on friends

I never realised it's been almost 7 months since I last feel the need to say something! I think I might have forgotten the password to blogger but it's one of the 3 that I use everywhere so got lucky there, unlike my internet banking password where I have set a new one every time I use the damn thing due to my inability to remember what I had chosen the last time - this is further exacerbated by the fact taht they expect you to change every 3 months in any case which means about the time I sort of remember, it's due for change!

There has been a series of minor events in my life - trying to set up a house, hating afore mentioned house, house developing leak, living at mother's for 2 months, finding new house, living with only 2 chairs in new house for nearly 2 months now but still...the floor is sparkling white so feels good to sit on it!

In other news, the BFF had a second baby so I trotted over the 2 oceans and god knows how many countries to visit her, my 2 and three-quarters old godson (first time seeing him by the way) and the new bonny boy who crossed 5 kilos at the 4 weeks stage! I really enjoyed spending time with R and not doing anything at all but chilling in the house and sort of helping to look after the boys (read as letting baby D sleep on me while R rushes around changing, feeding and bathing the baby not to mention the 2.5 yo!!) - very good sort of assistant I is - I tell ya!

on the way  back, stopped off in HK and spent a night with the charade - was great catching up and we stayed up till 2.30 talking - don't ask me about what!

It was this and the 'depression' I have suffered since then which actually brought me back to this forum.

I am 30 years old (yeah that's the other eventful thing that happened - I crossed over to the dark side - was so unhappy could not even do a recap post!) and at this point, 2 of my friends from college live in this city! Hanging out with the girls kinda causes a wrench in my chest because no matter how much I love the friends I have here today, nothing quite compares to someone who has known you for half your life, if not more in some cases! out of the group of 12 girls, around  6 -8 of us are still in fairly close touch one way or another, some more than others leading to everyone being fairly aware of what all are doing. Out of these, 5 are from the same school so even more history from that....these girls understand where you come from always, you have made so many memories, its very easy to share the new ones - somehow we are invested in the children as well coz they are 'of' the friends. It's very easy to resume a conversation even if the last one was years ago. It was not just me who felt this way - both R and Charade also commented on how comfortable and nice it was to just have a conversation in person - another friend also remarked on how she was missing other girls who in turn responded with the same sentiment (maybe we all just 'mawkish'?).

I think part of the problem for me is it's much more difficult to make friends as an adult than as a child/teenager - if you join a university, those people might be carried with you but post that.....I think for me also, I was very happy with the friends that I have and object to replacing the people who suit me just fine even if they live continents away -I'd rather have a phone conversation once a week with the BFF than dinner every day with someone else!

Raise your glass!

My Maid of Honour's speech at the wedding:

Curly, my best friend you're married today.,,

our fun days at college seem like yesterday,

Coffee at Crosswords & getting wet in the rain

gelato's in Italy & Sangria's in Spain.

We always had a blast where ever we went

and didn't care how much money we spent

We've travelled together & seen different places

we've found our soul mates among all those new faces.

You were always crazy & had your own style

which made certain people run for a mile!

but what I love about you is you don't mind

and your thoughts, words & deeds are never unkind

You've been there for me like no other

That's why I made you my Son's godmother.

You're loyal & loving & a really great friend

But your reign as Drama queen will never end!

When I first met the juggler, I thought what a guy,

hes handsome & funny & not at all shy.

ok The juggler's paid me to say this

but not any of that would I dismiss.

I love how you two look at each other

like there's no one around just one another

and Juggler, the key to being a happy chappie

is to make sure your wife is always happy!

Curly & The Juggler what can I say

you guys look great together any time,any day

you're not alike in many ways 

but your love for each other never sways

I will end now on this high note

it's a pretty cool poem but I wont gloat

I wish you both love luck & health

and many babies to spend all your wealth!

*There were tears at the end of this!

On the auspicious occasion of 20.10.2010

the Wedding Numbers for 12.12.2010

• Little under 2 months to the 3 wedding ceremonies
• 1 Bridesmaid missing
• 2 dress designers -0 number of fittings for the dress
• 1 pair of shoes bought
• 3 friends with weddings on the same weekend
• 300 wedding cards printed -5 cards distributed
• 250 favours bought -200 people on guest list
• 1 honeymoon booked
• 3 friends knocked up who cannot make it to the wedding
• 2 excited people - 1 Happy couple who cannot wait for it!

Feb+March 2010

I had the gall to ask the charade why she was posting in bullet points while blogging about her vacation only to realise that when I eventually sit myself down to write, I end up doing a recap post in bullet points or a to-do list in the same! I cannot seem to bring myself to end the cycle - the way I look at it, if I cannot use the blog to express my feelings/thoughts (about personal issues), it serves me well as a snapshot of my life at the time. When I read previous entries, It recaptures for me the person who I was at the time and if I cannot write that, let it at least remind me of things that I accomplished and also the things I let slide!

Some of the big things in this year have happened - Friend's wedding in Goa  (ref pic above) and the BIG event at the end of the year is my own! 

However in between are little bits of joy as well - in 2 weeks time, I will doing a road trip with my parents and the FANCY! I know I know, HUGE risk but the way I look at it, they are stuck with each other, the same way I'm stuck with them, they may as well learn now how to get along in confined spaces! so essentially, A and I are taking the train to Jodhpur - my parents are going there for a course reunion (Airforce/Maruth for those interested). From there, we will drive to Jaisalmer (my last posting as an AF brat), Mt.Abu, (never been) Baroda (to see the fam), Daman(also never been). Now, I love road trips - having been twice from Bombay to Ooty and also year before last to Bijapur! I find travelling through the countryside exhilerating and edifying.....cannot say the same of the Fancy who has never been on one and cannot seem to fathom why one should be on one! since he claims I'm the only one he can holiday with - the other person being tied down with wife and baby, he has grudgingly agreed to try it out this once! I'm crossing my fingers for it to work out - the more new things he learns to like, the easier travelling will get once we are married!

I've realised people are not kidding when they say the more things you have in common, the better it is! I love being my own person but when you have to come from opposite directions, the middle is that much further away!

"Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."

- Jacques Delille (1738 - 1813) French poet.

There are many versions of the title quote... my mother received this on a deflt dish " Chance made us sisters, Hearts made us friends". Recently, I've been reading a lot of posts on friendships and also on the different kinds e.g. The bride talks of her circle of friends and also whether friends/friendship should affect life decisions.
She also noted to me that I undertook change (moving cities to study and then to work) and never let the friends left behind influence me. Also both changes but espescially the move to study landed with a fabulous lot of people making the 2 years a joy - the lack of education may be lamented by the parents but the experience was excellent! Today at work, an office colleague pointed out my social nature which begs this point - one of the reasons, change becomes easy for me is I'm adaptable. This is different in nature from malleable - If I don't want to do it, you can't make me but I'm willing to adapt to what you want. I make an effort to integrate and generally this works.
I recently went for the alumni meet of above attended university, for the first time sans my gaggle of girls and enjoyed myself with the old friends. I must note I no longer regularly meet the gang mostly due to the fact of the Fancy and marginally also because they all live in different suburbs. Here I must include this quote: "It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."- Ralph Waldo Emerson. When you are practically living with people for 2 years, there is nothing that is hidden, there is nothing that is sacred, there is no line. However years on, I wonder about this line - can I put it in place now? I no longer live with you which implies a lack of daily contact - this lack of contact spanning to weeks and months - at what point do I say, we are no longer who we were, we have moved on...maybe without intending to but the fact is, it happened.

"Have no friends not equal to yourself."- Confucious (551 - 497 BC) Chinese philosopher .
What is wrong about the title quote though is that even in friends, sometimes it is not a choice - it is making the best out of what is there. School friends tend to the most numerous and least discerning - she sat next to you in class: Friends for life. This I find especially true, later in life, there is a tremendous amount of residual affection for these group of people. Having a base of so much in common, it becomes easy to reconnect and thus take the friendship to a higher level.
With my MBA institute friends, I honestly cannot say that there was a common thread- everyone came from very diverse backgrounds, from large cities to small towns to different cultures - progressive, regressive (this is my opinion of course) but these made for the best experiences - I cannot say it transalates into life long friendship with everybody tho.

This post had been lying in draft for months and I've decided to publish today coz yesterday, I got a completely different point of view from someone who I would now consider a friend[alternatively to use Sheldon's lingo from The Big Bang Theory-treasured acquaintance]. He puts a sell by date on friendships of 5 years. According to him, no friendship last beyond that due to various factors - girls/boys, distance, change of interests. I don't think it's true - while I agree you need to tryharder at these friendships [a fact I have always pointed out to people - good relationships don't build themselves, any kind!], it's not always work and mostly, it's worth it. I don't have the kind of time I did when I was in college or school to spend with a person and establish common ground. Most of the time, I meet new people while standing in a bar [ not conducive to deep conversations, I might tell you!], which will never give you the type of history you have with someone who has known you for more years than you care to remember!

Both my BFF's are not from school but the 11th std, but that itself makes it 13 yrs that I've known them - I have friends from before that and I have friends from just now as well. Some friendships have dropped off along the way - one because I discovered a lack of interest and one because of a lack of spine but this is not the rule!

If you go into a friendship thinking it has a sell off date, How will you ever be able to establish the kind of relationship that humans need to survive?

Recap

As usual, this post is about things I've done in the last few weeks, some of which are edifying, some of which make me feel as foolish as a 22 yr old but on the whole, I've been a super busy baby - and dressing up a whole lot - it's the year of the 'looks' this year compared to last year of the 'books'.

Fri 23rd October - Shiro's to celebrate birthday of friend with 1 yr old baby - she wanted to party, I ended up drinking - the night ended with me jumping into a cab despite being followed by the car I came in(feeling like a foolish 22 yr old) and the juggler losing his blackberry in the process!
Sat 24th October - Struggled out of bed at 4 pm in the same clothes I had worn to go out in the previous + full face of make up on. Note to oneself: Elizabeth Arden ceramide lash mascara very good - no streaking inspite of sleeping! also went to book venue for wedding where was informed was too early to do so. So much for catching worms!
Sunday 25th October - Visited the juggler's house; coffee with one of the girls; followed by visit to birthday girl house.
Monday 26th October - Dinner at Ming Yang to bring in Ear Damage founder birthday
Tuesday 27th October - Show support at Hard Rock Cafe Pinktober event
Wednesday 28th October - Wedding and Reception of school friend
Thursday 29th October - Asleep at 9 pm!
Friday 30th October - Drink at Toto's
Saturday 31st October - Firangi paani with symbi angels
Sunday 1st Nov - Brunch at friend's house
Monday 2nd Nov - Social drink at Aunt's house(edifying responsible adult behaviour) followed by yummy dinner at Yellow Tree Cafe
Tuesday 3rd Nov - Dinner with the girlies!

Aah! I feel so popular! Aaah! I'm exhausted!

Things to do - done list!

What I've been doing the last couple of weeks feeling like a busy busy girl:

• Trying to catch up on reading and not really succeeding
• Gone for the Juggler's niece's Godbharai to Baroda where I might complain, have not eaten Gujurati food - rest was nice
• Said Goodbye to 2 girl friends with massive staggered farewells including trips to Goa, clubbing and the finale - bar crawl last saturday.
• Went for a wedding peripheral exhibition with the other bride to be
• Started watching Season 6 of 'Two and a Half Men'
• Spending girlie nights at the partyhouse [read house of juggler's best friends]
• Started Homeopathy and reasonably pleased with the results
• Discovered yummy cupcakes at Sante
• Had extreme period pain and gotten up twice at 4am with it[Please remember this blog is also for posterity so im allowed to mention random details of my life!!]
• Not watched any movie worth talking about majorly - liked 'Kaminey' but that's it
• Realised the minimum number of people I need to call for the wedding is 125!
• Loving the music of 'Wake Up Sid!' espescially Kya Karoon?
• rediscovered a love for Indian chinese food - Mr.Chow's Zindabad!

Little things make my life!

Random Thoughts

Random Thought # 1: In India, in the 80's action films were so popular coz people wanted to rebel against the sytem, they saw the 'Angry Young Man' as their representatives, fighting against the injustice [I've heard License Raj was not so good - I don't know!].Therefore cotton candy movies do well today coz people aspire to lead those lives which is a possibility in this open economy. They see the young urban adult as someone who they can possibly be given enough time etc.

Random Thought # 2: Indians are not service oriented people - we always try to cut corners - we are subservient by nature but contrarily, we cannot excel at service. It is at odds with our personality - in contrast, the chinese are extremely service oriented without the personality to drive it. What the world needs is front office Indian and back office Chinese. (this came after discussion with thebride)

Random Thought # 3: Why Oh Why cannot I be a particular person? so I don't have to spend 10% of my time rectifying my own created messes. I think I need a chinese back office for me.

Random Thought # 4: I love Girlie nights, I love my girl friends and I hate it when they move away espescially 2 in the same week.

Random Thought # 5: Next year, should I go back and study something unrelated and try and change my life direction or should I just stay where I am?

Mommy mania?

I'm surrounded by babies - it's a sea of them - let me count it! My BFF had a baby boy in Jan, The juggler's BFF has a baby girl last Nov, another friend of ours had baby girl in early Jan, next one is due in Sept and that's within like the immediate friend's circle - there are a multiplicity of babies that we know of - both my bosses had kids, other friends have produced little ones - and they all put up photies on facebook making you a part of their lives since you see the change in the baby everday - anyway the point is all these babies are making me broody! It started with my niece who is the apple of my family's eye - and I'm telling you - there has never been a kid as smart as her, but any way I digress!
I can spend hours looking at photies of other people's kids - which makes me somewhat creepy stalkerish but still....I'm really getting angsty to have kids of my own but the steps to achieve tht in India where you need to be legally bound etc etc seems to freak me out where I appear to have upped the drinking etc which will prevent me actually getting to that state! It's a vicious cycle I tell you- one that I have less than a year to break!

Astrological help?

I've been having one of those months where nothing seems to go my way - it's not necessarily a major catastrophe but it's one of those season's where I overlook all the little things and land up not in trouble but with a leaden weight of guilt in my stomach - this in turn leads to wanting to drown my sorrows in alcohol which further leads to late nights and the cycle continues.

This has always been my biggest problem - I used to have a higher than average intelligence and I can retain information - I'm willing to work hard and I can work smart but I lack an attention to detail! so it will always be the small slips that catch me and these will always come at a time when I am facing a larger issue which is not necessarily my fault but compounded by this minor infraction, in totality gains a larger meaning.

I've discussed this with friends who also screw up and from their experience, we are not the only ones who screw up - others do it too! they are just more proficient at denying it or avoiding the issue altogether. It's just lucky few, who seem to do it consistently and feel it majorly. The best solution is over look it and pretend it never happened. Yes - good in theory, in practice crap - coz I'm one of those people who admit fault and always with an expressive face, cannot drum up cheer in the face of flaws.

For non work related issues, a classic example, cheap deal to fly to HKG - ticket for Rs.15K. Grabbed it, trying to work out dates and find out when the juggler is going to be in HKG. The first set of dates I chose had expired by the time I finally went to pay. When I decided on the next set and got leave approved, I went ahead and booked. 30 minutes later, it turns out the juggler will be in HKG the week after me....and 3 days later, during a discussion with my parents about how I think I won't have to change planes at the halt in SQ since it's only a 15 min difference, it turns out yes, it is a 15 min difference with an additional 24 hrs!! Yes, I have a whole day in SQ - which is not such a bad thing since, I've never seen and I have a cousin there so it all turned out ok but it's the attention to detail thing again!

I'm hoping that my moons were not in alignment this fortnight making the coming week, a pleasant experience otherwise as my twitters often read, this day/week/I need to curl up and die!

A little J

Ever think some people have all the luck?? Don't get me wrong - I have a fabulous life for the most part but some days, it just seems other people catch really good breaks. I don't know if I've posted about my ex-friend [she married my ex-boss and I found out about it when he announced it in my ex-company]. Anyhoo since that story can go on forever while I give the background and foreground and some side bits, let me just get to the current point - she has now been sent to Cannes for the film festival where her company is putting up a stall. After which, she is going to Italy with her husband which I don't envy so much ;-)! but really, being officially sent to Cannes - sounds like a dream to me!

Dilemma - Help needed!

***DECISION MADE*** going to Turtle bay.


Ok as I posted earlier, I was supposed to go to Turtlebay on the May 1st weekend. However this has become option 1:Let me note the approximate costs:
Tickets: Rs.6260
Ticket forfeited by Juggler: Rs.2050
Stay: Rs.5000
Food + Drink: Rs. 4000 minimum
Shopping: Optional but accounting for Rs.700 minimum
Total: Rs.18000
Benefits:

• New location
• Friends
• Beach
• Good food
• Sea + Ocean activities
• Loads of alcohol

Option II: The juggler is going to HKG on the 4th - my birthday is on the 8th.
Fly in on the 7th and come back on the 11th.
Ticket: Rs.25000
Stay: Free
Food + Drink: Free
Shopping: Optional but taking Rs.5000 just in case
Total: Rs.30000
Benefits:

• SAMARA
• the Juggler for the birthday and in Hong Kong at the same time
• Good food
• Excellent shopping

Help with the decision making!! please feel free to let me know what you would do!

Another one bites the dust!

Just back from yet another wedding - this one in the distant hills of Uttarakhand, Dehradun! I have realised though that I do the most travelling for my closest friend's weddings! For R, I took 11 hour flights, travelled a day and a half each way to be present at the wedding and in her adopted hometown for a mere 6 days. In this case too, mega travelling involved - taking trains after centuries and here too skipped the bachelorette or in this case, the most fun party with the overflowing alcohol!
I had been having doubts about this wedding and the reasons behind it - thinking that parental pressure and easy options were the motivating factors. However, seeing the 2 in action after a long time, all apprehension has disappeared - I don't know about the chemistry or the grand passion but they are each other's best friends and I believe that is most necessary to make the marriage a surefire success!
So we started on a tuesday evening after working the whole day - caught the 8.30 flight to Delhi, which surprisingly took off on time, caught a cab to a friend's house where 4 of us were congregation to catch the early morning train to D'dun. However, with one's flight delayed and the other's bus breaking down, we weren't all in till around 3 a.m leaving precious little sleep till 6 when we had to catch the train. Once we boarded the train and reached the destination, we needed baths asap having had the brilliant idea of not changing the night before and staying in tuesday's clothes for 24 hours+!! After what seemed like the annual bath, off to the parlour we went where I died of boredom during the blow out of my hair!! then to the cocktail where we slimily kept sending the boys to the bar to get us the booze! The next day we took a drive to see a bit of the place where I really learnt the meaning of small town - the town is 15 mins across with one main road and not much to do! then dressed for the wedding where my ex-flatmate looked gorgeous and talked all through the ceremony including making faces at every oath of which she did not approve! In between the 2 ceremonies, we sneaked off to do a little celebrating of our own which included looking through photies of the wonderful times we had as students in Pune which resulted in nostalgia for the days gone by and regret for the thought that we would never be as young or as carefree again! After the event, we proceeded to 'KaalRaatri' where the bride's sisters/friends keep the groom away from the bride whole night till the bidaai the next day.
Post this last occurence, B and me proceeded to Mussoorie where we rejected hotels, were rejected from hotels, finally found literally a flea bag motel and then proceeded to drown our sorrows through retail therapy! The next day was spent sight seeing, being awestruck by the beautiful valleys and the perennial mist/fog, the fantastic view from Lal Tibba the highest peak of the ' Queen of the Hills' and we discovered this quaint hotel which is actually a residence converted to a hotel with wonderful food and such lovely character! we met the charming owners and wondered how their grandparents were smart enough to buy property and tons of it! and might I add, his grand father and mine had the same profession - law!!
The last day saw tons of travel again - the previous routine reversed - the train followed by a flight both of which were delayed which means I reached home rather late and cranky!
I was a little cribby about the distance travelled but I am feeling rather refreshed and all in all I think the joy I got from seeing D peaceful and calm in her choice of lifemate was worth all the effort - after all that's what marriage is about - a lifetime committment to someone else's happiness!

Random musings - Part V

After the show on blogging on 'We the People', there has been lots of debate on the issues - the privacy, the opinions, the 'morality' etc - I have different issues - how much of myself can I put out there? My mother thinks I'm crazy to have a blog - how can you discuss your life with random people - now I know pretty much everybody who reads this and they know most things in any case so it's ok - I just like to write it but still.....anyhoo, my mother thinks I discuss too much with my friends as well so that's a different story!
I have issues with my identity, individuality being lifted - there are some things I like to think of as mine - the way I dress [tho heavily influenced by cousin since she provides 1/2 wardrobe but still...], the things I chose to do and I hate, reiterate hate it when people do the same things!

Dressing the same way is definitely annoyance # 1. What's sad is that many people don't even realise that they are lifting off from the way I do it - moving from ready made salwar kameez's to the mix and match version that I use [or buying the same gaberdine's - insert musical note here!]. I should have grown out of it - I know I know but somehow this still irks me to the nth degree - luckily this has not happened at work so I have managed to have a peaceful working life.Other stuff also that I consider particularly my own within a set - I hate it when other people adopt. I have always shopped at OMO when everyone else ran for the Westside and the Shopper's stop - even when I could barely afford it - I would shop at 'Either Or' in Pune [ did I mention the time when Sameera Reddy bought everything I picked up - literally I would look and put away dependent on price, size etc and she bought it all - I nearly decided to join Bollywood after that!]

So basically, bringing it back to the blog, my fear is that I if put it out there, it's easier for someone to lift your life - it's all there in black and white! Not that I don't do the same thing, I understood what a blog was after 'the charade' started one and then out of sheer boredom, I started one on spaces and after she moved and worked out blogger, I moved as well but she is a nicer person and it does not bother her [or if it does, she does not let it show!].

Moving on to pleasanter thoughts of vacations, Vietnam might not happen again... tho this morning I was reading about the noodles Pho [pronounced 'Faw'] and R and I were discussing how if we don't do Vietnam sometime in the coming future, it might not retain it's current charm and it's not a place you can do with kids. Tho I do have alternae options if Viet does not happen, one of my french friends is getting married in July and since 'the escapist' is already there, it would be a nice holiday and always to see the Samara in the Hong Kong is a constant need so we will go somewhere this year just where and with whom remains to be seen!!

P.S. The boy wants to go to the New York.....

Vacation - Delhi

So once we took the Shatabdi from Jaipur to Delhi where we were plied with food non-stop [included in the price of the ticket]. There was (a) snack (b) drink (c) complimentary water (d) dinner (e) dessert. We landed at New Delhi station at 11 in the night where immediately we were surrounded by touts exacerbated by the 'Gora' with us. We finally got a cabbie who agreed to take us - the others having refused having realised we already had hotel reservations. This guy however kept plugging another hotel saying it's like a 5 star and dissing Hotel Grand Godwin - where I had made the bookings. As it its, with the hotel reservations off the net, I was a bit apprehensive of where we were going to land up so I was considering taking up the cabbie on his offer when the others said to at least check it out. The access route the cab took us through was suspect to say the least with hotels advertising rooms at Rs.250 for A/C Deluxe and worse when I realized they meant by the hour!
However, the hotel was excessively decent with nice clean bathrooms and a fridge as well. We were upgraded the first night to the suites and decided to keep them for the 2nd night as well. The rate was inclusive of breakfast which was a really good spread of eggs, sausages, French toast/pancakes, cereals, coffee/tea, indian options and toast and all of it unlimited. There was even laptops with free internet access in the lobby which was wi-fi enabled. The only drawback was the location is not that great in Paharganj but it's really central being not more than 10 minutes away from Connaught place or any other monument except for the Qutub Minar.

The first day we decided to go to the Red Fort by cycle rickshaw - where we wandered around for a bit admiring the architecture...
then we decided to go for lunch to Punjabi by Nature which everyone recommends for the food and the Vodka golgappa's so we did both. We spend an inordinate amount of time there but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves feeling the holiday mode finally sink in on us. The next morning before we departed for Agra, we did a tour of the Rashtrapati bhavan, India Gate and Connaught place where we went to Wenger's the bakery and I might have bought out the shop but their fruit tart is to die for! [P.S for Chocolate stuff, there is nothing to beat Cookie Jar in Kolkata].

All in all, I think Delhi is the place where we chilled out the most and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

What's been going on?

The perfect Margarita:
2 Parts Tequila: 1 parts Triple Sec: 2 part Margarita Mix

This is how I killed Friday night at home with friends.
Saturday night spent between the airport and Toto's.
Sunday spent tidying house, watching 'M*A*S*H' and first half of 'Don'.
Thursday night was spent in a plane back from Bangalore.
Wednesday was spent in front of the TV as was Tuesday and Monday.
Sunday included church and a walk.
The previous Saturday had B-52's, Blush Zinfandel and lots of auto's.

The week also included lots of long distance phone calls and constant texting.

Shopping of the week:

• lingerie
• bag
• belt
• kurta

Gifts received:

• The awesomest pair of red shoes ever [How I wish I had a camera phone!!]
  
• A lovely pin tuck bronze-y shirt
• a purple shirt with matching multicolored sweater [like a twin set but not twin!!]
• pink and orange OMO top

What I have learned this week that absence does not make the heart grow fonder - it makes you realise how fond your heart already is!!

So many things - so little time!

I've just going to list all the stuff that has happened...not in exact chronological order!

• I got lasik surgery done on Saturday
• I was no longer blind by Sunday
• To make up for the loss of glasses, I went shopping [bought 2 tops, green & cream and a pair of shoes, pink & brown in the same shoes]
• Went to Club IX on Sunday where the waiters outnumbered us 6:1, I'm serious and I remember those days when one could not get a waiter to serve you for hours
• Revisited Harmony thrice a week and still wasted food
• Finalised weekend plans for Goa with the Manali Gang and Holiday plans with R
• Met A & K at Toto's where I drank a small glass of wine which was equal to the price of a whole pitcher
• for the first time ever, I tried to tell my dad something [I normally let my mom do this job] and he cut me off b4 I began
• I think I made someone write again
• Went to Toto's on Thursday and got my best friend back
• and I defined a new space in my life - semi semi thing thing!!

The thing is the old saying is true - when it rains, it pours! I'm kinda finding it hard to balance my life the way I want it- normally I have the least stress on priorities since I can weigh up everything but in some cases I'm learning, one cannot rely on the past and one needs to look at the future. I hope it gets easier with time since I like the life that I had but I want the life I can see!

5 Friends every chick needs!

There are these whole lists of articles on the list of the 5 friends every chick needs - some of those listed have 10 friends......some of the titles are personal shopper, sister in a suit, the comedian, the wild child. I know I have my posse of people I turn to in a crisis and they all fulfill different roles - not so specific as a personal shopper but general shoulders to cry on types.

1. The sister of my heart - I'm an only child but I have a best friend who understands me completely - she knows I just need to vent and I don't need to be told what to do - and even if she does, she knows if I don't like it, I'm just gonna ignore it!! so yeah, but she is the first person I turn to even if she lives across 3 oceans and 2 continents! I think what she fulfills is the need that I will still be loved after the crisis - I'm not a bad person since she is there for me forever!

2. The strategist - Her husband finds this entertaining since she has never followed strategy herself but she gives me the guidelines to solutions - its like she tells me this is what needs to be done - whether we do it or not is irrelevant but this is the way to go ahead. This is extremely helpful for guy issues since guy minds are unfathomable to me - inspite of having more guy friends than girl friends at times!

3. The distant observer - this is someone (different person each time, mostly) who is quite removed from the issue at hand but since part of your daily life has a keen understanding of you and your perspective and thus can dole out pearls of wisdom that is quite appealing to you.

4. The I don't feel for you girl - she just listens and laughs at the situation which is not all that entertaining for you but it reminds you it's not the end of the world and worse can happen! [this is also often the role played by sister of the heart but she is forgiven for this]! When this happens, I get reminded of the scene in Notting Hill where Julia Roberts is hyperventilating about being caught by the paparazzi and Hugh Grant is like my best friend fell down steps and can't walk anymore - Perspective is what is needed for catastrophe!

5. The clueless friend - this is sometimes the most crucial one, when all is lost just call and go out with someone who has no idea of whats up, letting you avoid the problems in your life. This friend will rib you about some idiotic issue of many years past, letting you feel that oh god! you were as foolish then so nothing much has changed!!

I think if it were not the roles kind of defined over here, I would never survive through anything. My parents are the most important but all these give me the daily balance necessary to survive through life!!

These are the links to 2 of the lists - articles off the net!
1. 10 friends every girl needs
2. 5 friends every girl needs

This is me....then

My life last year at this time is like from a different decade - the place I worked, the people I hung out with, my weekly routine - everything has changed!! Luckily my parents and house are still the same - thank God!! Last year, I worked in an office which was minimum 45 minutes away from home, where I sat everyday till 8, post which I went drinking - to Harmony (90%), Sports Bar (5%) and Ambience (5%) with loads of different people but 2 constants [A + K] like the 3 musketeers [as u can see from this picture - sometimes very happy musketeers....this is from the fateful day when 4 people demolished 7 pitchers in 3 hrs!!]

Now, I work 15 minutes away from home, go out drinking to Soul Fry (only) and that too only once a week. But life does not change that much.....I still hang out with only single people, I still stress about my job, I still buy clothes every week and now my new obsession instead of Orkut is Facebook - mainly because I don't understand how to use it!! Remind me at some time to complain about how Facebook is not fun since orkut stalking is not possible!!

My fear in all of this: - other people move on......I seem to be stuck in my life. I love it here, it's fun but am I missing out on something else? Obviously other people see areas lacking which is how their life changes - am I blinded to the obvious? or maybe it's a 'latent' need which will attack me later. I've always been a let the mountain come to Muhammad type. But at some level, it worries me that my equals from the year before are now multiplications/additions of who they used to be.

Sleeping Beauty??

This as most people know is one of my favourite activities and I'm famous for pulling 14-16 hour sleeping session - the way other people party or drink - this is my specialty.

Once my roommate and I in Pune pulled an extreme marathon session [for us also] - We went to sleep at 12 since we had a guest lecture at 10 - she woke up at 1030, spoke to me, we contemplated going and said chuck it, she made breakfast and went back to sleep, I arose at 1130 and repeated above procedure. Finally we woke up at 530 and went straight to a movie and pub.

The point of this post is that last night, I pulled similar stunt, After having met S for dinner, told B that she could come stay the night post her date. We ended up at the same joint [much to their chagrin - but really u cannot usurp our adda as ur date spot] where she threw chutney at me. Anway I left half hr earlier than her, went home, arranged the water, cleared the beds, put my phone on loud so I would hear it and then promptly collapsed into an inanimate vegetable so that I missed 6 calls on my phone!!

this morning, woke up full of remorse for the margaritas that I drank when realised B was missing!! so feeling even more remorseful, have spent better half of morning calling people to figure out where she went - time tht could have been utilised getting to work on time!!