Unscrambling Scrabble!

After a long time, we played Scrabble today.... And almost in an instant I was transported back to my school days. Me and my sister would look forward to getting home, having lunch fast and getting on to a game of Scrabble with Papa and our neighbours downstairs....

What fun it used to be.... The endless controversies over which words were acceptable and which weren't. And then we had to resort to our good old dictionary as a referee....the scramble to get to the triple word and double word score blocks and then the endless debates over whether the multiplier blocks could be reused and the agonising wait to get rid of the X's, the Q's and the Z's.

And then the endless double-scorers that my sister used to make, which invariably made her win.... She was "crowned" as the "Maradona of Scrabble" by all of us!

And as we got busier with studies, life drifted away from Scrabble.... But then when Neeti and I got back to it, I realised that life was so much like Scrabble... You just need to unscramble it!

7 Days Off A Week...

A little over 2 years back, I got a real shock when my Dad told me he was hanging up his boots. It was a double shock - a few days later, my Mom also announced her decision to retire.

Both of them were well past their retirement age for years already, and they had never shown signs of "slowing down". What kept them going was a distinct inner-energy and will power. 

But their sudden and abrupt decision made me realise that they had indeed aged, and that I wasn't a kid anymore, a realisation which is hard and that takes time to sink in.....

Just around that time, I cam across this amazing YouTube video of a Thai Airways commander's retirement and send-off... A profound message was communicated "You are not retired yet, just have 7 days off a week, congratulations!"
That made me realise that they still have a lot to keep themselves bury, things they loved to do - read, write, cook, roam the world and what not...
I wish them luck and pray that God gives them energy to pursue their passions that they could not while they were on their professional pursuits. All the best and enjoy the 7 days off a week!

Moving In To Our New Home!

What's life without milestones?

It is the quest for these milestones that makes life, for me.

Recently, or about 3 months back, Neeti and I crossed a milestone, an important one of our lives! We moved into our own house.

It wasn't easy as it sounds. We bought the place way back in 2007. We were promised completion by 2009 and were eagerly looking forward to moving in, into a place we could call our own!

But then plans get delayed. Here courtesy BMC, approvals for our building were getting delayed (probably palms weren't greased enough) and our anxiousness (on rising mortgage rates) was building by the day.

Finally we heaved a sigh of relief when got possession of our place in September 2011, two years late! The pleasure of getting the place was immense, perhaps as sweet as Mysore Pak (which had sweetened that significant moment).

But then another important thing had to be done. The bare shell had to be made habitable. We had done a lot of hardwork already. Neeti was very sure what she wanted. And thanks to her, we looked at various design options, suggested by the interiors team, of Anu and Prashant, and finalised the designs by the time we took possession.

In a few days after possession, the interiors team mobilised themselves at our new place starting work. The place was chaotic - lots of material, labour and dust all around - it hardly looked habitable.

By December, things looked in good shape.

We were scheduled to move in on an auspicious date in January. We wanted to have our family around with us on the momentous occasion. It was quite a pleasure organising tickets, accommodation and logistics for our families. I was too pleased that my sister, Neelima and her hubby, Maulik, were able to make it for the   gathering from the United States.

Neeti's extended family from Delhi also enthusiastically joined in. We are very greatful to everyone who joined in to bless us, coming from far and wide.

We had planned family dinners and a bit of sightseeing for everyone. Things worked pretty well.

For the D-Day, we had scheduled a family havan followed by lunch for which friends were invited. For the havan, we had called a Pandit from the Versova branch of Arya Samaj to preside over the ceremony. It was a simple havan, with family and close friends around to bless our home.

Next that followed was an authentic Punjabi lunch - makki ki roti, sarson ka saag, kadhai paneer, mixed vegetables and daal makhani, alongwith gulab jamuns for dessert. Thanks to care taken by Mr. Bhisht of Kailas Parbat and our precise specifications, the food turned out to be nice and absolutely authentic. And it was enjoyed by the Mumbai-ites, for whom the Gujju-ised version defined what Punjabi food is.

The instant relief we got was on parking woes. At the earlier place in Lokhandwala, a wily Gujju with a questionable reputation usurped our parking space and put us in a great deal of tension for over 6 months. Now we have no parking blues! Pray that God gives the Gujju some sense of ethics and culture. Surely, "Me, me and myself" is not a good attitude to live with.

Settling in took an awfully long time, since we could unpack only in the late evenings after work. On weekends, the slothful mass of mine would always come in for a lot of criticism from Neeti, as I was too lazy to unpack. But then it had to be done and it finally was, though with a delay!

Now we can sit on the window with a cup of tea and gaze into the endless greens of Aarey Milk Colony, hearing the sounds of silence, birds chirping, watching the mist lift as a new day dawns! Magical! Nice to be in a place we can call our own!

But we will miss the action of Lokhandwala. We are thankful to God for making our stay at Lokhandwala a memorable one. While at Lokhandwala, we grew a lot, life gave us a lot more than we thought we could achieve, we pray that whoever moves into our old abode also achieves a lot in life!

Crossing one milestone logically leads you to target the next one. And we are already on the job - targeting the next milestone!

How long can the Moon eclipse the Sun? ---- Random thoughts of a straying mind...

A few days have passed and my mind has been straying from one thought to another, much like a monkey, in a jungle, swinging from one branch of a tree to another.

These reflections have touched on the good times in the past, the golden moments that I would love to relive, to the aspirations for the future and the events of today, which may not seem all that pleasant and those that seem to have a potential to impact (positively or negatively) the achievement of aspirations for the future.

Life can be unfair sometimes, we meet a lot of wrong people, have quite a few unpleasant experiences. And the result is that I (as with most of us) end up feeling down and out.

The biggest irony of life is what I find most surprising -- the good times pass off in a jiffy -- a split second, but the tough times last an eternity. It seems that the night will never end.

And the most surprising fact of all -- these circumstances recur with an amazing frequency.

But then there are hopes for the future. These thoughts are like lifesavers -- the ropes that one holds on to for dear life.

And then these times also teach us about our friends -- those who stand by us and those who pass us by. As we go along, most old friends fall by the wayside, but those who remain are there for good.

And one becomes so vulnerable, so sensitive at times that it becomes so easy to hurt those who love you dearly. It's like what Forrest Gump said "Shit happens".

And one better count one's blessings in tough times -- that I have love and support of family, am physically able to take life head on, have a mind to think, weigh options, etc. etc. If one starts counting one's blessings, the list will be endless.

But then then the Sun does rise and rise it will, rise it must! And it happens so fast that seldom does one realise that it's happening. And that's probably because its darkest before dawn, as one song once said -- which one I forget.

What will see us through - it's all about faith - faith in God Almighty (one can believe in God, irrespective of whether one believes in religion or not), faith in oneself and faith in love.

To sign off for now, I will mention what the dollar bill says -- "In God we Trust"