Ishq Hua Hi hua

A lesser known song from the movie 'Aaja Nachle'. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal (though it does NOT sound like her in some places) are the voices behind this sweet song. I love it for the soothing melody and fun picturisation.

Although, 'O Re Piya' is my favorite from this album.

Song: Ishq hua hi hua

Singers: Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal

Music: Salim-Suleiman

Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni

(From Hindilyrix.com)

=================

(Hulcul Huyi Zara Shor Huwa, Dil Chor Huwa Teri Or Huwa - 2

 Aisi Chale Jab Hawa, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa - 2) - 2 

Ishq Hua Haaye - 2  

Palko Se Hoton Tak Jo Raah Nikalati Hai 

Guzare Na Wahaan Se Yeh Teri Galati Hai 

Palko Se Hoton Tak Jo Raah Nikalati Hai

Rehte Hain Abb Hum Wahaan, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa 

Ho O O Aisi Chale Jab Hawa, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa

Hulcul Huyi Zara Shor Huwa Dil Chor Huwa Teri Or Huwa 

Ishq Huwa

Kadmo Ko Sambhaalein, Nazaron Ka Kya Karein 

Nazron Ko Sambhaalein, To Dil Ka Kya Karein 

Kadmo Ko Sambhaalein, Nazaron Ka Kya Karein

Dil Ko Sambhalein Zubaan, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa 

Aisi Chale Jab Hawa, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa 

Hulcul Huyi Zara Shor Huwa, Dil Chor Huwa Teri Or Huwa - 2 

Ishq Huwa – 2

While we are on the topic of this movie, I have to mention the superb dance drama at the end of the movie. Its totally mind blowing, the colors, emotions, songs, acting and dancing - all top class! But mostly watch it for Madhuri. Its a treat to watch her emote through the varied moods in the drama so beautifully!

Lessons

Today, when I looked up google.com, I saw that there was a doodle. A fence, 2 boys, 1 painting it and the other eating an apple! I suddenly remembered the English lesson we had in primary - Tom Sawyer! Its amazing how some images are created in your mind when reading something. It stays with you for a long time, hidden in the deep corners of the mind. Then, suddenly, you see something similar and kazaam! the image just pops right out. Yes, the doodle was Google's tribute to Mark Twain. It indeed was the scene from Adventures of Tom Sawyer where he is asked to paint the fence and Tom, as smart as ever, gets all his friends to paint it instead! I still remember the lesson vividly.

I do remember most of our English lessons (as we used to call it back then :)). From Medusa to King Lear to the giant who hated trespassers! From BlackHat to Black Beauty. From the friends who made a pact to meet after 20 yrs to the couple who bought everything through installments!

And the poems! Such lovely ones. If only we didn't have to 'study' them. I loved them anyway. From Lead kindly light to Under the greenwood tree (My friend and I used to compose music for the poems and sing it out, so I still remember so many lines!) I loved all of Tennyson's poems, esp. Home they brought her warrior dead! Makes me sad each time I read it.

Sometimes I have this urge to actually go looking for English textbooks! Do we actually get these in stores anymore?

Btw what are your favorite lessons from language classes in school? Care to share?

P.S: More about the doodle here: www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/30/google-marks-mark-twain-birthday.

Love actually

This post was in my drafts for quite some time now. Remembered it when I was watching 'Do pal ruka' on a music channel in the weekend! Posting it now.

Note: Long long post, so read it when you get time.

Re-discovering Veer-Zaara! A tale of epic romance and sacrifice.!

I loved this movie! :) Some of the scenes were brilliantly shot. Watch out esp for the scene where Saamiya (Rani) finally sees Zaara (Preity) in Punjab. Her look of defeat followed by surprise and then the satisfaction. Wow!
The scene where Kirron Kher pleads with SRK and SRK tells him he would let Zaara go, for a mother!
The scene where Preity convinces Amitabh to educate girls in the village. Powerful scenes.

Also the 'Main qaidi number 786' (no, don't read it out as 786. Read it as saat sow cheyaasi) rendition by SRK was beautiful. When he says:

Woh kehte hai yeh tera desh nahi
Phir kyun mere desh jaisa lagta hai..

I literally had tears in my eyes. Hats off to Yash Chopra for the direction (the camera slowly zooming in and the background music) and Aditya Chopra (he wrote the poem actually!)

You actually feel so sad for the protagonist, how he must have spent 20 yrs in the prison in silence just to protect his lady love's reputation. And how she, on the contrary, rebels against everyone and goes to India to fulfill his dream! You sort of start believing in love stories again.

And oh the songs! Madam Mohan's soundtracks were used for this, after some changes done, I think, by Anu Malik (not sure about this though. Please correct me if I am wrong about this)

A song for each occasion - love, romance, sacrifice, patriotism, hope, festivals. A very balanced album this one is.

Do Pal Ruka, is one which is very very close to my heart!

Jaanam Deklo was brilliantly sung by Udit Narayan. Listen to the authoritativeness in his voice which the song demands.

Hum toh bhai was ok. Sung by Lata Mangeshkar, this song was important to set the character of Zaara and I loved the colors of Priety 's dresses in this song! :)

Aisa Desh hain Mera - patriotic song with a feel-good factor. I, esp, liked the part sung by Zaara (Lata again) where she says 'jaane kyun yeh lagta hain mujko jaana pehchaana..yahan ki wahi shaam hain wahi savera..aisa hi desh hain mera..jaisa desh hain tera..'

Lodi song - It glorifies Punjab which is a taken in most of Yash Raj movies anywaz.

Aaya tere dar par deewana - Veer comes to Pakistan and sees Zaara in the darga and this song is in the background. Very apt! Shahrukh has a haunting look, which goes well with the song. Also check the scene where Zaara suddenly stops praying and turns around as if she was expecting Veer to be behind all along! The song ends beautifully too - Zaara rebels against everyone and goes and hugs Veer. Waah!

Tere liye - very nicely shot - the aging sequence. Lovely lyrics which talk about the sacrifice the two have unknowingly made for each other for the past 20 yrs. Haunting.

Well, the above were popular songs. The ones below are not that popular, most of them would probably not have heard of them too. But I loved these.

Yeh hawa - the title track! Sonu Nigam proves why he is so good again! It comes at the beginning of the movie when they show the credits. The poetic rendition by Yash Chopra was soulful (have written about it here)

Yeh hum aagaye hain kahan - a very happy light romantic number which the movie so needed, after all the soulful, strong songs! I can literally see Udit Narayan jumping about while singing this. :)

Jaane kyun - this song was canned. Very slow, nice track. The only problem, Lata Mangeshkar's voice. But still she has sung it soulfully, it comes through beautifully. Lyrics are amazing too. (check my post about it here)

Phew! Guess that's it.
No wait! How can I not list the 786 poem. Here it goes. Courtesy: hindilyrix..com again! (I just love this site!!)

Mein qaidi number 786, jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon.
Din, mahinein, saloon ko, yug mein badal te dekh ta hoon.
is miti se mere bauji ki kheton ki khushbu ati hai
yeh dhoop meri matti ki thandi chaas yaad dilati hai

yeh barish mere sawaan ke jhoolon ko sang sang lati hai
yeh sardi meri lodi ki aag sikh ke jati hai
woh kehta hai yeh tera desh nahi
phir kyun mere des jaisa lagta hai
woh kheta hai mein us jaisa nahi
phir kyun mujh jaisa woh lagta hai

mein qaidi number 786 jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon
sapno ke gawn se utri
ek nanhi pari ko dekh ta hoon
kehti hai khud ko Saamiya aur mujh ko Veer bulati hai
hai bilkul begaani par apno si zid woh karti hai
uski sachi baaton se phir jeene ko maan karta hai
uske kaasmon vado se kuch karne ko maan karta hai -----> how sweet right?

Mein qaidi number 786 jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon
mere gawn ke raango mein lipti ek nayi Zaara ko dekhta hoon
Mere khwabon ko pura karte
khud ke khwab bhool chuki hai woh
mere logo ki sewa karte
apne logo ko chor chuki hai woh
uska daaman aab khushion se bharne ko jee karta hai
uske leya ek aur zindagi jeene ko jee karta hai --------> such a lovely para!

Woh khete hai ke mein, mera desh uska nahi
phir kyun mere ghar woh rehti hai
woh kehte hai ke mein us jaisa nahi
phir kyun mujh jaisi woh lagti hai

mein qaidi number 786 jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon
Woh khete hai ko woh koi nahi teri
phir kyun mere liye dunya se woh larti hai
woh khwta hai ke mein us jaisa nahi
phir kyun mujh jaisi woh lagti hai

And here is the video:




P.S1: Wow, just realized this is my third post about this movie and its songs! Am in love or what! ;-)

P.S2: If you did manage to come till here, then a round of applause from the house!

half a year

The kiddo turns 6 months old today! Phew! I am now a little relieved, a little stress-free (maybe 0.0001%) than before for having achieved this milestone with no major issues. (says a little prayer quickly)

Sid now scouts around the room, looking at his parents/grandparents/others who are present, and voluntarily calls them by 'hoon'ing, if they don't see him instantly. He repeats this until he achieves his goal - the person in question looks at him and talks to him. Immediately his face radiates with a big toothless smile.

He loves tapping objects or someone's hand/legs, his own legs. Its like, he first tests the sturdiness of the object by tapping on it. If it passes his test, he continues to do so until something else amuses him.

With light objects and toys, paper, small plates, he has learnt to flip it. He also moves them from one hand to the other. This also keeps him occupied for quite sometime.

He turns and crawls pretty fast now and has started going towards anyone who extends their hands and says 'baa' (come).

As always he absolutely loves talking to the maid! The conversation could go on for hours if the maid didn't have to work.

He has started noticing the changes, if any, in the house. If there is anything extra kept on the bed, he rolls over and goes towards it. If it is something out of his reach, he keeps staring at it. It is very amusing to see him do that!

2 months have passed since I started working from home. It is now time to go to office. I don't know how Sid will react (doubts arise whether he will miss me or will be too busy playing to even notice that I am gone for half a day?) or how I will manage without seeing him for nearly 4 hrs.

As Josh says, interesting times ahead! Notice the word - interesting. It can be anything - happy, sad, exciting, disappointing, pleasing...the list goes on.

This and that

Sid is close to 6 months now and has started identifying people and his surroundings. Anything which looks new on his radar excites him to no end and he either stares at the new thing/person constantly or he tries to reach out and grab it.

Now I know why mothers get only 2/3 months maternity leave at work! Its soooooo much easier to leave the kid at home and go to work when the kid is 2-3 months. Now, he smiles, talks, recognizes you and what not! Its going to be very tough leaving him and going to work. Working from home was better.

Deepawali was fun with family. Sid was the star attraction of course! He must have enjoyed it thoroughly, as he refused to be put to sleep 2 days in a row!

My experiments with the oven continues and the oat cookies I tried came out burnt. The temperature is to be further reduced and the heating coils need to be taken to task! :-|

Sid typed on the laptop for the first time. These were his exact words/lyrics..call it what you want to!

sa szh jk ,mwcxa,mnaZgv za b xmn;'p-mklpl-okm mds?/zas[k,asdcpj[ko,[x .'z  'eee /M,LM,mndz /     u ;l,'m

At 11.00pm, Josh nudges me and suddenly asks - 'Do you know what gives me immense satisfaction?'. A few things come to my mind. Maybe the fact that he put the kid to sleep and in spite of the cracker sounds in the neighborhood, he has not got up.. Or maybe the fact that he cleaned his beloved cycle and changed the tire's tube today?

Aloud, I ask, 'What?'

He says 'There is a whole stack of pigs and with 1 single yellow bird, you hit the wooden base and all the pigs fall and die'

A moment of silence and then I said 'This is so going on my blog!'

A different Saturday

Josh and I took Sid to a photo-exhibition. It was a first for the 3 of us! The theme was wildlife and Josh's colleague was one of the exhibitors.

It was at Chitrakala Parishat. What a beautiful place that is. So calm. There were some classes happening outside, children trying to draw/paint. All this amidst lush greenery. Truly enjoyable for a kid on a weekend.

We enjoyed the display very much. And Sid enjoyed it as well, oohing and aahing at the bird photos, lion photos that were on display!

The rain stops..

...and the Sun momentarily peeks out from the clouds.

Conversation

Sonny boy having a meaningful conversation with our maid. She delights him to no end and he ALWAYS starts conversing with her, no matter how sleepy or hungry he is!

Doodling

The thing I miss most about not writing in a book or on a paper is doodling. Ahh, the idle times spent creating 'patterns' or a fancy way of writing your name. I used to have a lot of doodle 'art' (yeah, that's what I like to call that) in the last page of every notebook I owned! So when Josh opens his notebook to jot down some chip measurements while working at home, I quickly grab the pen and book and write my name or draw a flower or some such stuff.

I think we should have a social nwing site for doodling.
DoodleTwitter anyone? Remember, you heard it here the first time!

Madno

One more song which we started humming in the morning while bathing the baby.

Good one from Lamha. Very easy on the ears. Soulful too. The singers are really good - Chinmayi and Kshitij. Had not heard of them before. Turns out Chinmayi is the one who has sung 'Tere bina' from Guru and one of the popular songs of Kshitij is 'Beete lamhe' from The Train.

I like the contrast in the lyrics.
For eg, Main hoon shab tu subah..dono juD ke juda
also Haan Iss safar mein to mein hoon..Par sang tere na ruk sakun

Listen to it here or check it out below.





Lyrics: http://www.top10bollywood.com/2010/06/madhno-re-song-lyrics-from-lamhaa.html


Hai dil ko teri aarzoo
Par main tujhe na paa sakun
Hai dil ko teri justaju
Par main tujhe na paa sakun
Main hoon shab tu subah
Dono jud ke judaa
Main hoon labh tu dua
Dono jud ke judaa
Madno, mashuko, dilbaro, madno re

Kayi khwaab dil tujhko le kar sajaaye
Par khauf yeh bhi kahin par sataaye
Ghar yeh bhi tootey toh phir hoga kya re
Mujhe raas aati hain khushiyaan kahan re
Kyon dil ko dukhana bewajah madno re
Kyon dil ko dukhana bewajah
Phir aansu bahana ik dafa
Phir aansu bahana ik dafa

Main hoon shab tu subah
Dono jud ke judaa
Main hoon labh tu dua
Dono jud ke judaa
Madhno, mashuko, dilbaro, madno re

Tu hi to har pal bandha hai
Lamhon ki inn zanjeeron mein
Tu hi to har dum raha hai
Khwaabon ki har taaberon mein
Tu hi to har din dikha hai
Dhundli aur ujli tasveeron mein
Tere hi to hai khusboo mujh mein haan madno re
Tere hi to hai khusboo mujh mein haan
Ab tu hi to har su har jagah
Ab tu hi to har su har jagah

Bhi chus shab sa subah
Meelyth doshvai judaa
Bhi chus labh sa dua
Meelyth doshvai judaa =======> must be kashmiri?
Madno, mashuko, dilbaro, madno re

Haan tera saaya to main hoon
Par sang tere na reh sakun
Haan iss safar me to main hoon
Par sang tere na ruk sakun
Main hoon shab tu subah
Dono jud ke judaa
Main hoon labh tu dua
Dono jud ke judaa
Madno, mashuko, dilbaro, madno re

Its a first!!

The kiddo had his first juice drinking session today. It was like a major event, with both grandparents and mommy, your's truly that is, involved right from the inception till the end!

Oh the joy of squeezing the sweet lime, measuring the quantity so that I can add the exact amount of water to it. Mixing a little sugar into it and hoping and praying that the kid takes a liking to it. :-) We used a filler to give him the juice. Initially, he was a little unsure about what was being put into his mouth. He then started sucking the filler with vigor and I must think he enjoyed drinking it. We just gave him half of the concoction and hope that it doesn't affect his digestive system very much.

Ah, the joys of watching a baby's first milestones. The day he smiled for the first time, the day he rolled over, and the day he crawled! Yeah, he did start crawling from yesterday! I must say, its the cutest thing I have ever seen!

As I was rejoicing a thought stuck me. Its amazing how we celebrate and enjoy a baby's first actions/milestones. What happens to that enthusiasm when adults start something new for the first time. Why isn't it given that much of an importance? We encourage the kid when he does something new, hug him, kiss him, show our appreciation. Am sure that makes the kid happy and motivates him to continue. Shouldn't the same be applied to adults as well? A word of appreciation goes a long way! I make a mental note to start appreciating people more often now, will you??

Aaoge jab tum o saajana

One of the lesser heard songs from Jab We Met, albeit a beautiful one.
Aaoge jab tum oh sajna, angna phool khilenge..basrsega saawan..barsega saawan..jhoom jhoom ke..do dil aise milenge..

aahh..pure bliss. The song, the voice, the music and the video! Yeah, the video too. Shahid and Kareena at their best I think.

Enjoy and have a great day!



Lyrics: (from hindilyrix.com)
======

Aaoge Jab Tum O Saajana
Angana Phool Khilenge
Barsega Saawan, Barsega Saawan Jhoom Jhoomke
Do Dil Aise Milenge
Aaoge Jab Tum O Saajana, Angana Phool Khilenge


Naina Tere Kajraare Hai, Naino Pe Hum Dil Haare Hai
Anjaane Hi Tere Naino Ne Waade Kiye Kayi Saare Hai
Saanson Ki Lay Madham Chalein, Tose Gaye
Barasega Saawan
Barasega Saawan, Jhoom Jhoomke, Do Dil Aise Milenge
Aaoge Jab Tum Ho Saajana, Angana Phool Khilenge

Chanda Ko Taaku Raaton Mein, Hai Zindagi Tere Haanthon Mein
Palkon Pe Jhilmil Taarein Hain, Aana Bhari Barsaaton Mein
Sapnon Ka Jahaan, Hoga Kela Kela
Barasega Saawan
Barasega Saawan, Jhoom Jhoomke, Do Dil Aise Milenge

Aaoge Jab Tum O Saajana..

From bread to brownie

Today evening I tried making a lot of new stuff in the kitchen. One was peanut butter from scratch. The other was a bread rava sandwich and the other a microwave chocolate brownie. All recipes taken from various food blogs.

The peanut butter came out fine, the end mixture was a lil coarse but since I like coarse peanut butter i'll think of it as a success! ;-)

The rava bread thingy was the simplest of all. (I was unable to get the proper link or the blog ot which it belonged. Sorry! :( ) Make a rava batter (like you make for rava rotti). Make it a little watery so that you can spread a layer of it on the bread. Then toast the bread as usual, rava side facing the tava so that it gets cooked properly. It tasted good.

The brownie recipe said its a 2 minute microwave version and I took 30 minutes!!! They never mention the preparation time do they!?!?! :-| Well, anywaz the recipe was good and the result was ok. It had a little more essence which the others didn't like that much, but a good start nevertheless. Now to progress to making brownies in the OTG and see how it goes!

Beautiful songs

I usually look into the friends section of some blogs I follow, so that I get more material and posts to read. Today I chanced upon 1 such blog which has some hindi songs and their translations. I checked the first song and thought 'hmm..i like this one too'. Then I checked the second one, and thought 'oh wow, i had forgotten about this song!! its so lovely' and then I checked the third one and thought ' Its been ages since I listened to this one and ohh i love this one too!!!' And this continued for almost all the songs and I was amazed by that person's choice and how it matches mine.! :) It was really refreshing to revisit those songs and I totally got lost in the lyrics all over again.! Although I just skimmed through the titles of the post (which mentions the songs) after 2-3 songs!)

I also silently made a resolution. To post the songs I like in this space so that there might be others who pass through this blog and think as I thought above!

So let me start it off with this song. I just selected the first song I saw on my current playlist.
This is from last year's phenomenal block-buster 'Dabanng' or was it 2 'b's or 2 'g's!!

The song - Chori kiya re Jiya. (click on the song to go to raaga.com's listing)
What I liked - Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal combination, simple lyrics and music. Very soothing.

Lyrics:
(got from http://www.top10bollywood.com/)

Saachi saachi teri nazrein ek darpan
Dede mann ki yeh khabrein ek pal chin
Adharon ne kuch na kaha re
Naino ne keh diya
Tune toh pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya mora jiya
Tune bhi pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya more piya

Gummsumm gummsumm rehne wali humri ek guzareya re
Kal-kal kal-kal behne lagi jaise prem ki nadiya re
Tujhe sang preet humne lagai hai
Tab jaage yeh rutt aayi hai
Tune toh pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya mora jiya
Tune bhi pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya more piya

Gupchup gupchup dil mein aaya sajna swaang rachaiya re
Pal pal har pal jiski chaya apna paar lagiya re
Ho tujh par jaan humne lutayi hai
Tab jaake tu sang aayi hai
Tune toh pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya more piya

Saachi saachi teri nazrein ek darpan
Dede mann ki yeh khabrein ek pal chin
Adharon ne kuch na kaha re
Naino ne keh diya
Tune toh pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya more piya
Tune bhi pal bhar mein chori kiya re jiya mora jiya


P.S: It is actually amazing that I can now post what comes to my mind in less than 10 min! :-D

Clothes

Am amused by the fact that infant clothes are made for the sole purpose of entertaining everyone other than the infants! :)

Will the infants really care whether there is a cute fish or a big car on their t-shirt or a cool slogan? But they do amuse the parents and relatives for sure. No wonder you'll only find such shirts in stores. I think its only after they are 1 or 1.5 yrs, that they'll truly start appreciating the cute drawings/colors on their shirts/shorts.

Yes, I will only talk about shirts and shorts and pants for kids from now on and not even mention how remorseful I become when I see cute jeri langas, frocks and colorful skirts for girl babies in shops!! (Why God, why did you do this to me!! ;-) )

Bhoole bisre geet

While giving bath to Siddhu (yeah, that's one of his nicknames, sounds earthy na? :-D), Josh and I usually start singing any song/rhyme that pops up in our head. Now that he can lift his head and has started reaching out to grab things, oiling him and giving him bath has been challenging and fun. His fav is 'hickory-dickory doc..tic toc..the mouse ran up the clock..tic toc...) He usually gives a lovely toothless smile and stares at me when I start singing this. But this holds his attention for at most 3 renditions, so we start singing all kind of songs and in all languages (hindi, kannada, english that is).

Its amazing how suddenly we remember old, forgotten hindi tracks! Just yesterday I suddenly remembered this beautiful track of Sonu Nigam's - Kuch tum socho kuch hum soche. This is from his private album (Deewana I think). I still remember the video - Gul Panag and that Himanshu guy waltzing! I had forgotten the lyrics, and Josh quickly joined in and sang 1 whole antara!! (I was amazed that he remembered it!!)

Whether Sid is occupied or not with these songs, we sure have a great start of the day!!!

Tic tic tic..ting!

That's the sound of my new OTG ringing to tell me that the pre-heating is done! :-D Oh yes, I now have a new hobby - baking! With Sid occupying my every thought, I needed a diversion. Not that I mind having him fill my entire world, but I started to worry about him to an annoying level - annoying, that is, to others.! :) So I started to think what I could do with the 'spare' time I had. I narrowed down to 2 options - gardening and baking. Ultimately, baking won as I don't think I could do due justice to pots and plants.

So I bought a small Oven-toaster-griller and started my experiments with cookie baking. First, I tried the benne biscuit. FIL and Josh were reluctant guinea pigs. :) Got some positive feedback too. The taste of ghee was overwhelming and I decided never to use it again, instead, should try out recipes using butter/oil.

Fresh out of the oven!

Then I decided to go to the opposite end of the spectrum and decided on making masala crackers. (Took the recipe from here.There are some very nice recipes in that site, take a look if you are interested) I replaced the sesame seeds in the recipe with cumin seeds though. They came out nice, to my great surprise! :) It tasted almost like nippattu and they were an instant hit! :-D

Crackers!

So taking some courage, I again tried my hands at sweet cookies. This time I tried almond cookies (recipe from Manjula's kitchen - google it) as this recipe used wheat and not maida.

I did hit problems with the temperature and heat control, as there were 2 heating elements, one up and one down, and no recipe mentions what level they need to be. WIth both elements turned on, the bottom of the cookie turned black, where as the top didn't even cook.! So Josh suggested I reduce the temperature (from 180C as mentioned in the recipe to 150C) and chose only the top heating element.This worked like a charm! The cookies baked perfectly in 10 minutes and it was such a relief! :)

Now, I need to try out other recipes, and will def keep this blog posted, success or not!! But that can happen only when Sid is sleeping or playing with his grandparents/father, which gives me roughly 1.5-2 hrs in all!!! That is also the main reason I just have lousy photos taken from my phone.

And now its back to Sid. Cheerio!

Jhoom barabar jhoom!!

About the kiddo, what else!

It just feels like yesterday when I logged out of my office nw completing the few remaining tasks at hand, gearing up to go through childbirth. And now, nearly 4 months have passed and I look back in wonder. Wow! Where did all the time go?

All I remember is feeding the kid, putting him to sleep, changing his nappy and feeding him again, starting the cycle all over! And pulling my mom out of her daily chores, a hundred times a day. "Amma, why is he sleeping so much? Why is he NOT sleeping? Why is his poop like that? (really!!!) He just sneezed! He just vomited, is it normal? He looks like he is catching a cold. He feels warm doesn't he?" And then volley the same questions to my sister as soon as she is back from work!
Phew! Never ending volley of questions and never satisfied at the answers I get! But then what's the internet for? :-) To this, my annoyed mom reacts - 'Internet mele oddhiddhu jaasthi aaythu!! Bere kelsa ilva ninge'. :-)

How can I not write about the sleepless nights that my baby gave us! We struggled a lot in the second month, when his sleeping pattern was so hopeless!! It is only from the third month, that it became normal (sleeping through the night, that is) and there is a feeling of some method in the madness!! All this effort seems exhausting, but vanishes the instant the kiddo gives a big smile when he sees me or responds to my voice with his 'ooh's. Feels so rewarding!

The rate at which he is growing is alarming. He now rolls over and lifts his head to look around when is he is lying on his tummy. He reaches out and grabs toys put in front of him. All this in a matter of a week!! Every day we discover something new about him.

It feels as if I will miss out on things if I am not with him every single minute he is awake!! Now that I have to start working in a week or so, I wonder how I will find the time or inclination to do so? This is the real work-life balance that I must strive to achieve. It will not be easy, but hopefully not extremely difficult!

good or bad??

"Remember nobody is good or bad. They are either strong or weak. Strong people stick to their morals, no matter what the trials and tribulations. Weak people, many a times, do not even realise how low they have fallen. "
Excerpt from Amish's "The secret of the nagas".
Nice take on good and evil. In fact the whole book contemplates a lot in this direction. Add to this a good plot and a nice mix of mythology and fiction, makes it a good reading. Compared to the first book of this trilogy, the language is also so much better with reduced usage of slangs!!
Am yet to finish reading it, but I am already waiting for the last book.!

Similarities

So I watch this daily soap on Sony called 'Bade Acche Lagte hain' which has the Ekta Kapoor stamp all over it. It has Ram Kapoor as the lead protagonist, and so, since I liked him once upon a time, I watch it every afternoon.

Today, while watching the serial, mom suddenly says 'Your kid looks like Ram Kapoor!' :-|
I console myself thinking that it is because of the round fat face, that she thinks so. As if reading my mind, she quickly justifies. 'He always has a single sulky expression on his face!' :-| :-|

Mind your language

(From the TV show - Castle)
Beckett: Against who?
Castle: (corrects her) whom?

Hmm..I know someone who does that too! ;-)

Rattle tale!

Milestone

No, this is not with reference to my phone (Motorola Milestone), which btw, is still with Josh!
Today marks 2 important milestones. First, my kid (still can't believe am a mommy now!) is 1 month old today. Second, my second nephew starts pre-school today!

The nephew did cry 'amma beku' as opposed to the first nephew (skanda) shouting 'ajji beku' on his first day at pre-school! ;-) He is all happy now at home telling everyone that he went to 'thkool'.!

My little lad is comfortably dozing off in his cradle, while I write this. A background score of 'comfortably numb' is playing repeatedly in my cellphone! He, as discovered by Josh, has taken a liking to this song and treats it like a lullaby! :-)
The only disappointment, I can't sing or play the song - 'Meri ghar aayi ek nanhi pari'!!

It's been a month today since I delivered a baby boy! It just seems like yesterday, when I was having contractions and to divert my mind, was watching 1920 (the 'horror' movie by Vikram Bhat) in the delivery room of Columbia Asia referral hospital! Utter nonsense the movie was. I also watched the 2 IPL matches happening that day, although I have no idea who were playing and who won! In fact, when the kid arrived, the TV was still on and the match was just about to end, I think!

The first response family and friends had was the same - 'yet another boy!'. My sis has 2 boys and Josh's sis has 1 you see! Everyone madly hoped to add a girl to the family. Well, what can you do, chromosomes and all that! :-D

After a lot of searching, we decided to name the little one Siddhant. (meaning principles or moral) All I can say is 'Is naam ka lihaaz rakna beTa'!!

The going has been pretty fine so far, apart from the rashes and colic that the kid had/has. Am being constantly reassured that it is normal and that I shouldn't worry. But hey, its my first time being a mom and being responsible for another human being, a tiny one at that! Just need some time, me thinks!

and more pics

Can't resist posting more of the beautiful flowers blooming in front of my house! Work from home feels good with this display outside my window :-) The other tree, next to this one, has started sprouting pink flowers too!

Summer and its beauty

Summer arriveth at full force!! The heat is already unbearable. So what beauty am I talking about?

It's the flowers that are in full bloom everywhere. At least in most places across Bangalore. The lovely lilac jacarandas, the light pink and yellow tabebuias, the yellow copper pod tree flowers, the dreamy rain tree flowers, to name a few, make Bangalore roads look very pretty! Do make an effort to just look around while you are outside and admire these flowers. :) Soon to come (already seen in some places) are the lovely May flowers, my fav!

Meanwhile, the tree in front of my house is in full bloom with purple flowers. Not sure if they are a variety of Cassia or the Queen's flower. But they sure are pleasing, ain't it?

Life-u ishTene!

We all know change is inevitable, change is needed to grow, to be a better human being, to constantly re-invent etc etc.! But its not always that we accept this gracefully. Some deny it, some resist it and some, like me, remain silent. Not having words to express your sentiments is a tad disappointing, but at that moment, it feels like that's the right thing to do. But I find writing about it to be a lot easier. So here goes nothing!

Yesterday marked the end of a long run of a dear friend in our company! She was the first mentor. The first thought when I saw her was that she looked like my sister! curly hair and all that! :-D

With time, we became really close - a merry gang of 5-6 ppl who enjoyed working, laughing and even crying (Mr.A's meeting about the team breakup, B's junk bug, some of them sound really silly now) together!

So saying good-bye is tough, overwhelming, and sad! Yes, it is not like I won't see her again, or meet her for dinners/lunches, or go out on trips again (which i sincerely hope will resume sometime in the near future!) It's the thought of not having her in office, to turn to, for advice, for complaining, for gossiping, for just being there!!!

She will be missed greatly, by most of our team members. She is the rare optimistic person you find now-a-days at offices, who wouldn't nag about things being wrong often, passionate about her work (as said by her manager too), always ready and never afraid to try new things. Her command over sports, be it badminton, TT or cricket, is well-known and was appreciated by everyone. She would be someone to look up to for advices, like an agony aunt! :-) (her office 'kids' would agree here!)

Tea-time conversations, leg-pulling sessions, online chats, walking in the rain, admiring Mr.A, photo-sessions, the trips, planning on trips, complementing each other (I can see Pras nodding on this one), gossiping about anyone and everyone..sigh..the to-be-missed list seems endless!

But, as Mr.A puts it, change is good and I feel she deserves a much needed break, from everything. So here's wishing S a great new future, filled with happiness and fun! Be enthusiastic and spread joy as always!

Rain and its effects

Random thoughts in the past half hr

Wishing badly that it rains as the heat increases and to see that the wish is indeed fulfilled the same evening!

Watching the rain from inside the house through the window for the first time in years! The view from the window is now good even at home too.

Thank you God Almighty! Life's small joys are indeed the best.

Getting nostalgic and thinking about the past, the what-could-have-been-present, the thankful-for-the-present-as-it-is, the worrying-what-the-future-holds.

Sigh! Why can't I just sit back and enjoy the rain for now and worry about everything later.