We are pregnant – Journey to parenthood

Me:  @11:00PM on 18th May 2017 – I feel something is not correct with my health. I think we should meet a doctor. Maybe I’m not well?
He – Yes, lets schedule an appointment 
Me: Can you make some milkshake for me?

Meanwhile I was googling what these symptoms would warrant to – Google says, “You can be pregnant”. I started searching for home pregnancy test kit. I found it then I ran to the restroom, did the test, waited for result, 30 secs go by and then TWO red lines. I read instructions again and again – "If two red lines appear then you are pregnant", and then i shouted –
Biren, does this mean I’m Pregnant???????
He – Yes… We are Pregnant :)

With a happy face, he hugs me, while I was still trying to digest what just happened.

We clicked our first pic of “We are pregnant” right after all this scene. Thousands of questions in my mind, mixed feelings, happy to be in the new phase and scared to think about accepting all the changes that it would bring in our lives and relation. While I am trying to sleep, I suddenly started telling him “How can I do snorkeling holding your hand now? And I’m still going to give you a good night, good morning, hi, bye kiss” He gave a smile and said “don’t think too much”, kissed and wished good night..

Next day, we did the lab test to confirm and then met the doctor. I was 6+ weeks pregnant when we discovered. Three weeks before this day – I used to get very tired, might have cooked less than 4-5 times in 15 days, had bloating post meals and was eating a full chipotle bowl, foot-long subway for the first time in my life. My colleagues were like “Looks like you are pregnant, we never saw you eating so so much”. I was like – “NO, it’s just that I ate less last night”. Now I could relate to what was happening.

All excited, I called my dad, asked all my siblings to be around and then gave them the good news. My parents, specially my mom was waiting to hear this from the day I got married :P… His parents were in the US staying with his brother. We went to meet them in the evening and gifted a frame and mug with things written about grandparents. They slowly opened the gifts but could not figure it out. Then a note popped from the gift bag in Mom’s hand where we wrote “You are going to become grandparents AGAIN”. Mom was super happy and started congratulating and everyone followed…

Now talking about the first trimester, it was not really pleasing as said by everyone. Heart was happy with the thought of our baby but the pain in the whole body was making me miserable. I used to tell Biren that if this continues for nine more months, I think I will end up scratching all his hair. I used to start my day with tears because of morning sickness and puking while brushing. I had heartburn all through the day and more when I used to sleep. Pain in the calves and tiredness while cooking was a routine. People said we have gone through more which made me feel my suffering was less. Pain is pain. You cry it on other’s shoulders or you bear it with a smile not showing it to anyone, it’s a choice. I chose the latter.

Suddenly with the start of second trimester, I was all jumpy and no grumpy. It felt like all the sickness was gone; there was no feeling in the stomach, except that it was slowly growing. We shared the news with all our friends and extended family members with puzzles in fortune cookies and in messages to solve. Joy all around and so many hugs. People started caring more. I got the best place to sit in parties. This was the most energetic phase. I learnt some new recipes and started making fresh rotis. Every weekend was busy hunting for houses. I also went for a 3-day outing on an island with my girlies. We had our 20 weeks ultrasound to know about baby’s health and gender. We revealed the gender to our friends with playing a question-answer game. Biren wanted a boy and I wished for a girl. He won, and I felt happy for him. There was an addition to our happiness with winning the bid and getting our dream home signed. I wish this time stayed forever.

Pumping the balloon!!!

Things started changing with the start of third trimester. The bloating came back with full vigor, body started getting heavy and tired, appetite was going low, steps slowed down, and I needed Biren to help me tie my shoe. :). My stomach started popping out like a football. Ladies around kept touching my stomach, even the ones whom I didn’t know. This made me blush. In the 7th month, we had the traditional baby shower with some relatives. In the 8th month, we celebrated with our friends and in the 9th month, I got a surprise shower in my office. All these events and pampering from everyone around made me feel blessed and forget all the pain. The best part was my baby’s kicks, and his somersaults. It was hurting at times, but I still wanted them more and more.

We completed all the classes about pregnancy, labor and newborn care at out hospital. Knowledge is important but this one also started getting us tensed. The day I got to know how it would be when the labor starts and till the baby is out, scared me thinking if I will be able to handle it. I wanted the clock to pause; begging for some more time till I make up my mind. Two weeks before my due date my mom-like aunt (mom’s sister) came from India to help, followed by my eldest sister and just then I was diagnosed with cholestasis which was harmful for my baby. The doctor told me with a smiling face “you are on your term, let’s bring the baby to this world”. I told her if we can wait for another two days. I want a 2018 baby and she winked with a shake signaling “no”.

The morning of December 30th, 2017, at 7:00am I got admitted to the hospital. They induced around 9:00am. Labor had started but I was not able to feel much. There were like 2 hours which were unbearable when the bag of water was broken, and the earlier nurse could not sedate me soon enough. I can still remember my shouts asking for pain relief and anesthesia. My second nurse Tammy was awesome. She positioned me well to stop my pain. With my baby dropping his heartbeat, we even thought of getting him out through vacuum. Tammy helped me to push my baby with correct positions and ways and taught me to put all my energy where required. 45mins and finally I could push it correctly and he was on my chest at 4:45PM. Tears rolled down my cheeks when we were skin to skin, I caressed his head and kissed lightly. I can’t explain in words what that feeling was!

We named him ABIR (derived from Aparna and BIRen).

My lil pumpkin is a big boy now!!

Everything just changed from this day. I was not aware that babies need to be fed every 2-3 hours (I thought they sleep through the night from day1 :P). One suggestion that everyone was passing – “Sleep when the baby sleeps”. Slowly I got used to it - wake up, feed him, change the diaper and sleep again in a way that my sleep was not disturbed at all. The first couple of weeks were stressful adjusting to this new schedule, recovering my body, learning to breastfeed and overcoming all the issues that came with it. I can never forget the hours of crying that I had when my breasts were engorged on the third day of his life and he could not drink due to oversupply. Come on!!  How can oversupply be a problem? My lactation consultant was knowledgeable. All her advices helped me get back the baby’s weight to his birth weight on 7th day of his life. I can’t forget the help that I got from my sisters-in-law here.

Things started getting better once Abir turned 2-months old. He is our laughing buddha. He wants to talk and laugh all the time. His smiling face, innocent eyes, melodious chirps makes us feel blessed and happy always. When the end is so cute, it’s easy to forget what you have gone through to reach here. I feel more respectful for my mom now for bringing me and my siblings (4) to this world, loving us so much, handling all our tantrums, feeding us well, teaching us all the good and passing their experiences to us. Mom-Dad I love you so much, you are the best and we are privileged to have you as our parents.

A lot more about Aaru (Abir’s nick name) in future posts :)

At times I miss Aaru inside me, his kicks, the smile that I used to have thinking of him while touching my stomach, the attention, the pamper and just everything about pregnancy except the frequent walks to the restroom :P.

My husband was with me in this journey at all the steps. I would have not been able to handle it without him. He handled my terrible mood swings, my cry for no reasons, my requests for food at 2:00am. We dreamt together about holding our baby, we smiled together thinking of this blissful future, he used to feel our baby touching my belly, kissing my stomach, opened car doors for me, gave his hand while we walked, fulfilled all my silly asks. And why - because We were pregnant.

PS. Abir’s recent update – My koala bear is one year now.  He can get an award for entertainer of the year. Super energetic, started walking, loves to laugh and throw tantrums. He is a big boy now. Everyone calls him “Happy Baby”

PSS Appu’s recent update – Back to the pre pregnancy weight :P

Clicked on Brother's wedding!!

PSSS Life’s update – A lot has happened in life in the end of 2018. A change which is difficult to accept. My heart can’t stop weeping thinking about it, but my eyes have learnt to be strong. This is that time in life when suddenly you get a feeling that there is no one to tell you to eat properly, drive safely, be careful, sleep well, don’t over exhaust, come soon and so on... All is going to be well.

Let me end this post which was in progress from last 6 months. Take care of yourselves and your health. Wear helmet while riding a bike since only Ganesha was lucky enough to get a replacement. Loads of love, hugs and kisses.. Muaah…. :)

How USA embraced me??

It all started with courage, continued with passion and on the way met with Love… Sounds filmy, isn’t it?

A small town girl: - bold, talkative, loved by everyone, someone who had never before seen that so called outside world, someone who never stepped out of the city alone. The place where I come from, the future state of graduating in computers is seen as working professionals. The thought sounded interesting but needed lot of courage to execute. For the girl that I was; waking up by yourself, cooking your own food or taking your own decisions was a fantasy. But with all the passion to know how people really work in IT companies, I was able to convince my dad to let me go to see how it feels to work away from home, stay with unknown people, wear those professional clothes and talk work.

Dad agreed and said “You can work for one year and then you have to return”. Well, I’m still working from last 10 years… All these years I have learnt every day, grew up every minute, earned umpteen number of friends, enjoyed the colorful days as well felt the rainy days. When I look back this is not what Appu was; and how life has changed me for the good (that would take another couple of blogs :)) Let’s get back to the topic…

With all the hard and smart work, my scores and appreciations, my supervisor wanted me to work directly at client locations overseas. I denied the offer twice since nobody from my family wanted me to go that far and neither did I have the confidence to stay across the globe.

After moving to another company, my new manager dropped me an email and asked me to fill in the details for a visa application. I felt good that I never asked for visa but my manager still wants to initiate it for me. I thought, let me send the details. Visa process will anyways take a year and that’s a huge time to think, but time flew. A voice from the inner me kept telling to try this and assured that it will change everything. It certainly did. I had never travelled alone more than 200km. I had to build a lot of courage to make myself ready to travel alone, ready to stay away from friends and family, ready to face times when I have to eat alone or take care of my illness alone. Being one of the pampered children, it was a difficult decision but I also wanted to know how it felt to work overseas.

With the visa approval notice I went to my dad and told him “I want to go once and I will come back in six months”. He was fine and happy but he did said, “People who go to USA once, they never come back”. I did not mind his words since I knew for sure, if not in six months I will be back in a year.

Bags packed, homemade food packed, recipe book packed, but could not pack all my memories. One last look into my study, one last kiss to my teddy and then one last hug to my family on airport and I was all set to board and fly to a faraway land. With all the fear and bravery I stepped out of the plane just to see how USA embraced me with smile; a dear friend came to pick me at airport, a room was booked for me at a Punjabi aunty’s place where another friend was staying. Office looked different, a lot more professional, but I was working with the same team so things were easy since I already knew them.

Some days were good, some days were gloomy, some days made me feel happy, some days just made me feel unaccompanied and scary. With the thought of going back in sometime I was just enjoying every bit of it. Explored so many places on east and west coast of USA as if this was my last trip to this land :). I learned to do everything by myself. I was never before this brave staying alone in the dark nights, in the quiet streets, in the trains, or even on food table. I started liking this place and more than ever, the work culture here. The longing for family was there but somewhere I knew I would enjoy working in this environment better than anywhere. My darling nephew kept counting days, months of my return. But then there was a twist in the story….

Out of nothing, in the middle of ordinary day, an email popped up in my inbox from a dad sending his son’s profile for marriage. He got my information from a matrimonial website. I was able to stalk this guy on facebook with the information from the email. He looked simple, fair and savvy. I called my dad and told him about the email and he contacted his parents and then we took over. I was in Boston and he was in Bay area, a distance which can be closer with six hours of non-stop flight. After a week of imessages and little chitchat I flew in to California to meet him. A date every day for a week and I starting thinking positive about this person.

Biren got a plus 10 for his looks, I so desperately wanted a fair guy (just to have fair kids :P).. Another 10 for his bike, I strongly feel men who can ride a bike are stronger.. And then when I saw his car, it was a cool sedan, luxury brand, black color, sun roof, which made it lil clear that though he is a Gujju, he is not Chiku.. :P  I wanted someone who was more educated than me, which he was.. He knew cooking, which I was bad at (And he never cooked after our marriage :P).. He took stories of my bygone days with super broad mind..

Biren was a person who believed in spending few months of time together before coming to some decision. After going back to Boston we started talking more, trying to know each other, dig in more. I actually started liking him but he was still confused and that really annoyed me. Even after a month of chatting, he had his last question depending on which he would decide on going ahead. This made me little skeptical but now I just wanted to pass the test since being with him was like a desire to me and I just wanted to conquer his heart which I believed was already done. It felt like one last milestone was pending.

Obviously this smart girl aced her Like-Love exam and there started a new chapter in life. Everything just became beautiful, the shyness in eyes, the smile on the face, the feeling of love itself is so wonderful. Red was everywhere in dreams. The good night messages ended with smiles, then with love you and then kisses. And finally I got my Love. My Mr. Right in States, in a place which I never thought of visiting.

Within three months of our engagement announcement, we got married in India. But these 90 days were the most amazing, shocking, experimental days. He wanted our marriage celebrations to be simple and I wanted it to be as jazzy as it could be. I always dreamt about having a lavish marriage with 1000’s of eyes on us, dancing in every function, meals that would be remembered by all and decked up as if we were the celebrities. And scorpions are born to win. Our marriage was a five day festival :).. A lot happened in those 90 days and it would again need a different post to talk about the stupidity, the way we behave in our early relations and what can go wrong or right because of being judgmental..  Fortunately we passed the tests with flying colors :)

Getting released from my previous project I moved to California to stay with my hubby and feel the essence of having someone in life. I changed my career path but got a good project which is helping me to grow..

I think I would like to say thanks to States. I feared stepping onto you but you kept calling. With all the courage I made my mind to have my once in a lifetime opportunity to come to USA. The work culture and people made me more passionate about my work. And finally I met the love of my life on your land. Thanks for making me bold enough to face the world alone, meet an unknown guy and take a lifetime decision myself.

PS. Happy New Year to everyone. 2016 was full of fun.. Our Bollywood themed anniversary party, wonderful holi, amazing trip to India, back to back camping, celebrating Rakshabandhan, Ganpati, Diwali with a pomp, Sonu Nigam live concert, dancing classes and the stage performance, gambling in Vegas, Yahoo’s YEP, and finally a well planned trip to Florida.

PPS. We have my brother, his brother and loads of friends around in bay area which keeps us busy and happy. It’s fun to have so many people in your circle when you are far from your home. At times it feels like we are in our own mini India celebrating each and every moment :) As always I’m so grateful to everyone here for giving us the feeling that we have someone who cares :) And a little more love to our niece Tasha for loving us so much :)

PPPS. Watched an awesome Marathi TV series “Eka lagnachi dusri goshta” together with Biren. We could relate so much to it about life after marriage that I would recommend that to everyone. Watching Mahabharat, an Indian epic since both of us are not aware about the complete and exact story. We also completed our old beloved jungle book and couple of English series, out of which Game of thrones is my new favorite.

I wish I stay this happy always and enjoy the rhythm of life and so do you all… Keep nagging me so that I don’t stop writing… Loads of love… Muaaahhhhhh :)

Singapore........ An unseen dream… :)

I know it’s too late to complete this, but my girls would kill me if I don’t post it..

As always apologies and a bigger one this time, coz I’m updating my space after a year. And Mithila, Thank you so much darling, for reminding me every few weeks that you are waiting for my next post.. That’s seriously Motivating… Again it’s gonna be a huge post, so take your time and read :)

Appu had a vacation to Singapore and she is back... :):) Thinking about it still brings goose bumps to me.... Yea, a super duper awesome vacation with my Girls Gang at overseas... right, only girls, five of us.. aha.. :) And the proudest thing to us is that, me and my girls paid our trip expenses by ourselves, probably including shopping... It needs a big heart when you earn in rupees and spend in dollars :P :P A real big heart... coz you just keep converting all the time.. :) :P

When we planned SG, I had never thought about getting another chance to go overseas and wanted to feel happy enjoying every moment. Now that I’m in US, it makes me feel proud but not that excited as much as I was when I visited SG.. :) Probably that’s because it was first trip to a far far away land (like you cannot forget your first crush, how can you forget your first trip out of Inida :P).

SG was just like an unseen dream come true.. It was a small talk after returning from Goa where me n my sweetheart (janeman) Purvi discussed about such a girls trip. It sounded exited and a bit unreal.. After two months, Purvi again initiated the discussion and I was like “Are we seriously going??”. And the planning started...

When to meet, what to do, what’s the plan, how to execute, are we ready, should we really go, who all are coming, why she got cancelled and so many such more questions. After sorting them, started the pre-shopping, planning, tracking, follow-ups. In the beginning it was just three of us and then added three more; the plan was to visit Phuket but finally out of 6 - five of us landed in Singapore on 20th August 2013.............

I remember the day, except me, four of them in Mumbai were booking air tickets and got to know that the particular airline which was the cheapest one has closed down the services. And with that the overall cost was gonna to be like 10K+ with other airlines... We all were so sad and started searching for options...

Finally caught hold of a guy from “Anant Paryatan” tours. Girls discussed with him and planned the complete tour of 5 days... The guy did our flight booking with “Malaysian airlines” (Mentioning here to let you know that it is the cheapest one if you wish to visit SG. But with the recent fact of the Malaysian flight getting lost, think twice before booking.. he he :P). He also did our visa, stamping, hotel booking in SG, cab booking for daily and all the tickets of all the rides.

For your information, this guy was connected with Josco travels in SG and you can directly do bookings with Josco also... (We confirmed :P)

Few Indians in SG did ask us, how did your parents allowed “only girls” to go so far... So let me take a moment and say Thank you to all the mumma’s and  papa’s... For believing in us and letting us always enjoy our life our way this time and every time... You guys are awesome :):)

Everything is just damn beautiful in SG... The city is made for an awesome tourism... Our hotel was at Ferrar Road having many Indian restaurants nearby and just opposite to the famous Mustaffa Mall...

Glimpses of SG...

I don’t wanna make it like a Travel guide for my fellow readers, but wanna mention detailed outline of our SG tour and I'm sure you will njoy reading.. –

August 20th to 24th, 2013

Aug 19-20 – Day 1 - One connection flight. Bombay - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore

We reached SG at around noon. Cabie was ready at airport to welcome us and drop us to hotel. The fun began with the fight with the guy at hotel reception. We were promised that we would get check-in two hours early by the travel agent and this guy was denying....

We checked in the hotel post lunch. The room was not that fascinating, but the feeling of you are not standing on the land of India was enough to find the room captivating..

Got fresh, took bath and ready for the Half day city Tour.. We saw Chinatown, Singapore-Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Singapore CBD, Merlion Park (Face of lion and body of fish, that’s the symbol of SG tourism) and our cab went around the city showing us the tall buildings having attractive architectures. After the sunset we went for a ride on Singapore Flyer, don’t miss that for sure. The city looks amazingly beautiful with all those lights from such a top.

Aug 21– Day 2 - Sentosa Island

We went to Sentosa Island through Cable car. We were asked to go to top floor of a building and from there we had cable cars which would drop us on the other side of the sea cutting through the air. It was fun. We did Skyline Luge and Skyride at the island. Luge was quite similar to “go karting” and skyride was a ride above the mountains. There was a Palwan Beach inside the island and ropeway build above the water to go from one side to other. The other side was the Southernmost point of continental Asia. There were trams in the Island to pick and drop us at different points. Later we saw the Underwater World, the dome shaped aquarium and the travelator around helping us to walk less with the famous Dolphin lagoon show was different experience. The best and most unforgettable part of Island was the Songs of the sea show in the evening. The laser effects creating the complete movie in the dark sky between the sea is a must must must watch.

Merlion.....

Aug 22 – Day3 - Jurong Bird park and Singapore Zoo

The most beautiful, colorful and still maintaining the natural habitat of animals resembles the Bird park and Zoo in SG. We saw a High Flyer show of Birds, I was surprised to see how they must have tamed the birds. Post lunch we went to Zoo where we saw almost each and every animal from the world. I have never seen a real lion roaming just 20-30 feet away and not even in proper cage. To add to the beauty there was a Manmade waterfall.

In the evening we asked cabie to drop us at Bugis street and did loads of shopping buying chocolates and gifls for everyone. We wanted to travel in the subway metro and took the MRT Experience while coming back to hotel. Unfortunately and with Snehal’s grace we got down ane station before and had to walk down almost a mile through the area called Little India which again proved “Indians kahi bhi rahe kabhi nai sudrenge”. That area literally looked different from rest of the SG, we felt like we were in some South Indian street. :)

Aug 23 – Day4 - Universal Studios (US) and Sea Aquarium

SG tour just cannot complete without visiting Universal Studios. Amazing Amazing Amazing… When we took the map it was like which side to start, what we should complete and what is lil less amazing which can be left undone. The entry street was so beautiful, they called it the New York street, but we started with the Sci-fi city.

Started with Sci-Fi City

TRANSFORMER, the Ride, the first and the best attraction here. – The Ultimate 3D Battle. Join OPTIMUS PRIME and the AUTOBOTS as you become a freedom fighter in the ultimate 3D battle against the forces of evil. You would surely enjoy this ride the most.. Ignore anything in Universal’s but not at all Transformers ride.

Ancient Egypt

Revenge of the Mummy - Plunge into total darkness on this indoor roller coaster as you come face to face with warrior mummies and scarab beetles. The cart takes you slowly in the beginning and then 60 seconds of speedy surprising roller coaster in the dark. It turns you upside down twice and you won’t even realize with the total darkness.

The Lost World

Canopy Flyer - A prehistoric bird’s-eye view as you soar over Jurassic Park. If you are in scarcity of time you can avoid this ride.

Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure - Enjoy a thrilling river raft ride through prehistoric dinosaur habitats where you will get wet and possibly soaked. Lil slow and ok types ride. We waited for this ride for long with the big queue but didn’t find it worth that wait.

Far Far Away

Shrek 4-D Adventure – A virtual roller coaster. See, hear and FEEL the action right from your seat as you join Princess Fiona & Shrek in a fairytale adventure. The movement of chairs you are sitting on, is fun and makes you feel that you are a part of the movie. Nice journey for the Shrek lovers.

Madagascar

Madagascar - A Crate Adventure. Go on an unforgettable river boat ride with our four heroes, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria. If you are fond of these cartoons, you would enjoy watching the beautifully created ride.

New York

Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase - Go on a space mission with Elmo and Super Grover to stop Macaroni in his plot to steal all the spaghetti from Earth. I didn’t find this ride much entertaining.

Hollywood

Street Entertainment - Daddy O's, Hang Ten Hipsters with the boys from the beach. Good to watch the street dance.

Walk of Fame - Hollywood Drive. Loads of Universal cast of characters on the road to have clicks with them. Though the day we were are Universal’s they didn’t had walk of fame in particular. 

S.E.A Aquarium –

It’s just opposite to Universal Studios. I’m sure you will be mesmerized with the super large huge aquarium and kinda auditorium where you can sit to watch it. The cylindrical shaped colorful aquarium covering few floors is also worth a watch. The information about the sea life and different sea creatures surrounding all over make it a more of an interesting place.

Aug 24 – Orchard Street

We went meet Purvi’s relative for breakfast and then she took us to Orchad road. Did quite a lot of shopping at this place. People say that’s a classy and costly area of SG, and that’s actually true. My eyes were rolling all over the brands of bags, shoe, obviously Victoria Secret :P :P There was a Russian chocolate shop in the mall and the relative gifted us a bar of it. Unfortunately we ate it a lil late when we had already left the mall. I wish if I would have tasted earlier would have bought a lot many :(

Finally had the return flight in the evening. Singapore - Kuala Lumpur - Bombay.

Five mesmerizing days at SG...

I’m not sure if my wish list ever had an outing overseas with girls. But I would like to add it and check it out :)… It was a complete 5 days of awesomeness. Days after still when I remember the moments I can feel that smile on my face.

PS.

What should I write in PS?? I’m posting after a year, and there is so so much that has happened in past one year. Right from my 2013 birthday where again I did cut 4 or 5 cakes, that surprise big bouquet on the desk from a fan :P, those chocolates, Yellow bag :), following with a wonderful Diwali.

Then Visa approval news, loads of farewell parties in Mezza9 Lounge with all the masti and dance, flaunting my new designer dress in Rohan’s marriage and finally landed in USA on 1st March.

At Rohan's shadi.. Ohh my chikki, my sonu, Appu masi misses you so much baby..

PSS.

Before coming here had many questions in mind like will I be able to stay so far, how would people treat me, can I get adjusted to this culture, will I be able to enjoy etc etc… But Thanks to all the people here, colleagues – friends – bhaiya – bhabhi without you guys it would have been difficult to survive on this new land. Thinking of writing a post on USA but not that soon, before that hopefully would come up with “Abki baar Modi sarkar ;P”. I really like the “Swatch Bharat Abhiyan”, my Convent had taught me and hopefully everyone would learn now.

PSSS.

I wanna watch Mr. Nasty Russell Peters Live… Complete my wish plz plz plz… :)

And people plz give me some surprise on my B’day as always, I wish like every other birthday this big day also makes me smile and love my life even more :( :)

Enjoy your life… Keep roaming around, exploring places, admire the beautiful nature.. Stay happy and loved.. Wish you a Happy Diwali in advance. Njoyyyy… And yea, Don’t forget to watch My SRK's Happy New Year……

Loads n loads of love… Muaaahhhhh… :):):)

In rhythm with Life – Part 2

In today’s lifestyle we give a lot of importance to our friends and why not, as much as time we spent with our family, say almost similar amount of time or at times more than that we spent with our Beloved friends.

We have all species (breeds :P) of friends, right???? Like –

Bestest friend

Best friend

Special friend

Sweetheart, dear friend

Good friend

Ok types friend

Colleague cum friend

Friends’ friend

Boring (pakau, jhelu) friend

Unfortunately friend

Forcefully (galepadu) friend

Hi/Bye friends

Wink wink friends

Classmates, roommates, college mates, school mates, teammates……………

Etc etc etc etc etc…………………………..

(No I’m not doing any publicity for Airtel though they can take up the above categories of friends in their future song “Only if they pay me the Royalty… wink wink”  :P )

I’m sure this list would be a never ending list... :)

But all these species do carve a niche in our hearts. We Mango man (aam aadmi) have habit of forgetting, we may forget the name of an OK type friend but there must be some memory attached to it which will always be in that deep down secured place in our heart. :)

And I fall under that “Lucky class” to always get the Best of the friends in my life. I wish I could write everyone’s name here and let the whole world know what they have done for me and how special they are for me. But that’s not logical… Log pakkk jayenge aur mera blog padhna band karenge… ;)

This is for you, all my sweetheart friendzzzzzzz…………

Few faces with few moments...

How can I forget the pranks played with the friends whom we used to call colony-mates. Pure minds, no gender discrimination's  no biased feelings, just friendship. The evening cricket, late hour’s badminton, the chapatti, ghanta and jolly stops, running behind each other, playing holi and those wet colors, leg pulling, teasing etc etc. Why did we even grow up, just to see, our pure plain friendships faded out in colors of responsibilities? I remember after falling from my bike in the rainy season, you all started calling me Olive and I used to hate it. Today when I remember you guys teasing me and the tiff after that, I just have a smile on my face. But yea Olive is a nice name, she is one sexy cartoon. :P Though our paths cross rarely today, but whenever I see the colony road on a calm evening, a flash back starts leaving behind a thinking brain and a cute smile behind…

How can I forget the time spent with you Divya, staying at your place, bunking the lectures, roaming, my mom’s lunch and your mom’s rajma. (I still feel like laughing on myself when I recollect how I used to wear those frocks in Std 11 in college and ride my scooty.. L L L J) I don’t know, Supriya where are you today, but sitting on the first bench with you in the class all through my school was always fun… Ryan, do you remember that fight and more or less five years of not talking to each others :P But good to have you back as a very good friend again… :) Years have passed but the pictures of that entry gate of Sacred heart Convent, those classrooms, that Portigo, The Chapel,  Sr. Mercy, Principle, Kazi sir, Vidya Miss, lipsticks of Bomra miss and beauty of Patel miss, The truth duty and love stage, the dances, the debates and the horseshoe nothing can be forgotten…

How can I forget, the tears I and Namu shared when after spending a year together she was going back to her native forever. You were the first best thing happen to me in Venu hostel and ofcourse in Pune. Missed you always… How can I forget, the way Ketki used to wake up so many times early at 5am to prepare milk for me just because I should not go empty stomach to office. My dear half doctor thanks for all your pampering, help, support, for cleaning my bed :P and for giving some space to my Fatty Pooh on your bed.. wink wink… Adding up the shaitan Sneha and pretty sweet Pallu to our room was just supercool…

With Purvi and Tejal... :)

How can I forget, the super awesome time spent, the late night gossip centers, evening chai, Sunday movie and shopping, birthday celebrations, Gannu bappa’s  festivities, Krishna Juice after dinner, Kaku ki daat  with all my “Venuens” - Payal,  Khushi, All Priya’s, Nivedi, Poonam, shweta and all those whose name I have missed. I always miss those splendid days. And Thank You for celebrating my Pooh’s Birthday, I know it was and is madness (kiddish) but you all did it for me… It’s truly said; your hostel days are always your best days… Though it was a Paying guest, but it was nothing less than a hostel (9:30pm In Time :(), right gals :P

How can I forget, all the love that you have shared Ankita, Surashree, Nikhil, Chaitanya. Though you all were Bhakti’s friends but staying together for a year plus has really got us close. I never want to forget that day when you cancelled your outing, forgot all your plans and stood with me to rub my tears. The best time spent together at Chaitanya’s Shadi will always be cherished, adding up Ritesh and Abhijeet to this group with all their PJ’s… :) This flat also gifted me with an awesome friend, Sneha. You are a sweetheart, love you so much. Thanks for all the care, love and the Bed tea with ginger in it… Sorry, that at times I shower you with my anger, but darling that’s because I love you… :) Let me also mention two more names here - Slim Nikki, dear thanks for that caress when I was not well and I needed someone to look after and Fat Nikki, dear thanks for always liking my pics and praising… :):)

How can I forget the caress of Sonali, jokes of Nikhil, talks with Vinita, gossips and all the masti did with my whole Gnext group… Never before you all came in my life, I ever thought I would get such a wonderful group in Ahmednagar College. Being a part of small city, we still spent an amazing time in college… Bunking lectures, Running from the back door, Sitting on the Katta, the dances, anchoring at the fresher’s and farewell parties, the picnics, night outs, Yearly visit to Ranvara, birthday’s, Rahul Sir’s and Wagh Sir classes,  timepass at DID and so on and so forth… :) When we recently met Hire Mama and she told us that she used to get irritated with the big bands I used to wear on my left hand in the college times; that was funny… We were really Kids… :) But when I see all those old pics, the only thing that happens to me is moist with the blink in the eye and 32 volt smile… 

Gnext group... Though a lot many are missing in this pic... :)

How can I forget the love, the talks, the life, the cries, the naughtiness shared with Purvi, Tejal, Mayank and Aashique. You guys always noticed my slightest movement and took care of my every mood. I have shared the best of my TechM moments, outings, dinner parties with you all. Purvi you are truely my Janeyman, Tejal you are my sweetest fatty, Mayank thanks for that stupid Mata song, and Aashique, “kuch tera kuch mera”. Be the same always. Promise me, we will always meet and celebrate moments all through our life though we stay anywhere. (Aadat padh gayi hai tum logo ki). You guys are my most adventurous group; its fun to roam wound the globe with you all… :)

How can I forget the most fatso sweetheart of my life, Kashyap. I’m sure even you don’t know how important you have become for me. The very next person standing in a row with my Family is you. Being with you taught me that friends are nothing less than family. You were always there when I was happy, when I was sad, when I needed someone to talk, when I needed a timepass, when I wanted to shout. And Thanks for adding Khushboo and sweet little Princess Eashta to my life… Loads of love Fatty… Waiting for the day to dawn to see you in Gym.. :P

How can I forget the tremendous time spent with my ITO batch. A bunch of 25 people coming from all over India, in one room learning the work culture with less work and more fun. Gaurav, another close friend, I can never forget the phone calls, leg-pulling, and so many learning’s… Dear, you are really lucky to have a Roopali in your life… Vishnupriya, Gayatri, Amruta and Manali, four more lovely ladies, darlings you are always close to my heart. Gayatri, wish to see you one more time in life and that pic of ours is really cool. Shubhangi (meri Rani) Muaahhh.. :) And all the EPAS, Primus, Cheetah colleagues and rest Techmighties whom I am connected to, though your name is not here, you all still have a very big existence in my life. Harish and Santosh, my TechM boyfriends :P :P You are always missed though you never paid my Airtel bills… Praful and Saaransh, two more really sweet friends. Adding Avishek, nobody has ever praised me as much as you did, though it was an overdose at times but any girl would love it… And ofcourse that Chai counter owner also, he was kinda handsome… :P

How can I forget the moments celebrated with my OMS team. First few days here in Cognizant were like “Kaha mai in badhe budhe boring logo ke beech aa gayi hu”. Later all my thoughts changed. I can never forget the teachings and help of Patel and Chandan. I always loved the gossips with you Chaitra and Shwetha, the fights with Vikram, a lovely friend like Vishal (so called dattak putra :P), time spent with Ashu, Paul, Sangeetha, Amit, Chaitrali, Siddharth, etc and the whole Putnam TSS was and is always awesome. The best times were when you guys get drunk in the parties and then Paul calls me Cute... wink wink…

OMS team at Cognizant... :) Right, they work in corporate.. :P

I’m sure I have missed a lot many important names. Apologies to all of them whose name is not here, but you know I still Love you, right :) :)

People thanks for being an inevitable part of me. You all are always remembered in thick and thin. A friendship can withstand most things and bloom in thin soil but for that some emails, many phone calls, and small big silly gifts are needed. He he, kidding ofcourse. But yea, just don’t let the moments get dry out completely, be in touch. Vo kehte hai na “Dua mai yaad rakhna”

Honestly, your advice, solutions, irritations, your sharing of smile, of pain, touching the wounds with warmth, your tender care, complaints, hugs, kisses, praises is required to breathe. It’s said “Happy girls look Beautiful”. Being with you all makes me Happy and I’m sure you want me to look beautiful. :P

A big hug from me to all of you for all the awesome times you gave me. And I don’t want to miss this opportunity to let you guys know that you all are awesome people and Love you, love you so much… :)

PS. I can’t even apologize now for sharing my post after so many months though most of it was written long back… Schedules have really tightened up, things have changed, but I know I should not neglect this space which I love the most. Not a promise, but would try to be a bit regular…

PSS. It was 5^th July again, and my Pooh celebrated its 6^th Birthday with me… :P:) Got a new haircut and it’s looking cool on me… Thanks to Wasim again…:)

PSSS. And yea… A news… Appu’s flying Singapore for a vacation… So damn exited, happy, waiting for the D day… its gonna be fun…

Closing here with one wish… Stay Connected always………..

Loads of Love….. Muaaaahhhhhhhh…………………

In rhythm with life… Part 1...

“The line used for the topic of this post is been copied from an advertisement poster :)”

I was watching some old videos and slipped into the flash back (the only difference was my flash back was colorful unlike on silver screen. :D) But this flash of memories took me to the “left world” which was once “my world”. God, how I long for those days to come over and over again. Occasionally we meet, we chat, we talk over the phone; we are connected with the same passion but…….. (It’s difficult to continue this but)

The bulk of photographs that I have preserved (Thanks to Google and the 5 ID’s that I have created in Picasa only to upload the pics) and the awesome videos captured knowingly or unknowingly are a lot prestigious to me. I believe in clicking loads of photos and saving in a repository where I can visit and view them whenever I want. And when I see them, the beautiful memories, the awesome time spent together either bring moisture to my eye or a smile on my face.

Ups and downs come in everyone’s life and they say only people who are strong can survive those harsh times, but I believe only people who have strong relations, gr8 families, superb friends can withstand any storm and stand upright to face another one.  I may not be 100 present correct but that’s what my past experiences have taught me. And I’m grateful to God; He has always given me such awesome relations in my life.

Let me recollect the day when by mistake all the messages in my mobile got deleted, and how much I had cried after that. Not because those messages were deleted but because those memories got erased which had some beautiful lines written by my friends, some thanks, some praises which I would always like to keep close, some flirting, blushes and so many emotions.

In the pic clicked on Bhakti's B'day from left - Brother Vishal, Appu, Mom, Younger sis Bhakti, Nephew Eshaan (Chikki), Dad, Eldest sis Viashali, Second elder sis Sheetal, Second elder jiju Ajay. 

Your small deeds can make a lot of difference in someone’s life. My Mom would always hug me when I come back to Pune on every Monday after spending weekend at my native. Whenever I would shout and say “Mom I’m leaving”, she would come the fastest she can leaving her work behind and would grab me and hug before I could cross the gate. My Dad; I have a habit of calling him daily around 1:00pm, and he would wait for my call “that’s what he says”. If ever I forget or skips to call for some reason, he would wait for some hours and then finally call me before evening. He says he is habituated to my call and feels uneasy if I don’t call and same is with me. This is what I would call as Love. Saying Love you is important but making the person feel it without saying is magical.

My eldest sis, how should I explain her caress, she is nothing less than a mom to me. My sisters younger son Chikki, a 6 year old cutie pie once made me realize who I am for him. He asked me to make a drawing in his notebook which was a part of his homework. I told him I’m getting late, tell your mom to do it. Then he used an awesome trick. He winked at me and told, “Masi means Maa jaisi na, so you will do this for me, right.” :) I was short of words; the only thing I could do was make that drawing for him. To Chikki, it was just a normal line taught by his mom, but for me those words meant a lot. Muaah Chiiki, love you…

In the pic clicked at Manntra Resort from left - Appu, Bha, Chikki, Vishal, Nephew Tanmay, Eldest jiju Nilesh

If we can love our parents, our siblings, our cousins, our family, why can’t we love our friends. Why people take it otherwise when it comes to friends, be it of same gender or the other. For me my close friends are very very important part of my life. They have given a different meaning to my being in this world and I love them a lot. The love, the care, the smiles, that I have got from all of them can never be forgotten. So before it gets anymore late… I Love you all my dear friends… You all are darlings… You all are awesome.. :) (Yes, You all are gonna be in the part 2 of this post, wait for it... ;))

PS.

I know I’m writing a post after so many months and have missed so many important updates to be scripted on this blog. Right from Ankita’s Marriage fun in July end, the superb Rakhshabandhan celebration, Bhakti’s birthday, Purvi’s surprise b’day celebration n visit to Water Kingdom in Mumbai, two days fun in Manntra Resort with Di jiju and baccha party, Gunnu bappa visarjan with the whole lot of colony in a fleet of 10+cars, the Dhonda function at home and finally the superb Varguda procession at my native. (Now plz don’t ask me what Dhonda and Varguda is, it’s difficult to explain.. :P)

PSS.

This is funny, but seriously I came across the most shameless guys in the world, my teammates(OMG). They are darlings but they are shameless. And after reading this they will laugh shamelessly I’m sure about it. There is one Rule every guy should remember, whatever he does, wherever he stays, He should always have ample amount of Cash in his Wallet. Using cards is ok, but having Cash is Mandatory guys. :D :D But yes, my dear shameless buddies, this journey in CTS would have been boring without you all… wink wink.. ;)

PSSS.

That’s clicked 1.5 year back, but I just got it 2 days ago… Yep, I was 5kg minus at that time, Still that’s another lovely pic, isn’t it???

Loads n loads of love… Carry that music always in your heart and build loads of memories to gather and take with you all through the life…. A big kiss with a big smile…. Muuuuuaahhhhhh…..

Sama’s (Grand) Wedding

:) :) :)

:P :P :P

:D :D :D

Lol lol lol

Rolf rolf rolf

He he he

Ha ha ha

Ho ho ho

Well, these are the only signs, words, terms which I know in English to describe the laughs, the smiles, the fun, the masti we all had.

Before I start lemme show some gratitude and pass a Thanks to Chaitanya for getting married and calling us, opps just not calling but forcing us to attend his marriage 900 kilometers away.

It was an awesome journey, picnic, trip, wedding ceremony, reunion of roomies, friends. That was the first time that I witnessed a South Indian wedding (Telagu) and truly speaking, it was worth travelling so far.

Our Journey was –

Pune – Ahmednagar – Aurangabad – Hyderabad – Vijaywada – Ongole – Vijaywada – Hyderabad – Pune.

So who all were a part of this enjoyment of 5 days –

Appu the gorgeous, Bha Little Miss Perfect, Ankita Miss Naughty, Surashree the sweetest, Nikhil Caring Helping, Abhinandan Ankita’s Fiance cool and sensible, Ritesh Mr. Sense of Humour, Abhijeet Slow Smart Sugary, Rohan the handsome hunk  and ofcourse Chaitanya the groom.

Almost 24 hours we travelled to reach the destination and almost same hours to reach back. However those hours were just not a tiresome train travel; it was a lot more. A mix of gossips, jokes, lame pj’s, pathetic one liner’s, nonstop Dumb Shiraz, playing cards, uno and many many many games. Games like Chip-chilli chip-chilli chip chip chip, Hawahawai, Donkey-Monkey, Purple Pulsar, Kaangoshti (Chinese talk), Nonsence, One Two Ehhhh…

Lemme explain you the Ehhh in the last game - This Ehhh Sound should come from your neck, you’re your tongue on your lips while making the sound same as Akshay Kumar does in HoseFull2. I was an expert in making that Ehh sound as per Nikhil. You know what that means, as per Akki in the movie both the K’s in me have come out :) ;)

Note – If you want to learn these games, you can call me and I will teach you however be ready with Guru Dakshina, some bournville’s, lindt’s would help depends on the course of game that you are learning :D :) And then when you teach others, you will have to give me Royalty… :) “”chalo zindagi bharke chocolates ka kaam ho gaya..”” ;) ;)

What all we did at the wedding –

Enjoyed the yummy south Indian food, with so many different types of rice having different flavors.

See here are the Bhukkad’s of our group.

Left Pic is where they started with such a full plate and Pic to the right is their empty plate after the dinner. Seems like “”Do bhuke chor kisi anjani shadi me ghuske begano ki tarah khana kha rahe hai””. And when they would read this line, these 2 hopeless creatures would take it as a compliment and say wow, the food was so yummy… :( :D

Danced like hell on the beats of Telagu songs, and the orchestra guys showed some courtesy by playing Punjabi songs which helped us grab the floor with more enthu. That was the first time I recognized that I can sport a sari with utmost confidence even while posing heavy Punjabi steps. Enjoyed the dance and the shoot while dancing a lot.

We joined the Didi’s and the mom’s in the rituals. There were two amazing, attention seeking rituals which we enjoyed the most. I would appreciate if all the priests in India add these customs in their books of chants. :)

The first one where the bride and groom would sit facing each other to shower the partner with rice mixed in turmeric, flower petals, colorful pearls, colorful sequence, thermocal  balls, etc. The showers seemed to be so pretty, so heavenly, so different. The religious meaning of showering all these on each other as per Sama’s dad is – 1st shower – for good virtuous life, 2^nd – for good healthy children, 3^rd – for respect and all luxuries, 4^th – to have religious touch in life. Rest all showers are just for fun sake.

The below pics would explain more –

The best ritual was something like bride and groom sharing food without using hands. Lemme explain. One partner would hold one side of the food item in his mouth with some part of it outside the mouth and the other partner needs to eat the part of the item which is outside the mouth. And the food items were from a big puri till the little Raisin. Imagine Raisin :D :D God, that’s difficult to explain but the photos below will explain it all.

Such a bold game, isn’t it??? I wish even we had such awesome rituals. :):) :) Else when are we gonna get such changes in India to give such bold poses in public…

Next, we daily slept late, but why?? Read further, before using your thinking caps. :) We slept late just to have a long chitchat, open a gossip center, play games and do everything that we did in train as I told you in the beginning of the post. The only difference was in train at times people got annoyed and shouted on us, however our stay was in a 4star Hotel Minerva Grand where no one would dare to shout on us though we were shouting laughing the loudest we can till half of the night; hospitality right :D

And finally placed Loads of makeup, wore different traditional dresses and did photo sessions all the time… Thanks to Nikhil and Abhinandan for being so patient and clicking our pics. But don’t you think photographs are important… “”vo kehte hai na – Baaten bhul jati par yaaden yaad rehti hai aur ye yaaden aur bhi acche se yaad rahegi jab humare pass dher sare photos honge hamari yaadon ko baton mai badalne ke liye….”” :)

Sorry to use such a big Hindi line, but it was difficult to convey so much essence of the above lines in English… :)

Above pic is one of the last clicks on the platform waiting for our train to depart us... ohh, that luggage, it's is just half ... :) Our return journey was a mix of emotions in the eyes. No one poured the tears, but the moist eyes said it all.

Thanks to Surashree’s Aunt for such a yummy dinner which she packed for 2 of our groups, since for the half distance back to our home we were gonna separate and travel in 2 different trains, 4 in each train… Though Surashree was in another train, her aunt packed the dinner for us too. Marwadi’s, they always want to feed the world… :) Not biased, but that’s true… :)

And before I end up…. Thank you guys to be a part of my life. It’s correctly said life is heaven when your friends become your family and that’s what you all are for me. Touch Wood, but God has bestowed me with such awesome friends, family, cousins, who all make my life more worth living. Time spend with you all is so memorable that it would keep a smile on my face for days to go and would make me feel bad with the thought of those days to come back. Greedy mind, you know. I wish to see such gr8 days with you all gr8 people always in life.

There’s a lot more that I can add to this, a lot more that I wanna speak, however people always compliant why I write such big big posts, so tried to cut-short the topics :):) The photos in the post are making it look more big... Still I guess it’s another big post however if I write once in a month or two, the post has to be biggggg, right ?????

PS.

First time witnessed a cricket match live on Stadium with all baccha party. Kids from UKG till Std 12^th, and that was fun. Though the match was boring and Pune lost badly, but we enjoyed the fights, the fun, the complaints and a lot more with kids…

PSS.

Another Stunning pic, isn't it???… Photo Courtesy Nikhil :)

Love you all… Njoy... Have loads n loads of outings and parties all through the year… Muaaaahhhhh….