And so here I am - all over again!

Okay...blame it on FB, blame it on whatever else you can pick up, I wanted to write but couldn't write :)
That said, I've still been diligently blog-hopping and happened to land of Preeti Shenoy's blog

Read through, liked it, bought her book (the second one - just yesterday and started reading in the car..so far, so good)

And to promote her latest book, she's started this thing called "prompt" for every Tuesday. Was quite interesting. Have let 2 of them pass and enjoyed reading what everyone had to say.

Also noticed that people have kind of formed a bond and Preeti's given all of them this platform..not sure if she's realised that!

So, now that the background is done, I'll get going..this week's prompt..

The prompt for today is a quote by Bernard-Paul Heroux.

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

I have a lot of fond memories with tea and really lot of us share the same thing...that early morning chai on the road, that chai you shared with your friends in college, that evening chai in the college canteen that sucked but you still HAD to go for!

Off late, my fav tea time is the early morning cup.

Our day starts at a break-neck speed...there is a school bus to catch!

Wake up the kid

Insists that she doesn't want to get up

Try convincing her that it's important to get up and go to school - all the while struggling to stay awake!

Milk- check, Ironed Uniform - Check, School bag with books - check, Polished Shoes - check,Snacks box - check

And then that last minute rush to catch the school bus...!

Suddenly the atmosphere at home changes, it's almost zen-like!

That's the tea-time! A tea glass in hand (no, I am not a cup person!) with a newspaper, on the sofa - that's bliss!

Those 5 minutes of uninterrupted time is what gives the strength to tackle the day (however shitty it might look), brings that smile to the face (however bad the tea is!). Then just suddenly, the tea is over.. and it's back to the grind...

It's time to wake up kid 2!!!

Whoever said life was going to be easy, it is just one big roller coaster ride with 5 minute breathers in between. Thanks for being a great company!

Will the tide turn?

When will the good things start to happen again?

And then...

I am back...
No it's not got to do with nothing to write. Is that a possibility at all? With 2 kids at home, tough time at work, marriages in the extended family..
It's just that I was not very inclined to do this. And this has been the case with me for a while.

And then...I went to Dhriti's school over the weekend and they were having yet another program called "Rendezvous with Parents"...One nice little party/get-together for all the parents.
On top of that, they played "old English pop songs" there. It kinda transformed me to my college days..
When they started playing "Heal the World"...I was so shocked that I could still recollect every single thing that we did back then in college, the farewell that we gave, the candles, the formations that we made, everything came back as if it were just yesterday.
It took a lot of will (and ofcourse Dhruv's tantrums!) to get back to the current day and time :)

Yes, I still love my college days, I still think they are the best days of my life.
And I love my kids, I think I'm in a good place in my life now...
While on the kids...they've been growing up and growing up fast too...
Dhruv is developing an extremly strong vocabulary and is in that innocent and cute but naughty phase.
Dhriti is more like a grown up girl now, except when it comes to sharing toys with Dhruv or going to school on a Monday morning :)

Now that I've done some sort of rambling here and also becoz the chaos will never really stop...I am hoping I'll come back here again...and soon.

Give me another chance...

wanna grow up once again...

That's exactly how I felt when we visitied Dhriti in her school today..
They had a session called "Koffee with Kids"...awesome concept...

All the parents were asked to come to school...get introduced to the rest of the kids...play a game, listen to the kids sing for them and then have coffee

It was so much fun...so enjoyable...the kids were sooo adorable...

There was a "mock" ramp created in their classroom...and both Shiva & me were asked to walk down the ramp with Dhriti...she then said..

Hi...good morning everybody, I am Dhriti. Meet my mom Sirisha and meet my Dad Shiva!

I literally had tears in my eyes...I was so proud of her...and I didn't want her to grow up, lose all that innocence...

There were a set of adjectives on the board and we had to pick one that suited the kid..
we picked "Gorgeous Dhriti!!"

she was truly that...and I am extremely thankful, blessed and all that for getting a chance to re-live my days as a kid...

What's this?

Test from Streamr

Long..long ago

Looks like it's been ages since I've come here. Life generally has been "busy".
I wanted to do a typical year end blog post, but then when I sat down to think about it everything was a blur....

Jan, Feb, March - totally lost, don't even know how I coped up after Dhruv was born. Things that I can remember VERY vividly -

The day we brought him home from the hospital. Seeing this very small kid right next to Dhriti, I was literally in tears. When will this guy grow-up, how will I ever live through the next 3 years and see him become his "own-self"

The panic and the "hyper-tension" when Dhruv was diagnosed with Jaundice. Yeah, I know it's very common and all that. But seeing a 3 day old baby in that state was just not something I could take.


April, May, June - whatever happened to these months?

July, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec - yes I could have simply said - rest of the year, but the "effect" is lost right? :) So, rest of the year was like "what home"? I was literally working round the clock.
Oh by the way, this year marks the beginning of being connected always. I now have a blackberry and it is addictive!

To sum it up, the year's gone by in a blur, I can't even claim that I've done decently well. Probably saying I scraped through and somehow managed would be appropriate

No, I don't have any new year resolutions but then I want the next year to be a little peaceful, I want atleast a few days off (or few evenings off), I want to see the kids grow up, I want to move to a own house (which means I need lots of money, which again means I need to save :)) )
And most importantly, I want the kids and the family and everybody generally to be healthy.

Looking forward to a rocking 2010!!

Mustafa....Mustafa...

....been to Jai Ho concert....unique one-of-its-kind experience.
Truly a genius...Rahman
and then there's that digital screen that someone designed...don't know who but mind-blowing work!
Having said that the arrangements done by GMR for the concert itself were pathetic...eekss...
but then what we took away from the show was a fantabulous...super experience.

The songs...most of the songs from Rahman movies that he himself sung featured predominently...all most all songs from Jodha Akbar...
and then ofcourse all his famous numbers...

There's something magical with music...I mean...years...ages after we passed out from B.Tech...I can still instantly connect...and go back as if it was just yesterday whenever I hear that Mustafa song...that one song was were ragging anthem...can't forget those days when we helped the non-telugu gang to learn the lyrics and sing (all of us together) EVERY night as an anthem....
And then now years later I heard that song from Rahman himself...and I missed them all...ALL OF THEM...I want my friends back...:(

The concert itself closed with Jai Ho and Vande Mataram...the entire public stood up...joined the song...shouted...and actually felt that pride when they said Jai Ho and Vandemataram...

That was ONE concert...