Busy busy busy

Hiya... it has been a busy weekend with loads to do:

• Call Samsung service centre for removal of AC and LCD. I had to call everday for 5-6 days. They would tell me someone will call back in 24 hours. When I called back to complain they would ask me to wait till 8 pm... after which their call centre closes and they cannot be reached until the next day. A very, very, very frustrating incident. Finally, I did what I do best... bullied them into giving the service.
• Call Airtel DTH for removal of antenna... this was by far the MOST frustrating job. I called and placed the request one week in advance... for 3-4 days I received calls from executives everyday wanting to come and remove the antenna. I wanted someone to come on Saturday or Sunday. Nobody called on Friday and I called them giving a specific time for someone to turn up. I was assured someone would be there. Nobody turned up. I called back... they said executive is scheduled to come in the evening who will call in 2 hours. Nobody called, of course. I took the contact of the service manager... who was on leave and he directed me to another female... who directed me to another guy... who directed me to a 3rd person... whose phone was unreachable. To end the long story the guy turned up in the evening... when he wanted to and refused to even wait for 5 mins extra.
• Movers and packers have taken ALL my stuff. Yes.. I am living without TV, bed, wardrobe, fridge, gas connection etc. The house looks so much bigger now... but feels as lonely as I am. I don't look forward to coming home. My only support is the broadband connection but even that will be gone this week
• Follow up with the landlord on the deposit is a pain. He was giving me stories about how his wife is in the hospital and he is busy. I asked KC only 1 question; "If we had to return someone's money and one of us was on our death bed... would we have done it on time?" The answer is "Yes". When you make a commitment you keep it. And it is MY money, I have every right to demand it on time. On our part, we have never delayed any of his payments... instead have supported him by paying him before time. But then, a landlord will always be a landlord.
• Gas has been disconnected... this was a smoother process since all my documents were in place.

Managing a house alone is not easy and none of the companies make it easier.

Comfort Zone

Hey... I had my farewell with my team. I had been preparing in my head over and over again what I am going to say but everything flew out of the window. I suck at being emotional except when it comes to being a clingy, emotional wreck of a girlfriend. I excel at THAT.

This entire week has been about packing, calling electrician, customer care of Samsung, Airtel DTH, Airtel broadband, MTNL, gas connection etc etc etc... not to mention- the actual packing, cleaning the fridge. So much to do. Tomorrow the house will become completely empty. I will only have mattresses and pillows. Just the way we started off.

I am scared of whats coming next. The known enemy is always safer than the unknown. Being a Gemini I love change and at the same time getting out of the comfort zone takes some effort.

When I was in Gurgaon I was so bored 3 years back. I wanted to move out and when the announcement of the movement came I was scared. Life had been comfy till then... work from 10 to 6... saturdays off... no pressure of sales... no accountability... and no supervision. This is the 2nd time I have to move out of my comfort zone and the challenges have already doubled.

Wish me luck, people.

Book Reviews

Being alone in Gurgaon gave me a lot of time to catch up on reading and below are the book reviews:

• Single in the City by Susmita Bose

The book is a collection of columns by Susmita. She used to write the columns on her single life in Delhi for HT. If you think her single life was all about fun, dating, sex... well, you will be disappointed. For some reason, Susmita steered cleared of these topics and mainly wrote abou

t

friends, Bengali food and family. I am surprised the columns were popular. I w

ould never read them with my morning Bournvita. The title is completely misleading.

• The Hindi Bindi club- Monica Pradhan

I have steered clear of this book for the longest time... it had been slated as "chick lit

" in my head... one of the cliches...

I was pleasantly surprised. The book is a cliche but well written. It is about 3 frien

ds in USA who have migrated from India. It describe

s the relationships with their family- daughters, husbands and among themselves. Good book except the end... which drags a lot. Worth a read.

• Diary of the wimpy kid: The ugly Truth

The last in the series... as of yet. Everyone should read all the books. I will watch the movie soon.

Back home

Hiya... I am back home and I managed to finish the most important task- washing 2 bagfuls of clothes.

Searching a house in Gurgaon is more difficult and expensive than in Mumbai. No kidding. 3 years back I was looking for a 1bhk and had to settle for a 2 bhk shared with a male colleague. Right now it is a 2bhk and brokers were pushing me for a 3 bhk since there are a very few complexes with 2 bhk. True or false? I don't know but we had to exceed our budget by a few thousand. I don't know if the flat is worth that much but we didn't have an option.

This is what I was looking for in a dream home:

• Close to office... not more than 30 mins of distance in peak traffic
• 2 bhk with 2 bathrooms and 2 balconies
• Good complex with good security
• Good view
• Walking distance from a market

Gurgaon has 2 main markets (not malls)- Galleria and Qutub Plaza. It is preferable to stay around either of these. I had planned to start searching Sunday onwards once KC was with me but it was Holi and brokers were not too keen on working that day. That would have left only 2 days to finalize everything (flight back was on Wed). I decided to start the search on Thursday itself:

• Day 1: Thursday- The broker I had contacted when in Mumbai showed me a dirty 3 bhk. I wanted to hit him over the head. I wanted a 2 bhk ONLY. Another broker called me to Sushant Lok and didn't turn up
• Day 2: Friday- My colleague and I went to see a flat in Silver Oaks (the complex I was staying in 3 years back). Flat was good but rent was over my budget. My colleague was not too pleased with the area and showed me other complexes which are farther away.
• Day 3: Saturday- I didn't go to work since brokers had promised to show me flats in the morning. In the evening I managed to see 2 flats- Silver Oaks and Regency Park. I liked both. 3 days, 15 brokers and only 4 flats? By now I requested the brokers to show me anything in my budget- no matter how far. I was afraid and decided to pick one of the 2.
• Day 4: Sunday- KC and me were trapped in the room for most of the day. It was Holi... there was no conveyance available and everything was closed. I showed him Regency Park but he was not too impressed... found the flat old and decaying.
• Day 5: Monday- We decided to go ahead with the Silver Oaks flat. I knew KC would like it. Closed the formalities. None of the brokers called back with options even on the 5th day.

Here are my views on Gurgaon/Delhi:

• Nothing much has changed in Gurgaon... it is still a concrete jungle
• Traffic has become much, much worse
• Thankfully, there are a few autos available for travel but they charge a bomb
• Delhi NCR is a shoppers paradise when it comes to brands... Mango has 2 outlets in Delhi (that I know of... maybe there are more) and 1 outlet in Gurgaon while Mumbai has only 1 outlet
• Delhi women are well dressed. I could count the number of women who had not put on make up. Mac, Colorbar, Inglot etc have their outlets. Inglot in Select Citywalk has 50-60 shades of nail paints... it is unbelievable.

I look forward to living in a flat on the 14th floor with enough space for our stuff.

KC and I have been arguing on where we will put our LCD and whether we want the 2nd TV in the bedroom or in the study. It is kinda fun.

The countdown begins... 10 days more.

Coming soon... reviews of 3-4 books.

Cricket Vs Me

Cricket and I have never been friends... not even acquaintances until now. Now, we share the same bedfellow and the threesome is not fun.

I have been in a boarding school all my life and cricket was far, far away. We played throwball and basketball. Our house was female dominated and dad was not too interested in cricket. On rare days when he managed to get a peek in, the females swooped in and snatched the remote. My bro is a cricket fan and we indulged him during holidays.

It is a different story now. KC was describing how he used to watch every match at home, watch the highlights also, read every article in the papers, discuss matches with friends and play the game at every opportunity.

I do not want to deny KC his passion and first love and trust me, I have tried to take interest in the game. But its not working... the more I watch it, the more I hate it. It does not help that there is no escape... if the TV is off... people post about it on fb and tweet about it. That is very weird... if I am a cricket fan I am watching the match, do I need to read about every over, run and wicket on fb/twitter? And if I am not a fan, I don't bloody care.

Last Saturday was damn boring. The match dragged on for hours and gave me a headache. No amount of reading or Gossip Girl could make me ignore it.

This Saturday, KC decided to let go off the end of match so we could go out for dinner.

I do not understand how people "watch" games. If you enjoy something, play it. What is the fun in watching it?

KC's recent wish is that I will watch the match with him and enjoy it. I don't see that happening. All I can do is let him watch it in peace. And I am pushing my tolerance to the utmost limits.

Lazy Sunday

It is a super duper lazy Sunday. The maid came at .. I don't remember. I only opened the door and then she let the cook in. I was in a deep, deep slumber. These days Sundays begin at 11 am for me. I cannot wake up before that. Its like I am catching up on all the sleep lost during the week.

I was extremely tired yesterday having woken up at 6 am for the training and then drove to Vashi to pick up KC. By the time we reached home I had no energy. KC was sweet enough to cook some Maggi to perk me up.

Dinner was at Aromas Thane... a fab place in Hiranandani Meadows.

We finished packing most of the stuff lying around. Now it is upto the movers and packers. This week is also hectic... I will be flying to Gurgaon for 6 days. Hope to find a perfect house without too much heartburn.

Ciao.

Off to

... a training in the remotest area of Mumbai. So... not looking forward to it. I will be cut off from internet and civilization. The only hope is... my laptop. I will carry it along so that I can atleast watch 1 episode of Gossip Girl every night. I am downloading and saving the episodes to last 2 days.

Bubuye.... next update on Sunday.

Updates

I am exhausted, tired, hungry, sleepy and my feet ache. This has been the state the last few days... even on Sunday. Below are some updates:

• I got my car back from the garage after 4 days... "Daboo" (KC's nickname for the car... terrible one) has been unlucky lately... first it was the engine, brake, clutch... then the tyres and then I had a minor accident... the bumper had to be changed. Driving it today was like going into the arms of an old lover.... so comfortable. I realized how much I have missed it. Life is so much better with a car... the realization hits me everytime it is not available and I have to use autos/cabs.
• The packing is behind schedule. Actually, I have not done anything since packing the books. KC and I decide every weekend but become lazy. Today, I managed to pack my extra clothes which is a load off my chest. The gadgets and documents are next on the list. Will you believe it if I told you I need one bag only for my shoes and purses?
• I have been staying alone since I started earning. Weekends for me mean splurging because that assuages the loneliness and money can definitely buy happiness. Even KC does not always know what I buy and for how much. When we stay together these expeditions will stop or reduce. I will have to find reasons to shop... hmm... food for thought.
• I still cannot believe we are moving. I am looking forward to the househunt next week.

Mission Accomplished

One fine day while looking for recipes for different desserts I realized I cannot try most of them 'coz I need gelatin. I could not find the ingredient in any super/hyper market. After more than a month of search I managed to find it in a small shop in Chandivali. But then I could not find the recipes. The same thing happened with another ingredient- cinnamon and also muffin moulds.

Anyway, I have wanted to try muffins for a long time now. After hours of waiting for KC I started baking with a vengeance. The recipe is from Anita's blog (www.sliceofmylyfe.blogspot.com).

• Oil – 1/2 cup (you can use butter also if you want)- I used butter
• Eggs – 3 large
• Flour – 1 cup (Maida)
• Whole Wheat Flour – 1 cup (Normal atta)
• Sugar – 2/3 cup
• Milk – 1 Cup
• Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
• Dark Choco Chips – 1 cup (milk will do too) – I used blocks of Cadbury’s dairy milk and chopped them to bits. I used Bournville dark chocolate. Bring the chocolate at room temperature and break into small pieces
• Cinnamon Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Oats- 3/4 cup
• Baking Powder – 1tbsp

Preparation

• Whisk together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence. Whisk as you want, but it wouldn’t turn fluffy and creamy as a mixture with butter would. But I would suggest that you whisk it well for about 15 minutes or more. I used a beater (attachment with Morphy Richards) for 5 mins
• Mix together the dry ingredients i.e flours, oats, sugar and baking powder and chocolate chips
• With a spatula fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Try not to over mix and thats the key to good cup cakes/muffins .
• Pour into a lined cupcake moulds. Bake in a preheated oven for at 180C for about 15-20 minutes till the skewer comes out clean

They taste good and are healthier 'coz of oats, wheat flour (instead of only maida).

Waiting for KC's verdict.

Next weekend: Cup cakes with tutti fruti.

Battle for Bittora

This is the 2nd book by Anuja Chauhan (of Zoya Factor fame). It is a very mild version of Mills and Boon. The whole story revolves around a boy and girl... I knew the end but kept reading.

I liked the book... it is funny and unlike the previous one where the background was cricket here it is politics. Quite funny.

Similarities between this book and M&B:

• The guy is too hot. Most of his body has been described sensuously... the legs, chest etc etc
• They make out the first time they meet but cannot go all the way
• They have misunderstandings where she thinks he is a creep

Worth a read.

Btw, I am amazed at how far M&B has come. As a teenager I had to wrap the front cover in newspaper to hide the erotic pic. And god help me if my family or the nuns at school caught me with it. Buying it was a blasphemy. Now it is available in Crossword and well highlighted... there are writing contests to encourage new writers. There is one book written by an Indian author.

I outgrew them after 4 books only 'coz they were so predictable.

Nostalgia

I was reading my old blog and the frankness of the posts amazed me... I used to be so open, fun, warm... and "naive". I miss the old me. Life does toughen us up even when we don't want it to.

Either we become cold on the outside and the inside or we become cold inside and preserve the outer warmth... in other words, we fake it. I admire people who can let themselves "out there" 'coz I cannot.

I am going to move in with KC... finally. We have been craving for this moment for almost 2 years and yet I have not taken out the time to savour the moment. I have not tried to feel happy. I am so scared... I don't want to wake up and realize it is a dream. I remember how I had cried in December thinking that its going to be another long, drawn out process and one of us will have to make tough decisions. I may have to quit... look for another job. Sigh!!! Looking for another job is tiring. I want to do it only when I reach a stage where going to work makes me want to cry every morning. Thats the signal that its time to quit. Until then, I guess its not so bad.

Most of the posts on the old blog are on guys... the hurt felt when I was dumped, getting over the heartbreak, moving on, searching for love etc etc. Now I think; "It was about standing still and letting love find me". Thats the only explanation I have.

KC is not perfect (faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr from it) but he is perfect for me. I love how he is so warm with me... always cuddling, hugging, just being next to me. I remember telling him I am not a touchy feely person and would not be comfy even holding hands. I always preferred to sit opposite a guy in the restaurant so I could look at him when we talk. KC taught me to sit next to him so we could be naughty. I love how I can nag him into doing things... how we fight and laugh the next moment (if it is not something extremely serious).

I love his sense of humour the most... it is as mean as mine... ok, maybe meaner. I love how he can turn my outbursts into jokes. Our favourite is the one where I was extremely frustrated with him and in the most sarcastic, womanly manner said; "Thanks for the support!!!" I have to hear the line from him whenever I don't do little things... like maybe compliment him or get him something from the kitchen.

But the best part was the courtship period when he was all mushy and sweet talk and gentlemanly .. bringing me a rose on EVERY date. I kid you not... he did that. Anyone who has met him will not believe it... and he and I both would not dream of him getting roses now. And of course, we both have the same level of perversion. That really, really helps.

Someone tweeted the other day; "As I grow older I lose my looks but gain a personality".

Ok... here is something hilarious I came across. My sis had make a mock matrimonial profile for me long, long, long back: (Bogi, Mogi and Chari are Sindhi mild abuses between me and my sis)

Name: XYZ

Date of Birth: 11^th June, 1973

Sex: Female

Height: 5”

Weight: 90 Kgs

Education:

Up to Std X: Bogis High School, Mt. Abu

BE (2005): Bachelor of Idiotical Engineering, Ahmedabad

MBA: Sadal College, Karnataka (First in University)

Background: XYZ is bogi, mogi, and chari. She has grown up in a tightly-knit nuclear family of five that respects cultural and religious values. She is very religious, and performs pooja ten times a day, five of which are in a Hindu temple. She enjoys singing, dancing, painting, acting, modeling, carpentry, reading, robotics, and astronomy. She may not necessarily be good in these, though. She is full of dignity, truth, and honesty.

SIBLING DETAILS

Sister’s Name: ABCABA ABC (MBA, married and settled in New York)

Background: ABC is the epitome of intelligence and beauty, and is God’s gift to mankind. She complements XYZ bogi in every way. ABC has truly contributed to Kalyug’s human race with the goodness of her kind heart. She has greatly uplifted the standard of living of India’s poverty-stricken masses.

What we are looking for: We are seeking a boy with potential for being hen-pecked. We want someone who will dance to her tunes and put each paisa of his salary in her hand. Looks and good body extremely important (sinewy muscles a must), brains optional.

With that... it is good bye, finally.

The first phase of packing begins

Yeah... the first phase of packing begins which includes packing books (cartons on left) and not unpacking any new purchases (cartons on right).

The phase 2 will include packing the electronic items... digicams, handycam, loads of CDs, wires, chargers etc etc etc.

Whew!!! Just the thought of packing everything and unpacking it makes me tired. It was much simpler when we moved to Mumbai. I just brought my bag of clothes. We bought the rest slowly and steadily. We didn't have any furniture for 6 months and slept on mattresses.

• I woke up at 5 am with Justin Beiber singing in my head on Sunday. But I found something to help me sleep
• It is a very hectic week... month beginning always is and I already need a break
• I broke my resolution of not buying any more footwear. I came across shoes from Enroute for Rs 999 in sale... MRP is Rs 2499 and latched onto them. I have purchased a pair of the same brand earlier and right now they are my favourite. I am tempted to visit Shoppers Stop again and find more deals
• I have just started experimenting with make up and it is so much fun. It helps that I work for a company which markets make up brands. I finally succumbed. In college, the only make up we applied was the eye liner and lipstick... never wore it to classes though. Foundation and masacara was beyond reach.

Thats all from me. Yawn... I will get back to Gossip Girl season 2... my latest obsession.

Btw... The new look rocks.