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Hello folks,

The posts here just got moved to wordpress, and all newer posts will feature there, now onwards. You may want to follow that blog instead on this from now on.

http://mycurioshop.wordpress.com/

Go on!

But, I am only 24

When somebody in office hits on you, that too when you have been too busy to look at the mirror for months, it is a reminder of sorts. It reminds you that you are still young, and that people still find you attractive. It is also a realization, that when people don’t know that you are married, they are more open and generous with their compliments and attention.

I was amused that it happened, again. Off-course, there were people in office who flirted, but that kind of got into control once I declared I was engaged. And once I got married, it just stopped. Period.

There is something with Indian men; they somehow equate complimenting with flirting. Maybe, it’s because of our culture or rather what we call as culture (but that’s a different track altogether, another post, another day, hopefully soon).

But, the point remains, that men stop complimenting women once they become out of reach, so to say.

It is very hard to come by a:

You look wonderful.

Or

That dress makes you look hot.

Or even a simple

B.E.A.utiful

And that is why we, women, become more and more awkward with accepting compliments gracefully. Oh! But the joy of knowing that you can still make people turn their heads is something. To hell with asking your partner, “How do I look?”

Bask in the warmth of a compliment not fished for, one that is bestowed unexpectedly, oh ladies. Bask in it.

I had forgotten I am only 24, till somebody tried hitting on me. Marriage with all its pretending-to-be-grown-up, kind of makes you forget that. And 24 is definitely a young place to be :D

Twice in two days and I am on a high! Yay!

One Wedding, Million Questions

Almost, 2 months into marriage, and I am still being asked the same questions. I am beginning to get a little wary of answering them with a smile.

Also, I want to keep a record of the things I need to ask acquaintances who recently got married/ are going to get married in the near future, so that I am not bitten again with the dumb mute-bug. They may think I am being rude if I don’t ask them the ‘appropriate’ questions, won't they? So here goes....

1) How did it go? / Kaisi rahi shaadi?
- People, it wasn’t an exam. I can’t say whether it was good or bad or how much I am going to score.
If you are asking me whether things went smoothly or not, they did.
If you are asking me whether I am happy with my decision or not, I am.
My wedding went the way it was supposed to, and I hope that my marriage goes the way I expect it to. Period.

2) Kaisa lag raha hai shaadi ke baad ? :-|
- Well, to be honest, not very different. I don’t feel like I am married or that anything has changed. It is as independent as a live-in relationship and as accountable as a marriage ought to be. I just feel more loved and I am happy about the decision I made. So, change that :-| smiley to a :-) smiley, will ya?

3) Enjoyed?
- What? My wedding? The food? Not really. I didn’t get to eat even half the things that were on the menu. We were overstuffed with sweets. And this is one thing I am really going to regret for long, because I have been told by so many people that the food at the wedding was wonderful. I still have people coming back and asking me who the caterers were and sometimes the names of items of the feast. Sorry, I am clueless.

4) What did you do on your first night?
- And it’s your business to know because?

5) Did you cry?
- Off course I did. Its customary, to cry :P

6) You got married so early. We never expected it from you. How come?
- Well, I found the person I was and am happy with. Whoever puts off happiness for later? With the world coming to an end and all that, kya pata kal ho na ho? ;)

7) Will you quit your job, now that you are married?
- Why? Is marriage another kind of job that I need to quit my current one? We are in the same city. Neither of us is relocating. And I haven’t found a better job yet, so no. If you thought that the marriage was the defining line of my independence, then you cannot be more wrong. Relocating, finding a better job, going onsite or somewhere for higher studies would be the right reasons to quit, wouldn’t they be?

So next time you meet me, you know what not to ask ;-)

Did you know - Love can make your Roti's go round ?

Somebody was right when somebody said that love makes the world go round. :)

It does make mine go round. Sometimes it is because it makes me swoon when I am in his arms, sometimes because it’s a roller-coaster ride of emotions, one changing to another before I can figure out how exactly I feel, sometimes because time goes by very quickly..

But, did you know that Love can make your chapatis go round too :D

I don’t mean round as in when you roll them out from the dough. I mean round as in when they blow up like a perfect balloon on the pan (without putting them in the fire). 3 days of cooking, and not one parantha gone wrong. All of them bloated up perfectly without losing heart half way. Yay!! Why is it a big thing? I have known how to make rotis/paranthas atleast for about 4-5 years now. Getting the shape right is child’s play, but getting them to bloat up like mums’ is a BIG thing. Never till date have ALL my rotis made in a single batch bloated up perfectly. Some would. Some would just pretend to and then deflate midway.

It’s a record made, rotis made in 6 batches in the last 3 days, have all looked like this:

*Joey dance* :D

And that's me making the Paranthas:

I am so proud of myself :)

Hooked, Booked and Cooked

I have been known to be a rebel at heart and I think I have the capacity to shock and surprise people by the kind of things I do. Unpredictable!

So, when most people of my age and above have been searching for ways to escape marriages, I decided to go headlong into it. I think I am a rare case who decided to take a step towards tying the knot by preference than by pressure. Now, don’t mistake me here. I am nothing like the Geet of ‘Jab We Met’ jise shaadi karne ka bada shauk hai. I am a(n) (ab)normal girl who is scared of the ‘M’ word as much as any other girl, and in fact more so given to my tom boyishness. It freaks me out. And I have never felt more like running away than now, since the time I committed myself to it. Go ahead; ask me, what’s keeping me chained up when I have nobody urging me into it?

Love. What else can?

A complete believer of love. Not-so-romantic at heart. More practical than emotional and yet head over heels in love with the Guy. This is not a story of a girl who found the man of her dreams. She couldn’t have, you see, because she never dreamt about things like that. She dreamt of words that would be whispered to her, of the colors that her life would be filled with, of music, of laughter, of warmth and love. And those are the dreams that this Guy so easily fulfills, that I don’t have anything more to ask for. I am a bloody opportunist, I don’t let good things go, I fight my right for them! ;) And that is exactly what I did.

Small Talk

So, this is what happened yesterday. I had to undergo a KT session with a team mate of mine. She said she would take the session after giving her certification which was scheduled for after lunch. And that certification was what became our topic of conversation for a good ten mins because I just gave the same certification a week ago.

Cut to the scene after her certification, when I bumped into her in the washroom.

She: “I am free now. I will give you the KT now.”

Me: “Okay. I will join you in a bit”, I said washing my hands.

She was looking pointedly at me and I gave her a quizzical look.

She: “My certification was bad Shivani. I got 64. Another 4-5 answers right and I would have cleared it.”

Oh! So that was it. She wanted me to ask how her certification had been.

Me: “Oh! That’s bad. It’s okay. You can take it in the next cycle. You don’t have enough time at hand to book a slot again.”

And we spent another 2-5 mins discussing the key points of the certification till she was assured that her strategy for the re-test had to be what we had discussed.

The key thing that I realized yet again was something else. I am absolutely inept at making small talk. I knew she had finished her certification but asking her about it seemed like a personal question so I didn’t. And there she was, wanting to tell me all about it. For her it was just a way to get conversational as it must be with a million other people. But I happen to be an absolute failure in this matter.

Most people always start the conversation on a Monday morning by enquiring about all the Hows, Wheres and Whats of the weekend spent. I generally don’t till I am asked. I can’t even get myself to ask people about the weather in a different city on the phone. I realized that this was also a way to make conversation when a friend called over for no apparent reason and asked me this before we went chattering along the memory lane.

There is this cubicle-mate of mine who bought a Sari for his mom at a sale that was held in the office. I was snoozing at my desk and he actually woke me up to get my opinion about it so that he could get it changed while he still had the opportunity to, if necessary. I gave him my two cents on it and that was the end of conversation for me. I didn’t even bother asking the price or whether the collection at the sale was good or anything else like the other guy in the cube did. Reason? It didn’t occur to me that I should have asked. And I was very ashamed of myself that being a girl, I could not take even that much interest in a matter that a guy thought was addressed best by a girl.

There is this particular friend of mine who makes it a point to ask me every single day the same question when we get down from the bus, “Did you have your breakfast?” I have still not learnt to be the first one to ask her the question.

There are so many such small gestures by different people that make me feel warm at heart. Even if it is just polite small talk, it gives the impression that the person cares a little bit for you. I on the other hand am totally incapable of making a person feel comfortable in my presence by making idle conversation.

Though I am known to be more like a chattering magpie and an outgoing extrovert I can’t seem to get the hang of unnecessary polite conversations. I prefer silence to that, probably more out of fear of having to make small talk in return more than anything else.

Hugs!

Hugs are probably the most expressive way of physical communiaction with a person. There are hugs for all times and for all occassions, be it happy or sad. Also, the kind of hug you get from different people varies. Hell! The kind of hug you get from the same person also varies under different situations. So technically there is at least one huggable person for every situation.

Now, what actually got me started on this topic??

I feel like I want a hug, and I want a hug right now. But I dont know from whom and even why in the first place. I just want one. The sad part of it is that I cant think of one person in town who can give me a hug that will suffice my need for now :(

I wish some of my very close friends were here, not that I would have been able to hug all of them, but atleast their presence would not make me feel so lonely. You see, with some people that kind of a physical comfort never comes, even after years of sharing a beautiful relationship. In fact, if I were to, say hug Kiddo, both he and I would feel awkward about it. And that feeling of awkwardness would continue over meetings till the dam would break on either of the sides and we would tell the other person "Dont ever make the mistake of hugging me again. Its petrifying. It just doesnt feel natural or normal. :-/" Again, there is Mirchi and Prudence, and Jerry too off-course, whom I can ask for a hug whenever I want and am sure to get it if they are around.

The other day, Prudence and I were talking about days like today when we feel like a real hug and a virtual one just wont do. We were wondering if we could make a robotic machine with 2 arms that could replicate the type of a hug we get from a person, if it could in any way generate the same warmth or feeling. I think that would do for a start even if it cannot give different hugs in different situation. Wouldnt it be wonderful if I could just choose whom I want to hug and get one instantly? Pointers anyone?