Happy Old Year

I really wanted to write about the new one. With the million changes it promises to bring, there is no better excuse to make a new beginning - break out of old habits, start something new. But other the certainty that for this one to be truly different, I have to be different, i have nothing more to say. So i will take the lazy way out and write about how the old year was new.

- I went abroad! For the very first time in my long life, ladies and gentlemen. It was great, unforgettable in a lot of wrong ways and some right ones. And whatever happens, it'll always be the first :) My bag with our passports got stolen (it was only the second time my bag was stolen but if you'd heard my dad taking to the dude afterwards, you'd be forgiven for thinking i was some kind of a serial bag loser).

- I learnt to talk to strangers on the phone. This has terrified me all my life, i go to great lengths to avoid it. But we were (are, actually) looking to buy a house here and that involves a lot of scouring the newspaper and internet for ads and calling people up. When we started out, i would mark the interesting ads and then hand them over to the dude to do the actual calling. Now, if he had responded to this delegation with - You are the best for filtering out the ads, baby, i'll take it from here, i would never have learnt. Instead i had to pester him into calling, fighting all sorts of excuses (its too late/early/rainy, i'm not in the mood, who wants to buy a house, i am not calling people up from the loo. Eh? Whats the big deal in that?) So i had to learn to be self reliant.

- I lost both my grandmothers. I dont know, maybe because of the distance and the fact that neither of them were particularly capable of talking on the phone, in my head they are still around in Pune, waiting to be stupidly happy at the sight of a grandchild. And tell her for the 100th time, without taking the slightest offense to the fact that she doesnt listen, to wear some bangles and bindi and at least try to look married. I know i said they lived full lives and i feel sad but not cheated, but given what 2013 is going to bring, i wish they'd been around.

- The kitchen and I got used to each other. We are not the best of friends, but this year we certainly got better at tolerating each other's presence in our lives. Next year, one of the things i'd like to do is to turn this uneasy relationship on its head. Given my looming unemployment, time will certainly not be a problem.

- The car and I also got used to each other. The car may not see it that way yet, my co-passengers may not see it that way yet, the driver in the parking lot who sees me struggling to park and comes over to help may not see it that way yet, the dude may never see it that way, but its true all the same.

-  I did not shine at work. This is new, while i have never been been the brightest star or anything, i've always managed to make my place and be the king of it. Here, its been a year and i am still trying to be really good at something. Its not a nice feeling, particularly because most of the time i also feel underutilized. And scary because i dont know why i cant fit in. Am i in the wrong pond?

There might be more, but sleep calls. I dont think i will be awake to see the new year arrive. Apologize to it for me, will you? I had a wild night yesterday, staying up till 10 past 12, reading The Left Hand of God.
 

Random

The dude's brother is getting married in Feb. This is the first time that i got to see first hand, all the behind the scenes stuff that goes into getting a marriage arranged. Even though most of it was in Telugu, it was damn interesting! (Or maybe i filled up the blanks in my Telugu knowledge with the most interesting interpretation). The girls side had come with large numbers and a well coordinated plan of action - we didnt stand a chance! Go girl power! (i realize i am not on the right side to be saying that, but you get it, right? Right.)

The kindle is back in our lives with a bang. We have actually fought over it, if you are one of those people who gifted it to us, you will be happy to note. But mostly we get along fine because we more or less live in different time zones these days. I sleep by 10 at the latest, and what does with the kindle after that is none of my business. He is reading the Foundation Series and is at the last book (after which he has to go back to the first two).

My friend P saw a book at some airport (The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared) and read a couple of pages. She then sent me a mail from there, asking me to check it out. She thought both of us would love the writing style. I LOVE getting unexpected mails like that. While i was checking it out, i wondered how she was so sure i would love it - i never am. But then i read a couple of pages and HAD to buy it. It was hilarious - in just the way we like. But it was also for 600. I am still not comfortable spending that kind of money on books, so i pestered the Dude into giving me "permission" to buy it. He made a half hearted attempt at asking some questions (how many pages do you get for 600, how are you sure you will like it) but then gave up and walked away. I took that for a yes and bought it. I am almost done and will unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone. It IS hilarious. The dude's brother started reading it on our trip to Chennai, trying very hard not to laugh out in the train, dont ask me why. So now we have 3 people fighting over the kindle.

The office gym has gotten much much better and now has two good treadmills and one spectacular multigym. Its all i ever needed in a gym, and yet, i cant get back that regularity with which i used to go there when all it had was two sad treadmills and two ellipticals. Still, it makes me sad that i have less than a month to make use of it, before i become jobless and gymless.

Because no one at work or home appreciates my sense of humour

One fine evening i am at a discussion a few places away from my desk at work. I have not locked my screen, i never do. The perpetrator (hereafter known as the perp), who has a fetish for unlocked screens, sits at my desk and sends out the following mail from my Outlook.


Sub: Party at my house tonight!

It’s potluck. Bring your own booze!

Please RSVP, we will arrange transport back later in the night.

More details to follow.

Vinaya

He is mighty pleased with his work. The effect of which is somewhat dampened when no one - not one person RSVPs. (Let me not think of what that says about me). A little while later, my manager replies from home.

What? That's way too short a notice Vinaya - no fair!


To which, this guy, sitting very much in the office, replies.

Manager, you are missing a really good party. 


The next morning people ask me about the party and crib about the short notice. I send out the following mail.

Thanks for turning up in such large numbers, even though no address was given. And for ALL THAT BOOZE – my in-laws were most impressed!

And finally, though he couldn’t make it, thanks Perp, for stirring it all up. We missed ya!


People still ask me about the party. I show the mail trail to the Dude and i get a 'hmm". That is what i get from him for most stories. And keep getting it until i say - and they all lived happy ever after. The end.

And they lived happily ever after. The end.

Life updates

Lots has happened and is happening and will happen and i am here after a ridiculously long break to leak some of the happenings. Many a times during the break, i wondered why i dont feel the need to blog anymore. And the best i could come up with was - because it doesnt function anymore as a release for all my angst. Although thats not really an answer because why not? Its not that the angst has gone away. Maybe its that i've gotten good at locking it up in a corner and moving on with life.

Anyway. Now that my passport and Visa are safely with me (or will shortly be), i can declare that we - the Dude and I - will be moving to the US! For 3 years, though no one believes me when i say that. Lots of back and forth and confusion later, the finally plan is to move there in Feb. And i will be jobless from Jan. Yikes! When i was jobless before (between the last job and this - just for a month), i was extremely frustrated, terrified and whatnot. The dude couldnt understand why, and my big mouth told him its because there isnt enough to do around here and if this was the US i would never ever complain. Well, now we shall see. This bout of joblessness is likely to last longer than a month, but i'm hoping at least some of the coping mechanisms i carry in my head will work. If it doesnt, i will start a day care and make my cousin send her kids to me!

Getting the passport is a long an interesting tale that involves a lot of stories that cannot be attached to my good name. The Visa interview on the other hand was a non event. I will be going as a dependent, and the Visa officer didnt ask me a single question. Not one thing! I cant decide whether to be happy or insulted. How many times had i mugged up the name of Dude's engineering college and place of birth? And prayed that they dont ask me if i plan to work there, because i cant say no and shouldnt say yes? But - nothing! Our visa interview was at 8.30 in the morning and as usual my biggest fear was what if i get hungry in there. So i carried a bag of food. The guard saw my bag and asked me - where is your child? I told her the food was for me. She was not amused and asked me to get rid of it :( Other than that and some questions about the passports I lost, the whole process was smooth.

Thats it for now. Toodle-oo!