A rainy day...

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It was a day to remember,

It was a time to feel...

When we first met & saw each other,

Together our hearts were meant to seal.

One monsoon afternoon in August,

She walked into the fair...

Along with a coy smile, blue angelic eyes,

Luscious lips & rich hair...

She approached my stall,

To glance at my books...

While I stood gaping sheepishly,

At her radiance & looks.

When she finally saw my face,

And landed her eyes over mine...

I stood speechless & scared,

Too nervous to even tell her - "I'm fine".

She immediately saw into my mind,

And sensed my looming fear...

I felt like a sinking ship,

Unable to sail & unable to steer.

As the evening grew dark,

The rain fell strong & hard...

Her friends called her to return,

And she stepped back a yard.

She needed to leave,

And I wanted her to stay...

But who was I to stop her,

This sparkling sunshine ray.

Just before she left,

She dropped her silk stole...

She only glanced at my blank face,

But for me, it made a deep heart hole.

I treasured her stole,

All these years, all this time...

I still wonder if she remembers me,

As the guy who looked like a mime.

Today's rain looks a lot similar,

It took me back to that day...

When I wished to tell I love her,

When I wished to not let her go away...

An "award' comes my way...

This one was awarded by Anisha 2 months ago.... and now is when I get to thank her and pass on the award to others... :) Thanks Anisha... I owe you one ...

Now, I did this same exercise during the last NaBloPoMo in November 2012 but with a different format. If you didn't read it then, here it is. But there are specific questions along with this post that need to be answered and hence here I am re-doing the exercise.

The rules:

1. 10 random facts about yourself.
2. Answer the questions please.
3. Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Write 11 questions for them to answer.

The Q&A session:

1. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

Since it has been a habit ever since I started schooling and learnt to read time, the first thing I do after waking up is to look at the clock. The hard part is the habit stays on during weekends too :(

2. How do you express your anger?

I would say - Expressive and Supressive. Expressive when it comes to fighting with LP :p and suppressive when it comes to dealing with friends, colleagues or other circles. You know what's weird, the suppressive side of me then carries on to settle in my sub-conscious mind to impact my inner thoughts while sleeping. I told you it's weird. :p

3. If you had to live on a lonely island and take only one book with you, which one would that be?

Though my favorites change from book to book, my all-time favorite which still remains is 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown. It's the first book I read after college and it changed my perspective of reading thereafter.

4. An embarrassing moment/ fact about you?

In the past, I have had experiences of opening up to first time acquaintances only to realise they have no plans to befriend me or have anything to do with me. :(

5. How much do you let your academic success/failure affect your life?

A lot. When I look back at my academic days, it makes me realise how much of a perfectionist attitude I had with my studies. Even going to the extent of having real nightmares before result time. I know, I should have taken it a lil more easy back then.

6. Do you believe in first impressions?

Definitely. And I always strive to make the best first impression in personal and professional circles.

7. What period of your life do you think was best?

I would have to select two such periods.

a) The first one would be the initial 4 years of my professional career (right after college) as the friends I made and the experiences we had together was like reliving college for the 2nd time.

b) Now. :)

8. Do you live in present more or brood about past and fantasize about future more?

From time to time, experiences force me to brood on the past. I believe there are some strings of life which can never make you forget the past. And it should be recounted in the true sense to learn lessons from those experiences and move on.

As of now, I am changing my perspective to enjoy the present and envision positive events for the future. :)

9. Your favorite cartoon and why?

The Jetsons. :)

I was so mesmerized by the tools/gadgets and lifestyle of George and his family. I think I would like a blend of traditions and technology in any era.

10. And finally Harry potter or Twilight?

Obviously, Harry Potter. I have not read the whole series but I did manage half-and-half of the books and movies while they lasted. This was also one of the reasons why my second college phase (during initial work years) is the best period of my life so far. :)

And Twilight - Not yet got the chance to appreciate it ......... or "watch" it ! :p

Ok, ok, when it comes to some die-hard classics, I know I am not the best person to go to.... but who cares !

My 11 nominees:

1. Over Cups of Coffee

2. Chasing Passions

3. Mindblowing

4. The 2AM Writer

5. I, Me, Myself

6. Occasional Musings and Ramblings

7. Musings of a Restless Reader

8. Musings of a Bookworm

9. Dip-Tea Blogs Here

10. Memoirs of Me

11. Reviews and Musings

Go on people, tell me about yourself if you had to answer the same questions as above. :)

Our lil Miss. Cookie

Few weeks ago, I watched the movie - '101 Dalmatians'. The cute movie about a couple, their even-more-adorable dogs and puppies not to forget the vamp - Cruella.

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I had watched this movie a lot of times earlier too but somehow I liked watching it even more this time.

People who know me can speak about how crazy I get when I see cats or kittens. Add cute, adorable, innocent puppies to that list and off goes my attention. :)

So when LP and I made our visit to India in December 2012, our first stop was my parents home. I couldn't wait to reach home. Since it was a really early morning flight arrival, we requested my parents and baby bro to not bother coming to the airport to pick us up. This was also our chance to barge in like gate-crashers to surprise them.

Once we reached home, we sneaked all our luggage without making a noise through the corridor outside our apartment. Then we rang the bell continuously and so hard that the neighbors would have actually misunderstood us to be thieves :)

My father opened the door and welcomed us. Mom came out next from the bedroom and hugged us. Then it was my baby bro's chance to step out. And finally just when we thought we have met everyone, there was an additional entry. And this is how she greeted us -

This is our little Miss. Cookie. :) She came prancing around like a cub right behind my baby bro while we stood there with a surprised look on our faces. Cookie got acquainted with us within a minute and off she went licking our legs and pulling our bags.

So she's a new addition in my family back home and it's fun to see my parents and baby bro cater to her whims-and-fancies. :)

As kids, we had love birds as pets earlier but somewhere deep down, my bro and I always wanted a pet like a cat or dog. And even if it was so later in life that we got one, we are so happy with the way Cookie has entered our household. She has grown bigger over the past couple of months. I don't have a recent pic and hence leaving you with this pic where my mom is holding her while she poses for the camera ;)



Foto Fridays - Week 17

Glimpses of some random strokes... What do you think ? :)

And this is my 100th post.... So hurray !

Snow snow go away...

"Snow snow go away.....

Don't come back another day... :)

This girl has only this say... 

Snow snow go away... "

No, I am not creating new nursery rhymes. I am plain happy that winter is now almost out of the window and gone... And I can't wait for summer to start already...

Why ? Because this winter has been an exception from the last one. During the winter of 2011, there was not much snow, chilly winds were much lesser and our cars never got all covered up.

Come winter 2012 and the scene changed. Just look at the pictures I got to capture this time -



Personally, I like autumn / winter more than summer. I enjoy the experience of coziness and warmth in the chilly weather but this year I decided to prefer otherwise thanks to all the extra snow we received. This year has been so much of snow that I want a break now. I want the sun out and about for a while.

Few days ago, the sun came out all bright and shining which caused all of the snow to disappear.

Can't wait for warmer weather already !

So, what kind of weather do you prefer ? Summer or Winter ?



Do "travelers" have a choice ?

Remember an earlier post where I talked about how LP and I had been to India for a quick vacation last December for a family marriage ? Well, I was reliving the memories of the trip today when I glanced through the countless pictures that we took. Vacations always fly by so fast. Sigh !

Just as I was looking through the snaps, I couldn't help reminisce the 1st day of the vacation. Boy, it never felt like vacation-time until the time we checked in our luggage at the starting airport.

I would love to share these highlights cum traveler-checklist-points with you. :) Hope they help you too.

1. Never attend work on the day when your vacation starts - I know what you are thinking. What kind of a person would plan on attending work even if its for a few hours on the day of the vacation ? The answer is - a person like me. But believe me I have sulked enough on this point. This was plain bad planning and circumstances too. So right till Friday of the earlier week, things were on track. Come Monday - the first day of vacation and everything starts falling apart. Or atleast seems so.
   
   (a) Firstly, one of the team members to whom I decide to handover my responsibilities during my vacation decides to take-off from the team without prior intimation.
   
   (b) Secondly, even when you plan your things so well and ahead of time, certain work situations will ensure you get a mini heart attack. ;-) Like being requested by the boss to fill in for an urgent 11 AM-12 PM meeting because no one else from the team can attend that day. Talk about everyone's conflicting meetings just when you thought you need to leave at 1 PM sharp.
   
   (c) And lastly, ensuring to send the minutes of the urgent meeting to the rest of the team before leaving office because no one else has the important updates from the meeting other than me ! I learnt many lessons that day. 
2. Never pack too much - Even though this point is listed as second, I feel it is the most important point of this checklist. So once I reached home after work, got dressed and reached the airport, LP and I waited patiently at the checking counter with our luggage. Just when we were ready to check-in, a family rushed through to the same counter. Looked like they were late for their check-in and had to move fast to not miss the boarding. We made way for them as they had 2 small kids as well. From what I observed they were 4 people - 2 parents with 2 kids in the age group 3-5 years. They had 2 check-in suitcases and 1 carry-on travel handbag. In comparison, we were just 2 adults but with 4 check-in suitcases, 2 carry-on trolleys, 2 laptop backpacks and last but not least my handbag. I rest my case. :-) 
   

   
3. Even if you need to pack a lot, never carry too much in hand baggage - Even after we checked-in our suitcases, we were still stuck with 5 pieces of hand baggage which can be quite daunting to carry when you need to travel in total 3 flights for over 24 hours till you drop dead at home. And obviously, it is quite tiring to run around with so many bags in airports during last minute surprises. Again bad planning and circumstances. We were visiting home after so long that we just couldn't stop gorging on the umpteen gifts for the near and dear ones. :-) Heart ruled over head, I guess. But during our return journey, once all of the gifts were out, we traveled so light that it was the best feeling in the world !

   

   Duty-free shopping :)

4. Always plan extra time with loved ones during vacations - Like I said earlier, since this trip came after a long time, the purpose being a family wedding, no matter how much ever time we spent with family, it was less. At the end of it all, it never felt like "good time spent with loved ones".
5. Try avoiding single long-haul flights - Well, this is more of a personal choice than a must-have. In our case, during our return journey, LP was sick by the time we landed in US after the 15-hour flight. So we decided to consider taking a couple of 8-hour flights the next time which gives us the chance to take a break at a stop-over location to stretch our legs. :-)

Well, these are just my experiences.

Do share if you have similar observations or completely different ones ?

It's that time again...

Hey there ! It's me again - "Life... As It Is...". You know it's that time of the year again when you see me posting for a change instead of GR. :)

"Happy 2nd Birthday to me" !!!

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So what was new this past year ?

Well, my look changed a couple of times. Hope you like it. If not, please let GR know immediately. Sometimes she gets a little carried away you see. :-p

I got a new Facebook page. :-) And can you believe it ? There are people who "liked" it as well. What more do I need ? Check it out - Life... As It Is...

Between last year and now, GR managed to post 36 times in this space. I know it's not a lot, but she's working on it. ;-)

Also, 2 of GR's posts got picked as the 'WOW' posts by Blogadda. If you have not had a chance to read it, be sure to catch them here and here.

Last but not the least, I need to thank all of you to still visit and read me patiently. Really I owe you one.

Like GR mentioned earlier, 2013 has begun on a good note and I hope the streak continues. I will be back again next year with lots of exciting stuff.

Till then... See you around... :)

National Blog Posting Month - April 2013

I want to give this another shot. Hence I am joining the National Blog Posting Month for April. :)

Last November, I was not able to complete this challenge successfully, but this time around I am looking forward to it all the more and can't wait to post regularly.

But I can't give my best shot without you or your feedback. So please stop by, read and let me your thoughts. :)

Just one post till now ???

I am not happy 'cause this is not looking good... 3 months have whizzed by and I just managed to write one post ???

Looks like it's time for some "taking charge" to do. Especially since this space will be 2 years old tomorrow. (Yippee !!! )

Unlike 2012, this year definitely started on a good note for both LP and me. Although I feel like the past 90 days have gone by so fast that I lost track of my blog. And things may not slow for some more time. Apart from work and home, there are many more things added onto my plate which will ensure 2013 isn't going to be like any other year. But more on that later. 

So do I look forward to this year ? Absolutely. This year I focus back on some of my lost loves ;) like dance, writing, cooking and....... let me hold on to the rest. There should be some surprises in life right ? ;)

It's finally time to stop, take a breather and refocus on priorities. :) 

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Before I go, let me assure all my inspiring blogger friends, that though I have been away on my blog, I have always read all "your" posts. That occasional read in the midst of my crazy work schedule was necessary to keep me going. :) 

It's still not late...

to wish you - "A Happy New Year" ! :-P Here's hoping you and your family had an awesome start to the year and continue to have fun for the rest of the year...

Ok.. ok... I know it's too late but I had no choice. There was this whirlwind vacation last month which went off pretty well. In fact, it went off so well that I kinda got tired of the hectic traveling towards the end of it and came down with a sore throat and cold. Though it wasn't all that bad back in India, once I set foot in the US, the chilly weather out here made sure I needed a stronger relapse of the sickness topped with jetlag. :)

And that's how the first week of the year kept me busy. Not to forget the piled up work which was awaiting my return. Finally after 15-odd days, I am now fine and raring to go ... *Touchwood* !

So what can you expect to read in my upcoming posts ? Lots & lots of things that I have been dying to blog about ever since my vacation started.

But before I end this post, I wanted to wish my LP once again who celebrated his birthday a couple of days ago.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!" :)

Celebrating your special day last year was a huge accomplishment for me. I had an out-of-the-world time planning it for you and even more, jotting my thoughts here on the experience (For those of you who didn't visit my blog then, you can find the post here).

On the other hand, this year was a huge damper and I hope it never turns out like this in the future. Having loved ones and friends by your side is a huge necessity for birthdays. After all, it is one special day out of the entire year. :)