Day 6


So I am in office and sid is working from home. It’s a lazy Friday afternoon and I am amongst the very few people in office. I get this email from Sid’s office id to mine:

“Message from Sid:
Hey, can you please pick up the courier package? Get it home.

Forwarded message from C:
Hey Sid,
These guys have left a courier package for you on your desk. Thought would let you know!
Cheers
C”

So C sits right next to Sid’s desk. I craned my neck to get a view of Sid’s desk and yes, I could easily see the brown packages.

So, in the next few minutes, I sauntered to his place and casually picked up the package from Sid’s desk and sat down back at my place to work.

A couple of minutes later I got another forwarded mail from Sid:

“Message from Sid:
:D.Enjoy!

Forwarded message from C:
Sid!
Some girl came and nicked your courier packets! I thought you should know!!!!!!!
C”

Sid then sent him a mail telling him that the girl who came nicked his packages is his wife! And just to rub it in a little bit more, I went up to him today.

“Hi C”, I said extending my hand.

“Hi”, he smiled sheepishly.

“I am the girl who nicked the courier packages”, I said.

“Yeah!”, he grinned, “ I got to know you kinda know him”.

This is my favourite work place story right now!! Thought would share it with you guys!

Love
RP

Day 5:
Good News!!
I shall now share some good news with you.

I have a job! Tadddaaaaa. It took me some 5 months, lots of rona dhona and many many interviews including three at the firm I am with right now.

I have now been working for a week and apart from the fact that I have had to come face to face with an avalanche of information, things have been good.. And whats the twist in the tale?? I work in the same company and office as Sid!
That seems quite werid to think of. But Sid often goes for client meeting s and can easily work from home. Infact I realized today that it will be very easy for me to work from home as well! The profile is such that it does not matter from where I work.

There is a long story about how this job happened. I am still on leave from company X (which took me on a great salary in the midst of severe recession!). Sid and I collectively decided that I had time till 4th of July 2010 to figure out a job for myself else we will both move to India.

As he told his boss this and the HR head heard that in passing, things started happening. There was this role available for which they had been passively head hunting for over an year. Would I be interesred in interviewing for it, they asked!

Hell yes!

So then followed 3 rounds of interviews.

And on 5th of May 2010 I was offered employment.

As an MBA I am indeed a little over qualified for this role, so they are happy with who they have on board and I have a job which is what I have been craving for for so so so so long that I don’t care about the role ( which btw is quite decent)
So I have started work now. I hope I do a decent job here-I want to work hard and to do well. Wish me luck!

Love
RP

Day 4
A Tale of summer coats.

We had a mini school reunion a couple of days back in London. School reunions of this kind are so much fun. There are teachers you talk about, classmates, ice cream walah, chane wala – just so much that no one else but an old school friend can think of.

There were 4 of us. N (http://smilethesmile.blogspot.com/2010/01/best-friends-i-dont-know-if-any-of.html) who is fashion designer in London, S who is a lawyer in London, myself and then a girl called D who was visiting from India on work.

So we met at the Waterloo station at 7 in the evening. As I saw N my jaw dropped. She and I had both bought new summer coats in the last 3-4 days and guess what?!! They were just slightly different makes from the same company!

The same colour, a very slight difference in cut and the same size!

So we would be walking round the city in almost identical summer coats? We questioned each other.

Making peace with the absurd situation at hand, we deicided to concentrate on meeting the other two girls we would be seeing after almost a decade.

We were, however, still reeling from this coincidence as we hunted for the other two at the hugeness the Waterloo station is.

And as the clouds parted I could see D & S standing at a little distance from us. I was seeing D after 10 years- she left our school when her father, an IAS officer of prominence, shifted base to Delhi and she joined DPS thereafter. We were good friends and used to sit close by. I was going to meet S after 8 years! I was the Vice Captain of my house and she was the head girl. Nice girl, good speaker and a very good head girl. I do not think I ever got a chance to meet/ speak to her after she passed out of school.

So there should have been so many things I should have noticed about S. How thin/ fat she ad become. How her hair was . How she walked, how she talked. But that’s not what I noticed. What I noticed was the S was wearing EXACTLY the same coat as the one I was wearing!!

Call that a coincidence or what!!!

Such is life

RP.

I never thought I would post a pic of girls coats! But here you go! Have a look at the coats, the tale of which this post was!

Day 3

Internet Savvy Dad.

So my Dad has just discovered the internet. Okay he knew it existed but it is only now that he has figured that it is no rocket science.

One day he sets an FB account.
The next day he puts up a display pic .
The third day he starts emailing people from his gmail account.
The fourth day he has put a video on his FB page.
The fifth day he has changed his gmail password.
The sixth day he has sent my brother’s girlfriend a FB friend request.



The following is an email he sent to me before I went to India early last month.

dear rp,

We are very happy about your forthcoming visit. What we have to finalize in the meanwhile is the preparation we have to have. We can have 3 boxes of famous home made laddus,one each for sis-in-law, mummy ji & sid. I made a very low calory cake today. yu can have 2 large tasty(non healthy)cakes. We can keep on updating our list. Yr interview was fabulous. This will keep yur schdul vry tight.its interview ,india visit, sis-in-laws visit,then start of job. All this will keep yu on yr toes. All the best
bye
chacha

Why I call my Dad, chacha is a long story and shall be dealt with in some other post.

In the meanwhile enjoy Da’s email.

Love
RP

Nani

Post 2

I talked about my grandmother some days back. She has been in a very delicate stage of late. The hospitals and the doctors were helping little. So Nani was brought home with oxygen mask and cylinders et al.

Last morning, Nani got really unwell. She was unable to breathe even for 5 minutes on her own. Things started getting very hysterical. I gather now that all of Nani’s 6 children ( the 7 th is in the USA and is on his way as I speak) were is various stages of utter despair early yesterday morning.

A big meeting was called to decide what the next step has to be. My uncle and aunt are doctors and they were both discussing which hospital would suit Nani best when , I gather my Grand dad, put his foot down. No one would touch Nani now, he said. What ever has to happen will happen at home. If she has to go away, we will respect that and let her be in peace.

So Nani was kept at home. Things started worsening. A doctor friend of my Uncle came over. He is a heart and lung specialist and gave Nani some injection. That was considered useless as all believed that Nani had a few minutes or hours at most. Nani had not eaten ANYTHING in the last 2 days and internal septicemia was making her body burn internally that would make her cry out in pain. She had a huge bed sore and was, as I said unable to breathe. Her skin had patches of blue and doctors could no longer find any vein for injections.

Half an hour later, my 86 year old nani was up. Sitting in bed after a long time and aksing for food. Trust me, I am not exaggerating one bit.

Of all things, the random injection had worked wonders.

Nnai was bathed, she got all the family round her , she spoke to her 2 month old great grand son in the US and told him how beautiful he is. She called my little sister and congratulated her for getting through every bloody medical entrance exam in the country and 95.5 % in the boards. Hoarding with her pictures are all around the city. They were shown to Nani. Arcticles in the newspapers where my cousin had dedicated her success to her grand parents were read out to her. Some 20-25 surrounded Nani’s bed for hours as she asked for food. Nani voiced concerns about what would be cooked that day for all her kids. My Mum dressed up nani, out a bindi on her forehead, combed her hair and made her sit.

My grand dad was in the room near by. As Nani sat dressed on her bed, mum asked all the other people to move a bit so that Dada ( my grandfather) could see her from where he sat. As people parted, Dada craned his neck to have a look at his wife of over 50 years.
Nani smiled a shy smile. Dada smiled an encouraging smile.

Mum says that was the most special smile she has ever seen in her life. She says it brought tears in her eyes.

This is certainly a miracle. For the time being. We do not how many hours this will last. It si certainly not a permanent solution. My Mum apparently has been feeding, bathing, and cleaning my Nani for the last 10-12 days and has aged about 10-12 years in the process. She says her biggest wish was to see happy for some time. She had seen Nani cry in pain non stop like a 3 year old. She has been so frustrated with Nani’s suffering that all she had started wishing for was for God to give Nani peace what ever that meant.

Nani had a lovely day yesterday. I have not heard my mothers happy voice in a long time. It is nothing short of a miracle to have Nani back for a few hours with us.

I don’t know what this incident means but all I know is that you do NOT know what life has in store for you round the next bend.

Love
RP

PS Blog Marathon is on. I have the posts written. Will post them once I am able to. I should be able to put all the remaining posts by the end of day BST.

Important Notice

Day One

Hi

Inspired by Preeti Shenoy ( www.justamotheroftwo.blogspot.com) whose blog I follow quite regularly now, with this post I have jumped into a blog marathon.

This means there will be one post each day for the next 30 days. Hopefully without fail. My only exceptions will be allowed when I have no access to internet, in which case I shall make up with two posts the next day.

Why am I doing this?

I have been thinking about this so often now. There is so much I want to blog about but end up not doing anything at all. Maybe this will help!

There is another bigger reason why I am doing this. This I shall reveal to the few who read my blog as I reach the end of the marathon.

I can do this much for Blogging all the way 

Sleep tight

RP

Nani

My Nani is very unwell. I was at the Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi, ready to board my flight in 20 minutes when I called up Nani to bid a final farewell.

I was told that she had gone to the hospital for some checkups. I would have left it at that but I don’t know why I hunted down my uncle’s number and called him so that he could hand over the phone to Nani and I could speak to her.

That’s when he said that Nani had just had a heart attack and had been admitted to the ICU.

I reeled for a couple of seconds. I stared at the flight board and the ‘Now boarding” that blinked stupidly next to the name of my flight and I had a major urge to just leave the airport.

But I did not do that. It did not make sense.

So I came to London. The 9 hour flight was weird and I burst into quiet tears more than once thinking of Nani and how Mum must be feeling right then.

Nani has been in the hospital since the 21st of May and today is the 27th. My Mom has been with her day and night and feeds her like a baby. Life does come a full circle.

During this India trip which was just for 7 days ( which is less considering now I have a sasural to visit as well) I however did manage to go to my Nani’s city. We drove by car and reached her place by 7 in the evening and left at 5 next morning. It was short and very crisp but like all trips there, it was warm and full of a lot of love.

I cannot imagine how terrible I would have been feeling today if I had decdided against the trip due to time constraints.




If you can, do pray for my Nani. I love her to bits and cannot stop thinking about her.
Love
RP

PS. I am attaching a pic and Nani doing my Kanyadaan. :(

Indeeeah!

I am in India at the moment. And am loving every second of it!! Trying to make every second last a little longer, memorise a little more, observe a little more....

I sleep with Ma and Dad. My brother is here as he is doing his internship and preparing for MD entrance exam. It is, therefore, after a VERY long time that all 4 of us are together.

Sid is in London and though I miss him terribly, I am very glad of this time I am getting with my folks.

It is very hot and we have an AC in each room but still we all (Mum, dad Bhai and I ) sleep in one room. I sleep with Ma and Dad on the bed and my brother studies on his table right next to where I sleep with his lamp on. I fish out my book, New Moon that I bought at Heathrow and read it till late in to the night by the light from the lamp shade. It is quiet except for Bhai’s murmurings as he studies in deep concentration. There is the regular sound my AC makes but most importantly I have my Mum’s arm around me.

Nothing Nothing, NOTHING beats having your Mum close to you. Right next to you. Fingers willingly entwining into yours if you reach out for her hand.

This is what I miss most when I am in London. Ma and her hands. They are quite ugly to look at. Infact if you see her face you would not think the hands belong to this face but for me they are most beautiful hands on the planet.

I sleep in peace.

Love
RP

The positives of a job hunt

Like I promised here, http://smilethesmile.blogspot.com/2010/04/job-hunt-i-have-been-avoiding-writing.html there are some positives about hunting for a job.

I started my internship officially on the 20th of April, 2010. Long story on how I got it and I might blog about it later. However I came to London in the beginning of Jan and it was in the end of April that I first heard a ‘yes’. Even if it was for an internship that would not pay.

So that’s almost 4 months of rejections.

That might not seem too much to most but trust me it has been a very difficult time for me. The reason is simple. Never before have I faced so much rejection. I have always been the teachers pet, excelled in academics with little effort albeit a lot of hard work. Hell, even getting and finding the right guy was very easy for me. There was a multitude of family friends who wanted me as the bahu and yet again I had my pick.

Never before have I struggled so much for a ‘yes’. It still remains elusive.

But I have to confess that I have grown so much because of this experience. I have now learnt to just pick up the phone , look up the website for any contact number, call and speak to who ever picks up the phone. My elite b school mindset of feeling all superior to mankind ( expect those from better b schools) has rightly received a much needed shaking up.

I have learnt to push for setting up of meetings. I have learnt to call people so many times that they stop taking my calls. I have learnt to give a 30 second elevator pitch about myself.

This is new to someone like me who inherently has too much self respect and ego to go around akisng people for 10 minutes of their time!

Initially I would feel hesitant about speaking to the firangs. Honestly I think we have grown up on such a dose of American sitcoms and movies that the british accent seemed quite difficult to follow and I would end up sounding like an idiot asking people to repeat themselves. That, I am glad to say, has indeed changed now because of the numerous interview and calls that I have had.

Each of the interviews has been a huge learning experience. I remember this phase when I had started feeling very low about not having a job. To change my mind I would go out for a run/ jog and on the way I would only see people dressed up in formals. It just made me cringe so much.

It was then that I realized how important work is for me. Till then , I had always felt that I would be better suited to academics but LBS was an eye opener. I have to say getting through would have been great but it would have made my life hell. Because while I was interviewing I did not feel any rush of energy , no inner voice that told me ” yeah! This is what you were meant to do!” and when they informed me that the phd would take 6 years to complete I almost blacked out!

Had I gotten through I know it would have been very difficult to say no because of brand LBS and I was not sure I wanted to do it!

So I am glad they have chosen someone who probably wanted it more and in this process I have for the first time realized that I want to work. It is just that I need the right kind of job. A job that suits me as a person.

I always believed that I was an academic soul. Now I know myself better. However shallow it might sound, I simply want to work and earn some dough for the next couple of years. Simple as that.

S is marvelous at his work. I have learnt to learn from him. If I can be half as good, I will be great.

I have learnt to reply to emails in the most professional manner. I know it is a stupid thing to say but it is a very important skill I have acquired- the right british tone for a work email. INfact on any day I am job hunting I send across more mails than I did while I was working back in india.

I am more comfortable job hunting now. The reason for that is that my leave in my company back in india has been extended to 4th of july ,2010. And Sid has been the single most supportive husband I could have dreamt of. If I do not find a job that I like by that time I will go back to India to restart work and he will put things in motion for his relocation.

I think it is a big thing that he has agreed to do for my sake. Knowing fully well how well he is doing in his present profile and how much he wants to stay on in London for the next couple of years, I cannot but appreciate him.

So, I know now that Sid has thought of ‘us’ and I appreciate and love him so much more for it. We can be happily married when all is good but it is in times like this when one has to sacrifice something that you truly understand how blessed you are to have a husband who is ready to let his career take a hit so that you can have one for yourself.

I was recently asked in an interview why, if I am as career oriented as I claim to be, did I choose to leave the fantastic job I had to get married at 25 and relocate
to a country in deep recession.

My answer is an advice for all young girls. I said this:

“ I think the single most important decision regarding your career is to marry the right man who will support every single career move you make. I wanted to marry right, if for nothing then atleats for the sake of my career”.

Advice: how your career turns out to be depends quite a bit on the kind of man you marry. Marry well. Marry intelligently.

If nothing, for the sake of your career.

Love
RP

Heathrow visit:)

So Sid came back yesterday. Finally after 16 days. Stupid vocanic ash!

It took me some 2 hours to get there. After figuring my way in, I suddenly felt ravenous and hence headed to a coffee shop hunted for something veg and handed it to the guy at the till.

“Toasted?”, the desi guy asked me.

“Yes, please”,I said. Here in London you need to thankyou and please more often than you breathe in and out.

“Can I get you a coffee as well, please?”, he asked.

“Naah”, I said.

“Tea, then?” he persisted.

“No”, I persisted as well.

“Why?”, he questioned.

“because I do not drink tea/ coffee”, said I

“You must be very health conscious then”, he observed.

So we got chatting as he toasted my sandwich. By way of conversation I told him that I was there to pick up my husband who had been stranded because of volcanic ash and was coming home 2 weeks later had been planned.

“I think I can help you, he said.

“How?”, I questioned.

With a flourish he took out a banner and a pen.
“Write him a message!”, he said.

“No…I don’t think so”, I said.

“Come on! Why?” he said.

“Because I would not want to embarrass my husband”

“Trust me! He will love it !” he said.

Slightly doubtful, I took it from him. I hunted for a place for myself and carefully balancing a sandwich in one hand, the phone between my ear and shoulders I wrote my patis name on the banner.

Then did a little it of calligraphy as well. Then underlined it. Then made flowers. Then added leaves.

It was looking shabby but then that was the best I could manage. All ready I went and stood waiting for him in the arrival area.

There were so many people waiting and I got to see such beautiful things in the half an hour I stood there. There was this pretty dark haired girl standing right next to me and suddenly I heard a weird sound coming from her. I turned to look at her and found her in tears with her hand hiding her mouth as she stared at a girl walking in.
They had such an emotional reunion with both of them in tears. In her place then came a little girl with her Dad. She had made a drawing welcoming her ‘MOMMY’ I saw the Mum walk in, stare at the poster and hug her daughter as the Dad hugged both the women.

Then there was this guy who came dressed up like a bee to welcome a lady. He made her stand in front of him and did some kind of a bee dance. The two of them were laughing hysterically as they walked away hand in hand.

I stood there waiting with my banner and soon I saw Sid walk in as I ran to welcome him. Sid’s poor friend did not where to look as we hugged each other.

Sid was very amused by the banner and he asked me a million questions about it. The silly little banner was quite a hit!

Here is a pic of the banner for you guys!




Love
RP

Job Hunt

I have been avoiding writing about this for a long time now. Even now I do not know where to begin from, what to write and what to not write.

I started job hunting even before I came to London infact I started it even before I got married. My biggest issue with coming over to London was indeed the job thing. I knew it was going to be difficult but hey I had a fantastic job in India which I had gotten in the midst of heavy recession, I am rank 1 at Bschool, rank 1 in engg
college, can speak well, dress well…my fears seemed really unfounded.

However the reality is indeed in front of me now.

I have been hunting for a long time now. It has been a huge long series of Nos. No from companies after rounds of interviews , from LBS for their PhD and from more jobs. Sometimes I wonder what is the toughest bit about this. Now I have an answer.
It is fine to know that yet again you have not made it but it is just so difficult to inform family and friends that you have not.

It is the whole process of investing in hope and the ‘if’ that is very taxing.
However, I do have something now. After weeks and weeks of looking around I finally have an internship. So I do work. But it does not pay me and it is not a permanent position. I am still giving interviews and applying but nothing concrete is in my hands.

But like they say, what does not kill you makes you stronger. Some day soon I will blog about the positives of the job hunt!

RP

Pizza!

Sid is one of the many stranded across the world because of the volcanic ash problems. Only thing is that he has now made his way to India. He was going for 5 days and would have been gone for 16 by the time its time for him to come back!

So, I am all alone in London. Though he is the one who is stuck, I am the one in a worse situation!!!

I was initially quite unwelcoming of the idea of staying alone at home, however I am quite cool with it now and have been living on my own for a week now.

Today I had an important telephonic interview. It was supposed to happen at 5 in the evening and since I was preparing for it through the day all I had eaten was a sandwich. I was talking to Sid on the phone telling him about the interview and my lunch when he said that he will order a pizza for me.

I was quite reluctant to do this. The reason is that we have a pizza ritual. He orders his pepperoni pizza and I order my corn and mushroom pizza. We order it together. It just seemed weird to order pizza without him around.

He however insisted and I relented as I was too tired to cook.

The pizza guy came to deliver the pizza. He handed me a huge bag. It not only had a pizza but also potato wedges which I love to munch on and my favourite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

I think it is a small gesture. But I was very very touched by it. And I miss him all the more.

Love
RP

Maybe that day will never come

No PhD

So no PhD now. I gave my interview on the 8th of March and I came to know today that I have not been offered an admit.

I am disappointed that PhD will not happen but the disappointment is not too intense. First of all , while at the interview I came to know that PhD now takes 5-6 years to complete. I was quite disappointed to know that. Simply because then I would be locked in London for a very long period of time. Right now, Sid and I plan to stay in London for not more than 3 more years, head back to India after that and start working there.

It is possible to extend our stay in London to 4 years but 5 years with a high possibility of it turning to 6 years is just too much.

The experience of the interview itself was fantastic. I was interviewed non stop for some 8 hours straight with just 5-6 minutes for myself and I felt as I was walking back home that that experience was enough to make up for the work put in for PhD. I got an opportunity to speak to some of the top professors in the Marketing field in the world. It was an opportunity I was thankful for. I got a chance to bounce ideas off them and though I do not have an admit, some of them had really nice things to say about my proposal.

At the same time, while at my interview, I did not feel excited about the work I would be doing as PhD student. The same problem to be dealt with for the next 6 years was a concept too much to handle.

My other problem was with the amount of money. The stipend itself is quite less and stays the same year after year. So though a job I might get right now might not pay me a gloriously high amount here in London, I can hope and work for a raise.

The other unfortunate bit is that once done with a PhD you become over qualified for all the high paying jobs around.

So, in short you get into this line if and only if you are getting into it for the love of studying and teaching and are okay with a low salary and the kind of life it brings along with it.

I don’t know whether I would have accepted the offer had I got one but I know it would have been a tough decision because it is not every day that you get a course offer from the No 1 B school in the world.

In conclusion, I know I did my best, I really cannot think of anything more I could have done to improve my chances. I am a little sad cos I tried my hand at something, came very close to getting it and then did not, but it was a good ride. I will know for the rest of my life that I gave it my best try and I will also now know that I might not have been such a great fan of an academic career either.
Corporate ! Here I come !

Manager. Writer. Artist.(Yeaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! *Victory Dance*)

So, I have been job hunting. I have given one interview and they have been taking ages to get back to me. This is really funny. It can be ‘No’ which is fine atleast that way I know that one thing is done with.

Apart from that I have another interview on the 4th of March and then the PhD thing on the 8th of March. So well… things are happening and still in a limbo.
So anyways, rather than sitting and fretting about it which I do once in a while, I have decided to learn some skills on my own.

So the first thing that I wanted to learn was ----Tadda! Painting with water colors.

I dunno why I was hell bent on water colors. Maybe it is that hideous painting in my living room here. I am sure it is the copy of some great artist with a complicated French name but it is down right hideous.

I look at it often and think that I can def do a better job of it.

Anyways so today I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where in London I can get water colors. Most areas were too far off and in parts of London I have not been to before. Plus I was feeling a little down today with a bad throat and all. So I just set out of my home. Just like that. Looking around for paints. Aasking people where I can find them.

So that led me to the local post office. And there I found my paints and my paint brushes and some paper. I must say they are not of the best quality but I did not wish to invest in something I was trying out for the first time.

So well, I came home with all my stuff and got down to painting my first water color in ages.

I made 3 today. The 1st two are unfortunately only a little less hideous than the painting in my living room but I like the third one.

I have cheap bad brushes and few cheap colours but I still enjoyed the experience as I tried to copy what the video showed me ( I youtube-ed for water color landscape tutorials and such like).

So the following are the links of the stuff I have tried to copy followed with some pics for you guys to enjoy.

The purple flower
Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHdCq1upQ30



I don’t like this too much but then if you see the video it is a close match with what the lady has been drawing in the video. So I guess purpose served.

The weeping willow
Youtube Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY-w_6DZS5g


Okay. Here I am quite happy with the background but I think the tree looks a little weird. As if some one has titled it to one side. The colors are too pale. Not too good but I guess do-able for the second attempt.

The African tree
Youtube Link: I am sorry I cannot find the link for this one I have just used. Thats unfortunate. Tch. Tch.





This is my favourite and I like this one quite a bit. It is simple, was easy to make and most importantly made me feel good! Yeaaayyyy!

As I was telling Sid, although right now I am not working … ok wait…I technically am working since I have not resigned from my previous job…and I have started writing short stories again my current designation/ designations is/are

1. Assistant Manager at a company I don’t work at
2. Writer
3. Artist
How cool is that!!!

Hehehe

Love
RP

This feels like London

I forget that I am in London. Okay. That came out wrong. The Brits try so hard to preserve all that is ancient and cultural that most places look very quaint and you hardly feel like you are living in one of the biggest cities of the world at the moment.

I live by the Thames. My house has an absolutely glorious view of the river. http://smilethesmile.blogspot.com/2010/01/river-thames.html).

Each time I go out and peep to my left I get to see what has now become my favourite view of the city. The way it should look. Powerful and Big. Don't get me wrong, I love the quaint bits to bits. Its just that I love seeing something in London look big. Evrything here including houses, rooms, ceiling, beds is just so tiny!!

Here is the view for you to look at :)

By the day



When the Sun sets



At night.(This pic does not even come close to 10% of the actual thing looks..but still..)



Are not these pretty ? :)

Conversations with the nurse

There is something called the NHS. UK provides you with health services free of cost (ofcrourse they take away 40-50 % of your salary as tax so they had better !) Sid and I had to register for the same. We wanted appointments together we got a slot 14 days later!

So anyways, we went on time and all. I was a little nervous when a shabby looking nurse called my name. she was wearing a crumpled looking shirt from under which I could easily see her huge belly hanging south wards!

So anyways, I went it. The first thing she says is “ In case you do not understand what I say ask me to repeat it and I will do so”. I smiled to myself and nodded a yes.

In some time she realized that I do understand the English she speaks so we kinda struck up a conversation.

“So, what do you do?”
“I am an MBA”, I said.
“What is an MBA?” she asked much to my horror.

“You become a manager”, I said.
She nodded her head. I was not sure that she got what I said.
“What will you do here?”
“I am looking for jobs and looking at PhD”
“What is a phd?”, she asked.

“You become a doctor with a phd , I said.
She shrugged her shoulders.

She took my BP and I was a little doubtful about the numbers so I asked her to repeat the diastolic and systolic figures ( when someone takes your bp they will give you 2 numbers. The above are medical names for the same).

The nurse who had just taken my BP, my pulse rate, my height, my weight and recommended me for another test, said “ I am sorry I do not know what that is”

OMG! OMG! Totally OMG! I feel so funny about NHS now!

And for those of you who are in India, enjoy the medical facilities there! Trust me you will miss them when you are out of india!

RP


P.S Sid went in next and the nurse figured that we are husband and wife.
“ You must be very scared of her,”, she asked my husband.
“ Why would that be”, asked Sid.
“She is soo clever!”, replied the nurse.
Hmpfff!

Short List

Those of you who have been following my posts for some time would know that I have been spending a lot of time working on my phd application.

The first thing I did when I finished B school was to get on with GMAT prep. GMAT prep was a blessing in disguise for me. I had just started work and was about to get married. So all the anxiety which in retrospect is natural for a bride to be would vanish the moment I would open my GMAT book. Plus it gave me a goal to work on which is one thing that always helps.

I gave TOEFL nine days before my wedding. When I came back from my honeymoon many office hours were spent trying to figure out a topic for the phd proposal and the one week I spent with my in laws was spent in penning down the two essays and changing most part of them and re writing them.

In the wee hours of 8th Jan, with my flight to London due in a couple of hours, I finished my essays and submitted my lone application for PhD.

So yes, it has been eventful. But fruitful as well. A fews days ago, I got a mail from the school telling me that I have been short listed for the interview.

I get to spend one whole day with some of the best profs in the marketing domain, get interviewed by them and hopefully meet some more students willing to get into the academic career.

I am excited about this opportunity and am looking forward to 8th of march which is when the interview should happen.

Wish me luck 

Till then,
RP

Dog Poop

I went out for a walk today in the evening. Outside one house right on the street was some dog poop, probably a day old. Next to it, the owner of the house had pasted this huge A4 size white paper on which was written

“ Not only is it disgusting but it is a criminal offence to leave your pets poop on the street. Come back and clean it.”

Haah!

The importance of speaking nicely!

Of late I have realized how important it is to speak nicely to people around you. Specially if they are important in your life. You might do all the right things but by speaking in an incorrect manner that might be too harsh, too aggressive you just take it all away.

I wonder why the way you speak makes all the diffrence in the world. I cannot find an answer. Maybe it is just me -I have been raised that way. I remember being scolded if I ever spoke rudely to anyone. I have realized through my interaction with others that I am not alone. No one likes to be spoken rudely but unfortunately people don’t think twice before being rude.

When you say/ do something bad to a person, he or she will take a long time to forget it. Really long time. Maybe he or she will never forget it. As they say, it is easier to forget something nice someone has done to you than it is to forget something bad said / done.

My mum speaks to me with too much of love in her voice. She showers love on me and sometimes, now specialy when I think of how nicely she ALWAYS speaks to me I just feel such a huge lump in my throat. I never realized that all people are not that way. I miss mum terribly. And I miss her solely because of how much she used to love me. It does not, at times, makes sense to me to be so far away from her.
I miss the last one year at home. I had a great job that was paying me really well for little or no work. I had great friends at office who were absolutely wonderful and I had mum and dad. I guess it is just one of those days…I cant stop thinking about my Mum. I would give anything to be with her right now. …………..

Best Friends

I don’t know if any of the readers from when I first started to blog 5 years ago are around. But if you are, you might remember my best friend N, I used to talk about.
N and I have known each other since we were in class 1 and have been best friends since class 5. We were together till class 12 after which I went to do an engg degree and she went to get a degree in fashion. However, I was still at home so whenever she would come back to meet her folks I would be right there. After that she left the country and moved to a place called Preston in the UK.

I then moved out of my city to do an MBA, however we still kept meeting as she would come home for diwali holi types when I would also be home.
Now I am in London and guess where N has been for the last 3 years???

LONDON!!!

And what is like super cool is that she lives twenty minutes from house by the tube!
So after 8 long years my best friend and I are together in the same city! And what a blessing that has been.

I absolutely do not know what I would have done here without N around. She is free on Mondays and Tuesdays which is when S is busy with office, so they have become ‘our’ days.

Mondays:
She comes home. I cook lunch for us. We talk for like 3-4 hours.

Tuesdays:
We meet at some station. And she takes me to some place she thinks I would like to see.

So the first Tuesday N & I went to Oxford street to do some all important shopping. Today N took me to a place called Covent Garden and Neal street. And, Oh my gawd!

That place is just so pretty. The cobbled streets and the tiny little shops that have so much of heart! I saw joke shops with the silliest stupidest things for sale. I saw shops with low white ceilings that looked like attics. There were shops where everything was pink and silver. There were people performing on the streets. There was an eating joint where entire meals were desserts. I checked out big stores and small little shops. I saw junk stores. It was just such a nice pleasant evening.
We walked for like 4-5 hours. We just kept on walking and talking. It is so funny with old friends. You might have spent the last decade on different continents but when you meet you meet like you were together yesterday.

We then walked to Trafalgar square. Clicked some mad pics. Walked some more. Lunched together. Laughed hysterically at crazy things. Did not know how time passed.
And as I sat on my bus home (was doing this on my own for the first time )I realized one very important thing. It is wonderful to spend time with your husband. Mine is a lot of fun to be around and pampers me with all the shopping and the eating out. That’s great but what is equally great and I must say equally important is girl time. You need to have girl friends you can hang out with. Laugh like crazy with. Spend hours with without yawing.

I don’t have a job right now. There are some interviews lined up for next week. I am more than grateful to have that opportunity given the situation in the UK right now.

But I am so glad I can spend time like this right now. I do not remember when I felt so free last.

My Mum says N is one of the very very very few people who make me genuinely happy.
I have known N for 19 years. I am 25 years old. Enough said.

To best friends.

R

River Thames.

Rives Thames flows right next to my house. In the last one week I have been in London, the one thing I have absolutely totally and completely fallen in love with is the Thames.

Our drawing room has wall sized windows looking into the river and I have started spending a lot of my time when S is not at home right next to the them.
The weather of London is as fickle as a loose minded girl. It changes in like a split second and trust me I am not exxageerating at all! Sitting by the window, in the comfort of my bright yellow razai, with the room heating on, I enjoy looking at whatever the weather has to offer. Rain. Snow. Winds. bright sunshine. Weak sun.

I can see a row of houses on the other side of the river lined a safe distance from it. If I crane my neck a little bit I can also see the big huge office buildings on the other end. Most importantly, however, I keep seeing people running on the banks.

I love that. I do not feel lonely, I keep doing my work and when ever I feel a little bored of what I am doing I peep out to see what the joggers are upto. They are quite a mad lot. You will see joggers/ runners in shorts when the temperature is a good -2 degrees and its snowing!

Some times young mothers get their kids in strollers and walk by the river. That’s a pleasant sight. At times giggly girls walk hand in hand. Sometime there is an artist who sits by the river with his canvas captivated by the river and the beauty that it offers.

Then there are the cyclists! In bright green or oarange. London is sparsely populated. Coming from the country I come from where there are more people than there is space, the river bank and the people that keep coming to run/ jog/ stroll make me miss the hustle and bustle of home a lot less.

The PhD application process

Okay, so I have applied for PhD in marketing. I submitted the application on 8th of January early morning, 3-4 hours before I was to leave home for the airport to catch my flight to London.

I had been working on the application almost ever since I left B-school which was March last year. I studied for and gave GMAT & TOEFl. Got a 740/800 and 115/120 in respectively. I only know how I managed to do all that along with a new job, the wedding preparations and the actual wedding. So with the exams done, the next step was to attack the application essays.

There were two. One was a ‘why PhD’ essay and the other was a thesis proposal. I spent a lot of time I had free in office to do research work for the latter. I would discuss the same with other Management trainees as well.

I was done with the first essay long back. However though I felt it was okay, there was indeed something missing. So, on 8th ( the last day of submission when I was staying with my in laws) I found a friend’s friend who was very good at reviewing essays and had offered to help me. He totally did not like my first essay but was thankfully happy with my second (which was more crucial as coming up with a new topic for PhD thesis in a couple of hours would have been next to impossible).

That day was quite mad. S was coming back from a 4 day official trip, we had to go pick him up and then do a lot of last minute packing, submit my essays and then get on the flight to London!

To start with it took us some 5 hours to go pick up S from the airport. A flat tyre on the fly over, and hyper congested roads were two big reasons why this happened. I came back to work on my essay. However, thankfully, I had to replace the whole thing and did not need to rewrite anything per se.

By 1 or maybe one thirty, I was done with my essay. I sent it to my friend who reviewed the whole thing and then we mailed it.

It has been a long process just applying for the PhD. I have just applied for one school. It is the best that can be offered here. I do not know if I am any good compared to the rest of the junta from round the globe who will also apply but I know I have worked hard on this.

More importantly this was one thing that kept me sane and quite and peaceful during the last 8-9 months when so much was happening in my life. Wish me luck , people. Getting an interview call alone would be big enough for me.

I will not know anything before March so for the time being it is all quiet and I am enjoying the ups and downs of domestic life.

Love

RP

London Fashion

The problem is that if you are new to London, no matter how (Sensibly) fashion conscious you have been in india, you WILL look out of place. Anyone with the littlest of brains can have one look at you and figure out that you are new to this place. Its ok to stand out if are looking ten times better than the rest of the junta, but not the coolest to stand out because you look like a misfit.

However, as I realized yesterday, just a little bit of sensible shopping can help you out here. That was the main reason why I went shopping yesterday. I got myself a pair of boots. That is like absolutely essential. Even grandmothers wear boots. The babes were I guess born in them, carrying a couple more in their baby hands!

Another essential item is a pair of woolen tights. That is like super essesntial here for the dresses and all. It is surprising how just a little bit of shopping can help you fit in so easily.

Everything is 50% off right now. I don’t think shop owners have an option- its so bad. Iike bathroom fittings are 50% off, clothes are 50% off and hand cream is 50% off. I find most items expensive at 50% rates, so I don’t really know how I will feel about shopping once the sale is off and all the stuff is back to the normal super expensive rates. Sigh!

Okay, women in London are very well dressed. By very I mean like VERY. Most of them are so perfectly turned out that if it weren’t rude I would just stare at them. May be it is the shadi effect but I just realized that I have not really paid any attention to how good/ bad the men look! Anyways, so the women and the girls have perfect make up, the dresses are absolutely drop dead gorgeous….

And most of them are just so so so tall! Trust me I saw a girl a few days back who was atleat 7 feet! She just would not end! And she looked just like those women they show on high fashion TV!

Anyways, I guess I have a lot to learn in terms of everything…..sometimes I feel glad I don’t have work right now. There is just so much to take in.

Love
RP

Realization

So it almost brought me to tears yesterday. In all the enthusiasm of being at home alone for the first time I had made a huge list of things to including emptying 2 suitcases, settling my cupboard, cleaning the entire house, cooking lunch for a friend who was coming over and cooking dinner for S’s friend.

I had been on my feet for some 12 hours straight when I first got a chance to sit down. I was just so absolutely dead tired. I took a breather and as I sat down with some dirty utensils in my hand, my thoughts went back to ma and how so many times she had done so many things for us without even letting us know how tired she must have been. And how no one realises it.

So, though I will never muster up I don’t know what to go upto her and tell her this, I would like her to know that now I can understand how much work she has been doing for us over the years. And, though it is quite late, I want to thank her in my head.

Thank you Ma.

RP

Day One in London

Okay, so after working for one month post my wedding and spending one very nice week with my in laws, I reached London on the 8th of January, 2009. Highlights

1.I got an upgrade to Business (Delhi to Dubai) and I hated taking it up as S did not get one.

2.We went walking yesterday when it was snowing like crazy. S showed me all the places I would know of from our phone conversations.

3.We lost our marriage certificate!

4.Hopefully some mahaan atma will find it and post it or something.

5.I made daal yesterday!

6.It is so so so so so cold.

7.I am now the proud owner of an oyster card!!!!

8.We did some grocery shopping yesterday, walked for like 2-3 hours and crashed dead at 8!

9.London is just so pretty and S tells me it looks prettier in the summers. Cant wait for March then!

Till THEN.

RP

4 days
Haldi and Headache.

What a day! Seriously! Oh My God!

It started off with some confusion between Sid and me about the reception lehenga but thankfully all of it soon got sorted out. After that I spent a lot of time with Rai jee (the driver Tauji has assigned to us) shopped for wedding baskets, got pics clicked. All that seems like it were ages ago!

After that the first pooja, that marks the beginning of the wedding festivities, happened. I am so yellow now!

Immediately after the haldi thingie, Mum, I and mehra aunty set of to do some shopping again.

Came back at around ten when a cousin and her family dropped by.

So that was it. Some highlights
• I thought I was speaking to sid, when I realized that it was actually his
dad. It was such an Ouch moment that I will not forget it in a hurry! :P

• Spoke to Dada, Nani, Aunty Uncle, Bhai before I sat for the haldi pooja

• I am sooo yellow

• I have this funny weird thing tied to my wrist that is making life exceptionally miserable!

• Spoke to NA after a long time

• I am amazed at how single handedly Ma is doing everything

• Interesting session with the RI guys! Sheesh man!

• I have realized that wedding is a very high pressure thing! There have been
so many many big small emergencies that it is exhausting me inside out!

• I am so looking forward to a day of rest.

Tomorrow is sundarkand ki pooja. The day after is the ladies sangeet! That is when I get to meet sid! Yipeeeeeeeee

6 Days
Shopping shopping shopping
Okay so since I am writing this a day late, I have already forgotten most of yesterday. It seems so so so far away.
I did so much of shopping that the credit card people called me up to find out if I have my credit card with 
I bought some stuff for Dad but am too happy with what I bought for S and see little opportunity for doing the same anytime before the wedding.

Not Like

I was as usual dead tired by the time I hit the bed. And I have no recollection about what happened last night except for the fact that I did fight with Sid.
Hehe

Then we reached KT which is where I like picked up 4 salwar suits. They are jhatka ones. In the morning when I was packing and repacking stuff I realized that in an attempt to not buy jhatka stuff all the stuff I had was very plain and simple. That was enough to send ma in a panic attack. Normally we would have taken some 4 hours to buy one nice expensive suit. Call it difficult times but today I bought 4 suits in like 20 minutes flat.

Tauji came over after that and made me wear all of those so that he could give me his expert comment on that!


I have not been myself lately. I have been feeling very over worked and all that but like Sid explained to me last night, its all to make sure that the wedding day is a nice one. It is for the both of us.

I wish I would soon get back to being myself. I don’t know how S puts up with me when I am in one of those moods. The first thing I loose when I get angry is logic. And even when he is sooooper angry, S always remains logical which makes things very simple for me…..


I hardly recall anything much about last night really

6 Days
Pati-to-be in apana Des!

Okay so Sid and I are in the same time zone for the first time in almost 5 months. I never realized that that could have such a positive impact on us!

Sid without work to worry about is so so so different and sooooo much more lovable than Sid with lots of office work to do and a home to manage. I am so not used to this Sid and so used to Sid in London that I had to ask him if he were a little high. He just sounded so relaxed, laughed at my feeble attempts at humor, had things to tell me, had some very nice things to say….So, yes I am very glad to have him home and am looking forward to seeing him this Sunday.:D

The first half yesterday was quite dull. Things picked up in the second half with Mum and me going out shopping!

I am just so so so so so so glad that I earn at this point of time and have money of my own to splurge. I feel it each time I take out my debit/ credit card to buy something I would never had bought were I not earning myself.

I spent a lot of time hunting for Sid’s flip flops but I guess I will have to go out for them once again.

Hair cut did not happen yesterday as Mum had a lot of other important work to deal with but should happen today! But yes the dentist visit it done. I see absolutely no difference in my teeth. :|

Last night Dad’s friend came over. He is a brilliant neurologist, topper of his batch all throughout and all that blah. He called me over and made me sit down with him for he had some tips for me. I am putting them down here for posterity.

• Doctors are next to God. There is no profession apart from that of a doctor’s where a man comes, gives you money and touches your feet before leaving. Know that you have the genes of sooo many doctors in you. Be proud of the fact.

• No matter how much you love your husband and his family (which you must and should), never ever forget the people who stayed up the whole night just to be with you when u were bawling your head off for no reason as a 6 month old.

• Self respect. Arrogance. Know the two and understand the difference. Never be arrogant in your marriage and never let any one mess with your self respect.

• You are not a door mat. Never let anyone treat you like that no matter how much you love them.

• Love as much as you would want to be loved.


Apart from this I had a sad conversation with a friend of my Mum who started crying on the phone with me cause I am now getting married. It is sad, the silence on the other end broken only by sobs. She kept telling me how much she loved me and how I am now going so very far from her…….

The night ended with a flurry of messages between Bhai me and N, which is quite common these days and I kind of like it very much. I sometime also message L a good night though not less frequently. Anyways, after that Bhai called me up (it was past mid night) and told me, in a very causal manner, all the details of the sclerosis patient (his case for the viva he must be giving as I type), including how he is vomiting blood and how only liver transplant can save his life. I know full details about bilirubin, how spider like things form on the skin, what a splenomegaly is and what a heptamegaly is. I could not sleep after the conversation and had to pick up ‘Villette’ and read it for 10 minutes before I could again fall asleep.:|

That is how another day ended.

Love
RP

7 days
Last Day @ Office

It was a nice day. I liked it. I distributed the wedding cards to the CEO, COO, HR head, Zonal team guys, CSD Head etc

It was nice to have a one on one with the CEO. He is such a no nonsense guy. What was funny was how the first thing he said when he found out that Sid is based out of London was to suggest that I should go to London and try my hand at LBS :P
I was so shocked! He told me he wanted 5 minutes with me if i could find the time. HahahHAHAHA

All the people I went to (and there were not many) were nice and all of them promised to be there.

My friends in office know how badly I want a hard disk and how I could not find time to get it and put movies in it.
They are acting so smart! They told me yesterday that it is not the right time to buy the hard disk and I should not waste my time on it. KC very casually asked me what kind of movies I liked. He he.

I left a ‘ Miss me and be there message’ on the soft board

RA, KC and I went to RC again and started giving me senti gyan like this is the last time you are coming as a single girl to RC with us and all that.:(
We made RA treat us cause he was getting a new lappy back in office...phew I get so senti about all this..dunno how i will be at the vidai!

Ok. Apart from that, nothing much happened, I took a lot of print outs in office- I think I finished one whole reel yesterday.

Back at home there was some tension about the reception lehenga so my folks made me wear it again and again we decided that it looks good and that lehenga stays.
In the morning also I tried the suit for the ladies sangeet with all the accessories-that’s also ok types I guess.

Called up RA and spoke to her for like an hour. Took a major decision which I think I am happy about if a little apprehensive!

Today is going to be a hectic day. I intend to shut both the suitcases today, go for a facial, get a hair cut, do some shopping for Sid, make the medicine box, do that work for Bhai- that should pretty much cost me the day.

And oh yes! Sid reaches India today!
Nice :)

8 Days
The ‘Blushing Bride to Be’

So today was the second last day at office before I start the longest break I have ever taken in my life so far.

And hence was the right time for the treat! I took SA, RA and KC (my friends from office and management trainees like myself) for the pre wedding treat. They had been after my life for soooo long. So we went to PI for lunch. It was, as usual a nice meal where these guys spent a lot of time wondering how I manage to do so much of nautanki all the time. When I kept on insisting that I do not do it purposely, it was concluded that nautanki is so much in me that I do it without knowing that I am doing it :|

Office was boring with the guy who we were supposed to report to absent from office for most of the day. We took out annual reports of the company and spent a great deal of time finding out the salaries of people around us. I never thought it would be so much fun!

Wedding shopping was minimal. I bought bangles for the ladies sangeet and jewellery needed for the Reception. So now all that is done and I can breathe easy.

Today onwards I am in the ‘Blushing bride to be’ mode. I shall be very coy and smile to myself most of the day and look v pretty all the time. (ok the last one was taking things too far, so maafi for the tongue of slip *blush* ).

Like I promised Ma, I shall eat and sleep properly from now on.

Love
RP


P.S *Blush* *Blush*

10

Today was TOEFL day. I am glad it is over. I don’t know how it went. I need a 100/120 and I am hoping I will get it. Otherwise I don’t know what I will do!

Anyways, finally I can concentrate on just one thing. ‘The’ one thing.

Just 2 more days of work remain before I start my break! No office till the the 3rd of December. That should be interesting 

Everyone keeps asks me how I am feeling, what is going on in that head of mine…I don’t really know.

Nothing. Sometimes

A gazillion things. Most of the times

Like N told me the other day, ‘other people get married na! It never happens to you!’….I think that was very well put. I sometimes feel I don’t really understand what a life changing thing marriage is. Maybe that’s good. The less you think the better it is.

Today was tiring. 4.5 hours of exam. Taxing.

I had no plans of doing anything much. I have been wasting my time, online, talking on the phone and generally doing nothing.

An aunt is coming over from the 11th itself. People have started coming over for the wedding! Can you beat that! My wedding is that close… heheheh

I have started rerererereading ‘Villette’ by Charlote Bronte. I can’t think of another book half as well written as Villette. I love the time I get to spend with that book. Fantastic!

The bride to be :|

I am getting married

I am trying to change my career 360 degrees

I have one more exam to study for and give

I am doing a full time job

I live at home and my folks need me there to decide the cards, decide the photographer, decide the decoration, decide the jwellery, decide the clothes, decide the gifts, decide the venue, decide every little thing and every big thing

I am the bride to be, so i need to find time to do all the bride to be things like an occasional facial, a hair spa which by the way i have not had any time to do even once

I am so totally going mad now.

Grrrrrrrr

vnvh

IF

“I think it all comes back to you. It is about what you have done and not really about how heart broken you were while doing it…..the way you might have treated someone, no matter how badly you wanted to treat that person the other way….no matter how hard you tried…no matter how much it mattered..no matter how difficult it is for you to forget…no matter how many millions of battles you fought in your own little feeble ways…no matter how again and again it all comes back to you…..no matter the zillions of tears…no matter the sheer helplessness….no matter how even the littlest of things takes you back….no matter how painful it is to go back..no matter how you long to go back for just a minute…no matter how horribly painful it still is and no matter that you know for a fact that it shall always and always remain so.”

Why? Why? WHY???

I will miss it all…..

By the time I get married I would have been engaged for almost 10 months, that’s like almost an year. So for the longest time ever I have been getting ready for the wedding. There is tonnes of shopping to do, dresses to get stitched, other stuff to look at, a job to go to each day, GMAT to study for give, Toefl to study for and give, Phd application to write, transcripts, recos, essays…..

So obviously more often than not I feel like I have too much on my plate managing everything. But I love it!!. I love the fact that on some days I am so tired that I cannot move a finger. I love the fact that my week ends are busier than week days! I love the fact that there is always so much to do!

Okay, it helps that when I leave home at 9 and come back at 9 Mum opens the door with the nicest, broadest smile that somehow makes all the exhaustion fly away. It really helps when I get up on Monday morning, even before I can open my eyes properly I somehow make my way to wherever Ma is and make her sit down and sit in her lap and pseudo sleep for some 10 minutes before she succeeds in pushing me away. It helps that Dad offers to drive and pick me up from office each day, just like he did when I was in school and in engg college. It helps that when I am really frustrated and uselessly pick up fights with Sid, he has the patience to make it all ok. It helps that I have some really great friends in office with whom I monkey around the whole day!!

I will miss all of this…..I will miss being the bride to be! I have been the bride-to-be for such a long time that it has almost grown on me! Where ever I go some one or the other teases me or pulls my leg about the wedding. Everyone has so many questions to ask. I used to get irritated- I have always been happy to be in the background and I hated it when all the attention was suddenly perpetually directed at me! But now I think when I am married and all this has quietened down, I shall miss it!!

I hate shopping. I just hate it now. Wedding shopping is vicious. It is wicked. I just does not end. It is like this mutant virus that refuses to be tamed. I hate it. The dislike is mutual. It hates me too. It hates me real bad now. It just does not end. Not even after months and months of it- it does not end.

I hate it but I know I will miss it when it ends. I will miss the wedding shopping. Damn it!

I will miss Ma’s constant threats about how like an ugly duckling I am bound to look at my wedding if I do not finish that particular half a glass of milk in the next five minutes!

I will miss the urgency that envelopes my home right now. There are so many things that need to be done, the so many details to be looked into. The so many little things one must not forget.

In fact once I am with Sid post the wedding there are so many things about Sid and me that I will miss. I will miss talking to him on the phone right before I sleep at night. I will miss staying up late just to speak to him after he finishes office. I will miss looking at the watch and immediately subconsciously deducting 4.5 hours from it. I will miss looking at the watch that says 12:30 and saying to myself, ‘ oh! Its just 8. I will miss waiting for his call. I will miss waiting for him to come to India. I will miss his voice on the phone. I will miss the 2 minute ISD ‘hi’ and’bye’ conversations. I will miss the hour long conversations.

I will miss doing all the nautanki I do with him that can only be done on phone. I will miss sending him good morning messages. I will miss sending him good night messages. I will miss making album of insignificant events in my life and mailing them to him. I will miss working with him on google spread sheets. I will miss sending him mails. Big ones. Small ones. Stupid ones. Angry ones. Mails that just say ‘I love you’.

I will miss this bitter sweet anxiety I feel constantly as the wedding date draws near. Life is about to change forever. And in a big way. And in a nice way. And in a happy way.

In the end I have just one little thing to say. I think if you can love someone with all your heart and more, you are more blessed than you think you are. :)

Good night,

Take care,

RP.

P.S. There is a letter from Sid to all you bloggers. He posted it as a comment on a post on him ½ days back. I am putting it here for all the regular bloggers here :)

Hiya All,

This is 'Sid' here... many thanks for all the kind words and these are much appreciated. Everything the missus has written in her post is true (ahem, ahem)... We are hopelessly in love and are about to tie the knot soon :D

More to follow.

Cheers,Sid.

Back!

Hi. So I gave GMAT today and was very relieved to see a 740 staring at me at the end of the exam.

I can now stop looking for dangling modifiers and subject verb agreement even while reading text messages and emails. :)

Okay so this post will be dedicated to my GMAT prep. It might not interest people with no interest in GMAT. Hence the warning :)

1. I decided around March that I need to give GMAT. Mid April I got my OG 11th edition for some 1100 bucks :
2. However, I was not studying properly. I mean, I was totally free and just did not want to do anything. Maybe that was coz I had just finished B school and no matter how much my mind told me to study, the heart would not listen

However during this time I did 0G11. I started with the diagnostc test and realised that (of all things!) my strength was Quant and the weakest link was Verbal. Though I must say, quant by and large was quite easy and English by most standards is difficult and needs a lot of work.

3. In this time I went to my Nani's place and gave GMAT prep there. I score 710 and 700 respectvely. That was fine I could have given GMAT then only, but something told me I could do better.

Then I decide to give my self a break and made a detailed study plan begining one week after work began.
I knew it was going to very hectic and it was foolish of me to waste the holidays but I also knew that when pushed for time, I am at my best.

4. I got my friend to get me books from Delh. I spent 2 whole days reading briefs from people who had cracked it and those who had not cracked it as well.
It gave a very good idea of what to do and what not to do. The idea behind reading briefs is to not follow blindly everything you read, but once you read a couple of briefs you will start seeing some common things. Those are things that have a high chance of working for you!Concentarte on them

5. I decided a few things

• First I decided to not do verbal from any source other than OG.
• I therefore did both OG 11 and OG 12. I did all the questions of verbal 3 times
• I also decided to not leave a single word in OG verbal unread.
• Therefore I spent a lot of time reading the explanations to SC, CR and RC questions.

With time, I started understanding the grammar bit and I knew why the correct answer was a correct answer which I now feel is most important.

Apart from this the only other non OG book I did for verbal was Kaplan 800 which supposedly takes your score from 700 to 750 :P

Well in my case maybe it did!!

6. For quant I did the last 50 questions of OG11,12 in PS and DS. I then hunted for tough GMAT maths problems and spent most of the time studying them.

7. Gave GMAT prep again. Score 740 and then 770 (!!!) and gave the test toady to finally score 740 :)

Thats all for today, am really tired now:)

Take care people.

RP

Quick Post

I am giving GMAT on the 24th of August, 2009. I need all the good wishes I can get. :)

Wish me luck.

Right now life is a little messy with office hours and GMAT prep. However I will be back to regular blogging once I am done with GMAT. There is just soooo much to tell you all

Love
RP