The mother and i

Me: Mom, why are you bringing rice of all the things from brother's.
Mom: It is really nice. i don't like the rice at your place.
Me: huh! Mama, you don't want to carry some salt too?
Mom: laughs.

Sometimes, i do think i have taken the crazy genes from my mother.

Went over to the brother's place over the weekend to bring back mom. We came back by train and all my mom could think of bringing back from Tirupur in Tamil Nadu to Bangalore was rice. :-)

The nephew looked like a little monk with his head tonsured. He used to sleep with mom the past one month that she was there with them so, we did not wake him when we left. Heard he cried a lot after he woke up.

The train journey was amazing though.  i blocked out office, work, the dilemma over my undecidedness, and chatted away with mom over all trivialities of life. How much of the world could we see from that small window! It was not green everywhere, but in patches. Between many drylands, we could see patches of tomatoes, yellow flowers, roses, maize etc. Mom and i would point out to each other between our chit chats and cups of tea and coffee. Also, beautiful were the trees among rocks and boulders, beating the hot weather and burgeoning with bright green leaves, breathing new life, creating new landscape, drawing new scenery.

Finally, i was home and nothing compared to the comfort and familiarity of my pillow.

The Visa interview

Being my first Visa interview, i had butterflies in my stomach though i tried to act nonchalant. i always wanted to travel on work, and not travel as a spouse or a dependant but i have to agree it doesn’t happen too often in my field of work. Between us, S was the experienced one and he gave me a lot of gyaan.


S carried a fat file, while i had to follow him carrying a few documents, which talked nothing about my work or qualification, but only about my identity, whom am i married to etc. Suddenly, i realized my life and key to the US depended on S, so i clung to him like number 10 on Tendulkar’s playing shirt.

Then the question started. First they asked S all the what, where, why, hows of his job profile. i was prepared for myself too. You see, i have never stayed for 3 yrs in any company and that tells about my interview facing skills. With utmost pride, i was prepared to say i work for a biiiigggggggggg IT company , the RandD division, no, not Rand, but R and D as in Research and Development . i was about to answer like a self-appraisal meeting. Suddenly, he asked me, “Ma’am how long have you been married?” i looked at S and mentally calculated how long we have been married. Ok, ask something about my job i thought to myself. The next question was, how did we meet? i replied, ‘online’ thinking what a famous blogger i am and how widely unread it is, but how S was a fan and started mailing me. i almost gave my URL to this guy, but he was not bothered. Finally, he asked me “Where are you working?” i was dying to answer all that i had prepared. i whispered the name of my company and he concluded for me that i am going to quit as i have to go as a dependant. i stared at S, and S nodded on my behalf. The visa got stamped and i can visit or be with him as long as he is in the U.S. but i cannot work. However, i am looking at freelance or part-time opportunities, pole- dancing for one.

Going back

When shit happens, shit happens.

This was my general mood today and i was getting stressed out over small issues.

i thought i was having the most rough day. However, i somehow had the good sense to reach out to an ex-colleague and a wonderful friend. We work for competitors, but in the same campus. i joined her for lunch. i told her i think i could do with a drink. i was not lucky with the drink though she happily offered lassi.

When she introduced me to her colleague and we started talking about our old place, she said that it was an amazing place to work for and it was also because of me as i went out of the way to make the new joinees feel really comfortable. It is something which she learnt from me. Holy goodness, it came at a time when i needed the most that i even felt like crying. it was like the first drops of rain to my parched soul. Couldn't thank her enough.

mental note:

Reach out to friends. They'll never let you down.
A good conversation is sometimes even better than sex. (why i am writing this, i don't know)