Soul Sisters !!

She walked in almost bullying a couple of guys around her... And one look at her and I instantly knew the connect. Within the next 48 hours I was to meet my soul sister. This was about 2 years ago - when I had gone to Baroda for a cousins wedding. I like to believe that even though I have not seen her in the last 2 years - she knows me. She reads me. She makes an attempt at keeping up with my otherwise insane life !! She is an inspiration to me... even though she thinks I am her inspiration. We love each other... We think of each other on days when we are away - our relationship has come close thanks to MSN : )

So when she said she was starting a BLOG -- It gave me this amazing oppurtunity to do something for her - that she has always done for me... provide her with the encouragement. I have promised her that there are a whole lot of people like you who are reading me today and will read her too... here is presenting the debutante, the full of life, the FAB-ulous free spirited I am in love with and you will fall in love with her too --- TULSI ... !!! Check her link out on http://fattofabandeverythingelseinbetween.blogspot.com

100th POST !

As a little girl I spoke when it was not my turn, I answered when it was not needed, I gave an opinion even if I was not entitled to in the wrong places and not to the right people. It gave me a reputation of sorts. A strong minded individual like me could be dangerous. BLOGGING is a serious passion for me. One that gives me the freedom to write freely what i feel and what I think, without the hazard of being explosive. Such is my blog. It is an extension to my life. and today – after much nurture and care my blog has reached a 100 !!!

A 100....!!! CELEBRATING A 100 blogs ... wooohoooo. When I started off, I had no idea that this would be the turn out. I did not know that this thing which started off as a rough template would take such a beautiful shape. It would be a place where I could talk about things I love - travel, books, art, interior design, fashion, music, movies, eating, being in love, design and my sunshine.

A lot of people to be thanked. My grand-parents. Who are somewhere there, looking after my universe. They are the first people who encouraged me to always express... they are the ones who were so proud of me – even if it only meant me saying a line in the class play ! They were there, applauding loudly !!

Next up my parents... These 2 people, single handedly can charge me up with enough energy to last a life time. They not only have inspired me to dream big , but gave me the ability to chase after my dreams.. and they are such a perfect example.
Dhwani, my sister, my soul mate. For her undying passion for her artwork – her relentless hard work, day after day after day. She knows what she wants. And she encourages me to work towards what I like the most Writing ! With her around, I strive to know what I want.. and be thankful for what I have. And always being by my side.

My friends... Pankti, Amzie, Raghuvir, Aakash, Jesal, ... for always being so available to discuss everything under the sun. I owe my sunshine to them. Everyone else too, who help me aspire to achieve more. To do more. To strive for more.. !!! Thank you so much for always being there, everyone.

Also to all those people who actually sit up and read some of my stuff, and time and again comment or call or message, just to let me know you care that i write .. Please keep them coming. There is nothing more I love than to hear you critique my stuff – mostly the good stuff ; p . but when you write, I know you read. When you write, I know my thoughts provoked something in your mind to move you to click click.. !!!

My PURPOSE : To provoke thoughts with my writing – Mission Accomplished !!!

The Little Joys of LIFE

Dear All,
So I am extremely sorry first of to have not updated my blog in a little more than a month. What can I say ?? LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER RIDE and I am refusing to get off it… !!

A Quick update about what has happened. First I went to Germany on business – uh huh, yes, I do a business apart from just writing plain simple-le boring blogs of the love of my life, men in general, current crushes, cooking, eating and a whole lot of other bullshit u guys read abt- and I get a lot of appreciating for. The little joys of life I tell u !! So – coming to the point. Business was good and I made some load of money to get me off the thought of how I am going to pay for the land I have bought . a part of the payment for which remains and is bugging the shit of me !!

Next up , I flew to CYPRUS for a quick Diwali Holiday with my family. Nothing compares to the time I spend with my family. We are a bunch of strong headed individuals who have found our right tuning with each other – so each year for about 10 days we get together and celebrate diwali and different locations. This year it was in the beautiful island country of CYPRUS. So we spent out time on the beach – sunbathing – and have tanned ourselves hues of barbeque… !!! We are BROWN- INDIANS now. More on the beautiful sunsets, sunrises and cocktails in my next blog. We also had a quick stop at EGYPT… !!! And my little TIFF with a company called FLASH TOURS… !!!

Then I came back and reloaded my bag with some fresh clothes and went to GOA for my birthday weekend. Nothing compares to FRIENDS + GOA.. what a beautiful airy sunny life I have. Yes, I heard that from everyone who called me , emailed me, BB’d me on my birthday !!! And yes also people who FACEBOOKED ME ! now don’t think I am lame – but facebook notified me that an alarming 150 people have written on my wall… !!! WHAT – this excluding the people who wished me on the phone – which was ringing off the hook from 8 a.m. UI have some lovely friends and family , don’t you think ?? I am grateful for everything and everyone in my life. It was what birthdays are supposed to make u feel, right ???

And then of course – when I came back – we took delivery of my fathers shinning new MERC E 280 CDI !! luxury personified. What can I say – im proud of this man who not only taught us to dream big but also taught us how to chase them. He is a super human in the form of a demi god in the form of my father !!! MY DADDY STRONGEST… !!

Anyway – I have to go check on the new machine in our new factory – which happened in the middle of all this… but I promise to come back as soon as everything is settled.

And I have another reason to celebrate – my 100th BLOG is coming up… YIPPIEIIEEEEEEEEE…. !!!! It’s celebrations time all the way.

LOVE U GUYS,… AND ALL OF U

Julie , Julia and Me !

I was gravely disappointed this Oscar Season. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t seen Hurt Locker nor have I seen Sundra Bullock’s performance for which she won the Academy Award !! But I was anxiously waiting for Meryl Streep to win this award. Julie and Julia – the movie in many ways has changed my life. For one, I find solace in Julia Child’s character. Much of her zest and enthusiasm to live life – rather love life, to love her husband, to prove useful, to find happiness in whatever situation one is put in.. these are things I see myself doing on a day to day basis. The movie Julie and Julia is around 2 different lives, connected with one book and one blog.

Meryl Streep stars as Julia Child, a determined American chef who spent some of her most exciting years in Paris, where she attended cooking school and started an ambitious cookbook while her beloved husband Paul (a phenomenal Stanley Tucci) worked as an exhibits officer with the U.S. Information Agency.The second story the film focuses on is that of Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a New York writer whose boring cubicle job and passion for cooking eventually inspire her to start a blog documenting how she uses Julia Child’s cookbook to try all of her 524 recipes during a period of 365 days.

The movie, blog and book run beautifully the parallelism of life in 2 different time generations. In many ways, I see myself critiquing cooking ( somehow I don’t think I can ever be a good cook or rather I don’t want to be a good cook ) and blogging ( definitely I’ll attempt to achieve excellence in this field) and living a lovely life ( something I’m pretty good at already )with my partner to be. On many occasions I find myself thinking, maybe I won’t be able to write now. Inspiration sometimes runs out. And each time when a new idea crops up, I wonder what tomorrow has in store for me.

When life gets busy your love interests for other things take a back seat. And that’s when you know what you love the most, cause you miss it the most ! And then you make attempts to getting back to it. When I feel this way, I feel like watching this movie. It’s about passion. Julie Powell’s life of New Yorker is very much similar to my life in Mumbai. Crowded with so many things ! And yet she finds her right way. When people talk about striking a balance, the movie shows how she stuck her balance. All my life I thought I loved reading, but I just realized I love Writing, and I miss it the most.

But there is a whole irony of the situation – Success comes at a price .. The price of becoming Anti-social at times. She literally ran home after work, planned days in advance what is to be cooked, carefully planned the ingredients in such a way that there would be no left overs or an overly cluttered fridge. How to reduce clutter from your life is also an art, which in many ways I don’t know how to. I have memorabilia from the vaguest relationships, places and people I have met.

People find me, my love for things very intense. Something most people can’t digest. To be frank I can’t digest what they cannot digest. So yet again I drew inspiration from this movie – Do what you love, love what you do. Julia, despite being rejected from a professional culinary skills course and being in the middle of so many Men, stuck to what she has always wanted to do.

Julie, after having sulked for a couple of days when her boyfriend leaves her, gets back to her blogging – and that got her out of her misery. It’s when you change yourself completely for someone else and don’t remember what you were in the first place that you realize it was not worth it ! I have been in that situation a couple of years ago. And I said to myself, Never again !! And Life has been a happy one. I found myself throwing away one piece of paper the other day, a very dear memory for a couple of months now. But I just realized at this very moment, while typing this line, how bad I felt after doing that. I don’t have to change me. I don’t care if people die of Indigestion !

One movie, so many facets ! Julie Julia and Me.. !