Cold...

Hiya. Its been a busy week. Any week where I have to go to Faridabad and Noida/Ghaziabad is hectic. I have not had a moment to breathe. Also, the Sunday dance classes just add to the stress. I do enjoy them but it does get tiring and I like my Sundays free.

Anyway, the performance is next Saturday. Hope it goes off well. If it does not, its ok. I am not planning to become a professional. Today I had to go shopping for the outfit- checked skirt, puffed sleeves top and skin colored stocking. Stepping into Promod is really hard on my pocket. I cannot leave with only 1 outfit. Sigh!!!

There are things I have been meaning to talk about:

• Arranged marriage: 2 of my friends have started looking out for partners through arranged marriage route since their own search has been unsuccessful. In a way, arranged marriage is a convenient thing in India. It is not looked down upon. What about people in the USA? They have to find their own partners. What they cannot find anyone and want to get married? Anyway, these friends are educated, broad minded people but when it comes to arranged marriage- the rules remain the same. A grounded, good looking girl who is well educated and has a career but is not ambitious to pursue it strongly. Also, someone who can cook and will "blend" with the family. Everything is skewed towards the males. Can a female have "cooking" as a desirable trait in her partner? Naah... people will laugh at her. She is only supposed to compromise. Totally unfair. KC and me were discussing. I think the whole concept of a female moving in with the guy and taking his surname is very old fashioned. Can she ask her guy to move in with her parents? No, right? And why not? Are her parents not important? The whole concept worked when women were not working and males had to support wife, kids and parents. That does not apply anymore. Of course, KC did not want to argue or agree with me. Men!!!
• Last month when I met my cousin, she told me she had quit her job. I was shocked. Even though we are in 2012 (when the world is supposed to end), my family does not consider financial independence of the female to be important. Strange since there have been many incidences where arranged marriage has led to fatal consequences. This cousin- lets call her L, was one of the few females in the family who was working. She had completed her engineering in a reputed college of Mumbai and joined a reputed company. Her parents are looking out for a groom and decided that she should stay home and lose weight instead. I was sickened by the whole thing. Of course, my arguments were shot down by my mom who thought anything is better than giving girls so much independence that they marry against parents' wishes. Argument over. Case closed. If things have not progressed for my family, what about the majority of the population? Will females ever get their due?
• Met a friend last month. We had discussions on variety of topics. I had forgotten how much fun that can be. One of the topics discussed was fidelity or infidelity. We decided that a person does not cheat because he/she is dissatisfied by the other partner. It is always because of lack of something in the person and not the relationship. There are people who cheat and there are others who do not. It is a matter of character and will power. Anything else is an excuse. No, I am not moralizing. This is an opinion of someone who has been there. I am quite familiar with my dark sides. I think it is quite important to make mistakes so that you realize their consequences. Life is all about experimenting. There is a time to play with fire and a time to play safe. I have played with fire and have moved to the safe side.
• I want to feel warm- if only for 5 minutes. Last weekend, there was sunshine and it was barely cold. I was so happy. I thought winter is over. Monday began with fog and rain. What is worse than cold? It is cold+rain. I just want to be warm... and nothing makes me warm enough. And I want to feel the sun. I miss the sun.

I will be back with movie reviews tomorrow. The cooking is on hold right due to lack of time and energy.

Back with a bang

Hiya... I had gone for a sales conference to Pune. I dislike conferences, corporate parties etc etc... I used to hate them. The hatred has lessened. I do not understand the fun and joy in drinking, dancing and interacting for 4 hours and more. 1 hour is my limit... after that I am ready to shoot myself. Anyway, 3 days were spent in Pune attending presentations at the end of which I won an award for best sales performance in my channel. It felt good.

On Sunday I met my brother and Mom. I treated them to lunch at 'Out of the Blue', an amazing restaurant in Bandra. The first time I went there was with an acquaintance from B-School. We ate 3 courses... pasta, pizza and fondue. KC and I have been there many, many times. Do visit it if you are on Carter road.

I also met another acquaintance from B-School in Pune- H. We used to be good friends but it didn't last. I don't remember our last conversation in college. But, thats the thing about friendship... you can pick it up any time anywhere. 2.5 hours passed away in a jiffy.

And now it is back to the cold.... mornings are foggy, I can barely spot the next building. We come up and tuck ourselves in the blanket with soup... KC likes to sleep by 10.30 pm which is a shocker since his normal sleeping hour was 1 am.

More ... later... adios...

Its been a good day... good, good day

It has been a good Sunday. The morning was a rush. I could not wake up early enough to go to the gym. The plan was to finish all chores in the morning and meet some friends for lunch at Khan Market. We rushed to Galleria to buy groceries, veggies/fruits and a b'days gift for the friend. We had to meet A and D. It was D's b'day yesterday and I wanted to get him a gift even thought A asked me not to. It is so difficult to buy something for someone who can afford

everything... what can you gift a guy? With KC, its different... I spend enough time to notice what he is drooling after and what he needs... but for friends, it becomes difficult... specially guys. I got a cologne from Body Shop. We rushed home... I got dressed while KC napped. After a very long time, I wore my heels. I am not comfy in heels and do not like it when my legs ache. Also, work involves travelling, walking and standing around... so I avoid heels. Today was the perfect day for it... since the only walking would be from my car to the restaurant.

Lunch was at Big Chill where we had to wait for 45 mins even though a table had been booked in advance. When I gave D the gift, he looked quite embarrassed and told me it was unnecessary since now he will have to remember my b'day and then buy a gift and finding a gift for females can be a drag. Wow!!! I never thought of it that way... I mean, I had to meet up with girlfriends a day before or after my b'day... a gift would be given to the b'day girl. No questions about it... its taken for granted. I guess, men are different... very different.

A complained that I not gifted him anything for his b'day. Well, when I called to wish him... he

had denied that it was his b'day and that facebook was lying. No kidding.

After the crazy lunch, we dropped in at L'Opera... A and D wanted to see what the big deal about the macaroons is... what is it that costs 130 bucks. They were unimpressed.

We headed home soon after. Rest of the day was spent lazing around.

Some pics of my fav heels... I don't remember when I bought them.... its been more than 2 years.

Time for Update...

What have I been doing??? Loads...

• I didn't feel like going to my dance class today. It was actually an extra class and since I missed class on Thursday it was sort of compulsory for me to attend. One part wanted me to just stay at home and laze around... the other part knew I would regret it and the guilt would eat me if I did not go. So, I went... I really needed the break. 1.5 hours of hectic moving has made me cheerful again
• I spilled milk on my blackberry phone. It started acting weird... switching off and on at will. The people at the service centre told me to give it for 6-7 days; after which it may or may not get repaired. I was horrified. Thank god, I had not spent my money on it. It was a gift from the company last year. I decided to buy a new one...my only priority was that it should be sturdy enough to withstand further spills. Its back to Nokia. This time with E6. The internet is not as convenient as a bb since it depends on gprs network but thats ok. I do not want to spend 10k for another phone every year.
• My brother (who is in grad college) recently changed his relationship status to "committed". I was curious... on checking the gf's profile on fb I could not find a link between her and my bro. They are definitely not from the same college and have different set of friends. I questioned my bro after one week of digging. He said they met 2 weeks back and "hit it off". I wasn't convinced. KC cheekily reminded of my age when I had my first relationship... I was not even 18... atleast he is 21. Old enough to make these decisions. Aah... first love... when we are stupid enough to believe 2 weeks is enough to dive into the relationship pool.
• I met my best friend this week... she came down for a day. I picked her from the airport and planned to drop her at the hotel in New Friends Colony after work. Big mistake. I was not carrying my GPS. The phone's GPS was hard to read... and we kept going round and round in circles. We reached after 2 hours... But it was so nice to meet her and talk. I didn't have to explain "how I feel"... she just knew. I miss that. Also, silences with friends are so comfy... they do not need to be filled with words...
• We finally, finally went to Big Chill which is a famous restaurant in Delhi. We reached at 3 pm for lunch on Sunday and it was packed. We had to wait for an hour to get a table by when we were not too hungry. We just ordered a pasta (cannelloni) with a red pesto sauce. It was delicious. Definitely worth another visit. Next I want to visit Kareem's.