Rewind. Restore. Restyle. Rejoice!

So it's that time of the year and I am in my Flashback mode yet again. This happens to me every year without fail. Knowingly or unknowingly, I dress monochromatically. I mean come on, I am designer, and  my dressing (up or down) is merely a reflection of my moods! And so, Black and white has been the color for the past few days! (Today decided to add lots of Red to combo to brighten things up!) After all waking up to Pharrell Williams does make you HAPPY! Such a lovely.. lovely Song!

Thank Pharrell Williams for  24hoursofhappy! It truly makes me HAPPY!

So while everyone is busy planning what to do today, rather, I think everyone has already planned what they will be doing today (except for us Kumar's of course), I am busy rewinding my thoughts, and revisiting them to see what how I have done this year, and whether or not I would want to redo them any differently. Would I, you ask? No. I wouldn't. What I want to do is learn from the situation and make use of it. This year has been a good year, lots of highs and a fair share of lows as well. My mum would disagree, she would say it's yet another BAD year, because I am still "UNMARRIED". Mums, they worry, that's what they do.

Well 2013 did start off badly, but quickly, by the grace of Krishna, it changed and how. If someone were to ask me What's NEW? Well, I truly do not know how I should answer this. What I do know is I am HAPPY. Do I have a reason? Not one but many actually. (Let's keep them limited to fourteen, shall we?)

1. I am happy, I have GOD with me!
2. I am happy, I have my awesomesaucical PARENTS, gorgeous SISTER and stud/thug little BROTHER!
3. I am happy, I have my friends! ( you know who you are!)
4. I am happy, I am alive and Well!
5. I am happy, I am unique!
6. I am happy, The world has MUSIC!
7. I am happy, The weather is so amazing.
8. I am happy, I live in DUBAI, winner of the EXPO 2020 (YAY!) and all things BIG, BOLD, BLING, and BEAUTIFUL!
9. I am happy, there are so many, many books yet to be read!
10. I am happy, because HUGH JACKMAN! Period.
11. I am happy, because there's lots more shopping to be done! Faint*
12. I am because, for I know there are tubs and tubs of ice cream waiting to be eaten! And for every tub of ice cream, there is a Fitness First that opens UP!
13. I am happy, as I still have loads of life events to plan for! Bring it on, I am READY,  I tell you!
14. I am happy and thankful for all the life lessons I have learnt this year from la familia, friends, foes, colleagues, gym buddies and random people on the road who choose to speak to me! 

On a separate note, as a pre-new year's gift to myself, I got Iphone 5s! YAY! But it's just so hard to let go of my Blackberry, so I feel like I am juggling between two lives! Anyhow, you can NOW follow me on Instagram (@neelanchanakumar), apart from the regular portals such as Twitter - neehaas, linkedin - NeelanchanaKumar, www.neelanchanakumar.com, and on my other blog portal - Wordpress! Do follow me on these portals if you would like more frequent updates. As you are know I tend to "go away" from my blogs portals periodically! Guilty as Charged. 

Thank you so much for reading, Stay HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY and wish you all a very Happy NEW YEAR and everything Positive!!!

God Bless. Love.

The Case of the Peeping and Pooping TOM!

Dear Peepers and Poop-ers of my Office Tower,

I am going to call you Pee and Poo, respectively. Yes, I agree we haven't met face to face yet, just IN PASSING or IN MOTION (no  pun intended!), however, I feel we know each other quite well, as we have corresponded with each other through drastically different mediums!

You may not be aware, so let me bring you up to speed, my office relocated to this Tower, exactly, on October 13th 2011, and from then on we have had a very nice, and decent working atmosphere till March this year.

I presume this is when you moved to this tower or your issues started from this point on. Should we ever meet in person, I would really like to discuss and know what exactly triggered this. Any problems at home, financial issues, failure at a marriage/ relationship? There is nothing we cannot solve, this includes cheap/indecent, unhygienic and lecherous behavior as well as uncontrollable bowel movements. But right now I am addressing a different topic so let me continue with that.

Firstly, I would like to ask you, Poo... Where are you from? And who taught you toilet etiquette? Oh, I am sorry, Has anyone INTRODUCED you to the concept of a toilet? If yes, he/ she has clearly NOT put even a penny's worth of effort into it! Either you have NOT been using the toilet at all till now, which is not humanly possible, so I go on to my next conclusion, which is, you were born and raised in a JUNGLE. Wherein in you would wake up in the morning, go to the nearest pond/lake and splash water around, make many tiny muddy puddles, and then poop where ever you like! Am I right, or am I right? The first time I knew of your existence was when I saw tiny shreds of toilet paper all around the office toilet, then came the water puddles with murky shoe marks and then came the water dripping from the ceiling and walls! At first I thought it was some kind of an animal. Obviously who else would be capable of splashing water to the top of the ceiling, with so much force that the gypsum ceiling tile cracks and the water gets clogged up there?

But that illusion of mine, of you being an animal was broken when I saw your next escapade! A Quick question. Are you not aware of how to use a western closet? Actually I am sure you do not know how one functions, because why else would you take a dump on the FLOOR? Did you think that your poop would be magically air lighted from the floor and get flushed by ITSELF?? Why dear Poo, why would you think that or do that? And the inquisitiveness in me wonders, HOW did you manage that at THAT angle??

Poo, it is for your benefit that I actually created this poster, have you forgotten?

Also, Poo, Remember you need to keep your bodily functions private, so let's practice keeping them that way, shall we?

For your practice, watch this nice gentlemen and he will teach you how to go about it!

Btw, Poo, now that we are this topic, I strongly suggest you BUY and use this product! Trust me, it will be every bit helpful for YOU and go a LONG way in saving your relationships!

Now Pee, It's your turn. Let me start by asking you a simple question. Are you a transgender? If the answer is YES, I apologize on behalf of everyone for not having a third gender section introduced  as of now and in the washrooms, more importantly. I sincerely do.

However, If your answer is NO, then move onto the next question. Do you treat your Mom the same way you treat all other women you come across? Do you peep in to her washroom too? What joy do you get by, hiding and sneaking up on women in the washroom? Do you think we are most vulnerable there? It's quiet funny, that you had the courage and the guts to lurk around the women's toilet and PEEP, but the instant my friend, colleague and my knight in shining armour (in this case), Lavina, sees you and comes after you, you RUN. Why Pee, Why would you run? Did you run out of your lecherous instincts or your courage?

Pee, Poo, you guys have given me a glimpse of how dirty and filthy the world is. Living in Dubai, in a super colorful and fantasy world for all my life, I really did  not believe I would come across this sort of messy behavior, but I am glad you opened my eyes and gave me a firsthand experience at that.

Lastly Pee, you need to  stop participating in voyeuristic behaviors and Poo, you need Diapers!

For ever in debt for your life lessons and anxious to see you FACE to FACE,

N.

A Way of Life - DRESSING UP!

I have always maintained that “Dressing UP is a way to UP your life”.

Case in point, you have an interview, or you are going to take that girl you have been chasing for months out on a date, what would you do? DRESS UP, obviously.  You wouldn't want to go to the interview or the date, like you are on the way home from the beach, in sandy shorts and flip flops now, would you? If you would, well the only thing you would hear is a “NEXT” or “GET OUT”! Just saying.

We, the Kumar’s, love to dress up. It’s an instant booster for our energies and spirits. And you know you don’t absolutely need a reason for it, you could do it for yourself, to make yourself happy. DRESS UP. Why? You love yourself, so that’s good reason! I know you have got some nice clothes in your closet, just lying around WAITING for the occasion to rise. I say don’t wait, make it! Anyways what is a NICER occasion than YOU? DRESS UP, make a statement. Get into a GET UP!

Mom, this one is for you, if you are saving that nice jewelry for some occasion to CROP UP, don’t hold your breath, let’s just put it on NOW and say the occasion is HERE!

Okay, you are all dressed up and have nowhere to go, go to that coffee shop, that book store, that mall even. So what you don’t have anything you NEED to buy, you could feel like you are playing a game, and games are fun, yes??

That being said, this weekend has been all about dressing up (with occasions and all!). First it being Halloween and now DIWALI! My brother and sister have always wanted to dress up for Halloween, and this time around, I decided to try my hand at Halloween make up… The results are below! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

  

My Brother, being the Gruesome JOKER! 

My sister being the SEXY Vampire

My Brother, and two of his friends (and two of  other test subjects!)

Btw since I was anyway immersed in makeup, I decided, I too should get into the HALLOWEEN gear, and for thouse of you who are unable to comprehend my character, well I am a POP ART COMIC CHARACTER! Pfft… the perils of dressing up being overtly creative!

 

Me, in my POP ART COMIC CHARACTER mode.

 That’s all from me now, I need to run along and start dressing UP for DIWALI!! HAPPY DIWALI YOU ALL!!!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my GREEN MONSTER! Two years!!!

People COME and GO.... and Come BACK!

Muscles come and go; flab lasts.  - Bill Vaughan

This is probably my favorite quote after the clichéd "Change is the only thing that is constant in this world". Flab's are all I think about, anything I see, anyone I see, I am constantly weighing them up for flab's or analyzing how much they need to work out in order to lose them! It's disorder I am sure, but I would like to think I will GROW out of it.

We have always seen things change and how. The place I have been living in all my life, used to be a desert for heaven's sake, but now it rains in Summer and is has a 72, 000 sq ft garden with over 45 Million blooming flowers!!! This is the same place where they BANNED MJ's concerts in 11/12/1993 fearing obscenity and god knows what else and now on 20/10/2013 we had Riri prance around in high fashion poses at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which I personally feel is completely disrespecting the sanctity of a place of worship. Then again it could just be me being antiquated.

The same goes with people as well. As much as we may wish it didn't happen or this wasn't the case, the simple and clear fact  remains in human being and human interactions/relationships that, People come and people go.

People we are friends with, people who we  love, people who we work with, people who we are related too, one moment they are here with us, and then BAM! They are gone! Nope, I am not talking about Death. Not even from animosity. Nope, I am in the negative and melancholic mood, I am pretty upbeat thanks to the "Fitness Workout Dirty Dancing music" blaring in the background! Hey designing is WORKING OUT too... We are after all jogging our brain cells and letting our creative juices do a double cartwheel aren't we?

Anyhow, it is believed that people come and go. (Excuse the digression!) People we love (friends, family, boyfriends, girlfriends.. etc) with all of our hearts can one day, quite literally, vanish from our lives. I blame circumstances, situations, they can just take a best friend, a lover or a partner right out of our hands, only to be seen NEVER again.. or so we believe.

But I am of the thought process that things get better, things change, just as how these people have vanished from our lives, they will come right back in, with a BAM! That I believe is the beauty of life, of divine providence. I wholeheartedly agree with King Khan on this one... " Itni Shiddat Se Maine Tujhe Paane Ki Koshish Ki hai, Ki Har Zarre Ne Mujhe Tujhse Milane ki Saazish Ki Hai."  (which loosely translates to... I have being trying to making you mine with so much passion, fervor and intensity, that the whole universe is now working with me on this conspiracy.. lol... I try, OK!)

There are times that I sit in my room, on my favorite couch, armed with a steaming of chai and just think of all the people who have wandered away from me. And then I remember all of the people that I have wandered away from. I want to reconnect, I want to get back in touch, and I know they do to.. ( I am not being immodest, I am self aware, and that's a positive trait!) I am confident that there will be a time we will all reconnect, and when we do... it will be just like before... we will start off from where we left, easily, smoothly and beautifully.  Much like the first BAM , never really happened. Of course we won't be able to reconnect with everyone we leave behind or everyone who left us behind, but the love you created remains. Always and forever.

Recently, I back in touch with a few close friends, and the feeling is simply beautiful. So uncomplicated, so natural and so right. So let's all just show some Shiddat (passion, strength, and intensity.. if you will) and help the universe in conspiring to get us what or who we want back in our lives! Ready? Then Come and Get IT!

P.S As I have previously indicated my OCD-ness and my love for lists, it may not be much or a shocker if I said that I had a list of Spencerites (Ex-Spencer employees) who have come and gone in the past  5 years, 8 months, 13 days. But it was definitely a shocker for my boss when I told I have seen over 50 people (55 in exact ONE week!) come and go from Spencer. (And mind you some of them have come back as well!) Here's to seeing more CHANGE and fresh faces at Spencer!

YEP we are Hiring!  Apply away! :)

A Family Affair - Critically Love Sick.

Thanks to my laziness and the inherent suddenness that accompanies my nature of work, this post has been written over the past for days... Okay, fine I didn't write over the weekend so it three days I guess! :P

It's funny how time flies when you're having fun and really getting into the cream of things (read shopping) and how slowly its crawls when you are bored to death(read at work)!

It feels as though, only yesterday I was making my 100th list of what I need to do and what I need not do during the EID holidays and now as I sit here in the semi deserted office space, I am thinking, .... yawn I am too lazy to even think or.... TYPE!

I am so bored and lazy that I have spend the last hour or so doodling and making excuses as to why I cannot complete this blog post! But NO! I am not going to let this boredom, lethargy and a general lack of interest come in between me and the completion of this post!

After all, I come from a superbly talented lineage. I mean seriously, us people are crazily artistic, don't believe me well then, you are in for a surprise! What do normal families do on the vacations? Go for picnics? Go on road trips? Mall hopping? Water parks maybe? Nah all this is so passé, we Kumar's ACT, DANCE and SING even! That's all 8 of us, well some in front of the camera and some behind (read ME). Who would have thought a family reunion after many years would spring up an idea to create a spoof of the ever so popular and comical "CID". My cousin Advaaith is an spring actor  and is always keenly observing/imbibing the nuances of all people and things around him. It was his "ACP Pradyuman" imitation that actually served as a trigger to this spoof, a short film if you will.

I can go on and on about the fun we had, but I would much rather that you see it and feel the energy, positivity and togetherness that this short film carries in it. There was no script, no story line, no dialogues, it was a completely impromptu attempt!

This video features, my sister Sanjana, my brother Kaushik, my cousin brother Advaaith, my aunt Sindhu, my mom Bindhu and my dad Kumar. 

ENJOY! :) 

We the Kumar's, present to "Critically Love SICK".

IF I were a BOY!

There are many times I have burst into the phase of "how I wish I were a boy!". Don't get me wrong, I love who I am, but I just feel I would have been so much more happier and I could have done so many more things for people around me, had I been boy...

I may have given out the aura of being a total feminist, but trust me I am not one of those women who feel that "We can do EVERYTHING a man can do and ten times better at that". I definitely don't think I could do everything a man can.

For instance -

I couldn't  BREAK someone's heart and act like everything is okay. I have a conscience, I would die of guilt.

I couldn't LIE looking into someone's eyes, I would fail pathetically and be caught immediately.

I couldn't PROCRASTINATE, I have an inherent need to do things there and then and leave nothing HANGING.

My intention isn't to generalize, but all the men, I have in my life are innately  blessed with intimacy issues, dishonesty and commitment phobia. All of which I would pitifully fall short at. I have this need to make people happy, need to make everyone comfortable. In fact I get an internal anxiety attack should I NOT have something funny or interesting to say and chat up a person.

Seriously no matter how many things a girl is, she is always on a lower platform than a Man. Yep, that's how it is. No matter how educated, how talented, how efficient, how decent looking you are, If you are a GIRL, then you are always REQUIRED to be dependent on a MAN!

I was recently promoted to Asst. Design Manager and one of male colleagues comes up to me, and while casually talking about my upcoming projects and the sorts, he says to me; "You know, Neelu, No point in all this career growth and money business, why don't you try focusing on getting MARRIED! Right now you are staying with your parents, but you NEED a man to support you sooner than later. Forget the career, dance and all! Focus on THIS"  Thank you Mr. Smarty Pants, for unraveling this piece of mystery for me! I will forever stay in your debt, for you have truly said something that I had not heard from anyone else as of now. Pfft!

So I think maybe he is just jealous, what do I care about this man, right? But when My Appa, says "You know this is doesn't bring me happiness,... and you know what will" that's when I feel that no matter what I do it just isn't enough. And it would be so much better had I been a boy.

If I were a boy, my parents wouldn't be so stressed out.

If I were a boy, I could have focused on my career, and stayed unmarried all my life and I would only be looked upon as a wise and lucky man.

If I were a boy, I would have been able to breathe freely when I go to a wedding or a social gathering because I know I’m NOT being watched like a goat in the goat market by vulture like relatives and self appointed match makers.

If I were a boy, I would have had the liberty to date as many girls as I wanted, gone to all the possible parties, and could have been a “player” for all I care.

If I were a boy, even after doing all this, I could still expect a HOMELY, conservative, fair, pretty, well educated and tall girl.

I used to barf in disgust at the gender disparity, but I no longer have the energy to even hear another one of those sugar coated insults, let along react to one of them. I just wish it was possible to for men and women to walk in each other shoes for a day, to see and feel the pain they cause.

P.S On rather immodest note - If I were a boy, I would have been the BEST they had ever seen, no doubt about that! Also Mr. CLKP, you know what you have done, and its utterly cringe worthy! 

DEATH by DOSA

 I am an Indian.

Nothing extraordinary about my lineage, no mixed blood, no multiple ethnicities merging, mingling and fusing into ONE! Nah, nothing of that sort. Pure sheer Indian-ess flowing through my veins so to speak. I am from the South of India. Kerala, God’s own Country (as they advertise) to be precise.

However, my TASTEBUDS! They are a completely different story altogether. They are of multiethnic origin! Maternally I choose to believe and have come to conclude after repeated experiments and tests; I am of French, Dutch, Chinese, Lebanese, Syrian and Russian ancestry and paternally of American, Jamaican, English and German Background! No wait, I am serious! I cannot begin to tell you how much I despise south Indian food and how it messes up my whole digestive system!

I have tried my level best to make myself come around and take a liking to this particular spiced up, mind numbingly flavor lit dishes.

But the more I try the more I detest it!

When most of my school friends, college mates and colleagues sing praises and crave for the ghee dripping dosas, piping hot sambhars, succulently round idlis, steamed puttu and sauted tapioca, all I can do is dream and yearn for some freshly baked garlic breads, some curly croissants, maybe a vinegary lettuce salad, or a pie with some spinach and goat cheese, better still a bouillabaisse or baguette with some cheese! YUM! Dreaming a little more, some hummus and tabbouli, some arnabeet, and falafels would be fantastic? Oh wait how about some key lime pie (Dexter, anyone?) chocolate chip cookies, nachos, or potato chips?? God, I am Hungry!

Having spent my entire life in Dubai, there is never any shortage of food choices for the one’s with mutli ethnic taste buds like do, but it is when I have to go to my parent’s homeland and my vacation home. It is a difficult place to be in, by that I am talking about both India as well as being in the “Confused Desi” situation. I have spent my whole life in Dubai, nursery, school, college, post graduation, work, dance everything, Yet I am Indian and NOT an Emirati by law. Tsk Tsk

Confusion at its best, well this is a topic that should be discussed at length. Will get come to it later, for now back to the matter at hand.

For me dosa’s, idli’s and sambhar are all an utter disaster! I mean how can anyone seriously enjoy this for any meal of the day, let alone breakfast? I find idlis tasteless, soggy and RAW! Btw, the Kerala dosas are crazier, they are a good 2 inches thick, bland, difficult to blend and insipid. Sambhar is like water, spicy water with some pieces of unsavory and ugly veggies swimming around aimlessly! It’s really a wonder that while I am busy complaining about DOSA, they are people who actually sing songs praising the dish. Don’t believe me, have a listen! 

The only way I can have South Indian food without whining, cribbing and voicing my distaste for them is when I COOK them! Yes, I can cook the very things I so often wish would disappear as a recipe from minds of all people once and for all. I like to keep my friends close and my enemies closer! When I cook them, they somehow taste much more…uhmm… tolerable to ME! Sometimes even delectable. Yes that is the key word, ME! I like to think something is missing in them, a flavor to much or too little can be nipped and tucked and made more palpable to my taste buds, when I make them. And this is the only way I can actually digest the staple dishes from God’s own country!

Touché!

Missing… Seeking… Finding!

Okay, so I have been missing!

No this time around my intention was not to go under the radar or into hiding etc… Oh I have had my fair share of “hide and seek sessions’… Done that a couple of times in the past, only to realize now that how stupid it is to run away from things/people who should actually be hiding from me. Alas if only they had the shame and the sense. I have nothing to run away from, so I am staying! Armed with that self realization, I decided to stand, face and tackle people/issues that come my way.

As for this time’s missing goes, I have been lazy when it comes to actually sitting down and typing those thoughts out for everyone to see. I say lazy because, usually no matter how busy I am I force myself to find time and to jot down something to entertain my followers and myself (I presume there are followers!) I did write, that I did, but I wrote for my eyes only, for even I, no matter how OPEN and VOCAL I maybe about my feelings, there are still some dark, hidden feelings and thoughts I would like to keep veiled from the whole world. For I know these thought processes do no good and it would only raise a few questions about the stability of my mind and shed light onto my criminal instincts. Now I wouldn't want that would I? NOT AT ALL!

The thing is my company (not to mislead you, I am an EMPLOYEE, I do not own the company, but I feel and am made to feel as though it is my own… after all having spent 5.5 years with the same organization and having played a key role in its growth, it’s fair to call it “MY” company!) has been growing exponentially, and with exponential growth comes extreme work pressure, time constraints and a mad number of arguments both internally and externally. All in all with all this and my daily dose of body numbing activities, I agree writing and other creative aspects of my life did take a back seat.

Writing holds a very strong place in my life, expressing my feelings and my opinions of any and everything under the sun has always been one of my core strengths. So since I wasn't into any of my usual creative outlets, neither dancing, nor blogging or taking pictures, I had these conversations with MYSELF. On the way to work, on the way back, going to bed and waking up in the morning. An internal dialogue discussing, debating, and coming to conclusions on various different matters at hand. I believe it is truly beautiful to be able to have a conversation with oneself and know yourself. It is in many ways spiritual, it awakens your awareness, your mind, body and soul all twining, unwinding and reaching out for some sort of release, for some sort of closure. It is quite similar to meditating. Concentrating on one particular word for definite period of time triggers a similar reaction. It is a fabulous way to mediate! 

For example think of word, an interesting one at that, and keep repeating it umpteen number of times and soon you will be in a trance! The word need not be religious, it be something as interesting and beautiful as EUNOIA (yoo-NOH-ee-ah) — It comes from a Greek word meaning "well mind" or "beautiful thinking." It is also rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health. PERFECT Right?

Adding a bit of trivia, (BTW did i mention learning new words is a hobby?) this word is the shortest word in the English language that contains all 5 vowels! EUNOIA is also said to be one of the bases needed for a trusting friendship between husband and wife. A Beautiful mind.

There are always people around us, family, friends, colleagues, social networks, media, and the rest to tell us what to do, what to think, how to think, what to react and how to react. We must listen to each and every one of them and then THINK for ourselves, yes? This exhilarating internal conversation is exactly that for me. A combination of clearing my mind’s attic, meditating and rejuvenating.

We often look for answers in others, in other things, in places. If only we spend a fraction of this time to look inside us. Once we do, we will find the exact answers, all of them, right inside us. Inside us we have a large, unexplored sea, a sea to answer all the right questions, then why is it that we are content getting bits and pieces of trivial tit- bits from outside? We need to move the curtains clouding over our brains, our ideas and then we find all the answers and we get what we seek.

What is it that I seek? I seek only ONE THING. But in line to achieving that ONE thing, I seek smaller things.  I seek-ed a change of AIR. A change of atmosphere, a cut off from the monotony and the mundane daily affairs, and what have I got was a two week vacation off my beloved homeland by default, by circumstances and by CHOICE to my Homeland by nature of ancestry!

But now I am back, revived, refreshed and re-energized to face the big bad world of business. Back to my favorite place, DUBAI. Back to recounting my experiences and back to my creative channels!

So, Let there be Clarity. Of Heart. Of Thought. Of Life. 

I LOVE MY AMMAMA.

I get epiphany's quite a lot and just like that. One minute I am in the real world, doing my thing, (or might I add, sulking about something/someone, for that seems to be what I am precociously occupied with these days!) and the next minute I am thinking about the most random things.

Just the other day, I was in a meeting with a Project Manager of a large consultancy, discussing possibilities of working together and going through my company profile with him. While skimming through one particular slide, and looking at the recently completed Costa Coffee's pictures, the project manager turns to me and says  "Wow, what's that beautiful color? Grape wine - ish red?". And I froze. It's really surprising how one thing can lead to the other and I was suddenly thinking and missing my grandmother, my Ammama. The Key word here was, believe it or not GRAPE. My Ammama used to feed me grapes, not just any grapes, Grapes with seeds! They are the ones with the perfect blend of both sweetness and sourness, she used to say and what she used to do was, cut the seed out of each and every grape and feed them to me while I happily completed my homework and satiated my sweet tooth.

Ammama and I

Did the project manager need to say Grape wine - ish red, I don't know. How did I manage to catch hold of this particular tangent and fly off , I really don't know, but I do know is I miss my Ammama. A Lot.

A lot of people, I know, have had all 4 of their grandparents around them as they grew up. I was one of those lucky few as well, but fortunately or unfortunately I was only close to my maternal grandparents. Will get into the details of why, what and which later... much later, possibly if and when I publish my semi autobiographical tell all book. Writing and publishing runs in my family, so do not be overtly surprised, my aunt, my mother's younger sister Sindhu S has recently published an un - put - down -able book The Plunge! Its touching, beautiful and heartfelt! I am not just saying this because she is my "favorite-st" aunt, but because she was simply awesome in her debut novel!

It is a wonderful, tumultuous and poignant love story of a young, contemporary Indian woman, her trials and tribulations and her pursuit of happiness, love and her man. The emotions are so raw and real it keeps leaping out of the pages and finally when the book comes to a surprising end, I was left with a heavy heart. the emotional turmoil, the confusion, the multitude of emotions that the protagonist as well as the other characters go through have all been so beautifully captured! A heartbreaking romantic novel that will stay in my heart now and forever!!!

Okay, I digressed, but not too far I must say, still very much within the family! My maternal grandparents. I simply love my Ammama and Valichan. From as far as I can remember, they are the ones who distinctly stand out in all my childhood memories, I would like to think I am, my Ammama's favorite (Sorry Sannu, Kannan and Kitchu, but I very immodestly would like to think so.) But let me add, this is for no extraordinary doing of mine, but purely because I was and am her first grandchild, the child of her first daughter. I have been pampered by her to the end of the world and back!

Ammama, Vallichan and I

To celebrate my Ammama and try and miss her a little less… I want to share 26 things I love about her… because she’s one of my #1 girl’s in my life!

I love her because:

1. She had my mother!!! (You can read about Ma here )
2. She loves to dress up.
3. Her gorgeous smile and her laugh is contagious!
4. Talking to her on the phone.
5. She LOVES sweets!
6. That she’s tiny, but tough!
7. She loves a good romance story.
8. Her love of a good shopping trip.
9. She loves her soaps, she is the one who introduced me to Celeste, a SPANISH (who cares about the language anyway!) TV series, no less! I remember both of staring at the actors and trying to comprehend the exact story!
10. She introduced me to the love of TV Series!
11. She’s funny as can be!
12. She loves makeup and likes to see me all dressed up!
13. Her strength – emotionally and spiritually.
14. She looks beautiful in ALL colors.
15. She worries about me, a LOT.
16. She’s a proud Grandma and could wait to be a proud Great-Grandma as well. I am sorry Ammama, it seems to me, the only way I can make your this dream come true is by forgoing the tried and tested marriage route (not for the lack of trying but for the lack of succeeding in being found by the right suitor) and adopting a gorgeous little baby girl.
17. She loves to travel, but she is okay not travelling just to close to Vallichan and take care of him.
18. She’s beautiful.
19. Her never-give-up attitude! (Even after 5 years of relentlessly trying and failing to get me hooked, she continues to be confident!)
20. Cares about the food she puts into her body!
21. She’s sweet. Very, very sweet.
22. Remembers a ton of stuff… it always amazes me.
23. Loves to see pictures of her family.
24. She’s incredible.
25. She has gorgeous grey eyes!
26. She is feisty and likes to get things done in her way. I seem to have doubly inherited this trait, from both Ammama and Ma! The Feisty - ness seems have grown leaps and bounds, I must say!

Ammama, Vallichan and I

I’m truly the lucky one to have her in my life… my whole life I have felt her love. She’s someone who I just love to pieces and feel honored to have as my Grandma, though she does do her bit to annoy the crap out of me sometimes. Maybe its not her, not anyone else, its ME! I could work with that. -_-

I do hope that if I’m blessed with a long of life I would like to imbibe a lot of things from my Ammama -  wrinkly, beautiful,  wise, and completely trusting in God’s providence. Love you Ammama and even though I hate the place you stay in I will seen you soon! Promise!