<<< From the Lady in Lavender - Back in Dec'05

I got this kiddish composition of mine from one of my dear frens who preserved it with great care...Just tells how excited I used to get for every simple thing around me. After reading this, my love for the color can be best seen and probably explains the reason for choosing the same color for my space too...;);) Though things haven't changed much even now, I think I am a little more matured and subdued now :-) So here you go...!!!

" A late morning !!! Today, me in a great mood to drop into ur cube with all smiles....:-)))
The reason though is v simple for my enerygy and happiness...Any guesses...he he he ...No no.....Put a break to ur thoughts....I wore a new dress today....ha ha ha
The most awaited "Lavender outfit".......;)))It might be a very trivial thing which anyone of us would have done on any other day. But theres a hilarious story behind it. Got some mood to write. So heres how the story went.....;)))

Last saturday, bored in life I stepped out of my home and roamed in and around my palce when I saw a Lavender cloloured dress material hanging in a shop. That triggered my love for lavender which dates back to college days when I almost had 7 dresses in Lavender to exhaust my week.....;))))So with no second thoughts, I grabbed that piece which happens to be the last one in that shop....How lucky.....!!!;)) I could not even wait until it gets stiched. So the action item for the week was to get it stitched at the earliest.
Monday, I went to my tailor, cooked up a story that I have to wear it for a function coming up on wednesday and asked to keep it ready by tuesday evening. He said he would try.......Huh!! But that was more than enuf for me to keep me going for the next day.
Tuesday came and I went running.....Alas!!! It was not even cut .So after a series of warnings and threats I left the tailor passing an ultimatum to get it done by wednesday evening. With a lil disappointment wednesday went but then I consoled myself by wearing another favorite outfit in my wardrobe. I was waiting for the evening to come to collect the dress and get ready for the great "dress rehearsal"......ha ha ha ha
It was 8 in the night....I went to that shop straight.......
But nothing seemed to be right...As the "Dupatta" was lost......
Controlling my anger , I asked whats next???

He apologised and told that he had sent it to another tailor for finishings and that guy had left for the day. But he promosed me that he would get me at the earliest , the next day morning by 9:30 am. So I decided to go late for work for the love I had for "Lavender" and told that he would be murdered if he wudnt make it. I worked late and exhausted myself last night doing some work, slept late so that I would wake up late in the morning and find an excuse for staying back at home, get my duppatta thereby escaping from my guilt of not turning upto office in time( haha ha .......So much thought process went into it...can u believe????;))))

Atlast the time came when i had to go and collect it. I was at his doorstep when he remembered that he had to get the dupatta from the other tailor. At that moment, my anger was at the peak and I thought I would land my fist right on his nose but thought would give him one last chance else would loose the chance to get my dress...;)) So just blasted him left and right and said I wud come back by 10:00. When I went back......ohhh no!!!! I had to see the same JUNK face with not much progress. All disappointed in life I thought today is not my day and was about to leave when the guy who was sent came back with my Dupatta.
So the disappointment was at once turned into excitement, All my frowns to smiles. That was the happiest moment ......Yepp.....Yepp.....All set in Lavender I started to work and am here mailing to glory.Some one did rightly say....." Its the simple things in life that fill us wth Joy...."

So that was the Saga of the Lady in Lavender in Good old exhuberant days!!

~$,04/15/08

<<< Rama Navami & Granny

Its an extended weekend for me and this day started little bright after a poised and calm weekend. I had been to Besant nagar beach with my fren in the early hours and enjoyed watching the Sunrise wondering how many things we miss out in a day being part of these cut throat schedules and cocooned homes. I never knew there was something bigger that I missed today.

The daily ritual call from mom in the morning made me remember that today happened to be Rama navami which catapulted nostalgic thoughts and fond memories of my growing up days in Vizag. Sri rama Navami, a festival widely celebrated as birth Thithi of Lord Rama which had almost lost its fervor and significance in these times and life styles.


A little lookback into my childhood - I have been brought up with all the norms and rhymes of a typical traditional south Indian family but what topped it all was that my upbringing was mostly in a Joint family framework (until I completed 2nd year graduation). So I feel lucky when I think today to have enjoyed all the fruits of being a part of joint living , sharing and caring , delaing with contradictions and conflicts and ofcourse pampered being the youngest (okay! being the youngest for a long time until my lil cousin(bro) arrived;o) There are tons and tons of fond memories when I look bak today and dont feel like calling it a day without talking about my Grandmom who was a gem of a person.

I got reminded of her specifically today since this festival was celebrated in her presence in a unique way in our house. Its a tradition in our house to worship the age old wooden Idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman and perform thier wedding( Yes!! in a small scale though :-) Sissy and me used to sing songs for any occasion under amma and granny's supervision ;) We were fondly referred to Lava & Kusa on Rama navami ;) Its a real feast to be a part of such proceedings and I feel there is so much meaning in blindly following what was taught to us by elders. I confess that for me, following any ritual or performing pooja was exciting just for the fact that it involved lot of color, flowers, music, great fooood and ofcourse new dresses:-) But guess that's the first step where we start understanding our culture and as we grow up, we season it with logic and reason and mature as a complete person. Don't ask me which stage I am in now thouh he he ;))

Coming to granny, There are many spectacular charecterisitics about her but what defined her the best was her dignity, perseverance, foresight and ambitious nature which is not so likely to be found in a person of that era. She was with us until she was 82 in her full spirits and is still remembered by everyone on any given occasion. I have not really seen anyone so popular from her times who is thought about so fondly and so often. A big eyed beautiful lady who was multi faceted in her own ways be it be cooking, dressing up , Poetry or literature - both Telugu & Sanskrit , so on so forth and more than anything the broad outlook towards life. Sometimes my parents were way way beyond at the amount of understanding and sensitivity with which she dealt issues. Never nagged or brooded about conventional norms and marvellously adjusted herself to vivid generations. She would narrate all the mythological stories with great penchant and patience to a band of monkeys like us when we all used to sleep on the terrace in the night which is a very important and fond part of my upbringing. She had almost seen 4 generations and surprisingly she could easily connect with all effortlessly. I remember my elder bro's ( first cousin) frens from Btech and Mtech streams on thier visit to our house always used to discuss with her without any inhibitions on any given topic. She was just adorable by all her grandchildren specially.
There were some very strong and ambitious charateristics like any Mom-in-law in a joint family which were once again specific to her which led to contradictions and conflicts. But surely nothing in comparison to the bigger picture to which she belonged.

There have been many instances when I would have felt not so good about the way she handled certain things but it all look petty to me now since its her wonderful persona which has helped me inculcate so many good things and this day would just be incomplete if I dont shed a tear for her. I hope she was near me today and blessed me :-)
Having been a part of such cozy and wonderful childhood amidst people, today was mostly spent at home in solitude watching two great mythological telugu movies ( My all time favorite Lava Kusa & Seetha Rama Kalyanam) which triggered such wonderful memories :) Guess this is what I could do most belonging to these times :-)
I strongly feel that a part of me is always with the History that has made me and its inseperable.

~$,04/14/08,9:45pm

<<< Journey to Bliss - Back in time,May'07

Its been a taxing time at work for about 10 days with long hours and less sleep and I was longing for a break sub-consciously .....!!
Thankfully at the same time, my roommate like a godsent messenger had this fabulous idea of going to B'lore to catch up with some of our frens and booked the Tix...I never realised what an enchanting episode was going to unfold until I set my foot on that soil..

Its not that I had never been to B'lore before but going amidst a blazing Summer from an oven called "Chennai" made all the difference this time...Our train reached on Saturday around 7:30 in the morning and we boarded down at Krishna Raja puram.....
I really liked this name as it gave me a feeling that I was stepping my foot in an age old kingdom ....:-))) and the atmosphere was no less than a hill station which accentuated my feelings........;))))
Oooooohhh.......the early morning cool breeze blowing against my face took me to a different world altogether..!!
Hmmmm......Mornings are meant to be this way and I realised what I have been missing for quite sometiem now......

Anyways, we pushed ourselves into an auto and headed towards the PG where our fren was put up. A decent locality and all the more decent home welcomed us and we relaxed and refreshed there. Then a marvellous 7 course lunch(might not be an appropriate word..;)) was awaiting for us at another frens place which we relished thoroughly and ate.......!! After a food hogging afternoon, we headed towards the Commercial street where they say " Fashion Parades"...;))) I was a little tired by then and could not do full justice to the shopping list I had comeup with. So just had to console myself with a "Patiyala". I wonder how many of you would know that....;))))
Tired and Tarnished came back to the room after exactly 12 hours of ramoing.....So day one ended with lot of action and fun....:-))

Day two was all the more memorable as I met one of my school frens after 15 years.....can you believe??? Yess......15 years...!!
We parted when we were in 7th and I completely had no clue about her whereabouts and howabouts....Thanks to Orkut which did the trick and brought us together and I still cannot believe that we met...It was a great walk down the memory lane.
Keeping that apart, I saw how lovely a Sunday morning could be and that too on a drive on MG road and Brigade the "Crown locales" of B'lore....Guess Sunday mornings are the best times to be on the road as the whole city sleeps and wakes up late on Sunday for the very obvious reasons....;)))

Journey in Local Volvo bus(with AC he he )is a new edition..
The picturesque greenery around leaves you in a state of suspension....
Woww.....Superb...Coool......were the only words uttered out of appreciation...;))
You wouldnt deny that it was nothing short of an expedition;))

The Leela palace in pink was Awesome....
Lunch at TGIF was quite Wholesome...
Catching up with frens was so Truesome...
Leaving all that behind and be back is so hard to Fathom......;((((

And what can I say about the weather...It was simply superb as you can never feel the sun rays until post noon in contrast to Chennai where the harsh sun rays would never let you be in bed after 7 in the morning......:-((( I can go on appreciating like this forever and you can actually sense how much I enjoyed escaping the heat ......!! I surely do now know why people want to settle down at the Garden city irrespective of their Language, the region they belong , nor the Gender......:-)))
Ufffffffffffffffffff
Time to stop here........as I am back to reality and the Sun is right on my head and my mind has gone blank...;)))

Three Cheers to the ecstatic moments in B'lore......Thanks to all those who made it so by being a part of them.....:-)))
Smiles as ever
~Sree

Discalimer : The feelings described in the above blog are purely circumstantial and the reader should not misunderstand/infer bad about Chennai but should only think good about B"lore...;)))

<<< Its the turn of NY now...!! - Back in time again

Strain your eyes and energies just once more, as its the turn of NY now...;))

<<< Journey To Niagara - Dates back to 2005

Hey wait..Thats just not a fotograph but a fotoblog....It was quite an effort to do that , and would need quite an effort by you to read it now :-) I wonder how I preserved it and fished it from my mail database...;))