Life is not a dress rehearsal ... says William Shakespeare!

Yesterday I spent a lovely afternoon with two old friends Sujata and Vidhu that I hadn't met in a long time ... it was a HAPPY MEETING as was proclaimed on the delicious and creamy pineapple cake that Vidhu brought for us to treat on, which we shamelessly dug into forgetting all the calorie concerns that each of us has ... Suju got me two really cute Rajasthani paper mache musicians which have taken up place in our living room.

I felt like sharing this for two reasons - one that it made me feel so warm about the fact that we could pick up the strings from where we left off ... the common ground or bond when we befriended each other some years ago being that our children (their sons Shivam and Koustubh) studied in the same grade as Roshni a few years ago... and since we met yesterday after so long the talking was non-stop trying to catch up on all that is happening in each others lives ... kids, husbands, homes, careers, incidents, experiences etc... Vidhu' jewelry business is doing well and Praveen and her now work together, their older son Chickoo or rather Pranav is now appearing for his CA final year, while Koustubh has joined the CBSE program at Poddar. Suju' young Shivam continues his interest in music and hopes to make a career in it someday while Goldie is doing well in the television industry... yak yak yak yak yak yak we went and didn't stop even on the way to Caravan Serai and through the yummy lunch we had there ... just listening to them and sharing the small victories of their lives and challenges ahead made we feel one with them. I told them about my surprise visit to the US to meet Mapa and my sisters and they were thrilled and got goosebumps and all and then Sujata said something very interesting (the second reason of sharing this post) ... "Im so glad you did this for your sisters and your parents Priya because life is not a dress rehearsal yaar ... hum log apni zindagi plan kartey kartey hi nikal detey hain but you chose to listen to your heart". Vidhu agreed wholeheartedly and hoped to do something as exciting if not more with her family ... I am really glad that I could pass this experience onto them ...

What Suju said is indeed very true ... Most people I know treat life like a dress rehearsal and continually struggle and plan and save and wait to enjoy that one perfect moment while their life listlessly goes by dealing with the daily challenges that come its way and that moment of perfection eludes them and before you know it you are too old to let your hair down ... Worse still life could just decide to come to a close ... very recently a young friend named Sandeep aged 35 passed away suddenly with a severe heart attack (may God bless his soul) leaving behind his young wife who had completed 9 months of carrying their only unborn child ... the baby boy came into this world exactly a week after his passing and the young mother is battling with the emotions of her loss and gain. So life is to be loved for whatever it is and live it to its fullest on each day ... Farrukh, my husband is a living example of this philosophy and has virtually made it his religion in practice; he believes that life is a stage and that we should all play our parts well ... and we have no business in meddling with the life of nature as it has its own course to take, he embraces his destiny whatever may it be and lives his life for the moment ... and because he has this approach towards life he is more satisfied with his life than anyone I know and in his own little ways has a blast on each day of his life ... had he not egged me on to go to the US to share in the excitement of lil Arjun' birth into the family, I would never have taken that trip and that near perfect moment of my life (because Farrukh and the kids could not make it), that I shared with Mala, Anjalika, Mama and Papa on the 13th of October 2009 (their anniversary), would never have happened ... I had done my best to make the trip successful and nature orchestrated it to perfection.

Coming back to our endless yakking ... we continued to sit at the restaurant even after clearing the cheque ... and it was only when Roshni called that I looked at the time ... it was 4.30 in the evening ... time had indeed flown by and we parted ways with hugs and promises to stay in touch more often... check out Sujata, Vidhu and me having a laugh ... shows we sure had a great time :)

Comedy, Ravi Baswani and more ...

People who know me well say that I have an infectious laughter and that when I laugh its as if my insides are going to pop out of me ... I really let go if you know what I mean!? The next most important thing to me after loving my kids and eating is laughing ... I simply love to laugh and hence I screen through all the possible attempts at comedy may they be in films, stand up comedy shows (thankfully beginning to get popular in Mumbai), TV shows and I naturally befriend comic people ...

One really funny person in my life is my own husband and I believe that it was his ability to make me and all others around us laugh out loud is what attracted me to him. And my young Raunaq is fantastic with imitations of comic dialect ... I completely crack up with his acts of popular English and Hindi film scenes that he does with perfect expression and pitch ... we have loads of rolling laugh sessions together :)

An ex-colleague called Bomi at Barclays should switch to being a comic as opposed to being a boring banker ... he would sure do very well ...in fact Joe Coutinho and him should do an act together ... they both have excellent timing and very intelligent humor!!!

And young Shravan, Nilima/Vijay' son is so good with accent imitations and does a fantastic act of various people from across the world and their reactions to their respective team' performances at the recently concluded FIFA world cup in South Africa.

The comic films that completely crack me up are Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Barefoot in the park, Victor Victoria, Super Hero, Top Secret, Hera Pheri, Chupke Chupke, Madagascar, Top Secret, Golmaal, Chalti ka naam gadi, Angoor, Munnabhai MBBS and the best of them all Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Kundan Shah' directorial made me virtually roll on the floor with laughter ... each of the characters including naseeruddin shah, ravi baswani, pankaj kapoor, om puri, satish shah, satish kaushik, bhakti barve, neena gupta and even vidhu vinod chopra (as dushasan in the mahabharat climax scene) were fantastic ... what chracterisation kundan achieved and what display of raw humor!



This morning as I was pottering with fixing breakfast and lunch in the kitchen my husband called out -- Arrey suno ...Ravi Baswani, of your favorite film 'Jaane bhi do yaaro' passed away in Shimla yesterday due to a massive heart attack ... flashes of his comic role in the film came back to me, my throat lumped and my heart went out to him and his family... and a smile came to my face as I remembered his performances in Chashme Baddoor and Kabhi haan kabhi naa. He was 63 -- too young to have died and in death too he had brought a smile to my face ... and yet his time was done in this world of ours and he has moved on leaving behind a live wire comedy that will resonate with peels of laughter each time Jaane bhi do yaaro is watched! Wah kya baat hai ...

Is this what you call a mid-life crisis!?

My son asked me a few days ago 'Mom when are you getting a job?' I chided him as I tickled his tummy saying, 'I don't want to work anymore darling because I'm so enjoying my job of playing Mommy'. He smiled as he hugged me and moved on with something or the other but he had planted a seed into my head ... and I was conscious that he had already asked me this question twice before.

On the outside he was just being curious but his bigger unsaid question was, when he can have his PS3 and laptop -- promises that I had told him would be fulfilled when I get a job! As parents we tend to play God and believe that we can fulfill our children' wishes even if it means stretching ourselves for it sometimes. Maybe my baby was just being plain curious or just making polite conversation or was humoring me but either ways it was a hope that I had put in his head and I'm not happy that I have not yet been able to fulfill his wish! Of course one has savings but I don't want to break into my savings. Not that I need to fulfill every wish of my child, specially luxury things like these that he can definitely do well without considering he is in the 9th grade; but nevertheless, his casual question served as a reminder that I need to get on with my life.

Getting a job would undoubtedly help materialize his now silent dreams and yet the thought that has been playing ping-pong in my mind for a while now, and hence it found its way to my lips when Raunaq questioned me; is that I really do not want to do a job unless it is truly challenging and promises a career ahead ...

So, my mind has been churning with some unfulfilled dreams from yesteryear ... the things that I would have loved to do or would love to still do:
MUSIC - I would love to sing or perhaps I could be a Radio Jockey and host a show of english and hindi music from my times
FILM - Act in or maybe direct a film and if it proves successful take it up as a full time career
WRITING - I loved playing story teller from my childhood days -- this is my most favorite option!
COOKING - I love being creative with cooking and believe I am blessed with a good hand too - well yeh main nahin kehti ... log kehtey hain ji ... perhaps open a restaurant of my own!?
MARKETING - create brands or work with a company that understands the importance of having a professionally managed team to market its products or set up my own marketing consulting firm.

Yikes ... this is such a variety of thought ... the only common train being creativity! I am 44 and I'm unsure of what to make of my life ahead ... I'm in the middle of my work life and and am having thoughts of making new beginnings ... is it wrong of me to think afresh!? It's like Ive come to the crossroads of my life and I am scratching my head wondering hard, which turn do I take yaar ... and as ideas race through my mind out-doing each other my heart is weighed down by the financial security I would like to create for my children and my old age, and I am forced to think of what I am putting at stake if I take the untrodden path ... in a worst case scenario, I risk failure and in the bargain lose time and money... and yet there is a good chance that there will be success too because I have the confidence and maturity to take things through all the way ... and so my mind is playing tic-tac-toe ... what do I chose ... I need some heavenly intervention NOW! Godji ... kuch karo!!

Controversies galore!

Amitabh inaugurated a college in Allahabad (his place of birth) on his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan' name AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT! -- why does he not make the college in Mumbai when he is living here!?

One of Konkana' dialogues in her movie 'ake up Sid' had the word Bombay in it as opposed to the new and legally enforced Mumbai AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT!! and we were subjected to reels of newsprint about Karan Johar making a beeline to the MNS office.

Shahrukh recently stated that Pakistani cricketers should be allowed to play in the IPL AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT!!!

Aamir said that it is the hero/heroine that make a song immortal and not its lyrics as said by Javed Akhtar the great legend AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT!!!

Each of the above controversies happened in Mumbai and are related with film celebrities ... our lives whether we like it or not continue to be filled with fillum star-related lore/gossip/controversies -- as if we don't have any more callings to bother about; and the media and the infamous minority polity make the most of the slightest spark of information that creeps out of the fillum quarters turning it into an uncontrollable flame ... MNS lately seems to lead such brigades of unemployed rowdy youth who break lose on the city. Why does MNS' agenda for his beloved marathi manus go for a toss when their people cause destruction and the state loses money by delaying releases of films, holding creative juices at ransom and/or eroding GDP of the state? Conveniently targets of most of the controversies are film stars so that there is more hype and attraction to the so called infamous cause of the political entity ... SIGH ... rise above this sham my brethren!

Amitabh did something very gracious -- he named the college after Ash and not his own daughter Shweta ... instead of respecting Jaya and his sentiment of giving so much honor to Ash and also supporting womens education the polity of our state had the gall to say things against him and blow the goodness out of the window.

Why cant Bombay be called Bombay without feeling that some Shiv Sainik or MNS activist will hurl a stone in your direction!?? Isn't this a free country and wasn't this city called Bombay at one time ... Bombay Blues continues to exist as a brand where I am sure even the marathi manus have also grabbed a bite - how come no plans to shut it down!? Are they going to break all the records or cassettes of the song 'ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahan ... yeh hai Bombay meri jaan, should we rename the movie Bombay to Goa as Mumbai to Goa!?? Why make us live in fear of being assaulted because we are brought up saying the word Bombay and that Mumbai doesnt come to our lips as easily!? Why did Karan have to make a mockery of himself and go and apologise to Raj Thackeray!???

I really believe that SRK has the right to express himself about wanting the Pakistani players to play in the IPL - after all why blame the sportsmen of the country!? And why target him when the Times of India is continuing a huge campaign called 'Aman ki Asha' which is endeavoring to unite the two nations? Why isn't any activist bringing down the TOI shutters yet!?

The most recent one on Amir and Javed Akhtar was thankfully not started by the polity but by the stars themselves and the media - radio, TV and print of course lost no effort in blowing the words of both these legends out of proportion. In my humble opinion neither Amir nor Javed are right and these are the reasons why:

- A song becomes a song only once it is sung to music without which it is poetry and hence it is the music that brings life to the poem ... which unfortunately does not draw too great an attraction from the masses... but when the same poem is sung along with music you can hear it blaring from the smallest of hutments to the wedding parties of the elite; from the swanky new BEST AC buses and the sexiest Porsche that has hit the streets and to cabs and the jhankar beat versions in autos ... it is the music that makes the song popular ... Javed please take note!

- Most music albums are released way before the release of the film and hence very often you will hear a song playing for months on the radio and the best ones are played several times a day making them all but mantras of the masses ... there is no star involved at this stage ... the association of the star in fact happens only after you have seen the film and if he/she is a star of your fantasy you fantasize yourself as a part of the song. In fact, so many old age numbers that one has never ever seen on screen are still remembered and sung very animatedly in the ever favorite party game 'Antakshari' and even otherwise bring an association of happiness or sadness in our lives ... Aamir take note ... these songs of yesteryear have nothing to do with the stars that they were filmed on... and yet I am sure that they come to your lips too as you go about your life... just as they do to mine!

TRUTH shall prevail?!

As children we parroted the school poem every morning ... which amidst its other idealistic lines had a phrase that said ... 'TRUTH SHALL PREVAIL'! As a child, I obviously didn’t know otherwise and prided my self when my teacher called me to the front of the class to lead the recitation of the song, as I recited it 'so nicely' compared to the rest of my classmates.

However, despite the daily morning chant, through my growing years, somehow Truth was a choice I seldom made as there was always the fear of consequence... what would Mummy think if she got to know, teacher will get angry, my friend will be katti with me, I have got poor marks - what will Papa say!? Opinions mattered so much and I was too young to know how to deal with the possibly harsh (?) consequences. These fears grew and became not unlike monsters in my innocent mind … seeming so much larger than the tiny me!

Today, as a woman of the house, as a colleague at work, as a friend or as a citizen of the world I consciously choose Truth and preach it, knowing that Truth is ‘Godliness’ and that it spreads ‘Goodness’ and in the over all mix of things it is for the good of all. I believe I have the maturity to deal with the consequences that may come my way and I fearlessly pride myself for abiding with Truth at the risk of being branded a critic or brazen or opinionated or even down right rude. You might say it is stupid of me to be so apolitical but I would rather be upfront about what I think than be a hypocrite and hate myself for it. More often than not I have come through victorious on my resolve because Truth is right for me, for the people in the situation and for the world at large.

And yet the sad truth is that because most people don’t like to hear or deal with truth, more often than I would like to admit, I am forced to bend towards the other end of the spectrum -- examples that I feel guilty about are ... You don’t tell your boss that she or he is an apology of a leader because you risk your annual appraisal getting awry or getting fired, you don’t tell your maid in enough words that her work is horrible as you run the risk that she won’t turn up the next morning, you listen to crap from a popular yet conceited colleague because you want to be on his right side, you hold back irritation with your spouse on mundane issues as you want to keep peace in the house, you mutter your angst with the system within the confines of your air-conditioned car as you inch through traffic-clogged bumpy roads as you just don’t have the time or patience to deal with such things – it is after all the Government’ job, you don’t stand up and fight terrorism or internal enemies of the state that dispel the oneness of India and you don’t put annoying relatives in their place for interfering in your way of life ... strangely despite my advocacy of Truth I find myself numbing to certain situations of my life … and remain silent to what my mind is shouting or I am reduced to humming and hawing and pulling punches and being politically right … my peers/family/friends egg me into behaving so – don’t be ridiculous, you should not be belling the cat … don’t get involved Priya because you will end up getting blamed … mind your own business yaar … bina wajah ke liye phans jaogi … it will unnecessarily complicate your life – and sadly, I allow such things to happen around me … feeding the demon of frustration that builds within me … where is the space for Truth in the throng of the political thought process doing a TANDAV dance within my mind!?! I feel a sense of gnawing guilt as I look around … only to find that everyone else too is in the same boat … making compromises with their conscience, with their school drilled value systems and with their pride … simply because it is easier to be untruthful ... or it is easier to keep quite!

And of course this choice of silence lets wrong continue, lets mediocrity prevail and negativity grow… we allow house help to continue to do shoddy work and hence our home is not up to the standard we are used to or we like, we let people be mean to us without putting up a front, we don’t have the courage to put people in their place and we are reduced to internalised bitching which increases the negative energies within us and our homes and losing our patience with our kids or spouse or parents becomes a vent of our STRESS, we allow people to be unprofessional, we choose to let a bad leader remain bad leading to a frustrated non-performing team which in turn produces poor quality products and services and a dissatisfied customer base, we let a nasty colleague remain so and let gossip thrive making the work environment unhealthy, we continue inching along bumpy roads and cursing our polity for all the mayhem that the country is drowning in and feel good about the 7.5- 8% GDP growth that is attracting all the FII money to goad the SENSEX to higher highs making the rich richer while farmers not so far away continue to take their lives, we continue without much hope making virtually blind and uninformed choices at the polling station year on year, while reading the papers every morning we choose to let the oneness of our country get diluted with only Tsk-tsking at the continued obliteration caused by our so called leaders ... and so on … Our life has become a consequence of these countless decisions of untruth and silence and hence it is only WE who are responsible for our life being the way it is … sadly this is the only truth that prevails!!

US Calling ... a magical dream come true!!!

I have my family and God to thank, for all that unfolded in my life over the next month, after the early morning call I received on the 25th of September 2009. It was Anj sounding tired yet content ... saying she had delivered her second baby and that she and he were both well… my heart reached out to Dhaval and her and I thanked God for blessing them with parenthood twice around on 24 September 2009 (living in Texas USA they are about 12 hours behind time from India). Mum and Papa were thrilled and Dhaval sounded on top of the world! Mala, Nu, the kids and I rejoiced the birth in exclamations of excitement and I distributed money to all my house-help!

After work that evening, I decided to visit Da to share the joy of the newest member of the family with him and so I picked up some flowers and Mithai and sped to his home. He was away said the watchman - I guessed he had gone to the club for his walk, swim, sauna routine and I contemplated waiting or just leaving the flowers & mithai with the watchman ... I thought again and decided to wait for him ... and so I waited ... and waited ... during which I read a bit, drove around the block 10 times chased by the traffic cops and then finally at 9PM when I was at the end of my patience and fuel, I checked with the watchman for the last time -- he said that Da had just arrived -- I sent the flowers and mithai up with him. He obliged and just as I was about to leave I received a frantic call from Da requesting me to come up. The watchman helped me to park in the traffic-packed road and I took the lift to the 23rd floor of Matru Mandir. Da looked pleased as punch and we decided to call Anj and Dhaval on Da' free computer based dial-up facility. By this time they were already thinking of names Veer, Jai, Kabir, Rohan, Arjun ... I suggested Kanha and said that I liked Arjun too.

They decided to name their little prince Arjun – I prayed that like the great Pandava Prince Arjun our little baby too would grow to be a valiant young man with all the values of the Bhagvad Gita and make all of us proud some day! The following morning we received his first picture with Dhaval holding him close to his chest. He was wearing two caps (!?) and was swaddled in a red and blue striped sheet so all we could see was his adorable plump cheeks, pouty lips and black eyes looking up at his Papa … Dhaval’ facial expressions were not a part of the picture but I can imagine the 'proud papa' look on his face :) On the following day we received another set of pictures in which a smiling Anika was holding Arjun in her lap and the two cubs were flanked by their smiley parents looking on proudly at their creations. Becoming a parent is truly the most beautiful experience and the most fulfilling achievements ever!

I spoke with Mala the day after Arjun’ birth and she said that she would be traveling to Texas in time for MaPa’ anniversary i.e. 13 October and would spend 6 days with them. Lucky bum!!!! I want to see Arjun too and mama and my darling papli and my Anj baby … :( Oh God, I wish I could just magically appear in Texas … Sigh!!! I hung on to every development, photograph and call eagerly and although I knew it was an impossible dream my heart kept feeling the need to travel the 13500 kilometers and be a part of the celebration with my family.

Two days later an investment I had made with the Post Office matured and just as I was contemplating options for a further reinvestment of the amount, Nu suggested that I use the money to make a trip to the US instead. I shot down the idea saying … ‘No way Nu, I’d rather save the money for a family holiday after Roshni' board exam … plus I doubt I’ll get leave… I dont want to enjoy by myself yaar'. Nu was persistent and so were the kids … they egged me on after a dramatic consultation they had amidst themselves and said in rehearsed unision,
‘MAMA WE BOTH THINK YOU SHOULD GO TO AMERICA!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous – if we go, we go together. Its ok beta – Masi will soon visit India with Arjun ... I would hate to leave you’ll and enjoy the baby alone’
‘Mom we'll be fine. Just think how happy all of you will be when you unite as a family …PLEASE GO na Mama … AT LEAST YOU SHOULD GO – Nana and Nani will be so happy to see you there – It will be the biggest surprise ever and the money spent will be really worth it!!!’
I dreamily replied, ‘Yes … I know that if this could actually happen they would be thrilled and it would be a fantastic reunion for the 5 Sharmas … Papli, Ma, Malee, Anj … and me (!?) … anyway I won't get leave'.
Nu said, ‘Ask your boss ...if she says yes I really think you should go – after all we work hard to enjoy moments like this – you deserve this trip‘!
I slept over their thoughts and decided to give it a shot… my dreams saw me amidst my sisters, parents, lil Anika… and Arjun…

The following week was a milieu of activity - applying for leave which I got instantly since a lot of Diwali bank holidays were falling during the same period, calling the travel agent, deciding on an airline (Emirates was the final choice) and date to fly, talking to the foreign exchange agent, buying gifts for Malee, baby Arjun, Anika and Anj’ home, and thanks to Kanan (my colleague at work) ordering some interesting gifts for Mapa which were a revolving cube with all our pictures on its 6sides and two tea mugs with the kid’ pictures imprinted on them. I finally decided to tell Mala about the trip so that she would be prepared to have me over. The practical Mala was shocked at my plan and insisted that I am wasting my money and that it would be better that Anj came to India. I insisted that my mind was made up and that I was going to make the trip anyways. The plan was; I would leave for San Francisco in the early morning of 10th Oct by Emirates via Dubai and because I would gain time I would arrive there on the 10th of Oct at 1.30PM. Mala would pick me up. I would get over jetlag for two days at her place and then fly to Texas with her on the 13th in time for Mum and Papa’ wedding anniversary! With the leave approval in place, I booked the tickets, bought the requisite dollars and packed like a mad person till the last minute ... and every few moments I had time to breathe I couldn’t stop smiling to myself that the magic was actually unfolding in front of me …

On the 8th of Oct we went for dinner to ‘On Toes, Bandra’ with the Gang to bring in Raunaq and Hoju’ birthdays – they were all really happy to know that I was going to surprise the family and we brought in their birthday at Mocha Mojo’ eating a variety of chocolate desserts. My baby turned 13 ... a teenager ... I am big boy now he said!

The night of 9th Oct arrived, and so did Tuna’ bag to be delivered to Alka in SFO – it was heavy but since I was not carrying too much baggage I decided to carry it for her. We also cut a cake for Raunaq on the evening of the 9th before I left the house and I made certain that my baby got some really cool things that he had wanted as gifts … clothes, a basketball, a Chelsea clock and a bag! He was a little upset that I would not be there for his birthday celebrations on the following day i.e. Saturday 10th Oct – he had invited his gang of boys over for a movie followed by a sleepover and of course breakfast and lunch on Sunday!! Nu was for sure going to have a handful that weekend ;) The kids had all the plans to drop me off at the airport but as the clock went beyond 11 their eyes started getting droopy and they were soon fast asleep. I dressed making sure to wear my body warmers as a precaution against the unpredictable flight temperatures. Nu and I left the house at 12.30 and drove silently to the airport – whenever I leave my children may it be for a short over-night trip for work or if they are going on a tour I get this un-explainable knot in my stomach and I worry myself sick about their well-being. Just as we were reaching the airport I said, ‘Nu please love the kids more than ever for me while I am away and do find the time to talk to them on a daily basis about all that is happening in their lives and please don’t be impatience with them’. He assured me all would be well and we soon bid goodbye. We also decided that if MaPa called home to speak to me during these 3 days of my travel and stay at Mala’ place Nu would say that I am on a business trip to Pune and that the signal there is not very good. And I was off …

10th Oct 2009, INDIA/DUBAI: Check-in at the Emirates counter was pretty much a breeze. I specified to the lady at the counter that she give me a window or aisle seat or a seat between 2 ladies for the connecting flight since I was traveling alone. Then I went through the form filling before immigration check, security check and the 2 hour wait before boarding … I always love the fresh smell that comes from an international flight, however as I walked in to the much talked about Emirates Cabin, the hospitality did not strike me as 'Warm' and was definitely not a patch on the Singapore Airlines experience. I thankfully had an aisle seat and after take off (which was on time) I tuned into the ICE facility on board and watched Night at the Museum – Battle of the Smithsonian which was a fun film; ate breakfast and before I knew it we had landed in Dubai (my first stop on this soil). This airport was huge, awesome and very articulately constructed with all the choice amenities and an endless and abundant duty free … what struck me and took me a while to get used to was seeing so many Hijab clad men and women as part of the front office of each facility at the airport.

The halt at Dubai was for 2 hours and finally it was time to go for the long haul all the way to SFO – a 16 hour non-stop journey!! I walked into the Emirates aircraft to find myself seated between a huge bulky middle aged man and a stout old lady. I felt not unlike a squished tomato!!! Damn the lady at the Emirates counter in Mumbai! Thankfully, they were both very silent for most of the journey and slept thru most of the meals and snack services – so I hogged and enjoyed the wine and watched movies galore … Taking of Pelham 123, Cheri & My Sisters Keeper – this film in particular was simply amazing and had me weeping like a baby by the end of it… the burly man to my right turned to look at me with a 'is all well' look and I smiled thru my tears pointing to the screen – that was the only silent exchange that I had with him! By the end of the journey I had concluded that the much talked of Emirates service was a real disappointment - the food was pathetic and cold, the staff was not responsive and on 4 separate occasions ignored my buzzer calls and the last straw was when I asked for a fruit and the attendant said that I could not have it as I had already had a Veg-Roll (which by the way was putrid)!? I was like ... WHAT are you saying ... please take this horrible roll back! Sorry Maam you have already opened the pack!?!$#@% I swore never to fly Emirates again!!

10th Oct 2009, SFO: The immigration officer at SFO was a cheerful black named John who was the other extreme from my fellow travelers … chatty as can be! He chatted about India and that he wanted to visit Delhi and Goa someday … he really helped in elevating my quieted spirits :) I collected my two bags after 45mins of anxiously waiting at the carousal thanks to the Emirates ground staff’ negligence – my bags had been offloaded from the carousal and hence I could not sight them earlier! Big NO to Emirates!!!! I walked out of the grey doors of the arrival hall to be greeted by a warm hug from Malee who was looking anxious as I took really long to come out! She was worried sick that something had gone wrong with me!

We headed to her new home and what a house!!! Simply beautiful to say the least and just the sanctuary for her … I can imagine why she loved it so much … I freshened up in the white guest room and took out the few gifts that I had got for Malee, had the yummy lunch she had made … Kayle, Dal, hot Rotis and curd … a perfect meal indeed! To beat the jet lag Mala suggested that we drive down to Santana Row … At SR we browsed thru some stores and Mala bought me some amazing formal tops from ‘H&M’. We then had coffee at ‘Peets Coffee and Tea’ and a little later we stopped by at ‘Sino’ for the best Mohitto ever … we were to stay for dinner too but finally decided against it. As we walked back to the car we passed by a multiplex that was showing ‘Bright Star’ the story of John Keats the romantic poet and his beloved Fanny Brawne…slow but very nice! We returned home with my head lolling all the way home…When we reached home Mala wanted to plan for the next day and probed me on my interests – I wanted to visit the temple and meet her dear friends Swami and Vir and if possible see a show like the Lion King … She searched the net to find a show that would suit our schedule – by this time I was too sleeeeepy so I excused myself and left it to Malee to figure it out.

11th Oct 2009, SFO: The next morning I woke up to the smell of steaming idlis and sambhar … Malee was already up and about and furiously cooking up a storm in the kitchen for breakfast and dinner. I first had some amazing green tea and honey with lime from Malee’ garden, and then gorged on the delicious idlis. We sped off to the Rama-Krishna Mission temple nestled in the deeply inclined lanes of SFO - we reached just in time to meet Swami … it was such a pleasure seeing him again – he has become more frail but he still could remember Roshni, Raunaq and Farrukh and asked about each of them. When I told him that I had taken the trip to surprise Mum and Papa he was wondrous as to why I would want to do that. Mala later explained that he came from such humble beginnings that he could not fathom why I would ever want to surprise anybody and the joy related with such a moment!

We also got really lucky and met Virja Prana who gave me the warmest hug ever… we could not stop giggling and yapping about the surprise while Mala was trying to head us off to the Orpheum Theatre to see the Broadway musical ‘Wicked’. The Orpheum theatre was the most awesome experience I have had in the longest time – the interiors were artistically designed and the bar and food counters were filled with a variety of drinks and eats - we had a drink before going into the show and I experienced something innovative here that I wish to share -- we also ordered a drink for the interval before the show and gave him our name; in the interval we came out and our drink was ready to have with our name tag below it on a shelf adjoining the food counter – this saved us the time of standing in a queue and also gave us more time to enjoy the drink since we could not carry the eats and drinks inside! Wicked was a musical tale of misunderstanding and triumph over evil. It is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and the unfortunate turn of events that thrust her into the spotlight of being the enemy of all that is good. What a performance by each member of the cast, what songs, sets, lighting, costumes, make-up and above all the two leading ladies – exemplary to say the least! After the musical we headed back home feeling heady with the show we had just experienced to prepare dinner for the O’Malleys. Malee had outdone herself with a delicious spread of fish curry, Kayle, Dal, Fish Curry, Baingan, Rice, Salad and hot Rotis followed by Semiyan!!! It was great meeting with Lisa and her family – the kids more particularly Owen had grown so much and Jaya and he were squeezed by me at every opportunity! We had a lovely time chatting about the kids, the surprise, and opportunities for Rosh and Rock to come to the US for their further studies etc. The day had been awesome and I couldn’t help smile as I closed my eyes on my pillow.


12th Oct 2009, SFO: The next morning I started the day with my favorite green tea, honey and lime and grabbed a quick sandwich of cheese spread and fresh garden plucked tomatoes which I munched while walking around Malee’ backyard. We left the house by 10 to visit the Stanford University International Students office where we probed opportunities for Roshni and Raunaq. I got an answer to most of my queries but couldn’t help sigh at the premium fee structure and the fact that if we applied for scholarship it was likely that we would not get admission as the competition was very high in this bracket. We then took off for Carmel … what a beautiful boutique city this is! Lunch at Hog’s Breath Inn (once Clint Eastwood’ place), with its old west ambiance consisted of a huge Portabella mushroom burger and a Bloody Mary … sumptuous and refreshing but too big for me to finish. We then walked the lanes browsing thru the innumerable art galleries and crockery/cutlery stores all of which, I wanted to take back home to my kitchen :) It was thankfully a sunny day and hence the ‘Carmel-by-the-sea’ beach with its panoramic view speckled with beautiful sea gulls was awesome; the air felt crisp while the clear sky reflected a blue water ahead of us. We took in the scene for a while and took some pictures.

We left Carmel at about 4pm and Mala took me across to Alka’ home by about 7.00 PM where I met her parents, her husband Gaurav Garg and her lovely daughters … they were all in a festive mood for the upcoming Diwali celebrations they were having in their home on the 16th evening – the kids had been furiously practicing their steps for a Bollywood medley as Gaurav and uncle painfully strung colorful lights in the garden. Alka treated me to some awesome non-cheeze pizza that we took-away from a restaurant at Santana Row. The shopaholic Alka also made me stop by at Crate & Barrel and Best Buys. I picked up some beautiful Crockery from both the stores and then we went back to her home to have some Margarita that Gaurav made for us and the Yummy Pizza …
By the time I got home it was 12.30 in the night only to find Malee sulking … she was really mad and we had a bit of a spat as I had gotten so late. The fact was that I was on holiday and hence not really bothered about getting late but a bigger reality was that … I was late, more so considering that I had a flight to catch the next morning at 6AM which meant that I was to reach the airport at 5 AM and since the airport was about an hour away, we had to leave home at 4AM and hence at best I needed to get up at 3AM!!! It was already 12.30 in the night … two hours of sleep was all that we were going to have! I packed profusely by myself as Malee continued to sulk and watch Jodha Akbar if you please! When I was done and needed to pack some of the delicate stuff in her bag I walked up to her saying, ‘In which bag can I put these?’ When she got up and showed me the bag I knew that the worst of her mood was over. We finished the rest of the packing within the next half hour and then crashed with our respective alarms on for 3AM … oh lord what a long two and half days these had been in SFO …GROWL … But awesome too :)))

13 – 19th Oct 2009, SFO/Texas/SFO: I had barely slept and … ttrrrng ttrrrng … I slammed the alarm shut and jumped out of bed, quickly washed and dressed and went into the hall. Mala was already up and about fixing my cup of tea and packing a sandwich and some fruit for my flight… she truly is one of the most thoughtful persons I know of. I hugged her saying, ‘Thanks Malee… and sorry about last night’ ‘Its okay’ she said in her playful nasal voice, ‘lets move fast or else we are going to be really late’. ‘Please remember to take your camera Malee as I would like to video capture the surprise’. I had a 6AM connecting flight San Jose-Denver (with an hour’ stopover)-Texas and Mala had a direct flight at 9.00AM. On board the flight from Denver I had the company of a young and cheerful black US Marine. It was amazing talking to him. He had the look of an open minded soul and was so sincere about his queries and really passionate about his work, his fitness, his soon and his wife. He was the first person who had so much praise for Bush and his war causes as they were always to improve the state of being of a land. He also wanted to know more about India and hoped to visit some day. The plan was to meet Malee at the baggage carousel in Texas as her flight was landing in Texas fifteen minutes after mine. Mala came to the carousal as planned in Texas and as we collected out bags my stomach started knotting with anxiety for the upcoming surprise that we were going to give MaPa and Anj  We took a taxi to the house and en-route Anj called to find out where Mala was. She wanted to know if she would reach before 3PM so that she could go along with her to pick up Anika from school. We passed by her as she was driving out and she called Malee:
‘Hey was that you in the cab that just passed by? Sorry I had to leave as I would have got really late – I will see you at home soon. Mama and Papa are waiting for you’
We soon arrived at the Sejpal residence and Mala took out her Camera, I nervously rang the bell and heard Mum’ voice,
‘Jangee Jangee Mala aagaye hai shayad … come fast’
The door then opened and Mama popped her head out smiling, ‘Hiiiiiii’ … her face then shadowed as she realized that it was me she was looking at. She then sighed with a shocked look saying, ‘Haaaainnn … Priya???’
I leaped forward into her shaking arms as she broke into a stream of tears … sobbing uncontrollably bringing tears of joy to my eyes too.
I looked up and on top of the stairway was Papa looking shocked and saying ‘Arrrey… how come … tu kaise aa gayee beta?I rushed up the stairs and hugged him saying, ’Aap logon ki yaad aa rahi thi … so I just decided to come – HAPPY ANNIVERSAY’

Mum was still weepy but by now they were tears of joy (I guess the initial outburst was more emotional) and excitedly jabbered about how they had called Farrukh in the morning as they could not get thru to my mobile and he had said that I had gone to Pune for work :) It had worked out like clockwork after all … God had magically made my dream come true!
We then tip-toed into the room and we feasted our eyes to the latest addition to the family … Arjun Sejpal. He was in deep sleep and buried under loads of covers. I lightly touched his cheek feeling his warm soft cheeks … we were shooed out by Papa. We hugged and kissed some more and then Mum fed us some yummy khana. I had just finished eating and we were talking about the whole surprise when we heard the front door opening and Anika ran in saying, ‘I’m home from school’.
I screamed, ‘So am I’ while running out of the kitchen towards them and Anj who was still standing at the doorway took a few seconds to realize that it was me and screamed, ‘WHAT, WHAT WHAT … what are you doing here. What is this? How come you are here??’
I ran into her arms and we hugged and kissed with tears of joy rolling down our cheeks and the mad Sharma hysteria unfolded the second time around. Anika looked adorable as ever but was shy, speechless and unsure of what to make of this outburst of emotion from all of us mad hatter Sharma’s and when I hugged her she wanted to go back to her favorite Mala Masi’ lap.

Arjun soon awoke from his deep slumber and Mala and I took turns in squeezing him. The afternoon was spent in talking, laughing, replaying the plan for the surprise and finally sharing the gifts that I had got for all of them. After some hot chai in the evening, we anxiously awaited Dhaval’ return to come a full circle on this well orchestrated surprise! Anj called him at the end of the day and he said he was going to be home in 10 minutes. The rest of them quickly assembled in the hall as I hid myself in the living area of their home which also leads to the garden and the garage. Quite contrary to our plans Dhaval suddenly opened the garage door and walked into the house. I saw him turned and ducked. ‘ Hey ... arrey why are you hiding, what's going on’ He thought I was Anj for a few seconds – meanwhile the rest of them came charging from the hall and Dhaval gathered in the confusion that I wasn’t Anj. ‘Wait a minute, don’t tell me … is that Priya?’ I turned and gave him a big hug while he bursted with disbelief, ‘Oh my God … it is Priya! What is this? How? I can’t believe this! This is awesome’. And we were all jumping and screaming with joy and hugging and kissing each other for the third time around … Oh my God! What a perfect surprise it had turned out to be! Dhaval had brought a cake for MaPa’ anniversary and Mala opened a bottle of red wine she had carried from SFO. We all cheered, had yummy mama-khana, clicked loads of pictures, sang songs, yapped, laughed like hell generally having a blast ... and in the middle of all the excitement I missed my three poopies back home like anything!

I spent the next 5 glorious days at Anj' home with her lovely family, Ma Pa and Malee … all of us yapping, hogging, watching movies, each of us contributing our own tips to make the besan ka ladoos for diwali and finally the ladoos turning our quite fine; celebrating diwali together after so long with papa and ma reciting the prayers and all of us joining in for the arti -- I missed my poopies on diwali night as I watched the festivities, lights and sweets and said a silent prayer for their well being; playing with Anika and telling her stories every night and day; bathing Arjun after he had done the largest potty by a baby ever and then swaddling him in fresh clothes; singing to him and putting him to sleep, going to the park with Anika and Mapa as she ran from one swing to the next and playing hide-n-seek with her, visiting her school for a diwali party where we met Anj’ mother’ group – Tanya and Andrea her sisters in the US are adorable and their babies absolute dolls – the school was a dream project that I wished I could make my Rosh and Rock also go thru by rewinding their lives to babyhood once again.

Anj took the trouble to talk to an amazing lady called Jenny Voigt who in turn met with me so warmly and was unbelievably supportive in answering all my queries about career opportunities in the United States. We also visited University of Texas and met the international students coordinator about the admission process for Rosh and Rock. On the morning of Diwali, Preeti Rangachary my friend from school called and again with her I chatted on options of the kids coming to study in the US. I also shopped with Mala and Ma Pa at Crate & Barrel (where I loved a red blown glass bowl) and World Market. On Sunday morning 18th Oct, Mala returned to SFO and D, Anj and I went to the Outlet Mall with the kids where I went insane shopping at GAP, Adidas and Eddie Bauer. On the last day, Anj and I drove out with the kids in tow to shop at Old Navy where again I picked up some lovely stuff for the kids. As always, Anj/D and Mala and even MaPa pampered me with loads of gifts for the kids, Nu and me and our home. Last but not the least, we met with Nikhil – Anika’ lil sweetheart :) and his family Abhi, Vicky and Sachin. Departing from Anj was as emotional as meeting her. She is like a lil baby to me and always will be, even though she is now a mother of two. She wept not wanting to let go and leaving her was the most difficult… D, Ma and Pa dropped me off at the airport while Anj stayed home with the kids to take Anika for her swimming class. I arrived in SFO late that night and Malee fed me with some yummy frozen Aloo Paranthas and Dahi. She had also bought me the red blown bowl we had seen at C&B and loads of chocolates to take back. I packed furiously needing to exchange bags as my bags were just not big enough to carry all the goodies I had bought or had been gifted.

20th Oct, SFO: The next and last morning in the US was more than pleasant. I sat in the garden and enjoyed breakfast of eggs, bread and juice with Malee, who shortly after, left for the office. I dressed in time to meet with an ex-colleague from Invest India called Poonam Karnani who dropped by and like old times was as giggly as ever – it was good to see that she has settled well in the US. A little Malee returned from her office and the bell rang again -- it was one of my one time best friend from St Joseph’s school, Nalini Bamba with her 1 year old son. It was fun to catch up with her again and she looked as lovely as ever! Soon after Vir called to say goodbye and I shared all the details of the surprise with her ... needless to say she was as happy as us about the whole plan ... it is always so refreshing talking with her and some how I feel this unexplainable bond between her and the family. We then had lunch of fish Malee had made for me with some yum Pakistani masala, kayle, moong dal and rotis… Awesome awesome awesome!!!! Malee dropped me off at the airport and it was then that we spoke about her ... her plans for life ahead, her dreams and a lot lot more … As expected both of us were emotionally strung by the time she was to leave… I love my sisters so much and feel blessed to have them in my life … My first ever vacation on my own and that too all the way to the US, after all the initial speculation and hesitation, was a HUGE SUCCESS … thank you God, thank you my world, thank you Nu, thank you my babies and thank you the great Sharma family for making this trip so beautiful...and making it so MAGICALLY PERFECT!