Have some Faith...

I was watching a random movie on LMN (Lifetime Movie Network). I know I know…How random can I be? But I like watching movies on LMN, all the movie actors have no talent whatsoever. The story is never new or exciting. But then these are the only movies I can stop watching anytime I want…otherwise I am bad at leaving a movie unwatched…;)

Anyways that’s not the point of discussion. How can I watch LMN? The point is I was watching a random movie in which a boy loves girl. The father of the Girl is a priest and the Girl is a believer…so she is not allowed to date. So, the boy decides to ask the Priest if he can take the Girl out on a Date. The conversation is what got me thinking. The boy goes to the church where the Priest is busy writing some notes for his next sermon. He sees the boy and is all annoyed, the conversation follows:

Priest: What are you doing here?
Boy: Sir, I wanted to ask for your permission to take your Daughter out for Dinner on Saturday.
Priest: That’s not possible…
Boy: But Sir…
Priest: You heard me…now Get out of here…
Boy: Sir, with all due respect, you preach us to have Faith all the time and I am asking you to do the same…

I thot this was really amazing. Very few people can follow what they preach. And fewer come close to even really understanding what they preach. Anyways…I thot this was really interesting….Of course the Boy gets the Date with the Girl…:)

Faith…It is very interesting…Everyone wants Faith and everyone struggles with it. I want to have Faith in people but I also want everyone to prove it to me that I can trust them. It is really hard to just have faith and believe that amazingly good things happen…

Gautam and I were vacationing in Madrid. Our very first day on a Surprise trip that Gautam planned for my Birthday. We were running late for a Flamenco Show that nite…So, we got ready and we were frantically looking for a Taxi…finally we found one that was a few blocks away from our Hotel. We took the taxi to the Show and while driving Gautam took out a Map to help the Taxi Driver with directions. We barely made it to the show on time. Gautam was paying for the tickets when I asked him to give me his iPhone so that I could click some pictures…he checked his pocket and guess what…he didn’t have his phone…:(

We were so frantic…we started looking for it everywhere…we thot he must have left it in the Hotel room…but then we both remembered that he said something like: "I don’t want to go out without my Phone"…so we were sure he did carry it. We walked back to where the Taxi Driver had dropped us…it was about one block away…it was a one way street so the Taxi couldn’t come all the way up the entrance to the show venue. We must have looked on the Street a couple of times…Then we both tried to remember what all happened since we left the Hotel room…we looked for the Taxi…During the ride Gautam took out the map from his Pocket which also had the Phone…so it must have slid out on the car seat. We didn’t have the Taxi's license plate number and we also didn’t know which company it belonged to. We talked to the Club Manager where the show was. Told him that we had left our iPhone in the Taxi. He told us that we should not expect to get it back. He gave us a number of some Lost and Found Deposit Box that we should call and check. But he was very sure that we wont get it back.

During all this time. Both, Gautam and I were so worked up…We barely enjoyed the show. I spilled some Sangria on my most favorite Dress and it was all a mess. The worst was it was the very first day of our week long vacation. Both of us were extremely sad.

Finally, we decided to forget about it. We just thot that there is a 99.9 % chance that we will not get the iPhone back. We went back to our Hotel Room just to check and make sure. Then we went to the Hotel Reception, asked the Receptionist what we can do about it? He was like, there is no way we will ever get an iPhone back. So, he just said Sorry. So, we decided…forget about it. Lets not ruin the whole trip. We decided we will go out for Dinner and have fun.

We had a good Tapas Dinner, drank some Wine…had fun. We wanted to stay close to our Hotel after that so we decided to head back and find a place nearby and Just lounge around…Nothing was open near our Hotel, so we thot we will go in and ask the Receptionist if he knows of some place open nearby. As we entered the Hotel, he was like…wait…and he picked up an iPhone from his desk…OMG…OMG…I just shouted: "You must be kidding me?"…This was unbelievable…This was unreal…He said" You guys are really lucky, I have never seen this happen before...ever". Apparently, our Taxi Driver saw the Phone and went to the Flamenco show place…as he had no clue where we were staying…he got our details from the Club Manager and drove all the way back to our Hotel to give us the iPhone back, Can you believe it? He didn’t leave his details or a number…so he didn’t expect anything from us. I don’t know what to say. This is the best thing that has happened to us.

Same as how the Boy from the Movie put the Priest on the Spot...this Taxi Driver put me on the Spot...I don’t know what to say after this....I don’t have Faith in people. It is hard for me to Trust. I am super paranoid and I am always Doubting. I just want to Believe more and Trust more and Have a lot of Faith !!

Down in the Town !!

Streets never sleep
Where I live…

It’s always Singing and Dancing around
It’s hard to miss the upbeat sound...

The people and the places, The smiles and the faces
Elegance is always glowing...

It’s a friends destination and Lovers paradise
The Bars and the Dance Floor are always shining bright…

Oh the Police and the Ambulance siren
You do have to make some compromise…

When the clock ticks an hour the Bell sounds
It’s like a signal to keep moving on with your Life...

I am at peace in the middle of this commotion
This sure feels like an once in a Lifetime...

My Shining Star !!

I have not been the Best…well…rather I am not the best…

When you were born I was happy, juss coz I got a new toy to play with. The new shiny soft toy who is extremely quite and can be handled in any way I wished…I loved you.

When you started crawling, walking and finally talking….it was a lot of fun…coz u were this most likable little boy…who used to be really obedient and shy…I loved you.

I have been mean and I have never taken care of you. I have not liked any responsibilities related to you when we were in School. I have not helped you with anything. But you never complained…you always followed me and listened to me…I loved you.

Growing up, you were not too pleasant, you were stubborn and you were naughty. You started fighting with me and at times you were even mean and disrespectful…I hated you then and always thot that you don’t care at all…but you did show certain signs of Care now and then…I loved you.

You have been thru a lot without uttering one word of complain. I always think, if I were you, I wud have made everyone miserable. But you were the greatest. You came out of all the sadness and tragedies like a shining star. You kept all of us afloat. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering you have gone thru…it juss amazes me that you have the strength….I am so proud of u...I loved you.

I have been critical of you when you were in College. I have always tried to tell you wat to do..please understand that it was all my protective instinct towards you…I didn’t doubt u ever…all I cared was u shud always get the best. You have made me proud with all ur achievements….u have always been there for me…I have not said this many times…but "Thanks"….Thanks for being the younger brother who was mature enuf to guide me like an elder brother…I loved you.

The one thing that I remember the most from my marriage is, there was one person who cared abt me more than anything in the whole ordeal and that was u…I still cannot help but cry when I see the Sangeet video and ur Dance…I loved you.

We have known each other all your life…I have seen u from roaming around in a Diaper to roaming around in Designer Jeans…I have not said this many times…but...I have learned a lot from you…I wish you all the best ever…I wish u all the happiness and luck in life…I believe in you and I am proud of you…I wont change anything in you…I loved you all these years and I know…I can never stop loving you…


You are my hero…My kiddo…I love you !!

New Beginings !!

June is here,
Buying a House is near.
Downtown was a Dream come true,
Which is almost ending too.
Bidding Farewell to Downtown,
Will be sad and depressing.

Let's get it together,
And start looking for a Realtor
The space will be huge,
So lets just divide.
Let's get some Fluff,
And Buy more Stuff !!

We'll fuss over the Budget,
So that we don’t regret
As expenses will rise,
We need to be wise.
Pool and Staircase are must as
they will be the first.

To Pool views and gorgeous Backyard
To suburban living and the Staircase in the house
To Nice Locality and Nicer (hopefully) Neighbors
To sunset in the backyard and Glamorous Home Owners Life
To a new Home,
Settling down…hmm…Here we go !!

Pretext: http://sumgum.blogspot.com/2008/05/downtown-calling.html

Hidden Talents !!

On Valentine's Day, My Sis (Samta), Bro-in-law (Ashish) and Ayan (my Nephew) went out for a Romantic Dinner... :) ...My Sis got the Biggest Compliment ever, a stranger at the Restaurant dining at the nearby table said: "Your son is a very well-behaved Kid. That shows Great Parenting !!". She felt the proudest. And I am proud of her to be what she is and the way she handles my Nephew. I hope he grows up to admire his Mom the way she admires him right now

All these years I didn't know about my sister's hidden talents...so, I know my Brother-in-law is a Singer/Poet/Artist. Probably, his talents have rub-off on my sister some or its juss Motherhood that she is enjoying throughly. Here is a Sweet Poem that my sister compiled for Ayan's 1st Birthday Party !! Unbelievable but damn CUTE !!

-Compiled by Samta Malpani

I entered the world on the 1st of December Two week early,

a day my parents will always remember.

Those first few months I didn't do much at all My parents were told,

Enjoy this time while he is small.

Once I discovered I could Butt -crawl around by my own might,

It's been non-stop action morning till night.

In October, I took off crawling across the floor,

With in a month I was pulling up and finally off all fours.

The first time I tried putting one foot in front of the other holding the sofa,

I was 11 and 1/2 months old, and I walked to my mother.

I practiced walking all day and into the night,

And still working on it till I get it right!

'Ma-Ma','Na -Na', & 'De -De' are words I now can say,

But 'Papa' is what you will hear most of the day.

As you can see I've had a busy year Hard to believe my 1st birthday is here.

Who moved my Cheese ?

Hmm…really…Who moved my Cheese?

I am a Cheesy person, well, at least once upon a time I was. I have written long love letters, poems. I created a "Love is…" scrap book for Gautam. I have burned several Love Song CDs. My chat window use to be "Falling Hearts" while chatting with Gautam (In my defence, please check out the kissing sound Ctrl+G...its awesome). I have done it all. I use to love the idea of being in Love and doing the Lovey-Dovey stuff. I use to love all the stuffed toys and use to love cute cards. There was one time in my life when I really didn’t have anyone special in my life. I use to just buy the Lovey cards for myself. So, when I met Gautam, I had a collection of cute cards to send.

I don’t know what has changed now. Whenever I think of buying Gautam a gift, I end up buying something he will like and will use. I have not bought a single Greeting card for him in the past 2 years. Not a single, can you believe it? I don’t like buying cards anymore. Buying cards means wasting paper and wasting paper means cutting/killing more trees. So, not buying cards in a way is helping the environment. See, thats a good reason. This is just one of the several examples. I don’t like buying stuffed toys, whenever I see one, I start thinking, Where the heck I am going to keep it? Seriously. All the cute stuffed animals that I have bought in the past or the ones I have made Gautam to buy for me in the past, I have no clue why I don’t like them anymore. Except for the Black Lab Dog, I don’t like any of the Stuffed animals anymore. I am so scared of saying this to Gautam, as I know, he will be like…What the heck? Seriously.

Hmmm….if I think about this more and more, I know some Cheesy stuff that I still like. Romantic vacations and Romantic Dinners. Well, they are multi-purpose as well…but that’s besides the point. The one thing that has changed in the past 3 years, I have become more practical. I don’t live in the fantasy world anymore. Before meeting Gautam, there was a Dream. A dream of meeting the perfect one. Romantic stuff happening all around me. Some1 loving and liking whatever I do. Some1 who is always there for you, no matter what…and so on and so forth…blah-blah. After meeting Gautam, during our 1 year courtship period, it was the attraction of the long distance relationship. You can know so much about the person and you pretty much like most of it. Not that we were not honest with each other, we were. Anything good is awesome and anything bad is Honesty. "Being in Love" and "Living in Love" are 2 different things. "Being in love" is a feeling, If you love some1, the feeling will always be there. You will always feel good about this person you love. On the other hand, "Living in Love" is day-in day-out. You have to put up with all the good and the bad of the person you love so dearly. It's so easy to "Be in love" and it is so hard to "Live in love".

I have had a great married life so far. The one thing that I have seen changing in myself is I have become more independent and practical. I still make my share of mistakes, but I am learning to avoid dwelling on the past and playing the Blame Game. I guess practicality is the biggest reason for losing my Cheese.

So, this morning I decided, I want to get some of my Cheese back. I like being Cheesy at times. Gautam calls me "CQ" - Cheese Queen. So the latest Cheese I ate, I entered one of our pictures in the Cutest Couple competition. Not juss that, my facebook status says "Vote pic 84 on austin360. Cheesy enuff?

Desi Dess...

I just read somewhere..."Family is Family"....you dont need appointments and weekends to visit them....u dont have to schedule....its amazing how Family's always willing to schedule everything around ur schedule.... :) ....Juss got bak frm a month long trip to India...my home...the place where I belong and feel loved...I claim to know it and still it never ceases to amuse me....This trip I travelled a lot and did a lot of things that were on my mind...things I had decided to do for a long time...Things I was planning and waiting for....

We started from Austin. Reached Newark and were tired by the time we got in the plane for Bombay. Newark airport sucks...It is the pathetic airport I have seen....All the shops are boring...Duty Free doesnt have most of the stuff I wanted to get....No Lindt and Liquer choclates....can u beliv it??

Once on the flight to Bombay...it was all fun...It was about 14 hour journey filled with watching movies, sleeping and eating...wasnt too bored....well...didnt really got a chance to get bored....there are abt 300 or so Free movies to watch...new and old...:)

After an amazing journey of 14 hours straight from Newark to Bombay, we landed in Bombay on the 7th...I read in a novel about Bombay, "Breathing in Bombay is like breathing in water....Lungs become Amphibian...there is so much water in the air". It was extremely humid...so as soon as we landed all the jackets and coats came off....Immigration took us abt an hour ....felt like forever....tired and almost ready to fall we made it out of the airport. There was a crowd of about 1000 ppl waiting outside...As I like to say...So many ppl came to welcome us...:)...Bombay has a Distinct smell...there is no name for that smell...oh well its called "Bombay"...:)....Its a mix of every smell I know....its is smoothing and welcoming....thats the smell of my land....place where I always feel "I belong".

Nothings changed.....its all the same....ppl, cars, traffic, streets, constructions, dust, pollution, and the fun of all of it...:)...Jet lagged and excited didnt get much sleep....Went Saree shopping the very next day....Wrapped about 10 or so Sarees in the Shop before finalising on one to get....it took me forever to buy the one I had ruled out earlier....so was kinda too much for the ppl who were helping me out....well...its always too much for the ppl who r helping me out...its amazing how Family never minds it though.... :)

Bombay was a different experience this time...we went partying in Bombay....its amazing how you can be the Richest of the Rich and the poorest of the Poor in Bombay....You can have a lot of money and you can have nothing at the same time....the difference is evident and seen everywhere...

We took a road trip from Bombay to Pune and stayed a nite in Pune with Vikrant(my cousin) and Pooman(The wifey)...as always meeting cousins after a year or so is always fun....lots to talk abt...was meeting Poonam for the first time...as I told her...She is a perfect match for my crazy cousin... ;)

The next day, mom, me and my Bro (satyajeet) drove to Aurangabad....my home...I dont know how I can feel the same way as I use to when I was living there...nothings changed...as soon as I entered my parents house...the first thing I wanted to do was clean it up....donate all my old stuff and free up the space for Mom...and thats wat I did all the 3 days Gautam was not there....I was cleaning up my old room and clearing things....the highlight of Aurangabad trip was meeting "Arya" for the very first time....One of my cousins adopted a baby boy...Arya...he is a sweetheart...surprisingly he took abt 5 mins to come to me...and he was all happy and started playing with me instantly...he is a Head banger and a Rock star... :) ....all 10 days in Aurangabad were full of meeting ppl...Met Shaunak (my cousin sis's new husband)...He is this lively cute fellow who dances really well... :)

Rest all we did was eating...and doing nothing....Mom was busy cooking and making stuff....My Granny (mom's Mom)....Bai...also joined in...so it was a brigade on mission to cook and feed us.... :) My Dad hardly went to work...he owns his own small Agricultural business...he was on a break...he use to be around all the time...and tats amazing....coz once i am done with my 10 days stay...i dont miss him all that much.... :)

We took Gautam to a Farm for some fresh "Hurda" Party...it is complicated to explain wat it means... ;) ....its juss a fun experience of Rural Indian life...with typical "Dehati" (rural) Indian food... :) He loved it all...The fresh fruits juss plucked from trees...the corn and the fresh sugarcane juice...Yum.. :)

Then came my Sis, Bro-in-law and Ayan....the get-togeher for Ayan was a hit...Gautam and I decided to sing....so we sang..."Pappu can't dance saala"...one of Ayan's fav song....it is also a hit Bollywood number...I like to beliv we did a very good job at singing....as everyone stayed put.... ;) The last day in Aurangabad was a grand worship that my parents organized at one of the famous temples near Aurangabad...it took forever...was a different experience...then was the final Good-bye Aurangabad Drinking Party...where everyone gets to do some shots... ;) Leaving frm Abad was hard as always....I cried a lot....I dont know when I am going to get over this....at times I think the sooner the better and sometimes it feels like, good if this stays forever....i will always have a place where I will feel "I belong"....no matter wat....

Rest of India trip was filled with more travelling and meeting ppl...We went to Jaipur by train, it was 40 or so of all our relatives travelling together....from Jaipur 20 more joined in...In all, 60 of all extended Family went to Kuchaman (Gautam's ancetartial place)...it was like a mini Wedding...we all stayed at the same place for 3 days....there were various things going on every single day....when u live in places like these for a few days...u realise how ppl survive on the bare minimum...there are no Heaters and 24 hours Hot water facilities...the temperature is in the the 40s (F)....its cold and it is dry....but ppl wake up as early as 4-5 in the morning to start their daily routine...which for most begins with going to the Temple for worship. In the 3 days we stayed in Kuchaman, we did our share too...we went to 4 or 5 different temples....we visited the Kuchaman Fort...it is beautiful...we danced and we sang...it was awesome.

Being Carefree without a thing to worry is the best....all we had to worry abt was getting ready on time...everything else was taken care of...we feasted on awesome Indian meals 3 times a day...all we were did was Eat, Talk, Play, Dance and sleep...oh and go to Temples... :)

We came back to bombay tired...stayed in Bombay for the last 5 days of our trip...which went by really quickly....Meeting ppl, shopping and bad health kept us busy...New Year's was another fun experience...we went Gautam's cousin's place for pre-party...it was an awesome bbq (veggie) and cocktails party...after that went to a Frd's place for House party...I was tipsy and did some stunts like Falling in the stairs and spilling my Drink on everyone...at Mudnite, a scare-crow called 2008 was burned in the middle of the street and everyone danced around it....this symbolizes Farewell to 2008 and welcome to the new beginnings in 2009. It was a new way of celebrating New Years for us... :)

What does New Year's bring...Happiness, Excitement, Joy and a sense of New-ness...I am all set to take this year as it comes...with only one Resolution..."Dont make the same mistakes with the same person again and again" :)

Happy New Year !!