Thursday Thirteen - India Trip To-Do list

I am going home. After 8 months. It does not count that my folks visited me over x'mas. They really did not bring the Marina beach with them, you know.

I am sitting at the terminal waiting for the gates to open ( I am so boring, I come early to airports) as I ramble this list off my phone, from my heart.

This list is certainly subject to a lot of change; and don't kill me if I don't end up doing one of these. Me and my disclaimers! Here you go :)

1. Visit a sunrise at a beach. I am positive I won't travel to marina for this; but so have to try and go to Bessy,at least. Done. Went crazy with clicking.

2. Buy some sarees. I am not a huge fan of it, but of late started to have a huge crush. I am going to fulfil my family's dreams by buying all I can before this crush wilts away too. Done. Got a beige on pink tassar silk for Vishu.

3. My bestest friend has a baby girl. I last met the baby as a just born and chickened out to touch her. So so excited to hold her. Done.She was happy with me. Did not cry.

4. Get my brother to start a blog/web page. He does not need a push, but a kick to get things done. WIP. He is a lazy ass.

5. Have a cooking date with Chitramma. I am so excited about this! Done. We chatted for long and ate Mango Rasmalai.

6. Street shop at Pondy Bazaar and buy some really cheap earrings. Done.I bought stuff for 400 rupess off platforms. Might proud of it.

7.Meet folks/friends I have not met in previous trips. I am pathetic in the keeping in touch business. Mid way. I still had three dinners to go.

8. Check the guava trees I planted years back. Yes. Yes. They are so beautiful now.

9. Bully the brother to create a header for my blog. It's not without a reason he works in design. WIP. Anything with the brother will be.

10. Get a good hair massage and a facial done. Big time wish. Done. Amma did both. Her wondrous hands.

11. Steal the brother's Nikon and go mad experimenting with my unbaked photography knowledge. Done. I clicked even the Hindu newspaper in various angles.

12. Try really hard to make a trip to sowcarpet. Absolutely no time. Next time wish!

13. Go on my Scotty over Anna Flyover! Was not allowed to touch my scooty. WTH!

Did I tell you I am going to a wedding at Varkala? Kerala is my most favourite place to go after chennai. Everything about that place makes me want to buy a small piece of land there and eat a mini sadhya meal everyday. I am sneaking in a trip for templing around trichy. All this and more in a work/vacation trip.

Typing from an airplane is more awesome than I thought it would be! Here it goes online; from the air!

Update: I am home, waiting for lunch to reach my plate. I am super overwhelmed to see comments waiting for me! This is a surprise trip and when I told mom I blogged about it; she has started to subscribe to my blog! Yay!

Here comes an Award!

Start the Music! Here comes an award. Now, just imagine one demented mind screaming up and down in joy. P.Subbu aka Prerna ( whoa, what a name - do you sing?) tagged and awarded me a month back, here I come with it!

Me, the versatile blogger - Did you like my boring stories on Facebook, or may be the one I babbled on turning 25 or was it one of those unplanned restauranttalks?

Whatever, my dearo – I am glad, you chose to give me this.

This award comes with a tag to write seven random facts.As if the name of this blog is not random enough. Dont blame me if you find this super boring. Subbu asked for it and you have come this far. So, please read on.

• I like reading instructions and details behind packets.It is one of my favourite pass times to walk into a grocery store and read through  packets of pasta, noodles, sauce and even detergents. I do this with no intention of buying any of those. 
• I have a sibling, whom I adore. Hold your breath, we have never had a single fight till now. No hitting, screaming or whatsoever. The maximum both of us have done is gone to sleep face down for two hours and woke up to amma’s scolding. 
• Someone groped me in a bus, and I dragged him to a police station. I was 19.
• I form judgements on people who fail to understand differences between a person's profession and his personal life. 
• I have worked on and created two proper, workable, investor wallet filling business plans with women enterprises. Empowerment of women through entrepreneurship is one of my interest areas, that I really wish to revisit. 
•  I have returned back a love letter because of a spell error. I have also refused to accept it when he came back with the second draft. 
• My only problem in English language is usage of articles. I have a terrible habit of mixing “a and “an” with the wrong words and am trying very hard to get over it. If you find a mistake, be polite and leave a comment on it. I promise to be thankful to you and send that magic candy through dreams. 

What is love, awards, tags and chocolates if not shared? So yes, here it goes – from me to you!

Versatility, here it goes. To the tagged ones here, you can choose to display the award and write random facts about yourself. If you have already written earlier, link back to it and leave a post.If you choose to ignore this award, it will not cause you seven years of bad luck or leave you with blood puking cancer. It is perfectly okay, if you do not want to pick this up. But do it, okay?

·    Archana– my name sake, the pretty one and mother of a Krishna baby. She writes on work , opines on fair and lovely and talks about cricket.All in one blog. And, she has another cooking blog too.

·    Anu –My first reader. Isha Follower. Happy, joyous soul. She has the knack to announce about whatsapp and facebookon a post and not make it blight.  Herpet peeves are to write about pets andsuper cool food ideas, like milk oil .Readher to admire the way she lives.

·    Sumitra– Just like how she has, I started reading her recently too. Else, I so could have tricked random.org, showed booo to Spiff and won the giveaway. You had me when you put up Joey on the about page. You moo, bark or yawn, I am all yours.She writes beautifully on marriages, has a funny bone on how hard it was growing up with a set of parents like yours (okay, not exactly but you get the idea), and in between sneaks a chocolate cake. Killer, I tell you. An Isha follower too!

·    MyEra – The kind of people you wish you could directly meet via the blog. Her stories have been so inspirational and truly moving. Read her posts on celebrating the human, her letters to daughter and as though all this moving talk is not enough, she writes recipes too!

·     Prashanth– Don’t you like it when men write honest posts about women issues? He writes on serious issues PMS,abortions with an adorable understanding, and makes one smile with a happy poem!

P.S: I know you did not ask me, but that header was flicked from Shabby Blogs. I will write a proper credit note for them soon. Till then, pardon the kid for some copyright issue.     

Some Gyaan with a Rocher

Not really on the lines of Eat Pray Love, but the above combination almost always makes anyone better. I am thankfully, no exception. Self given gyaan makes life a lot simpler. For someone like me, it is the only way to grow. I do not listen to too many people, not a trait am proud of.

Not trying to get preachy, but here is my little mental list that made things sane.

·        The first 25 years are over. There is really no way to change stuff out there. It is important one embraces the past truly to move forward.

·        At times, you should learn that some shit will be thrown on you. Even if you have not done anything for it. It is best one learns to escape it or endure it for a short while. Whatever, move on quickly. Not a consolation, but move on.

·        In context, it is important to give back – the bad stuff. None of us are even close to saints, and I am certainly learning the ropes to be a bitch in slapping back. It is not easy, especially when you have been trained, raised not to be one.

·        Live in a nice place. I am working on this one, but I have lately realized how so important it is.

So the last two days, I bought fresh stuff and cooked. I spoke with people who matter the most ( read:  present family only) and took two half days off early from work to sleep and to shop.

I will leave you with a picture clicked late last night. Even when life is filled with work, pressure and dirty keyboards – there are some stuff like these,  that makes it light and lovely!

 Enjoy the bite. Happy Days :)