ufffohhhh!!!!

Have you ever wondered how time flies these days?? It seemed like the week just started and look the weekend is here so quick. Why is that?? We are so packed the whole week that we don't realize the days moving by. There are also those days where we wish we just skip the new few days and fast forward to move on. This happens when we encounter things which we don't want to handle. There are some other days when we are just stuck with something without a solution. We are already stuck with the situation and now we cant escape without a solution but we wont know how to respond to things. This they call 'STRESS'. I have encountered this 'n' number of times in my life. For instance, when it is just few hours to enter the exam hall and I have one whole unit to study, a very strict deadline at work and stuff like this. Sometime when I am stressed out I mess up things in a relationship (be it with parents or friends or spouse). Not that I'm stressed out now. It was just a random thought that came up with and I wanted to discuss it with you guys. Different people handle stress differently. In there own ways. 

Stress doesn't get better by itself. We'll have to find a way to get out of it. I generally take a time out when it is related to work. And playing 'bejeweled' always relaxes me and calms me down. And then I come back fresh to solve my issues. Sometimes some music i love to hear anytime will do the trick. Sometimes I just dont think of the time line in front of me and take my time to think of a solution and it works like a charm. When I come out of it, I try not to get myself stuck at the situation again, by planning things better and ahead of time. Not that I'm perfect at it the next time, but it does really help. 

So I wanted to know how do you guys handle stress, if at all you are stressed out. 

So talk to me. What works best for you ??

Image Courtesy : Internet

Hello There !!!

Folks,

Am back again... Yeah, I know that I do this often... Suddenly go missing and one fine day come back with an "I am back" post. But yeah I love coming back. Been busy with a lot of things again which kept me off from blogging. New job, new city, new room mates (Yeah, I had to leave my hubby and relocate for this job. But will move back soon :) ) I missed this space so much. And I missed following up on my fellow bloggers' posts. Im trying to read up all the missed ones. So yah. Back to me and my updates. Im now in the 'lightening capital of North America'. Yup. Tampa, Florida it is. The climate here reminds me so much of India. Perfect weather. Hot and humid most part of the year. I miss my husband so badly though. But that is also compensated by something else - Living on my own. Yeah. I wanted to do this for a long time. I wanted to live alone for sometime. Just to see how it feels to be independent.  Its good. Im liking it. I cook my food. Do all grocery shopping by myself. Take care of all my bills. Have girls' night out whenever we (My roomies+I) feel like. Life is fun. Life is good. Hope life moves smoothly like this forever. Touchwood !!!

So what are you guys upto these days? Hoz it going? 

Update me !!!

Aal izz Well :)

Well well well... I know I've forgotten my space for quite sometime now. Been busy with a lot of stuff and hence totally ignored my blogspace. Though I did not blog much these days, I did enjoy reading my fellow bloggers' posts. But now am back and it feels really good :) I hope everyone is doing as good as I am (or even better :)).

Its been nine whole months since I moved to the US and I cant believe how quickly and smoothly these nine months went off. Time really flies. It has always been like this since college. Those four years in college, then those couple of years at work, and these nine months of marriage. Everything seems like a dream. But I think this was not the case when I was a kid. Things were real slow and I liked it that way. May be not then, but now I really do. And it always puts a smile on my face to think of all the petty things I did as a kid. 

How I used to hate to go to my Hindi classes. After every exam, I used to say to myself, "Thats it. I'm done with this and not taking up the next level". But due to my mom's insistence I took up three levels and after that she was tired of convincing me. I never hated my dance and music classes though. In fact I'll be waiting for school to close for the day so that I can run to my dance and music classes. And the drawing competitions that we used to go, not for winning any major prize, but just to have fun. All the kids from the neighborhood will be ready with their painting kits and we'll all walk to the venue, find our halls, collect our drawing sheets, develop our own ideas based on the given theme, try to draw them as we envisioned, but it would have ended up totally different and then laugh our souls out after seeing each others outcome and wait for the results to be announced that evening hoping one of us would at least get a consolation prize. 

Ahh and I loved those occasional trips to T Nagar when I was a kid. We were staying in Adyar and we used to go to T Nagar, Anna Nagar or Mylapore for the birthday shopping, Diwali shopping, pongal shopping and jus-like-that shopping. My dad had a scooter back then which cannot accommodate the four of us. So we used to take the bus. Sometimes we had to wait for hours to get into a bus because my sister and I wouldn't get into a bus that is crowded. We sometimes will let go four or five buses and wait for the less crowded bus. Once my dad was tired of waiting and ended up taking an Auto-Rickshaw. This happened a few times and then on my sister and I would pray that every bus that passed by should be fully packed so that we can enjoy the luxury of travelling in an Auto-Rickshaw. And only on occasions like this we used to eat out and  the other days we never ever bugged our parents to take us to restaurants. We were not exposed much and hence were happy with what we had. Parents always decided the goods and the bads for us and hence we had healthy/safe/worry-less  living. Gone were those days. Given a chance I would definitely go back to my childhood days. 
I'm sure you will to, Won't you??

As we grow up, we tend to see new things, experiment new ideas, set up new goals, change them every now and then, and eventually become too busy to realize the value and presence of time. Hai ki nahi??**

So how is it going for you? Busy as usual?? Aal izz well ??!! :P

**Hai ki nahi?? - Yes or no??

No post in July... Ooops.. Here it is !! :)

Yah yah... I've become all too lazy and certainly no inspiration to blog these days. But then I was just looking at my page and suddenly realized that there were no posts for the month of July. Omigosh !!! How can I let that happen. For July is my most favorite month of the year. I can hear you asking me why. It goes like this. I joined highschool (my dear VV) in the month of July.  One of the best schools I've ever attended. Perfect location for a school (in the midst of a calm and dense forest), lovely teachers, great friends and perfect school timing (7.50 AM to 2.10 PM). I've always enjoyed that 15 min bicycle ride to and from school, with a little chit chat with friends. So thats that. And then I entered college in July and there was no looking back. I have had the most wonderful time of my life there. And it so happened that I joined work, my first job, in July. Met some really lovely people there. Fell in love with technology for the first time of my life. No kidding here !!! Then, I met my guy in July :) Hoz that !! And of course I am July born. So does that tell you why I love this month so much ???!!! :)

So is there a favorite month for you ?? And why ??

The Absent Minded Me !!!

Yeah!!! My post title says it all. Of late Im being really absent minded. Not that I used to remember things really well before. Duh. I forgot how my cups of water I had poured, seconds ago, while cooking rice yesterday. Today morning I was discussing with my hubby about the chores that I had to do and the bills that I had to pay. We ended up with four tasks. Till now I remember only three of them and still thinking of the fourth one. I know that I will remember it sooner or later, but it is really frustrating at that moment.  Sometimes I used to keep some really important document in a 'so-called' safe place. But when I need it on an emergency, I have to struggle for a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes before I actually find it. I easily get distracted when Im on a call with someone, that I sometimes forget things which I actually wanted to convey. Sometimes we tend to let things slide.

Now that I really have the time to do something about it, I did a little study on the internet about what is really causing this absent mindedness.

Dr. George Grossberg, director of geriatric psychiatry of St.Louis University school of Medicine, says that the temporary "tip of the tongue" forgetfulness is the change that usually happens as we age. But Im not even 25!!!

Sometimes people become forgetful because they are on a sensory overload. Really?? Sensory overload. Huh ??? 

Some say distraction and preoccupation is one main cause of being forgetful. Wait. Playing this 'Cafe World' application in FB counts for distraction or pre-occupation??

There were much more causes like poor friend circle and even cultural change. Whatever it is, I am going to get over this negativity by following some simple remedies.

• Make a note of everything, to do in a post-it note. However small or less important it may be, things which has to be done should be done anyways right??
• Do not procrastinate things which you can do right away.
• Exercise your body, says Dr.Grossberg, for it increases the 'feel good' endorphins and improves our mood.
• Exercise your mind. Okay so I guess I should take up some new activity to give my brain some work. How about revisiting the little German lessons that I took ?? Sounds good right :) 

Am sure absent mindedness is pretty common in most of us. Actually nothing to worry. But we can avoid the momentary frustrations if we come over this negativity. If there is a way that you follow to remember things, please do share :)

Have a great day all of You!!!.
Image-courtesy

Sometimes

Sometimes we have to experience things which we would never thought will happen. Sometimes everything that we see looks weird. Sometimes everyone will be around and still we feel lonely. Sometimes things we were longing for will be just next to us but still not reachable. Sometimes opportunities knocks us at the wrong time. Sometimes in life we end up with a situation where we have to decide certain things right there without further delay. Sometimes we are forced to take up certain decisions which we dont like to take, but have to take because of the roles and responsibilities that we hold and because we need some stability in life. Sometimes all those good buddies in life will be totally unavailable when we really need them. Sometimes things we were promised of never happened. Sometimes the world out there will be bustling with activities but we will be standing still. Sometimes we have so many things lined up to be done, but something that ruined our sleep that night will hold us from all those chores. Sometimes we are afraid of taking the next step ahead. Sometimes we feel like slapping that person right across their face for the not-so-sensible sentence that they uttered when we badly needed some words of wisdom.

There have been so many of these "Sometimes" in my life  and all I said to myself was:
"Be Calm. This too shall pass."

A Desi Neighbor Atlast !!

The day was dull and moody, with the sun almost deeply buried under the fast moving clouds. I was just lazying around for almost the whole day. As I was wandering in the house, pile of clothes lying in the laundry bag caught my attention. I was happy that I finally found something to do. I took the bag and went to the laundry room. As I was unloading the clothes into the washer, someone entered the room. I turned to look who it was and there was standing a lady with her cute little son. She wore a bright smile on her face and introduced herself and her son. We exchanged our history and geography. She's from Kerala, one of my favorite places, and seems quiet easy to move with. I was so happy that I finally found someone to talk to. She seemed more than happy to have met me, coz she has been here for more than a year without any friends. All she knew here was her husband and her two kids with some occasional visits from her husband's office colleagues, may be. Thats Sad. Pretty Sad. But never late. Here we are for each other. Its not even one whole day since we met. We already had lunch together, went to the gym together, went to drop her kid in school, went to the library together and had a long chat over a cup of coffee. Now doesn't that seem like a wonderful bond ?? It is, at least to me. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I finally started to come out of my cocoon and mingle with people. Good going. 

Here's to me and my lovely neighbor.
Cheers !!! :)

Things that make me happy!!!

I was randomly reading the blogs that i follow and one of them had written a blog that listed the things that made them happy. And i took the lead from there. 

Here are the little things that had made me happy and will make me happy, and i have listed them in no particular order :)

1. Dark chocolates in all forms
2. Dresses in BLUE
3. Eiffel Tower
4. Disney's "Just like we dreamed" parade song and of course the parade
5. Mango pulp and Litchi juice
6. Movie with friends
7. A Walk in the college campus with room-mates after dinner
8. Ceramic miniature dolls
9. Throwball tournaments
10. Talking to mom for hours together
11. Waiting for dad to be back from work on Saturdays for the Samosas from Shree Mithai
12. To write and receive long emails
13. Pondy bazaar Shopping with sis
14. Sitting in the beach, gazing at the sea
15. Listening to my sister's exciting stories about my niece
16. A hug from my niece
17. Coffee break gossips with Suja
18. My Govind-Alex-Suja-Sukku Coffee mug
19. Sneaking out from office with Suja on her Scooty for a Pani Puri from Gangotree
20. Kleio G-A-S-S meetings
21. A call from Nivi when I'm really sick of being bored
22. Comments in my blogs
23. Long weekends and Extended Vacations
24. Surprises in all forms
25. A good comment on my cooking from my hubby
26. Long drives
27. Singing aloud when Im alone
28. A nice-hot-long shower
29. Video chat with parents and In-Laws
30. A nice hug from hubby and listening to a quick summary of his day at work
31. Working out in the gym while watching my favorite shows on TV
32. Watching a snow fall from my living room
33. Visiting Old friends
34. Making new friends
35. That cute-innocent-sweet-happy smile of a baby
36. My room/house after its all cleaned up, of course by me.
37. Peeking into others photo albums in FB/Orkut
38. Wedding news from dear ones

I just realized that the list is endless and I will stop here.

So what are the little thing that make you happy ?? 

Use the comment space :) 

Remember, comments in my blogs make me happy ??? :)

I dont always tell You

I dont always tell You..
How happy I am to have met You in my life

I dont always tell You..
How much joy Your smile brings to me

I dont always tell You..
How Your love brightens every second of my life

I dont always tell You..
I know that You are always there for me

I dont always thank You..
for anything and everything You do for me

I dont always tell You..
How special You are to me

I dont always tell You..
How lucky I am to have You

Happy birthday Sweetheart !!! 

I Love You :)

Was a happy good 2009 !!!

It’s good to be back on the blogosphere :) After a real big hiatus, I should say. Almost after 6 months. I am back now and good to start all over again !!! There’s so much I wanted to write about which I eventually dint do. So here’s a sum up of all that happened in 2009, all that I would like to recollect, rewind, look back and cherish.

My year started in the blogosphere. Yes, I launched this blog page in Jan 2009, with a hope of posting as many blogs as possible. But I din do justice to my page, which am hoping to balance out this year with more blogs and updates :) U can always hope for better things u know, never gonna cost much :)

I was conferred with the ACE award (this was in the month of Feb) at my workplace which is supposed to be an excellence award, to recognize and reward outstanding contribution to the project every quarter. But reward and recognition was never a term known to my project management, as far as I know. It was usually done like a roll call and this month seemed to be my turn and there it was all mine. There were so many times I remember contributing some quality work to the project earlier but the awards for those quarters were given to someone else who were sitting atop the list for many years without the ACE, so it had to be theirs according to the law !!! Some things never change and can’t be changed and so was this reward system. Anyways so that’s an important event of the year ladies and gentlemen. The ACEd month of the year !!!!

The one thing that I always loved about my work place was that it was really close to my house. I want you guys to get a picture of how close it was. My apartment was right behind my office building. No kidding here. The only thing that was separating my apartment from my office was that huge compound wall. They were adjacent buildings. There were so many times when I had waved Hi to my mom (who will be in the kitchen) from my office parking lot. I used to have my morning coffee at my balcony waving at Raji and Soundariya (the early birds of our team) seeing them park their bikes :) It was jus a minute’s walk from home to office. What more do you want in life. While I was enjoying this luxury, I got the saddest news in the last 3 yrs. My office was shifted from the busy GN chetty road to the deserted SEZ in Siruseri. There was no more walking to office, there was no more afternoon naps at home when there is literally no work, there was no more sneaking out of office for a just-like-that shopping in pondy bazaar, there was no more going back to home to get the Swipe card/Mobile/Wallet that I had forgotten to take, most of all, there was no more going home for that nice hot mommy’s lunch !!! My team mates were so very happy, not because the office is being shifted to some far off-out the city location but because I had to TRAVEL(Give the word a little more stress) to office like all of them!!! I was blessed with such lovely team mates, after all :)

Waking up at 6 o clock in the morning to catch the office bus at 7 became an adventure sport to me. But thank god for giving me two responsible friends Alex and Govind. They were always there to hold the bus for me whenever I was late. And it’s a record that I hadn’t missed my bus even once. Things became really hectic and monotonous. I hadn’t had a proper vacation in years then. Suddenly the idea of taking the family to an overseas holiday trip struck my dad. He always wanted to take his girls on a foreign trip before he handed them over to someone :) And so we were headed for a week’s trip to Singapore and Malaysia. Ahhhh... It was such a welcome break from work. Lovely trip it was Which added another memorable page to the book of my memories.

2009 seemed to be the year of the knots. Yes I am talking about the nupital wedding knot. Many of my friends got engaged or married in 2009. So it sorta increased my parents’ blood pressure too. My horoscope took trips through so many astrologers and so-called Nice boys’ families. Fortunately or unfortunately Mr Guru was favoring me then it seems and so my dad was so ambitious in getting me married by 2009. He was a focused man, I know. I was a lucky girl, you know!!! So yes, I got married to this lovely person called Raj in November 2009. To more about how it all started and how we got connected to each other please visit http://www.mywedding.com/sukanyaandbakiaraj/ :)

After my wedding I had to relocate to the US of A, where my husband works. So I had to quit my dear first job. My workplace was like my second home. I have had so many memorable moments there. Late night slogging, Coffee break gossips, Friday lunch outs, first onsite trip, pointless team meetings, even pointless appraisal meetings, what-are-they-talking-about CEO open houses, the intra-DC Anthakshari/Rangoli competitions, the inter-corporate throwball matches, the Chennai Marathon run, the 2 month German training and the list is endless. I had made some real friends for life. It was naturally tough and difficult to leave all of them but I was even more excited to step into the next phase of my life. So there I was, giving a pause to my career and moving ahead to step into my wedded life.

More posts on my new life coming soon... :)
Overall, it was a lovely year for me !!! Was a happy good 2009 !!! :) :)

I-Me-Myself

Yet another new year has jus bloomed…. 2008 has been an eventful year for me…. It was a nice mixed package indeed…. Lotsa good times, bad ones too…. The beginning of a new year always gives me a good deal of hope and anxiety… Yesterday I was jus rewinding the whole last year…. And lot of things kept flashing to my mind… And they were all memories which I never want to forget in my life….. I wanted to record them somewhere….. There were so many instances when I wanted to throw my ideas to the junta, but never dared to do so…. Such a silent soul I am, or I shd say I was…. Will not be anymore…. Blogging was the immediate option that came to my mind…. And that’s the reason I’m here posting my first blog…. About me….

I-Me-Myself

I did my schooling in some six schools and finally ended up completing it in Vana Vani Matric Hr Sec School, IIT campus, Chennai. I graduated from the College Of Engineering, Guindy. (Oh yes!!!... I did). I spent my most cheerful four years of my life in this college …. Life was indeed beautiful with friends around you all the time…. Friends were my everything, throughout my college life… they still are… but definitely the count has increased after college life…. Those were the days I learnt to be independent….

I am now working in a software company. I’m not quite sure if I really like my work…But I can definitely say software is not my cup of tea… I’m not going into more details on my work right now... May be some other time… So that’s that with my education n profession…

I like making new friends…Friends are the ones who keep me going most of the times….I’m blessed to have such a lovely bunch of them… Meeting old friends is something I’ve always liked to do…

On the other hand I like to be alone sometimes… someone rightly said, there is no better companion like solitude…

I love playing with colors and blue is my favorite!!!...I guess it was my fifth semester in college when I was so crazy about this color that my wardrobe was filled with blue salwars... Thank the almighty for his creative eye… Colors do refresh me when I’m down… I scribble my name on and on at such times and keep asking me why I should be depressed for petty issues when they are not even worth cribbing for….

My mom is my biggest support system…. She was always there with those nice consoling words…I admire her for her internal fortitude….

My mood swing was never constant….It was always been like the huge tides on a no-moon day….

And I as a person have changed so much from time to time…. When people see me after a long time will definitely figure it out…

My weakness, I think, is taking things for granted and I am really sensitive… trust me… I can’t bare people complaining about me…

One greatest strength that I think I posses is that whenever I am down I bounce back in no time… In a way my strength and weakness complement each other!!!! (don’t they ???)

I’m scared of dogs…… Even a cute lil puppy scares me to death…. I’ll just parry off when they in my vicinity.

I like travelling with friends…. And I just can’t keep my mouth closed (you don’t have to ask me to say cheese…. J ) when someone stands in front of me with a camera…..

So that’s that about me….

Just another girl next door… !!!

Keep visiting to know more… J

Cheers !!!