Betrayal- A fiction story

He watched them through his night binoculars. Andre was sitting in his car outside the fancy Italian Restaurant on Aldcliffe Road. They had been sipping champagne in flute glasses and munching on cheese. 


He saw his wife Anna, whisper something in her friends ears and they both laughed. Anna looked radiant in her black dress and the diamond earrings he had given her on their 15th wedding Anniversary. Her friend was a handsome man and they both looked good together. Andre was in love with his wife and it made him angry when he saw that his wife did not love him anymore.


Anna was a beautiful woman and all eyes were on her whenever she entered any room. It had made him proud but also insecure many times. A few months back he had felt her drifting away from him. He had blamed it on his imagination and work stress which kept him away from her. He could not pinpoint to what made him feel this way. She behaved the same way as before but he knew something had changed between them. 


Today, he had decided to follow her and find out the truth. Andre had told her that he would be away for two days on a business trip.  He had sat in a rented car in front of his own house and watched her through the binoculars as she got ready for her evening. He saw her get into car and drive to the restaurant. He saw her meet this stranger at the restaurant.


He could see that they both knew each other very well. It was not a first date and they looked comfortable with each other.  The man was lean, tall and well dressed. He had charm and sophistication. It seemed to Andre that Anna was very serious about this affair and that she had started loving this stranger.


Andre felt angry and betrayed. All throughout the marriage he had been faithful to her and had loved her. He had worked hard to provide for them. He did not deserve this. His blood boiled at the thought of his wife in this strangers arm.  How could she have fallen out of love with him? He had many questions he wanted to ask her. 


As Anna and her friend moved to the last course in their meal, Andre watched them through the Binoculars. His anger had reached dangerous levels and he wanted to confront his wife. He saw them finish their meal and come out of the restaurant. The stranger called for his car and his wife slid in the passenger seat. They drove off and Andre started following them.


After thirty minutes the car stopped in front of a big house. Anna and the stranger got out of the car and moved towards the front door. The door clicked shut after them and the lights came on inside the house.


Andre checked his gun. He cocked off the safety and got out of the car. He went and rang the doorbell. Anna opened the door. Her face went white when she saw the gun in his hands. She was speechless and backed off in the living room 


Andres’s eyes were filled with hatred. He shot her pointblank in her face, all the time screaming why? Why did you do it? Why did you not love me anymore?


Anna collapsed in a heap on the floor. The stranger rushed to Anna’s side. Andre dropped the gun to the floor and in daze sat on the chair behind him. He looked up to see a decorated sign above the fireplace. It said


‘WELCOME TO OUR NEW HOME ANDRE, I LOVE YOU- ANNA’

Survival

There was sound of labored breathing in her ears. All around her was dark, only the moonlight trickled through the gap in the leaves. The shadows of the trees were like old men with gnarled limbs, frozen in time. The forest floor covered with pine needles muffled her frantic footfalls.

Tracy was running as fast her feet could carry her. She could hear her heart hammering in her ribs. Her breath felt like hot flames. Her throat was parched and the stitch in her side was making her wince with every step.

The forest was thick with pine trees and other trees she could not recognize in the dark. It smelled of damp and rotting leaves. Her heart had missed a beat more than once when a cackling flock of ravens had shattered the silence. The shrieking Ravens had made a sharp increase in her adrenaline making her imagination run as fast as her feet.

Tracy did not know why she was running or from what. She wanted to take a pause and examine her fear. Her rational mind was coaxing her to do it but the fear had taken over and urged her to keep moving. There was an urgency of flight from the unknown. It felt that she had been running for an eternity. Her clothes were drenched with sweat in spite of the chill in the air. She could feel the trickle of blood from the scratches on her arms.

Tracy was running in hope, to reach a highway. She wanted to see another friendly human face. She wanted a warm shower and a soft bed. Her feet were getting tired and the stitch in her side was getting worse. She needed to take a break. She wanted answers for her fear.

She spotted a clearing in the trees and heard the sound of flowing water. Shortly, she came upon a shallow stream. She decided to take a break and quench her thirst. She went on her knees to cup the water in her palms. She leaned over the water and saw her own hazy reflection in the water and it all came rushing back.

She remembered the face, the face of evil. His breath, that stank of death, the lustful eyes, and the rapacious grin on his face. He had powerful hands, with manicured nails that had bruised her body. She saw the swelling on her cheek and heard the ringing of a slap in her head.

Her heart stopped when she remembered the bodies. The bodies had long flowing hair and delicate hands. She remembered the faces of the four women. She vividly remembered sitting at the same table with those bodies. Their faces made up. There lips painted crimson and the nails painted silver. He had made her sit with the corpses for dinner, serving wine and making small talk as an attentive host. Her skin crawled as she realized that she was running for her life.

She quickly finished drinking water and washed her face. Tracy did not hear the snap of a twig. She did not hear the rustle of leaves. The cascading water had masked all the sounds. As Tracy was tying her shoelaces, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened with fear. She kept praying, turned to face the person, and screamed.

P.S: This is my first hand at a thriller. I think I am bit by the fiction bug. Dear Readers, I want you to suggest an ending to this story. How do you think this story should end?

I live with a closet 'Trypanophobic'

I am not talking about Dinosaurs here. So all you ‘Jurassic Park’ freaks wait a moment before you start doing the Jig. Not your fault, it does sound like the name for a Dinosaur (I am a Dino freak too). I know, you are googling 'Trypanophobic' right now.


I will let out the secret.….Hubs is scared of needles. I have seen him turn as pale a ghost and become a shadow of his robust self at the sight of a teensy weensy needle approaching in his direction. 

Not that I was never afraid of them. As a child, I was terrified each time a Doctor even mentioned ‘injection’. 


I was scared of needles till my 10th grade. Each year, our entire school had to take 'cholera shots' (not to have Cholera, but to stop it from invading our body). My school was a All Girls Catholic School. There were no boys, so none of us had to pretend to be brave. The closer the line snaked towards the Doctor’s room, the more agonizing it was. I would have preferred getting my nails ripped off from my hands and toes. 


It was not so much about the prick of the needle but the anticipation of the pain. Added to that was the nervous discussion with classmates about how scared all of us were. There were a few who pretended to be brave but on the inside, their guts were mashed to a pulp. The greenish hue on their faces gave them away. Our school had a peculiar way of intimidating the hell out of even the tough eggs. It always felt like walking towards the gallows to get hanged.

                       (Check out the expression of the Kid who is second in line)


I managed to overcome that fear and now I am least bit scared. I can actually look at the needle, in the eye.


Hubs has not fared so well. He has a physical revulsion to tiny prickly needles entering his skin. 


Few years ago, hubs got a cut while shaving, which got infected. The Doc said’ Young Man, you need to get a Tetanus shot’. I had to physically restrain Hubs from turning the doc into Pulp. As if, the Doctor had asked him to blow my brains off. 


After much cajoling and pleading. I finally dragged him by the scruff of his neck to take the shot from our family Doctor. I went and spoke to doctor and told him that the patient was quite scared of needles and asked him to be gentle and make it quick and painless.
The doctor ushered us in and asked ‘Where is the Patient?’ I pointed at hubs and the doctor burst out laughing and said ‘I thought, you were talking about your child’.


P.S: I am glad 'hubby' does not write a Blog. All my secrets would have been out by now, tee hee, lucky me. 

Stop the Paparazzi

Someone, quick..stop the Paparazzi. Amit  has given me this Beautiful Award. Words fail me as I accept this award. Thank you dear friend from the bottom of my heart.

I have been tagged too...

Here are the rules of this tag :

1) Thank the person who gave you the award. 

2) Paste the award on your blog.

3) Link the person who nominated you for the award.

4) Share 7 things you find to be beautiful around you.

5) Nominate 7 bloggers or more

Points 1, 2 & 3 dun dun dun....

Now for the Tag...

- The crisp beautiful sunshine peeking through the curtains in my house is a blessed sight. A hint that spring is on the way.

- A loving smile on hubbies face when he reads my posts.

- My parents voice on the phone. It brings back all the memories of childhood.

- Nature in all its shades....(I simply love this place)

Snowdonia -Wales

- An unexpected call from a long lost friend who calls you after 15 years and your heart is filled with joy on hearing his voice. Where no explanations are needed and no excuses required.

- Snowflakes that fall on my face and make the whole place white and beautiful.

- When I am walking to work in the bad weather, especially on a Monday morning and I hear the peals of a child's laugh. It makes me feel happier and drives my blues away.

I would like to pass on this award and the tag to some wonderful bloggers. I am tagging Kaustubh, Anirban, Quirky, Pooja, Nish, Sanand and Shikha. The baton is now in your hands lovelies. Waiting to read your Tag.

A brand new experience

My friend Kautubh has invited me to write guest posts on his blog. I have written the following post for him. Just posting an excerpt here. You can go and read the complete post on his website 'ekoshapu'. Thanks Kaustubh for giving me this opportunity. You can also go and check his two wonderful blogs 'Cipher' and 'Swataha'- A Marathi Blog.

______________________________________________________________________

Writing- an Art or Passion?


As children our parents try to inculcate in us various hobbies for our development. I remember going to painting, dancing, singing, guitar classes and whatnot. Writing on the other hand was not even a choice. Also writing was left to professional writers or mainly journalists.

Things changed after the explosion of Internet throughout the world. Writing an online diary became a hobby for many people at the start of the millennium. This slowly changed to writing Blogs which were not limited to online diaries but have moved so much ahead of that. Now everyone can be an online journalist and voice their opinions and thoughts on each and every issue at a press of a few computer keys.


Read more here..

Bond of Friendship

There was a sudden gush of tears in Mita’s eyes. People were whispering and looking at her with pity. She tried to put up a brave face and gave a weak smile. Her mind was trying to escape but her feet were rooted to the ground. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and found that her best friend Asha was trying to comfort her. 

Mita had come for the baby shower of her cousin. She wanted to share her cousin’s happiness but as always her presence was not appreciated on such a happy occasion.

Her Maushi (Maternal Aunt): “Mita you need not have come, after all what you will do here?”

A cousin Aaji (Grandma): “It is inauspicious for a barren woman to attend such a ceremony. It is not good for the unborn child. How can you be so selfish?”

Another Kaku (Aunt): Beta, It is better that you leave early. I hope you understand.

Mita just nodded her head. She was not able to breathe and wanted to rush back home. Her friend Asha quickly took charge and took her home. 

Asha and Mita were best friends since school. Over the years they became more like sisters. Sharing their dreams, feelings and fears had brought them still closer. Asha understood the pain her friend was going through. She was also angry at the society for treating her friend with such cruelty. She wanted to lash out at those people and at the same time protect her friend. Asha and her husband Ravi and their two daughters were like a family to Mita and Girish. 

Mita had faced this situation on number of occasions but lately, it was getting harder and harder to ignore such pointed comments from her own family. Every time she saw mothers with little children, her arms ached to hold her own child. When her own sister spoke about her children she secretly became jealous of her sister. 

 Mita and her husband Girish were college sweethearts and were happily married for nearly a decade. When they were newly married Mita was teased by relatives and friends about when they planned to have a child. She always responded by a smile and a twinkle in her eyes. Three years after their marriage they decided to start a family. They consulted a fertility expert after trying to conceive for more than a year. Both were healthy and thought these were just initial hiccups and that things will soon fall in place. The doctor did not find anything wrong with their medical reports and termed it as unexplained infertility. He asked them to try IVF.

Mita was a little hesitant at first but she soon agreed to it. The IVF failed. They tried two more times and the result was still negative. The emotional stress and the medicines were taking a toll on her sanity. The waiting, praying and hoping for a little life to kick in her useless womb nearly drove both of them over the edge. They decided not to do it anymore. Mita finally resigned to her fate, but every time she looked at small kids her heart dropped like a rock.  She was destined to be childless and she accepted it.

Mita realised she had been lost in thoughts and was brought back to the present when she found a small bundle in her hands. She looked at the bundle and tears started pouring down her eyes. The sweet sound of the whimpering baby in her hands was music to her ears. Her heart was overcome with emotions. 

She looked at her best friend Asha smiling at her from the hospital bed. Their bond of friendship had transcended boundaries. Asha and Ravi had given them the gift of life. The baby girl was going to be a part of Mita and Girish. They decided to name her ‘Mytri’ (Friendship).

P.S: This post is a work of fiction. I have used some background from a true story as narrated by a friend. The stigma related to being childless still resides in the Indian community. It is time people accepted it and stopped harassing childless couples.

More Things that made me go, Huh?

I feel, I have been living under a rock somewhere. Today, my usual Blog surfing unearthed a lot of interesting things which definitely made me go, Huh!

I do like experimenting with different products but some things I discovered hit me smack on my head and made my eyes pop out of my skull. Call me old fashioned if you want.

All of us have heard of the infamous 'PMS'. Yes, the same one. It is that time of the month when most women go on a rampage. I do too. Hubs knows better than to mess with me as I walk around the house like a three headed monster spewing flames out of my mouth. He keeps the knives hidden and the scissors stashed away some place safe, wearing a Kevlar vest and a helmet all the time.

1) For those WOMEN friends, who forget their dates: Here is something to help you....presenting iPeriod. You can customize it and also can track your mood.

Image Courtesy: www.winkipass.com

Isn't it great? I am totally buying this application. Apple here I come.

2) Menstrual Cup: This product surely gave me a shock. I have never seen or read about one earlier. This is going to be a cause of many a nightmares. As of now, I am giving up coffee...for that matter anything served in a cup. Interested parties may click this, this or this link for more information. I am too shaken up to do a review of this product.

3) 'Twilight' Mania gone berserk: Poor Poor 'Rob Pattinson'. Though I personally hated 'Twilight', I did find these panties hilarious. They were created as a joke and were not mass produced. Read more on their website.

Image courtesy: Twitarded.

4) Environment friendly periods: Looks like cloth pads are back in fashion. The West is slowly acknowledging and accepting things which are still in vogue in India. Be it cloth bags for shopping, using compost as fertilizer or using cloth as sanitary pads. Here are some cute samples of cloth pads.

Image Courtesy: http://www.moonpads.com.au/

5) This is a fair warning to all men. Follow these rules and you will be happy with your women partners, friends and your wives.

P.S: There has been no intention to 'creep out' readers. It was just a web trolling session which brought these interesting things to light. 

Pesky Gadgets

Hold it there...I am not reviewing Apple's iPad or anything. I have seen enough Apple bashing in blogosphere recently. Believe it or not I am going to review a very non-technical kitchen gadget. Ha! Now you will wonder how come a cooking-hater is doing a review of Kitchen Gadget? Read on and you will know....

I am a 'kitchen gadget stalker'. I get starry eyed whenever I visit shops selling kitchen stuff. My heart skips a beat and I feel like a kid in a toy shop (I must be a cook in my past life, no wonder I obsess so much about cooking in my Blog).  My eyes glaze over and I am smacking my lips....okayyy, I know you got the picture.

So, during one of my forays into 'The Kingdom of Delights', I came upon a gadget which I thought will make my life a bit easier. After much haggling with Hubs I went and bought this thingamajig.

I present to you....

I had to quickly put this wonderful looking gadget to use. I decided to make some Pasta. And yes...I needed Garlic and lots of it.

I peeled a ton of garlic, put a few pods in the garlic press and squeezed the handles expecting a nice heap of crushed garlic.

After all the effort, all I got was some dribbles of garlic juice. I opened up the sucker and found that the garlic has stuck to those spikes and was refusing to let go. I broke a kitchen knife trying to pry out the slivers. But those suckers were adamant and stuck on.

After a long fight with 'Mr. Loser' I gave up and dumped the lousy thing in the sink. I proceeded to mash those blighter's in my mortar and pestle the old fashioned way.

After this incident I vowed never to go and buy such shiny trinkets how much ever they enticed me to buy them. If you have never tried this gadget, don't fall for it's smooth and sleek looks and waste precious money on it.

CARried Away

Lots of you visited my blog to read my last post. Even if you were here for some thrills, I am thankful that you stopped by, who am I to judge anyone when I can write about it. Its settled then, you are not mad at me for tricking you. I am glad we understand each other so well.

For the past two days hubs and I have been praying for the speedy recovery of one of our loved one. She is a great lady and has been a support to us for the past year in this foreign country. We tried to find a cure for her illness but it seems that her time has come. We are not yet ready to say our goodbyes. My heart is heavy and I cannot breathe as I am all choked up.

Okay.....I can't do this...I suck at this.

I am talking about our car. It is surviving on borrowed time and very soon it will be joining the heap of dead cars. It is kinda old and I can't blame it for dying on us. Getting it repaired will cost us more than buying another second hand car.

First time hubs encountered a problem, he took the car to a garage to get it checked out. The mechanic fiddled under the hood and gave him a list of things wrong with car but was unable to give any solution to the actual problem. He then took the car to a number of other garages in town and finally had to drive to a dealership in another town. The problem got resolved and we had to pay through our noses to get it repaired.

I am always  in awe of people like car repairmen, plumbers and electricians. They speak a language which I cannot fathom. Gaskets, radiators, suspension fluids, flange and pinion. Don't they sound so alien? Talk to me about spreadsheets, widgets, html and blogging dudes and see who is winner then.

Yesterday, we went to find a replacement and oh! boy, we could not find anything in our budget. Most of them are too expensive and the rest are just chunks of metal who are on their last legs. It is going to be a tough task to find a replacement and not to forget that  recession still has a choke-hold on us.

Have you ever had to buy a second hand car? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve and things to look for while buying a car. Please share with me your pearls of wisdom.

Till then, I will tootle on to find another car while you enjoy this video.


 Courtesy : 2bitcomic , youtube

How to talk dirty, to a teenager

I know you have come here expecting some dirty talk, right? Let's get down to it then...why waste precious time.

I have previously written about this topic albeit, a bit clinically. It is time to give some personal touches now.

While growing up, I was a clueless doofus...clueless in terms of birds and bees. Most of the information I had, was provided either by books or by equally clueless friends. My first ‘X-rated' book was 'Lady Chatterley's lover' and I was rocked to my hinges after reading it. It was too much to take in, at first go. I had sneaked it off from my father's collection (I am positive, he still does not know that I have read it). 

As Indian families are, mine was also quite conservative about this topic and I gathered the information mainly from books (TV was extremely sanitized during my teenage) and never had anyone informing me of the nitty gritties of 'Sex' (There, we are already talking dirty...aren't we?). 

I had my chance of enlightening a clueless doofus...some summers ago and boy...I had a blast. It is so much fun to torture a kid when they are not your own. The experiment was performed in front of an accompanying adult (Kids Mother and of course me)

Characters in the following performance are not named to protect their privacy.

LP= Me, DM= Doofus's mother, D= Doofus

DM: D is growing up and I need to talk to him about you know.....

LP: So, what's the problem?

DM: I don't know how to start....can you help me? 

LP: Ok, why not....lets get to it.

Sometime later...

LP: Hey kid.. How’s school?

D: Boring..as usual

LP: Right...well we needed to talk to you about something important. You are just about to enter teenage and so your mom thinks three of us should have a chat about...well ummm you know Birds and Bees and the stuff they do...

D: What is there to talk about? Birds shit everywhere and bees make honey...what's the big mystery?

LP: True...I agree (and I got a glare from DM and after some vigorous throat clearing...another glare)

DM: The thing is we needed to talk to you about some education we need to give you.

LP: Kid, we need to talk to you about SEX.

D: Whoa... (And he turned a bright shade of RED)

LP: Do you know what sex is all about?

D: Ummm..Mm ('A deer caught in the headlights' look)

LP: It’s a way of expressing love....well you must know some stuff. I am sure you must know something? 


(His skin tone had been rapidly shifting and I swear I saw all colors of a Rainbow. It finally came back and settled on RED. )

DM: Remember, they showed you that film in school.... (His mother was trying to be as gentle as possible)

LP: Kid, you watch so much television. How come you don't know anything? You also surf the internet....you must have visited some sites right?

DM: Let us not talk about internet....Do you have any questions, sweetie?

My tactic was to run amok like a bull in a china shop. I knew it is better to handle uncomfortable subjects by targeting the subject with lot of information and just get it over with. They can find answers somewhere else. As it is, those blighter's are pretty resourceful.

LP: Do you know how you were born? You must at least know how you were conceived? 

D: By this time the kid was gasping for breath...

DM: I think we should take a break. 

LP: What? (The fun had just started and I was in no mood to let go...)

D: Mom, I don't feel so well...I think I am about to throw up..

LP: When people show love in a different way, I mean other than a 'peck on the cheek' stuff, that is how kids are conceived.

D: 'Swoon'...thud 

DM: Baby, are you ok? Wakeup sweetie....

LP: Hmmmpp, spoilsport...

D: After reviving, he gave me and his mother a look of disdain and said....stop it both of you...I know all about 'SEX', it seems you both need some education in 'Sex Education'. 

Sheesh...today's generation, I tell you....'NO good deed goes unpunished'

P.S: There was no intention to mislead people who came here looking for some thrill. Actually, there was bwahhhhha.

SNAFU

SNAFU, Here is a crazy ass word for you. In short, 'I royally f***** up'.

Remember this?

Photo Courtesy : Flixster.com

I am not in a much better state at the moment. Both my eyebrows now look as if they are running scared from each other. 

I am in a 'Joey' moment and AM not liking it a bit. 

Call me a lazy bum....I deserve it, for not getting up and plucking my eyebrows under better light. 

I have scant hair in my eyebrows and so missing a few hair at odd spots really makes me look scary, maybe I will get a job to scare the pants off little pesky kids, bwahhhha

Or I can join celebs....no eyebrow thingy was quite hot last year and I can start a new trend all together.

I usually pluck errant hair around my eyebrows and chop off the too long ones to bring them into shape. It was easier and cheaper in India, where you just hop into a salon and get them threaded by a beautician.

Lancaster does not have any salons that provide this service and even if they did, I am too much of cheapskate to spend precious moolah on it. 

So, I did what I usually do...I sat in front of the television with my beauty kit and started weeding away. The light was insufficient, but I with the usual over-confidence marched on to beautify my cranium. I plucked a few from the left one and then moved to the right eyebrow and shaped it with a too much enthusiasm and forgot to check back the status of the left one and crapstatic....I look WEIRD!

The end result is I, now have one eyebrow which looks like a fat caterpillar and the other on starvation diet. 

Check on me in a decade or two, I am hiding behind a veil till they grow back.

Till then, enjoy this

Hachiko - A Dog's tale - A Movie Review

I love dogs and I am a sucker for all Dog Movies. I have never bawled my eyes out so much in a movie. This is was a real tear jerker and pulled at my heartstrings. I cried a few tears while reading 'Marley and me', but this movie is in a league of its own. It too is based on a real story. 


*Spoilers Ahead*

'Hachiko' or Hachi (DVD Version) is a remake of a Japanese film 'Hachiko Monogatari'. The American version is a bit different from the original story. It is about a college professor who adopts an Akita (Japanese dog breed) puppy wandering on the platform of a railway station. That is a beginning of an unbreakable bond between the dog and his master which transcends beyond the death of the master. 


Hachiko, during his owner's life, bade him goodbye each day at the front of the station and used to be there at the same place to greet him when the professor came home from work. This ritual continues till one day the professor passes away. He suffers a stroke and never returns home to where his friend is waiting for him.
After the professor's death, his daughter adopts Hachiko, who keeps escaping from her house and comes back each day to the designated spot in front of the railway station to wait for the professor to return. He becomes a stray, but never forgets to return to the station.
He becomes a permanent fixture at the railway station and attracts the attention of commuters who had seen Hachiko with the professor. They feed him during his long wait. After a decade of waiting, Hachiko dies waiting for his owner outside the railway station.
The loyalty of Hachiko brings a lump to your throat. It makes you sob like a baby and you feel like reaching into the screen and cuddling Hachiko. The movie has very few dialogues and the Hachiko's eyes do all the talking.


The actual story of Hachiko is some 80 years old. Here it is as provided by 'Wikepedia'.

In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station in Tokyo and Hachikō himself was present at its unveiling. The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. 


In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned Takeshi Ando, son of the original artist who had since died, to make a second statue. 


The new statue, which was erected in August 1948, still stands and is an extremely popular meeting spot. The station entrance near this statue is named "Hachikō-guchi", meaning "The Hachikō Exit", and is one of Shibuya Station's five exits.

The movie has been directed quite well without cluttering it with too many characters. The Hero is out and out the dog/dogs that play the character of Hachiko. Even the strong hearted will weep a few tears so, watch it at your own risk. A must watch film for the whole family.

P.S.: Oh, I forgot to mention, drool-worthy 'Richard Gere' is the professor in the movie. 

Tick Tock Tick Tock

It was one of those nights when sleep was evading me. It rarely happens, but yes it was happening yesterday night. I tried all tricks to fall asleep.


1. Counted sheep, jumping over the fence. Some of them even started looking like Usain Bolt & P.T. Usha. I must have counted at least a 2000 sheep, all of them merrily mocking at me.
2. Guzzled warm Milk.
3. Tried to relax my body from head to toe (Yoga style).
4. Pretended to sleep so my brain was fooled in to it.
5. Squirmed in to a comfortable position on the bed (this meant pushing hubby near the edge).


Nothing worked. I was a walking zombie... (Quirky, this is entirely your fault).





The bed felt too warm, so I threw off the covers. For a while, I thought, yes babes this will do the trick but I was freezing in sometime. This dance continued for a while. I was frustrated and the tossing and turning was not helping much. The blasted alarm clock became my nemesis. Every tick and tock was hammering in my brain. I could clearly hear every movement of the seconds hand as it merrily went tick, tick, tick.


In that sleepless state, even the minutest of sounds send shiver down your spine and you become rigid with anxiety. Even the normal sounds in your house become exponentially loud. The gurgling of the refrigerator, the dripping faucet and that damned clock. I wanted to throw it out of the window. 


All I was wanted was to rest my brain and slobber over my pillow without a care.





After endless hours of sleep deprivation, I finally fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning. 


In the morning, hubs came to me and said " looks like someone slept really well, I heard you snoring away to glory".


P.S: I stopped myself from getting the kitchen knife, I remembered, that he is the love of my life.

Gotcha!

I was  tagged by Shikha at Lonely in Space to do this tag some moons ago. Some secrets to reveal and some to fabricate :)
Here it is folks:


1. What is your current obsession?
24- the tv series....I am watching all the seasons again. Damn it 'Jack Bauer'.

2. What are you wearing today?

Too many layers. Shabby clothes all hidden under a smart black jacket.

3. What’s for dinner?

Soup and toast.

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
A chicken Sandwich

5. What are you listening to right now?

Bollywood songs.....I love all the fast numbers.

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?

She has a beautiful way with words and she should blog often.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Somewhere in the Bahamas.

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Huh!! what is that? I have heard of it... 
The British summer is  a mirage.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
 My hometown Nagpur, India.

10. Which language do you want to learn?
HTML, I think it is a language.

11. What’s your favourite quote?
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you.  Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure.  ~Murphy's Law

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
My parents. Haven't seen them in over 2 years.

13. What is your favourite colour?
Red, Red, Red..

14. Give us 3 styling tips that work for you.


1)Comb your hair before you step out. Don't if  you are going for the bed head look
2) Put on lipstick for sure.
3) Wear black (makes you look slimmer).

15. What is your dream job?
To get paid for traveling around the world and writing a humor blog.

16. What’s your favorite magazine?
I like Reader's Digest if you can call that a magazine.

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
A lovely dinner with Hubby

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Showing off your underwear...especially thongs and Bra straps.

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?
Aishwarya Rai

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Short and Manageable

21. What are you going to do after this?
Work and work  

22. What are your favorite movies?
Lord of the rings,  Andaz Apna Apna and 'UP' by Disney to name a few.

23. What inspires you?
A ray of hope in a hopeless situation.

24. What do your friends call you most commonly?
Vinita, Vins , Lazy Pineapple, LP

25. Would you prefer coffee or tea?
Coffee with lots of milk 

26. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?

Eat chocolate and rant like a maniac.

27. What makes you go wild?
 People who pretend to be your friend but have an ulterior motive.

28. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
There are loads of them.It will be too long a list....

29. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
IceCREAM...

30. How many tabs are turned on in ur browser right now?

 Two.

31. Favorite Season?

Spring.

32. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?

Please get along something to eat for me as well :)

33. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
Ignore them. Best way to deal with negative people.  

34. What are you afraid of the most?
I am afraid to lose the enthusiasm to face each day with a smile.

35. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Gawd! you are beautiful!!! ( Need to shave of that beard) haha...

36. What brings a smile on your face instantly?
A sunny day...

37. A word that you say a lot?
Oh!God,  is it one word or two?

38. When was the last time you did something nice?
2 days back. Saw Avatar and had loads of cake yummmm

39. What would you do if you were made President of India for one day?

       I would love to fly in one of those  MIG fighter planes or take a ride in a Helicopter. 

      Yipeeee. (Stop judging me that I did not say world peace and removing poverty. I can 

       only do so much in a day )

40. Do you Know who Master SHIFU is?
just googled it....

*THWACK* HIEEEEYAAAAAAA


I would like to tag Amit, Smitha, Smita and Sanand. Would love to know what you guys answer. Thanks a lot,  Shikha  for this tag.