The blue sky

I came back to India in March this year after spending two years on deputation in Germany. As I had to go to office daily, I had to admit my son to a daycare there. He spent around 20 months there. Initially it was difficult for him as he didn’t know the language and the people who took care of him. He cried daily for 3 months till he got adjusted there and then there was no looking back. He enjoyed the stay there, loved the food which was given there and he got very close to his care-takers. He also learnt to speak German fluently and with a great accent. He learnt to eat on his own, do things on his own. He participated in all the group events and was never ready to come back home when I went to pick him in the daycare.

A: I am so happy today. It is as good as my last working day in office today. I will working from home from now on. A’s mom: You are behaving like a small kid who doesn’t want to go to school every day. A: Yes, am feeling exactly that way. No tension of getting up at 5:45 am every day, going to office in the maddening traffic by either driving or hiring a cab. No more tension of clocking in 9.25 hrs. in the office and no tension of coming back in time to spend time with my kiddo.

Shreya, my sister who just joined my company and shifted to Bangalore is a Libran as well. She is actually a cusp, but Libra rules her behavior and thoughts to a very large extent. We both love music, movies, reading, writing. So when two Librans meet over the weekend, you all can imagine, how creative the weekend would have got.

I have no topic or theme to write for today's blog marathon. It is a Saturday evening, feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated. No work on my mind, no stress of driving to office early in the morning. No thoughts on getting back home tired and sleep deprived. No tension of getting up early in the morning for office tomorrow. I tried to think about this and that, here and there, but couldn't find one single interesting thread to write on. Was it because I was happy that I didn't have anything to write about?

I am not sure about you, but I was extremely upset on getting the news that Salman Khan, the famous Bollywood actor was acquitted of all charges and that he is scot free after a person died as his car rammed into the footpath. The charges couldn’t be proved it seems. Whether Salman was driving or his driver or a ghost is not clear. He did not wait to see what happened to that person or take him to the hospital. He just fled from the scene. The police tried to do their best to gather evidences and prove him guilty, but the case turned in such a way that it left everybody surprised and the faith in judiciary was shaken once again and it was proved that it is a sin to be a commoner in India.

Addiction can be of many types. Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as : a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble) : an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something Read on to know about one such addiction in my life.

Nearly 9 months back, I realized that my sedentary life is doing me no good and that I must bring a change in my lifestyle. I enrolled for Zumba classes for a month, but the speed of the training left me gasping for breath. I had no stamina and no energy left at the end of the session. Besides it got too late to get home and my enthusiasm just vanished in thin air. I got to know about a group on Facebook about ladies who worked out together in monthly challenges from the confines on their home and motivated each other and kept track of each others progress. I got introduced to a whole new world of walking, that too from within the comfort of my home and as per my convenience with zero fees and no running behind time to reach the classes.

The song “Tu koi aur hai”, which also happens to be the title of my post today is from the movie called “Tamasha”, which was released 2 weeks back. A.R. Rahman has rendered his voice for this particular song and has also composed music for this movie. My favorite onscreen jodi was cast in this movie and one of my favorite director, Imtiaz Ali was at the helm of it, so I had all the reasons to see it, which I did with my sister (who is a movie buff and watches almost all famous movies released so far) and a colleague and my mom.

As the month of December approached, I remember schools organizing Sports Day with a lot of enthusiasm and vigor. Weather being cool and sun being bearable, we practised for hours together in a playground and on the day of the event, we were all charged up and competed against each other in the garb of blue house, red house, green house and yellow house. The house with highest number of medals won the competition and also threw their weight around till the next sports’ day.

The year 2015 brought many good things into my life. I got back to this city and my home and family after spending two years in Germany on deputation. I got back to my people and friends whom I missed very much there. I got back into a routine with the help of my parents and the maids around. I also started working, which I really enjoy now. Music has always been my accomplice wherever I have spent time of my life. It was my saving grace in Germany too. I used to put old Hindi and Marathi songs in an otherwise dead and quiet neighbourhood and that brought me close to my motherland and my people.

Chennai as we all know is cut off from the world due to rains caused by a low pressure belt over the Bay of Bengal. During Diwali also it had rained there a lot. My mom and her friend wanted to visit Chennai, their bookings were done, but we had to cancel due to the situation there.

The association of my society, Genesis, which is newly elected, is a team of highly motivated individuals and the moment they were voted to power, they came up with an excellent idea of celebrating Independence Day in the society. It was the first time that I was going to be here for such celebrations on the Independence Day. Various activities were planned for the kids. Drawing competition, painting, fancy-dress, dance and sports was announced for the kids. And the adults were given a chance to showcase their cooking skills.

Recently I came across a song from a Salman Khan movie which is "Selfie le le re" and it has become a craze among the masses. With no meaning or melody or soulful voice, this song is already topping the chart. This is not the first time that something like this has happened. What has happened to our taste :P

I am very happy today for 2 things. I lost another kg today and that proved that patience and sincerity and regularity in exercising pay off really well, though slow in my case, but it surely does. So now my next immediate goal is to reduce 2 kgs further and then take my parents and T to Cafe Coffee Day to have my favorite Cafe Frappe and brownie with hot chocolate sauce. I have promised myself to let myself indulge in something I really like on that particular day. That will be a self-gift and it will lift my spirits to go on to the next schedule of the weight loss journey. It will definitely boost my morale.

Monsoon usually starts in the month of June and continues till September, sometimes till October. This year Bangalore did not experience any heavy monsoon rains in June and it was pleasant and cool otherwise. Black clouds could be seen in the skies, but they somehow evaded the pouring down. Now suddenly since a day or two, the rain gods have been happy and they are blessing the whole country with showers.

I take today's newspaper in my hands to go through what is happening in the world and predominantly I see advertisements of grocery shops, apparel brands, electronic brands and also shops selling weight loss and hair growth. I am amazed to see the highlights of the world affairs sidelined by these offers. 50 % sale is the catch-line and consumers like me fall for it easily.

I had written about 2 young men and their novel ideas in one of my earlier post. These young lads are trying to solve the problem in their own way. They are doing their bit for the environment and the needy people. They do not have lot of wealth or a rich dad, but the yearning to do something which will help the people around helps them move ahead. I am talking here about the company called Greensole who collects discarded shoes, recycles them and gives them to the needy people on streets who cannot afford to wear footwear.

My writing buddy John is off to Turkey next week, all alone for a trip. And I am very excited about it. He usually sets off alone like this to unknown places with no agenda and I am sure he has a blast with it. When I talked to him the other day about it, he said, he does not get company of like-minded people and so he sets off alone. That requires a lot of guts I must say. Going to an unknown country and not knowing the language of that country and exploring that country requires a lot of mental preparation and confidence to move around with ease. English may not be easily spoken in that country, so he may have to even rely on sign languages. What fun!!

My friend Mrunal introduced me to a very nice blog called Indian Makeup and Beauty Blog where one can read any information related to make-up and beauty, health, fitness, weight loss, reviews on new shampoos, lipsticks, creams and what not. You can check it here if you feel like: http://makeupandbeauty.com/

Last year my school mates from the 1995 batch of Kidland English School, Dombivli met up after almost 20 years and we had a grand re-union in Mumbai in December. Thanks to Whtsapp and Facebook, we met the friends, with whom we spent the amazing years of school. It felt good to meet the buddies, who had changed a lot in appearance, but at heart, we all were the same.

As I already narrated, Sunday did not end on a good note. I was tired and lazy and lethargic and I slept quite late as T was not yet tired or ready to sleep. He was talking to his toys, Tom and Doraemon and narrating something to them. I tried to tell me to wind up now, but he does all the things now which I don't want him to. This is the age of stubbornness and haughtiness. He just completed 3rd year. So now he is experimenting with my patience and throws tantrums and does not listen to anything we say on first go.

Last night, I and Tanay had a small accident. We were playing as usual and without realizing the distance between my face and his head, he jumped down from the sofa and I was caught unawares and his head hit my chin hard and my teeth hit the lips hard. The lip got cut and started bleeding. My body was into shock and I realized that something has happened only after 5 minutes. I started crying like a small child as it was paining really bad.

Yesterday I was working as usual at home and my maid and the cook were doing their work side by side. Being a Friday, I was relaxed and was already looking forward to Saturday evening as I had invited some of my colleagues for tea and snacks. My cook had promised to make the snacks which would help her kick-start her side-business of snacks preparation over the weekends. So, I was not in tension of preparing anything myself and spending the most time in kitchen.

I came back to India with lots of ideas and a list of to do things. I was not sure if I could even start one of those things. But with the strong support of my parents, especially my dad, I am extremely dedicated and focused on my health now. Not that I did not get the opportunity earlier, but it said that the right time has to come to do or start with something. And this was my time.

Yesterday my dad read out an article to me from the Times of India where it was stated that Sunday, the 5th of July was the hottest day in Europe since 1981 with temperature touching 40 degrees Celsius. I wringed in pain at the very thought of it. 

I do not remember when my last post on the blog was. The past three months have left me gasping for some little time for myself, but I am unable to get it. Then I thought to myself, why can't I take out 10 minutes and write?

24 hours do not seem to be enough for me, since the time I have returned to India. No time to read, write, surf or do any activity for myself. I sometimes log in to FB, but I feel lost and disconnected with the outside world as I am not regularly there. There are some interesting things which one gets to know on FB and that broadens your horizon and your view towards the society and self. Recently, I came across two such interesting things, rather ideas, which brought a smile on my face and the trust in humanity was reinforced.

My kid sister is flying to Germany in April this year. And I am totally excited about it. I have known her all her life. She stays in the same building where my parents are in Mumbai and it is just that we have a set of different parents; we treat each other as sisters born to the same parents. She is much younger than me, but she has got a definite vision of what she wants to do in life. 

A busy year this is! What all do I have on my list.. Return to namma Bengaluru in March. Start a new crèche and school for Tanay - It is going to be an interesting phase in his and my life. I am excited to see how he copes with the new language, new food system and new friends.