Ho ho ho !!!

My first Christmas away from home.. I was feeling blue ever since my friends went home for the hols.. I donno y I love Christmas so much.. We dont celebrate it at all.. except for the star we hang in our car porch back at home.. That star shud be as old as me, I guess.. .. but its still as beautiful as ever.. a simple red star.. When lighted, it paints a brilliant mural on the ceiling of the porch.. I used to admire it for hours..

When I was in school, my friends and I used to play a game.. On the day the school closes for Christmas hols, we used to count the number of stars on the way home.. sounds simple, eh .. but it was quite the challenge when we passed shops that sold stars.. we used to have loads of fun ..

So as I was telling except for the star and maybe one or two times when we had a Christmas tree at home, my family never celebrated Christmas.. We used to send cards to our relatives and friends.. and get cakes and wine from family friends ..Last year, we bot an awesome strawberry cake for my bro-in-law’s parents, from Ambrosia .. just melted in my mouth.. oh,god.. it was heaven..

So besides the yummy cakes , what I love most about Christmas are the Christmas movies.. movies about Santa and Christmas miracles.. When I was a kid, I used to watch Cartoon Network all day long.. Every Cartoon was a Christmas special.. it used to have snow and Santa.. I remember even the Jetsons had their hi-tech Christmas

Well, this year I had no clue what to do.. I was stuck in Hyd.. faraway from home.. At office, we have these cute Christmas trees.. with all the deco, the fake-snow cotton and lights.. I wanted to do something different to get over my depression of being away from home.. I so wanted to go to KFC .. My best friend had gone to Kerala and my roomie had to rush to office for some urgent work.. So I was thinking of treating myself to yummy soya mutter rice and chilli chicken (made by urs truly ) .. Then my roomie said she cud go to office after lunch ( I had my Christmas miracle !! ).. So there, I had a wonderful lunch today.. It was an awesome Zinger burger, brownie sundae and a hot ‘n crispy chicken strip that melted in my mouth this Christmas ..

Now Im just gonna watch Twilight and relax .. Its a perfect Christmas after all.. sigh, well it wont be perfect, since I miss my family terribly..

Wish you all a Merry Christmas .. eat well, be good !!!

 

Tis the season to be jolly!

I was very jolly indeed coz I was going home for the hols.. The Christmas spirit had spread in the office too. Attached below are pics of the Christmas trees in my office, the former cute one near the lift and the latter bigger one at the entrance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

A night to remember!

Music that touches your heart, food that tickles ur tastebuds, and the superstar to entertain you… thats an unforgettable night

Victim to running nose and throat ache, I was worried if I would be able to enjoy the Microsoft annual party. But when my friends told me that Sonu Nigam was to perform, I knew I wouldnt miss it at any cost. Armed with a dozen tissues and my huuuge,yet comfy jacket, I reached HICC last night.

Before the star of the show arrived, a female singer “entertained” us. She dint do justice to Shreya Ghoshal’s soft number “Yeh Ishq Hai” of “Jab We Met”, one of my personal faves… but she did her jaadu and made the audience dance to her tunes with “Beedi” and “Kajra re”.

But nevertheless, the audience screamed for Sonu… Finally when he entered amidst smoke and weird lights , I felt goosebumps and my heart pacing fasssst….

“Sach hein ki dil to dukha hein….. “

I dont usually run to join the crowd in front of the stage, but yesterday I cudnt help myself.. It was unbelievable, he was standing just a few feet away from me… I am a huge fan of all his songs, (listening to pal pal, when Im writing this ) , generally all those soft melodious ones that are made beautiful thanks to sonu nigam and shaan. ( I was lucky to attend shaan’s concert few months back.. )

The audience went mad when he started the peppy numbers like “Nachle Ve” of “Tara Rum Pum” and “Bijuria” and swayed to his soft numbers like “Main Agar Kahoon“,of OSO, which is currently my favourite song. I have to mention about a 4 year old who was rolling on the floor and doing somersaults rocking to the music, his parents were having a hard time trying in vain to control him.

To sum up, the performance was awesome… im a huge fan of the word awesome….but in fact… “Kisi zabaan pe woh labz hi nahin“, last night i realised how apt that was I couldnt find the perfect word to describe how good the show was.. So I came up with a new word… ooooooohhhhhhhsome…  – ooohhhh + awesome…  but still it fell short of what I felt…

The reason y i love his songs is coz he sings with so much emotion.. Take Tanhaayi for instance, it actually made me nearly cry… and even kal ho na ho.. was ammmmmmmaaazing. Thats what makes sonu nigam the king, his songs are too good..

Well, dont get me wrong , Im not a die hard fan of his … Im just a ardent lover of music and dance in any form and last night was one of those moments that I will never forget .. All thanks to my friends at Microsoft.

 

Birthday Baby :)

This year, I celebrated my birthday in Hyderabad. The traditional cake cutting at office and a half litre ‘paal-paayasam’ that i made in my flat.. The cake was yummy and of butterscotch icing , which incidently is my favourite flavour. These icecream cakes are so scrumptious, delicious… and what not.. see it for yourself.

 

Dazzling diwali

Diwali was never special to me… coz we dont celebrate it back in Kerala, as the rest of India does.

When I was in college, my friends and I used to decorate our hostel with lighted candles..and burst some crackers..ehmm..others used to..Im terrified of crackers..

In Hyderabad however.. Diwali is celebrated in a span of 5 days, with pujas, loud crackers and lighted diyas.. and the houses, shops and office buildings are adorned with light bulbs. Diwali fever was all around me and inadvertently, I became addicted to it too. I guess it was the forthcoming holiday that thrilled my colleagues and I more than the festival itself . To add the glitter to the festival, our employers gifted my colleagues and me with a box of dry fruits. For us it meant our hard work and dedication finally paid off

The day before Diwali, owing to work, I had to remain in office till late hours. On my way home from work, I was delighted to see the smartly lit buildings and varicoloured fireworks, that decked up the night-sky. It was a wonderful sight, I wish I could have taken a picture then, but sorry,guys.. I was exhausted from the day’s work.

I have attached the pics that I took this Diwali – The box of dry fruits and its contents

        
Alone at home, I was happy watching the reality dance shows on tv. The truth is I was pretty terrified of going outside, due to my fear of crackers. Nevertheless, that dint stop me from taking part in the festivities.I cleaned the whole house, and of course lighted my diya, the picture of the diya is what I have attached.

Sweets being the essence of Diwali, the “Mitharia” virus are predominant at this time. Even I got afflicted by it.

Rangolis play a significant role in Diwali. The one in the pic below is the rangoli that was laid at the reception of my office

Diwali provides a complete treat for our senses, with the colours, sounds, sights, tastes and smells and this year, my Diwali was truly dazzling.