The Six yards Story

My six yards story started some 3 years back when I got admission in a B school in Pune. My college brochure mentioned that there would be an induction for 7 days whereby we have to wear Saree, the six yards cloth. What more, we have uniform as saree (though you don’t have to wear it every day).So, my mom started giving me lessons on how to drape a saree (which I as usual keep on avoiding till the day I have to leave for Pune). I stayed up at my aunt’s place during induction and really, I am proud of my decision as my other roommates have to get up at some 5 in the morning so that they have one full hour to drape that six yard cloth(as we had induction starting from early morning 7). Thankfully for me my aunt would drape it in few minutes and I could catch some last minutes sleep ;). After I shifted with my friends, it really becomes troublesome for me to drape it myself. Thanks to all my roomies, they would help me in this cumbersome task but still our draping time didn’t reduce from 1 hr.(Thanks to my college which have a “ special way “ of draping saree which was no different than air hostesses. Full pleated, perfectly pallued and too much pinned).The worst part was walking in a saree. Guys would think that we are walking in full poise and elegance when the reality was that we would feel like an Egyptian mummy fully draped, toiling hard to move. The day we used to wear saree, we used to swear that after finishing college we won’t ever touch this six yard cloth. In the meantime I also learned to wear saree( thanks again to my college , we all roomies shifted to different sections with different class timings and I couldn’t ask my maid to help me in draping it every day). Then Came the summer internship time, whereby companies will visit everyday meaning that you have to wear it every day. Our draping time reduced drastically to half (since we have to wear it every day , I think we become accustomed to drape it) and we become more skillful in wearing and managing it(yeah, finally we were able to walk with poise and elegance in it, though by now guys stopped finding it elegant) . Then came placement time whereby we used to almost eat sleep and wake up in that , draping time of course reduced to 10 mins and we used to joke that if someone will ask us to take part in relay wearing this we will surly win.


The saree survived for complete two years with us and by the time we finished college we were so accustomed to it that we really miss not wearing it now. After placements when I went home, I helped my mom in draping her saree once. My mother was both surprised and happy that I can actually drape it so nicely. That six yard of Navy blue silk with copper border has actually taught me so many things apart from draping. I have actually become acquainted to so many cultures through it. You can easily recognize a Maharastrian, Guajarati, Bengali, Keralite, Tamilian and Coorgi simply by looking at the saree. This garment is the most adaptable one. It is suitable for any occasion and the best part is it never goes out of fashion. So, better to include at least one in your wardrobe and take my words, you will never regret it.

The 4 P's of Cooking

My mom is a great cook .She always pampered us with sumptuous meal so, my dad and other relatives always had this big misconception that i will also inherit the same quality from her (much to my grandma’s disappointment, who considers that I have not inherited anything from my mother (neither her looks nor her culinary skills). She always says that my parents has pampered me a way too much. But I don’t think that is their fault, like any other parents they always asked me to just focus on my studies .Though my mother do taught me some basic things before I left for Pune, like making chapatti, dal and rice (which obviously don’t require much of effort).I must confess that making chapatti was most difficult (especially to come out with proper shapes).For the first few days my dad just keep on asking me “which country’s map is this” (He is a PhD in Geography BTW). After days of practice and under my mother’s strict supervision i learnt to make “Phulka” (which actually made my mom so happy that she didn’t gave me any cooking lessons after that for a very long time)
My sessions for cooking formally started when I was at home and waiting for my joining date. My mother thought that I have learnt enough of 4 P’s of marketing and it’s high time for me to learn some ABC of cooking now. She had already prepared a mini (I should say it rigorous) training plan, which includes:


1.Training day (whereby she will teach me cooking, precisely I have to just look at how she cooks)
2.Practice day (Whereby I will cook under her supervision)
3.D- Day (Whereby I will cook for the family without her supervision and they will
judge)


So after thumbs up from my dad, “I know you can do it” expression from my grandma and “mom I am out for dinner” from my brother I entered into kkkkkkkkk--- kitchen


Day 1: Training day: “Cooking is an art” my mother said (Researchers are still confused management being an art or science, how can she say this about kitchen so confidently? hmm thing to ponder about).So,today we will start with simple dal,take out yellow one from the container she said. I took yellow dal but it was a wrong one.So, here it goes: “By your age I was married and taking care of such a big family. Look at you, can’t even distinguish between pulses” (It’s not my fault if there are two pulses with same color ).Anyways, after “do it like this”, “mix it like that” and lot of fights I finished my training day.


Day 2: Practice Day: So I had to cook that day under my mother’s presence. She asked me to fry onions till they turn golden brown and then add tomatoes and spices, after saying this she left. I put onion for frying and started waiting for them to turn Golden brown. But before I could see them turning golden brown , I saw my mom’s red face and” what is this smell, I asked you to fry them not to burn them”. I looked at my golden brown onions (damn when did they turn black) and here it goes: “What are you going to do once you are married. Even if you will put a cook, how long will your husband eat a cook’s food, someday he will ask you to cook then what will you do” (Is it a mission or vision statement?).Thank god she didn’t say the melodramic line ”Way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. I don't know how much of cooking i learnt that day but i surly learnt the difference between different shades of brown.


Day 3: D- Day: That day my mother didn’t entered the kitchen at all and announced that today I am going to prepare food. With wishes from my father, skeptical expression from my grandma and “ I am out for dinner” from my brother again I entered for my agnipariksha . I cooked, served and waited for their expressions. It was good (edible I should say), my mom smile showed triumph of a good teacher. I thanked God that at least today I didn’t get any thrash from her. But then after dinner she entered into kitchen and here it goes: “What is this? Who is going to clean this mess? Were you cooking food or playing with all the items here? Any Tom, Dick and Harry can cook (Damn, them why did I take all this pain) but you should know how to cook with elegance”. I just wished that she is not going prepare another training schedule for the same. Thank God she didn’t but yes I realized that 4 P’s exists in cooking also, which every trainee should keep into account:


Patience
Persistence
Proportion
Pain

JOY OF MY LIFE

He is the love of my life. I won’t say that I love him more than anyone else in this world, but still, I adore him. He came into my life just like that and really it was love at first sight (though I don’t believe in it). His smile is more gracious than Tom Cruise and his walk can put any ramp walker to shame. He is the JOY of my life really. So, if by now you are thinking that I am talking about a guy than you are wrong. That someone special is the dog that I met one day in the park, and fall in love with. His name is joy (and he is a saint bernard) .He is not more than few months old but still he is very huge and fluffy. I met him twice and after that we never met (perhaps he changed his morning walk timings  ). I missed him very much, so my friends gave me an exact copy of him (nahh it is a soft toy) on my birthday and I instantly named him Joy.
My family had a dog when I was some 2 year old (I still have a pic of his sitting next to me).After his death my parents never kept a dog and never allowed us to have one. But I will surely have it one day (a golden retriever I think!! And my face book quiz about “which dog shall I have” also say the same)

These are few things (Damn, I think I should just stop using this line now) about dogs, which make them the cutest pet :

1. They are the loyalist (much better than guys I must say!!!), their love is unconditional.

2. They will miss you the most if you are not around ;)

3. They are great stress buster, just play with them for a while and you will forget all your troubles

4. You can talk to them whenever you are feeling lonesome and the best part is that he will understand it that you are feeling blue but will never try to find out why?

5. For them you are the best person on earth (though however bad you are!!)

6. If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving them only two of them. ~Phil Pastoret
7. The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. ~Samuel Butler

8. Don’t leave your socks in your shoes else you will find only its shreds

9. Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job. ~Franklin P. Jones

10. Amount of time it takes for a dog to "do its business" is directly proportional to outside temperature + suitability of owner's outerwear. ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

About Betty(s), Veronica(s) and Archie(s)

I know it’s too late for me to write about “Archie marrying Veronica” but really can’t help it. I had already given my side of opinion about this topic a long time back (that time I had not started blogging). But with so many marriages, marriage talks, marriage proposals, marriage announcements happening around ,it just reminded me of that .So, I thought to put my opinion along with few of my friend’s here.

My best friend is a great Betty fan, like the one who will cry when she will cry (which Betty does almost every time anywez), so she was all heartbroken. She gave her side of opinion of why Archie should choose Betty over spoilt, fickle and shrewd Veronica (Ok, don’t take these adjective into accounts, I have my list ready ;)), her comments follows:

How can he?????? Betty is so sweet. She is Archie’s real friend, she has done so much for him (Yeah, knitting, cooking and mending his car, I understand dear). She waited for him for so long and see what happened she got ditched (It’s a common story sweety, TRUTH OF LIFE).He chose Veronica because she is rich and famous right (but by now you should know this fact about guys) She always go back to Reggie. Even his best friend Jughead never liked her (but he never liked anything more than his hamburgers).Betty is so caring and affectionate. I am sure even if Archie marry Veronica, Betty will always be in his heart (Chooooo Chweetttt) and anywez they can’t remain together for long, they will surly split. I read it somewhere in the net how their zodiacs are incompatible, He is a Sagittarius so he is more compatible with Betty (OMG, I never knew this!!)

Ok I think that was enough on her part(and a bit superstitious too) to support Betty, as for me I had always loved Veronica. I always found her more natural and closer to real life than Betty. Girls love shopping like Veronica; they love dressing up, want attention and do get zealous (and obviously love making other zealous too ;)) .You can’t really find a goody goody girl like Betty. A girl won’t ever like (forget being a best friend) a girl who is trying on her love interest. Veronica is full of surprises and oomph. She is herself whether it’s good or bad.

To all the conversation going on, my friend (I will call him Archie) replied:
“Lucky guy Archie, with two girls drooling over him. But from where this marriage thing came? Why he want to mess up? Why doesn’t he just go around with both of them? “

To this statement me and my best friend realized that boys will always remain boys and so would Archie, the ultimate playboy of Riverdale High School. Good luck to both Betty and Veronica, Beware girls!!

Lost Love

This poem is dedicated to few of my friends who are still clutching their past and afraid to move on.

You are still there
In that weathered rose,
Lying in my old book ,
Don’t know why
I still hold that close .

You are still there
In pictures in my album.
In that chocolate wrapper,
Which even after years
Still lying in my drawer.


You are still there
In that song on radio,
Which reminds me of you
Making my feelings,
Melancholy blue .

You are still there
In those gifted cards,
Which remind me every time,
How my heart has been scarred .

You are still there
In my phone’s contact list,
Though no number is there,
But your name exists.

You are still there
Though not in my sight,
But on my friend’s list,
On some social networking site .

You are still there
In that day of the year,
Which like a normal day ,
Comes every year.
But still I remember ,
Your birth day
After so many years .

You are still there
In that favorite seat of yours
Of that coffee house ,
The couples we used to see there,
Now comes as spouse.

You are still there
In the color you like,
How hard may I try to hate it,
I can’t still dislike.

You are still there
On the benches we sat,
In the places we met,
Dates which are special,
Dates which are sad.

You are still there, here
And scattered everywhere.
Though not in my life,
But in memories somewhere.
Your presence so strong,
Will not be there lifelong ,
And with the sand of time,
You will fade out of my mind.

Beside The Ganges, Touching Himalaya

While on my trip back home i went for a short trip(actually 10 hrs only) to my granny's place.The place is only 4 hr drive from my home so we just went there, touched the place and come back :( . I clicked lot of pics on my way , so i thought what place can i find better than here to show the world my photographic skill ;)


NOTE: These pics were clicked with my poor 3 MP camera phone and after " i will throw all these cell phones out" from my uncle(poor he !! its crazy driving with three girls on board with all " wait we wanna click pic here" sound)


So here i go:

gue

Strength

I was fighting my feelings,
I was striving my thoughts.
Though I was with friends,
I was so lost.
Why it’s me every time,
What’s my crime?
My life should also be
A fun filled rhyme.
Then I saw you
In between the crowd,
Like a ray of sunshine amongst cloud.
You were enjoying,
Like rest of them around.
Even with the crutches,
Your happiness so profound.
Tell me what and where it’s wrong
Why am I so weak?
And you are so strong.