Muscle Joke: Spiderman

We were wondering what would happen to Spiderman's powers in a desert or at the sea. He will not have any building or structure to stick his web to. And so he will not be powerful!!! What do you say?? :-)

Almond Roca!

I can never stop with one piece of Almond Roca! It's just too tempting! Thanks to Cheenu Mama who got the first box of Almond Roca when I was in college. He had got dried prunes too! I was not a great fan of that! ;-)

Mmm.. Back to another piece of Almond Roca!! Got to stop this; actually got it for V, but I am the one having piece after piece! Thank God! We bought a bigger bag! :)

Maggi...

"Bus Do Minute..." is the way the Ad goes. But I never think we can make Maggi noodles in two minutes. It takes two minutes just for the water to start boiling! 

I have never been good at making noodles. I like them when my sisters make them for me. Sometimes they add groundnuts and onions and capsicum to noodles. When I had to stay in Chicago for a couple of months, I made noodles every other day. It was quicker and easier to make; and also fulfilling!

Now I am back to those days... Sitting at home all by myself... I feel lazy to make a proper meal for lunch! Maggi is a nice option. I think it's been more than half a year since I has Maggi! :)

Back to reading...

Yes, I am back to my long time hobby of reading... Over the period of time, I realize that I tend to read more of woman-oriented novels. Either the authors are women or the main protagonist in the story is a girl/woman. The previous two novels that I read (click here) were novels for young-adults. 

"The Summer Spies Moved In" (by Mary Locke) was about a Russian girl who comes to the US and is mistaken for a spy by a neighborhood girl. It portrays the differences between both the cultures. Ultimately the two girls become friends and they work together trying to uncover the actual spy!

The other one "The girl with the phony name" was a novel about a girl who was brought up in an orphanage and trying to come up in life. She does not know who her parents are and she goes in search of them. Meanwhile a person, who claims to be his father, tries to kill her. The one thing that made me feel sad: She is unable to apply for passport, as she does not have a birth certificate. Poor thing! This may be the plight of every orphan!

The latest book I read was "Triumph of Katie Byrne" by Barbara Taylor Bradford. I started this book while traveling from East coast back home during the long weekend. It is very different from the earlier books that I read of the same author. This may be her first detective novel and it did not have (m)any romantic scenes (you know what I mean! ;)) It is the story of Katie who aspires to become a theater-actor. She has two other childhood friends who share her same ambition. On a tragic night, her friends are brutally hit; one is murdered and the other lies in coma. Katie does not know if she can continue towards her goal of become an actor. It is her story, her triumph! 

I finished the three hundred odd pages in 2 days flat! Made V feel jealous that he is unable to give as much time to reading. He is reading a John Grisham novel ("The Rainmaker"). More on that novel later! ;-)

Sunglasses

I always thought that wearing sunglasses was not my thing. To me, some one wearing them looked like a blind person. I used to wonder what made people wear them. Now I know why!

After coming to California, I realize how harsh the sun can be to our eyes. With the roads in the east-west directions, the sunsets are tough times for driving. Don't we face similar situations in India? May be the horizon isn't this vast ... May be trees or buildings keep blocking the sun when it is closer to the horizon... Or may be... The roads are never in east-west directions... Hee Hee.. I never faced this problem in India. 

But being in California is a different story altogether. I remember the time when V almost skipped a red light because the sun was shining right into the eyes! Since then, we have been planning to purchase sunglasses.

It is so tough to select the perfect pair of glasses for our face. Some make our face look so large and others make us look like a don or dada... And then there are others that make us look like a guddi moham. Finally V and I zeroed-in on a pair that suited the structure of our face. We can say we are a proud owner of a pair of sunglasses. This might seem very silly to some of us, but I think it is a huge change in my perspective, that made me buy one for myself.

It was so relaxing to wear them while on a drive.

I also noticed this... After wearing the glasses for a long time, when we remove them, the world seems more brighter and clearer. Ever felt this way? :-)

I am now into sewing a perfect pouch for my sunglasses!

Knock! Knock!

A knock at the door... at the wrong time. 

Who is it? 

A man with a scribbling pad. 

What does he need? 

Some information for a survey. 

The Q & A begins:

"Are you from India?"

"Yes."

"Which part?"

"Hyderabad."

After asking N number of questions about where we are from, what we were doing, our interests in sports and exercises, he asks me if  I am interested in Acupressure and Massage. I say, "No" He asks me if my husband is at home. I shake my head yet again. He asks me if I would like to try a 5-minute demo of their Acupressure massage. I politely decline. Then he starts a lecture on how it can help my neck and back. I try to cut in and say I am not interested. Then he says he wants to get into the house to give a massage to me. A five minute one!

What nerve? He is also an Indian. In which case he should very well know that the Indian women do not prefer strange male hands on their necks... And trying to get into the house when husband is not around? Oh my God! I wish I had chain lock at the door!!!

Good Old Days - Parichay

Last night we saw Parichay - the old Hindi movie where Jeetendra is a teacher to 4 naughty children. The story line is similar to that of "The Sound of Music". My favorite song in it is Sa Re Ke Sa Re, Ga Ma Ko Lekar, Gaate Chale... Papa Nahin Ek Thaani Si Didi... Didi Ke Saath Hai Saarey!!


This song triggered a lot of childhood memories... The days when we all would go out for drive in our Jeep.. And all of us singing old Hindi melodies.. Appa would whistle along... 


Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar..., Tere Mere Sapney Ab Ek Rang Hai..., Jaaneman Jaaneman Tere Do Nayan..., Suhaana Safar Aur Ye Mausam Haseen...


If Paati joined us, we would sing devotional songs too!


We would stop at a dhaba for dinner... Sitting on a charpoy under the sky and having garam garam rotis.... Mmmm... Yummyyyyy!


Carefree lives... full of innocence and childlike fun! Miss those days!

Early Flights!

He is up and ready to catch his flight...
I want to get up and be with him as much as I can...
It will be weeks before I see him...
Yet sleep overpowers everything.. 

Good byes and sweet nothings...

Nothing gets registered...

That's why they book on flights that leave at wee hours of the morning...

Everyone is half-sleep and probably in the middle of some dream..

There are neither teary good-byes nor longing faces...

If one accompanies to the airport, 

They just want to get back home as soon as they can...

Under the warmth of the covers... get lost in the land of dreams...

If not to the airport, 

Then there is a rush to shut the door and get back to sleep...

Sleepy eyes and groggy mind...
No one feels anything...
Everything feels numb...
Sleep is an escape from reality...


By the time I get up, I feel he's left for office as every other day..
And will be back soon...


But as night falls, realization dawns...
There is a long night ahead..
And many more long nights before I see this man...
... who's become my world now!