Life is Beautiful

Wake up at 6 am (not the best feeling in the world)

Wait for the newspaper (its never on time)

Get late leaving home for office

Have breakfast on the move

Get stuck in bad traffic (feels like all bad drivers travel on the same route)

Reach office late

System takes ages to start up

Go through loads of 'Important' official mail

See loads of spam on your personal email IDs.

Same work different day.

Lousy lunch

Back to work - waiting for the day to end

Get last minute work

Finally get out of office

Drag self to the gym.

Pay money to slog & sweat

Pains in various 'muscles'

Head back home

Bad traffic - Same bloody drivers

Finally reach back home tired & dazed

Open the door.....walk into the house

Drop the gym bag

Mom, Dad & D say, "Hi !"

I softly say "hello"

peep into the first room - Arhaan is awake.....



He sees me and smiles :)

I say - "Hey Babyyyy"

Arhaan says, "Coooooooo" and then laughs.

I am smiling again

D asks, "how was your day ?"

I say, "Beautiful".

Leaving on a Jetplane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye....Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane.

Off to Pune for the next 2 weeks.

Happy.........Excited........Scared..........and not realy sure what to expect.

By the time I write my next blog, I am likely to be a 'Daddy' :)

Wow..........I must be getting old....but then........maybe I can stay young longer.......Am I making sense.......I dont think so.......Do I know what I want to write......Nope.

I am in the mood to celebrate........but its not time yet.............

For those on my phone list - expect an SMS

For those in my mailing lists - expect spam - Like it or not ;)

The way I feel right now - I am likely to stand on the rooftop and scream once the baby arrives.

Till Daddy finds time to write again.........................Ciao.

A Salute to the women in my life

'Vasanti takes me to office & Sunaina drops me back home'. Thats what I have been telling people who tell me that driving to office and back home is a pain because of the traffic in Bangalore. I however realised only recently how much of a difference these ladies make in my life.

Vasanti went on a vacation and Anajana took over......Don't get me wrong, she is very good too..........but the change in the morning got me thinking how we 'get used' to the women in our life and start taking them for granted. I know I do.

The reason I am putting this down is because this 'realization' is not just because of the RJ's but also related to my darling wife. For the benefit of those who still dont know, we are expecting a baby in Mid march. The delivery will be in Pune and because of Airline rules and doctors orders, D can't travel past the 35th week.

That was the good news. The bad news (atleast from my point of view) is that this is the 35th week. She leaves for Pune on Feb 15th.

After having had her around all the time for almost 6 years, its weird to think about her not being around me all of a sudden. Although I plan to be in Pune for 2 weeks around the delivery date and then again in the end of April, the next few months are the longest that we've been away from each other. Infact, in the last 6 years its never been more than 2 weeks.

Being the idiot that I am, I was unnecessarily honest with my wife in acknowledging that i was looking forward to living by myself for a while..........which is only partially true. I WILL miss her - I know - Not just during Breakfast & Dinner, but throughout the day & night. She IS the best thing that ever happened to me, and for those of you who haven't met her or dont know her - I feel sorry for you.

Its about time I was forced to live by myself again. Time to find if I can still cook my own meal and if I can operate that washing machine :). There is a part of me that wants to go through the grind because I think I have become very lazy & dependent on my wife - which is not a very good thing.

And to my darling wife, I promise - I will keep the house clean, and not leave my clothes all over the place, Eat healthy (and on time) and workout at the gym regularly to get back in shape. I will also re-pot all the plants while u are away ;)

Now that I have finished writing I am wondering if the name of this article should have been 'A Salute to the love of my life', cause honey - for you I would give up the Vasantis, Sunainas & Anjanas anyday.

The Grasshopper Story

OLD VERSION...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

ALL our NEWS channels show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

One well known Socialite (also considered a social activist) stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Another one goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. WHO and the UN criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Some Political parties call for "Bharat Bandh" demanding a Judicial Enquiry. Another state government immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Railways allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

The HRD Ministry makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by our 'round the clock' News Channels.

Our 'Social Activists' calls it "a triumph of justice". Some Ministers call it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden'. The grasshopper is invited to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley. 100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India .

As a result loosing lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers India is still a developing country......

Swing Workshop

Finally Managed to get my hands on some pictures taken during the swing workshop by Jennifer Lyons. Have uploaded some of the pictures @ multiply.....Enjoy