Tuesday 20 May 2014

Childhood confessions

My favorite hobby used to be playing ping pong with Appa on our dining table on weekends. The table cloth was folded neatly and put in the middle as the net. Amma had to rearrange many of the lamps and other breakable items nearby, although some of the thrill came from "almost missing a glass vase". TGIF had a whole different meaning back then.

When I was 8, my best friend was called Kehekshan. We used to hangout all the time! She used to wear a scarf around her head that I thought was so pretty that I used to wear amma's dupatta around my head too, to be like her. We grew older and I switched schools and somehow lost touch with her. I still think about whether we may meet at some point, and what I would say to her. Would she even remember me?

I used to really like watching mushy Bollywood films and my favorite was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Yes, of course I tried the Anjali haircut.

I've always been very possessive of my things. I will give it to you only if I trust you enough to take care of it. I'm told - when I was 1, my great grandmother wanted to see my new birthday dress. I gave it to her for a whole of 30 seconds and then snatched it from her to put back in my shelf safely. I was just 1! It became a running joke in my family thereafter.

This was me, on that day:





I enjoy edgy humor. If the joke is not insulting, it's not that funny. My husband doesn't like that so I try to tone it down.

On a related note, my friends have always made fun of me saying I'll end up getting married to a Balasubramanian. 

I get a little irritated when people keep talking about how naughty or how cute their kids were when little. Everyone is cute as a baby! Move on.

I am a romantic. I believe in all forms of love and it's love that keeps me going.

In Muscat, we were out on a picnic at Wadi Bani Khalid. The adults were walking slowly, but we kids couldn't contain our excitement. We ran to the wadi (a river) and jumped in. I didn't expect it to be so deep. Neither did I know how to swim, so I had started drowning. THEN! Suddenly! One of the local Omani boys appeared out of nowhere and saved me! The adrenaline rush made me jump around calling it a miracle. I was also spouting all kinds of philosophical sayings, but everyone else just told me off for being a fool to jump in without knowing how to swim. In my head it's still very filmy with my Omani hero boy. Thanks Habibi!

I started taking swimming lessons after that.

My coach died of a heart attack within a week of my joining.

I still can't swim. :(

One hot summer day, my friends and I were having a water fight in the bus (not even the school bus) and the school authorities took us to the Vice Principal's office. For a water fight outside the school!! Our parents had to come get us after that. One of the teachers told my friend "today you let a boy put water on you, tomorrow you'll let him kiss you?". Yes. Don't even get me started on the amount of moral policing that happened in school.

On a related note, somebody told the Vice Principal about all the "couples" in our batch. He called us one by one, took out his "match the following" notes and yelled at us. "Dating during your teens?? Oh my god, what a disgusting crime! Please reserve that for after you're married." Hehehe.. poor wife his was!

My favorite day in school was sports day. I used to take part in most of the events. I always had butterflies in my stomach right from the morning but would act all cool because that's how sportsmen should be! Even today, I would do anything to get a good playing partner.

My first heart break happened in grade 5 because my first crush laughed at me for getting glasses. Agreed, they made my face look funny. And no, I was not a fan of edgy humor back then.

Until I left Muscat and came to Chennai, I never knew that Tamil had so many dialects and that talking like I did would be made fun of. Of course, other forms of culture shock happened too, but save that for later.

Muscat will always hold a special place in my heart as will all the friends I made there. Here's to an awesome childhood! Cheers!

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Bucket list!

I'm suffering from the opposite of Pinaciphobia right now. All I want to do is make lists and tick off what's done. So here's my bucket list!

1. Step foot on every continent
2. More specifically;
      - take the LOTR tour around New Zealand
      - spend a week in France - le vin et la fromage, les champs-elysee, le tour d'eiffel, the alps
      - catch a glimpse of the northern lights from Alaska or Norway
      - take H to Phuket and Muscat
      - trek in leh-ladakh
      - explore the secrets of the Egyptian pharaohs and the Incas
      - rameswaram
3. A chance to meet at least one of my favorite celebrities - Agassi, Rafa, Federer, Paul Mccartney, Dravid, Santanam, Santa Claus
4. Adopt another cat and a dog and a few kids.
5. Start my own biofuel company in India and live there forever, close to the parents. Alternate plan: start an awesome restaurant in India.
6. Practice hard and improve upon my rookie racket ball and tennis skills
7. Start intensely following international football and attend one of the FIFA world cups
8. Never lose touch with any of my awesome friends
9. Make sure H is always happy
10. Make sure both sets of parents don't miss us too much

Neat, that looks doable! I guess 10 is a decent number. Well, the hope for a fun future is what keeps us all going doesn't it?




I'm back!

Hello blog!

I've missed you! A lot of things have changed in my life from the time I wrote my last blog post - 

I got married!! (yes, it was like winning the lottery)
Moved 10,000 miles away from lizard-land, what fun lah
To a house filled with superhero posters and musical instruments.
Shocking as it may seem, my research got published
I now know what a quarterback does
I almost won my lab's brackets this year, but H actually won his
Rekha chithi passed away 
I got a pixie hair cut to look like her 
Adopted the most adorable cat ever
Went to a high school mini-reunion in Chicago and caught up with some awesome people
Started hating winters, Chennai I'm so ready for you 
Read a bunch of autobiographies of tennis players, liked Agassi's the most
Watched some vijaykanth padams, day-to-day conversations have never been the same hence
Still working on my tamil movie dialogues to better fit in with H's family
Realizing now the true value of living in lizard-land - India trip anytime can lah 
I'm not thaaaat racist anymore
and I love small towns in the US

Now that you've caught up, I'm going to be writing more often! Get ready!