Mind(less) over Matter

Succumbing to incessant and painful nagging from the parents I (re)started one of the more unfruitful almost-ritualistic chore, which has become a part of my home-going for the past 6 months or so. It is 'Mindless Relocation' and this is what it involves:

1. Go through all the stuff packed in cardboard boxes, remove each piece, decide that I still want it, and put it aside. (Aside mind you, not back in the box)
   
2. Follow this procedure till all the cardboard boxes are empty or mom calls for lunch.
   
3. Eat lunch, feel sleepy and fall asleep.
   
4. Wake up and mom look @ the disapproving looks on parent's faces and get ear bruised by mom's incessant complaining about how I've ruined the running of the house by making a mess of the cardboard room. And how I've always started things and never finished them, how I've always been like this, how I will never change, how this will be the ruin of my life, ending with my dad chanting that it's all about 'Mind Over Matter'.
   
5. Getting close to the one straw short of a haystack stage, I go back and repack all the objects in a new 'order' as dictated by the parents. The theme time it was 'what-you-want-preserved-for-short-term' and 'what-you-want-preserved-for-long-term'.
   
6. By the time this is over I am making frantic calls to all my friends and acquaintances to meet up for dinner, drinks, movies – anything to get me outta home!

The logic behind it has always baffled me, but I always give in as it seems to set the old folks minds @ rest and hence like the dutiful daughter I am, I have indulged them the following times:

1. When I left Bangalore for Chennai
   
2. When I came from Chennai to Bangalore for a vacation
   
3. When I moved back to from Chennai to Bangalore
   
4. Before I moved from Bangalore to Singapore
   

   And now,
   

5. I came for a vacation from Singapore to Bangalore

And I am this close to losing my mind! One more time and it's a padded cell for me. So, to do me good and to preserve you all from my madness, you are not going to see me in India for a long long time to come.

But I also have a memory of a dog… so I will forget all about this and walk right back into the trap – again. Till then, see ya around folks!

Still in Bangalore

Another week @ home and in Bangalore! Yippee! So many friends to meet, so many places to eat, so many things to do!

Monday, 30 June

Breakfast was Adigas Delicacy's Chow Chow Bhaat. Uff how I love the chow chow bhaat from Adigas! For lunch it was more of mom's yummy cooking. Then chai and chat with Chint who strolled down from his office.


Tuesday, 1 July was mom's birthday!

Went to ISKCON did bhajne and ate a lovely breakfast! Nothing like भगवान् का प्रसाद। What-A it was!
Came back and off we were to Samarkhand for lunch. This has long been our favorite Kebab place. We had:

• Mutton Sheekh Kebab
• Fish Tikka
• Galauti Kebab
• Black Daal
• Assorted Roti's
• Ghost Dum Biryani

Mom got gifts from Singapore, 3 vases of flowers, and lovely weather. It was a rainy rainy evening which found us (Mom, Dad, and me) sitting on the marble drinking Jasmine Tea and enjoying the weather.

Dinner was with the HP gang

I walked to the newly opened Lido Mall where we were to dine @ Spaghetti Kitchen. I met with Varada first, who insisted on favouring me with his most glamorous poses.

Have you seen anyone more glamorous?

The first pose

More drama

Yet more drama

Who is this now?

Then there were the rest of us mere mortals:

Gmanj with his ever present beer

Hems with his fruit punch

KC is hiding something with that smile, wat? ;-)

Nish - The Lady Who Knows Too Much


Ever photogenic me :-p

The loving (?) couple

We ate lots of stuff but there were the usuals:

• potato and fruit punch for hemu
• meat and beer for gmanj
• meat and whiskey for me
• vegetarian for Nish, KC and Varada

So there was all the above in the following:

• pastas
• pizzas
• brushettas
• and what not

But for once the focus was less on the food and more on the conversation. Surprised? Don't be! 'Cause there ain't a funnier gang than us. When we are just being normal we are hilarious, when we set out to be funny we are out-of-the-world! We laughed so much we had no appetite left for food.

There was Gmanj killing us with his talking about Barrels in Pajamas, KC and her high power liquor and stronger stuff 'hush-hush' business, Nish the bearer of everyone's secrets - The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and Mr.Glamorous Himself! Of course cautious Hems did nothing but giggle the evening through and didn't give anything away.

We reminisced on the good old Embassy Icon days - days filled with some work and lots of tea and laughs on the balcony, Nisarga, Eden Park, Aura, Sweet Chariot, Egg sandwiches from Food World, Masala Corn and how can I not mention Casa Picola which served us so well! (I think all of us have lost weight since we've stopped eating there)

As usual we could not stop chatting and stood in a light drizzle chatting on and on. And this was a week day mind, which means work for everyone except me, the next day! Finally we parted laughing hysterically on some joke or the other, our laughter ringing in the almost silent Bangalore night air.

Till we meet again amigos!

Gugi in Bangalore on 27-29 June

My sweety company gave me a 9 day rajja (holiday in Bangalore slang) and off I flew back to nest i.e. Bangalore. What a maja has been had, sufficient words are not available in my repertoire to tell. Main things that were done were:

1.Spending time with parents

2.Meeting with friends

3.Shopping

4.Eating

Flew budget airlines Tiger and reached off on Friday night itself. Tiger is not switching off cabin lights so sleep was non-existent. Colleague and I have chatted incessantly to entertain ourselves and not let fellow passenger also sleep (hehehe evil laugh) who had the bad luck of having the middle seat. But don't feel too bad for him okay, he is one of those people who does not turn off his mobile phone in the plane! When I asked him turn it off he turned to me, gave a dramatic sigh and said, "I have made you happy but you have made me sad" and turned it off (I did wonder if that sigh and line was for my poor Kannada)

Landed in new swanky Bengalooru airport which is standard issue international airport located behind the back of beyond. Nothing pretty, but large and (seemed) efficient. Fatafat immigration, luggage etc has happened and I've run to mommy who has come to pick daughter up.

While I have narrated to her my story of two months in Singapore (she's not reading my blog looks like) and she has updated me on current life history of my whole khandaan M.G. Road has eventually arrived. Out of car and woke up daddy and showered him with gifts - its usually mommy who gets all the gifts while daddy gets token gift - but this time the gifts were all for daddy. He got a Compaq laptop (see guys am still an HP girl at heart), he got a 100 or more cigars, and some misc other things. Mom got handbags, and other misc. items she has wanted from Singapore. Was too excited to sleep and eventually drifted off at around 4 A.M.

Woke up bright and early on Saturday morning @ 8 A.M. Spent the day chatting with mom, and being lazy. The weather was awesome Bangalore-rainy-cloudy-weather and it felt so good to be back home. Ate yum scrum favourite home food (mediya korumbu, beans parpu usli, vendekai, lemon rasam, and cucumber pachadi. Did a long session with Chint post lunch with tea and bajji’s and lots of chatting. Met Poo and Mu for dinner @ Baluchi, Ashoka Hotel. Recommend their Mutton Sheekh Kebab.

Sunday was Limelite Spa, Vittal Mallya Road (not recommend) and Kaya, M.G.Road (recommend). The evening was spent with mom and dad and and dinner was my favourite

Nagarjuna Chicken Biryani and Chicken Sholay Kebab

Ending the weekend on a scrumptious note