Neighbor Woes

This is more of a rant. K had been bugging the hell out of me to make my own dosa and idli batter ever since we got married. I didn't bother since Amma and my MIL would supply me every weekend. And then one day we happened to have a huge argument around it and I decided that enough was enough. I'd try to make my own batter. It wasn't rocket science according to all the zillion food blogs on the Internet. Except they all had measurements for making batter in a grinder whereas I was going to try mine on the mixie. That's when I decided I would ask my neighbor Maami who is very friendly. I met her one evening when she sat with 2 other ladies from the building. I greeted her and ranted about how K was being a pain and bugging me to make batter and how stressed out I was. One of the ladies had just moved into our building and "volunteered" to come home the next day and help me grind. I quickly said "No thank you so much for offering but I think I will manage". But she was pushy and Maami also insisted I take her help so I finally said ok. Next day she came home and very patiently made the batter and gave me tips on how to do it next time. I thanked her and gave her some juice. I thought she would leave then but no she went and perched herself on our couch. Sigh. This was going to be a long evening. She started talking about how hot it was in Chennai, how hot it especially was in the 4th floor, how she missed being in Coimbatore, Hyderabad etc. She just went on talking. Thankfully for me, K got back from work just then and she said she'd leave. Phew. Well the idlis and dosas came out very well. That weekend I decided I'd go inform her and take a little something. So I went with a dabba of cake. Spoke to her daughter for 5 min and got back home. 1 week later, around 8pm this lady rang the bell. I opened the door and she gave me the dabba. I took it and I was hoping she would leave because I was busy making dinner. She pushed her way inside(I swear she did!) and sat on the couch and start talking away. Then she got up walked into the kitchen, the service area and went on about how her house owner hadn't planned their house properly. Then she walked into the guest room, the balcony and again went on saying "Oh the woodwork in your house is so good". Then she had the bloody nerve to open the door to our bedroom, happily switched on the light, looked at each cupboard and the balcony and again kept cribbing about how their house had none of it. She asked me how rent we paid, what woodwork we had made, how much we paid for our TV. Oh god. She just went on and on and on. I wished she would shut up! Such an irritating lady. I wanted to ask her if she was so freaking unhappy with her house why on earth did she choose to live in it? K rescued me once again by coming home just then but this time she wasn't ready to leave. After about 20 minutes, she decided to leave saying "Ok I will leave, I don't want to disturb you". Oh really. I haven't had to see her after that. Thank God for small mercies. 

*Disturbia*

There have been a few "incidents" in the last one month that has left me wondering where our country is really headed. They are simple things but left such an impact on me nevertheless.
Scene 1 - At Chennai airport
It is 11:30 pm. K and I had just returned from our trip to Delhi(was great fun,btw!). I was standing in line to get my cab and K was standing away in a corner. There was this dude(hereby referred to as "moron")  all dressed up formally in a business suit. He goes near K and SPITS right next to him. Now those of you who my husband can guess what follows :) He blew his top! And rightly so. Here's how the conversation went
K - (furiously) - Excuse me, what do you think you are doing?? Aren't you ashamed?
Moron - (Nonchalantly) - Well everybody else is doing it! Why are you asking only me?
K - (Raising his voice) - Well you seem educated! Don't you have any sense not to spit in public? Plus you are spitting right near me! And I of course have a problem with that!

Well basically moron didn't want to admit it but honestly it was so embarrassing for him because by now everybody was staring at him. Yes my husband can be VERY loud! I panicked because I had no idea what had happened. But when K explained I wished he could have actually slapped that idiot. Honestly man, get a grip on yourself, wherever you are!

Scene 2 - Sathyam Cinemas
K and I watched Vishwaroopam this weekend. The theatre is full(Saturday evening). Most of the families had come with KIDS. Mind you, it is an Adults movie, lots of violence and gore. I don't understand how parents can actually think of bringing those tiny tots to such a movie and how theatres don't even object.
But anyway, there were kids in front of us and at the back row as well. The kid in front wouldn't sit quiet for a minute. He was probably around 3 or 4, obviously he wants to explore. The mother tried her best to get him to sit quietly but no such luck. Finally, she grabbed him and took him outside. Good girl. Now there are about 4 kids sitting at the back. And they kept pushing my seat. I was trying to be patient. But they just wouldn't listen. I'm turning and giving looks at the mother(she is too engrossed with the movie to notice my glares). Good thing is I had watched the film earlier. It was K who was watching it for the first time. And then it reached a point where the kids started screaming. High pitched squeals! K lost it. He got up and turned to the mother and said "Excuse me, can you please keep your kids under control"? The lady just called to her kids and simply said "please come sit here quietly". YEAH RIGHT. They are kids for God's sake, woman! They went on screaming and K got up again and this time in a very menacing tone said " Listen, if you don't get those kids to shut up, I'm going to get the management to throw you guys out"! That probably did it. Coz you will not believe, that lady finally got her act together and ensured her kids shut up for the rest of film. Not one word came out! Phew. My point is I'm not blaming the kids. But if you can't control them, take them outside the movie hall or get them to behave. As simple as that. And please definitely don't take them for such noisy and violent movies. Even my 10 year cousin wasn't allowed to watch it at home. Not appropriate for him. Simple no?

Scene 3 - LB Road(A very busy road in Chennai)
K and I are returning home. At the junction, there is a cop vehicle coming in exactly the wrong direction. Due to which traffic is held up for a few seconds. Cars simply give way. My hubby was the only one who stopped the gypsy and showed his finger to the cop. Ok not finger but he made it obvious to the cop(s) sitting in the Innova that it was simply unacceptable and shocking that a cop(who is supposed to tell others to follow rules) is happily breaking one and holding up traffic because he was too lazy  to make a U turn. Shocking no? The cops were a little shocked but of course in true Chennai police style, glared back threateningly. I was a little scared because I had heard stories of how they take away your car keys and slap you. But then I was proud of my  hubby for standing up to those goons. I wish I could have taken a picture of that van and posted it on the Chennai City Traffic Police page and made a mockery of them. But like I said, it was a busy road and I had no such luck. Sigh. Pissed me off so so so much.
God save this country. Ok I'm done ranting. On that note, February was super super busy. My bestie, M got married. Yay! Congrats! Another friend, Shan, got engaged. Yahoo! And then K and I took off to Delhi for his cousin's wedding which was also great fun. Bread pakodas, masala chai, samosa, kachori all at 6 degree weather. Blissful combination, no? :-)

How has the new year 2012 been treating ya’ll? J

Well mine has gotten off to a pretty good start! My uncle from Boston had come down and hence there have been so many get togethers and parties and what not! I remember the times as a kid when he would come down every Christmas(those days America was like “Oh God he’s from AMERICA, unlike these days where there’s not too much bhav!) But anyway, so we all used to get super excited when he would come and it was like Santa Claus is bringing us all lovely goodies!!

One of his best gifts that I have ever received from him was a pencil set..he got all the kids sets of pencils in lovely colors with our names engraved on it!!! As a kid I would take it to school and show off so much because nobody ever had one nor even seen one! So I was so proud and I still remember I would never sharpen my pencil fearing I might run out of it! so last evening we had a get together to felicitate him and we all took turns speaking and surprisingly all my other cousins remembered the pencil as well! J

So in my speech, I told him please bring back those pencils for us! I would love for my kids to own that :P He said the lady that was doing it passed away but that he would check to see if it could be done elsewhere. Yay! J Small pleasures in life!

In my speech, I did mention the lovely times I’ve had at Boston, I remember him showing me around MIT, Harvard, Plymouth, buying me lovely Greek pizzas, Ben & Jerry ice cream and what not!

That brought an end to the family jamboree(as K affectionately calls it), starting with the Christmas party, the New Year picnic, the get togethers... Gosh, I loved it!

K is back in town after a trip to Dubai... Jealous! He went on a Conference at work and ended up bringing me a bag full of Bath & Body Works.. Now thats a good boy, I really have trained him well :-)
More exciting news,  well now that the news is pretty much out, I’d say this here.. My little sis Sne is getting engaged this month end!! D, is a super sweet, super nice boy from Pune and I’m really excited for her!!! So that’s the next event I’m gearing up for!
Aishu 

Posting for the heck of it.

I've missed writing/ranting in here. All I've written about off late is mostly about cricket. What to do? Post WC, the IPL fever has started. And yes. I've fallen so sick that the parents have forbidden me from going to the stadium to watch any of the CSK matches coz they're convinced that I'm croaking only because I screamed so much during the World Cup matches. So no more cricket for a while.
K and I have been busy house hunting these few months and I'm very proud to say we're gonna be renting a cute cozy little place in Thiruvanmyur. I never ever ever imagined I'd settle in that area. Met the house owners - very nice mama and chatty mami! :P I really like the place though -  It's a new apartment, cute, not too big, just right I'd say. We've started doing it up - bed, AC, we're picking curtains from Fab India, linen from Home Center or At Home(I dunno yet), oh and so many things going on!! Very exciting! :-) K is doing the house warming on the 22nd April(eeeeeeeeeeeeeee :-)) and we're planning to start setting it up before we move in post the wedding. The next time I'm there I'll take a few pics and put it all up. Wedding shopping has started. Sarees are being bought for like 500 people I think. Mum insists on buying for every single guest. Dad is helplessly swiping the credit card(s!). Wedding invitation design is picked - there's a lot of debate going on about the font, wording and all. We've started getting reponses from folks out of town and lots of people have confirmed they're coming especially since its a weekend! K and I went over to Maxi Chitti's for drinks/dinner last week. We had a good time. Ashwin is back in Hyderabad for his course at ISB - good luck brother! My post if u notice is very random this time - too many things going on I'd say and I'm just way too excited! Hope this sickness goes away. BLAH.