About going to the movies

Now that we are parents, going out to see a movie is a luxury and this weekend when we went, I thought about all important instances when I had gone to catch a movie, the time, the scenario and the fact that I love to watch movies.

The first memory I have of going to see a movie and not watching it on VCR (Yes, we used VCR back then) is going to the movie 'Maine pyar kiya' with my sister and my friend and her Mom and sister. My Mom wasn't in town and Dad was at work and there was no way we would be taken to see it, so we decided to go with friends. It was weird going out without our parents and I was all of 9-10 years old, why would I find this movie entertaining. But this is my first memory, so well..
Next I remember moving to Delhi and going out to see 'Jurassic Park' with my sister and her friends. O how I was smitten by this one friend of hers, he was very polite to me the entire time and I mistook it for love. Heheh...fun times still !
Then my cousin moved to Delhi and these were the all important 11-12th years, when every soul wanting to be an engineer or a doctor (and those were our only choices) was neck deep in books and not allowed to think about movies and such. But my cousin coaxed my parents and she and I had a fun time seeing 'My best friends wedding' and some more. The whole multiplex rage was just starting in Delhi and those were crazy days. It's a very important memory because of the timing of these movies, I would come back from it and get back to my dreary books.
Next I left for the land-of-a-1000-stories - Jabalpur. Now here, we were not permitted to be friendly with boys, but I was who I was and I got friendly with R. (Poor soul, probably repents it till now). So on his B'day he invited the girls and guys out to catch "Mummy". Boy, was that a fun evening! It was pouring rain, our college was on strike and we didn't really have anything much to do. The movie made us all happy and it paved the way for the 999 other stories :D
Next is the time when S came to Delhi and we had to give our TOEFL exam. It was in the afternoon and we had but a day to spend in Delhi together. So we decided to do what anyone would do before an exam, we went to catch a movie. Ironically we saw American Desi. A laugh riot and it helped to calm our non existent exam blues. Memorable for the timing and the stir we caused amongst our parents :D (If you haven't seen this movie, it's a must watch.)
The first 3D movie I saw 'SuperMan'. Such a dumb movie. And my friend S and I were late coming in, and we had to sit almost at the foot of the giant screen. Very painful in every way, not to mention the wrath of the friends who suffered coz of us.
Next milestone in the memory lane is when G n I went for our first movie together. We went to see Click with Adam Sandler. Memorable for all the reasons you're thinking of and some more. We weren't engaged then, and boy was there a whole furor. (Coz ours is an arranged marriage and till it is not arranged, going out for a movie was not the acceptable behaviour).
While I was pregnant, my bum chum A and I decided to go see a movie. She was just out of sorts and I wanted to get out of the rut, so we went to see a movie. That movie turned out to be MJ's 'This is it'. It was memorable, because it was so much fun. Because we got to do it after a really long time, I guess the time b/w her and my pregnancy. And it was MJ, who's music we grew up to and it gave us goosebumps :)
The next memorable movie is when G n I went to see 'Avatar' this is after the kids were born and we going to be leaving them with the Nanny and going to catch the movie. I cried half way through the movie because I am emotional like that :D
And that is my movie journey so far. I bet we'll add so many more like when the kids go to see their first movie, when N and G decide they want to see their kinda movie. When the kids go off to movies alone w/o us and when G and I are old and senile and we'll go with our grand kids :)
Hail Bollywood, Hollywood!!!!

My Sins Against Gender Stereotypes

My Sins Against Gender Stereotypes – tagged by IHM

This is a tag from Anu:

If you are a woman,

Have you ever wanted something that is considered ‘manly’ ? Like a basketball, a cell phone, a dog, a camera or a new laptop? A new car or motor bike? Ever wanted to be a pilot? A doctor or not a nurse? And the manliest want of them all – The remote!

As a kid did you enjoy playing with a bat and a ball?

There was a time when books were considered ‘manly’, women authors had to pretend to be men – would you say books are still rather manly – women should want to embroider and crochet?

If you are a man,

Have you ever wanted something that only women are supposed to want – like bags, shoes, clothes, creams, perfumes, babies, flowers? A peaceful home and a happy family? Have you ever been afraid of the dark or of insects?

As a kid did you ever want to play ‘teacher-teacher’, cooking or did you like playing with a doll? Have you ever enjoyed cooking? Bought something in pink? Loved chocolates?

So Anu is right in saying that I when I read about this Tag on IHM's blog, I thought it to be a weird tag. But after reading a few posts on it, I started thinking, it might actually be interesting!
So here goes:
1. I am not the kinds who will sit pretty and not get my hands dirty, be it to change tires, haul things or help people move.
2. I love a lot of sports and it's not just in passing, but actually watching. Can't say the same for playing, I used to love playing volleyball in school, didn't keep it up after that.
3. I absolutely love reading about gadgets and if I can have them, then even better. Laptops being the most important.
4. I love to discuss politics.
5. I absolutely hate shopping! Detest it with a vengeance.
6. I hate the color pink, I have exactly 1 pink top in my closet.
7. I hate saying 'What's going on Babe' or some such thing to my girl friends.
8. I would much rather wear comfy shoes than wear pretty ones.
9. I prefer action packed thriller movies to chick flicks.
10. I have exactly 3 close girl friends + my sister. Most of my best friends are boys. (It's just happened that way, I haven't consciously done that. It's easier for me to talk to guys than girls.)

Alright, so here's my tag list.
1. Akansha Because I want to see if you come up with anything :)
2. J Man Would be fun to get a Man's POV.
3. Rajat, I know you don't have a blog, you can use my space here, but I want to know what your girly ways are :D

It turned out to be a fun blog. I have not mentioned some things from my childhood, where in girls always treated me suspiciously because I was too boyish for them :D

Newhoo, fun tag, thanks for tagging Anu!

Being busy

I have begun to notice how a number of us always have the same answer to the question 'How are you?' Ubiquitous answer : 'BUSY'. Or answers with the word busy in it.

Why are we all so busy? Or are we really busy? Do we like it? Do we surround ourselves with so much to do and then complain that we are busy?

I think lately, the trend is to be busy. I have noticed it in my extended family and in my friends. The moment you ask them what is going on, the first thing that pops out of their mouth is 'Busy
' . And when they say it there is a glee in their eyes. And when I tell them I am fine and life is good, they are surprised by my reaction. As if expecting a completely different answer.
Some of my family members will come up and to me and ask me 'Aur kaisa chal raha hai, busy busy'? And I am very perplexed, because I am not busy really. I have a job, which maybe gets demanding sometimes, but I usually don't carry the work home. I make good use of the 8 hours I am at work. When I come home, my time is for my family and friends and the things I want to do. Cooking is a fun thing, it does not make me busy. Having kids and playing with them, bathing them, feeding them, doesn't make me busy. Having a husband and spending time with him doesn't make me busy. Exercising is a choice, it again doesn't make me busy. We love to watch movies, we make time to do. We love to go out, we make time to do it. We love our friends and family and we will make time to do it. None of these activities make us busy.
I don't understand the people who say they are always busy or have 'chores' to finish. Why is it that your life is so complicated.

About falling sick and what matters most

The past few months have been not so nice to me health wise.
First the pregnancy, I had hyper tension through out my pregnancy and I was forced to stay home most of it, including working from home.
After that got over, heartburn took over and I had to take a few days off for tests and Dr visits.
Now it seems I have gallstones and I will again need some time off for tests and an maybe surgery.
During all this, my family, esp G and my Mom have been super duper supportive and helpful. And I cannot thank the Nanny enough, for just being there and giving me peace of mind knowing my babies were safe, at home and being fed.
But the one person I have not thanked enough is my Boss, J. He has been extremely supportive and let me do my thing - i.e. get better. I have not slacked at work, I always work around all my numerous Dr visits. But it still means a lot to the boss, because he is still answerable to people above him and my peers. I really don't know if there is that much pressure on him, but he's never made me aware of it and I really appreciate that. (We had a round of layoffs, I came out unscathed and he told me he had my back, isn't that awesome?)
Even with the kids being so small, he lets me work from home sometimes and that is the single most important thing that anyone has done for me, apart from my Mom being there to help us with the birth and the first few months of course. Being a new parent is never easy, but our world couldn't have been as comfortable as it has been had it not been for him. Once somebody had asked me what I thought of him and I had meant it then and mean it now "he's the best boss anyone could get".
Boy..total suck-up post this sounds like. But seriously it is not that. He doesn't know of the existence of this blog and I am not writing this to get any brownie points. I truly am very grateful to him. You totally Rock JHB.

Why not the whole shibang?

This is something which always bothers me. Should I be happy that I finally know the news? And ignore that I wasn't part of the tumultuous thought process that went into it? Or should I be mad? Because someone who calls me their best friend or the one person they cannot live without telling, wasn't informed. I know that there are things people don't want to share, but then why call me the most important person and then have these special off limit topics?
Am I wrong?
In the end, I am happy for the person of course! There is no way that I am not happy, but there is this little worm in my head that keeps telling me that I should have known from the start and not when all is happy and all smiles. I would have liked to be there for you my friend, I am not a fair weather friend, as you very well know.
If you are reading this post and you think it is you, then yes it is you! :D

My-brother-hit-me (NOT)

On Saturday, 15th May, I am in the kitchen, G is out, the kids are in their gym. The kids are getting very mobile, pushing their way 5 inches or so :) I always lay the kids down far enough, so they don't harm each other, but it really doesn't work anymore because they move towards each other so easily.
Suddenly, I hear Manya cry very loudly. So I run to see what's happened and sure enough Neev has his chubby little hand near Manya's head, and she is bawling. I immediately put some distance between them, laughing and thinking to myself, this is where it will begin 'Mom, Neev is being mean to me'.
Fast forward to today, again both the kids are in the gym, fairly apart, and this time I am sitting and watching them perform their antics. Suddenly Manya begins to cry, Neev is far from her and I am watching and she cries for no apparent reason. That is when I think, so maybe the other day also Neev hadn't really done anything to her and she was crying for a different reason. (Sorry Neevou, I was very quick to put blame)(This time she was crying , I think, because of a heavy diaper). Who knows what had happened before.
Nehoo..the kids are getting bigger and stronger. They have been on the verge of flipping over for 2 months now, but just wont do it. Both get stuck because one arm is in their way and they cannot figure out what to do. I don't know if I should freak out or not. All other milestones are in place. I will wait for the Dr's appointment this month.
My babies will be 6 months this month, I cannot believe how fast they are growing!!!

in a few years time...

..when you guys can read, you will laugh at yourselves. My little rut rags :)

Manya, you have a mind of your own, a very determined mind, mind you! (heh, i like how that sounds).
You love the mobile on your crib, you will be crying bloody murder but the moment I put you in the crib, for 2 minutes there is utter peace and quite. After having seen the mobile no less than a thousand times, it still fascinates you. For a full two minutes (and depending on my state of mind, that can very long or very short) you will be transfixed with it. It will not be moving or giving out any music, but just the hanging cats will keep you mesmerized.
And then suddenly remembering your purpose in life, you will start again.

In other occasions, when life is more settled and the purpose of life is to 'talk'. Manya will talk the ears off of the little cats hanging from her mobile. 'Umm Umm' and so on .. it's the cutest sound in the world.
You patiently lie down waiting to be swaddled, even smiling at us, when we set you down in your crib, it takes you exactly 5 minutes to get one arm and one leg out. Those 5 minutes are such fun. O, my little monster, you love to challenge your parents don't you?
You hate being on your tummy. You cry and cry, your face gets all red and you get so hot. And when you turn over, you don't realise that the misery is over, you still cry for a few minutes and then it's a funny laugh.
Manya darling ( I say it like Mona Darling)..I love you so much. I like your determined mind, always be the same, but always use it constructively ;)

Neev, you have the cutest smile :) You smile like your Dad and it makes my heart ache. I just love the gurgling laugh you laugh at no prompting at all. You laugh with your mouth open and many a times when I am on the phone with your Dad, particularly angry about something and you guys are not around, he will say to me 'think about Neev laughing with his mouth open' and it makes me smile and all is well with the world again :)
You like tummy time better than Manya, you just lie there, chilled out. You love the TV, every time you hear the TV, you crane your neck to see it. Twisting and turning just to get one glimpse. You have a very active peripheral vision, if we so much as cross it, you sense us and then want to be held. You have become very strong. If you don't want the bottle, you can flick it out of our hands. You love to 'talk' too, in your own funny and cute way, you're discovering new voices so you love to experiment.
You both can turn over now, but don't really want to do it all the time. You guys are also discovering each other and like to lie down side by side. You guys often smile at each other. Your Dad and I can watch you for hours. It's our favourite pass time. If your Dad and I are alone, guess what our favourite topic is!! :)
Happy 5th month B'day babies.