One of those touching 'forwards' in your inbox...

This is a beautiful article: The woman in your life...very well expressed...

Tomorrow you may get a working woman, but you should marry remembering these facts well.
Here is a girl, who is as much educated as you are;
Who is earning almost as much as you do;
One, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have, because she is as human as you are;
One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements.
One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters, almost as much as you did for 20-25 years of her life;
One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family name.
One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day #1, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen.
One, who is expected to make coffee, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more, and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a servant, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to;
and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you;
One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she has known from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities;
Yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise.
One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met;
One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her a bit and trust her;
One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it.
But not many guys understand this......

Please appreciate "HER"

I think it was wonderful, you know, to hear our side of the story... men are always talking about how they lost their freedom after marriage. no one, looks into what the girl would have lost. and it is specially most irritating, when your husband, does not realize how much you do for him, and not appreciate you.

Mega Mart inaugrated

I've heard of shops and malls being opened by huge celebrities, nut i've never been to one.. but that's getting off my list of ' things-to-do-before-i'm-dead' list!
There's a new mega mart outlet, that's been open for a week near my place.. about 5 minutes walk. but today, at 6 in the evening, it got formally inaugurated. my mom and i had it all planned a couple of weeks ago, to go today, but we dint know that it was being inaugurated. atleast not till this morning. but then, plans shud never be canceled, especially, shopping plans... so we went, at 6, just to see who this 'celebrity' was.. we had to wait outside the door, till the star cut the ribbon and opened the store.. after 15 minutes, the star did arrive.. actress Nameetha.. the minute the car door opened, escorts, policemen, and fans, fought to get to the door, and get a glimpse of the star. finally, she did get it, and the doors were closed for some privacy. she came out and left the building like half hour later. and while we were left standing outside, you should see the men and grandpas outside... woah! you can literally slip with all the drool on the floor... one even managed to reach the decorations on the roof, and get her a flower... she din't take it though... but just see how desperate people were...although i regretted going there as long as i stood outside, waiting for her to leave, to think of it, yaaaa! it was fun.. to see guys running here and there, desperate to see her.. the fireworks on the sky that lasted for atleast 15 minutes, the irritation that a glass wall kept me from all those clothes, and gorgeousness... it was cool... and where most of my friends, and even my dad will think it madness, my mom and i are wild! and we like doing things like this..
infact the first thing that my dad told us after he came back from work and saw the shopping bags, was that it was a lesson for us, never to go to a store on it's inaugural day.. i agree.. but then, it was a, mmm... what do i call it? experience! i don't think i'll ever get to go to anything like this as long as i live, but atleast, i've been through it once...and it was nice.. seriously..
oh! i forgot.. or did i? :)
i still haven't told you what i got... i got myself some silver embedded with swarovski crystals earings.. 3 of them.. and an anklet, and a chain and earing set in emerald green and black.. super cool!
it's a pretty nice place, and i definitely will be going back there a lot more..

High School!

we all remember our High school days, but for me, that place has a very special meaning... infact, my high school days are the yard stick with which i measure happiness...
it is customary for the final year pass outs to conduct their last school assembly, and my class 12B wrote a song, summarizing the 7 years we spent within those walls.. and this is how it goes... and for those who are familiar with the Reema Sen song "may maadham 98" , this song is sung with that tune..

Chorus:
June maadham 97il high school vanthome!
high school vantha naalai nangal happy aanome
passa faila endru ennai thinamum kaetkum parents,
it's ok, u can trynu ennai ookkapaduthum teachers
intha balanced life romba pudichirukke, intha high school jolly thaan
intha schoolai vittu povathendral ada, haiyo! kashtam thaan!

stanza 1:
6th vanthom, subjects pudhusu confuse aanome
pona poguthu endru padithu paasum aanome
7thu 8thu 9thu vanthu kurumbugal pannome,
kurumbugal panni, sister kitta maatikkitome
10thil nanga ondrai ponom bangalore excursion
ada, athe aandu ezhuthinome board examination

(Chorus)

Stanza 2:
11thu vanthathu teachers pudhusu, friendsum pudichome,
assignmentsum marathadi testum kalakkipottome
12th vanthom naanga, ada serious aanome
ozhunga padikka sonnanga, aana thoongi vizhunthome
ada match paaathu maths pottu, duck out aanome
but everything has come to an end, its all in the game thaane

(Chorus)

i know that you don't understand what the song means.. but everyone in school did and it was a great laugh... but let me explain anyway...
My batch (2004 pass outs) entered high school in the moth of june '97 . In the 6th grade, we had new subjects, like History, Geography, etc. and although the standards were difficult to follow, we still struggled, and passed.
then came the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.. it was during these years, that we started growing our 'tails' and did monkeying all around the campus.. our principal, Sr. Preethi, has the habit of going around the school on periodic rounds everyday. it was during one such round, that our class happened to not have a teacher, and you know what happens to a class without a teacher... we were all noisy, throwing paper everywhere... and when one of our girls alerted us about the principal, the class instantly became quiet, and we each minded our own business.. but then, Sister had already heard the noise, an came into our class, and literally, blasted us... and here were the reasons: 1. that we were indisciplined 2. that we were irresponsible, that we didn't call a teacher from the staff room( and why wud we do that???) 3. that we were cunning enuf to go all silent when we heard her, and 4. that we were 'boneless' and not strong enough to admit our mistakes.
after declaring that we were unfit enough to be 'goos shes', she told us to get out of the campus, and never come in... so my entire class went out of the high school gates, and stood... by now, the teachers had all come out, and started begging Sister to be more lenient. but NO, she would'nt budge. so we all sat outside the closed gates, bag and all, the entire class, sitting on the floor, ashamed, looking at the other students come out for lunch, play in the grounds..
but don't worry, although the punishment was pretty hard, it wasn't all that cruel. the Sister had placed us, under the shade of a huge tree, just near the watchman, so he looked out for us, and when i say, out of the gate, i meant out of the high school gate only... my school had 3 schools, high school, junior school, and primary school, and many more buildings within a single compound. s we were not exactly sitting on a road with heavy traffic, just outside this one fenced gate.
but it was the most humiliating experience we all had, and the strongest for any class to ever receive.
and as for all the other naughty things we did, i'll have to blog it separately... thrs just too many!
In the 11th grade, all the teachers were different, coz we were now in the higher classes. we even had a separate building, for the 11th and 12th. and we were sposed to even chose out own groups, biology, computer, or commerce. so friends were split, and we were seated according to our groups we chose. but then, my class especially bonded too well, and soon we were known to be the naughtiest class in the entire school...it was the best two years of my life..
but then those years, we had a new Chemistry master, the only 'master' in school.. every one else were female teachers, and he was the only guy. and he was strict.. damn strict! it was like having nightmares everyday! he told us to stay back after school hours, and come one hr early to school for special classes. My school doesn't even work on saturdays, but he made us come to school for tests on SATURDAYS and SUNDAYS!
But then, although back then we hated him, there was something really fatherly about him, and i'm surprised to say, that we miss him, a lot.. he made us eat, sleep, drink, and talk chemistry... and the way he controlled us like a puppet on strings, amused every other teacher.
there is no place like high school for us.. and we are so proud to have been a part of such a wonderful school, where teachers were our friends, and second mothers.. the trees not just gave us shade and cool breeze, but also life... it was truly our second home, and every second within those walls, we were truly happy, and safe, like within the wings of the mother bird....

Charlie and the chocolate factory!

What a movie was that?? wow! and that word just isn't sufficient! i've already seen it, but today, i really wanted to write about it! in a world full of children who simply want to compete in life, this movie showed charlie as a kid who has a lot of lessons that he can teach today's children..
for starters, he is such a self-contained kid. while other children keep complaining about what they don't have, and compare themselves to their better-off friends, this kid, who shares a house
with his parents, and 4 grand parents, is such a lovely kid, and makes every parent want for one like him.
when his parents present him with a willy wonka chocolate bar for his birthday, he shares it with everyone at home... now tell me, how many kids do you know of, who share their chocolates with everybody, without being told to?maybe toys, but chocolate? never!
and when he does find a chocolate eventually, and he gets many offers to trade that ticket for money.. he goes home to tell his parents, that although he so much wanted to go and see the factory, he'd rather sell it, and use the money to buy some food for his family. woah! maybe you see kids like those just in the movies...
and these are just a few to name... but finally, it's this kid that gets the wildest prize... and this is one movie that parents shud make their kids watch, and teach them, that being good, pays well in the long run. i know that my kids are definitely seeing it..

My first time at the dentist's...

Well, how would a girl with a lethal phobia of dentists and the tools associated with them, feel like on her first ever visit to the dentist...? I know exactly how.. coz I'm such a girl... and i went to the dentist yesterday. My gums have been bleeding for sometime, and i thought i cud get it checked. not voluntarily, but because my mom kept pointing at every old woman on the street with no teeth, and told me that i cud look like that in a few years if i dint go now... blackmail!
But i did go, because i didn't want to loose my teeth so young.. plus, it is extremely repulsive to look at blood first thing in the morn while brushing.. first of all, i have to admit, it took me a lot of courage and a lot more whining to land on the doorstep of the clinic. there were a few people already waiting, and there is nothing worse than waiting for something dreadful to happen to you. plus, there was the constant sound of drilling from inside, which did NOT help calm me. i'm sure that i was sweating in the air-conditioned waiting room, and a sure attraction for all the others there. i was so damn scared. then finally, it was my turn. my mom came with me, so that was some relief. atleast i THOUGHT so... coz she always maintained a 5 ft distance from me. it was a single room divided into 2 so 2 dentists can work separately.and the first one was occupied by a patient surrounded by some 5 people with lot of "weapons" in their hands. I definitely did not want to be in that chair right now.As a matter of fact, NEVER!.I went to the second one, and lay down on the dentist's table. by this time, i was in a fit, but had to keep it all to myself, coz i dint want to alarm the guy wen he's inside my mouth, and i hate to think what might happen!!!
well, after a few minutes of checking, he gave me a mirror and told me that i have perfectly healthy teeth. the reason for the bleeding gums, was because of the mineral deposits around a few teeth. since they took up the space that should have been occupied by the gums, it caused a little irritation, and hence the bleeding. i just needed to clean my teeth once, and that one sitting will cost me abt 800 bucks. now my mom came into the picture, and the doc had to go thru the entire story again. and thank god! mom told him that we'd be back tomm morn at 9, and an appointment was thus fixed. and happy me, walked out of the clinic, unharmed, unscathed!
tomorrow! (that is today):
since my last(first) visit to the dentist, the only purpose of the others at home( meaning mom, dad and bro) was to scare me to death. maybe I'm exaggerating, but even when they reassured me, it was scary. got up in the morning, and got dressed for the appointment. went in and i was the only one there. mom was asked to wait outside, and it was just me, the doc, and the assistants. guess that after all, i was going to end up like that woman i saw in the first cubicle yesterday. and he began. i am not going to describe what he did, coz i'm sure most of you have gone thru a cleaning process, and i dont want to go thru it again in words. i have never prayed so much all my life. kept imagining Jesus on the cross and those big nails, and kept telling me that it wud have hurt him more. not sure if that helped, but atleast i was oblivious to what was going on those few seconds... i was in there for more than half an hour, during which i can't even express all that went through my head, and most importantly, all that went through inside my mouth... i kept telling myself, "i'm not coming back,i'm not coming back..". about half way through, the doc asked me to rinse my mouth. there was blood and saliva and ya, i was crying to myself... " O My God! I'm loosing blood.. so much of blood!". and just when i thought that it was over, i was asked to lie down once more and he went on with his job for another 20 minutes.. finally when i got down from the table, i cudnt feel my teeth in my head... just this horrible ticklish feeling... and ya, gooey feeling saliva, that i DIDN'T want to swallow.. all this time in my life, i wanted to get braces, and kept telling myself that something that even kids get done, cant be that horrible.. i'm now correcting myself.. if a simple cleaning could do this to me, wearing iron inside would kill me.. psychologically, that is..
and here comes the best part.. i got down, rinsed my mouth, and great news.. what the doc thought yesterday to be just a stain, dint come off with all that drilling he did today.. the verdict! i got a decay forming now on two teeth.. initial stage, so no worry.. ! easy for him to say.. i just vowed a few minutes back never to come back..! he gave me few instructions on brushing with a model, and prescribed a gel and a mouthwash. and ya, he told me to come back next week, for HIM TO MAKE SURE HE CLEANED PROPERLY!!!!!! what the hell!@#$%^&***!!!!
and come again in a month, to clean and fill that decay.... dammit!
WHY ME!!!!!!!

your crowning glory!

I saw this soundtrack from the movie Princess diaries 2. It's called "your crowning glory"
here are the lyrics:
Your Crowning Glory
by Julie Andrews & Raven

[J.A.]
Some girls are fair
Some are jolly and fit
Some have a well-bred air
or a well-wholed wit

Each one's a jewel
with a singular shine
a work of art
with it's own rare design

Dear little girl,
you are terribly blessed
But it's your heart of gold
I love the best

And that will be your crowning glory
your whole life through
It'll always be your crowning glory
The most glorious part of you

[J.A.] Some boys can waltz
[R] Some guys can groove
[J.A.] Strike an elegant pose
[R] With the really good clothes
[J.A.] Some seem to have no faults
[R] But we never like those
[J.A.] No we don't
[R] He'll praise your eyes
[J.A.] Your melodious laugh
[BOTH] Call you more lovely than others by half
[J.A.] The one who's right
[R] My gorgeous prince
[J.A.] Will be honest and true
[R] He'll believe in me too
[J.A.] And prize your heart of gold the way I do

[BOTH]
He'll know that will be your crowning glory your whole life through
Your love will see that it's your crowning glory
The most glorious part of you and you
and you
and you

[BOTH]
That will be your crowning glory
Darling when they tell your story
They'll call your heart of gold your crowning glory
The most glorious part of you

Well, isn't that cute.. I too had a grandmom like that, who told me stuff that only grandmom's can tell. She was my father's mom, and to me, she was the best grandmom ever. Until she was alive, my mom always had second place. and everytime i listen to this song, i get reminded of her, and the very thought brings tears to my eyes...miss her a lot... she taught me how to be elegant and poised, walk with an air of authority, with grace. Loved her. Although i should say, that she wasn't a very great mother or a mother-in-law, she was a great grandmom. I never got tired of the stories she told me, or the way she fed me when i said i wasn't hungry, and somehow got me to finish my plate and even take second and third helpings. Even the most boring food tasted great when she fed it out of her hands. And only grandmom's have that kind of a gift. Since both my parents worked, she was the one i always came home from school to. And every single day, when i came back home, she'd have a plate full of smoking hot food on the table ready for me. How she manages the timing, I never knew. But there again, that's what grandmom's are always good at; knowing what you want the most and precisely when exactly... She taught me songs from her times and made me sing those along with her. And on saturdays, she'd bring me a second cup of coffee at about 11, after my parents had gone to work( i wasn't allowed to have more than one cup a day). Even today, when i have my second cup of coffee, the coffee reminds me of her. She taught me values that i will never ever forget, yet spoilt me in a way that only grandmom's can. "grandmom! you rocked!!!!!!" And all i wish right now, is for my daughter to get a grandmom like mine, to love her and spoil her, and teach her to be a princess!!!

Happy New Year 2008!

Happy New Year everyone.. this is sure going to be a very eventful year, I'm sure... i have so much things, both good, and bad to expect.. well, by bad, i mean, the most tedious and frightening. this year i finish my bachelor degree in engineering..and i guess, this is the last stage of education for me. although i really wish i could do a masters in business management, i don't think it is remotely possible. for a lot of reasons.. first, by the end of this year I'm expected to join Wipro at my first job.after that, life does become very monotonous. well, forget that. most importantly, i have my project review coming up in another 2 days. and these are one of those frightening things i mentioned.. to get my project through. i don't even know if I'm anywhere with it. well, hope it all goes well, I'm so worked up with it.
last year was ok. nothing went wrong too horribly. but as it's with everyone, i hope that this year is better than the last. not just for me, for everyone:)