Aham Vyaktam

My sis-in-law Deepa gave birth to a baby girl. We became a proud maama maami. She's the first baby for our family and is gonna be very very special.

I was praying that a girl baby should be born against my parents-in-laws desire for a baby boy. And my wish succeeded :-)

They said the baby and the mom are healthy. They said the baby has lots of hair and she has big eyes. Hari always comments that my eyes are huge and am glad the baby is gonna share all the bullies with me :-)

God, how much I yearn to hold the baby in my hands! But we are tied by the distance.

I admire Deepu so much for the perseverance with which she went through the labor.
I just felt like hugging her and telling how much I admired her. But I could barely speak with her :-(

Anyways. Everyone there is gonna be busy with the baby.
Am gonna start purchasing gifts for her from now on.
Cant wait to see her. Am sure she'll be as beautiful as Deepa and the parents are gonna have hard time shooing away the guys swarming around her. hehehehehehe...

People were moving around, trying to comfort each other, drinking, kneeling beside the dead, but he could not see any of the people he loved, no hint of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, or any of the other Weasleys, no Luna. He felt he would have given all the time remaining to him for just one last look at them; but then, would he ever have the strength to stop looking? It was better like this.

Why do I still cry every time I read these lines, though I would have at least read them umpteen times in the past?

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"
Mrs. Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms, Bellatrix spun on
the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of the new challenger. "No!" Mrs. Weasley cried as a few students ran forward, trying to come to her aid.
"Get back! Get back! She is mine!"

Why do I have yes-come-on-there-you-go feeling every time I read this?

“The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy.”
“You’ve missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him.”
“Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does . . . I am the true master of the Elder Wand.”

Why am I not able to get rid of the gasp and the stomach lurch every time I read this, though I knew all along that this is how its gonna be, after so many re-reads?

"you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

Why does my respect for Snape bubble up in me every time I read this?

Am clearly spellbound by the story. My mention of this story twice in my blog clearly vindicates it.

I am not gonna stop reading it, even when my daughter (or son, whoever it might be) laughs at me saying mommy reads kids’ stories :-)

Am gonna treasure the book!

As he entered the home yesterday, he said “I may not be so expressive and I might not have given you attention as much as your parents and your friend. But you are very special to me and I bought you this as I felt you would feel the same warmth you had from other important people in your life” and gave me a pink princess basket. I must say I definitely felt like his girl kid, who would feel so elated to have the pink basket.

He had always given me attention and gets me a bouquet every now and then, no matter if its an occasion or not. I don’t know if a mere allusion of my parent’s and friend’s tenderness in my blog can make him feel like this!!!!

Its nice that am a child for someone (of course, the most important person in my life now) other than my parents and my friend.

I spoke with my best friend after a really long time. I have got many emails from that friend asking me to give a call when my time permits, but it took this unchivalrous stupid a year to actually do it. I spoke for about an hour. Thanks to my manager for having given me a permission to work from home :-) I wouldn’t have called even now, had I not known that the friend is leaving for Riyadh.

That friend had been with me since I was 13, I guess. We are friends for more than a decade now. When we spoke yesterday, we realized the friendship hasn’t gone down by even an ounce and we still stay at that reverent position in each other’s hearts. All our sentences started with “Remember when….” How nice it was to talk about our remarkable past!

We were laughing to the core when we talked about the very serious fights we had, it sounded so pointless now. I was the one who always initiated a fight (as its always the case with anybody for that matter, but trust me, am not very bad, just a little short-tempered and egoistic) and if I now come to think of it, my friend had been so patient with me, would never utter a word other than sorry, though I had been scornful, vicious and obstinate. I genuinely sought for pardon yesterday. I don’t think anyone can tolerate me like that other than that friend and I still remember my mom scolding that friend that am being spoilt by giving too much of attention and liberty which I am taking advantage of. My friend’s mom and my mom are so proud of our friendship which is still lasting, though we are so distant.

My friend also happened to be my junior in my college and I used to threaten that I would send some guys from my class for ragging :-)
I still remember those days when my friend had been so possessive and refused to give even my emailid to my other juniors LOL. That was funny!!!
Both of us used to watch our favorite movie telecast on a festival day, absolutely immune to all the festivities around. We wouldn’t even care about the bang of the crackers outside :-)
I used to cheat when we played Hollywood but never did a word come from my friend. I always won.

Hari says my parents and such friends have spoilt me, having given me too much attention that its hard for him to meet the same expectations of mine :-)

I miss those days. I wish there’s a way to travel back to those days whenever needed. But then am glad I don’t have a feeling that I missed a chance of having fun in those days. We enjoyed as much as we could when we got a chance to get together.

I know you are reading this my friend!
And I know you have a feeling that I haven’t been much expressive of my friendship all along!
Read this and rest assured that I have always missed you and I always will!

A.R Rahman. I was just staring at the screen for a while after writing his name for want of words. I was praying that ARR should win atleast 1 oscar, if not both. I was clasping the hands and biting my nails when they were about to announce who the oscar for original score goes to. When ARR’s name was announced, I was applauding, screaming and jumping. That was some moment. I was glad they got his name right unlike the Golden Globe. When he said about him having the same excited and terrified feeling he had during his wedding, I was surprised “Was it Rahman who just humored?” When he said “ella pugazhum iraivanukke”, the joy just multiplied. That’s something none would have expected in his Oscar acceptance speech.

I was so glad to see him performing on the Oscar stage and the fusion of Jai Ho with Wall-E was some magic. Did you guys look at the way he did his finishing pose of the performance? Every bit of him was awesome on the day.

I was scared when Hari said he might loose the Oscar for the song category due to split votes between O Saya and Jai Ho. But then he did it once again!! He deserves every bit of the awards. I cant stop watching this video.

Rusel Pookutty is another pride of India. The entire SDM crew is a marvel. I cant believe the kids can speak so well. They rocked on the red carpet.

Am not going to listen to any song other than Rahman’s for the next 1 week. He is decorating my laptop as the wallpaper. He is great in his Indian black dress. I hope Hari doesn’t mind, himself being a die hard fan of Rahman :)

For all those who raised controversies about the movie and for all those who threw mud at Rahman for accepting the offer to direct music for the movie:

Rahman is bringing home the Oscars guys!

Suck it up!!!

It feels good when “someone” makes a bread sandwich for your breakfast, places it in your bag concernedly with a paper towel in case you intend to have it while commuting, and does it by the time you put your shoes on before leaving to work, especially when you have decided to skip your breakfast as you are running very late.

It feels good when “someone” had done the dishes and the sparkling sink welcomes you when you get back home in the evening, especially when you had left a huge pile of dishes in the morning.

It feels good when “someone” unexpectedly calls you and says we’ll go for a movie and have dinner outside, especially when you are in no mood to do anything but still for the sake of it, will cook and do other house-hold since you are not of the type who says “lets have dinner out”.

It feels good when “someone” prepares something with little known, and wakes you up to make you have dinner, especially when you are dozed off after a shot (not the shot as in tequila shot but the one as in flu shot) and a tablet when you are ill.

It feels good when “someone” had surprisingly placed a bouquet of flowers before you when you wake up the next morning with a note “I don’t know what the reason is, sorry if I am”, especially when you had been low for some reason unknown.

It feels good when “someone” says you are a good cook and you’ll get better every time you cook, especially when you serve a dish with too much of salt in it.

It feels good when “someone” just politely says “this is not the girl I know of”, which is good enough to shut you up, especially when you let your temper far out of control.

It feels good when “someone” pats on your head and says “you are just a kid”, especially when you feel so stupid after committing a foolish blunder.

It feels good when “someone” reminds you are able by saying “I’ll suggest, but you have to decide”, especially when you want someone to decide for you, though it is so out of your character, you being a person who doesn’t want others to decide for you.

It feels good when “someone” is so supportive to say its okay to cancel a $1000 trip, especially when you are biting your nail, trying to complete your work hastily before you leave for the trip.

These look like excerpts from some chick-flick. But when these happen in real life, the bliss is just exponential to the mushy feeling you have when you see these in a chick-flick. And, you are able to cache and appreciate these only when they happen seldom. Else, the charm of these would have been long gone.

I saw everybody writing about their best of 2008. So I thought I would also join the whirlpool.

Best of 2008:

1. I became a full time employee of a reputed concern. One year of grueling contractorship got over and I am glad I wasn’t at the mercy of anybody to have me converted, it was rather a demand from my side.

2. I got car driving license. This might seem too preposterous to mention under this post title, but it was a great achievement for me. I flunked twice and got it right the third time. I have never had a sense for even riding a bicycle, let alone a car. I was great at the rules and scored 34 on 36 in the driving written test but pathetically flunked in the wheel test. Finally I got it. My wish is to drive a beetle, if not, atleast some VolksWagen. I haven’t got any yet. Let me see if I am able to put my beetle or VW as one of my best of 2009.

3. I met my family after a separation of more than a year and a half, reminding them of my almost forgotten face, letting them gasp “is that really her?” I had changed a lot during this span of being away from family and I was pleased to see that everybody welcomed my physical and mental change.

4. My wedding. I met a man who was everything I wanted my partner to be and I am lucky enough to marry him. The welcome rendered by the new family was overwhelming, as I had already become friendly with most of them, or as my friends would grossly lay it out, I had already put maska on everyone. More than anything, my dad got relieved off the biggest duty or rather a burden as the conformist in me conceives it.

5. My birthday gift. It was my portrait Hari had painted. I knew he was a painter but never knew he could paint so well. He used to go to sleep at 5 in the morning, saying he had loads of work, which was surprising for me as I had always known him as a smart-worker, not a hard one. When he gifted my portrait, I understood the meaning of all those sleepless nights.

6. I met Anand after more than 2 years. He had been “the” best friend in my life (and still is) or well-wisher as he says. It was great to see him here, actually to see his few months old kid more than him. Its always a blissful feeling to see your best friend after a really long time, especially when he surprises you showing up with his own child. And I met Shen, kullu and Sachi after a long time on my wedding.

7. I made a great improvement in cooking. While I was back in India, I didn’t even know what sauté meant (not literally but practically). While I was into this shared accommodation stuff here in US, I did start cooking, but there was always my roomie beside me to share the task and never knew if I could cook alone. But after wedding, cooking was/is being completely manned by me (needless to mention Hari is a lousy cook) and I was surprised to see I was able to cook well. We celebrated all festivals after wedding with vada, rava laddoo, jamun and payasam and stuff (I can never match up to our parents, but these dishes were decent) and got appreciation from my in-laws for observing all festivals without an elder’s help.

8. My dad sought voluntary retirement. He has worked really hard since he was 18 and I felt its time he bids a bye to work and rest at home. He is an enthusiast and cant sit at home. So he’s writing and composing songs right now (as he always used to when he found time) big time to keep him engaged (and this is just for his fun, not for commercial interests) and he’s into browsing and stuff. Good for him!!

9. Hari took a huge leap in his career, and became a manager skipping one level in the middle. It was like a double promotion and this happened immediately after our engagement. And everybody in my in-laws’ side said that am a very lucky girl. So sad that they forgot about Hari’s eminency :)

10. My physical examination results came out alright. I never underwent a checkup after coming to US. I normally keep watching my health as I am underweight. Not that any previous results came out with complications, but just have been playing safe. So any checkup is very important for an underweight gal like me and this thorough phy exam after 2 years pronounced me hale and healthy. And no doctor ever says that am underweight, I don’t know why and in a way am happy for it :)

Now I’ll go for the worst of 2008.

1. Fell ill on my wedding and I was ill throughout the span I was in India.

2. Sachi, who is one of my best friends met with a terrible accident and had surgery.

3. The economy depression, of course made us precarious as everybody else, though no major impact has happened yet.

4. I came to know that Hari doesnt have a good taste for chick flicks. Of course, chick flicks are for female audience and I cant expect him to like them, but then it would have been great if he can watch them, as I watch any crappy movie, no matter its boyish or girlish or kiddish.

5. I exhausted all my Personal-Time-Offs in my wedding and am running on negative now.

6. I wanted to go to Hawaii or Maldives in 2008 but neither happened.

These are all the worst things I can come up with and its good that I have my best outnumbering the worst.

As to the New Year resolution, I thought of vowing that I wouldn’t browse at work. But as we internet geeks would die if we relinquish browsing even for a minute, I knew this resolution would end up with an ill fate as its ancestors. So thought I wouldn’t take any resolution at all.

On the whole, 2008 had been a really great year for me, a memorable one indeed. If I have to retrospect in few years down the lane, 2008 would definitely be the top in the list, as I had some major happenings in my life.