"I get by with a little help from my friends." - John Lennon

So Gargo is finally in town, Gargi Naha one person with whom I ve spent "the best days of my life" (five glorious years of self-discovery) is finally in Gurgaon. Ok so we met as a teenager ready to discover the life away from home, parents & so called schooly inhibitions. I've hated school when I was a small girl, it was kind of suffocating and I always had this insecurity that I am not good enough that their are far better & smarter kids in the class than me, my sister being one of the most popular kid in school didnt helped at all. But when I was in college it kinda opened new doors and I could finally start being just me, without being judged by the so called family friends and relatives. I got admission in Physiotherapy college in Bhopal & was told that I'll share a room with one bong girl & a Gujju girl. So their she stood on the door way all 5 feet 7 inches tall (almost 6 inches taller than me) and cylindrical (almost like me). That was Gargo Naha with specs and books in her hand wearing this knee length skirt and apprehensive eyes. Gosh I thought I didn't needed a geek in my room. That is how it had began it was a slow steady journey of knowing each other and between us we have many stories to tell and many experiences to share apart from sharing boy friends. Yes we use to have this crazy crush on one of the handsomest boy Ive laid eyes on in Bhopal, we use to go every Sunday to this market place just to catch a glimpse of this boy, with our heart hammering and we use to drool over him & wanted him to see us & he did saw. The infatuation lasted till the day he approached us and spoke the first few lines about "making Frandship", we went home disappointed with him for being a HMT (hindi medium type). The other day receiving her call was so relieving. She called me at 9 in the morning telling me she is here & that we can meet any day anytime from now onwards & meeting her after office that day was like meeting my family. We talked for hours on end sitting on this small eatery, talking our heart out was downright comforting. Things have changed for us now our topics are different compared to those in the older times, before it use to be more about boys, grades, shopping, parents expectations and gossiping. Now it consist of Mum in law ( 1st & foremost), family planning, career, money, tax and what not. Being in a corporate office don't allow you the luxury of friendship, the term to use here is acquaintances. I am in contact with most of the friends who mattered. The two of them who mean the most are Gargo & Sweta two different personalities & two of my closest pals.

Choli, Chatter & Chill...!

After that horrendous last week, the weekend was everything I dreamt of & more. Not that we did something really wacky or interesting but it's just that some how the whole last weeks episode has relieved me, it's just simply vanished my so called inhibitions and the always tingling fear of future. I simply stopped fighting my so called disappointments and accepted the fact that yes I might not be a part of this review team that I so badly wanted & worked hard for, but that hike they gave me should cheer me up even though they are measly. I've decided I'll put on only that much effort that I have asked for & not an inch more. Instead of always being overworked with the expectation of being rewarded is the reason I fell in this shit in the first place. So from now onwards it all about enjoying what you do. Facing the facts did wonders for my depressed self and few minutes of indulging into profanity made me so so satisfied. How I wish I could say it all to them (the so called Boss's). Neways driving across Delhi on Saturday turned out to be stress busting & this CWG chaos didn't damp my spirits. So on Saturday me & Hubby went to Connaught place, walked in Janpath, went across Jantar Mantar, Hogged on pizzas and bargained my heart out with those Gujarati ladies selling colorful bags & Cholis. I have bought this very colorful choli, though at this point I don't have anything to go with it yet but the cut is so sexy that I cant wait to flaunt it & chatting with those Gujju ladies made me remember one of my old Gujju room mate (Ankita Sahu), shopping is really rejuvenating. Apart from that choli I bought five bags for my relatives in Kolkata all in various hues of colors. The best part that afternoon was this very touristy thing that we did by parking our car & jumped into an auto and headed to Jantar Mantar. That Sardarji auto wala was a full paisa wasool fellow & he incessantly chatted his gut out & made us roar with laughter. Well he did charged us a tad bit more & hubby didn't raised his eyebrows (Don't know why don't guys ever bargain) & me being me I did told sardar ji .."ki bhaiya Buddhu bana diya " & he left giving me those innocent "hehe"smile. I've been to Jantar Mantar in Ujjain before this Delhi one neways they both have become redundant now and only the Jaipur one works now. Honestly speaking I was more keen to take pictures than understanding the whole time frame. Mrinal indulged himself in book & guide and all the minuscule details. Later when we reached home he did his research in Google as well. Ask him anything about it now & I bet he knows more than Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur (the Guy who built Jantar Mantar across India). The evening traffic & CWG extravaganza made us wait for almost two hours before we reach home but it was all worth the effort. It was worth to let your mind wander away and look forward to this new perspective of life..!

Good Riddance to last week!

It is turning out to be such a bad week. Starting Monday before I can reach my cubicle I received all the gory details of what could not be happening in near future from my so called Boss. I was down in the dumps since than. And the fact that I've been working so hard on this project simply makes it even worse. Neways I've learned my lessons from this so called "growing up" in job situation. Worse part is, even booking my tickets for Bhilai is also not lifting my moods. I am trying my best to stop brooding and not to indulge in self-pity. From past few days I've driven Hubby mad with my incessant queries and my Mum is on the receiving end of some of the crankiness. Since that fateful day all I am doing in office is CHILL. Reading online books, peeping on others Facebook profiles, eating away in Bhaji and feeling rotten at the end of the day. Gosh I've to accept the facts and look forward. Somehow at this moment the agony aunt's recommendation are not doing any wonders for me..!

Weepy Me!

How often do you cry? I'm sure everyone feels soppy once in a while. And honestly I have nothing against wetting the hankies. If you ask my friend, I bet they have never seen me shedding those gloomy tears ever. Neither do I remember crying in front of them. For a person who do not cry in public, I've seen I do indulge myself quite often in it in private. If I exclude my Parents, Sister, & Hubby I don't remember ever shedding my golden tears in front of any damn body. And I take great pride in saying so. It just sometimes gives me a sense of satisfaction that I have not been spilling beans in front of everybody, what ever be the problem. But recently I've been shedding tears for all the wrong reasons. I have found myself weeping seeing someone sing really well. This is so unlike me.."I cant be getting all emotional over a performance". The other day I was watching this singing reality show, where this Kid sang really well. That was all it took for me to became all glittery eyes and shaky voice. I told myself "don't make a fool of yourself ", "don't give Mrinal a Kodak moment", the few deep breaths where my saving grace that day. I feel usually all choked up seeing a glorious moment, I remember choking up while watching Olympics, with player standing in a podium with the Olympic Gold medal and their National Anthem on the back ground. But my frequency has relatively increased. God knows where this crying business will take me. I guess it runs in the family. I've quite often seen my Mum & Sister mopping their tears in such silly scenarios before anyone caught them & pretending everythings fine. Well now I know why they do that & me being an extention of them is only obvious I've the same trait. Guess we "Chanda's" are like that. We cry over petty things and become stronger when it comes to punches. Getting Old am I?

A Moments Indulgence

I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.
Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.
Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.
By Rabindranath Tagore

Ramblings

After I joined Times, me & Hubby started traveling together. This everyday drive of 70 Km (to & fro) has become very interesting. And now I hate to thing of a time when we've to stop it in future (that will happen once my project shifts to Noida). I love this Gurgaon-Faridabad road a lot, it simply reminds me of European movies, where they show these long & unwinding road among beautiful scenery. Though the scenery is not even a fraction good as we see on the movie , but still this road touches many unknown villages and plateaus, with road side dhabas and if we are lucky enough we get to see Iguana and Neel Gai. There is this really interesting red sand Plateau we see everyday , it reminds me of Utah, Mrinal calls it my own "Utah Dessert"as I've discovered it. Many a times we stopped by it and took pictures. But some how the pictures never did justice to it's beauty. Since I joined Times evening binging has became a ritual for us. We have been having this tidbit scrumptious nothings almost everyday. We have tried every single dish in the menu of Bhaiji Dhaba (Bhaiji da Dhaba is the favorite haunt of AMEX & Indiatimes staff, come to Golf course road & you will know) next to our office, once we got bored of it, we developed a taste for Lankan food, once we are done with it , we started having Crepes & Waffles. Mrinal being an egg freak never missed that 2 egg sausage omlette & me being a Chinese freak I'm always game for dry Chilly chicken ( actually Chilly Chicken never taste as good as it does in Bhilai). The best part is this companionship that we (me & hubby) are sharing, it has been three years since we' got married, & every year their is something new about us being together. Every day we both are growing as a person and together in our relationship. The fights have became ever so interesting so is our camaraderie. His incessant teasing never bores me, his knowledge regarding any topic never fails to impress me and his 'no words' approach always irritates me. Sometimes when we bump into each other in office, this sudden rush of feeling is what makes it so special. And when we are fighting all hell break loose, & time flies into oblivion..!

P.S. That is my Utah Pixs taken from the car.


TAG: Utah, Times, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bhilai