Little things do matter...

I have always wanted to wear heels, but I am pretty tall already and I am not very comfortable in them, so I don't wear them often! ...BUT I still went ahead and bought these incredibly gorgeous, comfortable and feminine lace heels that are specially designed for big,wide feet like mine, online! ...


When I got the shoes, I jumped up with excitement and joy, like a 10-year old! I was relating to S about something that happened when I was about the same age...and I decided to relate it here as well...


When I was a little girl, and am a girl's girl, I couldn't wait to wear duppattas, have long nails, wear heels, lipstick....I was in awe of my cousin U, a very pretty cousin, maybe at least a decade older than me....and she would have these lovely long nails with pretty nail polishes and would wear these really glamorous big heels. I remember eagerly waiting to get my nails painted, when I visited her and never folding my hands, thinking the color would fade away! :P. I would bug Amma for a dash of lipstick when we would go for weddings and simply refuse to eat, fearing it would wear off....my poor mother!!

Once, she had got rid of her heels - white stilettos, and I brought it along home, just for the heck of it. It was at least 5 times bigger than my feet...but I would walk around in them, dreaming of owning my own pair someday! :) I also had a suitcase full of shells collected over a period of time from all our beach trips...and this was all my "treasure" I would never part with, (so don't mess with me or I'll make you go crazy with my whining and crying kinda treasure!)

We moved houses, actually a major milestone for us coz we were moving from our rented apartment to a lovely apartment in Besant nagar, near the beach...and it was going to be our own home! I remember I was so thrilled looking at the new chandelier(...I thought they were real diamonds and we were super rich now!) at our new home and I also remember asking Amma "Inga daily thanni varumaa? (Will we get water here everyday?)"....coz we used to live in an area where there was a lot of water scarcity and Appa and Amma had to work hard to collect water. Anyway, I digress.

My parents had shifted to our new home and left us kids with our cousins while they unpacked and settled down. Of course, the minute I landed, I looked for my "treasure" box and to my utter horror, my dad threw away all my "trash", including my cousin's stilettos that I had safely stashed away. I was completely heartbroken and I had a mental image running in my head, of pouncing on my Dad for doing this to me! Oh, but I simply did what I did best - cried, cried and cried like there was no tomorrow...I was very very upset with him for throwing away my most treasured possessions.

Today, and I say this with utmost honesty, I feel good, very good - to know my "treasure" is safe and its beautiful and its not borrowed, its my own! ...safe in my home! It may be a little thing, but it goes deeper...:)

P.S - Edited to add a picture after I wore them in real life, finally! :)

...they look super hot, don't they? :D

P.S - This definitely does not mean that my parents were inconsiderate, I have the most wonderful folks, but it is just a recollection of my state of mind THEN! ....:)

Spoils from our Berlin Trip!

S's funky watch and my chunky flower ring - a match made in Heaven! ;)

Déjà huit, trop vite...Eight already, so fast?

S* makes a "special appearance" on this blog, and describes our relationship in his unique style and with all honesty? ;) ....

i'm not a "romantic" in the traditional parlance of the word and my darling wife would vouch for that. however:

1. …i do remember the day i met her (some 3000+ days back) as if it were this morning…
2. …i do remember the quick smile as we were introduced (from across the room)…
3. …i do remember the ambling walk to the beach and the wide-ranging chatter (mostly on her part, as would be obvious to our common friends)…
4. …i do remember THE DECISION itself (not quite a movie-style climactic crescendo, i like to believe that by the time we came to that point, all that was left was the “formal” question and answer – that we had each individually already decided)…
5. …i do remember that we’ve lived in 5 different houses (only some of them count as “homes”) in 3 different cities in 2 different countries…
6. …i do remember that we’ve visited 11 countries (not counting the two we’ve lived in)…
7. …i do remember that today is our 8^th anniversary (i can almost hear the cliché shattering)…
8. …i do remember we’ve spent each of our anniversaries in a different place (by choice, its one of our customary annual vacations)…

that’s a whole lot of numbers that would not really mean much if not for what we’ve learnt from each other:

1. …how to let another person totally, completely and uninhibitedly into your life…
2. …how to recognize each other’s alter-egos and not to think you’re dealing with a different person…
3. …how to argue, debate, fight, nag, hassle, pester and badger each other without getting annoyed or irritated…
4. …how to stand up for each other without realizing it or acknowledge that you’re doing it…
5. …how to understand each other without speaking a word…
6. …how to completely misunderstand each other and laugh about it later…
7. …how to feel totally at ease doing things that you would otherwise never do…
8. …how to spend a majority of your waking hours with another person and never feel bored…

none of this would be possible without the things we have in common:

1. …love of travel, seeing new places and people (see above!)…
2. …the conviction to take things as they come (trust in God but lock your door at night)…
3. …sloth (our common favourite pastime is to curl up on a comfy sofa with a book)…
4. …F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (we have the entire series on DVD and have watched it a zillion times)…

to name only a few.

…or the ways in which we are totally different:

5. …she can’t stand my Formula 1 obsession and i loathe her fashion/ shopping fetish…
6. …she jabbers incessantly and i enjoy the sounds of silence…
7. …she loves the sea and i can’t get enough of mountains…
8. …she has tons of friends and i’m a “closet introvert”…

again, to name only a few.

what does this all mean? 8 fruitful years and a truckload of good times for starters…and 8 more years for you to wait for my next post…

see you same place, same time in 2019!

* S refers to the wonderful man I am married to! ( if you didn't already know!)

My historical trip to Berlin!

Keeping with our tradition of celebrating every anniversary in a new city, we decided to celebrate in Berlin this time! On our to-do list for a long time, we thought it was high time we planned this trip...with this, we have almost covered all of Europe! Whoop!

We stayed in this lovely apartment (http://www.all-berlin-apartments.com/en/berlin-apartments/ref_1519/)...and we made our own breakfast and the odd dinners too...felt right at home, fighting over who would wash the dishes ;)...it was on the 4th floor with no elevator, so we got some free exercise too after the long walks around the city everyday! But we always prefer an apartment or a B&B to a hotel, it is economical, homely and very convenient! If you are planning a holiday in Berlin, I would highly recommend staying here...

It was unbearably hot, as much as it would be at "home" aka India...though I expected it to be sunny and kind of summery, it was scathingly hot! I have to put this down here, we found this amazing bubble tea promoted by a company called BoBoq ( http://boboq.de)...the "bubbles" are tapioca pearls and I could not stop dreaming about the drink all day! S would very thoughtfully plan our day to include a visit to Boboq and left to me, I could have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Try it, its amazing! It was the highlight of my holiday, indeed! :D
I love watching people and when you travel, it is so much more fun - you see a wide variety of people, clothes, behavior, trends, smiles, food, life, culture....the list goes on! Here's my personal observations in Berlin!

• Every single person in Berlin has a tattoo - the most popular places being the nape of the neck, ankles, chest and shoulders! If there was someone who didn't have one, it must have been a tourist or "outsider"! S felt at home coz he has one too! I want to remain untouched...
  

• Women are very tall and well built, no petite women there....mostly!
• People are pretty friendly and try to be helpful, even if they could not speak English, sometimes!
• I don't understand a word of German except for the usual "Guten Tag" or "Danke", but I felt as if I understood the language. Weird, right?

• The city is very very clean and people are very disciplined. S and I were pleasantly surprised to see that every single person makes it a point to buy tickets on the metro. There is no check or a checkpoint to stop people from simply taking a free ride. Pretty impressive ethical conduct!
  
• Brimming with history, there are so many historical monuments and things to do...we were spoilt for choice! The "story of berlin" was very informative and very very interesting...would have been great if the commentary was in English too!

• We managed to go see the "Berlin Wall" and I got a mini-history lesson from S! What? I learnt Social Studies in Hindi...so am kinda weak in History and Geography and add topography to that, while we are on that topic! ;)

• In the midst of a super-hot day, as we roamed around the city, we found this lovely fountain and I literally jumped into it with all fervor....like someone ravaged in a desert who found the oasis...
• Of course, we did a little bit of shopping...found some interesting stuff in a market filled with lovely artsy pictures, knick-knacks and other pretty things for your home! I did bring something back for our home, will post pictures later on a different post, maybe?
  

S ( I know, he is the BEST!) got me a DSLR for my birthday and I am like a little kid with the best new toy, full of glee...I can't stop clicking! :) Will be posting lots of pictures on the photoblog!

Life as I knew it...

We all have a love-hate relationship with the rest of the world, don't we? When I was much younger, single and basically " a frog in the well", life was pretty simple! :) I just needed to get certain things done, and I thought that's about it - I am "there"!


As I began to explore, my circle of friends got bigger and I "broadened my horizons", so to speak, that feeling of achievement or contentment seems like a mirage! Now, I yearn for those simple days when it all seemed so much easier! :) Believe you me, I am not a cynic in any sense, but I just feel that "innocence" abandoned me somewhere along the way!

Most people who know me, may not believe this - but I am kind of skeptical about everything now - people, things, places, hell - even a friendly smile! But the thing is, by god's grace, except for a few not-so-good (at all!) events and fewer people - I am blessed and I am totally aware of it and openly acknowledge it! A good friend of mine was upset about something and when I tried to console her, she said " Oh, its easy for you to say - coz everything is perfect for you". I didn't say anything. The fact of the matter is nobody's life is perfect though it appears so! :) My life's good, but definitely not perfect - ask S or my amma - they will scream loudly that its NOT! coz they get to hear all my crap and console ME! How lucky are they? :P

I used to care a lot about other's opinions and have this innate need for everyone to like me. I am on edge if someone dislikes me. Over time, I guess I have changed...I don't bother anymore! Its just me, once I make up my mind - that's it! I have always been a confident person since childhood and I do know that there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance! The way I look at it now, it all depends on you ....how you want to see me - my confident self or my arrogant self? If you still feel its arrogance - too bad! If you want to be negative about everything, including me - well, what can I say? You are entitled to your opinion and so am I! I have decided to live a life true to myself, not what is expected of me. capishe?

I cannot say this enough - always be positive, things change and for good! As a matter of fact, some not-so-good things happened in my life, that led to some great things! :) That should mean SOMETHING, right? Keep the faith! PERIOD.