Shillong Diary

I realize that this FB note thing is going to kill my blog very soon.This was out of context and right out of the thought cells to the Blog board, no processing in between !!

I seem to have reached Shillong for a few days after starting my journey towards it almost four months back. Well I did not walk ! 

So my day one went some where I do not know, so did day two. 

On day three I decided to explore this Scotland of the East ! With almost freezing temperature for me, I started my rendezvous on foot. It is great to walk around when roads are narrow and they seemed to be meant mainly for pedestrians like me. The first thing that struck me was every woman wear an absolutely matching sweater, mind you matching. They are not out of symmetry and they look so blended in the dress, at times I really had to stare to understand if it is a sweater or not ! Yes it was, every time. The Jinshin seems to be an almost super comfortable dress. For us the Salwar Kurta (without dupatta) wearing mortals, there is a brilliant way to wear the Dupatta I never even imagined could exist !

Than comes the Monday shocker, it seems everything is expensive on a Monday! Why?? The natives here do not work on Sunday hence no procurement and no supply; in turn Expensive Monday! Well, I plan to try and see if Saturdays are cheapest. So what do they do on Sundays? The Christians go to Church and socialize, the others, no clue! I sleep or escape some where!

I always knew life would be good for souls like me in this part of the country. Where else could I have been able to walk in to a "Hotel" (which is actually a eating joint) and share a table with two more strangers and have my full meal lunch all by myself. And without attracting any attention at all. Trust me no where in this country! I walk about the streets, climb into a shared Taxi to reach the Town Center, all by myself and no one as much raised an eye! I wander about the whole busy place where one needs to push through the stream of crowd to move forward, and bingo,I did not get angry one ounce due to any leach around! Heaven in real sense it is.

I knew that people here, in general, speak English as if they learn this language along side their mother tongue! Well I did not know the same was applicable to the maid,the road side 'Kongs' and almost everyone. If you do not know Khashi, you must know English! You must also know how to wear high hill shoes or super flat ones and walk with fast baby steps. 

It is pich dark at 4:30 in the evening and by 7 everything on the road is closed. People sleep by 8:30 in the evening. So for nocturnal like us.....no idea. Of course there are nigh clubs and all, I am yet to reach there. I am yet to form my group of people like my earlier places, I am yet to socialize!!!

By end of my rendezvous, I realize, I never became a Delhiyet or a Mumbaiker or a Bangalorian or a Hyderabadi! So I may not become a Shillongia either! This crisis of mine shall remain !!!

Your vs Mine + Seasons

Well...if you read my my blog... sorry for being away for a long time. I was kind of busy and 2010had a lot of "once in life time" events for me.
And today, I have two things in my mind..as suggested in the title.

First..the your vs mine.
I have been married and most of my contemporaries are married by now. Being an HR I have a bundle of women I come across. What I have learned ( including my own experiences)is that the in law saga is a parmanent fixure of any woman's life.. good or bad. So where does it start? I do not think any woman by intension decides to be the evil one at the begining. And believe me if you leave both the women togather there will be no qualmns. I have been very blessed as long as my husband does not factor in to my relationship. But elas.. in this case the whole in law factor itself will be missing. What I see around is the real conflict is when it one starts at " My son and Your husband" and the other one starts at " My Husband and Your Son"...so the poor husband...may god bless him for the happiness of the two woman who loves him so much!

Than the issue of seasons... When I got Married..it felt like a season of weddings! So many people were getting married. Now seems to be the season of babies! So many friends of mine are already blessed with one or on the way! This observation has been developed since my child hood. How? When I passed all my friends passed school and than graduation. Ha ha ha... When I was in my teens.. so all my friends were!!! I miss you guys!!

Papa !!!

All of a sudden, without any hint my Father In Law left this world to be where I do not know...it came as a super shock..and as I am bad at reacting to such situation, I am still pondering what to do.
On 29th July 2010, Papa passed away. He cooked that day and was doing his daily things till 5:35PM and 5:55PM he was no more. Well this is not about his last moment..this is about me and him.

He was a man of utmost tollerence, I am still surprised how! He spoke bare minimum..and with me he used to speak things that sometimes I feel he did not do with any one else! If any one asks me what am I going to miss most...well..among lot other things..Calling him after lunch and speaking all that comes to my mind and he quitely listning and commenting some times...and those comments were worth recording! And ofcourse cooking for him! He seemed to have love prawns and mustered curries and assamese Payax. Such a foodie he was..Sometimes I felt may be he liked everything I used to cook! I remember one funny a supper kiddo cute incident that happened, My mom in law made some daal and it had no salt or very high salt, he ate his meal quitely and sattled. When my mom in law ate and complained about salt and asked papa about it, he said "if I tell you than you will eat better food, and I ate bad food".. that was my papa!

Can I Go Back

Its many years! At least for me it’s many. Do I look back? Yes I do.. like you all do. It’s been days I have not updated on me. Why? No freaking clue. I do not know it myself how do I tell you?
So what have I been doing? Nothing much, a daily routine of 7:00 in the morning till 7:00 at night. No cooking; hold on some cooking and no life. I donno why I feel it so much! The days when I had no money I used to think once I earn “enough” money I will do this and that. And now with that “enough money” I want to retire!!! Crazy!!!
I had a small two bedroom shared apartment, with a maid who used to charge Rs400/- for everything in the house and between me and my room mate it was 200 each! Wow! And I am talking about Noida and the fact that we were any time ready to get rid of her for a cheaper one. Now I think, lets pay some more but get a better one. What a one eighty degree turn in approach. Now my monthly bill is almost twice my first salary!!! What a growth. But which direction? Some direction for sure!
I have also grown double my size! It seems I am eating up all that I am earning.. scratch scratch!! That’s another big regret. Yes it is regret. Though I try and tell myself (and others) hundred different reasons, I know I have lost it. From a figure where I knew people gave me second look even in my everyday office wears; to a barrel. What a growth! It’s like an exponential business growth! But hey, market was not growing in past couple of years, then why am I? Husband effect? Could be! He promised just after our wedding he would make sure I am comparable to him. So here I am. I have reached, so can I go back now?

Independence and I

I keep getting these inputs from various sources.... like different types of media. It's about celebrities ! Yah .. all the celebrities. The news read something like this... so and so changed the hair stylist / make up artist / dress designer / cook... etc etc. Now if one has one person dedicated to one aspect of daily life like dressing and eating, how we call them independent or self sufficient. I did not live a life of celebrity neither I think I ever will. But I try to understand what life would be if I have to consult some one else what am I going to wear for a friend's wedding! Mad.... I will surely go mad.
On the contrary I try to look at the power moms around me. You have 2 toddlers, in laws live with you, you have a success full and demanding job ( a boss comes complimentary with it) , the ever changing maid and to top it up you have your husband. Let's give the rest of the relations a little rest. Now this is what I call real power woman. Trust me this is not at all easy to handle all these five things together at the same time. Honestly, I doubt one even gets the time to consult about anything at such a situation.
Now how do I define independence. As in my case what it is? The capacity to take all my decisions my self which are solely dependent of all other factors ?????? ha ha ha..... Or the ability to spend whatever and whenever I want, for all these people around me???? Or what? Isn't it a little confusing? It surely is for me. I really am trying to understand the independence and the I factor. Sometimes I feel there is nothing called independence..... everything depends on something.....and every one depends on some one....