On a Power Trip

Schools have started and once again we got geared up to go through what we went through every year. 

The problem can be summed up in one word, Naina.

I can go back to April 2007 and start from when she first started school.

But I want to hold on to the few readers I have left.

So let’s just say that the first few months of a new school year has always been traumatic for Naina. 

She takes a lot of time adjusting to the new teachers and surroundings.

The past couple of years have been relatively easier because she’s made a few friends at school and goes to school to be with them. 

Even then she always has some issue, the last 2 yrs the boys in her class were the bane of her existence. They were rude, they were rough, they were mean, they were pulling her hair, they were jumping out of the window[that bit was fun she admits;-P]

This year it’s about wanting to be a monitor.

At the start of every year the class teacher chooses a few students to be monitors.

There is the class monitor who’s in charge of keeping the class quiet.

The discipline monitor who checks if the class comes in the correct uniform, cut their nails, etc.

The AC monitor[don’t ask] is in charge of keeping the temperature in the class moderate. The position is prized because she has the power[read remote] to make everybody's life miserable;-P

And the board monitor who’s in charge of updating/clearing the board before and after every period.

Everyday for the 1^st 2-3 weeks after the new school term started, Naina came back from school unhappy/ outraged/livid/ despondent/ upset that she never got chosen for any of these positions.

I totally get why  the teachers don’t select her because outwardly Naina looks very quiet, shy and diffident; they probably think she will not be upto it.

But we at home face the brunt of her unhappiness; some days we are subjected to a barrage of emotional outpouring after she comes back from school……about how the teachers are misguided by wrong information, about how the class monitors are nincompoops who have no clue how to go about their jobs and how if she was given the responsibility she would turn the world around.

To add to her woes, her sister is chosen as duty monitor for the school this year. Now here she is in a peculiar dilemma. On one hand she is proud her sister is patrolling the corridors of the school and on the other wary.

Yeah well Nikita was totally vocal about how she was going to pull Naina up if she stepped a milliinch out of line.

Seems like 2 days back Nikita instructed Naina & her friends to lock their fingers behind their backs while they walked back to class after recess.

“How are we supposed to that Mama????” demands Naina indignantly. “We’ve got our lunchboxes and water bottles in our hands”.

Now picture Nikita grinning at me in the background.

With sister also in important position Naina was getting very agitated and dejected in turns. Me telling her n number of times that her turn will come soon was like calling my building watchman in an emergency. Well, his phone is always switched off;-P.

Anyways Naina came back home from school last week in high spirits.

“I’ve been made board monitor” yells Naina as soon as she got off the school bus and came running to hug me dump her heavy school bag on me.

“That’s great news” I exclaim, mentally thanking the teacher who must have sensed my desperation somehow. “So what does a board monitor exactly do???”

“A board monitor writes down the day’s time-table on the board everyday. Then she is in charge of clearing the board and writing down the subject name before and after every period. Then she must…….and she also…..isn’t this the best news ever….I’m sooo happy……”

The news was then shared with the father, the grandparents and cousins in India and all her friends in the neighbourhood. All of us were very happy for her and there was much celebrating .

At night while packing her school bag for the next day she asked to take the markers & duster to school.

“Why do u need to take them from home??? It’s the school’s responsibility to provide them.”

“The school gives but I need to take them.”

“Why???”

Silence.

Why do u need to take them Naina???

Because…

Because????

The school markers are being used by somebody else.

Huh??? So go take it from her.

I cant.

Why not???

Because she won’t give it to me.

Tell your teacher then.

I can’t.

Why???

Because she’s the ‘real’ board monitor.

Silence.

Everybody from every corner of the house was intently listening to the conversation now.

Very cautiously I ask “But you told us you are the Board monitor???”

I am.

“Nainaaaaaa” I yell exasperatedly.

“I am, I am…I’m the assistant board monitor.” Naina glowers at me daring me to react.

Silence.

I vaguely heard sounds of muffled snickering in the background.

“REalllly I AM, I went up to  Maam and asked if I could help Snehal with the board monitoring and she said yes.” Naina defends herself.

Silence.

Did she really say yes Naina??? I ask wearily.

“Yes she did” says Naina huffily.  “Maam was very busy correcting our answer sheets and I went and asked her then. She didn’t say anything the 1^st two times and then when I asked her again she said okay. “

I knew this technique so well. This is exactly the same method she uses with me to get her way.

“Mama pleeeease, pleeeease let me take the markers with me." she pleads.

I gave up. 

Anyways it ended well. Despite my fears the class teacher didn’t go back on her words and according to Naina she’s a major hit with both her teachers and classmates with her neat handwriting(???) and attention-grabbing doodles on the sidelines of the whiteboard.

And I've been busy too, I’m out and about doing my own version of monitoring. Now that the temperatures have gone up I’m back at my favourite pastime and that is pressing the down arrow button on the AC control panels to a moderate temperature, in the corridors of my building. 

It’s very disappointing to see how people are so unconcerned about conserving energy. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority does a really good job of taking care of its residents. We don’t have power cuts or water shortage like other places, not even once a year. DEWA is also always handing out pamphlets and information about conserving energy. You know, they even have cash prizes for residents who consume the lowest electricity, lauding their efforts. 

But in spite of all these efforts, the general public[a large percentage] are very indifferent to the depleting resources and continue to use water and electricity lavishly without a care. It's not about the fact that you can afford to pay. Why don’t they understand that conserving energy not only saves money but also protects the environment.

A few things I do to conserve energy....

# Use energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights & turn off lights in all rooms that are not in use[but that doesn’t mean I’m fanatical like the better-half who switches off lights and appliances even if he is away for a nanosecond;-/].

# Keep the AC thermostat on ‘Auto’ instead of ‘ON’. Use pedestal fans to circulate air.

# Did u know there is something called phantom load concept??? It’s about unplugging devices when they are not being used. 

# Use the washing machine in the early hours of the day. And make sure they are fully loaded. I don’t use a dryer and prefer to dry my clothes in the sun.

# Try to cook more than one item if I’m using the oven.

# Use as much natural daylight as possible.

What else can you think of????

Nikita made this poster for a science activity in school last year. I wanted to take a picture of Nikita holding the poster[ before it went to school and never came back but guess who came running to pose when I called:-).

I'm feeling....

and
don't forget

ps: 

It's all under control

Won a gift voucher for books courtesy Gulf News and picked up 2 books from the Jashanmmal bookstore. The first one Tom Ang’s 'Digital Photographer’s Handbook' is a must read if you are a budding photographer. I’m so glad I picked it up because it’s written in very simple language and has photographs to illustrate every point made. What a life he must be leading I'm thinking….you know he’s practically visited every country in the world. And takes pictures for a living.

Just the kind of life I’m going to lead in my next life. And in that life my husband will be my wife and my kids will be my parents.

And I’m gonna give them hell….ohhhh yeaahhhh.

Sorry got sidetracked, the other book is Rachel Allen’s 'Cake' which you’ll love if you are a cake maniac like I am. Did you know Rachel Allen was here in Dubai for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature last month?? I so badly wanted to go watch her in action and get my book autographed at the same time but didn't because I feared she’d ask me how many cakes I baked from the book. I could see myself shrinking in shame because I hadn't made a single one.

Well technically speaking it’s not my fault I didn't make anything from the book because every recipe in there contained eggs and here we were observing Lent.

Yep, no meat, fish or eggs for 50 DAYS.

I knowww….whatever were we thinking???

Those 50 days felt like 50 weeks to me. I freaked trying to dream up different vegetarian dishes every day. I won’t mention the deep sighs & pathetic looks I got each time I served a meal. Not to mention the temptation….a neighbour came over with a huge bowl of fish biriyani one day and my heart broke into two as I sent her away. We also went for one of those horse shows and stoically ate vegetable samosas and pita bread with hummus while the others gorged on chicken pot pies, bacon wrapped shrimps and…and…I can't bear to say more. There are more such sad stories but I’ll leave it to your imagination.

To cut the story short, we survived the 50 days of Lent & it went better than expected. Looking back now we are happy we made it through and quite satisfied about the whole thing. Self-control is not easy. We may have cribbed a bit but didn't knowingly do anything to break it. Again and again it comes back to me that almost anything is possible if we put our minds to it. Lao Tzu the Chinese philosopher says “He who controls others may be powerful but he who mastered himself is mightier still”. 

I wouldn't have found the quote so meaningful if I hadn't been observing the Lent;-P.

Rachel Allen’s book in the meantime is sitting on the book shelf and staring accusingly at me;-(.

In other news, I was roped into playing teacher for a week during the holidays again; the Vacation Bible School at church, remember. I gave in without a murmur this year and managed to have a good time too. I had around 15 kids in my class and succeeded in keep them occupied for a few hours everyday. At the end of 7 days I gave them a bookmark each which I painstakingly made for them and threatened them with dire consequences if they lost it.

I've also acquired a new position…meet the Manager of the father-in-law’s facebook account. FIL had no clue how to go about on FB and asked for help. The doootiful DIL that I am found it difficult to say no. I’m now posting pictures and updating statuses on a weekly basis and quite enjoying it. FIL is very pleased with all the attention his page is getting and I feel like a master puppeteer controlling the strings of something which is not mine. Never mind my own FB account is lying unattended & gathering dust somewhere.

So that’s all in the news from the RBC* today. You have a good day too.

Wait….just remembered some more…..you know I usually cut across a park to go to the local grocery and one time when I was coming back from the grocery[back through the park] I saw a worker planting tiny shoots into the ground. He made the mistake of looking up to see who was passing by and out shot my hand expectantly. And alternatively showed him one finger [the index finger you dirty minds] signaling  ‘just one piece of the plant please’. He gave me one, then two, then three and four and went to pick the fifth out and I mimed “enough enough, thank you, thank you, beaming happily at him. All those elaborate gestures because he didn't know English and I didn't understand Tagalog. We both went our way feeling very pleased with ourselves:-).

Nice flowers????

*Reflections Broadcasting Corporation

Happy Easter

Wishing all of you an 'eggs'tra special Easter filled with
Love, Hope and Happiness. 

Sorry to be MIA, these hols have been really busy. Thank goodness school starts next week, will write a newsy post then. 

Naina made the above picture to wish us. She makes these cute pictures to mark every special occasion. I've posted a few of them below to show you:-).

Good Friday

My Family

She makes them in Paint btw. I never knew Paint was this good before this;-P

Best wishes again and take care,
Nancy

Kid Stuff

Last day of exams today.

Phewww.

At least I can stop feeling guilty about not doing anything about it.

Seriously.

I know I come across like an anxious, hassled mom very worried about her kids' exams. But the  opposite is true. And the guilt kills me. The blog ofcourse ends up getting the brunt of it.

The sad fact is that I leave them to their devices most of the time. I only bug them for Hindi, they do everything else by themselves. If they say they got 75% I give them a 'look' and mildly say they could have done better. But inwardly I'm totally satisfied because they did it all on their own. Now the guilt.....there's no escaping it. Round and round my mind will go...if they got 75% without me teaching them anything then imagine if I decided to help them.....

Take for example these exams.

FINAL EXAMS.

There is nothing in the atmosphere to suggest that Final Exams are going on.

They still go out to to play everyday.

They still read books.

They are arguing & trying to score over eachother more than ever.

Nikita is still found working with clay everyday, added to which she has started quilling now.

You think this is bad???

Wait there’s more….

On the very first day of exam Nikita came back with details for a "Children’s Rights“ poster contest which had to be submitted the next day and she simply 'had to’ take part in it. So instead of studying for her computer exam the next day she spent the day working on this poster. Clueless mother that I am, un/willingly helped her.

Then a day before her Science exam she spent all her time making a clay model for Howard Jones.

Who????

[Flashback]

‘Howard Jones is coming to our school to record for ‘Voices around the Worldl’ was a line heard countless times around the house in the past month. And for that project Nikita and her school friends were putting in lots of extra time at school practicing their song. We were initially reluctant as it fell smack in the middle of the exams but ultimately gave in to Nikita’s desperate pleas.

My mistake here was to google the man and event to see what the big deal was. And like an idiot pointed out that Howard Jones birthday fell so close to their meeting him. That’s it, Nikita immediately wanted to make something for him and instead of studying for her Science FINAL exam the next day she spent all afternoon shaping clay.

[Ignore this part for it doesn't gel with the tone of the rest of the post]

Very pleased with her efforts Nikita was in the highest of spirits. Just before leaving for school I told her gently not to get so excited. I hated doing that to her but I didn't want her getting disappointed if things didn’t go the way she visualized it. Anyways to cut the story short, everything went off well…. Mr. Howard Jones was very touched to receive his present….he shook hands with her[seems like he didn’t shake hands with anybody else*shock*] and took a picture alone with her [it seems he didn't take a picture alone with anybody else*shock shock shock;-P*] and don’t ask what else. She was over the moon. I sent a silent thanks across to Mr. Howard Jones for transforming my child’s day.

[back to ranting]

Can you blame me for going crazy????

All around me I can see parents busy quizzing their kids and helping them with their revisions for the exams. I too have the same intentions but somehow never get it right.

The one and only time I sat down to help them I ended up giving them lines.

Naina was not the only one.

Nikita had to write ‘I must not make Naina wail’ a 100 times.

It was either this or sic them out of the house. Nowadays even that is not an option….there’s a whole army of kids lying in wait outside my door just for these two to finish exams.

Speaking of which, you know none of the kids in the neighborhood like me.

They think my kids have a sad life.

And worse, they all blame me for corrupting their mothers. Seems like, all their mothers now make them study first and clean up their rooms before they let them out to play. Now what did I doooo????

Good...good...all good at my end

I've been lying low…

…because of exams.

FINAL EXAMS.

But that doesn't mean I don’t have news to share.

Lots of news actually.

Now that’s funny isn't it, because I sit at home the whole day and look forward to the return of the better-half from work because I’m eager to know whats going on outside my well.

What well????

You know…frog….. in the well……yup, that kind of well. 

So as soon as he comes back, I ask brightly “How was work??”

I get a world-weary look for my efforts.

‘That bad’ I sympathize.

‘Good.’ comes a mumbled response.

I try another track.

‘You are late???’ I gently insert into the silence.

No answer.

‘Traffic???’ I probe further.

No answer.

‘TRAFFIC’ I’m now determined to get a response.

‘No’

I give up and march back to the….to the comfort zone I was in before he came.

His head and world weary tiredness miraculously clears[I’m assuming it cleared because he hastily follows me into the kitchen]

Now the shoe is on the other foot.

I'm attacking a pan with a scrub and detergent.

“My day was good….

....good…..

......goooood....

.....and no traffic” The better-half offers expansively hoping not to sound like he is trying to get into my good books.

The silence is thick.

‘How was your day???’ He asks tentatively.

I look sharply at him trying to gauge his sincerity.

He looks adequately penitent and is very interested in my answer.

I decide to forgive him.

I then launch into the details of the interesting day I had.

Now this is precisely what I don’t understand….how is it possible that I who stay at home, have so much to say but the better-half who goes out into the world, meets so many people, has nothing much to relate at the end of the day.

Good, good, goood my aaaa…….erm my kidneys.

Anyways had started this post with all the stuff I wanted to share but got side-tracked.

The originally intended post coming soon as it's ready.

I soooo like to act like all of you are waiting with bated breath for my posts.

Do spare a thought for me when you pray, I need all the help I can get for the Hindi exam.

The kids....oh they are good.....gooood....so good that it doesn't at all seem like they are in the midst of their FINAL exams.

I'll stop here before I lose it completely.

Click

There was a photography contest in the newspaper encouraging us to shoot a picture reflecting our life in the UAE to win daily and bumper prizes. They specifically mentioned that it didn’t matter what camera we used as they were more interested in the subject than the quality of the pictures.

I carefully selected a picture from my album and sent it to them. And visited the site every day hoping my picture would be in the daily winners list.

But no such luck for me.

When I went through the pictures of other participants I noticed there were many who posted multiple entries when the site specifically mentioned only one picture per person. I shot off a mail to the concerned to ask if it was allowed. I got a nice reply back saying that it was ok in the preliminaries but if one’s picture got selected for the main prize then all these details mattered.

Since I was very sure my pictures would never make it to the final selection I confidently sent one more picture and watched the site anxiously to see if this picture would win. Maybe not the main prize but I felt my picture was good enough to be in the daily winners list. You ofcourse know which picture that was…

When the daily winners were announced at the site this picture too did not get selected.

And that was that.

Very dejected I scrolled through the earlier daily winners to check out all their pictures.

And then I see a very familiar picture, the first click I sent, nominated as a daily winner almost 3 days earlier.

I was heppy, happy, haaapyhaaapy and showed it off to everybody who made the mistake of asking why I was looking so pleased with myself;-D

I don’t know how I missed seeing it earlier…..all that disappointment for nothing;-P.

My prize was a 5 hour photography workshop at the International Institute of Art and Photography in Knowledge Village.

I registered for the workshop and chose to attend their ‘Basics of Photography’ session. The workshop was very helpful because until that day not much thought had gone into the pictures I took. I used to just ‘focus and click’ anything what caught my fancy. With the knowledge I gained from the workshop I now ‘compose’ the pictures in my mind before pressing the button.

Well I try anyway;-).

Now all this happened in December but for some reason I was reluctant to post the picture here even though I made a lot of noise about it in every post;-P. Honestly, everytime I decided to write about it I ended up writing something else and convinced myself that, that was more relevant and needed to be posted immediately. And everytime you asked about the prize-winning picture I was feeling sillier than ever because heart of hearts I felt it’s just a normal picture which was lucky to get selected.

And then somebody I know very cunningly insinuated that if I don’t post it, all of you will surely be thinking that I was talking in the air and there was no such prize-winning photograph after all.

What nonsense*N shaking her fist at the suspicious*.

Ofcourse there is one.

Please go here to check it out and while you are there, do check out the other winners too, some pictures are so beautiful.

http://www.shoot-at-sight.com/shootatsight/Daily.aspx

Then click on link 14[sorry there is no direct link to get there] to get to my picture.

But if you don’t want to go there, then here’s the picture….

A few of us had taken our kids to the Ras Al Khor Bird Sanctuary last November to see the flamingos’ which the reserve was famous for but found it closed to the public because it was a Friday. Since the weather was pleasant we stayed there for sometime. The adults[especially me] spent time craning our  heads over the wired mesh to look at the flamingos’ while the kids collected shells [I think the authorities must have brought sand from the sea-side and laid it there…how else could seashells be found right in the heart of the city]. The little boy in the picture is Neil who was running about here and there hoping to get better shells than his cousins who were at that time hunting for them on the other side.

My new DSLR has instilled in me new enthusiasm & I’m raring to go. 

Hopefully in a decade or two I’ll master the complex buttons on the gadget and post some nice pictures like Sakshi and Hitchwriter do.

p.s: If you are wondering about the flamingos’ I mentioned earlier, I've put up some pictures here.

Celebrating Love

Naina gave me this card early this morning.

I loved it.

We hugged & kissed and stared gooey-eyed at eachother.

Nikita watched the lovey-dovey interaction between us with a mixed expressions.

She is….

#mad at herself for not making something for me

#wondering how to spoil the tender moment we were sharing
#how to take credit for the whole thing

Since I knew exactly how Nikita’s mind worked I gave her a warning glance. Correctly interpreting it  she contented herself by critically examining the card and interrogating why Mama’s colouring was 15 shades darker than Naina’s. And poked fun at the mis-spelt Valentine.

Better-half also got a card from Naina.

It shows him…

#curly-haired which is not true.
# teaching her how to do maths which is not a common sight
# bare-chested and full of details

I have tactfully covered him up to save him any embarrassment. Seriously he’s sooo lucky to have me in his life.

And Nikita got this…

#She was touched beyond words.

#And how did I come to the conclusion???

#She didn't say a single word for a WHOLE minute.

I know and agree we don’t really need special days to tell our loved ones how much we love them. But then again I think any excuse to celebrate love is a perfectly valid one:-)).

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAYJ!!!!

Food for the Soul

Last Friday, we were invited to a Show Jumping competition at the Emirates Equestrian Center, Bab Al Shams. So after church we rushed back home to get dressed to leave for the event. We had less than an hour to meet our friends. 

As the others got ready I quickly made lunch. I made stir-fry and fried fish and then on the spot decided to make some curry too to eat with rice. We rushed through lunch and made it 10 minutes late to the appointed spot where we met our friends who were patiently waiting for us. We profusely apologized for the delay and guiltily patted our stomachs to show why we were late.

Our friends had a late breakfast and hadn't bothered with lunch.

We looked at them with respect.

We couldn't ever think of missing a meal. The mere thought of it brings on horrible headaches, temper tantrums and funny feelings in the stomach.

It took us an hour to reach our destination; our friends’ children were making hungry noises towards the end of our journey.

I mentally patted myself for feeding the family before leaving.

The first thing which caught our eyes when we reached our VIP enclosure was the grand spread. Two huge tables alongside the wall were laden with food. Delicious, scrumptious, mouth-watering, lip-smacking FOOOOD.

I slumped down into my VIP chair in shock.

I refused to be consoled for the next 10 minutes.

It was such a mean trick. A low blow I tell you.

You don’t believe me????

Here’s a picture of the salads…

Still wondering what the fuss is all about????

Okay here’s another of the desserts…

Tears stung my eyes especially when I saw the desserts.

I couldn't bear the painful sight of everybody cheerfully serving themselves and so took myself off from there to take pictures of the pretty looking horses with my new DSLR.

The camera was a good one.

It completely sensed my mood.

Almost all of the pictures turned out blurred, just like my vision.

What a lousy weekend, I thought despondently.

You guys are a suspicious lot, I am forced to add here;-S....

Yes it is possible to take bad pictures with a DSLR.

It’s simple really, all you have to do is not read the manual which comes along with the camera.

And never and I mean NEVER listen to the sensible advice your better-half tries to give you.

Tadaaaa…you got your picture in your hand.

Here’s a perfect example…..

And posted below is a picture of the VIP enclosure. 

Who are those people sitting on the sidelines???

The ones who didn't have VIP passes ofcourse.

Can you see them eating??? They had to buy their grub from the restaurant which is not there in the picture. Imagine that???

Feeling more upbeat now I went back to my VIP pavilion. I was ready to sample atleast some of the sumptuous desserts if not all.

I stared at the desserts table in shock.

It was empty.

It was tea-time.

Dainty finger sandwiches and elegant nibbles were rapidly filling up the same spots where the golden pies and tarts and delicious mango mousse once peacefully co-existed side by side.

I could feel myself reeling a little.

I vaguely wondered anybody would mind if I bawled my heart out. After all, crying once in a while was good for the soul.

I should have just sat at home and read a recipe-book or something.

What a terrible, horrible, lousy, LOUSY day, I thought desolately.

A waiter passing by looked at me enquiringly.

Abandoning all sense of shame I shakily pointed to the empty space where the dish I coveted at first glance was resting just a few hours earlier.

He looked blankly at me.

I schooled my voice to utter one word.

Rasmalai????

He turned and went away.

Within half a minute he was back with the huge bowl of Rasmalai.

Stop nit-picking all of you…..it may look small in the picture but it looked HUGE to me.

How many Madam?? The thoughtful server asked me kindly.

The knight who saved my day

“One please” I said politely, aware of my surroundings again.

Have some more, he urged.

Just one, I smiled thanking him.

I was eating rasmalai after many, many years.

Savoured every mouthful and went back home happy.

It turned out to be a GOOD weekend after all.

Rule of Symbolism

I’m a great believer in symbolism.

When I see 2 flowers coyly brushing against each other in a movie I nod understandingly because I know the flowers represent the reel-life couple who are supposedly ‘doing it’.

If I’m driving and I see a multi-coloured ball rolling innocuously across the road, I’ll stand on my brakes & screech to a halt to avoid hitting the child, who I know will be dashing after the ball nano-seconds later.

The same way I firmly believe that whatever happens on Jan 1^st sets a precedent for the rest of the year. 

What do you mean you don’t see the connection between the 3 instances I mentioned above???

May I remind you are reading the blog of an ordinary, overworked, underpaid[what pay???], harassed homemaker and not one of Einstein’s theories?

Jan 1^st did not at all go the way I envisioned it.

We got up in the morning at………

Nope, not going to tell you the time.

Let's just leave it at...we had a LATE breakfast

The kids who were instructed to do some ‘symbolic’ studying vanished right after breakfast to play hang out with their friends.

Better-half also disappeared with a friend half-way thru.

Leaving me all alone contemplate where it all started to go wrong. 

Lunch when it finally happened was at 4pm.

Now take a wild guess how I felt when I found myself still in the kitchen at 6pm on New Years Day clearing away lunch while the family and friends were in the living room, heatedly discussing a highly improbable takeover of Kingfisher Airlines by Etihad Airways.

I was soooo tired and raging inwardly.

And knew there was no hope for me for the next 365 days.

2013 was going to be screwed, I just knew it.

I know you are wondering what you could possibly comment without hurting my feelings, without letting me know how big a non-issue you find the whole issue.

And me, I just hate myself when I put my favourite people in such sticky situations.

So  just for you I’ll try to recall if there was anything positive about the whole day.

…..

…..

How about this….

On Jan 1^st I ate some sinfully rich & scrumptious birthday cake. 

We had sizzlers for dinner.

Yes I've already realized I’ll be eating my way thru 2013:-S

My birthday was good though.

I don’t want to bore you with all the details. So will just give you the jist of it.

Better-half fixed an English breakfast for us.

A LATE English breakfast[CAPS helpfully added so that you don’t miss the symbolism].

The ONLY day in the whole year he makes a meal. 

I played patriotic songs on the laptop while I waited to be served.

I would rather have watched the Republic Day parade but we don't have Doordarshan.

It was GOOD.

The breakfast I mean. 

A meal fit for a Queen & her entourage.

We didn't behave like Royalty though.

We stuffed ourselves so much it was not funny.

Half an hour later when I loudly deliberated over the lunch menu; the family clamped their hands over their ears & made gagging sounds.

I mentally rubbed my hands in glee.

Because it meant I was free for the rest of the day.

Then in the evening in a surprise move they took me out and I got a DSLR for a birthday gift.

A Nikon D5200.

Now that was a wonderful surprise;-D.

I thought they were going to get me this gorgeous stooopid bag I was staring at earlier in the month.

In short a SUPER birthday.

Which brings me back to my rock-steady belief in symbolism.

After much delibration, I've decided to take the whole month into consideration[one day is too less to judge a whole year right] and have come to the conclusion that it is going to be a year of highs and lows.

It seems like the first half of every month I’ll be in the depths of despair and the next 15 days will see me as high as a kite.

Will keep you in the loop ofcourse, whether you like it or not, goes without saying.

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p.s: If my post didn’t make you laugh then read this one…it's DI's tutorial on how to get a free postcard from Dubai. 

p.p.s: And if you want to laugh some more then read this New Year post I wrote 2 years back. I'm determined that you laugh atleast once before you leave here.

p.p.p.s: I’ll post the much-hyped photograph in my next post. I wanted to post it today but somehow found myself typing this out.

Rule of Symbolism: It's considered deep and profound for some, dumb & pretentious for others.