Random stuff

Just in the mood to write some random stuff –

I am really very happy these days because I will be seeing parents after more than a year. I have been smiling all the time and counting days. So I won’t be very active on this blog.

I have always loved travelling. My father had a transferable job which required us to move to a different city every few years. It was fun because I got to meet new people, make new friends at school and never got bored with staying in a single city. Also my parents liked traveling so we would explore new places in and around the city where we stayed. I got to study in a convent school, a CBSE school and also a state syllabus school.

I miss durga puja pandals. We would spend an entire day hopping from one pandal to another. I sometimes look at those photos and try to think about the time I spent in North India. For one of the durga puja events, I remember dressing up like a south Indian in a saree and standing there to welcome people with a friend of mine (who was my dad’s friend’s son). We had to say “vanakkam”  (welcome in Tamil) by standing near the entrance. I was part of this kids club there and they had dressed up all the kids as couples belonging to different parts of the country to welcome folks coming to visit the pandal in our area.

I also remember dressing up in white saree with red borders (typical bengali saree) at a friend’s place. Her mom did makeup to all of us for Kali puja. It was fun dressing up like a bengali. I had all these experiences only because we got to live in different parts of the country. Recently mom went to the marriage of one of my primary school friends (dad’s different friend’s son) who used to study with me. I have not met him from last 10-20 yrs or so. I was so happy to know that he still remembered me and that he wanted to meet me next time I was in India. I still think about my friend “Lakshmi”. She used to come to my painting classes and we were best buddies. We used to write to each other for many years even after I left the city. But then after some years, we lost touch with each other. I remember buying some skirts after seeing her wear them. I really admired her. I remember our “didi” who used to teach us drawing and painting.

I also think about my friend “Krishna”, who was my first bengali friend. During holidays, I would mostly spend my time with her. I also think about another girl who used to babysit one of our neighbor’s baby. She would come and play with us kids. I have forgotten names of most of my friends, but they were really dear to me. We would play antakshari sometimes. I learnt bengali just to talk to the baby, since it did not understand hindi. I have no idea what they are doing or where they are. Most of them would be married by now, with kids probably.

I sometimes think about my dance performance. One of my friends “Mohini” made me join their dance troupe and we performed in front of plenty of people. My parents came to see our dance. I remember “Deepa” who was also part of our friends gang. One of my classmates “Sunita” stayed next door and she taught me how to knit for the first time in my life. We were made to knit something at school, as part of arts class and she helped me learn it. I also miss holi that we kids played together on our street. Even my mom had filled couple of buckets with colored water, like all other moms had done. I remember one of my friends bringing a silver color and putting it on my face. I don’t remember his name, but I remember scolding him for spoiling my face.

I remember watching a travel series on TV when I was in 4th or 5th standard in school. I had a diary in which I would write about the places I saw on that series. In one of the episodes, they showed Disneyland. After watching that episode, I decided I want to visit Disneyland someday. So when I actually did visit it, it was like a dream come true. It was one of the happiest days in my life. 🙂 I once won first prize in school when we were asked to talk about science (without any preparation). I received a book as prize and my happiness knew no bounds.

We always had cable connection and VCP (video cassette player) for TV at home. Ever since cable television came into existence, we had it. But still I never got addicted to TV. I think it is because I cannot do something for more than 1-2 hours, no matter what it is. So I cannot watch TV for more than one or two hours. I get bored with watching TV. People might think I am insane, but in a way it is good. I saw some of my aunts disconnect cable connection because their children were not studying. But my parents never had to face that issue. My parents always took me to movies in theaters. We used to watch movies quite often and even that did not “spoil” me, the way parents think it will spoil children. I was always well-behaved.

My dad knows more about US than I do. He watches only Hollywood movies and can always relate some place to a movie he has seen. Recently I told him something about “salt lake city” and he told me what kind of city it is. I was surprised, because I have never been to this city even though I have been in US for so many years. How did he even know?! He told me about some movie which was shot there. Dad and I have a special kind of love for US. Dad got me an US map to stick on my room wall, when I had decided to come to US. We even sat and watched some movies to see US after I got admission here.

I was a single child but my parents never spoiled me. I remember mom instructing dad to get me a dress worth some Rs. X. But dad would always get me something which was very expensive like Rs. X + 500. 🙂 Dad never hesitated to spend some extra bucks to see a smile on my face. And now husband does the same. Yes, pampered is the right word. And I love getting pampered.

Wish wish wish I could time travel (right now, to future so that I can be with parents soooon) !!! 😀