In this year, I did so many of those things that I like to do, but had almost forgotten after my teens ended. Like listening to the gut feeling. Acting on an impulse. Not compromising. Being a rebel! Trying out new things. Just want to archive the few most memorable moments of this year.

- I changed my career plans thrice. I tried every path, talked to a billion of people. Known and strangers. I finally settled in a completely new domain – decision taken by a gut feeling. (Hope my employers don’t read this! )

- I reached the one destination in India I had dreamt of going from last 7-8 years. Bedni Bugyal, the biggest meadow in Asia. Or is it Dayara?

- I learnt to dance Bharatnatyam in a proper school, a dream since childhood.

- I made a whole bunch of friends for lifetime. When you want something, the whole universe conspires you to get it.

- I learnt to make pasta that I can appreciate. Again, a dream come true. Need a new challenge for cooking now!

- Got a couple of decent footwear. Currently – I do not have floaters!!! :-O I grew up (within an year)!

- Grew up example 2: I floss regularly!

- Grew up example 3: I take proper skin care everyday using natural home-made products! :-O

- Ok, we need to remind myself that I was talking about rebel stuff – not grew up stuff. So yes, I got out of a relationship and found a new awesome one! This was by far the most liberating act in adulthood!

- I hated and hated and hated a city and still I came back to live here. Only a rebel can do that!

- Getting married may sound quite contradictory to being impulsive. But the truth is that, this decision was taken within a span of 30 mins. The very fact that it happened impulsively could drive it to its realization!

- Decided about buying my first car totally on impulse. There are a billions of discussions when it comes to car buying. We had a deadline and I again listened to my gut feeling. We went for it. And I loved the product! Neither of us had even taken its test drive. The first time I drove it was the first time I was driving it home from the dealer’s showroom!

I just love the fact that I can still rely on my instinct. I do not have to calculate every single – small or big – decision in my life based on pros and cons!

My new year resolution is to keep listening to the music in 2012!

Happy New Year to all of you! Thanks for coming here time and again!

This year on Christmas we went to a vineyard resort in India maintained by Sula, called Beyond. I was, for one, not expecting too much. After covering the length and breadth of stay-options across the country, I only trust a few names like Taj, Four Seasons, Jungle Lodges in the name of luxury. So when I heard about a luxurious resort which is surprisingly tucked out from the reach of the crowds, especially when it is only 180 kms away from the madness called Mumbai, I was obviously skeptic.

The place is very small, with 23 rooms in all, all overlooking a pool, the vineyard and a huge huge lake. So the best part about the region around Sula, near Nashik, is that there are many water bodies all around the region. Somehow these water bodies are not yet dead from human usage. In fact the area is quite sparsely populated. Another good thing!

So we reach the resort, which is clean and tastily decorated. We reach the room – and oh! I love it! Especially the bathroom. The rooms have these very high roofs (at least the rooms on the first floor do) which have glass on a region of the roof. Below the glass, you have your very own garden inside the bathroom! Unfortunately I and my husband never think about clicking pictures and only when I remember back I realize I don’t have a pic to share. Next time, I would definitely get a snap.

Of course, staying at a vineyard resort means you have all the wines in your mini-fridge you need for the perfect weekend. On top of it, the adventurous couple – which we are – either find trouble or create one. So we went for kayaking in the lake for more than an hour, saw colonies of water birds and no human trace. Somehow I was surprised that there were not more than two other boats out for either a trip on the lake, or fishing. The whole place was truly ‘beyond’ the expectations. For me the kayaking was truly the best part. For Nitesh, it had to be climbing the ‘mitti ka teela’ at the night. And dragging his friends along. Not to mention drinking wine at the top! Or it could have been sitting next to the pool at the night, sipping wine and feeling awesome (his words).

Though I had decided that I won’t write about this place – the lesser publicity about it – the better it is for a few of us who have discovered it, I had to write as I am so impressed by a place after a long long time!

So I am getting married now. Which means I have agreed to get married within a certain period of time from now. This also means after that period expires I would no longer be the single-ready-to-mingle girl. In other words, I would be with someone, forever, and the whole world would know about this.

I have told this news to around 10-15 people by now. Apart from a few office colleagues, who are kiddos in their early twenties, everyone asked me the same question:

How did this happen?

Now this can be a bit offensive. You know, say your 99 year old grandpa who was suffering from the Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome dies and you tell people, ‘my grandpa died’ and they tut-tut-ed and asked you ‘how did this happen’, you understand that.

But when you are 28 and the whole world asks you ‘when are you getting married’ on your birthday and you have to think of different smart replies to this question rather than stuff yourself with rich chocolate truffle cake because you can’t imagine adding more pounds at the delicate age, the question ‘how did this happen’ in response to the happy news of wedding can be a bit offensive.

But you see, I can’t blame these people. I am the crusader against the institution of marriage. (I take pride in it!) Also, I was often in and out of this relationship during the last 5 years which failed to morphed into a marriage. So everyone was kind-of-used to the whole bachelor-spinster thing by now. The sudden change in status quo obviously piqued their curiosity.

Now, how to answer this question.

I can obviously not talk about the happy-marriage-concept I had when I was 23, when I first got into the relationship. Everyone would see through the lie.

I can obviously not say that this is what my parents want. I am doing this for them. They know me well enough to know that I am much more selfish than this.

So I get really nervous with this question. Much more than the earlier one about when would I get married. You see, I end up asking this question to myself in search of a simple honest answer. Indeed, I have no idea on how this happened. How does anyone end up in a marriage? Whatever is the answer to this question applies to my case too.

The other reaction is of congratulations and all. Most of the people are genuinely happy. I seriously don’t get it. Apart from a few people I know who were desperate to get married (read laid) I have never been genuinely happy about anyone’s marriage. I am not able to see any greatness in it apart from completion of a pending task. Its like you passed 12-boards or you finally finished your PhD, or you finally got a job. Similarly, you finally got married. Like everyone else.

Nevertheless, I was really grateful to all these people. For a day or two I did feel like something special is going to happen to me. Its like a bursting balloon. A make believe world. Two people living together under the same roof, everyday of the year, every year of their life. How can this possibly work?!

The answer of course, we all know, is kids.

Welcome to the world of ‘unimaginable turning into reality’. I think this is what the people are telling me.

At least as far as Bollywood cinema goes. Recall the movies of 70s, when AB would fight the bastard (?) dad for vengeance of his mother. Then in 80s, we saw a large family of 9-10 driven out of their small but lovely home and still found them singing “thoda hai thode ki zarorat hai.” 90s saw a young and dabaang Salman leaving home to literally break bricks n order to prove his love.

Then the inevitable happened. Thanks to Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram.  Indian economy opened to foreign investment. The lower class became the lower-middle class. The middle class became higher-middle class. An elite middle class became higher class.

Now, Salman doesn’t have to labor physically to win love. Now ‘family values’ were stressed upon. To keep the dough under a roof ofcourse. So, Madhuri Dixit had to sacrifice her love for Salman to marry his elder brother when her sister who was also Salman’s sister-in-law died. (The junta had more expendable income!) Or, when SRK would not ‘run away’ with the girl of his dreams because ‘dad ka aashirwaad nahi mila’. Let the girl sacrifice each time.

Of course, there was an alternate, much less popular cinema, where there was a Godmother, a Rudaali, and a Damini. But we are more focused on the main stream Bollywood curve here.

Next came girls who would be willing to dance to ‘tu cheez badi hai mast mast’ and ‘Sexy sexy sexy mujhe log bolein’. Who would have thought at that time that 2 to 40 years olds would be shaking on ‘My name is Sheila’ in a decade’s time! Not to say about the change in sets. From Kashmir and Ooty, BW has moved across the globe. From small houses of the angry young man to plazas of investment bankers-cum-drummers of Rock On!

Its so romantic to see a young woman from Kolkata getting settled in Mumbai in a studio apartment with a terrace-view near the sea! Its even more encouraging to find NASA astronauts to leave the pleasures of the developed world to work in a village. Or find school teachers working on innovations in remote places in the country. The new mantra is to follow your heart. Be it for a girl (read DevD, Yeh Saali Zindagi, etc etc), or money (read Company, Satya, etc etc) or lifestyle (Rang de Basanti, Wake up Sid, DevD again!).

I started learning Bharatnatyam from the second week of my coming to Ahmedabad. Learning this particular dance form is something I have always pined for. I used to dream of dancing on stage beautifully at a time when my kids can be in the audience – that means I always thought I would do this when I am more settled with loads of time on hand. But around an year back, thanks to Mumbai life, I began to lose faith in my body. I used to look at the dance and felt that I can never do this. It required too much flexibility.

It feels so wonderful when you are proved wrong about something negative you had imagined about yourself! Thats exactly how I feel right now. My calf muscles, thigh muscles all are tighter.. with lot of flab ‘danced away’! Obviously I am and have been in a LOT OF PAIN. It almost feels like that mountain we used to climb.. wishing the trek would get over sooooooon. Only here you feel like this over an extended period of time – not for just a day or two of trek!
But today in the class, when I was starting to get mad at the teacher for teaching us at such a fast pace and making us move on and on without a pause and a rest, he suddenly declared, we will finish year-1 steps by May. I was like woah! Really? I have heard people learn dance for like 7-8 years.. I am gonna finish one milestone so soon! And I sworn to myself that by eow (end of the week) I will for surely master all the steps I have been taught so far. Which probably means getting a pseudo master outside classroom – but I think I can manage. Its a ‘high’ feeling which can drive a person to any extend. I hope to preserve this feeling for long! Its really intoxicating!

These were my favorite lines some 10-12 years back! Had forgotten all about them till I found them as ‘favorite quotes’ of someone on FB. Thanks to FB for I was reminded of this amazing song once again!

2) Got 10 new phone nos. – maid, paper wala, press wala, doodh wala, water wala, gas wala, cable wala, plumber, owners.

3) Got the stove working.

(On credit!)

4) Cleaned the kitchen slab.

5) Opened two cartons (out of 6 total).

6) Bought hukka. 2 flavors – silver fox and mumbai pan masala.

7) Two friends came over – they loved the place.

Yo! I am happy!

- Listen to a classic melody

- Talk to a friend

- Chat with an aquaintance

- Find an old neighbour on facebook who you used to call “didi” when you were 5, say a hi

- Eat aloo tikki

- Shed a tear or two

- Get a facial

- Watch a movie

- Try to remember all the positive things you thought of 2 days back

- List  all your favorite things as suggested by Maria in the Sound of Music

Hmmmmm………

When you hear a beautiful song and end up singing it incessantly for days to come?

When a friend you haven’t talked with for an year tells you something good about you?

When you watch an animation/cartoon so good that you wonder if humans can create avatars which can act/teach better than themselves?

When you know at home people who love you most are waiting for you to come back?

When you realize that the bad times shall pass too?

When a friend tells you something really horrible about you and challenges you to handle that fact?

When you read a book and wish you had written it?

When you watch a classical dancer and wish you can dance like her?

When you watch Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock kiss at the end (dashing millionaire and geeky lawyer ends up together – wow!)?

When you watch a 2 year old start speaking a word, a phrase, a sentence, and there’s no end…

When you find a squirrel nibbling while hanging upside down from a tree defying the very nature of gravity?

When you realize you are surrounded by people ready to help you, guide you, mentor you at every instance, every step?

How can one not be inspired in this world?

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

- From the song, “Turn, Turn, Turn” by Byrds

How true this song is! I never realized it earlier. Long back when I was turning 20, I received a card from my bro-bhabhi saying this is going to be the most exciting decade of life. Very soon, I hit quarter-life crisis (even before reaching that age!) and wondered if there was any truth in that statement. You know, you always look back at your past with nostalgia. And my bros are always a decade ahead of me. But finally, towards the end of this decade I am beginning to see the truth in that statement.

There was a time in early 20s when the aim in life was to travel around the world. Ellie and Carl Fredricksen in Up wanted to go around the world at the age of 9. In third world, everything comes a little late. And the love for adventure and travel also comes in one’s prime!

Then there was a time to be a socialist. Not really that. I have always been in the company of people for whom that word simply means evil. Nevertheless, there was time to “do something.” Not saying that that time has gone and I don’t care about what I do anymore. But then I know anarchy is not an answer. It is just another prospect. I know how complex some problems are after trying to deal with them. I know all one can do is build a vision (plausible solution), work towards it, and hope its gonna work. I don’t have so much problem with things changing only in the next 20 years. Meanwhile I also have to live all this while.

So there came a time to stop all the wandering. To get stuck at a place, no matter how claustrophobic I might feel initially. Because, it is good to have a place you call home. It feels nice to have new linen, new lamps, new wind-chimes. It is fun to entertain guests to aalo parathas and fruit icecream. It feels nice to know history, geography of people in your apartment, people who work for you – the maid, the laundry man, people at the local grocery store!

Presently, it is a time when I turn completely domestic. The time to cook. Every week I make a new Indian dish. Every week I try a new version of pasta sauce. After maintaining travel documents to less-unknown -exotic places in the Himalayas, the time is to store recipes of age old traditional dishes in my hard disk. Daal Makhani, daal chilla, aam panna, gol gappe, besan-shimla mirch, gatte-ki-sabji, kele-ki-sabji, kadu-ki-sabji, lauki-ke-kofte and many more to come. If you are raising your eyebrows, I can just shrug my shoulders in response. Refer to the song above for any explanation. Its called the circle of life. When I was in hostel, I never thought I would ever cook as good as my mother. Or even bother to cook so many things. Now I know, how wrong I was. I still can’t cook every day meal for every day survival. But I m pretty sure, I am gonna try cooking everything mom ever cooked. Even the laddoos and all weird burfis. Its just the way things are!

So after spending days looking for a place where I go to celebrate my birthday and of course not finding a single tourist destination in this forsaken place, I have decided to just cook a hearty meal on my birthday. No chances of losing weight this year! Oops!