~~ [Post 28] - And the battle won ~~

Yes, the month long marathon was no less than a battle. A battle to honor a commitment, A battle to ensure that all your other responsibilities at work and personal life has not been compromised and yet a post is published even if the day is officially nearing an end, a battle to ensure that the prompts given by RaRa are honored, a battle to ensure that topics chosen are diverse.... Oh, quite a busy and an overwhelming month!

It has been an enriching experience to write every single day.  It's been wonderful staying connected to all of you on a daily basis, for the past 28 days. There have been boring posts, long posts, 55F's, Zentangle posts(mostly on weekends), rants, stories, and yet there have been people who have very faithfully read, liked, left a comment in my internal blogspace.  Nothing can be more rewarding to a blogger than someone reading and commenting on their posts, so, I am totally completely humbled by each of your responses and likes. This time, few bloggers even pinged/mailed me to inform that they have felt inspired to take up blogging/blogathon soon, and this in itself has made me immensely happy to have taken this difficult journey just on an impulse.

At the end, I have realized, it all boils down to the passion you feel for something. A passion within you to write, no matter what. If you are passionate enough about a writing goal, you'll set aside some time to write, daily, not as a chore, but as an activity that enriches you, makes you happy and that's what it did to me, this month!

Now, having blabbered enough all through the February month, I do not want to go on and on in this post, so, it's time to pull the curtains on this marathon.  I enjoyed writing, reading and responding to your comments, and I hope you had an enjoyable read and a ride too.

Do you have any one post from this marathon that you'd like to mark your favorite or would want to go back and read again and again!! Do let me know  (Note: If you have more than one, you can mention them too :P  that'd make me super happy - I can already hear someone's *mind-voice* going #ishtathuku  and "aasa dosa appalam vada" which is basically nothing but, huh, you wish :P )

If you have missed any blogathon post - follow this link  - This will lead you to all 28 posts of the month and you can choose to read the day you want to. (I know, you must be wondering, that if you haven't read them when it originally came in as an alert, then, there's no chance you are going to read now :P , but hey, a little girl(ahem) can try to get you read the posts, right?)

So lovely people, its time to end the marathon with a good note - THANK YOU everyone for taking time from your busy schedules, for reading, liking, leaving a comment, feeling inspired and also for sharing my posts.  Believe me, because of you, February has been a happy month.

Well, you can make March a happy one too - just go read, like, comment :)

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~~ [Post 27] - A Guest Post ~~

So, from quite sometime, I have always wanted to publish at least one guest post in my blogathon stint. The ability to reach out to a fellow busy blogger, ask them to spare some time from their busy life and write a post for you when they might not even have some time to read your posts and comment - is itself a scary prospect. But when they do just that, take up your request and respond with a post as soon as they can, you just feel humbled and honored at the same time!

Writing a guest post for someone else's blog might not come up in top priorities of the day or the week or the month, but here's one, who took my request seriously and gave me a guest post as promised. He is a very good friend, actually a brother more than a friend, a best-selling author now, popularly popular in this space as "Dan the Don". He recently left the organization in pursuit of his dreams and is very much on track for achieving what his heart desired for.  So let's see what he has to say!!

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When Deepthi asked me for a guest post as part of her blogathon, I was quite elated that someone still remembers me and asks me for a guest post (Okay, sis – I know we chat daily, but allow me to get melodramatic here). Its been four months since I had left the organization. However a few whatsapp groups, give me a feel that I am still part of the blogger gang.

I remember reading in one of the blog posts that bloggers stick around in this organization and the percentage of attrition of bloggers is very less as compared to other employees, as they don’t have the heart to leave the blogging space (guess Sukumar said that) - how true. Blogs is indeed a great platform, that allowed to express ourselves, connect with fellow freaks and form a one of a kind bond with the weirdos.

I do miss the platform, the posts, the contests, the competitive spirit, the arguments, the eagerness in waiting for a comment and the happiness on receiving the first comment, et al (where are the tissues!!). So, if you are a blogger, cherish all these moments – in case you are planning to move on.

While as much as I do miss the platform, I also feel, it was all destined that I will have to move – so was it written and so did it happen. More details about that later (if Deepthi allows for one more guest post ;) )

For the time being, miss you all and love you all. And thank you so much Deepthi.

Happy blogging everyone !!

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Dani - Thank you for honoring the request.  Of course, I’d love to have more guest posts! Remember all the stories that were left hanging without an ending here, you can complete them  

BTW, You are genuinely missed in the organization blog space.  

As always, loads of wishes to you  & Christy :)

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Please refer this post for my review of his best selling debut novel - 11 hours. 

Buy, read,  rate and review the book, pretty please!! It is available for purchase in all leading online sites. 

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~~ [Post 26] – Mommy Memoirs # 13 ~~

So am back with a Mommy Memoir 

So, this happened yesterday.

Out of the blue, my daughter looked at me with her cute button eyes and asked me this –

“Amma, how do you want me to celebrate your birthday when you are no more”

I was taken aback would be an understatement. It took me a whole minute to process the question, not that I kept looking at the clock or something, but, a question like that, suddenly, definitely, shocks you. It did take almost a minute long for me to register her question.  I remembered that in the morning, we had been discussing about the legendary actress Sridevi (May her soul rest in peace. What an amazing versatile actress she was!) being no more. My little girl also knows how big a deal celebrating a birthday is for me, and how big a deal I make of hers and everyone-who-is-close’s birthday. So, I wondered, if my recent birthday and the news of Sridevi’s death might have been the catalyst for the question.

I recovered and asked her if she had already thought about it and if yes, what exactly had she planned to do.   She was probably expecting me to ask this, because she immediately agreed to let me know of her plan for my birthday, a birthday where I will be no more.

I got all excited and asked her to let me know.

Here’s how the conversation went –

She – “First, I will remove the old garland that’s on your photo and adorn the photo with a fresh flower garland”

Me (smiling)  – “Okay”

She – “Second, I will clean the whole house”

Me (smiling) –  “Okay”

She – “Then, I will prepare a feast of your favorite food”

Me (smiling) – “Wow”

She – “I will first serve it to a crow, and invite the crow to have it, by screaming, Kaaaa, Kaaaaaaaa”

Me   – “Oh is it?“

She – noticing my amused expression & herself smiling – “And then once a crow eats the feast, I will serve myself and eat, and then after having payasam (kheer, pudding), will wish you “Happy birthday, Amma”, okay?”

At this, I just went Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww and hugged her tight.

I finally understood where this question had originated from. My mom had gone to her mother’s place recently to attend the yearly death anniversary ceremony of her dad, my grandfather. She had taken the little one along as well.  Normally during a death anniversary ceremony, an elaborate feast with specific set of curries and favorites of the departed is prepared. Before the lunch can begin, the first plate of food is offered to the crow. It is believed that the departed souls come down and feast on it and once a crow has tasted the food, lunch for others can begin. Most of the auspicious occasions also have us offering the food first to crows or cows (depending on the ceremony) before we begin our lunch. There’s also an alternate scientific theory of why this ritual of offering food to crows and cows, came into being, but I am not going to elaborate on it here. I realized that the little one had actually carefully watched all the happenings during the death anniversary ceremony and had thought that it was my late grandfather’s birthday celebration.

She must have thought, this is how a birthday is celebrated when the person is no more available for cake cutting 

I almost choked at the thought about how this cute little inquisitive innocent girl of mine, at this tender age, had tried to clarify and ensure, that the birthday of her birthday-loving-mushy-momma-who-will-one-day-be-no-more, is not going to pass by without a proper celebration– Oh, I had to hug her again. She wriggled out of me and then,

She – “Oh, I forgot, do you want a cake?”

Me – “Do you want to eat one on my birthday?”

She – “Of course”

Me – “Then, let’s have a cake too :)”

She – “Yayyy, cake!! Thank you Amma”

Me – “Thank YOU dear  ”

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~~[Post 25] - A stitch at a time ~~

Just after delivery, with husband's birthday just a month away -  I had no other choice in the duration when baby slept but do this one colour, one stitch at a time :-)



After the successful treasure hunt that I had planned for him the previous year with a gift every 7th clue, I didn't want this year's birthday to just pass by due to my delivery.

They say a new mother should make use of the time when her baby is asleep to take her own rest. But I did this diligently every single day whenever I got some time.



Oh boy, after that one time, I had decided, never again a stitchkit, except of course, now after suddenly seeing this and realising it was customised for dad - my daughter is demanding a similar customised one with her name and a smiley on it :-) may be I'll do just one more for her...someday. 

~~ [Post 24] - I will be there for you ~~

So no one told you, life was gonna be this wayyyyyyyy
Your job's a joke, you're broke, Your love life's D.O.A
It's like you're always stuck in second gear

When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month
Or even your year, but

I'll be there for youuuuuuuuuuu
When the rain starts to pourrrrrr
I'll be there for youuuuuuuuu
Like I've been there beforeee
I'll be there for youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Cause you're there for me toooooooooooooooo

If you haven't guessed it by now! I'll be very very shocked and surprised. 

And if you have, I do not wonder, Yep, you guessed it right. This post will be on my favorite sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

That one show I keep going back to! I am sure most of us do. I started watching this show much later to when it actually aired. But, I don’t have regrets. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it anyways then. I have watched each episode, saw the depth of each character of the show, seen them grow, watched them age, watched them go through fun, love, pain, crisis and emerge out a winner. I have cried with the finale, felt empty and later watched every blooper out there, just to fill that void.

I watch it over and over again, and laugh and cry every single time like it’s the first time, and yet I am not bored of it, not yet. Every episode manages to "Wow" me every single time. As I was watching one such episode today, I decided, I’d write about a few of my favorites from the sitcom for my today’s post. 

It’s hard, believe me, to pick a few, it’s almost impossible, there is not a single episode which doesn’t make me, go “Awwwwwwwwwwwwww” or shed a tear or laugh out loud or just leave a lingering smile but, in this post, I am going to try hard and list 10 of my favorites, based on whichever episode or scene or quote pops up first as I type.  These are definitely not the only ones, and if I have to list them all, then this would be just a never ending post.

• Unagi >> Salmon skin roll – Desperate Ross trying to prove his awesome awareness funda to Phoebe and Rachel and the whole thing backfiring on him! I laugh till I cry when I watch this.

• I am, fine, totally fine … Margaritas and Fajitas…Ahhh Love, L O V E.. Love  – The episode with heartbroken Ross trying hard to get over Joey-Rachel being a couple. Awwwwwww, Ross is too cute in this.  I still can visualize the whole episode with Ross bringing in the fajitas without the oven mitts on, his “I am fine, totally fine” , his toast on “Ahhh, Love, L O V E, Love”, the oven timer pinging towards the end and he wondering what the hell that ping is for! You have to watch it to know what I mean.

• The one with Chandler trying to propose and Monica’s eventual proposal. The whole thing. Just tear-jerking and Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

• The one where everyone knows that the other one knows but none of them want to admit that they know what the other one knows. Just ROFL episode!! Phoebe’s “my eyes, my eyes”, Joey’s “Lalalalala” when Rachel tries to get the secret out of him, ah, laughter riot!!! I still can remember Ross jumping and joining in the group hug, when, Phoebe and Rachel scream and manage to get Ross away from the view of Monica’s apartment from his to-be apartment :P

• “I, Ross, take thee, Rachel” – Awwwwwwwwwwwwww and tears galore….

• Ross’s dinner with Elizabeth, her dad Paul and Rachel, where Rachel keeps pitching in with right information at the wrong times. Just. So. Funny.

• Phoebe’s talk to her just born triplets – with tiny Hi’s. Just Aaaawwwwwwwwwww.

• Joey’s inability to speak French and Phoebe’s final handling of the situation in the audition! Have to give it to Phoebe. Don’t you love the blah blee blee blue of Joey more than the actual French sentences that Phoebe tries to teach him :)

• Phoebe’s wedding in the snow – Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww……

• All those thanksgiving episodes, the one with the plates, the one with ”I hate Rachel” club,  the one with turkey on Monica’s head, the one with parents for Thanksgiving and Rachel’s cooking, the one where everyone gets locked out and the dinner is ruined..  Just love them all….

OMG, I did not even realize that I have already reached a count of 10 :shock: Of course, these are the first 10 that came to my mind as I kept typing but I still have many more to list, a sample below. 

• Rachel’s rambling on and on for 18 pages- front and back
• The games that the friends play and guys win the girl’s apartment eventually
• End of era feeling when Rachel has to move out and the cat fight during the packing
• The sequence of events where everyone figures out the owner of the red sweater and hence the actual dad of Emma
• Vegas wedding of Rachel and Ross
• The multiple times Ross tries to escape from an annulment
• The very first episode when Rachel walks in to the café
• Rachel and Monica’s prom episode
• Joey falling for Chandler’s girlfriend Kathy
• Episodes with Rachel’s sisters
• Episodes with Rachel’s dad and Ross
• The birthday where Rachel’s dad and mom show up
• Monica’s and Ross’s routine(dance)
• Joey with Kathy
• Joey’s sisters
• Joey’s and Chandler’s friendship
• Ross’s sandwich
• Joey’s “How you doing?”
• Joey’s “Days of our lives”
• Joey’s stalker fan
• Ross’s monkey
• Ross’s “Leather pants” saga
• Phoebe’s “Smelly cat, Smelly cat”
• Monica’s “I know”
• Chandler getting locked up in Joanna's office
• Jealous Ross arriving at Rachel's office
• Chandler’s “Could I be more, sarcastic?”
• Rachel’s amazing hairstyle(she looks gorgeous in each and every episode) and so do Monica and Phoebe - See, I cannot pick one at all. I love Phoebe's hair accessories and Monica's kitchen and apartment! 
• Ross’s “ We were on a break”
• Ross’s “Pivot”
• Ross’s “One Mississippi, two Mississippi”
• Janice’s “Oh my God”
• The finale episode
• Carol, Susan (I love her responses to Ross’s jealous jabs at her), Julie, Mike, Gunther, Tag, Emily, Mark, Paul, Ursula, the Gellers, the Bings, Emma, Ben, Frank Jr, Alice, Richard,  oh, I can go on and on.

Whoa, no wonder, it ran for 10 seasons - 10 years!

Like the title song rightly goes “I’ll be there for you”, these characters definitely have managed to be there with us even if the show has wrapped up over a decade ago!

So what are your favorite episodes from F.R.I.E.N.D.S?

Do you have a favorite F.R.I.E.N.D.S character?

I know it’s tough to choose, but do try, I’d love to know.

~~ [Post 23] – Echoes from the distant past ~~

As you know, I went through few of my old posts couple of days ago when I was searching for my previous milestone posts to include in my 150th milestone post. As I read through a few of them, a strong sense of nostalgia overcame me and I kept going back to those old cheerful posts again and again in past few days.  The one thing that I could figure out straightaway was the difference in the kind of posts that I wrote when I started blogging to what I write now.  They are drastically different.  The old-me sounds much happier than how I sound today. Well, to be frank, yes, I was childish then and am more mature now than the old-me. But the question that has been haunting me now is – have I ceased to be joyful? I also know that this has nothing to do with struggles of bringing up a baby, as she is an immense source of joy and happiness to me. But the transformation in the way I write is just starkly evident. Most of you who know me now, know me as how I am today.  There are a very few bloggers from those days who still are in the organization, and I am pretty sure, they’d have noticed the difference right away, few did mention, but I never gave it much a thought, at least until a few days ago!  I know, I am a changed person, but I now wonder, have I changed for the good 

Anyways, the only quote that kept coming back to me as I read through my own past was something in the lines of a wish to go back to those days, no, not to change anything, but just to re-live those days again.

To give you a glimpse – Here are a collection of few of those old posts – Read when you have time and leave a comment in the respective post if you do read them 

Memes:

Yeah, I used to be super excited about them then   BTW, if you want to, you can take any of these memes forward even now 

• [Tag] – 7 {In}Sane things!
• Tag ~~ Have you~~
• Tag ~~I Love~~
• [Tag-Onion Song] ~~ Pyaaz Ka Jhatka ~~
• ~~Neele Neele Ambar par ~~ Peele Peele Sambhar Main ~~

Bus Tales:-

Dani swears by these bus posts of mine. He even now remembers them and says he just couldn’t stop laughing the whole time.

• Bus tales!
• Of Bus tales & Brothers!
• Jaane Kyun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like that :-

The ramblings of those days were entirely on different topics 

• Just like that!
• ~~Just like that~~

Contests:-

Yeah, you guys, I did host something else before OLTA (One Love Two Authors) contest and no, it did not have any complex rules  I did not continue the MB2A contest after I came back from maternity leave, however, I did send out a Landmark gift voucher to the topper and consistent winner of the contest – Sushobhan Roy  as soon as I was back to work.  Thankfully he was still with the organization then 

• ~~~ MBA to MB2A ~~~
• ~~ Jan MB2A results & March MB2A nominations ~~
• [World Food Day] ~~~Presenting BBCC~~~ from ‘Curry’Cullum

55 Fiction Contest:-

It would be a grave injustice if I dont mention Dani here. He posted a whopping 55 entries all by himself within the stringent timeline given for the contest. Imagine the plight of the hosts who conducted the contest.  Oh, the fun ! Here were a few of mine for the contest. 

• [55 – Fiction ] Men Vs Memory!!!!
• [55-fiction] Delight !
• [55 – Fiction] Love? Life? Death?
• [55-Fiction] Fear!
• [55-Fiction] Her response

There are many more such posts that I want to include here, but I will stop now 

All these posts that I have mentioned above are yet to be synced here in this space (I have 50+ old posts to sync here and I will do it slowly one at a time).  Once done, I will update hyperlinks to all these posts mentioned here.  If you manage to even read a few, you'll know, there's a world of difference in the old-me and the me-now :)

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~~ [Post 22] – A glimpse of my To-Visit ~~

So, I just realized that, every single day, for past 21 days, except probably on the days that I posted my Zentangles and 55F's, I have been writing very very loooooooooooooong posts. And you, nice people, have been reading it without any complaints! Believe me, every day, I think, I should keep my post concise, short and sweet, to the point and such. But no, it doesn’t happen. I go on and on! So today I am giving you a break from the daily dose of word-diarrhea, and well, if you are thinking I hit a writer’s block, or maybe, I am just tired talking too much about myself, no, on both counts 😛 Just want this post to be less talk from me, more talk from you. Yes, I need suggestions. From you.

As you might by now already know, I maintain a lot of lists, To-Do, To-read, To-write, To-visit, To-eat, To-watch. And as weird as it might sound to a few, I regularly update these lists. Mostly with additions and at times with an update of completed stuff. The happiness that I get every time I strike out something in the list cannot be explained in mere words.  I have a huge list of to-visit places and I have been wanting to segregate the list for quite sometime now. I finally managed to organize the list for South India today which I plan to cover first. So, even if you may not be interested 😛 here goes my to-visit bucket list from South India. The ones that I have already visited and/or keep visiting now and then has been struck off . The ones in Italics – I have visited as a kid and would love to/might visit again, but they are not a priority!

So, coming to the suggestions part, people from various regions of South India, do let me know if I have covered the places that need to be visited around your regions. If I have missed any, suggest. I will add your suggestions to the list 😉 And I dont know if I can cover all of them at all, so some places will definitely need to be skipped, and if you have any suggestions w.r.to the places in the list that can be skipped, do let me know that too 🙂

To be frank, I have no idea if this is a realistic list, but hey, nothing wrong in dreaming & wishing, right?

Pondicherry

Chikmagalur

Hampi

Kabini

Bandipur/Nagarhole

Coorg

Dandeli

Sakleshpur

Mysore

Gokarna

Belur/Halebeedu

Bangalore

Murudeshwar

Mangalore

Udupi

Jog waterfalls

Pattadakal

Badami

Shimoga

Srirangapatna

Bellary

CHitradurga

Bidar

Shravanabelagola

Goa

Bekal

Pathanamthitta

Thenmala

Kasargod

Guruvayur

Mararikulam

Thiruvalla

Palakkad

Mallapuram

KOttayam

Cochin

Idukki

Kollam

Thrissur

Varkala

Kalpetta

Kannur

Kovalam

Shringeri

Kollur

Tiruttani

Trivandrum

Alleppy

Munnar

Kumarakom

Thekkady

OOty

Kodaikanal

Mahabalipuram

Chennai

Madurai

Kanyakumari

Coonoor

Coimbatore

Rameswaram

Tanjore

Yercaud

Vellore

Muttukad

Kumbakonam

Velankanni

Chidambaram

Cuddalore

Kanchipuram

Gingee

Tirunelveli

Thiruvannamalai

Kotagiri

Tirupati

Vijayawada

Anantapura

Vishakapatnam

Kurnool

Srisailam

Bapatla

Puttaparthi

Nellore

Lepakshi

Chittoor

Rajamundry

Srikalahasthi

Draksharama

Manthralaya

Arakkuvalley

Srikakulam

Guntur

Hyderabad

Warangal

Alampur

Bhuvanagiri

Nalgonda

Secunderabad