The year that was 2013

End of another year. Its that time of the year when one gets philosophical and starts reflecting on the year that has been. Overall this has been a good year.
This year brought about great change in my personal life that being the transition from being a software professional to a full time stay at home mum. Looking back i think it was a good decision. 
My mum celebrated her 60th birthday in march this year.. a milestone achieved.  Here's hoping she celebrates many more such milestones.
June saw my daughter start her schooling. As she stood in front of me wearing school uniform for the first time I couldn't help but wonder when my baby grew so big.  And I felt so proud.  Here's wishing my baby good luck for a wonderful academic life ahead.
In September  my daughter experienced Ganesh chaturti celebration in my native village in Goa for the first time in her life and thoroughly enjoyed it.  September also saw my daughter turn 3. Yet another milestone. November brought about the festival of lights diwali. Again something Anagha thoroughly enjoyed.  Though these festivals happen every year, this year they were special due to Anagha's participation and hence deserve a mention in the year's summary.
November saw a trip to kerala. Though it was partly spoilt by the strike situation due to which we missed out on much of  the site seeing Anagha totally enjoyed the elephant ride and houseboat stay which made the trip memorable.
December saw my cousin Sharvari's wedding in Mumbai as an occasion to meet and catch up with cousins after years followed by a trip to Goa. Hubby is out of the country on a work trip and so thoroughly conspicuous by his absence.
Today is 31st and here I am celebrating the new year with my parents,  sister and family. Feeling partly emotional as sister is relocating out of the country so it might be long before we celebrate together as a family again.
Anyways here's hoping the new year ushers in good health, happiness and cheer to everyone.  Happy New Year !!!

Just a housewife?

Yesterday I met an ex colleague of mine first time after I quit work.  When she saw me the first thing she exclaimed was "oh you have become so thin I expected you would have put on some weight since you are now relaxing at home". Though those were not her exact words what she meant was roughly on the same lines. 
How do I deal with people who think being a full time mum is less taxing than a job in the software industry?  
My typical day begins at 6:30 AM when I rush to prepare breakfast.  After hubby leaves for work at 7:45 AM it’s only me who has to do everything right from brushing my daughter's teeth to feeding her breakfast and bathing her. Only I know how daunting each of these tasks is. Rest of the morning is largely spent in cooking, getting my daughter dressed and dropping her to school. After a quick lunch I rush to pick up Anagha from school followed by chores like getting her changed, feeding her lunch and putting her to sleep after which I am so exhausted that I have to take a nap. Evenings are spent in again feeding Anagha, taking her out to play and dinner preparation. And of course in between there are miscellaneous chores like folding clothes, filling water, watering the plants, etc. By the time I am ready to hit the sack I am completely drained out and have zero energy left so where is the question of relaxing at home?
What people do not realise is that in an office job the work hours are fixed, you get paid holidays/vacations, weekends off and a heavy pay packet.  I work from morning to night with no weekend offs and no salary or appreciation for good work and yet people think I am relaxing at home. Forget appreciation, one badly cooked meal and I am at the receiving end.  Does it bother me that a very highly paid successful professional at one time, now I am reduced to doing mundane work?  Yes sometimes it does. I feel like I am losing my identity, I feel the urge to go out and do something.  So do I want to go to the lifestyle I had when I was working full time? Certainly not!

When I quit my full time job, I had this notion of that I am doing this for my daughter, I will be able to raise my child my way. To some extent I have been successful and my daughter has certainly started bonding with me much better than before. And I definitely feel relaxed not having to constantly worry about deadlines, take client calls at odd hours and having the freedom to do what I want and when I want. So then why am I complaining? I guess because it is human tendency to never be satisfied and always complain.  The grass is definitely greener on the other side of the fence.

Six things I have learnt from my 3 year old

1) Take pleasure in the small things in life. So be it just watching pigeons from the window or licking her fingers while eating chocolate, the expression on her face is worth watching. We adults are always in the pursuit of some bigger pleasures that we miss out on the finer joys in life. We miss out on our present.

2) Show your appreciation.  Many times Anagha randomly comes and hugs me and kisses me. Ask her why and she will say because you picked me up from school or because you gave me water to drink. This is something we should definitely learn from kids because many a times we hold back on even saying a simple thank you, not because we don’t want to but because we let our egos come in the way.

3) Laugh heartily. Anagha laughs for simple things and her laughter is so from the heart, so genuine that it makes me wonder why we adults are eternally grumpy and grieving about something or the other. 

4) Do not hold grudges. Many times I lose my patience and yell at Anagha unreasonably.  But children forget easily and forgive even more easily. So when I go to Anagha after a while she gives me her same sweet smile and goes on blabbering normally as if nothing has happened. Again something worth learning, life is too short to hold on to bitter thoughts and playing blame games on whose fault it was. Just forgive and let go of the resentment, it will save you precious time.

5) Go slow. We adults are always in a hurry. We finish the chore at hand and rush towards the next task.  But kids enjoy each and everything they do. So after giving Anagha a bath she splashes water in the tub and only comes out after the last drop of water has drained from the tub. She does not treat bathing as a chore but fully enjoys it. If we adults treat chores which we anyways have to do with a little more enthusiasm wouldn’t it make the work at hand a little less taxing?

6) Be content. We have told Anagha  that every time she finishes a meal, God will reward her with a candy in her father’s pocket. So after finishing a meal she very religiously prays to God with her eyes closed and hands folded while I quietly slip the candy in my husband’s pocket. Anagha then comes and check’s her dad’s pocket and when she gets her sweet, she is elated.  She gleefully runs off to say thank-you to God and then munches on her chocolate. That is it, she is satisfied, she does not ask for more. Again, a lesson worth learning since we adults are never satisfied, whenever we get what we want, we always crave for more.

Diwali...

Of all the Indian festivals, Diwali is my favourite. I think it’s because the bright lights and vibrant colours fill me with positivity and enthusiasm.

What do I like about Diwali the most? Is it the lighting of diyas or drawing rangolis? Or is it the abhyangya snan with ‘moti soap’ and ‘utne’ on Narakchaturdashi day or the Laxmi puja? I don’t know.

Diwali brings back a lot of fond memories of celebrating this festival as a kid with my parents, sister, aunts, uncles and cousins. In Goa, there is this tradition of preparing effigies of “Narkasura”, the demon who was supposedly killed by Lord Krishna on Diwali day. These effigies are burnt early morning on Narakchaturdashi day.  As kids, we would wake up early in the morning and start drawing Rangoli and lighting diyas.  In Goa, there is also the tradition of preparing 4-5 types of fov (Poha). My mum and aunts would wake up early morning and start cooking. After the Diwali Aarti, we would all devour the fov.  We would also distribute them among our Catholic neighbours.

Now I am married and Diwali means to me a lot of other things. It means celebrating the festival in my own house, with hubby, in laws and now my daughter. It means shopping for the Diwali lantern and diyas and lighting up my house. It means getting all decked up and having the Laxmi Puja at home.

This year a certain incident had left me depressed.  Hubby and I were in no mood to celebrate. But my daughter’s excitement about Diwali fills me with renewed enthusiasm.  She is excited about everything, the colourful rangoli and the bright lights. She has even demanded for a dress with “oodni (duppata)” this Diwali. I think it’s the festival that works it magic on everyone, no one is spared.

Time has changed, situations have changed, and circumstances have changed. Although I may not be in the best of spirits this year, I sincerely hope and pray this Diwali brings everyone health and happiness throughout the year.

Fair is not beautiful. .

You may read the title twice and even think I made a typing mistake when you see the heading of this post. Most people will consider my statement contradictory. Am I not in my right mind then to make a statement I know will be considered contradictory? Or am I downright mad? No, I am just a mother wondering how to bring up my daughter in this crazy world where fair is considered to be a synonym for beauty and beauty a pre-requisite for success.

How do I convince my daughter that skin color and external features are really not that important when we still see matrimonial ads in which prospective grooms are on the lookout of fair and beautiful brides?

At family weddings many a times I overhear well meaning aunts discuss how the groom is lucky to have got a fair bride. As if a fair bride makes a good wife!  How do I convince my daughter that such beliefs are extremely regressive and that any person (be it man or woman) should be judged by his/her character/education/achievements rather than by skin color or external features?

Whenever I turn on the TV, I see beauty cream commercials that promise the sun and moon if one applies a cream of their brand. How do I prevent her from becoming a prey to their marketing gimmicks? These ads propagate ridiculous lies about beauty creams helping get a job or winning contests. How do I overthrow this propaganda ?

How do I inculcate the belief that in order to be successful the prime requirements are hard work and determination and not good looks? That one needs to set goals, stay focussed and work towards them?

How do I convince her that beauty is skin deep and it is more important to be a good human being?

Though I have been lucky that my parents never let this bog me down as a child it used to bother me when my not so lucky cousins would be taunted that they would not get good husbands. How do I ensure that my daughter in turn grows up with the same self belief?

All these questions haunt me for I do not have answers. This infatuation, no I would rather call it obsession is very deep rooted in our culture. Unknowingly and in subtle ways, it has become a part of our lives. Frightening as it is, we have no option but to brace ourselves and live with it.

Ganesh chaturti 2013

Finally I was going to visit my native village after 7 long years for Ganesh chaturti. I was super excited. This is the first time I was taking my daughter Anagha and I was very eager that she participates in the Ganesh Chaturti celebrations and experiences the fun we had as children. As we drove through the narrow roads on our way to my ancentral village, the childhood days flashed in front of my eyes and I started reminiscing about those days when we would all get together and celebrate the 5 day long Ganesh chaturti festival with much ado. We have a huge ancentral house at our native village in Panchawadi in Goa where my extended family (descendents of ny great grandfather's father) get together for this festival. With fond memories in my mind of singing aartis loudly and sitting on the huge balkav (patio) outside the house or playing a variety of games I looked forward to reliving those experiences all over again.
The moment I arrived in panchawadi I sensed a changed air but couldn't pinpoint my finger on what was it that was different. The balkav which at one time would be so occupied that we kids were made to sit in the older ones lap, now has a deserted look. The aartis have lost their spirit and are sung just for the sake of it.  At one time there used to be 2-3 pangats for meals now the few scattered people self serve food at sit wherever they find  place. It then struck me that the biggest culprit is time. Time has passed and along with it made changes that are irreversible.  I looked around and found that everyone has suddenly aged. All my uncles who used to be enthusiastic participants in the balkav conversations now have some or the other health issues thereby making the evening gatherings scanty.  Several of my cousins who used to be active coordinators in the games and other activities are now married thus leaving a void never to be filled.
I am feeling sad to see a once flourishing house decay slowly. I sincerely pray to Ganpati Bappa to restore this house to its past glory.

Proud to be a woman

Not sure when woman’s day is but thought of writing this post as a tribute to all the women I know!! The "I" below does not always literally refer to me but to all the women I know particularly my mother, mother in law, my sister my friends and others in my family. 

Ten reasons I am proud of being a woman

1.     My parents brought me up without making me feel inferior to boys.

2.     I am the mother of a most beautiful child coincidentally a girl.

3.     I am blessed to be married to a man who firmly believes that women are capable of more than just cooking and looking after kids and has never prevented me from doing anything I wanted to just because I am a woman. 

4.     I have the inborn ability to adapt to any situation a quality rarely seen in men. How else would you explain the tradition of women leaving their parents home after marriage and not men?

5.     If I set my mind to it I can achieve anything I want.

6.     I can do everything a man does and much more.  So while men can only scale heights at their workplace but act like a piece of furniture at home women can handle work and yet come home and fix a meal, do other chores read the kids a bedtime story and put them to sleep before calling it a day. 

7.     I love my parents in a way no son can love.

8.     I am compassionate and thoughtful and emotional. 

9.     I have the ability to multitask, so I can brush my child's teeth and prepare breakfast at the same time.

10. I am selfless when it comes to my family, the “me” is given the least priority.

A word of advice

The world is full of people who have an opinion for everything under the Sun and a solution to every problem in the world particularly when it comes to parenting. And I am sick and tired of such people sticking their nose in my life and pouring bucketful of free advice.

            For instance my daughter has a weight problem. I know every mother feels that their child does not eat but my daughter genuinely does not. At 2.7 years she weighs only 9.5 KG and is underweight by 3-4 KG. Wherever I go I am drowned in a sea of suggestions related to feeding and weight gain that leave me feeling overwhelmed. From suggestions to give her vegetable soup, to give her dry fruits, milk shakes to let her drink water during a meal the list is endless. As if I am some dumb mommy who doesn't know what is best for my child. While some people pity me, at times people have literally stopped short of accusing me of mal-nourishing my child. Sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out and screaming my lungs out asking these people to stop, I know what works for my child I don't need stupid suggestions that I know for sure don’t work on my child.

 Then my daughter had a thumb sucking habit which thankfully I managed get rid of but only after I was inundated with millions of pieces of advice.

Not only on child-rearing but people have advice on everything. And people are so judgemental. When I joined back work when my daughter was only four month old people were quick to condemn me for it. When I decided to quit when my daughter turned two people were again at my throat for throwing away a thriving career.

While having an opinion and expressing it in public is not something I disapprove, uncalled for suggestions and passing generalized statements without having an Inkling of the situation at hand irritates me to the core. Thinking your way of doing it is right and crucifying the other person for doing something differently annoys me extremely. People have to understand that every situation is different and what worked for one person may not necessarily work for another. Anyways if such people were so mature enough to understand this in the first place, perhaps there was no need to write this post.

So my friends, the world is full of people who are waiting for an opportunity to pounce on you and bog you down with their theories and suggestions and no matter what you say or do, there is no stopping these so called well wishers from offering their two cents on every matter in life. I don’t think there is any easy way to deal such individuals without insulting them or sounding rude, I guess you just reach a stage where you learn to live with it.

Down the memory lane

As I dress up my daughter for her first day at school the last 2.8 years flash forward in front of my eyes and I can’t help but take a trip down the memory lane. Time flies so fast. It seems like yesterday when my I held my little baby in my arms for the first time. And already it is her first day at school.

From a screaming infant to a curious toddler to a walking and talking robot to a  nonstop chatterbox the journey has been eventful and full of surprises, albeit pleasant ones. I cannot help but wonder when my gurgling and cooing baby turned into a little big girl.

There is a turmoil of emotions in my mind and I don't know how to feel. I find myself oscillating between elation and apprehension. One part of me is swelling with satisfaction and pride watching my little baby in school uniform while the mother in me is filled with anxiety. While I am extremely happy and excited that my tiny bundle of joy is on the verge of a new beginning, I also realise with a lump in my throat that my baby is slowly getting ready to spread her wings and soar high in the sky while I will slowly fade away into a distant spectator. On one hand, I am overjoyed that my daughter is taking her first steps towards adulthood, on the other hand I also feel sad that slowly my baby's childhood innocence will be lost and she will soon be weighed down with the responsibilities of growing up.

 But I think in the end happiness and pride overcome all other emotions and I can wish for nothing but the best for my dear daughter as she takes her first steps towards this new journey. 

Smile

A smile can speak a thousand words. This is so true. So often we see people for years and yet are afraid to smile or acknowledge them. The reasons may be varied, we may be afraid of the other person not reciprocating or we may feel embarrassed about smiling at a stranger. But the truth is we just need to go that extra mile. It takes just a smile to break the ice.
Everyday I would take Anagha to the Ganesh temple near my house. There is this lady who visits too. We would see each other but pretend not to recognise and would see past each other. And then my trips to the temple became fewer and whenever I did visit I would not see her which got me wondering if all was well. Yesterday I met her after a long time, though we were both hesitant for a while both smiled at the same instant and the ice was broken. She enquired about Anagha and me about not seeing her for a long time. Nothing uncomfortable, on the contrary it felt like I had known her for ages. Just like that a new friend was made.
This and numerous other such experiences have led me to firmly believe that sometimes it just takes a smile and a kind word to not only make new friends but also open closed doors. So the next time you see a familiar face but are hesitant, just go ahead and flash a smile, and more often than not you will get it back.

Evolution

While the title is evolution, don’t be put off thinking that this might be another elaborate post challenging Darwin’s theory about the transition of the homo sapien species from ape to man. As I am writing this post with a stylus pen from my new Samsung galaxy Note II, I cannot help but admire the transformation that a cell phone has gone through. From heavy weight gadgets to today’s Android/Windows/iOS smart phones, from being a luxury which only a privileged few could afford to a household commodity owned even by vegetable vendors and auto rickshaw drivers, the humble cell phone has come a long way. Today it has become a necessity that we cannot live without, and so I decided to dedicate my next post to this wonderful gadget.
The first ever cell phone I saw was way back in 1997-98 where my dad brought an AT and T Nokia phone home. It had a huge antenna, was the size of a walkie-talkie and weighed like a melon. It could be used as a paper weight. Nevertheless the idea that you could place a call from anywhere was by itself so exciting that we could not help but admire this small wonder.
My very first phone was a Nokia 3100.In those days owning a mobile phone was considered to be a status symbol and I would proudly show off my phone wherever I went.
Soon a new species of phones with colour screens and cameras came around and my black and white phone started appearing outdated. So my next phone was a Sony Ericsson K700i. How I came to buy this phone is a long story, but to cut a long story short, the true Virgo that I am, I launched an in depth analysis of all the phones in the market in my pursuit to own “The best” phone, putting down the pros and cons of every phone in the market, deciding on one phone one minute and switching to the next one in the blink of an eye. And then one fine day my younger sister went out shopping and bought a Nokia 6600 as casually as she would buy a new item of clothing or a pair of shoes. With a colour screen, built in MP3 player and camera it left me feeling sore. And that is the story of my Sony Ericsson K700i, bought in a last ditch effort to outshine my sister’s phone and that I did for with a colour screen, MP3 plus real media player, camera and 32 MB memory it was a class apart. At work people would stop by my desk to take a look at my cute and small (small phones were trendy in those days unlike today) phone and I would proudly show off all the features.
There was an old Pepsi ad that went "Yeh Dil Maange More" which very well depicts the human tendency of never being satisfied and I was no exception. My next phone was a Nokia N73, gifted to me by my dad, saying he had no use for such a “high end” phone. With 64 MB RAM, 3.15MP camera it was the thing in vogue and I could not let go of it.
Next, touchscreen phones caught my fancy and being a true Nokia fan, I bought myself a Nokia C7. With a touch screen, 8MP camera, 8GB ram it was a beauty. The best part was the web and email accessibility, with an internet connection on your phone; you no longer needed to rely on having a PC around in order to get online.
Then Andriod and particularly Samsung hit the market big time. What started as a casual fling with my Dad’s Android phone turned out to be a serious love affair and to my dismay I found that life without Andriod was colourless and grey.  Dad then gifted me a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note II (My present phone using which I am writing this post). With a 5.5 inches screen,  8 MP camera, Android OS, v4.1.1 (Jelly Bean),  Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, and a stylus pen, it is the phone of the moment. It reminds me of the Onida ad, "Neighbours envy, owner’s pride!
So that is the story of how I transitioned from being awestruck about my black and white Nokia phone to feeling depressed about my touch screen Non-Android based phone. Yes, technology has evolved and so have we. While I am at the risk of sounding too philosophical,  is it not true that not so long ago we would write letters, call people on their home numbers or stop by a neighbour to say hello. Today SMS and emails have become a way of life and we cannot live without this little gizmo.

A few words of wisdom

A child can teach you so many things. We play this little game with our daughter. Every time she finishes a meal, we ask her to pray to God to give her a toffee in her Dad’s pocket. She very religiously does this with her eyes closed, hands folded, while I quietly slip the toffee in my hubby’s pocket. She then comes to check her Pappa’s pocket and is so overjoyed on seeing her toffee; the expression on her face is worth watching.  That is it, she will not ask for more, she is satisfied.

It makes we wonder why we adults are never satisfied, whenever we get what we want, we always crave for more. Why can’t we look at the positive side of things and enjoy the present moment? Why do we always need something to look forward to in order to feel happy?

I quote, “Feelings are not emotions that happen to u, Feelings are reactions you choose to have”. Happiness is a state of mind. In our pursuit to achieve happiness, we often tend to ignore the things that we already have to feel happy about. So often we run after some illusionary future where life will be perfect and we ruin our present by comparing it with that nonexistent future life.  That perfect life is like a desert mirage. Even if you get what you want your life will never be perfect as long as you keep on longing for more.

I may sound very preachy here and I know it’s not very easy to practice, but try it. The next time you are fretting about an unhappy situation, just snap out of it and remember that nothing in life is permanent.  This is going to pass. So instead of wasting precious time being hassled by things beyond your control, focus on the positives in life and feel thankful about them. Believe me, it works like magic. 

Marriage - An overrated institution?

Marriage – An over rated institution?

Recently, I was reading a post from another blogger in which she had described how two colleagues at work were discussing how they think that marriage is an overrated institution. It got me thinking. It brought me to the age old question of why do people get married in the first place? I started thinking about the pros and cons of marriage and to my surprise found that there are more cons than pros.

So read on.

Disclaimer:  This post in no way means I am against marriage or regret getting married. On the contrary, I am happily married with a two year old daughter. This post should be taken in a very light note the way it was meant to be.

Reasons to not get married

·         Not being able to hang out with your girl gang and do girl things like shopping, movies etc. I don’t mean to say that marriage prevents this, but definitely the number of outings gradually reduce and eventually you find that you have no girl friends left, all are either “balancing work and personal life” or “taking care of children”

·         If you have annoying in-laws, having to put up with them

·         Having to change your food habits as per hubby. Again may not be true in all cases, but we women tend to pamper our hubbies, so we will prepare his favourite dish even if we don’t quite like it.

·         Moving away from your parents’ home, why should only women have to deal with the ordeal associated of moving out from your comfort zone into a new environment altogether?

·         Having to deal with the arguments, fights, nagging, shouting, screaming.

So why do people get married?

·         Love – you fall in love with someone and want to spend the rest of your life with him (In my opinion this sounds very filmy and cliché but my friends who have had love marriages might not agree)

·         Companionship - You get a best friend for life and a shoulder to lean on always

·         Experiencing motherhood – There can be no bigger joy; you have to be a mother to understand the feeling.

·         Social recognition. Marriage as an institution is recognised in society, perhaps people want to play a safe game and fall into that married category rather than being stereotyped as a single loner.

So here I am, not any closer to answering the age old question of why people get married. But my humble opinion is that marriage is a package, it comes with its share of happiness and grief, but in the end the pros outweigh the cons by a huge margin. 

Home sweet home

In my last post, I ranted about my love for Goa. But as I enter my home in Pune, only three words enter my mind, "Home sweet home". That sums up everything.   They say home is where the heart is.  As I enter my home in Pune, I realize how true that is. In my bedroom lies the most comfortable bed in the whole world. Each familiar sight, be it the corner by the dining table where my daughter loves to play, the settee where she likes to sit and eat, my wardrobe filled with clothes and my other worldly possessions, everything fills me with glee.  Maybe this is how memories are created. Unknowing to me and stealthily this brick and cement house has crept into my heart and created memories for a lifetime. I am lucky to have the best of both worlds.

Goa of my dreams

As we drive through the familiar Goan roads lined with paddy fields and coconut palms, it makes me feel very nostalgic. Having lived in Goa for 25 years of my life, I have adjusted very well to the hectic life in Pune in the last few years. But still, every time I come to Goa, I feel like I have come home. The fresh air itself is a welcome change from the polluted roads in Pune.

 The coconut palms, the familiar sight of people dressed in their best clothes and going to church on a Sunday and a pader (person selling Goan bread) riding his bicycle on the narrow roads gives me a sense of belonging. As I enter my home in Vasco, it makes me fondly reminisce about my childhood days.  This house where I grew up, where I played with my little sister, where my mum used to feed both of us, where my grandfather would sit on his chair and watch us, where we would sit on the swing in the balcony and play, the memories are endless. Even now when I enter this home, I feel safe and protected, I feel like I am a child once again.

As I take my daughter for a stroll in the narrow street in front of my house, I am greeted warmly by old neighbours many of who have known me since I was a toddler with bai kashe asa?(meaning how are you). A simple greeting, but leaves me feeling overwhelmed, makes me feel welcome.

On a trip to Vasco market with my mother I am met with familiar sights like "hotel La-paz" the only good restaurant in Vasco where we have had many meals as a family for many years, “National cloth shop”, the only cloth shop in Vasco where we used to shop for clothes, the temple of lord Damodar where we used to go every Monday, and so on. Even the fruit and vegetables vendors know most of the customers personally and always greet them. This being the Christmas and New Year season, in the evenings many house are lit up with Christmas lights, reminding me of childhood days again. Every Diwali mum would send us off with Diwali sweets for our neighbours and every Christmas we would wait for their Christmas goodies . That tradition continues till date.  It makes me feel proud about my Goan people always living in harmony.

Just yesterday I attended a typical Goan marriage once again found myself relating to each and everything, be it the wedding rituals or the typical marriage food or looking at the women clad in silk sarees and symbolic Goan jewellery from head to toe. Whether I like it or not, I was one of them.

This and numerous other incidents and sights in Goa take me on a trip down the memory lane. No matter where life takes me, these days will always be special.

Another New Year

Yet another new year, yet another time to wish near and dear ones happy new yr, yet another set of new year resolutions. The year ended on a busy note for me personally with a wedding in the family, accompanied by pre and post wedding religious ceremonies and a trip to Goa. This year’s New Year eve was spent without hubby, leaving me feeling a bit incomplete. It also brought back fond memories of last year’s new year eve spent at Bangalore, one of the best in many years mostly because I had my whole family with me at that time, mum, dad, sister , hubby and kiddo.

This year I hope I am able to stick to my new year resolutions. Some of them are:
1) Being positive all the time
2) Learning cooking
3) Being more upfront
4) Taking care of myself

Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, Hope the New Year brings in a lot of happy times for everyone! Wishing you all folks a happy new year!!