The After: And Here's Your Baby!!

You moved tenderly from one kin to another,
Amongst them was your nervous newbie mother
Still your tight-fisted long fingers extended towards her..

Whilst the sleepy Arabian nights you began to uncurl,
The mysteries of feeding & burping began to unfurl
It was a difficult conquest, no jokes, might I add..
Filled with friendly advices & resources from the internet pad.

You weren't one quiz, fought with & solved..
But a furball of brain-teasing puzzles evolved!
There were still things, not so unnerving,
Your eyes, little toes & cheeks burgeoning..

All my love then began to melt.
When in your sleep you smiled & wept.

Haunching my back & making baby voices,
I then began to make you smile & talk back.
Once you flashed your little toothless grin,
In the dullest of frames, you charmed us all choiceless.

The Before: 9 Months Journey..

As Im currently playing the 'Waiting Game' in pregnancy, the point before the pea comes outta the pod, I review my unexpected (normally glamorised) journey of 9 months..

Dealing with this Feeling:
After the news found me, I was constantly deluded with the awe-struck feeling & had to remind myself that I was changing. After a few weeks of nauseausness, puking, lethargy, and bone-expanding, there wasn't more reminding needed. I also became a glow-torch all'a sudden, puking by morning & brightening by night.
Some of these changes were too difficult to bear, I'd find myself close replica of the teary-eyed cauldron. But a glance towards just two baby posters stuck right across my bed, were enough to pray for a cute cuddlebear! It would also become a norm, that after every doctor's visit, my sister & I would cry & laugh whilst toying with teeny-little sonographs.


Im Big, And I can't Hide it:
Size bloomingdale isn't a pleasant thought for me or anybody.. In the movies, you'd see women perfectly round & constantly glowing all the time.. But I was morphing into a blubber expanding into different dimensions on different days.. Wobble Bobble. Still, I'd 'bump' into people who'd say I'm too tiny otherwise. Yeah right!
This time was also highlighted with food, food, and how do I put it, some more food. My munch-athon was becoming so addictive that some nights, just the thought of munching food would help me snooze off peacefully in bed. (**Embarrased**)

I also began feeling the much awaited kicks from the underbelly. All the hype aside, it initially felt like some very bad gas! Later, there were the pangs & the karate chops. Ouchh!


Counting & Waiting:
My third & much awaited trimester arrived. I had changed; and that's an understatement! I was now a fully-grown penguin, blubberisation-project complete. It was now difficult to be stationary/ambulatory/asleep for long. My hormones had 3 strong emotional effects: the perennial river - ever ready to burst, approach with care; the hysterical vibrator - jokes would turn me red with laughter, and I'd vibrate just about everything I'd sit on; and the OCC (Obssessive Compulsive Cleaner) - put just about everything in its place, symmetric arrangements & tenderly placing bottle labels in the front!!

I'd also now face people from every walk of life patronising/demanding me to get my cardio high a.k.a. walk! So much so, I'd have nightmares on sermons to walk. Some days I'd actually get the courage to do so: with a ducky gait, curled up hands, semi-swollen feet, reigning through a painfully slow half hour, I should've been awarded a medal. Edible chocolate in gold please!!


I never imagined myself to be going through an emotional & physical ride such as this. Or that I'd count each day & memorise the calendar in my head. In the course of 2 months, 4 cousins + 2 friends, have had been blessed to hold their 'bundle of joy' in their hands. As time passes by, I feel butterflies in my stomach, & watch it contort my tummy. Waiting anxiously & excitedly, for this period to transition smoothly onto the next. Praying all goes well, for now & later.. And having a whole new level of respect for mothers altogether..

Dreams are Rocket Science..

Couple'a nights ago, I had a dream I was being chased by the 'bad guys' and I'm to hobnob around people & places to save myself..

DISCLAIMER: What follows is hysterically absurd.. Read at your own risk!

Location: the School. Characters: (Duh!) Kids in uniforms!!
So I'm busy running around in zoom speed, except that kids keep obtruding me.. Seems like it's break time, and all classes are let loose! How am I to zip zap around??

Next thing you know, they're all asking me the same question, one minute after another.. What can we eat? What can we eat? Why don't you ask the cafetaria dude that question.. I reserve any response, and they keep questioning....

Then I confess: "There's nothing I can give you to eat, I'm on the run right now." And poof! Magically they all stop talking & point out to an exit route.. Werid, but honesty has its advantages!

So the route is from a room & leads to a small circular pathway, to what seems like the light at the end of the tunnel.. Just as I make my way through it, I realise Im way too big to fit through! And the bad guy behind my tail doesn't get the better of me, he's waiting to see me waddle my way out, amused!!

What does this dream mean?
When kids are hungry, they get whiney. I'm too big, the world's too tiny..

Yeah, it's rocket science that I just deciphered! And if you've read this up, you're one 'ol risk lovin' fool.. ;)

Forget About Your Worries And Your Strife

This title is from one of my all time favourite songs (read: Jungle Book - Bare Necessities). The kind makes your lips hum & inspires just about anybody!

Still more than often, I find myself obfuscated & trapped in a score of worries. One replacing another, especially as I progress through my life.. I've worried myself over the expectations of school, my needs through college, stressed over by giving more than a 110% at work, & fretted over my future after marriage..

I've often said to those troublesome monsters, Screw You! Sadly, they come back with a vengeance.. It's even worse when I think about them concentric circles - the 'if this happens, then this follows', one fear producing another..making things worse then the beginning..

The solutions: Either thinking through them clearly & consciously; or telling myself I'll deal with the situation one at a time, letting God handle it best! But this seems so much easier said than done. We're never really satisfied with our current state, we keep needing more as we take different turns in our lives, that every step of life we climb up, there's our patience & contentedness put to test. As we change, so do our needs, mostly growing with time; it's only fair that we have to struggle to gain these!

Point is, not to lose that smile on your face in the process.. Not to forget about the bare necessities of life around you, enough to keep you happy, now & always.. Oh, and the rest, they're luxurious add-ons, perhaps to make you gloat!

Below are one of the best lines of the song.. enjoy your read :)
"Wherever I wander,
wherever I roam
I couldn't be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin' in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few

The bare necessities of life will come to you..

And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!"

Seiving My Pensive

When you have time on your hands, and you happen to curiously look through your friends pictures or so on social networking sites like Facebook.. There's quite an entertainment guaranteed!!

This is what I saw: They're smiling & have been to all over the world (ok, just a country or two, but they're on the move yeah.. Travelling hippies!!).. They're smiling & STILL studying.. (Nerds!).. They're smiling & partying.. (really, how can one take over 60 photographs of a single event with just 15 or so people attending.. it's like permutations & combinations of poses).. They're smiling & getting engaged/married.. (Ahem, no comments).. Honestly, I find myself feeling happy at times & jealous at the others.

Conclusion: We're all smiling at one point, and a point before the camera clicks we're all equally facing some sort of emotional storm or another. Whether it's a fight with a friend or a dear one; worries about our future, our jobs, lives, relationships; or unnecessary insecurities. We all fight through it. We all flash our brilliantly brushed teeths, and stand head-head/shoulder-shoulder with our friends, and savour that moment to ease ourselves.

That's why we often find displaying the best or moderately best of ourselves on such social sites. Doing otherwise is usually deemed psychopathic, because of its public announcement of our deepest dismays. Its then that you realise, that like the original black & white films of a reel. The coloured printed portion is out on display. And the black dimmed reel is held somewhere in the refines of the drawer, with you alone. We're all social human beings, sharing the best with everybody, and the worst with those we hold close or perhaps nobody else.

It's when we gather during those photoshoots, or otherwise, that our distinct, but common, emotional threads disappear & get united with a common fabric instead. We're all drowned into vibes of joy & sorrow, pain & laughter all together.. Like supplements we need every once so often, from different sources & different regions, to keep ourselves alive & kicking! And that's life..

Dancing With the Stars

I've always been inspired by the era of magical & elegant dancing by actors like Gene Kelly, Judy Garlands, Frank Sinatra & the like. Their melodious voices, swayingly toned bodies, & steps that make you dance with the chair. Frankly, I wasn't too inspired by the Bollywood dancing of colorful umbrellas or pots, or those of women trying to act shy & seductive by making quirky facial expressions. Only actresses like Vyjantimala, Vahida Rehman did leave me mesmerised with their earthen & sensous Kathak movements in some movies.

I tried tap-dancing with my feet, there was no tapping, just horrible clucking noises. Dancing with chairs & by jumping on & off them, admittedly that's the reason why I broke some furniture. ( To list a few - chairs, bathroom accessories, glass ware, & to top it off, I've dropped water & things liquidy more than Mr. Butter Fingers..) I digress..

So, the elegant MGM-inspired dancing didn't work for me, there was always the Indian folk dance.. I tried Kathak alright. Squat your feet sideways, pop your eyes out, have the biggest grin, and play with your fingers: make them three & shake like you're a peacock, make them three and point in opposite directions, play a simple bow & arrow. So when I was 8, I braved an attempt for a Kathak audition at school.. The girl who led us was 12-13 maybe, she listened to the audio tape like she was lost, I felt I was safe.. A few seconds later, she started vrooming around the class room at unfathomable speed.. While she knelt, I stood. While she stood I knelt. I chose to resign before anybody told me otherwise. Age 15, a friend was organising a Kathak dance, I sneaked in.. And had the same tragedy. Just that this time I chose to stand at the last column, I laughed & gave up.

I've never been a party-animal, sadly that meant my dancing sucked more. And if ever I tried, I ran out of breath at minute 2. Imagine trying to invent new steps for those 120 seconds, and then moving on them. Phew! Some work! It gets worse when I often end up stamping or banging into somebody. Still, I danced at my wedding. I was reminded it's my own after all, sadly I was recorded for a short but devastating 40 seconds, for what felt like an eternity.. All I can say is, I can't stop laughing hysterically everytime I see it, & that I notice how my husband keeps going back from me to maintinain a SAFE distance.

Recently at a kid's birthday party, people blessed with the ability were grooving around. I sat & watched on the hopes that nobody would call me, and I'll be entertained by watching the fun. Surprisingly I was dragged on the floor to become that entertainer. After struggling for a while to make some dhumka's n shumka's, I remembered Monica from FRIENDS, wearing that fat-suit. Ahh, peace at last. This time, I lasted 3 minutes, and people thought that preggieness suited me. Well, what do you know?!

The Cherub in Me

Long face, short & petite.

Fit into any clothes

Sit or move by the smallest area

Run around like drunked gorilla.

Then there came a time

I held mango sweets in one hand

And with the other I smelled lime

My butts grew embarrasingly big

My bones would hurt & expand..

And a seating pillow became my new best friend

I craved food like starving post-hibernating polar-bears

I grew bigger in size

No dimension was spared

Pretty little clothes didnt fit me, needless to say

New ones would last no more than a month & a day..

I began checking out pregnant celebrities taste

And wondered how they walked in heels at every place!

Round & chubby is my new description..

But an occasional "u're inrecognisable" becomes a bitter prescription

I dress up more, accessorize & stuff

Crocs are always on my feet

And stoles around my neck

I walk like a penguin

I sit with uncrossed legs without dainty grace

Oh, and for people sitting by, I leave NO space

But with one flutter from the underbelly

And a hand on those vibrations

I thank God for making me an 'early' preggy bird..

And giving me these eccentric, blessed sensations..

Ending the Touring Series..

There are 6 more days left for the Touring entre'es to get over. But I hereby strangle, choke, wipe, annihilate them all.. Okay, you get the point, I've a violent streak in me, coupled with the fact that they aren't so appetizing to me no more..

Until then, I'll sneak a peak of the other ramblings in my head..

Day 4 - Touring SouthEast - Destination Monkey Island

Yup, you read that right. Among other islands I was packaged to visit, Monkey Island was a part of them. Being an Indian, I didn't expect the sight to be too amusing, I was a wee bit wrong..

Here's the schedule, wake up at 5 in the morning. Catch our booked taxi at 6.30. Hop onto a boat by 9.

We woke up at 6.30, missed the taxi, and reached the boat beach 10 minutes before 9. And looked around to see other tourists waiting an hour earlier for the boat, and considered ourselves lucky to be lazy.

The boat's designed in a way, that the front half is V'd and open roofed, the posterior is covered by a deck. Our guide adviced that those who're braver should be seated in the front, the rest can sit behind in the shade. I walked straight ahead & caught a seat in the open air to enjoy the view. What I witnessed: a 45 minute bumpy ride, nauseaus passengers, and finally, the catastrophicly deep, uneven tan! Arrgghh.. Yeah, I did apply a sticky gooey sun-tan, nobody told me you're to do it every 30 minutes, especially if you're right under the sun! :) I loved the boat ride, it was an absolute adrenaline rush, everytime we'd crash against the waves, some would scream, I'd just laugh out of pure fun! All this while, at the center of this open shed, a couple were seated. He was Irish, and she was Australian; they had surf-board abs & toned lean bodies, and the coolest demeanour I'd ever seen. I felt like a 10 year old, while I gawked at them in silence.

Our first destination was May Island, no stopovers, just onlooking at how eccentrically mushroom-shaped, and green the place was. The next stopover was Fifi Island, famous for having had shooting of a James Bond movie, and The Beach. It was lovely, not spectacular though. White crystal sands, blue-green see-through water, tall mountainous greenery, and stinky rest-rooms!! We then stopped at Monkey Island, and were adviced not to feed them. I wondered what a waste of time this was..

What I end up seeing: monkey fights in two medium sized gang'ed groups, some others who're wooing the attention of ladies and eating bananas, some who're scaring others by climbing & screaching at them, and some tourist-monkeys taking photographs with other monkeys. What an evolution!

After this little stopover, we were halted for a coral diving session. I geared myself up, took half hr. changing into my swimsuit (It was pitch dark in the bathroom, okay! Worse yet, everytime a little sun would come in, I'd see how wet & dirty the place was), and spent 5 minutes in the water. No, I've never dived before, but I wanted to give it a shot. After I did, I clutched onto my husband, and panted for my life, even though the boat was 2 steps away from me. Lesson learnt: I was born a spectator, but I live to participate & quickly run away..

It was nearly 4 in the afternoon by now, and we were melting in the sun. This trip was to be scenic, breezy and beautiful. But after an hour, I thought to myself, enough with the scenery, give me some breeze already! Last stop, Kai Island. I devoured on every piece of watermelon I could get my hands on, whilst my husband greedily consumed 2 servings of chocolate-caramel sundae. We bumped into those idolised on-board, surf-board-ab'ed tourists. They were in love with the weather, they came from sub-zero temperatures, wanted a tan, and enjoyed the blazing heat to the hilts. I didn't idolize them no more.

Just before we were headed to our boat, we heard a Thai singer, singing mushy English songs from a bar. She had the sweetest voice ever, and everybody was drawn near hear. Even we ended up humming some tunes with her. Going up-close we figured she wasn't a she, or he sang like a she. If you know what I mean. Still it was a good job singing.

After relaxing & snoozing at my hotel, we asked for personal body masseuses. We were called to a room, only after walking there in my pyjama's; the room wasn't a room, it was a lobby by the pool, located right in-front of the lift, with uncurtained beddings ready for a massage. They were an old couple already being worked on, the man was embarrasingly-noisily-appreciative. And I was stiff out of shyness. 10 minutes onto the massage, my husband's cousin knocked off to sleep, and I began to finally relax.

Day 3 - Touring SouthEast - Babies can Swim, Why can't I?

Prologue: We took a flight from Bangkok to Phuket, missed breakfast, and arrived at the Thai airport snack bar. There was fast food and sushi, never tried it until the day.

Since it was a novel experience, combined by hunger pangs, I had sushi, I swallowed it, and ate more. My cousin-in-law's wife, made the most horrendous face, turned purple, and threw it up immediately. Yeah, they don't enjoy the same taste.

The rest of the day we enjoyed resting (read: sleeping, snoring, snoozing), shopping, eating, and enjoying a show. Sometime in the peak of noon, when we were all turning mush, we spotted an Indian restaurant, with colorful typical Indian stoles hung out.. In case you're wondering, there were more colored stoles INSIDE the place than out, and even better, we get greeted & served by Indian-looking Burmese ladies, the food tasted Indian though.. What a scam! They pro'lly got even the stoles from Burma! In the evening, we go to a theme park, FantaSea.. The place was brimming with both tourists, and costumed workers standing against their fairy-tailed station. These stations had everything from marbled elephants, beautifully lit up glass houses, mermaid bars, and a banquet buffet hall for around 3000 people. Main attraction, a show talking of a dark age where a saviour comes & banquishes evil, and saves his girl ('course, he has to have a girl).. They sing & dance in Thai-some gibberish, but it still leaves you dumbfounded. They've bellydancers, acrobats, traditional dances, trained elephant tricks.. the works. You come out flippantly humming the silly Thai song, knowing that it'll be happily stuck in you head for a few days.

I came back exhausted and decided to take a swim. I know I can't, I took classes. I can drift about, splashing embarrasingly like a whale, calming myself down before-during-after the sessions, getting over my fears. I braved all that. This was to be the first time I spend swimming with my husband, showing him how talented I am, and better so in-front of his cousin & wife. I realise I forgot to get along swimming goggles. So I wear my specs on the swim suit, a fish with eye kinks, the suave silhouette of a model with glasses, so what!! Fine, fine, I take 'em off, letting vanity take over me. And finally brave the chlorinated seas. They all swim like professionals, except for his cousin's wife, who doesn't even bother trying, she knows she can't swim, she just sits in the pool. I am stuck by the railing. I try taking my hands off it, and the next minute I'm clutching my husband. I can only tell you, the next day at attempted coral diving, I do the same thing, only Im back at the boat in 5 mins.

Before the journey, like a typical Indian mum, my mother-in-law insisted I carry sweets & snacks in my baggage in case of hunger. Out of courtesy, I followed instructions. After this late swimming session, & no reprise of food service, the 4 of us finished it all off.. Moral of the story: all mothers have unexplainable weird instincts.

That was how our day ended, tomorrow we'd be facing a longer, sunnier, bumpier, quirkier day.

Day 2 - Touring SouthEast - Tiger Tiger Shining bright, In the forests of the night..

Prologue: After the previous day's journey & frantic shopping spree, I'm blessed with 5 hours of sleep & a growling stomach. I wake up to smell some complimentary breakfast! =)

There's only one way of opening your sleep-drunk eyes & getting outta bed, by getting out of bed. (You expected a smarter answer, I'm a hibernator, what do I know!) I ate copiously for breakfast, not knowing when & what the next meal was going to be. I stuffed myself gloaty with a pancake, waffle, crossaint, salads, curd, and fruits. Yeah, I'm part junkie-part healthy, that's what I call a balanced diet. There was a new fruit to treat my taste buds, Dragon Fruit, nothing red or fiery about it though; it's flesh is white with embedded black beads, duuude it was sweeeet (read: Dude, where's my car). It was good I packed myself with glucose & fat, the next meal we had was 11 hours later.

We hopped in a taxi, and asked the guy what the most exciting place to be at was. After changing our minds atleast 4 times, we were headed to the Floating Market. Yup, the place is called so, 'coz you have access to little shafts of wooden markets floating in water, while you're wrooming on your speed boat, James Bond style. Until you get stuck in a boat-jam. With narrow-alleys allowing a maximum of 2-3 boats at a time, it's common when multiple boats with multiple people get stuck. You stare at them, they stare at you. That's okay. It's when they take pictures of you, you've nothing to do but sheepishly smile back. Kodak! Rewinding back before I stepped into this boat, I was stuck in the fare bargain. The teller qouted a price of 4100 Bahts for 4 of us, and 5 minutes of haranguing and nearly taking off in our taxi, she (the teller) reduced the rate to 1100 Bahts. 70% less Sale. My husband & his cousin couldn't stop grinning. Whilst I was melting in the heat, the only thing that mattered to me, was to be able to park my derriere. I smiled, for a different reason.

Next stop was a wooden handcraft store. What's the big deal we thought, a mili-second changed our minds. We saw loads of 2D carvings of Buddha; & jungle themes with wild animals & loads of trees, detailed up to leaf veins. And then there were the 3D carvings. Behind these carved out trees & their hanging roots, were more trees or climbing monkeys, like a detailed layer peeping through the delicately designed front layer, all crafted on the same thick wooden canvas. I bought a set of 3 prettily painted & twisty-carved candle stands. Romance & aesthetics, a neat package.

Our little taxi now trotted it's way to the Tiger Temple. It's a Buddhist sanctuary, where the monks & their volunteers train their freely-roaming tigers to interact with humans without biting their meaty heads off (or any other sumptous body part). On entering, we decided to opt for group vs just solo pictures, whose benefit is that one person amongst the group can have the tiger's head propped on his/her lap. Ofcourse the tiger is alive, ofcourse the tiger is free. I jumped between my tall husband & his taller cousin, to make full use of this opportunity, shock & smiles covered their faces. The volunteers took us to the largest, laziest tiger of the lot of 8. I was asked to fold my legs on the muddy ground, and 2 people gingerly put the heavy 10 kg tiger head on my lap. I couldn't smile.

I wasn't afraid, honestly! As amazing the feeling felt, there was a surge of pity for the tigers, and that the whole setting was such a faux; hadn't it been our safeties would've been at jeopardy. There were more areas of different settings around the sanctuary, where tigers were seated under tree trunks, water falls, and out in the open. They all looked like captive celebrities out in the public service. While conversing with a volunteer, we found that the aim of this organisation is to collect enough funds to let the tigers live freely in the wild.. Feasible or not, it's something worth trying for.

There's more that happened later, I don't remember. We ended our night with chocolate brownies, vanilla ice cream, and some bad caramel sauce. After a long day, sweets came last, and wiped my previous memories off.. Alright, previous doesn't mean the WHOLE day.. :)

Day 1 - Touring SouthEast Asia - It's my birthday, and I'll run if I wanna, fly if I wanna..

Prologue: The last 9 days & 10 nights I've spent having the craziest amounts of fun, bumming around, eating like a hog & being this close to attempt-at-murder.. whilst touring Thailand & Malaysia with my husband & his newly-wed cousin and wife. And this blog entry is the first of the series..

It all started with the airport, ofcourse. Strawberry cheesecake & chocolate brownie, calls & messages, all to celebrate my birthday.. It started fantastic, until.. I was seated behind a bunch of over-enthusiastic singing Parisians, they were having a hellu'va time, and I was a sleepy & grumpy Garfield. I was granted my wish, I slept through 7 hours, but missed 2 whole flight meals, yum yum (who knew how it tasted!), knowing I missed a meal, made me hungrier, grumpier. Garfield back with a vengeance.. The Parisians looked & tasted good to me. Ahem.

I enter a 4-star hotel & see a Golden Buddha statue atop a fountain in the lobby. We're served welcome-drinks, I'm too tired to make out what it is, but it tasted ecstatic! The room faced a river that passes in Thailand, oft-used by ferries, and a big-ass swimming pool with dainty little sun-bathing chairs on the ground floor. Fantastic view. But I was to spend only 4-5 hours in my room for the next few days, getting sleep deprived & rushing to be ready for the next day. What a waste! You should be able to live here for a week without bothering to get out. That's what I thought, my husband disagreed, ofcourse.

You've guessed it, I entered the hotel, after 12 hour journey, and left it in 1 hour. Arrghh! We were on the streets until midnight. The first time we walked around the place like lost souls, an absolute stranger came up to us, giving us directions, talking about places to go, talking about his intentions of marriage... Wait a minute! Is this a hoax, is this guy for real. Turned out he was a friendly cop. We bumped into many more people, patiently giving out their time to us, opening themselves up. People here seemed so mellow, that whilst we were shopping, we happened to use the word 'Please' to bargain. It worked like magic! They were willing to drop their prices down by 40%! Im very coy, especially when it comes to clothing, what I saw initially stunned me. Women around here wore shorts & skirts no matter what size they were. They carried themselves so casually, there wasn't anything crass or indecent about it at all! By the end of the day, I summed up the people here: They're marshmallows, soft, sweet & and might I add, polished white.

After our shopping spree, we hunted down an Indian restaurant, I was sung a birthday song in Thai & had some fantastic ice-cream in the honour. My husband's cousin brother lit a lavender scented conicle-candle, and nearly blazed the table-cloth. I finally came back to my hotel room, to test the comforts of the bouncy bed; and on the night table was a coffee-flavoured cake with my initials, a packet of candles and a lighter, compliments from the hotel. I went high on gelatin & Thai sweetness all over again.

Life's a Rollercoaster..

It's nearly 26 days since my wedding, and part of my mind feels, how time flew by so fast.. After marriage, things are different alright. That's an understatement. Everything changes, including yourself.

Week 1 of my married life was absolute adventure. The first night felt like a sleepover, fun & a little formal. Different setting, house, room, people. The first morning, I broke the flush, the cloth stand, the knob of the basin tap & I also managed to successfully sprain my finger & elbow by slipping on the bathroom floor! Talk about a kick start. The next few days I spent travelling places with my husband in a van filled with his cousins & relatives. Despite the haul of 6-14 hour journeys, a constantly leaking nose aided & salvaged by thick pad of pink tissue papers,munching on some gooey sweet/snack/fruit/food every 40 minutes; I had a hellu'va time! For the next 5 days, we'd come back between 1-4 in the morning & be up on our toes by 11, to be ready for another trip. (Yeah, I'm married alright, but the earliest I've risen so far is 10. Give it a break!).

Week 2 began with another journey. Journey back home, Kuwait. This involved a 3 hour car ride, 10 hour foggy train ride, 18 hour rest, and a 4 hour air flight. Details: in the train ride, our seats weren't confirmed, our luggage pieces were too many, so we scattered them across compartments (And like a typical NRI, I couldn't sleep with luggage-worry-syndrome all night). When the passengers with confirmed seats came at the next stop, we had to sleep two compartments away. Love birds separated by the T.C. Come flight time, his flight was 4 hours ahead of mine, mine got delayed by 2 hours. I ended up with extra luggage & heavy fine, and explained to the ground staff my pathetic situation without my husband, all with a smile on my face & mehndi up till my elbows. They smiled, let me check-in with a 70% discounted fine, wished me good luck & asked for sweets for the wedding. I smiled & said I thought of getting some along, I just feared an over-weight.

Week 3 couldn't get any better. For more than half of the week, my husband & I reigned the house, till my parents-in-law arrived earlier than scheduled. I learnt you can't cook food with fast-beat-music until you're an expert chef, you end up more nervous than perky; or that every chopped ingredient doesn't need a separate dish before cooking them (like shown in cookery shows), you end up with a mountain of vessels to wash; your cooking instinct is called so because it can not be explained to your husband, there's no logic to it. Meanwhile, some dinners spent with friends entailed the questions: 'So how does married life feel?', I've heard it so often, I can give you the answer in my sleep. (In case you're wondering, stop! This blog entry is more detailed anyway..) And finally, the arrival of my mother-in-law was that of a home chieftess in no disguise, watsoever! Hail thy empress!!

Week 4 and still continuing. Being a home maker is taxing, but it's your little home project. And even though my flaw, flattery, seems to corner out hungry once in a while, I'm mostly sated by my self-satisfaction. There are times, when my ego inflates into a hot-air balloon, and then I find a needle to burst it silently whilst I reason things out. I still stick to fights, physical fights with my husband, playing around & telling him I'm black belt in Samurai Jack (read: cartoon network), and then wheezle out to remind him I'm a girl, ahem, lady. And I miss home: I was a polar bear hibernating all year round, everything in the kitchen reminds me about mom's food, both my sibling & my parents had so many memories shared, that every moment or so I think alone or out-loud the things I did with them (waiting hesistantly, for somebody to ask me to stop talking about them so much), and that still some nights I have to remind myself I won't be dropped home. This. Is. Mine.