Welcome To The US !!

I got married to a guy who lived and worked in the US....After marriage he came bak and left me in India to get a visa....I got my visa 2 months after our marriage.....And I flew to the US.....:)

Air India troubled me in all possible ways....and after tat I (almost) missed my flight from Chicago to Austin....thank God to the "Technical Problems".....the flight got delayed by 5 minutes and I could make it.....So basically after almost 26 hours of no sleep and bad food....and very less water.....i finally reched Austin !!!

I got a welcome similar to any Local Minister in India flying frm Bombay to Pune......There were flowers and a lot of people to welcome me.....I was feeling like a celebrity and was really happy to finally be with my Hubby....and ofcourse damn tired.....wanted to go home and sleep.....and ya eat.....My sis also lives in Austin....So they had a small get-t0-gether at their place to welcome me....we were supposed to stop at her place for sometime before heading home.....

My Jijaji and Jiji came to pick me....Gautam and I were sitting in the bak seat and we started driving towards my sis's place.....I was tired and was asking this every five mins....."How long will it take??".....after 26 hours in moving things.....u wud definately hate the 20 25 mins drive.....

Suddenly, in the middle of the road....a person abt 6 feet tall appeared and stopped the car.....and than came 3 more....in all 4 tall guys with loud voices and caps covering most of their faces were banging on the car windows.....they started threatening and asking for all the money, Cell Phones and Wallets......I was damn scared and confused.....always had an impression tat US is better than India.......road side Loot-Maar is not tat common.....my sis, bro-in-law and hubby gave their wallets to the tall guy.....I didnt know what to think.....i was really zoned out and feeling extremely bad.....all three started saying things like.....it has never happened in austin before....and they all were really tensed.....tat made me feel worst.....didnt wanna go to my sis's place....but every1 started insisting on lets juss stop by for 15 mins.....as soon as we entered.....there was a girl standing with Aarti Thali.....there were abt 15 ppl.....and than comes a Pretty girl with a Thali which was covered with a napkin....and she tells me "We always gift this to any1 who comes to the US for the very first time".....I took the thali and underneath the napkin were all our Wallets, money and Cell phones....well....this is how my "Wud Be" Family greeted me for the very first time.... :) .... "Welcome to the US !! "

Love....Love....Love....!!

Have you ever had a crush on some1??
Have you felt like crying every time this some1 doesnt call or ignores you or just isnt there......?? Have you had the feeling that ur heart is going to burst out and you will always be sad??

Well, I have had all those feelings....when all u can think of is this one person....who doesnt care much.....this has happened to me twice....and I was so sad and disappointed.....i use to feel I am a big loser and I will end up being alone and misreable forever......:(

It's great to love some1....I think juss the idea tat u love some1 is great.....But it's not tat great when the other person doesnt have the same feelings....or mayb they have the same feelings but dont wanna show them....watever it is.....I have realised one thing.....these crushes or so called Love....it makes u lose ur identity.....u cant think straight...it makes u forget all the beautiful things in life....makes u forget all the things u love to do and really want to do.....there is juss one thing......and it is the center of ur universe which is pulling u down.....u go in circles like a tornado....the worst part is.....u know how to end all this and get out of it....but u simply dont do it.....Love is over rated.....Its something every1 is capable of.....every1 has....but still made out to be.....oh...only ppl lucky enuf get love in life......paaaaleeaaaaase.....

Than one fine day.....u meet some1.....this some1 is great.....he/she is this simple down to earth person.....they dont even realise their own grace and impact on others.....:).....u meet them....and suddenly u remember all the things u love in the world.....for me.....it was Pottery, sky-diving, bungee jumping, horror movies.....;).....u juss feel like doing things u always wanted to....and guess wat....this person is always All-In for all the craziness.....and u will be surprised by the compatibility.....or lets juss say...."The Ease"...:)....u can be urself with this person.....oh....sure u can dig ur nose and fart alound....:)

This person makes u feel alive....takes u places....and the best part is....this is Love wothout the heart crunching with pain....no tears and no tornados.....this is more abt the actual things.....like.....living together.....settling ur differences....crying and shouting at times....doing crazy things together.....not worrying abt how u look....mostly concentrating on how u feel.....its juss great.....

I beliv in Destiny.....I have always believed in Destiny....There is a rite time for everything to happen....Patience is the key.....:)

Giving Back !!

First of all, I am finally here....I did it....my very first blog ever....always wanted to write something and share it with every1...had all the stories and all the talent (well...i can write in english;) needed....didnt had the inspiration....finally got it....:).....i did something amazing....tat I am so proud of and really wanted to share it with all....

Gautam (my husband) had an offsite last wednesday and his group was going to do some community work....I had nothing important to do so I decided to tag along....

Wednesday was the most windy day of the season....when we started out at 7:00 in the morning I thought the wind is going to blow us away....but fortunately we made it to Georgetown (a place near Austin)....we were among the first few who were on time and were shivering in the early morning wind and cold.....:)

The project is part of 'Habitat for Humanity's effort to provide housing to the lower income group of our society. People receiving these houses are required to perform from 300-500 hours of volunteer work called the sweat equity and they purchase the house with a loan from the Habitat for Humanity group and the mortgage is for 20-30 years with 0% interest. We were to volunteer at one of these construction sites with 5-6 homes being built.

Now comes the most amazing part of the project. The management team. It was a bunch of oldies (all retired). Bob was the leader of the group. He assigned work and divided us in groups to do the work assigned under our leader. The work varied from Dry walling, electric work, to painting the houses. As its a very common observation with these guys, I was assigned the painting job as girls love to paint. Our leader was Shirley and Bill. As we got to work we also started talking. Sirley is retired and doing this volunteer work for almost 3-4 years. She told me that when she was young she always wanted to give back to the society. She had a good life and she wanted to help others achieve the same. And that was not just her. All these cute old guys Bill, Bob, shirley and others were all so excited about building these houses and giving the underpriviledged the satisfaction of owning a home....it was just amazing. I was so pround of myself. I am so happy I was a part of their great work atleast for a day.

It gave me new inspiration. Taught me how to be selfless and do something for others. These dedicated old people, who are supposed to be burdening the new generation were actually helping the new, young generation to achieve their dreams. These guys have shown me the satisfaction of selfless work. Their glowing smiles and satisfied look at the end of a hard day's work lifts u up. One cant help but be thankful to god for such wonderful people who are willing to take responsibilities and make it a better world for everyone. Thats the way these guys are "Giving Back".