Experiences with Love- Part 2

With light music in the background, it might be ironical to say that love was in the air on the way back in our almost new car – I’m saying new because this was our first long drive. We both were euphoric knowing the fact that the next 4.5 days would be spent together and the same resounded in every action & reaction of ours. On reaching home, we gulped down the scrumptious homemade dishes & relaxed. Although guessing that you would be flooded with a couple of gifts from dear ones qualifies you to the common sense list, we managed to add more hay to the already catching fire when sinda and putti made it home by 9:45 pm acting they were just loitering around in Gandhi Bazaar! The real reason- A trendy Fast-track wrist watch and yummy Pineapple pastry from Sweet Chariot had made it home safe & sound. Although, the initial plan involved jamy & akki’s surprise visit at 12 in the night- It was all washed out due to the Wednesday Office errands with the pre-requisite of waking up early! Thus it left us, the 3 idiots (I assume that sinda wont mind this, as per putti.. I don’t see an issue) to gear up to take on the mid-night. Also, we ensured Chatur- I mean appi to stay awake, after all he had to cut the cake ;-)Having managed to wake up dad, the calm & silent cake cutting did turn out to be rather nice when sinda smeared some cake on appi’s face and a couple of hugs followed. Missed jamy & akki I must admit.

Subsequently it was time for me to divulge my gift- The one which had been spoken about in my previous blogs, the one which had got appi fanatical and the one which used my apprehension itself as the foundation. I had named it as “Ondu PayaNa” meaning  “A Journey”.The gift constituted of a 20 minute homemade(with a teeny bit of help from the internet of cos) video which had pictures borrowed, old & new put together to form a story about MY appi. A video targeted to simply touch the heart and churn up those ever hidden emotions! Although I wanted everybody to see the video & celebrate with joy, I was looking for a private screening of the video before others saw it! So, after everyone fell into slumber, we both sat to watch it on my laptop. Frankly, appi’s first reaction was subtle– “OMG!! enidu putta” is what he had uttered. As the video progressed his smile broadened until he couldn’t smile anymore. A couple of “ee photo el sikthu ninge?” “U know when this was taken” along with cute smiles were the only responses I could gather as I too was lost with how time had changed everything! Some for good (appi growing up to be a sweet guy) and felt some would have been better undone becuase I loved the cute & chubby appi. He he.. Although I had seen the video a trillion times during the whole process of making it, the state of watching it holding each other’s hands is unexplainable. With a warm hug & a couple of more wishes, we decided to call it a night!

The next day brought along a few surprises, not only to appi but to me as well. It was my appi’s 25^th b’day and I wanted to make each second of the special for him. Thus the plan was, lunch at Ebony- M.G Road which is known to be the most romantic restaurant in Bangalore, some quality leisure time with each other until evening and one more cake cutting with friends & family. However, the clock marked 1’0 Clock and we were still at home…not because we decided to swap the leisure time with lunch but due to my brother who turned up without notice (sorry bro).Ultimately after the accepting the wishes & some angry bird time we headed towards Ebony hoping not to end up embracing the almost empty buffet tables ;-) Almost 90 minutes of waiting and we were alloted the loveliest place in the house! Overseeing the scenic beauty of Bengalooru, feeling happy for the remaining green canopy, we had a good meal. The company certainly masked the little sadness due to missed timelines and brought about a huge sigh of relief for having been able to spend time together J

 Now, I felt dumb yet again(cos, I have that feeling most of the times!) for having to buy a cake for appi when I was with him!Thus, on our way back I had try hard to convince appi to pull over and stop at sweet chariot to purchase a chocolate truffle! Only after I got back into the car with the cake did he say – “Are my friends coming” J L Alrighty, nothing seems to surprise him or perhaps they are not good enough is what I felt. Back home, when the question about what we should serve the guests arose – u shouldn’t have any doubt on what happened J well, it was Cheese Tikkas and Hakka noodles for the munching! I must tell you that I don’t find more pleasure in serving up some interesting dishes & spending time with family/friends. Apparently, it was not as gloomy/uninteresting day after all. Like the famous idiom- “Every Cloud has a Silver Lining”, it came in the form I had least expected it to! Tantry. Yes Srinivas Tantry- The guy known for his genius during Engineering days and currently for reasons which negate that! It was his gift- A Book by Richard Feynman (can’t recollect the name though) that had taken him close to 7 years to realise appi had liked it and wanted to read it. That was the moment I saw utmost happiness & surprise on appi’s face, which certainly made my day J Also, another Footprint showpeice gift by the loyal customers of Archies came along.

I know the blog seems lengthy, however like our friend pond puts it – “Who the hell cares!”

Belated Birthday Wishes Sunny, do remember that my love for you shall only intensify with each passing year,with those lovely wrinkles & with those grey hair.(I still doubt it)J

Ciao, Ash

Experience with Love All over Again - Part 1

Bonjour my dear readers! Wonder why I am abruptly acting all Italiano?! Well, may be it’s because of the vestiges from my last birth. Now you must be in awe thinking if I stumbled across and lost my screws in the process as I’m not only acting wacky but also eerie at the same time. Hold on right there.. Let me put some brakes on those racing thoughts on Wheels! I’m a huge fan of Italian food and at the moment craving for some tasty pastas and succulent breads J Food shall certainly be my topic of choice after I get saturated pondering my lexis on appi (or until you guys stop reading my blogs, whichever comes first :P )

What was I blogging about? U see, food indisputably helps forget all kinds of situations(unless you are a food critic and only doing your job for a living)- Ah, I can hear the mutters from folks who indulge in “The Act of Quaffing”- in simple words, the ones whom I have heard to enjoy the pleasure of flying without owning any wings! Alright- Food & Drinks are the foremost delights in the world. Just to quote an example (being an engineering student, it’s the assumption that examples score more marks than the explanation itself:-D u see old habits die hard) Anyway - Christopher Columbus’s expedition to reach India, was not solely due to his adventurous nature or because he was unmarried (as per a joke which highlights the effects of matrimony on the freedom of a man); But due to the fact that the access to spices aka food were blocked!

Before appi breaks out of his normal enduring mode and decides to kill me for wandering around all topics in the world instead of blogging how his 25^th birthday was celebrated & also for being almost 15 days late in penning down what I felt, I would like to begin the same and promise to forget about Food/Marriage for now J Isn’t that kind of me to not talk about things, or rather the Only 2 things I’m worried about currently (of cos, it excludes appi).

Firstly, being so eager to meet appi and to commemorate his birth (Gosh, what a word to use, but I like the sophistication it brings along), an Indigo Flight had been booked on 14^th June 17:45 IST, (the after effect of working for global IT companies) you are hereby permitted to assume that I own a private jet which flies on my command ;-) Being an on-timer sometimes and late comer all my life, it was nerve-wracking to wait for a staggering 80 minutes in an airport whose waiting lounge looks smaller than the 4^th Block Jayanagar bus stand J I could have sat their listening to music until the boarding gates were opened and we were let loose to get on the flight (It’s just the feeling, which fools your mind momentarily) However, the waiting time made me grab a munch; Although the paneer tikka sandwich was overly priced for it's taste, money was a mere tool to get the clock ticking at that instance!(Thank God, there isn’t any shopping mall in Trivandrum Domestic Airport, he he) But the anxiety made me eat so quickly that I still had an hour to spare! (oops, food again!) Then I had to squander time staring at people and imagine the purpose of their trip to and fro God’s Own Country- Kerala! Some seemed to be there with a plain face- which clearly meant they were the frequent travellers, the ‘Wanna be Business Class’ passengers who are being forced to travel in economy by their beloved companies, Some were the visitors who were busy clicking away pictures of everything which came in their way – I did notice a lady who seemed to be of Chinese origin (I really cant categorize the population with tiny and almost hidden eyes into different countries you see)taking pictures of a bunch of red bananas which look weird even to me! J Then I saw an ample number of couples who seemed to be all happy and in their own world of joy – without question those were the newly weds! Finally it was a handful of north Indian families, or should I say Family as they all got along like one eventually! With no offense to the delicious savouries popular in the North – Each of the married women just seemed like Raj Kachori, Batura, Paneer Tikka’s wrapped in bright Orange,red,green salwar kameezs with loads of Lakme presentation!(oh ho, food yet again!) It was a piteous site to watch their equally sautéed husbands dutifully follow the order and ensure the food supply exceeded the demand at all times. As you can see, food did use up my time but the thought of appi hadn’t left my mind for a minute amongst all the above distractions.

Now that I was successful in spending time and the much awaited boarding call was made, it was testing to wait in the queue as the aunties had to dig through their food bags, enquire the million relatives in attendance and then present the ticket! Finally, having got on the flight it was nice to know that I had been allocated a seat in-line with the emergency exit which initially was a relief because it meant nobody else sits next to you but turned out to be annoying as I had to face the robotic make-up painted air-hostesses lecture for 15 minutes on operating the exit if a need arose! Even the most serious, life saving act was given a miss by my brain! Thanks to appi’s thoughts which were cancerously growing away. At that very moment, I just felt like jumping out of the exit because the fretfulness had taken over my patience and was now playing the “I’m the boss game!” Although, we did start ten minutes early, a mere journey of less than 70 minutes seemed like a century. I tried to watch a movie, listen to music and gaze at the beautiful clouds which were offering resistance to the plane carrying over 50 people but nothing helped and I was eventually left restless in my seat, waiting for the touch-down. Due to bad weather the plane had to circle a couple more miles before the captain decided to call it a ride! Like they say, time tests you the most when you are waiting for it! Of all days, this was the day it had selected for me - Grrrrrr. After claiming the bag from the baggage counter- which happened to be the last one out; I rushed to the exit to see appi. There he was, waiting excitedly. I don’t think I can explain that moment’s outburst in words. It was ecstasy to the core.  

To be Continued...

The Hardest 24 hour wait ever!

 

As the Good luck saying goes “Something Old, Something New, Something borrowed, Something blue!” I’m sure most women who read this exactly know what I’m referring to, but for the benefit of all the ignorant guy souls (including mine ;-)) out there, here's the brief.The saying dates back to the Victorian era where in brides try and ensure that they have something of each in their wedding outfit. I just started blogging and suddenly I’m talking about brides and the outfit?! Don’t ever conclude I’ve gone nuts; I shall render more points to ensure I’m put in that category sooner or later! Ah ha, now back to the topic of interest.

Well, in my last blog I did promise to reveal the secret gift I’m planning to surprise my appi with for his 25^th birthday. I wouldn’t want to document it completely and fail to witness the amusement on his face as he shall be reading this blog today! However, what I am permitted to do is, lend out subtle hints to get the curiosity cat all worked up and ready to pounce. Yeah, I am evil but a very strong one who doesn't give up secrets easily ;) A million questions would storm his head on what it might be, and may be after an hour or so he would just give up and say to himself “We’ll see tomorrow”( knowing him, I can assure you this much).

So, what is it? It’s something old, something new; something borrowed (3 out of the good luck saying!)It’s not something which would amuse you at first glance but takes your breath away as time ticks. Ahhhh, I guess this will do for now.

I shall certainly be back with a blog on how it went!(or may be not with full details, u never know!)

A Week makes me weak!

First of all, thank you for your interest in reading my blog! Yeah I know its sounds too cliché but hey! I mean it. Although I did want to write stories as a child, it soon turned out that such fantasies seemed juvenile as age began piling up the shoulders. The undisturbed, carefree, calm mind was in the process of getting tangled in the storm of expectation, fear of failure and the ultimate emotional sushi: Embarrassment! What if I am wrong, What if people laugh at me, What if no one wants to be friends with me... so on & so forth. Phewww.. I guess that sums up the entire boring story I intended to convey here ;-)

Now, coming to the question of what inspired me to start writing a blog! Well, the spark was reignited when I recently I read a travel blog of my friend (who likes to be called “The Photographer”) Not to forget the sweet words of encouragement that came across from a very special someone. Ah ha, now relax that raised eyebrow as I will reveal who that is by the end of all the posts under this topic- “My First for the Best” (doesn’t this ring any bell in your head on what I’m talking about here!)

Without further detail, let me brief you about “My Special Someone”(Gosh, isn’t that a tacky term! never mind) That Special Someone who occupies more than just my internet blogger space is called as sandy by his close friends, sunny by my friends, sun(not SON) by mom and the most recent nomenclature- The Saint! However I call him by zillion different names but would like to mention only “appi” here J

So the sole reason behind this topic is the upcoming big day- My appi’s birthday! (Dictionary suggests ape’s for appi’s.. he he he).Not just any birthday, the silver jubilee celebration day. Yes it’s the 25^th birthday. On 15^th June 1986, a cute looking chubby little star was born in a small hospital in Mysore. Even though he is well known for his calm nature & downtoearth (one more cliché but this is the truth!) attitude, his mom certainly recalls how troublesome he was until he turned 2. Unfortunately the shift from the peaceful & serene Mysore to the noisy & populated Bangalore drained out the troublemaker and seems to have instilled a sweet home maker we see to date!

I guess the above introduction is quite obliging for anyone who doesn’t know him well enough. So, to date it’s a week left for the D-day and I have so much to prepare. Try to think of all the lovely presents you can gift your loved one with… cards, something special from Archies, clothing, personalized gifts like painting, photo frame, homemade vase with red ribbon roses, glass painting, cute baby tee’s… yes these are the things which came to my mind so all this has already been gifted!

Then what next? What bigger and memorable than any of the above?! My ideas to make the day special in my next post! Ciao for now J