Friday, December 31, 2010

Time to say Bbye 2010!!

Year 2010 has been an eventful year, with the usual ups and downs. When I was thinking of a post to end the year, I remembered my sis writing this post. I had liked it... So I'm doing a similar post this time.. :D

A brief summary of 2010...

* what did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
- moved out to a different city to stay on my own, for work.

* did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- partially yes... Yes, I have a long list this time.. :D

* did anyone close to you give birth?
- Yup. My sister... :)

* did anyone close to you die?
- No

* what countries did you visit?
- None

* what would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
- Clarity and Peace of mind.

* what date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- April 9th, joined my current workplace.
- August 20th, my nephew was born.

* what was your biggest achievement of the year?
- refer question 1 ;)

* what was your biggest failure?
- taking up GATE, and not doing well. :(

* did you suffer illness or injury?
- suffered from neck pain for quite a few months.

* what was the best thing you bought?
- my Micromax Q55.

* whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
- different people at different instances.

* where did most of your money go?
- Insurance premium and house rent.

* what did you get really, really, really excited about?
- the nephew's birth.

* compared to this time last year, are you:
- happier or sadder? happier
- thinner or fatter? Just the same :-/
- richer or poorer? a lil bit richer

* what do you wish you’d done more of?
- Blogging, Reading and having fun.

* what do you wish you’d done less of?
- worrying.

* how will you be spending new year?
- with friends and room-mates, away from home :(

* what was the best book you read?
- The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

* what was your greatest musical (re)discovery?
- I stick to listening to my all time favourites.. :D

* what did you want and get?
- change of place.

* what did you want and not get?
- peace of mind.

* what was your favorite film of this year?
- I happened to watch all the flop movies :(

* what did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- gave GATE and spent time with friends & family. 23.

* what one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
- lesser misunderstandings.

* what/who kept you sane?
- loneliness.

* what did you miss?
- Home and Family.

* who was the best new person you met?
- met a lot of lovely people.

* tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
- Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone. Its true.. people have enough of trouble themselves, they don't like hearing other's woes. So learn to keep smiling.. :)

* quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
- AraLuva hoovugaLe aalisiri, baaLondu horaata mareyadiri.
BeLagina kiranagaLe baNNisiri, IruLhinde, belakunTu torisiri..
 
How was the year which went by, for you??
Wishing everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2011!!! Have fun!! :)

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Life Around a Metro!!

The Metro Rail successfully completed its test run in Bangalore, from Bayappanahalli to CMH Road. The only route that'll open in the year 2011.

For me it's sort of mixed emotions... As I mentioned in one of my posts, the Metro project has eaten away almost all the greenery, leaving the people longing for a fresh breath of air.

On the other hand, exists a hope that this will reduce the traffic woes. During the peak hours in the city, the roads are blocked, with vehicles standing neck to neck, horns blaring, people abusing others coming in their way. A normal 40-45 mins journey taking 2 hours and more. Considering this, I hope the Metro Rail brings whatever relief possible to the choking city.

I guess its a similar feeling for many Bangaloreans. I read that the same shopkeepers who opposed the project from being implemented on the CMH Road, as it would spoil their business, stood there cheering and clapping during the trial run. :D

One of the things I was excited about when coming to Chennai, was the chance to travel in local trains. It's a largely used, cheap and fast mode of transport here. Convenient for people travelling long distances. Reduces the road traffic to a large extent. Imagine the amount by which the traffic on the roads will increase, even if half the number of people travelling by trains, take out their cars!! :O

I hope that the Metro Rail will bring an equally good and refreshing relief to the people of Bangalore in the coming years.. :)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Nothing but change is constant...

Far too many things changed in the last few months. It takes time for me to make friends... I was lucky to get a good bunch of friends at office. But with all of them getting transferred one after the other, there's hardly anyone left. When this was happening, I happened to mention to my roommate that the only thing left is for my roommates to get transferred and I will be left alone :(. Behold!! The following week my roomie tells me she's getting transferred too... :(

Home sickness is another thing that I'm dealing with. I start feeling dull if it's nearly two weeks since I've gone home. Off late the longing to visit home had increased.. To play with the little one, to listen to his sounds and just to watch him sleep. The little one is going his house today :(. Now it'll have to be a few hours visit to their place to have a look at him.. How I wish he could stay with us always...

To add to this, after putting in nearly five months of efforts in the current project at office, just when we were getting the feeling of having become a part of the project, just when we started learning a few things about the product, we were told that they are moving out the freshers to other projects, due to some issues. After having worked for more than a year in b'lore I had to join as a fresher at the current workplace.. Now this change is happening here. What do I do??

Feeling low and helpless.. :(

Monday, December 20, 2010

Feat oh Feet!!

Yay!!! My darling nephew caught his toe in his fingers for the first time today.. :)
Congratulations on this feat, dear boy!! :D

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Green or Gray??

All I had heard before coming here is that rains in Chennai are scarce. Lasts for a week or so and occurs in October... But it has been raining here intermittently since November . Infact the cyclonic effect resulted in rains for three continuous days with places getting filled with knee deep water and we getting an off from work :D

A pleasant surprise was the chilly weather we experienced for a few days... I know the deadly summer's gonna be back soon, but why not enjoy the days as long as they last.

When I talk of rains I miss Bangalore so much. One amongst the many things I love about b'lore is that it rains unexpectedly. Just when the heat is getting intolerable, the rain gods shower their mercy on the city for a day or so. The trees and plants start looking beautifully green with all the dust getting washed off them. :)

Its such a pity that the city is now getting robbed of its beauty in the name of improving the city's infrastructure, the new roads and the Metro rail. Lovely roads which were lined with trees nearly a century old, now stand bare and dusty. All you can find now is the cement, dust and heat :(

Not long back, I had read an article in the newspaper in which Arundhati Nag had told that the late Shankar Nag had prepared a full fletched plan along with the sketch of how the underground Metro project could be executed in Bangalore, without affecting the greenery of the city. That project never got the required support from the government and never saw the light of the day. What if it had?? Probably things would have been different...

I have an interest in plants and gardening myself, which has taken a backseat. I remember the days when we lived in the quarters of the IIMB campus. Our garden had a variety of fruit bearing trees including mango, jackfruit, lemon, pomegranate, coconut, chickoo, guava etc. Also roses of all colours and a variety of hibiscus flowers could be found. All of it now seems like a scence out of a novel :). My dad used to take regular and really good care of it. On moving to a different house all we were left with were a few potted plants... :(

Some day.. I wish to have and maintain a small garden of my own. Maybe in an attempt to try and preserve the beauty of the city in my own little way... :)

Friday, December 10, 2010

The Baby Update

He rules the hearts and the house!! He's almost 4 months old and it's already giving me the feeling the he's growing up too soon :( The teeny baby which came to its maternal grandparent's home in August, is now ready to go back home... He and my sis will be going back to their house in a couple of weeks... :(

I hardly get to see him and when I do, I can't get enough of him.. The time flies by when you sit next to him babbling nonsense and cooing at him. He smiles, laughs and gurgles in response. It's such a delight to watch him do just that.

He has recently started turning over to one side and sleeping. The smart fellow lies straight, turns over to the side, again turns to lie down straight and keeps repeating the same, having happily found out that this trick makes him go round in the bed :D

His best friend till a few weeks back was the cieling fan, which my sis lovingly calls the "Fanny Boy!!". He used to watch it with awe and talk to it in his baby language. He has suddenly started getting scared of his Fanny Boy and starts crying at the sight of it rotating.. :( I heard recently that he cried terribly on seeing the rotating fans at a function they had taken him to... :(

On the first day of my two day weekend visit, he spends staring at me wondering, "Who is this?? Seems familiar. She keeps turning up every two weeks!!". By the second day he figures out that I'm his chikki and happily talks to me and laughs on seeing me, making it difficult for me to leave later in the night.

All these months almost all the activities in the house depended on whether he's sleeping, he's awake, he's crying, he's playing, he's hungry etc. My parent's especially are gonna miss him terribly. He being their "Kullanti" and "Bangari", they are used to spending their day around him. They now have to go back and get used to staying in the same old empty house. :(

Gonna miss you so much sweetheart!!!