These yearly trips to India can be best describes as like hooking up with an ex- a very very steamy ex - It’s such a torrid love affair na – hot and sweaty- when you hook up again after a break -you cannot seem to get enough of each other at first, you re-discover things you did together that gave you toe curling pleasures – the places, the quirks. And then you feel spent - you start noticing the burnout and remember why the long distance relationship did not work in the first place– sighhh. It’s been 4 days since I came back from India and - I am partly depressed. Just like getting over a hot ex – I am finding getting over this trip a little hard – such random incidents and thoughts keep swirling in my head - ok, let me share a few, only cause you insist ;)
Ok- I know this one is weird but its on top of mind – cause it happened when we were out shopping and well shopping and I are … let’s just say – we laab each other - we have "best buds" tattoos and keep photos of each other in our wallet ;)
Her billboard took up most of wall outside the mall. A petite model ( read as size Zero) looking over her shoulder at the mirror in her bedroom- from here it gets a bit confusing- she is dressed in frilly pink undies and a tank top. Try as I might – I couldn’t figure out what was being advertised, then I looked at the print “reebok Shoes" and I thought “yeah right – her shoes is EXACTLY what I thought < insert sarcastic rolling eyes here> ; Actually it reminded me of another print I saw here in Singapore – a “perky” model lay on the beach in an excuse of a bikini. Her pose – well.. to keep it PG rated let us just say that she was “stretched” in the sand with her back arched and one hand over her head. She had a beach hat and a beach basket next to her. I hazarded a guess – beach wear / accessories – Welll – “eeaaahhh”( that’s my take on how a game show buzzer would sound in print) wrong answer !!! The ad was for an Esprit watch- wait – where is wally..sorry I mean where is the watch? – ohhhh right there it is – it’s in the other hand resting on her…. Well its PG rated so let’s leave it to your imagination.
If you are in India and you don’t think about food then – Something is wrong with you!!! With rainy season - people falling sick around me like flies and D-day or rather the W-day just round the corner I could not afford to eat out and join the queue at the doctors or the toilet. But the ever alluring Pani puri – kept rearing its head – every street corner had a Pani puri wala beckoning me – ummmmm H-A-VE –TO- RESISST..(droolll) Well finally my sister in law- Monal came to my rescue- She is gujrathi and making awesome pani puri is in her DNA. Even if she wanted to she cannot make a bad pani puri. The plate you see below – well.... this was just a warm up round – I may or may not have reached the half century mark – if you don’t have proof I deny any knowledge ;)
Coming back to shopping – cause yes baby I cannot stay away ;)- We shopped – and then we shopped and cause there were still hours left in the day we shopped some more!! On one of our saree shopping trip – Biju and my brother Rohan tagged along cause they wanted to be included in the action – Normally what would have taken us a couple of hours took us 5 !!! by the end of it I am sure every person in the shop knew us, about the wedding and even what our blood group was – no I am NOT kidding !! As luck may have it we all got stuck in the shop lift on our way out – while my mother hyperventilated – the rest of us were giggling; until the guy from outside said “wazan jyada ho gaya hoga “ ( must have exceeded weight limit) – and it may not surprise you that at this precise moment every one was looking at me with accusing eyes( damnit!!). Below is a photo of my mom trying out sarees followed my the Oommen boys waiting for their suit trial – and if you have seen the wedding photos – you will know that they looked hoowt!
Ok, so saree shopping has to be followed by a blouse stitching- so as customer of this century I took along some styles that I had shameless snapped from other shops. I showed my tailor the following photo – he looked at me – spit his paan to one side, looked me in the eye and told me – "you cannot pull it off" – and again I do not kid!!
If tradition is to be believed – we both should hate each other or at least mildly dislike each other. My mother in law on the other hand is pure mush- we get along well and in the decade long relation we have never even had an argument and I find that troubling sometimes - you see when a lot of my friends gossip about their respective mother in laws – I am the dork without anything to contribute. Its been some time since they have revoked my membership to the MIL gossip club. Anyways – she was my one ardent iphone photo buddy – even as we went to friends / relative house to give invitation we would sneek some photos ;) – below is one of them
On this trip we took possession of our first EVER unit- sorry if I cannot keep the pride and joy out of my words. Before we saw our new house, Biju and I visited the first place we lived together as couple. It was a small studio on the top floor - we rented it with the last of our saving. It only had enough space for 1 single bed, 1 small cupboard. Only 1 person could stand in the kitchen at one time- water was available only 2 hours a day- if we forgot to fill the water tank during that time – we had to go over and ask a neighbor for half a bucket –we lived there for the first year of our marriage- it was DE BEST place ever!!! Below are photos of the kitchen window and the building – don’t judge a book by its cover ;)
Following that is the nameplate outside our new place in Pune – sighhh – life has come a long way :D
This trip also had a lot of traveling between Bombay - Pune - the scenery on the way is just mind blowing - we sometime so easily forget what a beautiful country we live in. This was the time that Biju and I used to catch up with each other or when Biju "dozed" off ( as you see from the following photo) I used to chat with my mates online - 3G - you have been a trusty friend.
And this last photo I am posting just in case tomorrow I become famous and some one needs to bring me down a notch- they can use this ;). Or if they can use - at not cost - if they need to scare the crap otta some one :D
Your homesickly :)
still laughing...good one
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