Getting my feet wet again. So to say.

It has been a long long time I wrote something on this blog. Or anywhere else for that matter. Except for Facebook updates (yeah those still happen) and photos shared. There is instant gratification there. A strength in numbers even one might say. It is a world that makes you believe you have more friends than you can ever imagine. It is also a place where you find adult conversation missing in your life otherwise.

Yet, every time I read old posts on this blog, I always go, "Whoa! I had completely forgotten about this!" So, there is something to be said about putting our memories down on paper, so to say.

The big news is that we have moved countries! Yes, after a decade of fabulousness in Bangalore, we have moved to Florida in Amreeka (that is my love-hate name for the country also known as The United States of America. It has been a year and half now and it still feels like a big change.

The kids have settled in beautifully. They had their settling in pangs, of course, but they got over those pretty quickly. Children are indeed a lot more resilient than we can ever imagine. They also have an immense capacity to recalibrate their life to new situations. If you ask me, I am a little jealous of that simply because I have been having a much tougher time of letting go of my life back home.

Yes, the routine life is pretty much set. After six months of moving, I managed to get driving licence and we bought a second car. Driving in Amreeka is obviously fairly simple since most people follow rules and almost all cars are automatic. As a side note though I should tell you guys, Florida is closest to India in terms of lack of traffic discipline. Not as bad, but much worse than rest of the country.

The biggest challenge in driving here is getting used to the insane speeds. Imagine having to drive at close to 90kmph within the city. Oh I swerved like a winding road initially and it was scary, but eventually I got there and the freedom to be able to go from point A to point B without having to depend on anyone is worth getting over the fear. Next stop is freeway driving. I am yet to reach the 'Darr ke aage jeet hai" phase for that! :p

I think that should be enough for Day One of writing. Obviously I have a long way to go to the kind of writing that is of an acceptable level even for my blog! This one made me yawn by the time I finished writing it. Bah!

See you later, alligator! :))

day 8 - Letter 8 - favourite internet friend

With the advent of social media, having internet friends is a norm rather than an exception! But, it would be impossible for me to pick one friend, so I am going to pick an old friend who has mostly been in touch in virtual world and actual handwritten letters every now and then. Now, these letters, I have been promising replies to which till date have been broken! :(

So, this letter goes out to that friend, who actually is technically the hujhband's dost, but then jyo uska woh mera hai is my funda! ;)

Dearest Usha,

You could easily have been the person getting my next letter as well - the person you want to meet! :) Yes, we have never met and yet it never feels like that. The credit for that goes all out to you. You accepted me as a part of your life by mere virtue of being your friend's wife and then made me feel loved and special. Simple things like addressing your letters to both of us always made me smile.

Have I told you how MUCH I LOVE your letters? They are so conversational giving us a glimpse into your life and thoughts. You have always come across as someone wonderfully warm and genuine - an uncommon quality in today's day and world.

To see you with your two daughters (the little bit we get to see through the pictures) is heartwarming and so obviously full of love! :) I am sure you have realised by now that this whole parenting gig is fun and pain in all the wrong places at the same time! Hope you are enjoying making memories and cherishing this time. Of course do not ever feel guilty about the moments when it all seems like an idiotic idea, if you ever have them! I know I do and I have learned to live with it.

Then again this letter wasn't meant to be an advice column! I just wanted to tell you that I am lucky to know you and I do hope we meet someday real soon! :) Also, this is not to make up for the handwritten letter. That, I promise will be much longer.

Just to let you know, like any other letter, we are all doing great here. M is super busy with work, the kids are having fun at school and I keep myself busy with doing nothing in particular! :) Among the latest news is that we got a new OTG! Us, who could barely cook and gave away our OTG, firmly believing we would never ever use it. All thanks to Cub and his love of baking. It has been fun experimenting and most of them till date have worked ok. Knock on wood! :p

Alvi is a regular monster of child running towards turning 4 so fast and breaking M's heart on the way. She is very chaalu and taking poora advantage of her current cuteness. Cub is still the accha baccha though we keep having our challenges with him every now and then.

That be the latest update from this part of the world!

Much love and many hugs!

Abha

Day 6 - Letter 6 - The Stranger

Why the hell would I write a letter to a stranger would indeed be an apt question! But if the challenge demands it, you do it! :D

Dear Stranger,

I wonder who you are, the person I am writing letter to. How old are you? What do you do? Or do not do? Do you like reading? What kind of books? Or do you prefer movies? Nahi? Phir theatre and art? Are you an artist yourself? Do you paint? Do you write? Do you dance or sing or make your own music?


Are you happy? Do you dream? Do you believe in hope? And love? And all things beautiful? Do you crossover to the dark side every now and then? Do you finally then see the light at the end of the tunnel?


Have you had your first kiss? Do you love the wind in your hair? Do you laugh without reason or sometimes cry too because it feels right to? Do you love yourself? Do you love others? Do you crave perfection or know that there is perfection is every imperfection?


Do you believe in God? Are you religious? Are you ritualistic or just spiritual? Maybe you are an atheist?


Do you LOVE food? What kind? Do you like to experiment with your food? Will you travel miles just to taste good khaana?


Phew! That is a long list of questions for a stranger! I wonder why then we talk about boring things like work and weather? :)


Maybe when our paths cross stranger, we will have a real conversation.


Only thing is that then we won;t be strangers no more! :)

Cheers!

Abha

Day 5 - Letter 5 - Dreams

This one should be short and sweet! :)

Dear Dreams,

I wish I could claim to know you. When I was young, I told my father I have a dreamless sleep. He made me wiser by telling me that everyone dreams, but not everyone remembers them.

That is our relationship today as well. There are rare exceptions of course.

Sometimes I wonder will it be good to know you little more? Cross paths with you more often? But then again, I think some things are better left as is!

Till then.

Yours curiously,

Abha

Day 4 - Letter 4 - The Sibling

Dearest Brother,

You know my ahem! ode to you is already published in a book of all things! Yes! You can read it here if you wish!

You still are my ex-pain in all the wrong places and the joy and pride in my life! A self made guy, is there was ever one. You worked hard to get where you are today and I for one cannot be prouder!

Yes, you are a lazy ass as well, just like I am! Maybe, it just runs in our genes. When you cannot find anything else to blame, blame it on ze famille! ;)

You are a kind man and good soul. A nice person to be with and I hope you realize it soon. I LOVE seeing you with my kids and they absolutely ADORE you!

We so enjoyed our time spent with you at your home. You showed us a really good time and I must at some point, make time to thank you! ;) (I could do it right here, you say? Oh well!)

I, also so so enjoyed our quick trip to Vegas! Just two of us. Thoda dil to dil conversations, mostly masti and you pulled all stops! Fancy hotel, show with awesome seats and good khaana of course! ;)

This letter is all crazy disjointed! I just want to say I Love You and I will always have your back! That and you do deserve all the happiness in the world. Don't ever believe otherwise!

Much love

Abha

(since you refuse to call me Didi or even sister now!;)

Us being all growed up at Las Vegas! You never did buy me my first ciggie! :p

Didn't I say the kids ADORE him??!! :D

Day 3 - Letter 3 - The Parents

Dearest Mom and Dad,

Funnily enough or actually not oddly enough, I have never had a reason to write a letter to you! I mean I did live with you guys for most part of life! :) The first time I left home was after I got married and one realizes the challenges your parents must have faced most often only when one has had their own kids!

Don't get me wrong! I have always respected you guys, but lets just say having my bacchas just took it to another level! :D

I can now very well imagine Mom's chagrin to see us not finish our dabbas that she had painstakingly prepared in the morning or Dad getting upset at our arguments! :p

I have so much to be thankful for having you guys as my parents that I don't know where to start! :)

Thank you for a good life. A happy childhood filled with good things - holidays, restaurants, books and most importantly your time!

Thank you for making me independent and confident by telling me often how good I was at things I was good at without harping on too much about stuff I wasn't very good at. Like academics!

Thank you for being warm people who loved having people over. For making 'No TV when guests are at home" rule which I still follow at my home as well!

Thank you for introducing small pleasures in little ways making those simple things special. Like getting chai only on Sunday mornings with dose of Rangoli! :) Cub gets his coffee on weekends now!

Thank you for letting us have access to chocolates - one piece a day - making sure we never really were desperate for any ever!

Thank you for almost never telling me what to wear or whom to make friends with. Despite living in a conservative society, you guys were incredibly open minded and I can never be more glad about it!

Thank you for the most amazing birthday parties! Amazing home cooked food when Rasna and cake were the norm at most birthdays!

Thank you for teaching us the importance of quality over quantity. We bought clothes thrice a year, but they were reallly good clothes! :)

Thank you for not trying too hard to convince me that it was OK to wear Abhyankar chappals with jeans! :p

Thank you for encouraging me to go for all my school picnics and later outings with friends! My friends always found you very cool! :)

Thank you for taking my shaadi decision much better than I would have expected you to! :) It must not have been easy, but you were extremely gentle and balanced throughout! Rest they say is history! :)

Thank you for a beautiful wedding!

Thank you for also showing me what a good marriage is. It helped. Immensely!

Thank you for showing me 'Family First!'

Thank you for being kind and generous people who believe in goodness of people.

Actually, just thank you for a fabulously normal, yet different enough life! :) I find happiness comes to me easily and a large part of it has to do with how you guys brought me up!

Thank you for the roots and the wings. And the unconditional love. And an unending supply of support and hope.

I love you!

Abha

Day 2 - Letter 2 - The Crush

I haven’t had a real crush in a loooong time. Maybe a little lusting over Benedict Cumberbatch in recent past, but no one that made my heart skip a beat or made me go crazy!

So then, we must write the letter to our first and maybe only crush! :) You definitely KNOW who you are because I did tell you and we became real good friends after that and have been since.

Dear Crush,

The thing I fell for, when it came to you, was the eyes! The deep brown eyes so full of expressions of every sort. I think they still stay as amazing. Then there was your sense of humour and comic timing (now that I look back, I always had it for men who could make me laugh!) and the ease with which you made friends and made them feel special.

I was THE plain Jane amongst all the girls. I do not think you even noticed me to start with. I remember feeling that you were going to be the love of life. My one true desire that was going to be fulfilled. I also remember standing outside the neighbour’s house hoping to get a glimpse of you. Even if you did not see me, at least I got to saw you. Just walking past, going about your day.

I would sing ridiculous sappy love songs and sway to ‘Pehla Nasha’ actually dreaming of such moments. WE did become friends eventually, but I also saw that this would be a one way street! With all my romantic notions, I wasn’t ready for unrequited love. So one day, with much ‘emotional atyaachaar’ I told you that I really LOVED you and I also knew that there was no future in this pyaar. But I could not get past this feeling unless I told you about it! You were very sweet about it. I don’t remember what you said. Maybe nothing.

Surprisingly, I did get over you quick enough once I had told you. We also became good friends. You spoke to ME about your heartache one day. You have moved past your first love too as impossible as it seemed to you then. Life came to some sort of full circle then.

Today, we have been both blessed by excellent partners who love and cherish us.

I still think of you fondly, flirt with you when we meet and love embarrassing the hell out of you! You might be getting older, just the way I am too, but your eyes, my dear man, can still melt hearts and move mountains. Yes, they can! 

Thank you for being sweet about a naïve teenage girl’s first crush. We almost never speak just like that, but I know the moment we meet, it will be like we have been talking forever.

Let’s just say I could not have asked for a nicer first crush! Stay blessed!

Love

Abha