The Birthday Gift

For all those who are not parents yet, here are a few things you should know -
1) Its the toughest job in the world
2) You learn to appreciate your parents more once you get this job
3) When you just start getting tired, irritated or frustrated. Your baby looks at you and gives you the cutest smile. Which makes you forget why you were irritated or frustrated.
Its been quite a while since my last post. And well the reason is that my hubby and I have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. I found out on my birthday about my pregnancy. It was quite a big surprise!! But we both were really excited and happy. It meant that we would face a lot more separation, since I could not sail during my pregnancy. But then he was with me 24X7 from the 2nd trimester, till she arrived and when she turned a month old. You never know what kind of a dad your husband will be. From the first time I met my hubby I had a feeling he will be a very loving and protective father. And I was right. From staying up all night with the little one, changing diapers, and even giving the new born a bath (doing this was even scary for me!!). He has done it all. And it looked like he was taking care of two babies, cause he was taking care of me too. I think the last time I was taken care of like this was by my parents, when I was a little girl. Now he is away again but our little baby keeps me on my toes.

Kids Say the Darnest Things!

The other day I was talking to my mom and dad. I usually ask them what kind of a kid I was, cause lets face it I don't remember the first 3-4 years of my life. My dad always tells me about the funniest things I said as a kid. So I thought why not write about it.
Scene 1 : This happened in Meerut, when I was around 2. My father had a white Vespa scooter. I used to usually stand in front of him and I vaguely remember he used allow me to press the horn and that was pretty exciting. But this one time my father decided I should learn to sit at the back. So he told me 'Beta you will sit behind papa today. And hold on to papa tightly'. My response was 'Why papa aap gir jaaoge?' (Why papa will you fall down?). My poor papa was unable to control his laughter, and I kept wondering what is wrong with what I said.
Scene 2 : This again happened in Meerut, we had gone for an army party. The commandant's wife found me really cute. For that you have to thank my mom, she used to dress my sister and I like we were dolls!! Matching shoes, ribbons, clips!! So apparently this elderly lady made me sit on her lap, and asked me 'Aapke clips kitne ache hai, aapki mummy ne lagaye?' (Your clips are so pretty, did your mom put them for you?). And I said 'Haan.'. Then I thought such a nice lady, how come she is not wearing any clips. So I asked her 'Tumka mummy ne tumka clip nahi lagaya?' (Your mommy didn't make you wear any clips). Lucky for me she found my question adorable. She could've been offended since she was the General's wife.
Scene 3 : I don't quite remember where this happened. But it was around the time my father used to call me ladoo. He had kept pet names for all of us, and hence I didnt know what my actual name was!!! My mom was burfi, my sister was peda, dad was gulab jamun and I was ladoo. So once again this aunty who started a conversation with me was left speechless. She asked me 'What is your name?', I said 'Ladoo'. Then she asked me 'What is your sister's name?', I said 'Peda'. Upto this point she was alright, cause in India kids tend to have such pet names. Now the problem began. She asked me 'What is your mother's name?', I said 'Burfi'. She seemed quite amused, and finally she asked 'What is your father's name?', I said 'Gulab Jamun'. Now I was glad she finished asking all these questions so I headed towards my mom. She followed me and she actually asked my mother 'Aapki halwai ki dukaan hai?'. This was really ridiculous on her part, but I guess the whole incident made a really wonderful memory.

I wanna goto 'Thai-Land'

Last night I was going through some of my school day photos. It made me remember one amazingly funny incident that happened when I was in the 10th standard, which was 10 years ago!!
It was the last few weeks before our board exams. My friends (Nandini, Aisha, Amreen, Pavi and Nisha) and I were just sitting in class and chatting. Something we loved doing at that time, and we kind of still tend to do the same when we meet up. We used to imitate our Chemistry teacher a lot those days. She had a really funny way of talking. For example, she would say 'It is nothing but the copper sulphate' or 'That project cost you a thousand bocks!!!' (Here bocks means bucks). Anyways, so we all used to talk a lot like her those days, it was just a normal instinct. So when one of my friends said 'I wanna go to taaailet'. This is what happened. Aisha, Amreen and I heard 'toilet'. Nandini, Pavi and Nisha heard 'Thailand'. Also Nandini had just been to Thailand during our previous summer vacation. This is what happened next -
Nandini - 'Dont go there, its really dirty'
Amreen - 'But I really have to go'
Nisha (looking at Nandini) - 'You've been there??'
Nandini - 'Yes, I've seen people fry all kinds of insects for food'
Amreen - 'What are you talking about? I need to go to the toilet!'
At this point we all realised what had happened and burst out laughing. Till today I remember this incident, and I laughed the hardest on that day. I had some of the best days of my life in school.

Manali, Shimla and 3 Idiots!

Now the reason 3 Idiots is extra special to my heart is cause the film is mostly shot in places I have visited or lived in. When my hubby and I drove down from Palampur to Manali along the Beas river on an early December morning, little did we know that this was the route Rancho's friends take during their mission to look for him. For those who have seen the film, this is the part where the song 'Behti hawa sa tha woh' plays in the film. The drive is actually really amazing. It actually made me feel that India has amazing places for sight seeing. In Manali we stayed in Solang Valley Resort. We Could see the glacier from our room window. We did a 7 km trek from the resort to a Shiv Temple. It was loads of fun. And I saw snow!!
After three days in Manali, we drove down to Shimla. Coming back to 3 Idiots, the place where Pia (Kareena) is getting married is a hotel called Woodville Palace in Shimla. My hubby and I stayed there when we were in Shimla. Beautiful place. I hope I can visit it again some day. We pretty much walked around in Shimla. Saw the Mall road. Its filled with places to shop and all kinds of eateries. To sum it up, one should definitely visit these places. And preferably drive down on your own. Its loads of fun if you don't get road sick while driving through hilly areas. And carry good music in your car!!

A Wedding in Palampur

Palampur is a beautiful place in Himachal Pradesh. Attending a winter wedding there is quite a wonderful experience. We drove from our home in Ambala to Palampur. It was an eight hour drive. We went there to attend my husband's RIMC batch mate's wedding. For all those who don't know what RIMC is please google it. I always tell my hubby 'That's the reason I married you'. Well the actual reason is that we both are from defense back grounds so we are compatible. Coming back to Palampur. We reached late in the evening and were too tired, hungry and cold to admire the beauty of the place. But the next morning we were so amazed with the view outside. We could see snow capped mountains from our hotel room window. It felt amazing. We got ready and went to Taragarh Palace which was the venue for the wedding.
Taragarh Palace is on the outskirts of Palampur, on the way to Manali. Its a beautiful Heritage hotel. It made me feel that Indian Royalty had quite a wonderful time when they were in power. It had exquisite wood work and marble flooring. I wanted to settle there but then I came back to my senses when I saw the rates per night of the suites.
The wedding was a typical Rajput style one, with seven pheras. And the ceremony took place between 1 am and 3 am. My hubby and I were awake for the entire ceremony. The bride and groom made a really cute couple. After the wedding we slept for a few hours and headed towards Manali that day. Will be writing about that soon.

The Surprise

It had been almost 2 months since I had signed off from ship. For all those who have not been in a long distance relationship, let me tell you one thing - its not that horrible/pathetic/sad etc etc. Cause you tend to be more loving when you meet after a long time.. and yes you have fewer arguments!!! Anyways, my hubby had this whole surprise planned out for me. He kept telling me that he will be back in mid-December but he arrived in mid-November. His mom and dad did a really good job of keeping mum about the whole thing. I was getting a weird feeling the they are hiding something from me, especially on the morning he arrived, my father-in-law and brother-in-law were missing at the breakfast table since they had gone to receive him at the airport. But my mom-in-law told me with a straight face 'They've gone to play golf'. It was a very lovely surprise and a few days after he arrived we travelled and attended weddings!! Will be writing about that shortly.