Here goes !!!!!!

If you ask me which is our favourite festival, I would have to say it is India Vs Pakistan cricket match J There is no revelry and passion and overall pataka and dhoom like this for any other festival. In fact that passion is missing even for Diwali..... Preparation is done for this beforehand. Anyone who asks out at the time is politely declined, and anyone who wants to drop in is asked if they can join to watch the match albeit not so politely !!!!  Matter is clear, if India plays Pakistan, everything else pales. Be prepared to listen to a lot of shouts, cries, gesticulations and unreadable facial expressions, a few un-vocabulary words when catches are dropped or appeals are not given and an overall charged up unbeatable atmosphere. There should not be anything left to be done other than watching the match, even calls may be missed...... With all the hallabulla, every time that India plays Pakistan on a cricket ground, my mind goes back to the 1996 World Cup match between ...

A few incidents that happened across the past few weeks across India prompts me to think that we the Indian society are the biggest hypocrites of all. The incidents that I am talking about are the abduction and assault of a leading malayalam actor in Kerala, molestation of tiny tots in a pre-school in Bangalore and finally the Gurmehar Kaur incident in Delhi. All this struck me when I watched a TV Ad of Century Ply. What's the connection you may wonder. The Ad says 'sab sahe mast rahe' and I realized that this is what the Indian society expects of its women. Take all that comes and keep quiet, don't speak out. Thankfully in all 3 cases, speak out we did.  It’s a different matter that I do not subscribe to Gurmehar's views. If anything, it may be otherwise.  No one willingly goes to war and what happened in Kargil is history and known to all. But, I think she has the right to make and speak her opinion and so did everyone else who responded to her.  After all, fre...

26 th Oct 2011, exactly 5 years ago on this day, it was Diwali and life put me face to face with my biggest ever Diwali dhamaka in the form of a breast cancer diagnosis. One mastectomy and 6 chemo sessions later here I am 5 years and still counting. Frankly despite awareness, society still does not look at cancer differently especially here in India. If you declare that you have cancer, then it is like people around you are counting the days and you have all their sympathies. It appears that everybody has lost someone or the other in the fight against cancer. So the general belief still is that survival rates in cancer are pretty less and dismal whereas the truth is that each and every case is totally different and survival is dependent on many factors, the most important one being that of a positive outlook, a ‘I will not give in, come what may’ attitude and a general belief in self and the treatment one undergoes. No treatment is effective unless one believes in it. And I have wri...

Flag off : Bangalore – 9 th Oct 16, 6 a.m. Let’s not count the turnaround back home to pick up the mobile of the General In Charge who kept shouting orders to others on what to take and what not to forget right from 4.30 in the morning :)  It happens after all, bade bade deshon mein aisi choti choti baten hoti rahti hain !!!!!! Our Vahans : Maruti Suzuki Wagon R and a Celerio – I have lost count of the amount of travels we have undertaken in our Maruti and it has never let us down. Want to see and know India ? Drive out your Maruti? Maruti is truly India’s most favourite savaari and all along the way we saw umpteen of them. There really is no better way to see India than driving around in your Maruti. It just fits in  :) Our travelling companions : Uncle, Aunty, cousin and his wife not to mention an adorable niece who is all of 5 years old and regaled us with stories of Tenali Rama  :) Our shooting weapons : Canon 600D, Lenovo K3 Note, Redmi Note, Nikon D52...

‘Hey, Spectre’s getting released this week, how about it?’ The only time when my darling hubby enthusiastically asks for a movie date is when Bond comes visiting once in a couple of years, the last one being Skyfall J And so I never say no!!!!!!  ‘So when do we go?’ and I said ‘Oh anytime this weekend should do?’ This conversation happened on a Wednesday and I was looking forward to my weekend ‘Bond’ing experience. The next day when I reached home from office he grinned at me and said, ‘It’s done, I have booked for Sat morning 9.30 a.m show’. The timing made me raise my eyebrows, but I was still ok, after sending both kids out to school and college, we could get to the theatre, finish the movie and come back by the time they get back……. So dawns Saturday morning…..And after the morning rush of sending one kid out (the other decided to stay back home), we were at the theatre by 9 a.m. There were just a few people around no theatre staff to be seen. The kiosk which issues ...

Getting back home tired and spent one of these evenings, I had a special gift waiting for me sent by a friend. I quickly changed over and picked up the think book, not knowing what to expect and thought that I probably might lose interest in my tired state. Much to my dismay, right from the introduction to the last page, I just kept going, amazed at the subtle use of words, the deep sense of understanding of life and its ways, the so very narrative way in which the author described her whole family. I could actually visualize her family members……….. Here is a sample….. High are everybody’s dreams High are everybody’s rights High are everybody’s thoughts But low are everybody’s minds Yeah that is just a sample….What an amazingly simple analysis of the life and humans that is seen around you. Here is another pearl from the collection…..... Unlucky is I am Under the eyes of others But my Amma says I am the luckiest to be born to them ……………. Another snippet …………...

It was not to be, but still it happened. When a planned trip got cancelled, I was not really hopeful of making it to Calicut, let alone having a MCC get together. However once again proving, that if there is a will, there is a way, it took place. After the cancellation, when we made a sudden decision to drive down to Calicut for two days, I was afraid to inform people lest something came up again. And so, it was after crossing the border that I messaged Freddie. Interestingly, the first message that I got when I got the phone network back in Wayanad was a candy crush request!!!!!! Oh lord, will these ever end??? After umpteen breaks, we landed safely in Calicut and then I sent out an SOS in the group. ‘I am here’. Pat comes the reply from none other Sameer, ‘I am here too’ and so the wheels were set in motion and our dear old Freddie voluntarily took up the job of calling people up to see how many we can gather at such short notice. Abha had confirmed she would come down from Kal...