Fridays will be Different... Thanks to "Techie" Carolyn!

Another Friday…after a week of featuring the amazing Bill Dorman, I fell silent. Yes, a new job, entering the corporate sector has already had its toll on me in just one week! Also, Bill was so amazing that I had to shut up! So, this week there is nobody as thankful as I am for the week to end and to breathe a sigh of relief for two days – yes, we have Fridays and Saturdays off this end of the world!

But, then I find the amazing Carolyn Nicander Mohr to come across and be thankful for me. Yes, let her do all the talking. My tired fingers are too tired to “talk”!
What has she to be all thankful about! 


  1. My amazing husband. I am blessed to be married to a man who goes beyond my dreams. My marriage gives me the foundation and freedom to grow as a person. My husband is a quiet hero who does a lot of good in the world that few people know about.


  2. My awesome daughters. Everyone marvels at their babies when they are born, but you don't know who they will become as they grow older. My daughters are loving, caring girls who are fun to be around. I know, I sound like a proud mama, and I am!


  3. I have good health. My mother never lived to be the age I am now, so I appreciate every day that I have enjoyed good health.


  4. My friends. I have incredible friends who support me when I rise and when I fall. I have made great friends online recently through my blogging who astound me with their support. I am very grateful for the kindness of friends, both close and far away.


  5. Living in a place of peace. I live in a beautiful area of the world that gives me peace. I have lived in many places but right now I am living in my favorite place I have ever lived. If I hadn't moved around so much I may never have appreciated how incredible it is to live in a place of peace.


Do say hi to Carolyn, she is very “technical” at her Wonder of Tech! And she is a wonderful visitor too! Say hi, share your thanks and visit her blog… do your Friday bit!

Fridays will be Different...Thanks to Dorman, Bill Dorman!

So after featuring six super ladies (me, Janine, Samantha, Melanie, Diana, Roberta) I pester the Invisible Blogger, Bill Dorman to be thankful this week! If you have no idea what I am talking about, do check out how I force people into being thankful on Fridays!

So, what does the James Bond persona-like Bill Dorman have to say..here goes:

We all have something to be thankful for, right? Even if we are the mushroom in the middle of a field and a cow comes by and deposits a ‘patty’ right on top of our heads; at least it kept us out of the sun, huh?

Here is what floats my boat and I’m thankful for:

1.       I’m thankful for being perfect; and I don’t mean kind of perfect, but the hair never out of place, breath always fresh, doodie never stinks and never annoying kind of perfect.

2. I’m also thanking for being so cool; the kind of cool that everyone wants to hang with me and copy what I’m doing.
3. And I certainly can’t leave out good looking; the kind of good looking that makes women stare and men are so jealous they want to fight me.
4. How can I not bring up popular; so popular that I block calls from Charlie Sheen and Tom Cruise because they became such incredible douche bags and I can’t have them sullying my reputation?
5. Finally, I’m just thankful for being me; I mean I have to pinch myself everyday and sometimes more than once a day to remind me this is real, I’m living the dream.

Ok, that was my attempt at humor and before everybody thinks I am the ultimate douche bag, let me tell you what I’m really thankful for.

1.       I am certainly thankful for my family and my health.

2.       I am thankful for my friends, both on and off line as they energize me and give me a sense of purpose. I appreciate them immensely.

3.       I am thankful for being smart enough to know I’m not going to win just by showing up; anything worth doing is going to take preparation, time and effort.

4.       I am thankful for the simple things including Hajra inviting me to be a part of her Friday series.

5.       Finally, I’m thankful I like to help others any way I can and a big believer in paying it forward. I like to give with no expectations in return.

So, that was Bill saying how thankful he is. And don’t worry he isn’t as invisible as his blog says. You can just find him everywhere….and I mean, everywhere! And tell us, could you relate to this “good looking, popular amazingly perfect” Bill…. Or just compliment him!

Fridays will be different....Thanks to Diana!

Time for Thankful Friday again! The week was very hectic and thus no posting in between! So time for someone to be thankful again! After me, Janine, Samantha and Melanie; I have Diana Simon doing the kvelling for us!

Diana

Through the same club, Diana has been such an awesome support for my blog and has got some absolutely brilliant ideas all raring to go! So what’s she thankful for? Here goes:

I am honored that Hajra has asked me to be part of this “Fridays will be different” series.  

1.       I am thankful for my family.

My husband is the most amazing person in the world and is always so patient in putting up with me. I wouldn’t put up with myself!  My sister is another saint who plays an important part in my life and it’s great when two sisters can also be best of friends. I am also thankful for my extended family as well as my husband’s. If you don’t already know, I have twin nieces who are 2-years old and I am thankful for their laughter and the joy they have brought to my life.

 2.       I am thankful for my health.

Four years ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and while it was a challenging period, it was a blessing in disguise. I now take better care of myself and it is important for me to be healthy as I intend to life a full life even at a ripe old age. I want to be able to do daily routine tasks without doing so in pain.

 3.       Talking about my health, I am thankful for my doctors.

In Italy, and it will shock many, my doctor and his team are extremely efficient and professional. My doctor even makes his team speak to me in English!  Did I mention, this is a public hospital?  While the infrastructure is questionable, my doctor and his team are god-sent. I am so thankful for him that I told my husband that if we have a boy, I am going to name him after the doctor.  That was until we found out his first name and my husband refuses!  LOL

 4.       I am thankful that my internet and laptop is working again.

Last week, I had two days where both my laptop and internet didn’t work at the same time.  I am glad they are both working now but the twist is that I was thankful that I had two days offline. It was a much needed break!

5.       I am thankful that I am on holiday for until September.

As most of you know, I teach and always make the most of my summer by taking 3 months off.  I am away for a month visiting family but that doesn’t mean I won’t be blogging

So now as always just tell Diana how much we enjoyed having her here! Do visit her Coaching Blog; she does wonders there! 

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I always get that question. And I find it hard to answer. Oh no, not because I don’t know where I am from. Just because people confuse me further.

I was born in India. But when I was four, we shifted to the UAE. And that is where I stayed till I was 17. Finished school and went to India for higher education. Finished my Masters and now I am back in the UAE.

So every time I am asked that question, I launch into a big 500-or-more-words-essay-type-answer of telling them how I was born in India, raised in UAE and then did my higher education in India and now am working in the UAE.

And that is usually followed by… “I meant country” and “Am I talking to a crazy person” look.

So when we were young, my dad made sure we took our annual vacations in India. So vacations there were spent by our cousins telling us, “So, Dubai returned kids, don’t like the weather here, and don’t like the water here…eh?” And poor me, all of 10 would answer it by saying, “Why do you say this, I AM from India, I just live there, that’s it.”

In college, during our introduction, I identified myself as from India and then one professor mentioned this… young lady, aren’t you from the Arab world. No I am not, I just lived there. I am from India. No use, they all kept referring to me as the Indi-Arab.

Now, what raises that question…the color of my skin, the way I dress, my accent, my bright jazzy Mojris (the most comfortable footwear ever!) or just plain curiosity. Not that I hate answering it, just that the question implies that it should be answered by one country and that is just not possible anymore.

So maybe I look like a Pakistani, maybe my habits are Arab, maybe my likes are Indian, but I keep thinking… should I, just should I just show them my passport? I mean…technically.

Had trouble answering the question? Born here, lived there, and worked elsewhere and totally from all the way over there? Isn’t the world just a huge, huge thing! 

What do they REALLY mean?

I am tired of people not telling the truth – Ok, I get all the controversial stuff but every day ambiguous sentences are getting a little tiresome. I mean I wouldn’t call those people liars, maybe the diplomacy, guilt factor and nagging moms keep coming in the way and they are just “forced” to say things they don’t mean.

So over the past few months, I have been getting a lot of these and experiences just tell me what they mean.

·         I am busy, I will call you back: At many times, rightly translated it reads as follows “I didn’t know it was you calling, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered taking the call. Hang up right now, I am going to save your number as “Don’t pick up or bother to call back”.

·         You are perfect for the job, we will get in touch soon:  Ok, we didn’t hear what you had to say, we don’t know whether we have positions available, my coffee is getting cold, hmmm…what should I have for lunch, didn’t I tell the darn secretary to call me with “something important” five minutes into this “interview”, wait what was this chap’s name.

·         I am on my way, just five more minutes: It will take me over an hour, I still haven’t changed, I completely forgot and stop calling me every five minutes because that’s not going to change things.

·         Just 5 more minutes with the TV: Coming from a 5 year old it definitely means this “Please, just stop nagging me; I am going to be saying the same thing for the next hour, stop worrying about my eyes and just please, oh please, stop blocking my view”. Coming from a 20 year old also, it probably means the same.

·         Everything looks so pretty on you, I can’t choose:  I haven’t being paying attention, why do you make me go through this, what time was the game on TV, 6 or 8…should I message someone, are you going to be buying matching shoes after this…I hope not, just pick one already!

Please if you are late, just tell me so. I might just go back to napping. If you don’t want to give me the job, just tell me, I will stop jumping every time my mobile rings hoping it is the job confirmation. Just say it nicely, there is a nice way to say bad things… except for when you want to talk about my weight, there is no nice way to say that!

So have you had enough of sugar coatings? What do you think they really mean? 

SINGLE? .... BAD TIMING!

There is never a “good time” to be single. And that is not a thought, that is my verdict. Final verdict.


Whenever someone tells me, or whenever I read a headline, article or feel good quotes that say “Now is the best time to be single” I say “Rubbish”. There is never such a good timing to be single. Even if YOU are happy with your single status and enjoying the freedom that comes with it, the no hassles of a relationship, the joy of not having to buy anniversary presents and valentine presents and the likes, there are people all around just waiting to attack your “singularity”… coming to think about it when you Google "Singularity" one of them defines it as “peculiarity”! Don’t believe me, check it.

image from here

So coming back to the peculiarity of being single, I was at this family gathering the other day and all eyes were darting back and forth at the “oh-pity-the-helpless-single girl”. The conversations went like this:


“Say, you are like 23 now”


“No (dear distant – remote – meet once in a decade-) aunt… I am a little over 25 now”


“Oh, hmmm… didn’t your sister have a kid by then”


“Oh yes, she did, (but I am not her)”


“Oh yes, you have “different” plans of course, so what are your plans? Isn’t your other sister married too?”


“I am sorry I think I am getting a (fake) phone call”


Thank God for the craze of carrying mobiles everywhere you go, makes escaping a lot easier.


So after my Great Escape I am “confronted” by a younger cousin who has got those eyes that glisten with joy and maybe “pride” (which I see so clearly) of beating her elder cousin to the “battle of getting married first” and this is how the dreaded conversation goes:


“hey you, elder (by some months) cousin, Isn’t my fiancés such a darling, I told I had plans to study more and all and work for little longer before I even think about marriage, you know just like you, but then… he just was so insistent and I HAD to say yes!”


“…..” Nothing, I ain’t saying anything, I am busy nodding my head, eyes wide open with unwanted glee and a smile that is as plastic as plastic can be…


“So, don’t you look lovely tonight…say you’re still single right?”


“….” Nodding head again…. Did she just compliment me and then attacked my “peculiarity singularity” 


Hmmm… hate it when people do that, makes it harder decide whether I like the conversation or just plain hate it.
Time to plan my second Great Escape….


“Oooohhhh… I AM so sorry. Never mind, there is someone out there for you…Your Prince Charming will come someday…Don’t you worry…all right?


Oh the pity attacks... Please don’t do it, it’s not like you stepped over my foot, it is just my heart that is aching to run….


“Thanks a lot…I think I am getting a call….”


So, how did you escape “the attack” as a single or how are you escaping it if you are one of the “doomed”?

Has Life Made a Fool Out of You Yet?

So the world “celebrated” April fool’s Day. Apparently is all started because of a misunderstanding and thus the prank and practical jokes. What I really don’t get it is this: doesn’t it all start with a misunderstanding. I mean we really don’t need a day to let others make a fool out of us. Every, every day of our lives is life’s April fool prank on us. Everywhere we go there is something (not someone, but something) which is waiting to pound on you and have the best laugh possible!

 Don’t believe me, I can give you reasons!

• We are always cute as a baby and somehow it just vanishes as we grow up
• You are never the “coolest”, “hippest” kid in school / college. And even if you are “the one”, people have branded you as the “snob” or the “b***h” or the playboy!
• Family reunions will happen the day when you look the chubbiest, have the bout of acne attack, have run out of proper clothes to wear and your hair has gone all frizzy.
• By the time you figure out what you “really, really” want in life or from life, you are already on your second high paying but the most depressing job ever!
• The fat kid from high school is suddenly in the glamour industry and you can’t fit into the jeans from last month.
• Everything yummy has three figure calories.
• Everything really yummy has four figure calories! (I know it is repeated, but I am trying to stress the point!)
• Your waist! It has a mind of its own and a size of its own!
• The prettiest girl in town always lives right next door. Yes, just rub it in my face.
• The day your car decides to have a breakdown, it chooses the most crowded, god damn awful place to have its heart attack.
• All great looking men (great, I am not talking about good) are taken, dating impossible-to-beat girls, live on the next continent or are King in the making, getting married!
• If you speak your mind you are called brash, if you are being sweet you are diplomatic, if you have an opinion you are judgmental, if you don’t have an opinion you are just a dork. What’s with the branding? Who actually came up these words?

Image from Madonna Fans

See, isn’t everything just a big fat joke? Is life just lurking in some corner and laughing at us? What do you think is life’s biggest joke? And yes, what did you do on April Fools? 

Some Special Women...and a Big Sorry and Thank you!

I was recently invited by a blogging “buddy” Janine Ripper to participate in Emergen's Blogging for a Cause for International Women's Day. And it took me days to figure out what to write something which should suit the “mood” of my blog! So here’s what I came up with. This Women’s Day I am going to make the women in my life feel special…. By dedicating a whole blog post about them, by doing something I might not have done before: saying sorry to them.

Mom: Sorry for being messy, for not making my bed, for not saying “I love you too”, for not taking your calls or for not returning them, for not buying the clothes you wanted me to wear, for snapping back and for being the nasty person I always am! Thank you for surviving it all!

Sisters: For being critical, for being the spoilt younger brat, for getting you both in trouble… and thanks for covering up….always!

Best friends: Not surprisingly…all of them are girls! Sorry for not returning your calls, for not meeting up often and for all the times when I just couldn’t be there! Thanks a ton for being the most amazing, most giggly, gossipy and just the best friends always!

My niece: Sorry young lady…but I just don’t have anything to be sorry about…I have always been my best with you….probably, you might be writing a tribute about your wonderful aunt few years from now! Thanks for making me fall in love with babies!

So who are the special women in your life and how are you making them feel special? 

360 degrees

I am just back from a long road trip and boy, do I miss the good old times. Though I come from a big family, it was just mom, dad, me, mobile and the laptop this time. Well, I can instantly rewind ten years back and almost contrast the road trips from then and now. Well, it wasn’t black and white back then but it sure was different. Mom and Dad were the constant elements, I was a klutzy teenager, the mobile was replaced by siblings; the laptop was compensated for by the good old word game.

Sadly now, the siblings have been scattered across the globe due to the villain called “life”. The mobile is a drug I can’t live without. And the laptop is just a measure to cut down on the boredom and silence which engulfs the monotonous trip.

Earlier it was all about packing the right stuff – hoarding on loads of junk that is, pillows for the comfortable car ride, fighting for the window seat – yes, we did that on the four wheel too, making up quirky words to beat your kin at the word game - I remember using the word kinesthetically, and screaming until your mom shouts crazy from the front seat – threats like “We will drop you off right here, right in the middle of the desert!”

And the best part was getting lost. It leads to an awkward silence, some nagging (I told you we should have taken a left) and a frantic map tracing.

Now, we have a GPS and I have all the back seat space to myself. I am using the mobile to message people about my whereabouts. And oh yes, I bought that mobile because it had a zillion megapixel camera which I can use to click nonsensical road photos – posing next to withered cactus, posing when the sunsets, posing with the scattered clouds high over head, some sand dunes which look picture pretty and many other pictures which I will never recall ten years later.

And the laptop to help me upload those pics instantly so that I feel proud in showing all my 500+ friends what a “wonderful” weekend I have just had!

Ending on a prayer for more road trips…Amen!