk spirituality that developed from a number of West African, Native American, and European spiritual traditions."






So I decided to splurge and paid du AED 15 for Ironman 3. Fifteen minutes into the film I got severely bored and couldn't stand Robert Downey Jr getting hyper and sleepless about everything. Having wasted AED 17 by now I decided to watch 'Sense and sensibility' for the second time. Sometimes I watch a whole movie just to get to that one beautiful scene. In this case the film ends beautifully when Elenor literally bursts into tears having bravely kept her emotions in check all throughout the film when she realises that Edward is not married. It moves me and I watched the whole film to see it even though I was ready to fall asleep.

Anshuman returned from a quiz that he participated in along with two of his friends. They stood second and he came home with a goody bag containing Alpha magazine, a mug, a cute paper wallet, an iPhone 5 case and a wonderful little Swiss army knife which has the cutest little torch. And then the day ended and I fell asleep safe in the warm blanket of the night.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Lucky Friday the 13th ( Arte Exhibition )

On Friday morning my husband decided to watch a documentary about birds and bugs. Now I'm all for watching real birds and bugs in a scenic environment but looking at them swallowing bugs and leftover squirrel tails was really not my idea of a Friday morning. Pushpita had mentioned that there was going to be a handicrafts fair at Times Square Mall. I thought it might be a good idea to go check it out and since there is a huge Sharaf DG in the mall I could gawk at beautiful and perfect Macbook Pros. So I called Ankita and she invited me over for lunch and off I went. We had biryani for lunch with a friend of Ankita's. Finally Ankita, Pushpita, Sohana and I drove down to Times Square without getting lost.

Sohana tried to fit into this little cart but later we put her in a normal sized cart. Now handicrafts in dubai are a rare sight and the only few that I've seen have been at Global Village and those aren't really very nice so I wasn't really expecting much. When we walked in the place was positively buzzing and it was heartening to see so many people come out to support handicrafts. I began browsing and I was instantly happy that I decided to make the trip because there were an amazing number of lovely handmade things sprinkled everywhere. I knew right away that a significant amount of money was going to be spent.

As I was walking around someone came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and a young woman asked me,"Do you write a blog?" I replied hesitantly,"Yes I do." She went on to say that she loved my blog. I asked her if she was talking about the website posedubai.com but she insisted she was talking about my blog. I was truly stunned to realise that I'd met someone who actually visited my blog and loved it.
We got talking and she told me how different my blog was compared to the usual fashion and lifestyle blogs. She could totally relate to it as it spoke to the 'everyday' woman and she particularly enjoyed my driving adventures. It was really quite overwhelming to receive so much love and admiration so unexpectedly. I have to say it made my day. In the above picture is the sole fan of my blog- Bhawna Sehra. She makes beautiful Palm wax candles and I got a divine smelling one on a huge discount. Thanks Bhawna!









There were so many things that were wonderfully creative and totally beautiful that we ended up spending many hours just browsing and picking up things here and there. I found this cake which was gorgeous and somewhat disturbing. An angry wife sits up in bed as the husband is seen sleeping hugging his golf clubs.












Edible and sweet angry birds made an appearance.









I loved this pottery stand. I bought two mugs. They were the perfect size for my morning and evening chai. I need bigger than usual mugs as I'm a tea fiend. The best part of this exhibition was the fact that each and every seller was an artist with a passion for their creations. I could see how much they loved what they did and that is truly a pleasure to behold. I never bargained with anyone. It would have been an insult to their work. The potter lady was very sweet and her husband had made some interesting looking clay monsters with several pairs of eyes. I wish I'd taken a close up of those. That's such a boy thing to do.
I loved this unusual doll and if I was 20 years younger I would probably have bought it. I ended up buying some trinkets, a lovely blue necklace, a paper box with beautiful paper flowers on it. I should have taken a picture but I forgot. I saw some amazing mosaic work. I fell in love with a tray. It had marble mosaic work within a wood frame and brass spoons as handles. Such a beautiful piece of work it was but it was rather expensive and I somehow refrained even though I must have spent a good twenty minutes admiring it. Finally we drove towards Festival City to meet up with Monit. I hadn't seen her in many years and I was looking forward to seeing her.







Now I've never driven myself to Festival city so I had to rely on Pushpita for directions. She got distracted with Sohana and instead of going into the tunnel and taking Maktoum bridge I ended up having to take a U turn and land up on the wrong side of the road. Another U turn later we got into Deira and

I was stressed that we would never get to Festival City and Monit was supposed to be there only until 6. There were no signs for Festival city and I was getting tense by the minute. Finally we saw a sign for Festival City and we breathed a sigh of relief and began singing 'Kokomo' is unison. Ankita joked,"Ya ya now sing Kokomo and till now you weren't even breathing." So we finally parked and headed to IKEA which was quite a distance because I'd parked at the other end of Festival City. Seeing Monit after all this time was fantastic and we hugged fondly. We met Puja and another friend from NID after many years. It was an impromptu reunion of sorts for a while. After a quick cup of coffee (tea in my case) Monit and I decided to spend the evening at Ankita's house. The evening slowly turned late into the night as we chatted about everything under the sun, about old friends, old times. Monit had acted in my very first film where she played a bored wife. She had memories of me that I'd forgotten completely. Ankita showed us someof her work which was beautiful and detailed. I loved her cards and bags. I really hope she can market both because I'm sure people would love them. I loved this bag on the left and Ankita gifted it to Monit.

Monit said I'd changed. I was much quieter. I am much quieter and much older than when she saw me last. Sometimes life can do that to you. I don't say that as a negative thing. I have changed and it has been a gradual transformation which is not only positive but very important and intrinsic to who I am today. I flagged a cab for Monit at 12:30 in the night and drove myself home completely tired and completely satisfied with the day. The dog greeted me at the door and a hot shower later it was lights out for me.

The picture on the right is the elevator in Ankita's house which takes you to the upper floor. It's a huge apartment with plenty of light, space and a fantastic view of the city.

Saturday was quiet and I watched this funny movie called Chalo Dilli. It was not bad. I had run out of episodes of CSI so I ended up watching other stuff. I watched American Gigolo. A young Richard Gere looked quite good although there was zero chemistry between him and Lauren Hutton. The love scenes were truly pathetic and the frontal nudity was unnecessary. The film was altogether very average. I cleaned the house which was in quite bad shape as I hadn't had time to really look after it. In the evening we watched 'Heroine'. Kareena Kapoor tried very hard but the script was so chock full of cliches about the film industry that it was quite below average for Madhur Bhandarkar. Arjun Rampal is edible. He should be served on a lovely ceramic plate with cherries on the side.

Sohana's birthday

It was Sohana's third birthday on Wednesday and the party was on Thursday night. There were pink balloons everywhere which ofcourse is Sohana's favourite colour. She was walking around in plastic heels along with Ahana. There was constant Tak tak tak tak all throughout the evening. That's Ankita with her little one Ahana and me with the birthday girl and her pink heels. I danced with her in my arms and she actually just hugged me, put her head on my shoulder and fell asleep even as I danced away. Thankfully the two little 'monters' (monsters) did not fight with each other over the gifts I got them. Sohana has named her doll Betty and the Bunny has been lovingly named Pip. Both the girls are happy and so am I!





I wish this picture had come out better but this will have to do. Sohana, her new doll Betty and I. Such a happy moment!











Ankita making one of her many funny faces. I'm so glad she moved here from the US. She keeps threatening that she will go back in two years but I hope she will stay much much longer!














Sohana and her cake. She blew out her candle three times before we could even begin singing the birthday song. She's such a boy, as her mum says and the only girly thing about her is that she likes pink!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

A thousand kisses deep

Some time ago a friend got in touch with me on chat after many years and we started talking about music. He said he'd been listening to a song on repeat and he sent me the link and even though I'd heard the song before but it was the poem before the song  that stole my heart. I was listening to it today and I was amazed at how passionate and sensual a man as old as Cohen can come across to be on the sheer strength of his deep deep voice and the hat certainly helps. When he says,"I'm your man." just about any woman including this one wants to believe him. Here's the poem followed by the song. Enjoy!

A thousand kisses deep by Leonard Cohen

You came to me this morning
and you handled me like meat
You'd have to be a man to know
how good that feels, how sweet

My mirror twin, my next of kin
I'd know you in my sleep
And who but you would take me in
A thousand kisses deep

I loved you when you opened
like a lily to the heat
You see I'm just another snowman
standing in the rain and sleet
who loved you with his frozen love
his second hand physique
with all he is and all he was
A thousand kisses deep

I know you had to lie to me
I know you had to cheat
to pose all hot and high
behind a veil of sheer deceit
our perfect porn aristocrat
so elegant and cheap
I'm old but I'm still into that
A thousand kisses deep

I'm good at love I"m good at hate
It's in between I freeze
Been workin' out but it's too late
It's been too late for years
But you look good you really do
They love you on the street
If you were here I'd kneel for you
A thousand kisses deep

The autumn moved across your skin
Got something in my eye
like it doesn't need to live
and it doesn't need to die
A riddle in the book of love
obscure and obsolete
till witnessed here
in time and blood
A thousand kisses deep

And I'm still workin' with the wine
still dancing cheek to cheek
The band is playing "Auld Lang Syne"
The heart will not retreat
I ran with Diz I sang with Ray
I never had their sweep
But once or twice they let me play
A thousand kisses deep

I loved you when you opened
like a lily to the heat
You see I'm just another snowman
standing in the rain and sleet
who loved you with his frozen love
his second hand physique
with all he is and all he was
A thousand kisses deep

But you don't need to hear me now
and every word I speak
it counts against me anyhow
A thousand kisses deep

Lavender and ginger decadence

So yesterday ended so well that I cannot even begin to describe it. Firstly Sam came back from her holiday in London and got me a lovely notebook and a box of English Breakfast Tea. Needless to say I loved both. It was funny because I got her a box of Darjeeling Tea from Bombay.

Now coming to the decadence I indulged in yesterday. So I had a spa treatment scheduled in the evening at a hotel in Marina. I decided to drive down even though I was quite convinced I would get lost and for about ten minutes I did but finally managed to get there well in time. And don't you just love valet parking? Valets are one of the best people I've come across in the modern world. I love driving with a passion and hate parking with an equal passion. Anyway I got to the spa and there were candles lining the path to the changing rooms and the place was so tranquil and smelled so divine that I instantly felt relaxed. After filling out the customary form I was shown into the changing room. The whole spa is done in wood and whites, so pristine and calming it was perfect.

After I changing into a soft cotton bathrobe I sat in the relaxing room with four white sofas, an abstract painting and a lone and lovely orchid plant. I stared for a good twenty minutes at the painting while sipping a cucumber and mint drink which I finally decided was rather nice. The beauty therapist took me to the treatment room which was very spacious unlike some cubbyholes I've been in in the past. She gave me a choice of three oils and I loved the lavender and ginger fragrance. I was thoroughly scrubbed all over and then directed to the shower. And then followed an hour long massage with heavenly smelling oil. The spa music played on in the background which surprisingly included some hinduatani classical vocals and I was comatose for a while. But it didn't end there as I was given a mini facia to end the treatmentl. At the end of it I was positively glowing and felt so relaxed that I wished they would let me sleep at the massage table for a while.

I got late getting home and Anshuman called me on the way home wondering where I'd disappeared. I got home and we watched a couple of episodes of CSI with yummy biryani for dinner. I fell asleep within minutes of hitting the bed and had one of those rare nights when I didn't dream at all. Today promises to be just as good. My friend from NID Monit is in town and I'll be meeting her after years this weekend. Tonight it's Sohana's third birthday and I already bought gifts for both Ahana and Sohana- a bunny and a doll. I hope they won't end up fighting over who wants which one. Hopefully they'll share although that's a bit much to ask of two three year old girls. I haven't seen them in three weeks and I miss them so much. It feels so good to be with them, play with them, dance with them and hold them close. it's a beautiful feeling and I cannot wait to see my little munchkins. I promise pictures tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The future

So things are moving forward at a frenetic pace. Frenetic seems to have become my favourite word these days and why not since life is changing so fast. I'm brimming with good energy and rearing to make some very big decisions and yes there are several thousand butterflies fluttering away in my tummy but I can barely contain the excitement and there are so many things I would love to announce but now is not the time and this is not the place so you'll just have to make do with the fact that I'm going to take the leap of faith very very soon and I will need all your good wishes and prayers to land on my feet!

Wow that might be the longest sentence I've ever written! The picture is of us all ready to go to a wedding. I'm wearing very high heels that I've never dared wear again for fear of my feet launching an online petition against them on change.org. What else can I say? I'm just praying so hard these days for all the things I want from my life and there are so many many things that I want that the powers that be are having a hard time deciding what to give me first. But I know like most times in my life I'll get what I want.

And how can I leave you without a song for so long so here it is! Enjoy the amazing Alison Krauss

My poor old heart by Alison Krauss and Union Station

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The little pup

There is a pet shop in my office building and sometimes I go there to buy Ninna's food or just to look at puppies. I went there today and found this little pug running around bursting with energy and he made me smile. I would have loved to pick him up and plant a kiss on his sweet face but they keep the pups in glass cages and customers aren't allowed to touch them. This shop has some beautiful birds too. They let you touch and talk to the African Grey parrots. Sometimes they will perch themselves on your hand and it's so wonderful.

So I paid my speeding fine recently. Felt pretty stupid shelling out money like that. Then I thought I've paid only two speeding fines in two years and that's not really so bad is it?  I have to say though driving above 140km/h on Emirates Road was so bloody amazing even though I was clearly lost! 

Monday, September 09, 2013

Some memories

This time in Bombay I found an old album. I remember I got the paper cut myself and had it spiral bound. This album was unfinished. It was supposed to contain mine and Anshuman's pictures with some writing next to the photos but he never had the time or patience to actually finish it. Here are some of those photos. This one was taken at our Raheja house before we were married and after we got engaged. This house didn't belong to us then and I'm glad that it does now. The view of the National Park is just perfect and so precious. I love this picture. Somehow it captures love so beautifully. You can be almost sure that a kiss followed this moment and it probably did. Needless to say it was taken by our homegrown sensitive lensman Mukul.
This one was taken on our honeymoon at this beautiful little place called Narkanda. It was such a gorgeous view anywhere you looked. I had my first camera a Minolta with me. The camera is set on a tree stump and I clicked the button, ran and sat next to my husband just in time and the picture was taken. Such a happy time that was. I loved every second of it. There was a huge enlargement of this picture in our bedroom in Bombay but it got warped with all the humidity.

I took this picture in Kashid. I remember we carried two cameras because we fought so much over who would take a picture. I carried my trusty Minolta and Anshuman borrowed someone's camera for the trip. I think he still wears that denim shirt. These denim things just never die.






And here we are looking so young and so much in love. He's wearing his favourite denim shirt and I'm wearing his Mudra Advertising "Live your dream" tee. I wore a lot of his T shirts I remember.

When Mukul saw this picture he said,"You two look like babies!" We WERE babies haha!




I took this picture in the basement where I lived for a while in Ahmedabad. I remember I used to call him a hedgehog because he had this short spikey haircut. It wasn't a haircut really. He had gone bald and the hair came out looking like a hedgehog. I remember he came to Ahmedabad with a Champagne bottle to celebrate my graduation day. Quite early in the relationship he had made up his mind I was the one and when Anshuman decides he wants something not much stands in his way. And I'm glad. I love his smile in this picture. So much wonderful innocence about it.


Anshuman on the phone in Mudra looking all young and sweet and innocent. The fun thing is that when I was in Delhi and he was in Bombay he would call me almost everyday on STD. He'd found an open line in the office. The company was slapped with the Rs. 20,000 bill and they still have no idea who the culprit was. They called my parents in Delhi and kept asking if they knew someone who worked in Mudra and I told them to simply deny it which they thankfully did.

When we were chatting on ICQ this was one of the first pictures of himself that he sent me. We will always be grateful to ICQ for getting us together. It was a novel concept those days even though these days every second marriage happens thanks to the miracle of the internet.

Look at that amazing hair!




He was the Toastmaster for a friend's wedding. Here he is giving the speech. I don't remember much of the rest because by then I was quite inebriated and had already said something very inappropriate to his ex girlfriend who was a bridesmaid.




Making a face at my husband. Look at that hair! I do miss it. I'm wearing one of Anshuman's T shirts again.









At Raheja again. Sitting in the balcony, I'm holding the phone next to his ear. We still have this number in Bombay. My first call to him was on this number and this very phone. He have me the handset when I started working. He got another phone. I lost the phone in an auto. I called the number several times. I cried and pleaded but the person at the other end didn't say a word and kept listening to me crying inconsolably. Anyway moving on..



This was taken at the same time in the same house in the same balcony. Mukul used to have an office there at that time. The house belonged to Kuntal then till we bought it from him and now it's home in Bombay.














This was taken by Mukul on a rainy day in Borivli National Park. We went there in our old blue Maruti that Mukul used to drive. Standing there hugging in the rain. Some of the best times of my life.

So we come to the end of a journey full of young love and nostalgia. It's been a lovely ride and almost thirteen years of marriage later I still feel the love.