Informative Ride...:)

There I was in the freezing cold. There was a glimpse of spring last week, when finally all of us were sighing from relief that winter and snow and cold was all over.....But that was not the case as it grew cold foggy and rainy with spells of thundershowers this week...Today was no different, though there was no rain but the wind was just as bad...It was freezing and nut that I was had forgotten the gloves and the ear muffs at home.

Morning had seemed so fine till I reached the train station. The wind just chilled .... I never knew where my nose and ears were before this.....Wow... I just wanted to reach home to a warm cup of tea and offcourse a bed where I could just wrap myself with a couple of blankets.... But I had left office late and just had to finish an errand. It was pretty almost 7.30p.m.. Roomie was not feeling well and I did not have the capacity to let alone cook but even boil water for tea.

Finally called and we decided that I pick up some food since I was already outside and she could pick me up from station.
So went and picked up some food for dinner. As I was waiting for 'To Go' parcel to be made ('To Go' maney parcel leke jaaana) in the restaurant, I decided ab itnee thand mein there was no way i was going to station. Toh gr8 that I was I called the cab, I had exactly 20 dollars.(Whenever I need it, I am always short of cash)...I was dead cold and the restaurant seating area was colder while I was waiting for my parcel to be done....

I called the cab and the first fellow did not understand the indian restaurant I was speaking about. Told me to find out the correct address and call him back. Gr8 i thought ...
I was so so irritated...
The next was a desii cab, called them and asked Kitna lagega....bolein twenty Daalaars only...
(I know 20 * 50 = 1000... i stopped that conversion long back :D neways ab toh 43 hai rate :D :D )

I was like kaam nahi hoga...then he was like ok jee 19 $.. I felt foolish as though I am in some bhaji market....
I was like ok ..He said he will be on his way in 10 mins...

ok by that time toh khana bhi aa jayega,...
Kaafi chakkar kaatein ...saw lots of aunties, uncles with kids going to restaurant and coming back...
Then came a jhund of aunties who started 'Khem cho ' 'Khem cho' to each other..
Finally I went to the lady of the restaurant, got my parcel and then again the waiting game began ...
10 mins ho gayein .....I knew these ppl would do like this...
My old roomie used to call this cab and used to be horrified at their lack of punctuality....
It was soon becoming twenty mins...Trying to take a deep breath in and out from my already frozen nose....
I was trying not to lose my already high temper....

Just when I was about to call, the fellow called...'Ohh jee aap kaha rukhein ho ' ....
I was 'mein bahar aa raheee huun, ruko jaara'

I got into the cab ..what a relief...it was warm inside...car mein heater on tha... :D
And there was a sardarjee with a cap..playing bhangra on the Cab CD....
After giving my destination, I was looking out of the window figuring out kab tak pahuchenge...
Then he said ..iss restaurant ka khana aacha hai ..
I was 'jee haa theek theek hai'
Then there was silence with only that bhangra playing...

I was thinking bechare ne ek sentence toh bhi courtesy sake ke liye bola..
aur mein M'em ke jaise usko kaat diya....

Soch rahee thee kii kya poochun...
Then I said..'Yeh bhangra kaunse album ka hai ' ( 'What a stupid question to ask as if I will know the difference ' I thought)
No bhangra played after that... I was like aarey meine kuuch galat poocha kya kii he thought I got offended by the song kii usne shut down kar diya....
Phir woh bola 'This is Bhangra Club' or something like that...The pause was he was taking out the CD to read the name...

Then gana again continued...
Cabwallah (CB) : 'Aap Gaane maane bhangra suntein ho ? '
Me : 'Jee haa kyun nahi' (Isliye toh poocha - I thought)
Me : Aap movies dekhtein ho...(Neone knowing me will know that it is standard question...If not that then books padhtein ho but here it did not seem likely)
CB : Jee haan aap boliye hum toh dekh liyein honge. Aap ne kaunsee latest dekhii
Me : Meine toh 'Namastey London'
CB : Jee meine bhi woh dekh lii ...ekdum punjab dikha rahein theey...
Me : Toh punjab mein aise hota hai ...
CB : Haan jee bas aise ...then he paused and thought 'Well not exactly like that'
Me : Well shayad Dilwale Dulhaniya type hota hoga Punjab mein
CB : Exactly....Abhi toh filhaal koi khaas movies toh nahi hai ..

Recent research toh well updated I thought I will show off a bit :D

Me : Woh nayee movie aa rahee hai .. Tara Rum pum pum...Yash Raaaj
CB : Haan woh it is a copy.
Me : Arrey only casting is similar to Hum Tum.
CB : Haa woh toh hai par it is copy of English movie..
Me : (Wow yeh toh mein nahi jaante thee) Kaunse movie...
CB : Taradega Nights...
Me: Taraaa dega Nights ...kaunsa language hai ?
CB : Arrey yeh English hai ...Will Farrel hai
Me : (Ohh wow kya up to date hai) Ohh aisa kya..Will Farell kii toh last week Blades of Glory release huey theey....
CB : Haan yeh last 6 months mein release huey hai...
Me : Ohh ok ..Toh uskee copy hai ...
CB : Haan ..( in short poora english movie ka story ho gaya ) Par knowing Hindi movie it will be emotional
Me : Kyun english was not ?
CB : Nahi english was comedy...
Me : Ohh Ok... ( Then trying to make up for the lost ground ) Kaafi saaree movies aa rahee hai.. Isss haftein toh Shalaka Boom Boom release ho rahee hai .....
CB : Haan jee ...usmein Bobby hai naah..
Me : Haan.. Upen Patel bhi haii naah
CB : Haan Pata nahi usko kyun liya hai ....
Me : Haan all multistarrer mein toh woh hai ...36 China Town mein bhi hai...
CB : Haa Bobby kii toh bahut dino ke baad aachee movie aa rahee hai ...Sunny bhi aacha actor uskee saare movie hit ho jaate hai...
Me : Sunny ka bhi toh koi nayee movie aaye hai
CB : Sunny kiii ...woh kaunse ...
Me : Nahi meine nahi dekhi just saw some song being played with Priyanka Chopra..
CB : Arrey woh toh release nahi huey hai...
Me : Ohh ok...
CB : Waise woh Abhay Deol bhi accha actor hai ...Ahista Ahista mein aachee acting kii hai Woh bhi apne Taujee pe gaya hai..Aapne dekhii hai ...?
Me : Haan aachee movie hai ...Delhi is shown pretty nicely.. jee haan meine dekhii hai ...Socha naa tha bhi dekhii hai ..Waise he is cousin of Sunny n Bobby..
CB : Haa aap Virendar ko jaante hai
Me : ??? (Bobby , Sunny ka aur bhi koi bhai hai kya i thought ...how come I was not knowing...website waale itnee research nahi kartein kya) Virendar kaun
CB : Arrey Virendar, Dharmendar ka bhai ...Poora Punjab jaanta hai
Me : Ohh I did not know his brother was an actor..
CB : Jee woh aacha actor tha Punjab ka...
Me : Ohh ok ...Comedian thaaa?
CB : nahi nahi woh actor tha..emotional and all very nice...
Me: Ohh mane he was Dharmendar of Punjab...
CB : Sahii kaha ...But he expired at a young age...
Me : Ohh
CB : But Abhay seems good...All of them are acting in some movie..
Me : (Shining maarne ka ek aur mauka) Haaanjee 'Apne' ...
CB : Jee haa ..then he went on saying some famous comedians of Punjab are there....(I could find only Sindhu 's name which I knew...)
CB : Comedy toh bahut kaam log aachee se karte hai ...
Me : Jee haa.. Yash Raj kee kaafii movies aa rahee hai ..
CB : Haan last movie unkiii Dhooom....baadi bakwas thee...
Me : hmm but nothing like Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna...
CB : Jee Haan but that movie was boring ...that was also copy...
Me : Jee haa
CB : Waise my fiance is from Kerala
Me : Ohh is it? thats nice....(How is it that when people meet you there are always remotely connected to the place you are from..even if you know that they might not be true.)

Neways sum and substance was that he knew a lot more about movies...
Did not realise that my home came so soon...
Had a very informative and unusual conversation with that person...
Then when I gave him the 20$ and told keep the change as idhar tip bhi dena padhta hai ...
Toh he said nahi jee meine toh aapko pehle bhi kaha tha 19$ isliye you will have to take 1$
Waise yeh meriii hii company hii hai ...you can call us ne time ...
This is our card....

I thought sahii hai bhai...
Neways wished him good night and told him had a wonderful time...

P.S : Next day did find out that ...
1) That Tara Rum Pum is a copy of English movie..."Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" in which Will Farrell is there ......
2) Abhay Deol is son of Dharmendra's brother Ajit Singh Deol... And Virendar was a very famous Punjabi actor....Now if Virendar and Ajit Singh Deol are the same... No idea...:)

This is a long pending post...cya and hope you all have a good weekend...

Just reminiscenes...

A whiff of the tadka, mustards splattering and curry leaves crackling....and pressure cooker just finished whistling...
in another 10 mins mum calls out to have dinner with warm rice and hot sambhar and crisp papads ofcourse accompanied by the side veggies and pickles...hmm a vision drawn from some of the stored memory which i did not know existed....

It just came as a flash ...when i was making or rather trying to make sambhar... I never knew I relished the dish till I craved for the one mum made...Trying to emulate or rather get the taste of mummy's food..

For guys like us it is lot easier...market mein jao , packet lao, kholo , gholo aur ban gaya tayar ekdum jatpat...Upma toh totally easy...

So courtesy MTR Masala Powder , Sambhar was tayar and roomie was khush kii ekdum sahii sambhar hai but i was like yeh aisa nahi hai ghar ka ..yeh toh hotel ka sambhar lag raha hai ...

Next time I called up mum, I was like Maa what do u put in the sambhar..I know there is drumsticks and managed to get tamarind too also asafoetidia(Hing - i never get the spelling right) .Now we get it here in powder format also but how do u make right from scratch sambhar ? And mum is like you crossed seven seas to have dal and sambhar...didn't u have it enough when you came home...Go try some Pizza, Pasta or whatever they eat there ....

So long now am trying to make do with sambhar made by me till i can get back and hack into the trade secret...

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The weather is so so cloudy ...ekdum apna aug-september ke rain jaisa....I came to office and not a soul around...It was good 15 mins later that my next door collegue and I realised that we both are around and said Good morning...

With him wondering why is the office like a tomb ....Probably because of the spring break or i guess weather is bad bolke..

Feel so sleepy..and it is ekdum right weather for crisp bhajias and steaming masala tea....
although massala chai toh door kii baat....lunch mein onion rings bhi nahi milein ...
Onion Rings ...American equivalent of bhajiye..where huge rings of onion are soaked in egg milk and pancake batter..though i guess nothing can beat the true flavor of besan soaked onion rings...ekdum indian style...

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First Snow.......

Today Jan 18th I actually felt snow...as in real life :)
All this while in movies where you could just imagine how it is to snow.
The experience was different if you could say exhilarating ....
While coming to US it would have been in one of my wishlists....

Though with no sign in Nov or Dec, when H and Y were saying abt how it would be lovely to have white x'mas......I thought it would be one of the things I would not be destined to see much less feel it....

Of course there have been many false alarms and that kinda had me feeling that obviously i would not be able to see it.

It all started yesterday..By the looks of it, it was gloomy and looked like it would rain terribly...
But the had put a lot of salt in the parking lot...
Thats when Y mentioned that they do that when ever there is an impending snow forecast..I was like let it atleast snow...else all this is just false preparation...
But the temp was dipping and we were on our way back from lunch...when wisps of snow was falling...

I thought it was raindroplets falling as they were few and far between and b4 touching the car glass it would be water...

So i thought that it was just some raindrops
Thats when they said.."Looks like Tina will be able to see some snow"
I was like they call this water snow...
It was so tiny that it looked more like dandruff( for the want of a better word)

With pictures of what snow looked like in my science class text books i was surely on the verge of disappointment when Y mentioned that internally snow flake did look like that ..

But it looked gloomy and it really did look like there would be a thundershower...

One we got back to the office and into our cubes, it was as good as being locked somewhere..

Thats when I saw ppl gathering near the windows...it looked like heavy rainfall but it was actually snowing those tiny wisps.

Thought of going downstairs in the open to see or rather feel the snow..but we had a meeting..

The conference room is at the edge of the floor where except for the entrance all other sides are glass windowed.. So as the meeting progressed it was good to see snow falling with snow almost as big as hailstones....it was nice though it did melt by the time it reached the ground.

For quite some time all of us were looking at the snow...

By the time the meeting was over the snow was over and the ground looked more like it had rained....

On my way back it did not snow at all and that was the last forecast for the day.. I was like ohh no ...

Today I almost overslept..(i did actually) and groggily when I got up and saw outside it was white...Just like in Home Alone :D.. Cars were covered and evergreens also.. I was wide awake before convincing myself that it was after all now a dream. On my way to work slowly treading the ground...as you could have a good slippery fall on the snow esp when my sport shoes did not have any grip :(

It was sunny and all the white snow though just a cm layer... It was amazing view and for once in my life I regretted that I do not have a camera...Phone camera is real blurred.

Neways hunted up the internet for equivalent pictures so that you could also see what I saw.. Hopefully I could fill you in with real pictures.

As I was walking the snow layer used to crumble. It was at the station that temptation got better of me. Removed by hand from the glove and touched snow.. It just crumbled n it was cold you know. But it was so nice and flaky... And so guys n gals First Snow is here ....

I am not disappointed though I still have to stand while the snow is falling just like in movies :D

Felt like sharing the feeling with all of you esp since ppl I called up to tell were not around... :D

So now i guess it is one of the wishlist items which has been checked (as in a tick mark)..........

Here to more items to be ticked ............

Cheers,

Tina :)

Singles getting extinct .????

This is a post I have been thinking of writing....wht prompted me to write it....

Lets see...

Two of my very good friends got married on Saturday...Me being here missed all the fun.
Most of my friends on orkut are putting up double photos meaning couple waale...

Most of my batchmates guys including hav got married or commited...(commited mane booked :) ) Of course there is another set who are putting kids photos...

Fortunately my school friends and some of my college friends are remaining in the same boat as me :)

In Office all are married else fianced....

what happened to the singles movement....I wonder?

Its nice to knw ur friends status is changing if not VISA status, nice to see the snaps whether it is them alone or with spouse or with kids....
But somewhere wistfully you look and feel where are ppl like us.

Among the gang the rush of knowing a close friend getting married is amazing and best still is attending the wedding. Given the different regional friends its nice to attend different types of wedding.

Greater is the amazement when you know of some of your friends with kids.. It is a very pleasing and fun feeling to knw that a key to the next generation is in their hands....
( Of course that does move you to Bhai jee and Behen jee or Uncle-Aunty Level.)

Though I guess i wrote this feelingly because of my inability to attend the weddings...But i think it is nice to get or rather give some reassurance to my still single friends..

Bhaiiyon - Beheno our tribe is not extinct yet :D

Neways still on a lookout kii ab kiska number next aayega...

Rgds.................

rAnDOm tHoUGhts

So many times it happens that you have so many ideas in ur head but nothing to jot down.......
and when you stare at the blank computer page....nothing absolutely nothing comes to your mind.....
I started like that just to try to remember the thoughts that accumulate..........at random...and so many views I have but maybe cannot express.....

I subscribe to the pravsj forwards...sometimes the messages which come are really good and especially the quotes.....The quotes in themselves are pretty motivational but some times the pictures are pretty bleak.....though the quote makes up for that too.......
I had subscribe to those messages to ensure that i am in regular supply of good quotes so that i could forward to my friend circle morning moring as a good morning wish....just like some of my friends religiously send the Good morning mails...its nice to go morning morning and receive the morning mails...it's a different thing that my morning here happens pretty late......as compared to indian mornings.....
so by the time i decide to send a good morning mail its almost the next day there ....

Neways...i am slowly slowly getting used to being alone though cannot associate that with loneliness.....have to find a way to find solace in it.....
first I used to avoid staying alone coz thats the time when you terribly miss everything that matter most....
but now slowly slowly inch by inch trying or rather learning to deal with it......
Of couse having internet helps coz browsing sites themselves causes a lot of timepass though you might not say productive time pass...
you can also ensure it is productive....by searching for deals....

when i came to US..one of the first things i learnt from collegues and roomies was that if u get good deals online you save quite a lot,..... so each of them ensured that they saw deals online in various sites first and publicise it...most of them had a daily morning good morning routine.....of seeing all the possible sites for deals....

I thought it was a trend here so me to joined the band wagon for some days....but had no patience to wait and search for some thing which I would not buy thinking that there would be a good deal next.... thankfully its not become a habit now :)