Sweet Memories!

My husband was invited with me and our kids for the "Passing out Parade" in Deolali, which is the army cantt near nasik. Our kids were very excited since they were going to see the helicopters, tanks and how the army soldiers fight in the war! Deolali is one place which I love but equally hate too!!! My father passed away when I was very young! Call it anger or fear, I swore never to go back to Deolali( that's where we stayed). Our nana Nani took my mom, sister and me to Udaipur and basically that's where I grew up blocking the memories of Deolali completely out of my head.

After I got married my husband too tried taking me to Deolali to see my old school and the house we stayed in, but I always refused. I always felt that pain and anger(with god) when anyone asked me about my father or mentioned the army.

I was 8 yrs old not remembering much of how my father was...but he was a wonderful dad! 

Being an Army officer, He was an adventurous, fun loving and a caring man! He loved dogs and his passion for flying is what made him known throughout his regiment, he even founded the flying adventure wing ! He was respected and loved by all his colleagues and family!

So after 22 years I finally agreed to go there since I knew sooner or later I had to go there to make peace with this part of my past. The entire journey to Deolali I had a feeling of excitement building up like I was FINALLY going HOME, but as we started nearing I became nervous and  finally as we entered Deolali I had tears in my eyes. I could see me with my father standing at the entrance, I was starting to feel I made a wrong decision of coming to this place!

I had to gather up my courage since we were staying with my husband's friends. Once we reached their house, they were very welcoming and I did not even once feel like I was meeting them for the first time. The next day we went to see the Passing Out Parade, it was beautiful and made me Proud of being an Indian, after the parade got over I met a few old batch mates of my father, who were very happy to see me. Our friends (with whom we stayed ) made it a point to make me visit all the places I wanted to see, my old school, the house I stayed in as a kid....I did not want to go in seeing the condition it was in, but my husband along with his friend went in and spoke to the occupants of the house and took me in to give them a tour of the house. Later they took me to the famous Levet Market, the army hospital, the THI institute, my old play school, etc!! Next day I was totally taken by surprise when they told me that we were going to Sharma Hill( named after my Father). As we reached the hill I knew it was finally time to come to terms with everything and let go of the bitterness I held in me for this place and so I climbed the hill and just as tears rolled down my cheeks I remembered a very dear friend had once told me that I have a beautiful smile which I should flaunt...so I looked up in the sky and gave the best smile I could and called out to my father saying that I will always remember him with happy thoughts that make me smile and never with tears! Suddenly I felt a lot lighter and calm and I know that I would definitely be going more often to Deolali not just as a daughter going to her dads home; but as a friend to my new friends whom I can never thank enough for going thru the trouble of making me feel like me again, and Alok who knows me more than I know myself....I would be lost without you!!

My Dad!!

Daddy's not so little girl , is a huge fan of daddie.

Walking in the air , with the swing of arms in the most relaxed way,he entered our lives.

Strong shoulders, a perfect place to park our energetic selves.

Mesmerizing charm ,A powerhouse of energy , 

Spilling enthusiasm to all around.

A passionate flying officer ,sporting the famous Chuck Norris Moustaches of his times.

My daddie , is my half baked dream.

But still the snippets of little time spent with him, have been just enough for the three girls in his life ," spend A Lifetime with Smile".

Leaving home and going HOME!!

I thought of starting this blog with a quote or a poem to express how I feel, but the fact is that not only me but all those women who leave their mother's home to go out to face the world, married or no, feel something that cannot be expressed in words. It is a sadness which can only be felt!!! Why does leaving our loved ones have to be such a pain? 

I still remember when I first fell in love, it was like a whole new world where everything was all rosey! Then with marriage on the cards, I was  on cloud #9, as the date for the wedding came closer, I started having wedding jitters.

There was the calmness of finally being with the one true love of my life, but then at times just the thought of leaving my entire family, my home, my cocoon and my comfort zone, and entering a life full of responsibilities, a new family where I did not know anybody and everybody was a stranger, gave me the SHIVERS!! It dawned in me that I was no longer a small girl who always talked of not marrying because I did not want to leave my family! I was a big girl who herself was in a hurry to get married and not even once it occurred that I'm going to leave my loved ones behind to be with a family that would be called as MINE, enter a home that would be MINE!

With the D-Day approaching giving me no time to spend with my family, my heart became heavier with each day passing quickly. After the wedding when it was time to leave my family I couldn't hold back my tears even though I was very happy to be married to Alok. Leaving them has been the toughest thing I have had to do. My mother, grandmother( whom I have been very close to), grandfather( who has been my father), aunt, uncle, sisters, brothers etcetera, all with tears and me howling like crazy. I was leaving home to go to MY HOME!! Even now after soo many years when I see my wedding pictures I cry!

The first time after my marriage when I went home to stay for a few days( as per the rituals), I was happy seeing all the roads I used to travel on in school and college days! For soo many years it's been the same thing. Even this trip of mine to Udaipur, being a mature mother of 2 kids of 7&6 respectively, made me excited as soon as the flight landed, again the entire way I told my kids stories of familiar places that I saw on the way home! Everything has been same including the fights I have with my mom who wants me to still be her baby, to the heartache of leaving this place!!

Looking at the same roads that while coming to Udaipur made me very happy and excited, now brought tears in my eyes. I did not want to leave, but I also knew that this was inevitable. Even 8 years after marriage going back to my house from my moms place is the toughest!

This is one feeling that never goes, no matter how much we quarrel with our parents....leaving their house and going back to your own is always very tough! With a heavy heart I bid adieu to Udaipur....my moms place! 

It's simply Udaipur!!!

"This used to be my playground (used to be)

This used to be my childhood dream

This used to be the place I ran to

Whenever I was in need

Of a friend

Why did it have to end!"

These were the exact sentiments that I felt when I  revisited all the places in Udaipur where I used to play and go to during school days!

I wonder why is it that we change as we grow up but do not like to accept changes around us! 

I'm sure most of my friends and infact anybody who has gone through this would agree with me when I say this that no matter where in the world we go, we want the place where we grew up...be it our home or the city we grew up in to be unchanged!

Seeing the ever-changing transient world, I knew about the changes happening in Udaipur...but wooah!! It's a whole new city!! Living in this city for almost 14years I knew every possible place but my stay this time in Udaipur made me rethink about my knowledge of this beautiful city!

Known as the city of lakes and the Venice of India, Udaipur has always been a tourist attraction, I remember growing up here was fun, not many vehicles on the road, I used to cycle around with my friends, we could practise learning our two-wheelers on the road with ease not bothering about accidents, now Udaipur is full of tourists from all over the world but the sad part is that nobody cares about it as a city anymore!

With shopping malls and buildings taking over the small shops and cute lil houses, this city is like any other place in India, nothing beautiful or admirable anymore! The roads are full of vehicles and impatient people, all ready to fight at the drop of a needle. With the help of a friend I went to the city area where my school is and a few more areas where my friends used to live(now all married and gone to different cities), the roads are the same but buildings cropping all over the place, made my heart sink!!

I thought this commercialisation has eaten up a beautiful small city like Udaipur too, but I was wrong! Some things haven't changed like Sukhadia Circle...the paani puri guys still have their lil stalls('Thela' as we call them), near some garbage heaps and made with every possible unhygienic possibility one can think of, but amazingly tasty to the core!! The famous Red Thela Sandwich guy at Fatehsagar, so many years have passed but the taste and quality of the sandwich and the green chutney remains the same...TASTY! Rani road still has the guava guy and still has cars parked on the sides of the road( people I hope u know what I mean) Then there is The Palace Road...the shopkeepers still recognise me and still have that bargaining touch to them( though they all say I do not look like a 'Local' anymore)!!

So I guess u can change everything possible about this place but we still would manage to find our Good ol' Udaipur somewhere in all this!

Aaj Kuch toofani kartein hain!!

"Aaj Kuch toofani kartein hain" I guess this is what must be going on in the minds of the organisers of SUV junction!!! With the summers taking its toll, Times Of India and  Atul Enterprises jointly organised an off-roading event( SUV Junction)for all the adventure enthusiasts in Pune...people who love that adrenaline rush!!

With the track set up in Western-Hills(an Atul enterprises project) and the dates decided..my husband(Alok) and his friends were all geared up for the event!! Not to forget...my son(Naman)too was equally geared up for this event( having this love for off-roading, racing in his genes)!

Alok told me that me and the kids were also going along with him for the race, and me (being the smartass that I am), very confidently asked him with whom would the kids stay with over there since I was going to Navigate him!

He laughed his head off and I knew instantly that it was a dumb question to ask since his navigator has been only one guy for years now....Soham Shah!

The 1st day we reached the venue and it was full with teams from all over Maharashtra with maximum Jeeps and Gypsies apart from a few other SUVs like Lexus, Land cruiser Toyota fj pajero etc.

It was a Relay event on day1, where tag-teams were made of 3 cars each and winners were decided on the basis of the cumulative time taken by the team! My son all excited, full of energy and a twinkle in his eyes, was busy running from one point to the other on order to see the vehicles complete their tasks.

He even took an extra walkie talkie from Alok to hear what he and his navigator would talk! Sitting in the tent put up for their team, getting tanned in the hot blazing sun and surrounded by men covered in sweat and mud, I told my son I wanted to go home. He was shocked to hear it and assuming that maybe I am not following what's happening around, he sat next to me and started explaining me the works! Seeing his interest it was decided that I would stay till it got over.

Day 2 started with a Bang, with most of the vehicles broken or out of the league due to the previous day event. It was an Individual race event! Navigators were compulsory for all participants, with vehicles going over the obstacles and in the water it was an amazing event, very nicely organised and equally well executed! 

Alok and Soham came second in the Individual event, with a difference of three seconds from the person on the first position and their team came First in the Relay event! 

A lovely dinner, lots of chitter-chatter and an extremely tired set of people enjoying it, was the perfect end to two extremely power packed toofani days!!!

Haily Rain!!!!!!

Not one single day in your life is an ordinary day, no matter how boring or mundane it may seem. It does not matter where you are or what the setting is....the point is that you are there because YOU are meant to be there, whether on a holiday, at home or a picnic!! 

That is exactly how I got another interesting day worth cherishing in my life!

It is true that the first drops of rain get tears in our eyes and a smile on our face, The smell of wet soil, the different shades of green spread around with wet plants, wet grass and trees, the slosh of puddles under our feet make us want to dance!!

Well I did all of this yesterday after a long time all thanx to our kids and my husband!

We enjoyed the rains!! Enjoyed getting wet, enjoyed eating the hailstones, enjoyed making each other wet! In short enjoyed being together

The day started off with the sun shining brightly and since we had heard about the hailstorm in Baramati and Nasik, it was taken for granted that Pune would also receive rains soon.  Post lunch while seeing off my husband outside the house it started drizzling and being the lady of the house, my first reaction was getting the clothes inside the house. Once done with that, I told the kids to see the drizzle, that's when we had a hailstorm in Pune. 

The kids were thrilled to see the hailstones and tried catching them too!! My husband pulled us out to get wet in the rain, pop a few hailstones in our mouth and splash some water too! This has been the first time that our kids have seen hailstones. 

This got me thinking when was the last time we did something for the first time??? Thanks to our kids we really did something for the first time in ages we went back to our childhood with our children and we made memories!! 

A truly amazing birthday!!

Yes, so the people who know me know how excited I get about my birthday. I behave like a 4 year old all jumpy and crazy!!

Anyways so unlike every year the countdown for my birthday began rather late...a week before( usually it starts frm December, after my husband's birthday gets over!!), I tried my best to not show my excitement,  but I couldn't stop myself from becoming that 4 year old!!

Since February is a month with loads of celebrations,the entire month is full of surprises! Me (I become a detective in February), trying to know what planning is going on in my husband's head for our anniversary and my birthday. With the help of a few common friends, we scheme together to try finding out!!

Yes! We fail every year to know his plans but keep trying new tricks every year, with the hope of succeeding some day!!

My husband knows how much I love our anniversary and my birthday and makes it a point to make them special every year!! On the eve of our anniversary after dinner we went off to bed only to be woken up by MY darling husband holding a cake and flowers in his hand!! Being gifted a  customised   car for our anniversary, my husband took his surprising me to a whole new level!! Not only him but our kids went around telling all their friends' parents to wish us for our "anninersary"( that's how they pronounce it), the entire day we had people meeting us and congratulating us!!

With the month approaching my birthday and noticing how busy and occupied my husband had been with his office, work and travelling; I had decided not to pester him into anything...but he being the sweetheart that he is, ensured that he made it on the eve of my b'day back to pune to ring in my birthday with me! 

 He got my favourite cake baked by my favourite bakery(which is not in pune) specially for me with a new phone placed on the cake!!

That's not all! Our kids and my husband  ganged up and booked movie tickets for me, my kids and my very good friend along with her kids for a movie. I was sent with the kids out and was told the driver would know where to go! I was sooo surprised to reach the movie hall!! 

I guess these lil things that are done to show how much you mean to your family and how much they love you means a Lott. At the end of the day no money and no diamonds can replace the pleasure and happiness we get in simple things....for me his coming all the way just to be with me on my special day  and my kids arranging an outing for me to have some fun with them says a lot about
their love for me!!