Happy Birthday Baa...

Happy Birthday to my dearest grandmother... wherever you are.. I know you are looking down upon us all and have a happy feeling that you brought us up all very well. It is for this reason we remember you so fondly, not only today when it is your special day.. but whenever we go to the beach, it reminds us of the time when you would pack us all up and make a picnic out of it. Or when we go to Shiv Sagar and remember seeing you , newly discharged from the hospital - but wanting to make it a pit stop to drink your favorite Falooda. We remember you whenever the melted cheese of an jalapeno cheese popper from Mangii Fera burns our tongue -- while I know you would have loved your cheese bhajiyyas and gobbled a mouthful. i know you would have the perfect advice for all my problems then and even now - cause you always took on the world and its nuances in a just as is way and get on with your life as though you were born to rule this world. Happy Birthday dearest Grandmaa... !!

p.s. What is / was your grandmother like ? I would fall off if I heard some grandmaa give me this advice ... Grandmother Tips by designer Chaco Puebla. Love how he works with his own family members to get these great shots... 

Turning 26 !

So my Happiest 26th Birthday weekend just went by. And in the true DD sense i had a fulfilled week of celebrations !!! Ofcourse it wasn't possible without a whole lot of love from my family... and the MAN in spotlight was my beau Kunal Shah... I am so so very amazed by how this person functions. Ofcourse he had the whole build up to my birthday... countdown... get together... dinner planned etc. 

It started with the Keys to my new Post-Wedding House !!!! Oh yeah... this is actually the very first time i own a key. The Keys of my mothers house are always in a secret location which we all use. So i am for the very first time responsible for my own KEY !!! Wooohoooo... !!

The Cake... I had 2 Cake wise celebrations. One was this fine print from my blog and the other one was a giant cupcake with a bag and camera with globe trotter written on it. How very appropriate wishes he made for me... 

Of course we cut the Wilderness at the stroke of Mid-night followed by a little poker session and a few drinks with some of my closest friends ! It was perfect. The next morning I woke up to a surprise. I was staring at 26 bouquets of Carnations with a note from him... yes 26 for the no of years this world has survived me ;) Carnations are my fav flowers..! They just give me a happy feeling..

Then we spent the better part of the day being pampered. We checked into MYRAH.. which is a day spa we had visited and loved a couple of months ago.. What fun it was. We were relaxed rejuvented and then headed for a late Sanchos Lunch. Mexican food and US have always been a winning combination.

After which my poor Kuks was stuck in a krux. All the gifts ordered by him were running a little late. At some point in the afternoon he was a little disappointed that he couldnt make it in time with no fault of his own. It was jus the universe conspiring against us.. He was exhausted with all the plotting and the planning. My sister in law Hiral who was helping him all along couldnt have been more apologetic for the delay.

We were on our way to Vapi when I found these amazing gifts all boxed and packed in the back seat of his car. The wait was all worth it. Every gift was so well though of... and reflected how much care and patience this man has... it makes me want to fall in love with him all over again. He is a little puppy waiting for me to open the bags all the way.

I got these book marks from my favourite book EAT PRAY LOVE... Such profound writing and what better day that to revisit them all. I can walk a 1000 miles of my life and still want to be reminded of them.

I found this Pen with my initials on them..

A set of 4 Wine Glasses with my name on it too.. to enjoy the fine wine and the amazing company Kunal has been... its been close to 11 months that I have known him and there has not been a moment of dullness or despair.

For a sweet dream sleep there were also these 2 pillows with my initials on it with pastel butterflies all over... Arent they so cute ??

 

A Lap tray with a pictue of Venice on it.. :)

And my fav gift of them all was saved for the last... a Travel Box. It contains pictures cards of the 206 countries of the world with a little space to scribble the notes at the back of each card. The box itself has 3 slots which says places visited, places not yet visited and places planning to be visited. The box itself is a master mind of my beau ..:)

My love... my life... Thank you for an amazing Birthday !! What do you think of all the gifts ?? 

Gift-WRAPPED

People who have known me for donkey years know I am nuts about gift wrapping and wrapping papers. Even as a grown up child of only 25 - I gift wrap as it is free at departmental stores only because I find pleasure in opening them... There, I have said it. I love Gift wrapped stuff. My friends who have known this - have grown to like me this way. On my 25th Birthday which was on 12th Nov - my best friend Pankti Chheda gave me 25 small cute gifts. If you ask me today to name all of them - I dont quite remember - what I do remember is that each one of them was neatly packed and sealed. Like a little girl I jumped opening each one after the other !!!

Arent these packages just lovely ?? Do you believe me when i say that I am in love with these packaging ??

Separated at Birth

I'm getting such a kick out of Victoria's Separated By Birth series. She somehow manages to perfectly pair up vintage starlets with color complimentary decor. Matches made in heaven.

This is Happiness !

We blew his 45th birthday candles – his age is only an assumption. He claims he is 36 for the last 5 years... i have celebrated 20 of his birthday’s with him personally. 16th August every year in my household is celebrated with Cake, Wafers, Pav Bhaji and Thumbs-up. All of which are his favourites.

He speaks broken Gujarati up until today and he refuses to speak to us in Hindi. He calls my sister Dhwani – Jhonny. He says my little brother Rishi is his Child and not my parents. He sat through my chicken pox with me. He smokes a packet of Biddi every 2 days. He loves Amitabh Bacchan. His favourite colour is Black. He hates wearing closed shoes. He loves Cricket with a passion. Each day even though he doesn’t read the English Newspaper, he will look at the pictures of the Times of India. Our family put him into an Auto-Rickshaw driving school, so that he could earn more money – because this man is very smart. But he refused to part with my family.

When I was little – he taught me how to ride a bicycle. He ran behind me for hours on end until I finally knew how to balance. He drew the X and the Y axis of my graph tables all through my school days, so that the only thing left would be the plotting. Even before curling irons came into the hair-care scene, he knew the right temperature to set on the house iron for my hair.. so that they wouldn’t get burnt.

His name is Tinu. He is a Nepali by origin. He was our house-help for as long as I can remember. We tie him Rakhi each year on Raksha Bandhan – we call her our brother. We like to believe that he has been with our family for the last 20 years. He left to take care of his ailing brother a few years ago. But our doors are always open to him – when his own life gets monotonous he comes back to a place he calls HOME. Come Aug 16th – his birthday, we all are present to wish him the best. It is the birthday of one of us.

Not to boast of my family and our values – but ask yourself this. When is your maid’s birthday ? How long has she been in service ? What’s her favourite colour ? What does she do in her pass-time ? Apart from her daughter and a beating husband that she complains of every time your mother asks, “Kaal Kyun nahi aayi” , what do you really know of her ? What is her favourite food ?

Many of us have Ramu Shamu working for us for years. Some even have generation after generation working with you. What is that one special thing you do for them that makes them love you ? What is that one thing that makes them want to be with you forever ? What is that one thing that they hold onto when their lives get tough ? Do you really know anything about them ??

In this day and age you know what food your dog likes – he doesn’t even talk ! You know because you choose to listen to his voice. Have you ever tried hearing the voice of those silent people around you ? Reach out ! And start by marking your house-help’s birthday in your planner TODAY !