Best companion called BROTHER !!!

It is said ‘A brother is a friend given by nature’, today I am smiling because you are my brother. Shaifi or chhotu (yes that’s what I call him) is the best brother one can ever get. It was fun growing up with someone like him - someone to lean on, someone to count on... someone to tell on!!

I remember the days, we were young and used to play business,  video games or basketball on our terraceJ. There were times when whole day we used to only quarrel. The quarreling used to start with television serials. I still remember that he liked stupid WWF shows (I  guess he is still fond of it) or some cartoon series. The victim of our quarrel was the TV remote that used to fall and rise several times from the floor. The only cartoon we enjoyed together was Tom and Jerry or Duck Tales. I liked comedy movies whereas he wanted to watch action. My mother used to waste half of her energy shouting at both of us. While returning from school everyday we competed on our cycles to reach home early.

He still complaints of one fact that my birthdays were always celebrated and his only few a times (since it mostly used to fall during exam days) but still on my birthdays he was as excited as if it was his (vice versa too J)

There was a day when while studying in my room I suddenly saw my brother running towards me from the other room and hugged me tight…. Coz he was scared of some horror scene he saw on television and mom dad weren’t there… hahahaa ..

I cannot forget the sight of him with my mom’s clothes when we realised she wasn’t with us. That was the time, when our bond grew from just a brother sister bond. Whenever I used to visit home, he was one who used to be eagerly waiting for me and for the new style clothes he had asked for ….. next day slowly he would whisper ‘Appi I need that new jeans too please’. Everytime I visited home he said, ’soon I’ll also come to Delhi and we will have a lot of fun there…. ‘

Delhi came with a new excitement… when I knew now ill have my brother every time I want to see or need him. And to my belief he arrived here as brother and turned to my best friend.

A part of who I am today is because of my little brother… When I felt weak, like I couldn’t face something, he always shined the light on my strengths…..He helped me to see that I am a strong, smart, and courageous woman….. When I felt sad, he would say something hilarious and make me laugh…..He helped me to see sadness is a part of life, but you don’t have to dwell on it…. When I did not want to face something, he held my hand….He showed me that sometimes you need a united front…..We came from the same seed, but are unique...Each holds something special….We complement each other...always have and always will…Just like salt and pepper, each has their own unique taste, but you always see them together... Because that is how it is supposed to be.

It was yesterday when I realised my this little brother has grownup, may be even more than me. 
And from today to my life’s end, you are not just my brother but my life’s greatest friend.

“To the outside world, we all grow old but not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family grief and joys. We live outside the touch of time. I think people who have a brother or sister do not realise how lucky they are. Sure, they fight a lot, but they know that there is always somebody there, somebody that is family and a true friend.”

I LOVE YOU Sharfu !!!

LIFE GOES ON !!!!!!

“I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. 

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things:

a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. 

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”


 An amazing quote by Maya Angelou quotes (American Poet)

I shed my inhibitions, my fears, I travelled light !!!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain

Since the time I was a school kid, just going around the ‘next bend’ on my bicycle or convincing friends to take a new route to home, I have always loved the adventure of travel – the unknown, something different, something new. And I feel the same way today…even though now the ‘next bend’ could be in another city or state. Since the time I got my first job, 1 thing I was sure of doing was TRAVEL and I have been extremely lucky to continuously feed my this passion for travel. But, why do I love it so much?

I love the excitement of it all–feeling like an explorer–discovering a new land, a new cuisine, new money and all the little challenges that go along with it. When I travel, I am more spontaneous and don’t live for the future or the past…just in the moment. Being impulsive and saying ‘yes’ to nearly everything is part of the fun.

I love the rush. Like those habitual runners to whom running gives them that extra boost they need to keep going. I get the same jolt from a day of travel to a new and undiscovered land (for me…not for all mankind) that I hadn’t planned to visit. Traveling seems to give me a near constant adrenaline rush and I can say, am addicted to this feeling. Traveling can be a challenge, but for me, a fun challenge that I enjoy conquering time and time again. Plus it sure beats having to vacuum, pay bills, or shop for toilet paper.

“…so many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day, to have a new and different sun.” -Chris McCandless – “Into the Wild”

Travel broadens your mind in so many ways. You meet new people, share new experiences, and let down your guard much more than when back at home caught up in the mundane day to day routine of life that we think is normal. I get to see how the world lives. I see the sun and smiles in Goa that go way beyond to what we see in travel brochures. I learn about the differences and embrace the similarities. Just because something is different does NOT mean it is wrong and in many cases it can even be better.

I love the logistics. I like landing in a new place and trying to figure it all out at that moment. Where to get money. How to go from point A to point B. How to pack my bag right. Well, okay, maybe I don’t love that mundane task, but I still figure it’s better than all the tedious chores I left back home when I decided to travel. It all actually becomes easier and easier as it goes and gives you the sense of confidence that you can do anything. If I can plop down in an airport and manage to get myself into the heart of town and find a place to stay, all the while, not getting ripped off and keep my sense of humor, then I am certainly not really worried about being able to go anywhere, anytime.

I love the simplicity of it all.

Everything you own is with you in one bag. You only have a few pairs of pants, skirts or t-shirts, so getting dressed each day is an easy task. The more we have, the more it seems to weigh us down. Your life isn’t complicated by all the nonsense that is back home. But, guess what? If you really need a new shirt or shoes…you can buy it wherever you are, may be you can find a new style too . I enjoy some love, laughter, and happiness too…but that’s free and takes up no space in my luggage.

I love meeting new people all the time. In no other time in my life have I met so many people. The world is full of friendly, generous people. Sure, every place has its share of nitwits too, but as a traveler, you seem much less likely to meet them. Since the nature of travel is to keep moving, these folks never become boring…because you simply don’t know them long enough to discover their flaws or get sick of them.

I love the freedom. I experience a great feeling of independence from traveling. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. I can sleep in. I can stay out late. It’s all up to me.

DAD: A son's first hero and A daughters first love ! Happy Father's Day....

My earliest memories of Daddy.

We'd sit in the bathtub, singing loudly, and splashing Mum if she dared hurry us.

He taught me to wash my hair without getting shampoo into my eyes.

He taught me to light the gas stove, ride a bicycle and cook chicken biryani!

Daddy taught me to stand up for what I believe in, even if it meant I stood alone.

He gave me the confidence to conquer the world. He assured me that, should I fall, he would be there to help me get up again.

He taught me to walk away from a bad relationship, regardless of what the world said.

He taught me to be a woman in a man's world and to be proud of it.

I know that, no matter how old I am, I will always be his little princess. There will always be a place on his knee that belongs only to me.

Thank you, Daddy, for being the one man who has loved me unconditionally for 25 years.

He has always been there with me.

Whenever I needed to boost my confidence, Dad praised me so much that all my fears disappeared. It is his confidence in me that has made me such a smart, confident and modest girl.

I like experimenting with new things. I always take Dad in confidence, so I know am not doing anything wrong.

Dad always sits beside me when I am not well. When I used to have fever, I slept peacefully while he stayed awake. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Dad's smiling face.

I see his reflection in my personality and feel proud I am daughter of a self-made man. Love you PAPA :)

Remember Me, the Twenties Girl !!!!! :-)

‘Chick lit' – you don't see the same belittling line taken with male writers. You can picturize me as one crazy girl with a chick lit book, sitting in my pyjamas, eating munchies and wondering from where the crying baby in the flat below suddenly materialised.

I am not obsessed about reading chick lits but it seems to me to come in for an extraordinary amount of bile and patronising comment which I rarely see applied to novels by men in the same vein. Books – both fiction and non-fiction – reflecting women's lives, whether young or old, are labelled. Hence "chick-lit": often a derogatory term used to mean books by young women having fun in life, partying and being silly about boys, without the thought that novels by women about women might accurately reflect their lives and thus have merit or, at the very least, relevance.
It winds me up that books about young women are seen as frivolous and silly, while books about young men's lives that cover the same topics, are reviewed and debated, seen as valid and interesting contributions to the current social and media scene. Take anything from Toby Young's How To Lose Friends to David Nicholls's One Day to even Chetan Bhagat’s Five point someone and 2 States. Often these books are far more sensationalist than those by the authors' female counterparts. I'm not saying they're bad books: I'm just saying they aren't belittled and dismissed in the same way on the grounds of their subject-matter.

The truth is, women happily read books (and watch films and TV) aimed primarily at men. That's because women buy more and read more, full stop. They read thrillers, travel books, biographies – and yet the majority of these books are marketed for men. Women know they'll like it and give it a go. They'll happily pick up a copy of Porno too, with a plastic female sex doll on the front. But men rarely try women's fiction, because they've been conditioned to think they can't pick up a book with a pink cover.

It's a real shame, because if you want to read someone who reflects women (and men's) lives with authenticity and sharp observation, someone whose books will absorb you and make you cry or laugh, there are so many options. You can do no better than Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, or the priestess of commercial women's fiction, Marian Keyes. For me, The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank is note-perfect, one of the best books of the last 10 years. Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada is like a thriller of first-job hell, it's so aptly written. And Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic, Remember Me, Domestic Goddess or Twenties girl) is a genius. Her books are totally gripping, beautifully written, heartbreaking and hilarious. But I have yet to see a review of her which reflects this, except in few magazines, which takes its commercial fiction seriously.

It amuses me when people say, "Oh, you are getting influenced by Sophie’s books and Rebecca Bloomwood". There's something a little patronizing about the tone of it, whereas books by young men are compared to older male writers as if it's a coronation, a welcoming to the literary canon. And quite often I'm left wanting to go – huh? I don't get it. There's room for both. And I know which I'd prefer to read ;-p

May be i DO have to say more !!!!

So I find myself wanting to explain my Facebook statuses in greater detail lately. Perhaps I really do have more to say and should rev this thing up again.

To be Or Knot to be !!!!!

I don't write stories neither do I create them :)..... Just that June may be month they invented romance, honeymoon and all that... heheee :D So let me write what is the cherry on my mind these days. These days this topic has captured my thoughts with no possible escape. Lemme share:

In my teens, like any other girl, I used to think there will be a day when ill meet my Mr. Right. The guy who'd care for me and wont hurt me ever. But as i grew older, I started to think, is there such a right one when all people around me.... mostly married for few number of years (some with adorable kids too) don't think they met the right one.

If my freind met the right guy, why did he ended up leaving his family for another woman??

I dont want to think they rushed things back then. These and many more things happened around me which somehow affected my outlook in life. Few days back I saw myself saying ' I am not interested in having a boyfriend and i dont want to get married at all'

It's not that I had lost interest in guys, I just thought men are not ideal. They will say they love you but are thinking another woman is sexier than you. they say they care but all they can do is call and ask how you are !!!... they say they won't hurt you but when he gets mad, he scream...shouts and sometimes hurt you badly too.

These things??? ... I am afraid of going through them and told myself I won't marry this kind of man. When I heard a lot of stories like these, I told myself can I not get married at all ???

Dont get me wrong, its not that I live alone and I like it this way... but the thought of having to grow old with sombody like this tells me I am better off!!!!!!!

With these outlook in my head, how ill I know if its the right guy I am meeting... when in my mind i'm asking can he truly love me and me alone?? will he leave me for other girl?? can he get mad at me??

The question was...Is there a right guy left??? or when God was showering pure heart, all men were soundly asleep !!!!!!

Then I thought may be I need to find and meet that right guy at the right time who'll change all of this... who'll make me say...Ah!!! marriage is truly an incredible thing!!!!
Now i believe- A good marriage is at least 80 percent good luck in finding the right person at the right time. The rest is trust !!!!!
I know am right !!!!! lol :)

Path from Holidaying to Vacationing my Life!!!!

I love the holidays. The nippy weather, smells of all that great food and the general merriment in the atmosphere as everyone celebrates in his or her own way. If i look back through the holidays i had, i can say I really had a great time!!!

One more thing that i notice are the changes I saw in the kind of holidays now and then !!!!

There were days when holidays meant summer or winter Vacations (i know they were VACATIONS but we never used to call them so... they were Holidays for us... from school, studies and routines) and lucknow (nani's house) with loads of masti. The anxious wait for the exams to get over, for the after days when we don have to get up early mornings and had mom's permission to sleep till late, watch tv and play video games for hours..... :>

Then a day used to arrive with tickets for a mutual plan of all cousins to gather in that 2 room nani's home with an amazing terrace, which even though sounds small to accomodate 5 families but for us it was a heaven of fun, excitement and maujjaaaa :D

Those days when tension meant only exam result, when apple and blackberry were just fruits and mango was to eat not wear !!!!! :D

Summers didnt mean heat but two full months of freedom and play (did i ever think of getting tanned that time .... noway!!). Shopping trip wasall about same clothes as my cousins (colors were different though hahaaa) and still fight over them later. Silly discussions and quarrels.... may be for hiding mangoes or muskmelon seeds (Ha haha )... Delicious meals didnt mean eating out, but scrumtious nani's mutton stew or mummy's murg musallam or aunt's (khalas and maamis) korma, dosas, kebabs and biryanis.... (wow i miss those times :( )

Times have surely changed... guess we have grown up too with new lives, new priorities and responsibilities with hardly few things to match that used to create that unmatched harmony.

Guess the right time to say "" Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance I wanna grow up once again !!!!!!! """

Apparently, today the meaning of 'Holidays' have changed tooo and have become more of 'Vacations' with friends. Travelling, these days have become one of the best options to unwind from everyday's tensions.... Am not saying i do it just for that reason but infact i completely love visitin 'n exploring new places and cultures, it surely has become a hobby for me but this transformation in the meaning of holidaying amazes me !!!!!

After travelling to beautiful places accross my country, I feel vacations are all about knowing new people, freely roaming around, relish new delicacies, enjoy different weather, landscapes n culture and capture the moments in photographs to cherish them later, when this VACATION will change to something else !!!!!

To sum up this experience, i will only say LIFE MOVES ON !!!!!

Let’s get hooked with Life in a metro !!!

Yesterday I was wondering, while recapping my life, that whatever changes happened or whatever steps I took for these changes to arrive in my life are so worth those risks :)

Today I see myself as a totally different person to who i was in 2003. These 07 years have taken me thru all the odds and evens (or maybe I feel so) and have left me contented and satisfied to realise that whatever i did have helped me develop and understand things and people better. Since few days I see a new flush of excitement in me as if another change is here!!! But this time i am quite confident about it unlike all the earlier decisions. May be I’ve grownup, you can say.. :D !!!

Around 02 years back somebody said to me- who ever we meet in our journey, therezz always something we learn from them and that’s what helps us grow...... I guess i took this thought really seriously, and every time when i meet anyone and see myself talking to them, i start gathering things i can implement. WOW am sounding philosophical nooohhh!!!!

There was a time, i hadn't even recovered from some bad instances of life when i just got up and told my dad, 'PAPA am goin to Delhi and will work and be independent, Dont worry'. Two days later I landed in Delhi with new hopes in a new city convincing myself that i'll be living better than i was. New friends, new office and a new home :) A simple small city girl entered the PG with a suitcase and a bag and saw unknown faces staring her. A small intro and everyone was friend! Infact few days later I became the most entertaining amongst my group of gal friends. We used to take fun out of every nonsense be it boyfriends or boys potential to be boyfriends or shopping or eating or partying.

2007, I decided to start living alone (living alone isn’t actually a freakish thing to do infact its quite a lot of fun) with 'my house my way' .... I was told there was an easy way of figuring out how much money one should dole out by way of rent: “It’s approx 30 per cent of your salary.” That was a hell of a lot. And it was bloody unfair to boot: it meant those who got to “stay at home”, got to save that amount.

“No, they usually buy stuff like, you know, shoes,” one of my newly acquired colleagues told me, picking up half-a-dozen pairs from a shop in GK-I. I realised miserably that I would never be able to buy that many shoes. She, on the other hand, could — because she “stayed at home”.

But still I was determined and excited to the fact that I be living all by myself and that would mean… friends on weekends, cooking anything I want, curtains and rugs in colors I like etc etcc… Also I was — and am — in company. In urban, middle class India, we are getting to be the masters (and mistresses) of our own destinies. Not too many people who are relocating to live alone look at family coffers (back home) to bail them out: most would rather foot their own bills and I was proud to be one of those.

We are growing up, I guess.

One of my friends, for instance, would work a couple of hours extra every night (we were working in mostly night shifts), because he needed the extra money (the term is moonlighting :D ). He wanted to live in “a particular area”, and he was clear he would rather burn the midnight oil (while others in his circle partied) in order to pay his princely rent.

For my part, I was determined to buy many pairs of shoes, clothes and bags (the first job and salary craze you see !!!) so, in my first year I mostly cook myself, ate at home and did my own housework. And, I was paying rent every month. And, I always coughed it up on time (a fact my landlord noted with considerable satisfaction.

In The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway sticks to her job in New York City, even though her boss ‘The She Devil’ Meryl Streep, gives her loads of grief. One reason, an almost egoistical one, why she stuck it out was, of course, because she wanted to prove a point — and be taken seriously at the workplace. There was another reason, an entirely practical one: she had a house rent to pay… I could completely empathise ….:)

Looking at this important point I guess we, in the city of New Delhi, should raise a toast for the jobs that pay our rents !!!! (Though I want a job from which I can do more than just rent :D)