In the morning I was struggling to find a rick. I was getting late and sun shone brightly and the heat was making me cranky.

After some 15 minutes I finally managed to get into one Auto. We had hardly covered a Km when the driver suddenly stopped his rick. I was confused. Then I saw there was this girl standing by the roadside. The driver asked her where she wanted to go. She said some place which I was not aware of. The driver then asked her to come in. I don’t know why but I just got scared may be because we hear about so many mishaps occurring when the rick driver stops to make someone sit and actually the driver and the other person are a part of same gang. This gang then robs off the first person.

The girl was about to sit but I straightaway refused and said in a kinda rude voice “I don’t want to share the auto”.The girl backed off and just said ok.

I could see her feeling sad as I denied her. Suddenly I felt bad ,it was so hot,she was sweating and may be even she was getting late and badly wanted to get into the rick.

The driver asked me why dint I allow her to sit.

I replied that he should have first asked me if I was comfortable sharing the rick with unknown person. How could he

just stop and make any random person sit.In fact even that girl did not ask me if I was fine in letting her in. She just came forward to sit.

I know the girl felt bad the way I replied,may be I could have been little polite. But I was so furious and also scared that I just said ‘NO’.

I don’t know whether I did right or not by not sharing the rick with her.

I was wondering how the news about people been robbed off in auto is making us feel insecure. I find it difficult to trust unknown people. I thought had I been in her place getting late and all that still I would have not got in the rick which already had a passenger in it. And since she so readily agreed hence it made me more scared.

May be that girl was genuinely in need of a rick,may be auto guy had no bad intentions but then I was scared. But yes I did feel bad of not helping her.

The society that we are living has made us feel so insecure and all negative thoughts keep coming to our mind.

And it was because of this feeling that I denied help and felt guilty. But whats the use of feeling guilty I actually missed helping someone,may be I really losing the feeling of human courtesy.

When I reached office I logged into our company’s portal to book the day’s lunch (we have to book lunch online before 10:30 AM)

One of my colleague saw me booking the lunch and asked me if I was not carrying my lunch box. I replied in negative. He did not allow me to book lunch and said three of us have brought and that we can share. I agreed.

So today for lunch I had 4 types of rice from three dabbas

1)White rice+pappu(dal)+beans subzi

2)Lemon Rice

3)Vangi (brinjal) bath

4)Curd rice +pickle

It was bliss,first time I had so many variety of rice in one short. Tuesday turned out to be a jackpot day for me. First I got to sleep till 8 ,dint cook and finally had yummy food prepared by three different people. Am I really lucky,yes I am.

This reminded me of my college days .I was a day scholar and so used to carry my lunch and the food was shared (snatched from one hand to other) amongst the hostlers. This snatching dabba would usually leave me food deprived. The hostlers would then take me to the canteen and I would order whatever I liked. Those days were the best and most memorable,just the thought of it makes me nostalgic!

This concept of sharing food is the best and believe me food prepared by anyone tastes good if served wholeheartedly.

I felt so good today and so filling .I enjoyed every bite of it and my colleagues had that feeling of satisfaction of sharing their dabba with me. First they thought I wouldn’t like their food as I am from north India and am not used to eating that much rice as compared to chapati. Thats true that I eat more of wheat than rice but they dint know that I love the various forms of rice cooked in South India. They felt so good that I actually cleaned my plate and I felt so nice having to eat some yummylicious food.

Thus I again came to the same conclusion that irrespective of which kitchen the food is prepared ,wether it is south/northindian dish it always tastes good if prepared/served with love.

Here’s me thanking my wonderful colleagues for sharing their dabbas with me

Friday night I got late in office ,so decided to dine outside.Hubby and I went to Sizzlers House at Cafe 7.The sizzlers were too good there ,am still drooling

Came back home at 10 PM and set on to a mission to get rid of the cockroches.It looked as if these cockroches owned my kitchen and I was just a guest cook ..Emptied all the cabinets sprayed ‘Hit’ liberally and went to sleep.Morning when we got up I refused to believe that it was my house it looked as if the house belonged to these dead cockroches and we had spent a night in their house.

Luckily my maid came early and helped me in all the cleaning activity.God bless her.I was so happy with her efforts that I gave her a set of 6 tea mugs which she was eyeing on it from a long time ,that made her happy.Win Win situation for both

For lunch we had sprouts stuffed parathas and banana apple milk shake.Later hubby left for office and I went to attend my weekend training.Came back home dog tired to see that aloo +matar+ tomato subzi was cooked by him Made hot hot chapatis ,had dinner and went to snoozeland.

Sunday morning saw me waking up at 7 AM Got ready and in the meanwhile hubby prepared tea.Had tea with rusk and left to attend the class.Came back home cooked lunch and slept like a kumbhkaran

In the evening cooked babycorn manchurian and had it with rotis and left over lunch.

We then loaded the washing at 9 in the night and washed laundary-bag-full-of-clothes till 10 in the night.

It was indeed a hectic weekend

Monday morning I woke up with call bell ringing.First I thought its the alarm then realized that I dont set alarm then from where is this sound coming,am I dreaming?Then it struck me its the maid ringing the bell

Since its shivratri today we decided to fast.So prepared saboodana khicdi.Packed the dabbas with the same along with curd and watermelon (though eating too much I should not claim that we fasted today ).Had milkshake for breakfast and both of us read ‘Shiv Chalisa’.What a nice way to start the week!

Hope you all have a funfilled week ahead .Wishing each one of you a very ‘Happy Shivratri’

From then on started her new journey, playing a new role ,new environment with all new people around. Definitley it was not easy for her but she gradually won everyone’s heart in her new home. There after things became easy for her. All this was possible because of her husband’s love and care for her.

This lady was highly educated but was hailing from not-so-financially-good-family. Whereas this man was from a well -to-do-family. Obviously there were objections from guy’s side but this man agreed to marry her and promised to be by her side forever.

The couple had 3 kids ,2 sons and 1 daughter. Hell broke loose when the man developed heart disease. The kids were too young,the eldest son in his high school and the little daughter in her standard 2.The wife was a rock support and took a decision to give her husband best of medical treatment and took him to Chennai Apollo hospital leaving her kids behind at home. The relatives could not keep their big mouth shut (they were jealous of her being so educated and confident) and betrayed her saying that how heartless she was to leave her children behind.(what else she could have done,leave her husband to die ??)

The husband though he had few more medical issues but he did his best to give his children best of education and keep his family happy. The wife gave her constant support and the beautiful understanding between the couple helped them to lead a happy and successful life.

The kids grew up and the two elder sons got married. Last year when their daughter was getting married it was this lady who looked extremely beautiful much more than the bride herself. Dressed in light blue saree with silver work and matching pearl jewelery made her husband fell in love with her all over again

In December 2011 the lady had issues in her eyes. The loving husband took her to the doc on his activa and while returning back they slipped and met with an accident ..The husband sprained his foot and till date wears a crepe bandage. The wife’s eye automatically got fine (without medicines) as she had no time to take care of herself and is busy taking care of her husband. She had not gone out anywhere in these 2 months as her husband was not able to walk. Todayyy on their anniversary the man offered to take his wife to BhojpurShivaaa temple,some 30 km from their hometown) on his activa to enjoy thiday. Though he still is not completely fine but he wants to make his wife happy.

Hats off to this lovely couple.

May God bless them with good health and may they have many more fun filled years together

Wishing you mom dad a very happy 37^th wedding anniversary.

2.Since mil has left I am now cooking full time thats another hectic task to do but since I enjoy cooking this task is somehow managed.

3.Weekend just comes and goes without even making me feel its presence.Am planning to host a bloggers meet at my place but then am unable to manage time:-(I have even decided on the menu that I would be cooking but the date is something that needs to be finalised.

4.One bugging factor that I encounter is people in public places like BMTC buses and roads would play songs on their cellphones without using earphones and would force entire bus to hear.Thank you for the free entertainment but sorry boss we all have cellphones with FM and if we want we would here you please start using earphones and stop bugging us with songs like ‘tum to thaire pardesi’ and ‘chikni chameli’.The latter being played by a girl on her cellphone *roll eyes*

5.Dear nephew I know you are brave kid and dont believe in ghosts and you actually enjoyed the Ghost Dance in your mum’s college but your this aunt is a coward and managed to run from scary house mid way so honey please dont make your aunt die in shame and inferiority by your bravely deeds

6.My dear husband when I ask you what gift you want please speak up else you will never be gifted anything,you know how bad I am in giving surprises so kindly help me by giving clues of what gift you want.Since I am so vocal about by gifts it helps you in giving me surprises kindly do the same in your case too.

7.The new year began with fever,followed by suffocation in Tirupati then inflamation of tissues near left elbow.As if this was not enough my tooth started giving me problem,luckily nothing serious just brushing twice a day is adviced.And I hope this ends my series of falling sick.

8.Last night I watched ‘Dirty Picture’ and cursed myself of depriving myself of sleep and watching senseless movie.

9.29^th January saw us celebrating 1 year of commitment ie. We celebrated our engangement anniversary.

10. I thought of leaving early from office and cook something different.This planning was done yesterday and I thought I’ll tell hubby that I’ll be late so you too come late.And people can you believe I actually told him about this plan last night itself and told him of this surprise thingie and informed him that you still need to show as if you are really surprised when you come late from office tomorrow (ie.today).Yeah I know am crazy,actually we both are like that hence nice compatibilty..3 cheers to such a weired couple

My nephew is 5 year old. He studies in one of the most reputed school in his city. This particular school has kids coming from well off families owning 2 -3 cars and big houses..This is where the problem starts,my bro and bhabhi have two 2 wheelers and a 2bhk flat. As if now they are staying in rented house and would soon be moving to their own flat so they have minimum furniture as of now. Now this is something which really upsets my nephew. When he goes to my 2^nd bro’s house there he sees sofa set ,dinning table and all other furniture. Same stuffs he sees at his paternal and maternal grandparents place too. Ofocurse his friends place have many more exotic pieces of furniture.

Hence he thinks his parents do not earn enough money to buy the same things (he is too young to understand that these stuffs are actually not needed now and would be bought once they move to their own house).It makes him sad. He compares his things with other kids in his school and daycare. He goes to Euro kids daycare after his school hours. Again kids there come from wealthy families bringing exotic bag packs , clothes ,shoes etc. Thats where they learn to compare and compete. My nephew had a shirt from Lilliput which he wore to daycare. Another kid of his age cried his heart out to his mum to buy the same shirt for him as he thought his clothes were not as good as my nephew’s. Even my nephew once created a havoc to buy those spider man shoes that his best friend has.

This comparison amongst kids is something to worry about. At a tender age of 4-5 years they have learned to compare and feel superior (if they have costly stuffs) or inferior (if their stuff is not as good as their friends).They feel jealous and they get upset to realize that their parents do not earn enough to meet their needs.

I once visited bro and bhabhi. I had taken a flight that time though I usually travel by train. And my nephew opened my bag and saw my boarding pass. He immediately asked me if I had come by flight. I knew what was cooking in his mind and I told him that I have as usual come by train and that flight ticket is not mine. I stand guilty here of lying to him but then the need of the hour was to not make him feel sad.

Though parents do their best to give their kids best of education and send them in the best schools. But somehow I guess this instead of doing good does harm to their personality as they get more and more involved in comparing and competing. This creates jealousy amongst them. They then make their own group which have kids from similar family background and few kids from not-so-good families are left alone:-(

My bhabhi once asked my nephew to name his friends in his day care. He named some and then added that his gang does not play with a kid ‘A’ because he does not have many clothes and repeats his dresses quite often. On other occasion he said they don’t speak to another kid as he daily brings same paratha sabzi hence they don’t share their lunch with that kid

His school has strict uniform and provides lunch to the students hence no comparison there. Thank god for small mercies

Does it mean that middle level schools are better than these hi-fi schools?But then parents these days definitely don’t want to compromise on school standards and no wonder a good school grooms (enhances) kids personality.

But then how to make these kids understand that though healthy competition is good but this comparison based on social status is not acceptable.

Btw I remember when I was a kid it really dint matter to us which of our friend had vehicles,how often they dined in hotels,basically no comparison was done.How come kids these days think so much?So much goes into their tiny brains..no wonder they are GenX or may be GenZ (I really duuno what generation is this,I guess I still live in that old era

My owner gave us pongal sweets holige and onion pakoda.As soon as I was informed I started drooling at the thought of soft velvety holige going into my mouth and making my taste glands go happy after a long time.Hubby and me took some of it and offered some of it to my mil,which she point blank refused to even taste it.

There are similar incidences that have happened earlier too.Seema had parceled yummy brownie and dahiwada as a take away for us when we visited her place.*Thank you dear for being so generous*.My mil refused to even look at it (brownie I agree coz it had egg) but dhaiwada well I have no idea.Hubby snacthed the box from my hand and gulped the entire content of it and relished every bit of it.

(He was so impressed with her cooking that when I informed him that we will invite the bloggers to our place he was like “But Seema cooks so well what will you cook for her?You hardly know cooking.May be when they come I’ll get some outside food”.Thats the effect of her cooking on him )

The certain points I think because of which my mil does not eat food cooked by someone else are:

1.Person who gave us food,also cooks non veg at home:

I cannot agree with this point because my mil is ever ready to visit hotels for lunch/dinner.Though she has problem with hotels where non veg food is served but still she eats there and eats it BY CHOICE.So if she can eat at eating joints where non veg is prepared and served by the same person in the same vessels than why not from someones kitchen.

2.People while cooking do not care about hygiene:

Am sure food prepared in one’s kitchen would be much more hygienic than one prepared in hotles and not to forget the amount of love and effort that one has poured into making a dish.A hotel chef would just cook for the sake of cooking and not cook out of love.

3.The quality of food (oil,spices) may not be good:

Again I strongly disagrre home cooked food is always healthy than outside food.Secondly please break this mental block that what you cook and eat is of the best quality and what others eat is utter waste.(There are instances when she has indirectly pointed out that even my parents dont cook and eat good quality food,though a proper daal bafla churma meal with tons of ghee added is served to her everytime when she visits them).

4.Too hesitant to eat something new:

Ok I could have digested this but then she does try new dishes in the hotels and she recently also feasted on McDonalds Burger.So I am disqualifying this aspect too.

5.She thinks she might not like the taste :

Fair enough.I agree but till we dont taste it how would we know wether we will like it or not?.Its fine to taste it and not like it but its wrong not to taste itself

This habit of hers really bugs me a lot.I so want to understand what makes her deny food prepared by someone with so much love and efforts.It breaks my heart when she refuses to even look at the food.

I was just wondering the landords plates are still with us and we need to return them back..My mil asked me to cook some northindian dish to give them back as returning empty plates is not good.I completely agree .But what if my landlord thinks the same way my mil thinks and throw away the food ,will my mil like it?Will she not feel bad?If yes then how can she do the same with others.

Another thing that came to my mind,what if we were (hubby & I) not there what would she have done to the pongal sweets.Thrown away in the dustbin?Or give it to the maid?What if maid goes and tells the landlord ,wouldnt they feel bad?

Well I am clueless with this attitude of hers. May be some day I’ll be able to understand her better.Hope is all I have.

Well this is what happened:

First hubby and mil had viral infection and then my left hand elbow got swollen and was paining badly.All of us visited doctors and were put on medicines.In the meanwhile I yet again lost my wallet in Volvo with a monetory loss of 600 rs/- and my driving license and bank debit card too.We were on the verge of recovering when the antibiotics made my stomach upset and I got gastric pains.

This explains my absence from blog world and am immensely thankful to Seema and Summerscript for checking with me.Thank you girls

Saturday I called Seema and I again got to speak to two gorgeous dolls Mantam.They sang ‘Kolaveri di’ and some ‘piggy pig’ poem for me We then made plans to meet Scribby but nothing got finalised  Messaged Summercsript and hey RS I missed your number so couldnt wish you on Pongal.

Sunday we ate ‘ganna’ (sugar cane),oh it was fun.Hubby and mil peeled it for me and I royally sat down and ate it all

The Rules for the Versatile Blogger Award says: Nominate 15 fellow Bloggers – Inform the Bloggers of their nomination Share 7 Random things about yourself – Thank the Blogger who nominated you Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post

4.I have a record of lossing my wallet 3 times in a duration of 8 months of my wedding (some side effect of marriage?? )

Rest all have already been tagged