A combination of topics!!!

Well this post seems to be mixture of things and I am just typing down anything and everything that comes to my mind. As always I have been intending to post something and as usual I have put it off. How typical of me now!!!

Well, one main reason was that unlike during the earlier days, I was not getting enough opportunities to blog hop or even pen down a few words for my own blog due to work and some situations.



One thing I badly wanted to do during that period was that I wanted to pen down a few things about the movie ‘Pazhassi Raja’ as soon as I saw it, but kept putting off that too and finally ended up chucking the whole thing off. I do know there was a lot of praise and criticism for the movie, but it was good anyway. I did however feel that some element was missing and do not know what exactly it is…

Even though I am a Keralite, I certainly do not know much about the proud history of the state. Well u really cannot blame me for that as that’s the situation with our school systems. Another reason is that due to having done part of my schooling abroad and later part of it even though I did study in Kerala and all, I didn’t have to deal with Kerala History at all due to having followed the CBSE syllabus and all… Well one thing I can say I am proud of is that I learnt to read, write and speak Malayalam on my own and the toughest was learning to read and write. Well I won’t say that I can write well, but can speak well anyway :)

So at least watching a movie like ‘Pazhassi Raja’ made me wonder about the history of Kerala and all the brave people who fought for it etc. Although certain facts may or may not be correct in the film, we do have to give the film its due credit. After all it’s more of a film in this current era and not some autobiography or something… The film was picturised well and I did like it although I did feel that some of the foreign actors could have done better. Another thing is that for a Malayalam movie, this budget itself was way too much, so I really do have to say that they managed really well with whatever was available.



Now moving on from that topic - it’s December and even though the weather is turning cold and all, I do enjoy the holiday season and mainly the mental feel of it all. Well ya true that we won’t get much of a holiday feel and all coz we are in the gulf and there is no holiday as such for Christmas. Another sad fact is that Christmas will be on a Friday this year so most people will not be able to take an extra day off, but in another way it’s good for all those who won’t get off days anyway.

I guess it’s in India and other countries that we feel the festivities and the mood of the holiday season and all. I just love looking forward to the colourful holiday season, the celebrations related to Christmas and new year, the excitement that is seen among everyone, looking forward to the end of another year and the start of a new one hoping that it will be filled with wonderful things etc etc…

Another new thing for me this year is that life is going to take another turn and stepping into another phase in life is certainly a huge step and at this point very frightening for me. Motherhood and its responsibilities were a distant thought for me and suddenly I am faced with the realities of it. Well I guess the full shock of it will be set on me only after the delivery and the after the arrival of the little one. That’s when I am going to really really wonder what I have got myself into for a lifetime :)

Well, thanks to all the dear friends and well wishers who have already gone through the experience, they all are trying their level best to calm me and are telling me that’s it’s ok, no problem; it’s a wonderful experience and so on; I sure do hope that will be the case and that I will be able to deal with everything positively.
I am now finishing my 38th week (that is 2 weeks past my 9th month) and have around 14 to 15 days until the due date that my doctor has officially given. Basically the official date is for around Christmas and God only will get to decide the exact date. So I’m hoping to work till the end of next week if everything goes according to schedule and all.



Moving on again to another topic – I watched the Malayalam movie called Swa Le (short for Swantham Lekakhan, Staff Reporter) 2 days back and liked it a lot. Even though my brother and hubby were not at all interested in watching the movie, me and mom dragged both of them and my dad along and went for the movie. My poor tired dad as usual had a peaceful sleep during the whole movie while I saw my dear hubby and brother laughing their heads of on hearing some of the jokes in the movie. Ohh ya I (the devil in me hehe) did make them admit that it was a really good movie :D
I am not giving a review or anything about the movie as it will depend upon each person’s outlook and taste. I certainly am not saying that the movie is a huge thing or anything and even though it opened with such expectations, there were some flaws and all. But still it did provide me with the necessary entertainment.

In case any of you want to know what the story is all about, here is a small description:
The story set in the late eighties (a time before the 24-hour news channels and mobile phones) mentions about the big dailies of Malayalam, its fight over circulation, their staff reporters trying to do something overboard to support something anew, exclusive for their news papers etc.

This current generation which is used to the technology, will find it hard to digest the fate of many working with specific deadlines. Same was the case of the news man who had to really travel distances to fetch and create scoops and stories. ‘Swa Le’ has Dileep as Unnimadhavan, a committed reporter of Janachintha, chasing for stories, with an ill mannered part-time photographer Chandramohan (Salim Kumar). He has signed for a seven year bond with the small daily, which is in full throat activity to increase the circulation. With his meagre salary, Unnimadhavan finds the going tough and struggles to find enough time to devote to his pregnant wife Vimala (Gopika), who is staying in a rented house away from the city in a quiet village, that also across the river, with no proper health facilities and transportation. Since they married without the consent from her parents, and his parents r deceased there is no one to help them.

Things get worse as Unni is sent to report the state of a famous writer Paalaazhy Sivashankara Pillai (Nedumudi Venu) who is in his death bed. As he is asked to stay at the writer’s house daily till 3 am, until the last edition is out, Unni has to face the problem of having his pregnant wife all along at home, the problems she is having and all such things, but has to keep it all for himself due to fear about facing legal action from the paper if he leaves his job and so on. The movie goes on to tell how his struggles with time and emotions, finally provide fruitful, making him a big name in the media business.

The movie has succeeded to illicit some lighter chuckles all the way with the sensitive handling of the subject and with the honest narratives and plenty of inside jokes about the industry of the period. Dileep makes a cake walk through the role of Unnimadhavan, depicting the struggles of the working journalist with flare. Gopika also did a good job, even though I felt that her role did not have enough to do in the movie.

I guess that’s enough explanation about the movie right?

I am so happy to know that a very good and close friend’s short film ‘My Paper Boat’ has been chosen to be screened in the Copenhagen summit. And another amazing fact is that it competed with films from very experienced directors etc and has been the only short film from India to be chosen to be screened at the summit. Another thing is that I am also so happy to see many of his hard work paying off and happy that he is slowly being able to realize his dreams step by step.

Here is a link to the write up that came about them –

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Chennai%20to%20Copenhagen&artid=oEJL5ark2AU=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=&SectionName=rSY|6QYp3kQ=

Here is the link to the campaign site:
http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/

In this u can view the short film My Paper Boat

I guess I better stop writing now as I might go on and on about a few things and also about lost dreams and all :P

Swine Flu or AH1N1

Photo Caption: The injectable version of the swine flu vaccine is shown Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 at Broadmoor Elementary School in Miami. The Miami-Dade County Health Department launched their H1N1 vaccination campaign Monday after having received their initial shipments. (AP)

I have been doing some extensive research about swine flu for my company and have suddenly come across so many facts which are indeed alarming. Up until now, I chose to ignore the disease all together to a certain extend so that I wouldn’t have to live in fear every day. But now when I read more and more facts, its alarming fact indeed and cannot be just ignored. None of us can ignore the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the swine flu pandemic "unstoppable".

Here are a few facts:
According to a review of the current epidemiologic data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) -- between 1% & 10% of people who develop swine flu require hospitalization. The new data was discussed on 27–29 October at a meeting of WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization. Up to 25% of hospitalized people are admitted to intensive care units, and between 2% & 9% die. Pregnant women make up 7% to 10% of hospitalized patients.

The pandemic virus has infected millions globally with more than 6000 documented deaths and likely far more. The swine flu vaccine has been tested for only a few weeks on a few thousand healthy children and adults, including very few pregnant women, so we don't know how safe it really is for pregnant women, children and adults with chronic illness even though they are being specially targeted for vaccination by government health officials. There is also very little information about how safe it is to give swine flu vaccine with other vaccines, including seasonal influenza vaccine.

What is all the more surprising is that - Swine flu has driven up the price of horse meat in Mongolia, closed schools across Afghanistan and Ukraine and sparked a quarrel over whether detainees at the US base in Cuba should be vaccinated. Swine flu has also gone on to hit an isolated tribe of Indians in the Amazon jungle and more than 1000 members of the Yanomami tribe in Venezuela are believed to have caught the flu and it is feared that the flu will sweep through the area and kill many as these people do not have resistance to such introduced diseases.

Well look at the far reaching effects this flu which has travelled all over the world in such a short span of time and created such chaos. It is certainly a worrying factor that new new diseases are being introduced into the world and they are becoming unstoppable too. How do we live in fear everyday of our lives?

In my present stage, I am also too confused about the vaccine and am certainly not confident about taking the vaccine shot even though the health minister, other cabinet members and senior Ministry of Health officials were the first to receive vaccinations in order to show to the public in Kuwait that the vaccine is safe. I mean on what guarantee do I take that vaccination? How can I be sure that it won’t affect me or the baby for sure? How can I get the guarantee that no long term effects will show up later? With winter just around the corner, the climate has already started changing and many are down with the seasonal cold and flu which makes it all the more alarming as Swine flu is going to spread all the more.

Well the world just seems to be getting scarier by the day to live in with new threats, new diseases, new problems and all the kind!!!

Unhappy!!!!

It’s been quite some time since I have blogged or blog-hopped for that matter. I really missed visiting the regular blogs that I read and I have been itching to write about many things too. Many a times I did start writing about all the things that I openly wanted to write about, but had to control myself midway as I knew that posting it wouldn’t be a good idea. I guess if the wrong people had read it, they would certainly have taken it in the wrong sense and that would have been a disaster (not that it mattered much to me!).

Anyway, I am really unhappy at present and my mental state has not been too good as I was feeling so low and depressed the whole of this past week and would have been happy if things had gone the way I wanted it to. But it doesn’t look like that it will and that makes me wonder about what I really want right now…

Luckily my spirits did cheer up after chatting about the problems to a few close friends who did give me all the support I wanted and told me all the right things. And boy am I lucky to have at least these good buddies to speak to even though they are in different parts of the world. Thank God for small blessings like these :)

I don’t know when, but I do have to find some time to visit all the blogs that I want to and I have already found that I have missed many posts which I know I’m going to enjoy when I finally sit down to it. Ahh I wish I could write a bit more openly so that I could really take a few things off my mind and be free of it. Anyway I am giving in to some things for the time being and hope that I can solve it and be rid of it in the near future, but am only wondering how I will put up with all that till then…

Anyway let’s see how things turn out and I do hope that things will go well soon enough. I guess I have to be more positive about things and try to portray a more positive image. But my main problem is that when I have been hurt really bad by somebody, its difficult for me to smile at that person the next moment and behave as if that person is the best person in the world. It will take me a few days to let the matter go and then only will I be able to smile openly… isn’t that always better rather than keeping so much bitterness in the heart and then behaving artificially on the outside? Well I hate backstabbing and all those things….Well looks like I am starting to blabber which I shouldn’t… I hope that I will return with a happy post soon!!!

Genetic /other disorders high among Arab population

After quite a long time I have decided to write about something serious and that has absolutely nothing to do with me. I know it might sound boring, but I have been thinking about this particular topic a lot mainly because I found that there are a lot of genetic or that kind of related disorders among the Arab population and it’s very alarming to find it at such a high rate in a small country like Kuwait.

Ok I certainly am not an expert on this topic, nor have I done much research into it and I certainly cannot claim that this is 100% correct because it’s just an observation made from a normal human being like me and I certainly am no doctor. I certainly am not hurting anyone’s feeling, patriotism and such in the long run as this is just based on some firsthand information that I received.

Once I found out about this common occurrence of disorders among the citizens here, I started looking it up in the internet and also talked to a few Kuwaiti friends and they told me that there is an alarmingly high rate of disorders like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders); ADD (Attention Deficit Disorders); MS (Multiple Sclerosis); Autism; Dyslexia etc among their people… Another set of common medical problems that I have found among the Kuwaitis are – Diabetics, Obesity and various forms of Cancer (Lung, mouth and breast cancer being the most common).

Some facts that I know for sure are – I do know many Kuwaitis who suffer from ADHD, ADD, Autism, MS etc and since every other person I see seems to be suffering from obesity and diabetics I cannot tell that it’s a huge thing anymore. But I certainly would like to know why the above said are common among the Arab population.

I did some more reading up on it and found that one common cause that most researchers, sites say is that: Inbreeding is the most common cause of genetic disorder among Arab population. Well, since the practice of interfamily marriage is still relatively common among Arabs because of the structure of the Arabic society I guess that sure seems to be the main reason. But I guess they don’t have much of a choice when it comes to marriages as they have limited options to choose from and unlike India which has a huge population, Kuwait does not have such a variety to choose from :P

MS seems to be common among the women and ADHD/ADD is now common among the children. I guess obesity and diabetics must be mainly due to the life style, the kind of food they consume and so on. But one thing we do have to note is that the younger generation has become very conscious about health and body weight and so on and I know so many who are so adamant about going to the gym to be in shape. I guess the change is mostly due to their exposure to the western countries and growing education levels and so on. Another fact that has to be noted is that most of them are marrying foreigners too (even though it’s for various other reasons). I guess that will certainly reduce the common occurrence of such problems.

I do guess that a lot of publicity has to be given into this matter so that people take more notice of these facts and try and do something to get a healthier next generation. A lot of programs have to be conducted to create the necessary awareness and it has to be targeted at all sections of society so that the message reaches all. I do know that the government and other agencies have started doing a good work towards this and there were several campaigns about breast cancer awareness, awareness about the harmful effects of smoking and so on. I just hope that the good works goes on a much stronger note.

Wow, more reading up seems to have confused me and now I am hearing about new disorders and stuff. I just went through another study which showed another set of common disorders seen in Kuwait and they are:
•The Bardet-Biedl syndrome - which is a ciliopathic human genetic disorder that produces many effects and affects many body systems. It is characterized principally by obesity, retinitis pigmentosa, polydactyly, mental retardation, hypogonadism, and renal failure in some cases.
•Laurence-Moon syndrome - is a rare hereditary condition associated with retinitis pigmentosa, spastic paraplegia, hypogonadism and mental retardation.
•Meckel syndrome - (also known as Meckel-Gruber Syndrome, Gruber Syndrome, Dysencephalia Splanchnocystica) is a rare, lethal, ciliopathic, genetic disorder, characterized by renal cystic dysplasia, central nervous system malformations, and hepatic developmental defects.
•Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) - is a severe recessive X-linked form of muscular dystrophy characterized by rapid progression of muscle degeneration, eventually leading to loss of ambulation and death. This affliction affects one in 3500 males, making it the most prevalent of muscular dystrophies. In general, only males are afflicted, though females can be carriers.
•Phenylketonuria (PKU)- is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by a deficiency in the hepatic enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). This enzyme is necessary to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine to the amino acid tyrosine.

And I guess I better stop about new diseases and their meanings as this is no medical blog or encyclopedia… (Courtesy of explanation about the above diseases from Wikipedia and images from google images)
I guess by now I would have managed to confuse many of you with this post, but I just wanted to write about it ever since I have known about these facts…

Baby Bloom Everywhere

Looks like its baby bloom time all around me… Suddenly so many of my friends seem to be having babies or have just had their little ones recently... And so many including me are in the waiting line too!!!

It sure is fun to read all the emails about the latest news, the latest happenings in all their lives and its sure does give me the creeps too when I wonder how I will be able to cope with all this. Anyway, it is certainly wonderful to get reassuring replies from everyone telling that we will cope fine and all :)

Humm well hope that their words come true and that we will cope well with the new changes in life. When I think about it more, it sure is freaky like hell to think about what a change it is in life and that we have to suddenly become more responsible. Well I don’t mind the responsible part, but this is just not any responsibility. You are becoming responsible for another human being for the rest of your life, you have to plan so many things in life now and now it will have to totally become a separate family thing like your child and spouse will definitely have to become first priorities. Well I hope I can work it all out… Phewww!!!

It sure was a very hot summer here but now the temperatures have started reducing and it sure is a relief to have a cool breeze in the evenings at least instead of the irritating hot blasts of air… I sure did enjoy the slow life and lesser timings at work due to the summer in Kuwait and also mainly due to the fact that so many people travel out of the country and life becomes slower and roads become less congested. To top it, we had Ramadan also recently which made life all the more slower and I sure enjoyed it because of the really short work timings which gave me amble time to reach home early, rest more etc…

The unexpected long holiday for Eid was another added blessing because my aunt and uncle had come down from US and life got so hectic last week as it was get-togethers at different places for us and it all went on from early in the evening to the wee hours of morning. Every day for those 6 days we used to reach home only after 3:00 am and luckily I was able to stay in bed till afternoon next day. It was only my poor dad who had to wake up every day at least by 6:30 am so that he could attend the phone calls and then go to work and all.

Now Eid and all are over and it’s back to the old work timings and all. I sure don’t enjoy that too much and plus the roads are back to being congested too. But ya life is like that and we all sure have to cope up with it. Winter also will slowly start creeping in and suddenly out of the blue it will be so damn cold to do anything… That’s when we will start complaining all the more about having to wake up to go to work, about not having central heating and all that nonsense. (Well the main signs of winter creeping in here now is – its winter clothes everywhere and the summer ones are all on sale and stuff and not the climate… that’s why I said out of the blue it will suddenly be so cold!)

Anyway I am looking forward to a good and pleasant climate and also waiting for some positive changes which has to happen really soon and keeping my fingers crossed so that some things will work out real fast… I just hope that the things I want will work out soon and God will certainly listen to our prayers!!!

Another Blessed year!!!

Wow I can’t believe that another year in life has passed by so soon and it’s not like I’m getting any younger or anything and I certainly do not want my school and early years back… Well I would certainly love to have my post graduation years back coz it was so much fun :)

Anyway, I know that I have to thank the good Lord for the blessings that happened in the past year/years and am especially thankful that life is going on OK and that things went good so far… This year will also add another great change in my life and ya I’m certainly going to step into another phase in life soon… ‘Motherhood’

Pheww don’t ask me how I feel coz I seriously do not know and I do not know if I am looking forward to the coming years and sleepless nights… I just hope that I will be able to handle everything well without making a wreak of myself and others. Ya life has to move on and it’s the various cycles of life that is taking place. But it all also depends on how we handle things too right and that’s the only part where I’m a little worried…

Anyway, even though yesterday was a great day in life and all, my hubby darling was not able to make it here for my birthday thanks to the Jet Airways pilots strike… What else can I say about it? Anyway I just heard that the strike is over and hopefully the services will resume today and hubby will make it here tonight…

Just hoping and praying for a few good years ahead :)

HAPPY ONAM

Wow, wow….. Onam is here :) and even though I am not in Kerala, or rather in India at all, I do feel the spirit of it this time even though I am not attending any programs and such.
My poor mom who was not feeling well made so much of an effort to make an Onam based Sadya yesterday for us and it was great indeed. The true fact is I just ate too much, then drank too much of the tasty Ada payasam she made and couldn’t move an inch. And ohh boy did I suffer for all that over eating… hehe I just couldn’t move around for another 5 hours and was feeling so sick…. But I wouldn’t mind having all those tasty stuff again. :)

So today is Thiruvonam and some of the family is gathering together at my uncle’s place to have the Onam sadhya at night and I do hope that I will be able to enjoy it as much as my mom’s cooking…

Anyway I do miss Kerala and the festival season and the hustle and bustle of the Onam so much even though I have never celebrated it much in life. It’s certainly a nostalgic season and its fun to see the whole state celebrating it keeping aside their religion and all other differences.

I guess having the Malayalam channels do help and it’s fun to see all the different Onam based programs and at least see the pookalam and sadhya and all that is going on in Kerala and feel as if I am there and seeing it all.


SO a very very HAPPY and Prosperous ONAM to all of you.



Image courtesy - google images

Furious furious :P

I know that I took a break again from blogging! Not that I really wanted to do it but I just kept away because I did not want to write about all the kind of negativity that was pouring around me.

Ya I do sound nuts right… Well I have been feeling very low lately and with so many issues going on, was wondering how to cope… And I don’t think I can openly write it all here even if I do want to and would love to… (But that would be catastrophic and I literally mean it!)

I have also been having some difficulties at work and really hate it when people try to act too smart and try to belittle others a lot.… Believe me, my patience has been tried to the maximum but still I kept quiet today and I do not know why. I just do not understand why I did not burst out at that female when she came in even though I was extremely furious and boiling and a few minutes before that I was almost screaming at the walls for all the stupid things….

Ahh I know I know you must have stopped reading this by now,,, Well you can’t blame me too much coz I have been putting up with all this for so long and don’t know when there will be an end to all this. And I know I have been silent for too long and have been a kind of doormat for too long too…

Anyway I am certainly trying to maintain my cool and I know some of these issues might come up again in a couple of days and that’s when I don’t know how I will end up reacting. The only reason I haven’t taken all this to my boss is because I did not want to act like a nursery kid who takes her complaints to the class teacher.

Ok now about other things – Ramadan is starting on Friday or Saturday and I wish everyone ‘RAMADAN KAREEM’… Well life is supposed to be easier and better during this time here and I hope to God that it will be… Life will definitely be slower and quieter during the day and with shorter work timings everywhere people will be rushing to get back home and all too… Anyway after the first couple of days the evenings will be a huge rush coz of all the shopping the Arabs end up doing and believe me you will go nuts due to the traffic and all. And ya the Gabqa dinners and Iftar and all that too....

We will have a tough time trying to park the car coz most people would have ended up blocking the area and would have gone for shopping and it will be a pain to go and come. But anyway it’s a holy month and hope that much good comes out of it too.

Once again - RAMADAN KAREEM TO ALL....

Another thing - my condolences on the Jahra Wedding fire that killed so many people and injured so many too… (For those of you who are wondering what I’m talking about –please check the links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090815/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_kuwait_wedding_fire#

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTE5NDgxNTUwMQ==
http://www.pr-inside.com/arsonist-ex-wife-burns-wedding-tent-r1445254.htm
http://www.kippreport.com/2009/08/burning-love/

Well I know that many versions of the story are out but that does not explain or set right what happened… The ex-wife set blaze the tent where the wedding party was going on due to which so many people dies and all of it were women and children and that too everything happened in just 3 short minutes.

Avenging is your personal things to do, but what did those innocent people who attended the wedding do? What about all those numerous number of victims who are in the hospital suffering from the most severe of burns? Will they ever get their life back?

Ahh the world just goes on to be a worser and worser place to live now…

Anniversary time!

Wow I just can’t believe that one year has flown by me so fast! Time indeed seems to be flying and even half of 2009 has already passed us all by.

Guess what - It’s become a year today since my beloved one and I tied the knot and everything seems to have happened so fast and before I know it, a whole year has also passed since that eventful day :)

And it sure has been an eventful year I say!

All I can say is that, I’m really happy that we were finally able to tie the knot and that hubby was also able to join me here after a couple of months after the wedding. But right now, we both are just so happy and grateful that at least we are there with each other during this anniversary time. I guess we will have the real celebrations and stuff maybe next year and hope to get more time with each other.
Well, I know that this should have been a special occasion and special celebration as it’s the first year, but since we have known each other for so long and have been committed to each other, I guess it doesn’t matter much that we are not able to do anything special.

Humm now that I think more deeply about it, I can’t say that I’m too happy about the fact that I am not able to do anything special. So I guess I do have to say I’m a little disappointed about the whole situation. At the same time I’m am grateful that we are together and that’s what makes the difference I guess.

As with all married couples we have had our good and bad times, the usual fights and love for each other and all. That’s all part of life and especially because he is the more patient and caring one, things are going smoothly.


Now, I’m just wishing my beloved one and myself too, a special happy anniversary and want God’s blessing for all the years that lie ahead of us.

So --- “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US” :)

Hubby Dear’s Bday

Ahh its hubby dear’s birthday today. It’s the first one after our marriage and I wanted to do something special, get him something special, go out somewhere etc etc… But nothing happened. In fact I was not even able to get him a card as I didn’t get time to go anywhere after work and I haven’t gone out shopping for quite some time now because of the rest I needed and all.

I just feel so bad…Ohh how I wish we just could get some time to spend together and do something special. Well I just hope that I get to do something special at least next year. Anyway, we are both happy at least to be with each other during this time.
I guess I made more of an effort to get something special done while we were courting and most times when we were able to be with each other, I have managed to give him a small gift and so on.

Well now, I just hope that things start getting better and we will be able make some of our wishes come true and so on…

I just once again WISH him a VERY VERY HAPPY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY….and hope to make up for it soon :)

*** Had to do a little editing here -- My dad made up more the part i didnt do. :)
When i reached home, I found that Dad had got a special cake, and also bought some Indian food like biriyani and stuff for lunch so that hubby dear could have something special.... Now thats a great relief and to top it all mom made some Ada Payasam (an Indian (keralite) sweet dish)...Ohh i loved it...

Back after a short break

Looks like I do feel better after the really short break that I had. The doctor told me to take rest for at least 4 days and that’s exactly what I did. Took off from work and was resting at home the full time. The only thing I just am not able to follow is – drink a minimum of 1.5 litres of water per day so that I can reduce the medicine intake and stuff and just stop it altogether.

Well I am trying hard to drink as much water as possible but just cannot do so at times when I feel too nauseous; and it certainly is not funny running to the loo after having so much of liquid intake. On top of all this - Dad, mom and hubby are behind me telling drink water, drink water drink water!!!

Soon, I guess I will reach the stage where if I see water I will have nightmares… LOL Ahh I know it’s for my sake and health and all, but I just cannot handle the nauseous feeling which makes me act like a total B***h at times. It’s just that I get so irritated because of that feeling and want to tell everyone to try drinking water while they are in my shoes. I really mean it, when the food and water is filled till my throat and unless it goes down into my stomach, I don’t think I have the space for even a sip of water.

Ahh who said life is easy right? Humm I know tougher times and situations are coming and soon I will also have to make some tough decisions that I am not looking forward to too. Well its life and I have to face it headlong.

In the meantime, I am trying to make the best out of the situation… But to tell you truthfully, I think I did enjoy sitting at home ideally for a couple of days and the rest did do me good. Even the small break from the daily routine was refreshing. :)

Extremely Bored!!!

Ahh I’m just feeling so bored and don’t seem to want to write anything… All I do want to write about is about my miseries and about work. But I won’t do that as most friends advised me against writing anything about work and colleagues in my blog and I also do not want to pass on the misery to you all too. Another reason is that, the wrong information will go into the wrong hands, so why doom myself?

Ok, now I’m being very brave here and trying to just forget about all that and get on with other things. On days like this, I plunge headlong into the blog world and enjoy and spend my time by reading lovely posts written by many in the blogosphere. It’s a lovely other world out there and its fun reading most posts as some are so well written and brings a smile on your face…

And today seems to be a little more peaceful than other days as I didn’t have to put up with all the hitting, banging, drilling sounds from the floor downstairs which is undergoing some renovation. Well from what I hear, they are starting a Starbucks outlet there. I do hope that is true as at least I can get some good coffee or snacks when I feel like it. Not that there is any shortage for all such things as my office building already houses 2 huge restaurants and the buildings nearby also have many restaurants and most of the fast-food joins are around the corner….But I have never taken the pains to go anywhere and I used to order Arabic food from nearby places for which I need help as I cannot place my order in Arabic.

Ok looks like I am just writing a lot of nonsense here and I better stop now before I go more into it…

Weekend long over…

Ahh weekend and all is long over and its back to work again… I will surely be waiting impatiently for it to be Thursday again so that I can have a day off. Summer has started in full blast and the temperatures are soaring and will continue to do so for the next 2 or 3 months. Ohh I don’t think u will want to know the temp as they will really really be soaring above 50 degrees… I guess most India schools will close this month for the long summer holidays and will reopen in September, and I guess that will be the case with the other schools (Arab, British, American etc..) too except for a slight difference in dates.

Life will start to slow down as summer vacations are here and most people will travel, and it will be a relief to have less traffic on the roads. The slow months of summer will also be followed by Ramadan during which time life will definitely be all the more slower and guess what, I guess I do enjoy that slowness a lot. The only problem is that if you want to travel now, then there will be no tickets available and the ones available will be at sky-high rates too.

I would have loved to travel to Kerala and see the rains as I just love that heavy rainy climate and all… But don’t know if there will be any plans for the same even though my hubby keeps telling me to go down if I get enough days of leave from work.
Well even in the smouldering heat, Kuwait’s 27th cabinet was formed after the recent elections and stuff. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlـAhmad AlـSabah issued a decree on Friday on the formation of the 27th Kuwaiti Cabinet, the sixth to be led by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlـMohammed AlـSabah.

I do hope that they will cast aside the negative outcomes of the previous cabinet and go forward with a positive approach to everything. There have been mixed reactions from lawmakers concerning the new Cabinet line-up. While some have unanimously commended the new government and called for more cooperation, others have expressed their reservations about it. The MPs called upon the new government to pursue a new approach and submit a comprehensive development plans or brace for more interpellations to come.

It’s also good to see a lot of new faces in the Cabinet and hope that the new Ministers will do a lot for their country. But unlike the last time, this 27th cabinet has only one female minister and she is Dr. Moudi AlـHomoud, the Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education. Well that is definitely a sad fact, but I guess 4 females MPs getting elected into the Parliament was good enough as it’s a great change for Kuwait.

Well even though Kuwait saw a great difference in elections and its result this time, especially since many were shocked to see that 4 women won the elections and so on, I do feel that these women do have a tough time ahead. Well the people did choose them, but looks like the Islamists will give them a hard time over everything. There was news on Friday that - A number of Islamist MPs have threatened to walk out of the swearingـin ceremony of the two female MPs if they do not wear the hijab while taking the oath of office. Sources said that the MPs recently met to discuss the legal procedures to be initiated against Aseel AlـAwadi and Rola Dashti for violating the Election Law which states that female candidates must stick to Islamic dress code during the elections.

Well in my opinion its stupid to cling on to such silly things as they did their campaigns and such things not dressed in the Muslim dress code, and people voted for them not based on the dress code, but their skills and stuff. So why create problems just for the sake of creating some kind of trouble. And there were so many issues like its sin to have women in parliament, it’s a sin to vote for them, it’s a sin if women vote and so on…which is outrageous.

Well anyway all we can do is hope for the best and wait and see how things go…

Its weekend!!!

I am so unbearably glad that it’s finally the weekend. I just seem to be living only for that now and it’s like all my other ambitions in life has disappeared. My main focus during the start of the week is that I just want it to be Thursday.

Ohh no, I am not being a baby, imagining the whole thing or making a big thing out of it and all… It’s just that, one of the places I work at has just become too boring for me now and even the slightest things seem to be irritating me a lot. Maybe it’s because of my current stage and all or it must be because I have had enough… I guess my main problem is that I remain silent most of the day as I don’t have anyone to talk to and also because I am the only Indian in the place and the other Arabs spent time talking to each other. So in short, I kind of feel left out which I am ok with most of the time. But lately it’s started to get to me as some of them seem to be picking even on the smallest of things to create an issue which is very very irritating… (Humm hope they don’t read this :P)

Ahh I have always been that career girl, my ambition even now is to study further and all. But believe me, there are days when I feel “Ohh I wish I just could sit at home and rest and enjoy myself and not be bothered with a job and all.” Well in my case this is absolutely shocking as I just love working and all…

I guess one reason for feeling this way is coz - I don’t get time for anything now. I don’t even get to watch a decent TV show which I like, don’t get to relax and wind down etc etc… Nowadays I get up late in the morning, get ready very fast, eat and leave to office, then reach home after three fifteen, have lunch, rush to work again and sometimes get back home only after 9 etc. I guess it’s that part about coming home late, then not having time for anything etc which is more irritating… Well there were days I felt it’s good to get back late, but not now as all I want to do is just come and rest…

Hehe, I am not gonna start moaning about my work life and the bored feeling and all and go on elaborating about a lot of absolutely boring thing. I might just go on and on with it and about how depressed I feel and all. I am only glad that its weekend and that I do not have to come to office tomorrow. Well I know that one day is too short and it gets over before I blink, but something is better than nothing. Another good thing is that now I don’t have to work on Saturday mornings, so at least I will get time till Saturday afternoon to relax. Ahh thank God for small mercies…

A lot has happened!!!

I guess a lot has happened in this short while that I decided to take a break from posting anything in my blog. Both India and Kuwait went to elections and the results too have come out; Sri Lanka has declared that LTT has been defeated; there are unofficial and official reports out that the Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the fight and yes of course the deadly Swine flu that has been spreading all over the world.

Now what am I to say about all this? About the Indian elections – I am extremely happy to know about the election results for India. I did want the congress party to come back into power and I am so happy that the communist party had such a setback in Kerala too. Congress won 16 out of the 20 seats in Kerala and what is amazing is that, I feel that congress got most of its winning votes from the communist supporters. What a situation right? It’s amazing to know that congress won in areas where they never even dreamt of winning and those areas were the strict, decades’ old communist areas too.


Hell well it’s not because I have anything against the communist party, but the face they portrayed to the general public was really bad. The internal group fights which got really bad, the back stabbing, the degrading talks that they did against the Church, bishops etc and so on. Well the party themselves decided and sealed their fate, so they definitely can’t blame anyone else for it.

About the Sri Lanka situation – I do hope that innocent people will be safe from now on and I do hope that this small island nation will see peace and harmony. It was a shame to see so many innocents being massacred for no reason… The fight between the LTT and the government did destroy thousands of lives and make things miserable. And I guess it sure is good to get confirmed reports about the death of the rebel leader. Well God only knows what exactly happened, whether it’s the rebel leader who really died, if it was – then how he was killed and so on… Anyway now all we can do is hope for the best and think that things have gone for the best…


About the Kuwait elections – Well its sure was a pleasant surprise and change to see that a change has come about. The most astounding of it is that 4 women (that too highly educated ones) got elected into the parliament and that sure is a huge feat. Looks like change is coming over this small nation and I do hope that things are definitely changing for the better. It has to work for the better as Kuwait sure doesn’t want to go to elections so soon again and what everybody wants is stability and people who will work for their nation rather than for themselves.


About the Swine Flu – I sure don’t know what to say about this, but for one thing I was so relieved to know that it did not originate in Asia. And when some disease originates in Asia, I see the kind of hassles that go on, now that people from US and UK and all are bringing the disease into Asia and around the world, I don’t see the same reactions. But looks like newer diseases are sprouting up each day and vaccinations and medicines are not available for these. What is the world going to? I mean where is all this heading to? It is also alarming to see that the disease is spreading and that India too has announced its first case through a passenger who arrived from the US. Well that seems to be the fastest way the disease seems to be spreading and how can we stop people from travelling?

A lot seems to be happening in my life too at present which I will have to write about at another stage :) Well I know that I have to make time to update my blog which I will do when the mood strikes and on days when I don’t feel soo tired.
Courtesy of images - Google images

Lazy Lazy me!!!

I clearly have no idea about what is wrong with me nowadays. I feel just too tired and lazy to do anything and I guess now I have started to look tired too and my family is starting to get worried.


I for one was a person who used to get hyperactive most of the time or when the mood sets in and after that I will go on doing things till I drop dead. But now I never seem to get that energy and I hope I have not burnt out! Well I seriously do have to wonder coz, now I don’t even think about trying out new recipes and different types of cooking, don’t feel that I have the energy to clean and tidy the house, don’t seem to make much of an effort to blog or do anything which I do like a lot. All I do want to do is just curl up and sleep or just rest in peace somewhere LOL


So that’s why I definitely feel that there is a nut going loose somewhere!!! Pheww Well I do have other serious doubts too, anyway have to wait and see I guess. I had recently gone to India and during my visit, I went to a doctor to see about my headaches and back pain that I was suffering from a fall that I had long ago. The doctor is an excellent neuro-surgeon, and she just told me a few exercises to do for the back pain and gave me medicines to have for three months for the headaches and stuff.


After getting back to Kuwait, I started having the medications which I was originally supposed to start while back in India itself so the doctor could know if I was having any side effects from it like, lack of sleep or too much sleep etc. But me being me, lied that I had the meds, dint have any probs and came back. But after starting the medications, I soon found that I was having side effects like lack of sleep during the night and most of the time I was wide awake which was very frustrating. But I kept putting it off as my parents were travelling to the US and I was busy helping with their shopping and packing etc.

Once they left, I knew that the travel, the meds and all the work was taking its toll on me as I suddenly fell ill and had severe body pain for 2 days and did not go to work. Took rest and felt better, had some antibiotics for a throat infection during which time, My hubby was looking after me all the time, feeding me on time etc etc. So during this time, I had stopped having the medications that I got from India and after a couple of days I started having it. But to my horror I found that, this time the medicines were making me feel too tired and I didn’t have the energy to even talk to anyone. All I would do was go to both places of work, get back and just lie down somewhere.

Once my parents got back and saw all this they got really worried and told me to stop the medicines as I was turning pale etc. I have now stopped the medications and all. But I do feel nauseous all the time now. But I guess it definitly feels better than when I was having those medications and atleast I have the energy to atleast walk all the way to a bed atleast ... Ya there goes, so now parents and hubby are again worried and I just hate hospitals, needles, medicines and all that stuff and am dreading about going there. Not that it will be of much use as I know that I will soon be dragged there :( Well anyway i can atleast bring the whole hospital down when they bring those needles near me (Wicked laugh, thats as long as they dont throw me out!)

Hey but I do make a point to read other blogs and when I have enough energy I do leave comments too. :) ya its certainly serious time that someone kicked my lazy a** so that I can start moving around and do something useful. I guess i just got used to being lazy a lot and I dont know if i lost my interest in cooking becuase i feel lazy to put in all that effort. But i did discover a lot of cooking related blogs recently and just love all of it.


Dont want to depress all of ya anymore by writing about all the laziness and stuff...But in the mean time I will enjoy reading as many blogs as i can!!!

A sudden trip to India

I have put off writing a new post as much as I can and suddenly I realized that it’s been more than a month since I have written anything. Well this time I was not lazy to write but just so busy

By the end of March, I took 10 days off from both places of work and took a sudden trip to India. I know 10 days is nothing, but it sure was a relief to be away and it was such a relief to be back in India at least for a few days. Home-sweet-home

Well it sure was not a pleasure trip and we did not get time to relax too much as it was quite hectic and the whole time we were travelling, getting some important things done and there was also quite a bit of shopping to do. It was also so hot and I just couldn’t handle the heat as I was soaked and drenched in sweat all the time. (So that shows that the peak of summer is not the best time to travel to Kerala, but it did rain too, even though I missed it all the time!)

I did stay for a few days at my Hubby’s place, spent time with dad, mom and sis-in-law and got to eat loads of tasty Kerala food. I also got to play with the new Labrador puppy (the new arrival) and I guess I petted him too much and spoilt him, but did try to get some discipline into him too by giving him a few whacks which were of no use at all.

Anyway came back to Kuwait before Good Friday and Easter and came and spent it here with my parents. We did not do anything special, I just took off from work in the morning on Easter day and stayed at home and took rest… hehe

After that it was again hectic as my parents were travelling to the US and so after work it was straight for shopping on most days and then packing and all that. Finally the day they left, I collapsed from all that and was down with body pain and a temperature.

So now, just regaining my health and it’s getting quite hectic at work too and I’m also getting back into the regular routine of life which is starting to bug me a little. Don’t ask me why, coz seriously I do not know… Well I guess that’s life!

25 Random facts about myself!

Reflections (http://konnotation.blogspot.com/)has tagged me to put up 25 random facts about myself.

I have put off doing it for weeks now because I knew for sure that it would be a struggle. And now I know I will have to work on this on and off throughout the day to get it completed and to post it. Another problem is that I have been tagged for the same thing in Facebook and haven’t got around to doing it yet…LOL … Anyway I will now work it out here :)

Now the rules -

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged.
You have to link the person who tagged you.
If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Ok here goes: The following are all the reasons for you to know that I sure am a weirdo!

1. I am very critical and it sure is the nature of the Virgo!Cant blame me :)

2. I just love reading anything and everything. There are times when I completed reading more than 3 or 4 bulky novels in a day. I go crazy here in Kuwait coz we do not get good books and the ones that I do see are ridiculously expensive, and there is no library that provides the English books that I know of. (Well I did find a place where they sell some books at a good rate.)

3. I understood the value of freedom that people in India take for granted. (Be it freedom to live how you want, freedom of speech, freedom of anything) They sure should be made to stay in a Gulf country like Saudi or Kuwait and then they will also know its value.

4. I want to travel and see a lot of beautiful places. I still haven’t gotten around to doing it yet and hope that I will be able to do it sometime.

5. I am an extremely sensitive person and get hurt easily. So I do tend to clamp-up a lot to in order not to get hurt.Hey can't blame me for it as experiance teaches you to be that way.

6. I used to hate Chennai so much due to the climate and the water problems. But I just miss that city so much and it holds a very dear part in my heart.



7. I got the best set of friends in life from Chennai and I just love and miss the whole freaky gang. :)

8. I am a loner. I guess I got so used to being that way and now just love that peace and solace of being by myself and crave to be alone at least for some time.

9. When I was small, like most other parents, my parents too used to force me to eat veggies, fried liver and all sorts of stuff like cauliflower etc… What they did not know was that I used to throw into onto the roof of the shop downstairs in order to escape eating it. Imagine finding lots of dried up boiled eggs and stuff like that on the roof years later…heheh (And I used to stack up all the chocolate milk and juice packets under the bed... :P )


10. I don’t get friendly with anyone easily. Ya I do have that starting trouble too.

11. I love watching movies. (I even love to watch most of the old Malayalam movies too. The ones from the 80’s etc...).

12. I surely do feel and know that the best years of my whole life were during the 2 and half years that I spent in Chennai doing my PG and the short period of work.

13. From KG to my post graduation I have studied in around 10 different schools and colleges. I sure hated most places because I always ended being the loner and the newcomer.

14. I learnt through experience that teachers can make or break a student. I turned out to hate maths coz of it. In fact I ended up hating that profession and started getting rebellious with most teachers due to the way they broke my spirit with nasty comments. (Ya all teachers are not like that, I know!)



15. I had to become or start acting very responsible from a very young age. Dad was busy with his business and mom with her office work, so had to learn to cope for myself, learn to cook and also clean a bit and to look after my brother while most of my cousins, to this day don’t even know how to hold a broom… Well mom did give up her job and all and stayed with us and now she tells I din't give her the opportunity to do things on her own...LOL Anyway I sure am so grateful to my parents for making me independent and they made me capable enough to stand on my own feet.

16.Unlike most people, I do not miss my childhood. I guess I hated it and just wanted to grow up fast as I hated the excessive studying and stuff.


17. I am extremely ignorant about the modern day music and bands as I tend not to follow it. But I do love the old Malayalam melodies. Must be coz I used to listen to it a lot when I was really small and it’s kind of etched into my mind.

18. I did academically the best during my PG as I did not have to face the pressure like I had for 10th and 12th. Oh ya most kids face extreme pressure during their 10th and 12th…


19. Even at this age I just love teddy bears and the soft toys. My hubby is always amused to see me running towards that side of the aisle while shopping. I guess I got my first teddy bear when I was 24 and I bought it myself. But ya my hubby did get me some cute little dogs (soft toys) etc when we were dating.


20. It’s a wonder that I am still writing this even now and another wonder that I reached this point.

21. I am so busy with work nowadays that I miss blogging and hardly get time to spend with my hubby.

22. I am really feeling weird after reading all the things that I have written above and feel that people will surely wonder what kind of a weirdo am I.

23. I just love cute animals like puppies and kittens so much and have a great compassion for them. In fact I do not have that much compassion towards humans. No that’s surely not weird coz animals do not hurt you, only humans do.


24. I really don’t think that I can tag 25 people with this one.

25. I love good and tasty food, like to try out new stuff and have a weakness for pastries and chocolates, but can never eat sweets beyond a certain limit.

Hurray I have completed all the 25 things about me, that too in a short time…. I’m supposed to tag 25 people but am not doing so. But anyone can take up this tag if they would like to do so.