Here n There

Long time no post? Mainly because I have nothing new to say. My life has settled back into the usual rigmarole. Work is boring with a capital B, conversations revolve around the presidential cycle and since it is freezing cold, weekends are spent at home watching movies and eating (which reminds me of all the weight that I have put on). The presidential debates started by being a lot of fun btw - as one of the friends said, seem like glorified version of Indian politicians addressing villages and promising things they would forget the minute they are in the seat. However, they just seem to go on and on now. They are not going to select a presidential candidate till August and that just means there'll be nothing to watch on TV for the next six months. One of my childhood friends - we were neighbours and grew up together king of friend - is coming to NYC in March so that is something to look forward to. Oh - actually my birthday is in the middle but there is no longer that happy anticipation I used to feel as a kid - ah, growing old. One good thing that happened was that I figured I want to do an interior design course. Let me put some background to this - I have been thinking of doing something creative outside of work, to not waste time watching TV and this something should be what I like doing, and would love to learn more about. So it came to be suddenly like a bulb going in my head on a day I was home sick, that I would love to do a course in interior design. I love decorating my house - when I come back from India, half my suitcase is full of home decoration stuff. This time I actually got a beautiful cover stitched for our Ikea futon mattress because I want to have low seating in our living room. So anyways, I am still finding about the kind of courses offered etc but am excited about learning something new and creative - hope this fad lasts!

Goodbye 2007

Everyone seems to be doing lists on why 2007 was a good/bad year for them and this forced me to think too. I feel happy with the way 2007 treated me. I don't know why but when I look at 2007 from 20000 feet above the sea level, I find I was contented and happy through most of 2007 so I decided to pin down specific reasons and record milestones.

• I finished the CFA which means my weekends in spring will finally be free for me to enjoy the sunshine!
• My mum and sis were here for a whole month over the summer and we had a ball. Since I have moved out of the house (6 years back :(), I have found it hard to get along with both of them and have started finding small things irritating especially so with my sister which probably reflects a bigger problem I have with her. But coming back to the topic at hand, I feel S really helped me keep my calm and also gave me an outlet to vent when I had to. I felt I really connected back with my sister after a long time and it was really nice. I called my friends over a couple of times when mum was here and one such 'high tea' get together was tremendous fun with samosas, tikki, chai and my friends forcing my mother to play pictionary!
• My social life improved dramatically. I felt 2006 was a year of trying. Since I had moved to the US towards the end of 2005, I felt I was trying to get to know more people, make friends in 2006. However, 2007 I felt a level of comfort with the people and I also got to know many many more people. Lot of my friends got married and I got to make some girlfriends finally! One of the said spouse is especially a lot of fun - D, I love you!
• Moving on - I have always been the one to keep trying to keep in touch, making international calls to friends who would never think of returning them. So 2007 was a year of moving on. I stopped calling friends who never called me back.
• Traveling!!!!! The love of my life. In 2007, I dragged S everywhere - we went to Peru, San Francisco, Prague and aptly ending the year with a 3-week break in India. Peru was our first vacation in which we did proper hiking, climbed some really steep mountains and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I also went to Miami earlier in the year with my wonderful London friends. It was especially nice catching up with A (still can't believe he is a father now!).
• My 3-week break in India deserves a separate bullet point. I visited my father after a long time and spend a lot of time with my in-laws. Btw I love my in-laws, they are the most affectionate people on the earth. I slept on the same bed with my sister which we shared for 20 years after a very very long time and was surprised to find how much nostalgia can a piece of furniture generate.
• Work in the year was less than perfect. I did get new stuff to do but towards the end of the year, I started to feel bored. In my defence, I have been doing the same thing for 4 years. I want to do something else but my opportunity set is limited because of visa issues so lets hope I can find something I like. On the positive side, I reached out to some senior people in my firm for advise and was surprised to find how forthcoming and helpful everyone was.
• Saving the best for the last, S. I fell more in love with him in 2007, from wanting to go out every weekend for bruch, coffee and dinner, I now look forward to just lying with him with a cup of coffee and newspaper. I find it odd to say that 2007 bought a certain kind of comfort to the relationship, given we had dated for 6 years before getting married. However, 4 of those years were long distance and first 2 years we were college kids. I have given him a really hard time in the past, especially when I just moved to New York and the way he stood beside me, supporting me with patience is a testament to what a wonderful person he is.

Ah Delhi!

I am feeling very nostalgic today so I decided to visit this forgotten blog. I think I was in India for too long (yes, 3 weeks is long for investment banking holiday) this time and am missing all the things which I had forgotten existed. It was really hard to come back as there is not one good reason left to not work in India but NYC. And this is not only because my batchmates are getting paid more in bombay than I am here (ok, this is may be a big reason), but also because working in India means being closer to family and friends, some of whom I haven't met in years, simply because there is never enough time to go to bombay in my short India trips.

ah, Delhi, I loved the winter sun and the comfort that Nirulas still serves the exact same hot chocolate fudge! I love the shakarkandi chat on the sidewalk and that I ate fresh made to order jalebis. That people are still wearing the bling sarees at weddings/functions. That Dilli Haat is still a hot dating spot though cannibalized a bit by the thousand and one malls that have sprung up. That the gol gappas and the papri chaat still taste the same and that a family of four people can still be squeezed on a two wheeler. I just love Delhi and was missed not having a home there when my parents got transferred and going home meant going to Hyderabad, which is a great city, but is not Delhi. So I am thrilled that I again have a home in Delhi (in-laws)

Lazy...

Am flying to India on Friday and have left all the packing to the last day so it is a night out tomorrow. Am feeling extremely lazy, sat in front of the TV for 4 hours today - got extremely frustrated with Republican debate, what is it with this country and guns? Anyhoo, India trip is still not sinking in. Have to attend AS's wedding on Monday and hope to go for N's engagment on sunday (given in-laws don't put senti) so I will get to dress up which I should be looking forward too, however right now I can only think of the effort!

Snowed Under

Crazy busy at work right now and it seems like I may have to cancel the three week vacation in India in Dec, so not the best phase. I am living each day as it comes and right now am excited to go for Durga Puja festivities in Queens tomorrow. Looking forward to dressing up in traditional Indian. Unfortunately my friends are dressing up in sarees and I left all my lovely trousseau in India thinking I'll never need it so will have to be content with a salwar suit.

Sing Sing

Believe it or not, that was the name of the place where we did karaoke for 4 hours today! can barely speak.... :))

High n happy

Feeling all nostalgic today. Two glasses of wine generally does that to me! Thinking of all the great times I have shared with my friends first at the institute and then working in London. All the long chatty sessions, attempts at dunking, waking up all night to have tea at 6am and fall asleep and miss all the classes, the crazy parties, the "farewell" week when my friends came over every single day before I left the city, how concerned they always were about me going home alone at night always, my birthday when we drank till 3 am, all the fights I had with T. I have been lucky to have wonderful friends who have looked out for me always, who were the only reason I settled so well in a strange city without my family and who I was heartbroken to leave behind....heres raising a toast of thanks to all your guys....missing you today...*hugs* :)