Homecoming...

Staying away from home is not easy....you simply miss the feeling of carelessness and warmth that only home can provide. Those fights over the TV remote with bro, Papa shouting at us (with no avail) that we should grow up and behave our age, Mom cooking our fav things which she had probably not cooked for quite some time thinking "bachche jab aayenge tab banaaongi" and we simply sneaking into the kitchen to take a bite of the garam pakoras making her yell "haath toh dho lo", "garam hain abhi, thande ho jaane do, warna muh jal jaayega!!!".

So it was simply a treat for mind, body and soul when I finally managed to take a break from my hectic schedule and was coming home on a 2 weeks vacation. Tell you something, no matter how much we grow up, our parents just forget that. We grow up, they don't. So before my d-day, I would still get to hear things like...."Pack your bags properly", "Don't forget your ticket", "Don't take a nap at the airport"...and well, i simply listen to all these advices. Do I have an alternate...or rather do I actually want an alternate?? :)

My usual day at home is spent in sleeping till my body signals me that it is too tired to sleep further, having gossip sessions with Mom, enjoying yummy food, watching TV, laughing over some stupid ads, doing some small home chores, helping Mom in the kitchen and just doing nothing at times.

Well, there's another side of the story also to this "kahani ghar ghar ki". When I am at home, I do sometimes miss the restlessness of my usual working day, kabhi-kabhi toh bore bhi ho jaata hai since I have nothing to do. I keep eating my Mum's head that let's go somewhere, may be for some shopping or just roaming around. And then, she comes up with this brilliant plan...."sabzi khatam ho gayi hai ghar mein...tu mere saath sabzi lene chal"....aaarrrghhh!!! "Ma shopping didnt mean buying groceries", I would retort. But then she promises to buy me an ice-cream...and yo! I would be as happy as a 3 year old..."okay, i'll come with you" and off I go....

I am very fond of applying mehendi on my hands and wouldn't miss a chance whenever I get it. So this time, while shopping for veggies with Mummy, I spotted a shop selling Mehendi cones, and I bought a cone. Since it was Rakhi next day so entire evening spent in applying Mehendi on my own hand and then my mom's hand. It came out pretty neat...and the colour was fabulous. Then Ma told me about good old days when she would apply Mehendi on my hands when I was a kid and then she made sure that I don't spoil it while sleeping coz I would make such a ruckus in the morning if by any chance my mehendi got spoiled...haha...such a lil brat I was :)

These small sweet things make staying at home fun. And yes, I am having loadsa fun!!!

Chak De, I-Day and Holiday

Awwwwwwwesssssssommmme!!! That was my reaction after watching “Chak De…India”. A few things to clarify…

• I am not a Shahrukh Khan fan
• I am not much inclined towards hockey as a game
• I hate getting up early on weekends!!!

and still…I did not regret losing a fair share of my Kumbhkaran sleep when I went for “Chak de” early morning show (well, 10 AM is quite “early” for me on weekend) last Saturday. I was hooting, shouting, clapping, laughing, sulking during those hockey matches (in spite of knowing that Indian team would eventually win)

The movie is a good way to show the vast regional diversity that India has….a nice way to convey that no matter how different we are in terms of behavior, culture and language….hain toh aakhir Indians hi. The characters in the movie are simply fabulous without being extravagant or glamorous. The regional idiosyncrasies of team members just make you rolling with laughter.

I still love cricket, would any day opt for Yuvraj Singh over Dhanraj Pillai and dunno how much the movie would help to the cause of promoting hockey…but that’s not the “point”. Bottom “line” is – Chak De rocks!!!

And not just hockey and India winning….I also loved the scene when the entire girl gang beats up a bunch of eve-teasers (“raakshason ki sena”….thats what a character in the movie calls these girls)…par sach mein…..aise idiotic eve-teasers ki pitaai hote huye dekhne mein kitna maza aata hai….only a girl can understand!!!

Now from reel life to real life…and from hockey to cricket, Indian cricket team won the test series against England (after 21 years)….dil khush kar ditta jawaano tumne!!! :)

This 15th August, India celebrated it’s 60th Independence Day. Since I am working in a KPO on US project, the holidays in our office are as per US calendar. That implies that we have an off on 4th July and have to come to office on 15th August. I know it sounds bad….trust me, it FEELS even worse….not being able to celebrate our own national festival.

But well….hum Indians hain aakhir. So on 15th August even though we came to office, me and my team mates made sure that we thoroughly enjoy our freedom. The working day started with sending forwards, talking, then going for lunch, yet again some mail trails…followed by an extended tea break. And the hit of the day was – we played Dumb Charades in office (well, not actually inside the office area…but in the garden area marked as “Smoking Zone”). The I-Day decorations in office added to the festive mood. We did eventually work after all the fun and frolic…but still it was a truly memorable day.

And now comes the icing on the cake…. I know many of you would be jealous to read this but even the sound digestion system of my body does not allow me to digest this news….I gotta tell it to you all………I got 2 weeks leave sanctioned….yipppppeeeeee!!!

I am going home…..and that too for TWO whole weeks. Mummy ke haath ke aloo ke paranthe aur Daal Baati abhi se meri aankhon ke aage kathak kar rahe hain…!!!

Kolkata….here I come (arre….ye toh Bryan Adams ka song ho gaya)
Well….chak de…who cares!!! I am all set to enjoy my independence from office work and enjoy a looong holiday!!! :)