26 already? No way!!

I am in India right now. Actually I am on vacation for my sister's wedding. There was so much to do. Inviting, visiting relatives, shopping and with all that comes a huge bit of travelling too!



However, I suddenly realized that it was my birthday. I am turning 26 on August 14. I just can't believe that I am nearing THIRTY! I need a break! I need to go on a cruise. I want to go vacation in Europe. I want to get through Mckinsey`s Aerospace & Defense Practice. And very soon I will want to start a family! Seems endless I guess.

Ok, now on I am just going to relish and really live every moment, instead of missing out on the very precious one life we all have by creating endless lists of ambitions... Well at least that will be more like my normaly self, which is....

Live life to the fullest every moment!

You have got to see this!!

Few weeks ago we visited the Niagara Falls. It was something I was looking forward to, since the trip happenned somewhat at the time of our wedding anniversery. Kind of an anniversery gift. :)Ok this is what I took the trip as, even though it was mainly planned to take my husband's friend who was visiting from Detroit.

So off, we went to enjoy the mystic beauty of the most wonderful and picturesque falls I have ever seen.

Please check out the pictures.....

First look....

Second look and I was mesmerized....

Check out the mist covered falls!

A careful look and you can see a boat in there....It is called the 'maid of the mist'

Check out the rainbow in the background....

To be continued.....

Three years and still on....

So I am back. It took me a while but I am back to my favourite pastime. Work never ceased and so I never got time. I would never complain about work, since I enjoy doing it but I definitely feel bad that I had to abandon my blog for a while. Well you know after work, cooking, cleaning and again work... the cycle goes on. To top it all cooking is something I really enjoy, so you see there is never a moment of regret. Of course my husband ‘N’ is subject to all the experimentation. I guess he has no other choice. : )

Now, my work is really important to me. I am not a hard worker so it is kind of exhilarating and overwhelming. I am glad to complete three years in my job. I kind of feel like it is a landmark. Maybe because it is my first job and work is always hectic. There is always one or the other project on. Sometimes more than one but it still keeps life interesting. Like a good learning experience.

So, it is nice to have the job you actually enjoy doing and a kind boss who always understands and supports you. However, the wish to become an entrepreneur someday, does not go away.

Well I guess it is good to have an unaccomplished ambition. : )

Have fun and keep enjoying!

Work, work and more work....

Dear readers,

I am sure you are having fun. Well, if you ask me, no I am not!

I am bombarded with work.

More and more work. Three projects at the same time.

And of course stressed too.....

I need a BREAK.



Expectations from boss rising. Well, she is not really familiar with Art Of Living's first teaching yet. Expectations reduces joy!

Bad for me!

My home laptop crashed.

The office laptop is given for repair due to a hardware problem.

I am expected to submit one project by Friday.

How am I working now?

Using a desktop which is pretty fine...AS OF NOW!

And.........surprise surprise!!!!!!!

I AM waking up early nowadays, reaching office early too.

And...of course working and working.

So, basically I am in a soup.

I apologize for not updating my blog. As soon as I finish this project, I will make up for the past two weeks. Keep smiling and have fun. :P

A view which can chill you!

Some pictures to remember the last few days of winter in Toronto. :)

View from the balcony! Scary?

It was real sharp! Kind of an ice stalactite as opposed to the normal calcium carbonate stalactite. :)

Spring was right on the corner so the snow was melting but never knew it could take this kind of shape on the roof,

It was nice to see the snow melt but somehow I knew it would take quite a long time for the whiteness to disappear. Well, the above picture proves that. I still found it hard to believe that spring had officially arrived!

What can I say, I am enjoying every bit of the chillness. :P

It is not really a game....

Recently I had a conversation with one of my MBA classmates. It’s been three years since we got in touch so initially I thought it was nice to catch him online. I am going to jot down the summary of the conversation.

He: Hey!!! wazzup?
Me: I thought for a moment. It clicked suddenly. Oh yes he does not just mean what is up. He wants to know how I have been, how is work, how is life going on and what’s the latest news! That is how he is. A person of few words. I have been good, pretty much enjoying. I guess that covered all his questions with few words again :). What about you?
H: I am cool, rocking here in Mumbai. Well, you know what I mean. :P
Me: No I don’t know what you mean, but I did not say that of course. That’s nice.
H: So, how much did you lose?
M: huh? What do you mean? This donkey, does he mean how much weight I lost?
H: Money due to the U.S recession?
M: Oh like that. Nothing atall because I did not invest.
H: What? You never invested?
M: Oh yeah I never invested in stocks. I never felt courageous enough to do so. Does he not have any other question to ask? Talking after three since completing MBA and all he can think of is STOCKS.
H: Why? Didn’t you manage stocks well at school? He is referring to the portfolio I managed gaining a return of 7 percent in three weeks as a part of my MBA program. That is nothing compared to using real money.
M: It was not involving actual cash. It was just an academic project which was stress free. Plus in real life you have to use your hard earned money.
H: Surprising! I thought you must be minting money with stocks.
M: Well, I still have the passion for stocks and…I also play fantasy stock exchange. Oops why did I give away that info?
H: What?? You play that game? That timepass game?
M: What’s wrong with that? It is a good way to play with stocks without actually investing real cash.
H: Ok, here’s hoping you will get the courage to actually invest in stocks someday. :P
M: Thanks and no kidding I will do that someday when I feel confident enough.

It really did make me wonder why I never took the initiative to invest in stocks. I know I did seriously consider investing all of the Rs 5000, which I received as salary for my summer internship job. However, I ended up giving the money to my dad. After I got my job which anyway paid more than Rs 5000, I still never got the guts to invest. Then I thought I will wait for my bonus. The bonus came and went but it did not happen. One fine day, I decided that I would ask for a really huge pay hike in my salary and if it works out then I will invest. It was an inner tactic of avoiding to do it, since I knew my company would not give me that much of a hike. Something like convincing myself on it. To my surprise, they did. They gave me exactly what I asked but as usual nothing happened on the stock front.

I used to give information on what stocks to buy and what to sell, to my friend who used to sit next to me. He appreciated the gesture and took all the risk and gained robust returns out of it. I wonder how he could rely on my advice and go for those stocks. What if those stocks crashed? For one sure thing, I know he would not have hated me but he still took the risk. It is like he believed in me and was sure that he would not lose money. Wonder how much time it would take me to believe in myself and take the plunge? Well, for the time being I know I AM JUST NOT READY. :) And for the record, I do enjoy playing the game, you know what I mean. :P

Pictures and pictures....

Some of the snaps I took for Christmas which were long due for posting! :P

Somehow I liked this view a lot...


This kind of fascinated me!

It was a really huge Christmas tree...

Something which made me smile....

Beautiful...

Another one...

There were few snow storms in the past couple of weeks. A glimpse of it. :)

View of the highway 401

View from the balcony


Misted and the blizzard went on and on!

Hmm the balcony!

I wonder how the cars could move....

The temperature was -30 degrees and it was declared a holiday!

A fall is more embarrassing than painful!

Last week, it snowed almost every day. On one such day, while I was walking to my office, my shoes sank into the snow; I lost my balance and fell. Now, falling over here is never unusual since most of the days I have seen it with other people. The only point I am trying to make is that I have always been on the watching end than the receiving one. Once I felt really sorry for an old lady who could not match upto the nasty wind and fell with a big thud. I rushed and helped her up all the while hearing her swear to herself in words I could never imagine.

The winds during the winter season can be very strong and chilly and that is a part of Toronto’s character. It never gets extremely cold but a small exposure to it can bring a shiver down your spine, it is that strong and frosty. I remember once I chuckled after seeing a lady firmly hugging a tree fearing that the wind would sweep her off. After walking past her and almost loosing my balance, I knew for certain that I underestimated the power of the wind. Morale of the incident? Make firm steps when you walk. Also, hold onto anything if you feel you are loosing your balance. Anything? Hmm that is for you to think wisely! :P

So, back to what I started with. It was a cold morning, misty and white. I just did not feel like getting out of the cozy bed. The alarm which was initially set for 7.30am was snoozed to 8, and then 8.30. At 8.45 I woke up with a start and realized that I was going to be late for work. It was 9.15 when I was fully bundled up and walking to work with every effort onto beating the cold instead of biting it. There’s a short cut which I take every day to reach office as fast as possible. So, basically the actual 20 minute walk is reduced to 10 minutes. If you ask exactly what kind of a short cut it is, I would say cutting across the backyard of another apartment by walking on the snow covered meadow, to reach the walkway which again leads to the highway bridge I have earlier mentioned. That reminds me, if there was no highway the distance to my office would have been just a five minutes walk.

Anyways, standing before the snow covered meadow, I hesitated for a second before I made the leap but it was too late. The damage was done. Before I could blink I knew my legs were totally buried in snow. I should have taken that as a warning and come off but I just went on thinking that I could make it. I struggled with my hands in the air to keep my balance and made it to the edge of the meadow. I felt a severe pain in my legs and realized that my legs hit the cemented edge of the meadow and I fell flat on my back. I could hear someone asking me whether I was ok and needed help. That’s when I realized that my eyes were closed; I was still lying flat and not making any effort to rise. He even asked if I wanted him to call 911. I was totally embarrassed. I got up on my feet with pain but felt more embarrassed to see people coming across to see me. I told the stranger that I was fine and continued walking slowly. I could see the stranger explaining to the others what just happened and all I wished was to just vanish from that area as fast as I could. I never looked back and continued walking, this time faster. I started feeling the pain more after I was settled in my desk. Moral of the incident is never take shortcuts when the snow pile’s height is half your height. :P

Pictures taken on the snow storm days coming up in the next post. Till then take care and have fun.

Sometimes a promise is better than a resolution…

First of all, let me wish all my readers a very happy and prosperous New Year. Sorry for being this late.

I mean whatever is written as the title. I thought of having a New Year resolution, something like earnestly updating my blog. At the end of the whole thought process, (which took nearly one and a half month since my previous post :P) I decided that it would be better to just promise my readers instead of me just having a New Year resolution. This is just because I know I would not keep the resolution! :P
But let me assure you my faithful readers, (especially my close friends) I will keep the promise that I am making in this post. From now on, I will definitely update my blog atleast once in a week and there will be no more gaps like this. :P PROMISE! No kidding this time.

Christmas was different for me from the previous years. It was snowy and….hmm different. I spent time with family and friends in their parties. I spent time with my husband since he had his Christmas holidays with his MBA going on. I slept a lot and watched too many movies. Departed, Bourne Ultimatum, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Good Sheppard, Shooter, Premonition, The Namesake, The Heartbreak Kid, Donnie Darko, Oceans Thirteen, Live Free or Die Hard were some of the too many movies I watched. In the end, the dvd rentals, Blockbuster started giving us free rentals due to the number of dvds we rented out from there. :P I really had no other job. Ah yes there was one important project deadline which kept me busy when I wasn’t watching movies. Overall, I became free only after the first week of January.

So, here am I now back to the hectic work schedule. In fact, today it wasn’t that hectic, which gave me some space to take out time for this post. I spent close to one hour today counting the cars passing outside my window. It is a beautiful view so you never know time passing by. I will post some of the snaps I had taken during Christmas time in the next post.

And it finally snowed....

I always considered snow as one of nature’s most beautiful revelations. Having seen it umpteen times on TV, I have always earned to see it, touch it and hold it in person but somehow, I never really got the opportunity until last week. Movies have always showcased the beauty of snow, take for instance ‘Serendipity’ starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. In the opening sequence, the love at first sight romance is so beautifully captured in the background of snow. You as a viewer are aware that both the characters are already pursuing other relationships, but you are more likely to want that moment of romance to go on.

Another one of my favorite snow moments would be in ‘Black’ a Hindi movie starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee. There is a sequence when Rani’s character a deaf, blind and mute person anticipates snow and her teacher, portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan does not agree. And when it actually snows, you know that your heart is leaping with joy and she dances. The background of snow was a very integral part of the whole movie. It was different from the usual snow sequences in most of the Hindi movies. The most common sequence being a Chiffon sari clad heroine romancing a sweater clad hero. I wonder why the heroine is always scantily clad, while the hero wears sweaters in extreme cold temperatures like that.

Natives over here had just another day but for me it was finally a dream come true. It was slightly tough walking over snow but I loved every bit of it. It was cold (-7 degrees) yet breathtaking. The wind added onto the chillness but it was an awesome sight. Take a look. Those little flakes of ice carved a scenery, which would stay in my mind marking my first tryst with snow.

A snow ornamented bush!

See the middle layer? That's where the pavement used to be. :)

No sign of the grassy meadow...:0

See the shadow? COLD but the sun is shining bright!

Actually I ended up taking this picture by mistake due to the cold. I could barely hold my camera with the gloves on. :P

The mesmerizing sunset, minus the sun but the light. :P

Contrary to what my colleagues said, do I still like snow after my first exposure to it? Of course I do! They still are one of nature’s most beautiful revelations.

Happy Birthday!

Readers, this post is dated November 4th.

It is one year since I began my blog and this is my twenty first post. Even though I am happy that my creation completed one year, I feel slightly bad that the number of posts were very less. Even if I had written one post every month, I could have easily crossed 24. Well, you see my readers, at first my blog was left dormant since I was too much into the preparations for my wedding in June. :P Post the wedding, the blog was further inactive since I was on a long vacation travelling on my honeymoon. And then I relocated to Toronto, so you see, it took me a while to get back into the flow. :P

I guess my New Year resolution would be to post regularly without fail. Now, the first paragraph is just to console myself, not even to convince the readers. I have that odd habit of consoling myself once in a while. Well, the outcome is fruitful with me automatically feeling better. I remember when I used to buy groceries from the store, wait a minute, did I ever mention that buying groceries over here is an art? It is so costly that you need to know from where to get what. In addition, when to buy also turns out to be vital for sustainability, be it short term or long term. I ended up understanding the second part only after experiencing it; well err the ‘mistake’.

There is a super grocery store right next to my apartment. I was never inclined into buying stuff until I started seeing interesting fliers of the same store delivered into my mail box on Thursdays. On one such Thursday, when I took a closer look into the flier, I was surprised to see the discounts offered. The same day, I went into the store and purchased all the items I was sure were on discounts. When I checked out, the bill showed that the items were on the mark up price and not discounted. On reaching home, I checked the stupid flier once more carefully scanning each and every page to realize that in a small tiny corner was this written, *“Effective from this Friday to next Thursday”. I could have very well returned the stuff that day and purchased it the next day, returning stuff being the normal practice in North America. The only problem is that I feel very embarrassed when I return stuff. So, I had to bear the loss, but at the end of the whole incident the lesson was learnt. From then on, I have been very careful; so in essence sometimes mistakes are good. Perfection beholds from far from the next time. See, again I am consoling myself. :P


Time has flown by, things have changed but some habits never change!

I would like to wish all my readers a very prosperous Diwali. :)

The colors of autumn

It is soon going to be winter over here in Canada. Of course, it would be my first experience with extreme cold conditions and I am definitely not dreading it. When something is inevitable, you might as well take it as it comes rather than ponder and worry about it. I have been warned by many using various techniques of describing how terribly cold, the winter can be. The only consolation I wanted back then was to do a satisfying winter clothes shopping and that is exactly what I ended up doing. :) Another good reason to shop, isn’t it?

Being a nature lover, I have been observing the little changes around, like the foggy early mornings, the distinct color of leaves, the bird’s flocking, a thin line of chillness in the air with the sun still shining bright and the tingling cool breeze.

It was the colors of autumn, subtle yet breathtaking. Somewhere a scintillating orange was beckoning while red, pink, yellow, green and brown followed in unison. I walk to my workplace everyday and while on the run (sometimes I am late, well you know old habits never die:P), I get to admire the colors of the autumn. Sometimes sad, but yet serene. Sad, when I think of the times all of that has to fade and fall. And still serene because of the composure with which it holds together. Take a look.

Foggy early mornings

View from my balcony ( of course not taken standing on the balcony :P)

On the way to my work place

The highway bridge I have to cross. Phew! Imagine if I fall into the highway, sometimes I do feel that when the wind blows.

If only I had the closer view of those colors

Still on the bridge

Isn't that beautiful?

Lets talk about R in ‘SYRALS’

Nearly one year ago, I inaugurated my blog talking about L and her baby. The subsequent post discussed S too, and R pointed out that I did not talk about her. All of them are very dear to me and are my friends for the past seventeen years. I have never preferred one over the other, so there is no scope for feeling left out. Recently, I rang up R and wished her on her birthday and that’s when I thought maybe a post dedicated to her is the best gift I can give her. Hmm R, I hope you are listening. So, now lets talk about R in ‘SYRALS’.

I think it was in the third grade when both of us met. That’s a long time ago, though I clearly remember that after our first meeting, we did not even want to be in the same class. The reason was a bad fall out over some Hindi textbook. Now, when I think of it, it does feel really silly. Nevertheless, I am glad that it happened because that’s what brought us to be the friends we are today. It took us a while to get over the quarrel and become friends, since both of us had our own set of friends. In fact, my other set of friends included S and L. One quality of hers which I always admired was her beautiful voice. She used to sing so well that our teachers and the other students would ask her to sing whenever there was a free period. Back then, most of the singing classes also included her songs. It was during the 7th grade, that we became quite close with the comfort level to actually confide in each other. Soon enough, something terrible happened which made me feel very sorry for her. Her father passed away on a stroke. Her family became two from three, with mother and daughter left all alone. It was not sympathy that I felt for her but more like emptiness and grief, wondering what I could do to make her feel better.

The entire manner in which she handled her composure, struck me. I was flabbergasted. I am not sure if it was her innocent age or her maturity level, but she did come out of that and continued excelling in her studies. It was never hard work, but sheer intelligence which helped her in academics. She has received merit certificates for science talent exams conducted on all India level. I have seen her growing into a mature lady with lot of poise. Maybe, it is this serene quality of hers that makes me approach her for advice even now, after so many years. Sometimes, it was hard to see her battling with problems in life, like for instance, when her mother fell ill and had to be operated. Imagine a naive fifteen year old managing everything from her mother’s operation, to taking care of her post the operation, how much can she do? R did that and much more than that while continuing to be one of the best students in our school. I don’t think she attended most of the classes towards the end of the Xth standard, but she still managed to pull off a distinction in the ICSE exams. Always facing life’s toughest challenges with a smile, that what I remember her in school as.

‘Monalisa’, that’s what we used to call her in school, though the name has stayed over the years. Even now after the book ‘The Davinci Code’ has come out, she is still proud of the nickname she got stuck with, in school. Another quality of her which amazes me is that she has this rare ability, to think of a particular problem/situation in a third person’s perspective. Her singing went into a backseat as she grew up, maybe due to the pressure of the tribulations in life. It never gave a chance to revive her passion for singing. I have always forced her to consider singing at least once in a while, though that never did work out. Her father’s government job was always an impending offer, which her relatives forced her to consider. Knowing very well that it was not what she wanted to do, she continued to be strong at her stance. Today, biting all odds she has managed to overcome all her obstacles and go for what she truly believed in. I know in few months, she will pass out of her MBA in flying colors, work in her dream company and excel in life in every way. I would not be surprised, if she decides to start singing again. After all, all’s well that ends well, don’t you think R?

R, I truly cherish your friendship in every way and would like to say that you are one of the most wonderful friends; I have ever come across in my life. Keep going pal, there is so much more for you to achieve in life.

Readers, the link below has a song that was not playing earlier, due to some error in the code. I have fixed that now. Happy listening!

http://syrals.blogspot.com/2007/03/music-that-is-soul-stirring.html

Patriotism to the core, maybe!

On 15th of August, I worked. Its not like I had a choice considering the fact that it was a working day over here. Back in India, it would have been a public holiday, where one could get penalized if he/she decides to go to office and work. In schools, there would be Independence Day celebrations and compulsory attendance for flag hoisting. Coming back to what I wanted to relate, I am a very patriotic person and my heart weeps for all those brave Indian soldiers who have given up their lives defending the country. However, I still believe that a Pakistani common man also has the right to live and not be condemned just because he is from Pakistan.

On the same day, I went out with my colleague for lunch. She wanted to treat me so I relented (never a big deal) and we went out to this select Sandwich place near the office. After lunch, the owner remarked that she was celebrating the Independence Day. To me, they seem to know each other. She smiled and agreed with the old man. He asked her whether she was celebrating the Pakistani Independence Day, and there was a big outburst from her. She literally shouted at the old man saying that it is the Indian Independence Day that she was celebrating and how dare he ask her that question. The old man all terrified replied that he himself being a Pakistani thought that she was also one. I just feel that she should have politely refused that she wasn’t celebrating the Pakistani Independence Day since she was an Indian. The outburst was uncalled for. When we came out of the shop, she told me that she will never ever enter that Pakistani shop again. I thought to myself, what about all that times she had dined there earlier, how would she undo that?

It is so very intriguing to note that almost all the Indians out here depend on grocery stores, eateries and restaurants in Canada owned by Pakistanis either knowingly or unknowingly. When it comes to survival, I feel people ignore the source of the food or the grocery item. The only thing is that I get amused when someone gets shocked one fine day, when he/she comes to know that the shop where the groceries has been coming is actually a Pakistani’s. I wonder if the shock is for everyone else to see rather than that person to feel. Maybe, it is to show that he/she is so patriotic that a question of buying stuff from a Pakistani would never have come up if it was known earlier. Is that patriotism?

Yesterday, I was sitting with my colleagues and having lunch when someone mentioned a grocery store called Iqbal’s. All of them were talking about the merits of that particular store, when one person suddenly mentioned that it is a Pakistani store. It was very funny to see the expression of most of the people changing. Since Canada is a multicultural country, it is not hard to find Indians and Pakistanis living in peace and harmony. I only wish if some people would change their mindset and broaden it a little bit when it comes to kindness to fellow human beings, no matter where they come from.

New place and new adventures…

I landed with my husband in Toronto on August 3. The flight journey was not tiring and I did not really have any jet lag in the days that followed the journey too. When I realized that every single thing comes with a cost here, I nearly shrieked. For instance take the case of the airport luggage trolley. You have to shell out $2 for using a trolley, watching my expression my husband remarked, “Welcome to Canada”. I did feel welcome because I ended up finding an abandoned trolley while he had gone to collect the bags. :P. So, in essence the forthcoming posts will deal with the adventures I had from Aug 3 to the present day. I know, I should have related all that much earlier, but then I needed to get settled before I start pouring down my thoughts. :P

Toronto, the place where I stay, is a beautiful city with tall buildings and sky scraping structures, the noted ones being, the CN tower, the Toronto-Dominion Centre among the others.

Toronto-Dominion Centre

The CN tower-Courtesy kovyrin

Being very passionate about finance, I was thrilled to see the Bay Street which is the financial hub of Canada. The houses here in the sub urban and urban areas look almost the same, which is one of the first things which struck me. Some of them were row houses, and I wondered if people got lost finding their way back home.

Row houses during Fall

Now, that made me decide on an apartment rather than a house. Smart right? :P Nah, not really since even a small house would cost you anywhere from $150,000. Though our initial plan was to stay in downtown which is thought to be the most happening place, we ended up taking an apartment in the outer suburb, North York, due to unavailability and the huge waiting list in downtown. Changing the apartment to ‘home sweet home’ looked very thrilling and challenging to me. Of course, I was thrilled because of obvious reasons. Why did it pose as a challenge back then? The apartment was in the 16th floor and I was acrophobic. : ) Despite the view from the 16th floor, the whole idea of getting over the fear of heights drove me nuts initially.

Now that's the view from our living room. Now, why not a picture standing on the balcony? No way!

Those days, I never really walked into the balcony. It was like an abandoned area, left to be kept empty. I still remember asking the building staff, if there was any other floor available to which the answer was the 6th floor. I asked my husband whether we could check that out and he said what difference that would make to my fear. I know it was stupid but I still confidently argued that I may have better peace of mind on the fear aspect. You see, my argument was loosely based which ended up being weak in contrast to his, which raved about the view from the 16th floor. So, the rest is history.

On the first few visits to buy furniture for the apartment, I used to convert the cost into rupees and then get shocked. Like the couches we finally got, which costed us $1000 (Rs 40,000), but that was the last time I did any kind of conversion. Its like you got to realize that the day you stop converting, you automatically start enjoying Toronto. You start loving the place and the stuff you get out here purely on face value, but I guess some habits never die. Like the time when I asked for further discounts on the TV we wanted to purchase from Future Shop. :P

To be continued.

Three months and no way!!

Dear Readers,
I just cannot believe that its been three months since I updated my blog. So unlikely of me, never knew time could pass just like that. And so much has happened too, which is yet to sink in….


I got married!
I got married to the love of my life.
Finally, I left the metro I stayed for the past two years
I left the metro, the place I never really liked.
I got promoted.
I am in based in Toronto now.
But of course, home sweet home will always be Kerala. :p

I got married on June 24. It is definitely going to be 2 months since that day, but I still can’t believe it.

Bound together by love!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

But I guess my freedom is slightly limited now. :p

Way to cheer!!

This post is the continuation of the previous one.

The broadcast read somewhat like this:

Hi All,

The much awaited Sports Day is being held on 21st April 2007.

The venue remains the same, Nehru Stadium.

Venue: Nehru Stadium
Periyamedu
Behind Rippon building, adjacent to Chennai Central, Chennai - 600 003

There are certain changes to the schedule and timing of the sports day.

In order to compensate for the bandh on 31st March 2007, we will be working on Saturday, 21st April 2007, from 9 am to 1 pm.

In order to escape the heat and save you all from getting sun tanned, the sports day has been scheduled under flood lights. We will commence at 3.00 pm and will go on till 8.30 pm. Those of you who do not attend either work or the sports event will be marked off for the day.

In order to add to the Spirit of the Game, we cordially invite your spouse and children to join the first ever sports day of ( ).

Note: Parents/friends/siblings not allowed.

The house keeping staff will come around with a new list. Please sign against your names and also confirm the number of people accompanying you for this wonderful event.

The house keeping staff did come with a list and I obviously signed none in the column which asked for the number of people accompanying me. I felt that the whole sports day thing would end up like a flop show and didn’t really wish to get embarrassed by asking anyone to join me. One look at the mail and yes I had decided to go for the sports day. Of course I couldn’t take off and needed to save every leave of mine for obvious reasons which I will explain later in the forth coming posts. Actually I wouldn’t blame my company for making a rule that if an employee misses the sports day attendance, he/she will be marked absent for the whole day. After all the HR dept knows how much the ( ) ‘ties would like to escape and enjoy the afternoon after attending office in the morning. For instance, I would never even have thought of attending if not for that stupid clause.

The D day soon followed with me cribbing to my own glory about how much I hated the whole sports day idea and the fact that I have to attend it. Anyway, the morning passed after which I hoped out with my colleagues for lunch trying to ease our minds of the sports day function. I made sure we went to my favorite Chinese restaurant in the town. After all, I needed some incentive to feel ready for real sports. :P

We enjoyed the scrumptious lunch and drove to the so called stadium. Now when I first read about the stadium in the mail, I never realized how big it could be. I was wonderstruck when I entered the Nehru Stadium.

Thats the view from where I was sitting

I could see a lot of red tee shirt audience....

All preps for the 100 metres race!

Isn't that snacks he's carrying? Thats me wondering what could be inside the cartons. :P

Its getting dark, time for the flood lights!

The stadium looked rocking with the lights on...

All I could say is WOW!

Here are some videos to get a hold of the fun I had....



Women's Backwalking


Women's 100 metres-heats


Women's 100 metres-Final

There was this girl (K) sitting near me, who was very enthusiastic about 400 metres race. She went on talking about how she could have done well if that item also was included for the day. Finally when the time came for the 4x100 metres relay, one team was in shortage of a girl. Seeing the opportunity, D (another friend) and me persuaded K to participate and pushed her so hard onto getting into the track. Finally, when she told us that she was wearing floaters and she couldn’t run, I chuckled to myself. I really thought she was just making excuses. I soon offered her my running shoes saying that I will wear her floaters. After a while she agreed and she really did prove me wrong. Her team won the relay and whoever saw her running that day would have agreed to all her boasting. Just take a look.


Relay 1st Part


Relay Last Part

The winning relay team

So what if I did not participate I cheered for everybody. Also, didn’t K win wearing my shoes? :P

So all in all it wasn’t a bad sports day, don’t you think so?