Cochin...

Look what I have done to this blog? I started it with a lot of love and a lot of enthusiasm, but ignored it for TWO WHOLE months. Well.. not totally ignored though. I would check it from time to time, hoping to find some comments in the "comments section". To my disappointment, I found none. But I have plenty of stuff happening in my drafts. They never see the light of the day cuz 1) I feel the need to supplement my posts with photographs, to catch interest and all. And I have still not figured how to transfer photos from V's camera. I am sooper scared to even hold it, so I let him do all the transferring. I remind him from time to time, to copy all the photographs. But I don't want to nag.  2) I find the motivation and time to start writing, but I find neither, while I am half way through the post. I think marriage has kinda domesticated me. So I spend more time 'thinking' about the household chores ( as opposed to actually doing it), rather than thinking up some smart lines for my posts. Duh!

On a brighter note, I am in my home town 'Cochin'. My parents had visited us in Dubai during the festive season, and we had a great time celebrating christmas and Newyears together. (But more about that later). So this time I was not overtly excited to get back home. And when I left Dubai (cuz V was travelling for work), I felt something tugging at my heartstrings. That is when I realized that I would be missing him. One of those moments that remind me why I married him :)

I landed at Cochin at 3.30 am, after a sleepless flight. Unfortunately, I got the middle seat, which I loathe. I felt very 'sandwiched'. But I entertained myself by watching "Ganchakkar". Since Vidya Balan is a  favourite, I enjoyed the otherwise-senseless-movie. But what I didn'ty enjoy at all was the fact that the guy who sat next to me didn't bother to switch his screen on, but was looking at my screen the whole while. I mean, he was just watching a movie. But why can't he just watch movies on HIS screen? And guess wot, after a while, the girl sitting next to me stopped watching whatever was playing on her screen and started watching the movie that I was playing on my screen, Weird, huh?

Anyways, after reaching Cochin, I just couldn't handle the heat. Its winter in Doobai now. So I went from less than 20 degrees to 35 degrees in quick 4 hours. This change in temperature is taking a toll on me. I am so tired all the time. But catching up with my friend at Cocoa Tree totally cheered me up for two reasons. 1) Cocoa Tree is one of my fav hangouts. 2)This friend has an ability to have me in splits all the time. We can yap endlessly and still have a lot to talk about. She is definitely a stress-buster and a laugh riot. She is the kind of girl who can cheer you up anyday with her sunshine persona. Definitely the kind of friend everyone needs. And add to it the fact that it was more like a mini celebrity outing for me ;).There was actress Kukku Parameshwar with a friend and also a  contestant from the reality show 'Midukki'. But what made my day is that the young actress 'Parvathy Menon' also stepped in. I loved her right from her 'Notebook' days. She came across as a very strong and independent woman in all her interviews. But what really conquered my heart was her exemplary performance in the Tamil movie 'Maryan'. She was simply outstanding. I walked up to her and struck up a conversation. She came across as a very sweet person. She said, 'I am so sorry I look like this. I just woke up'. She looked very petite and cute - quite a contradiction from her on-screen look. After that I took a walk till the new 'Crossword'. I am assuming it is the first 'Crossword' in Cochin. As I told you, I love being in the midst of books, so had a great time browsing. A lot of books caught my interest, but I was determined not to buy anything, unless I finish all the books I already have. But I couldn't resist Judy Balan's 'Sophie Says'. Judy is one of my favoutrite bloggers, and her blog brings a smile to my face. I have been looking for this book for a while, but couldn't find it. So I just grabbed it.


Yes, Cochin has something about it... I think the beauty of Cochin lies in its moderation. It is a hip city if you want it to be..(atleast as hip as Kerala allows it to be).. You have the the hangouts, party places, multiplexes, shopping malls, luxury cars, chic crowd etc.. But you can also enjoy a very simple life, without getting affected by any of these. :) To me, Cochin is comforting, Cochin is where my parents live, Cochin is where most of my relatives live, Cochin is where I can speak my mother tongue, Cochin is where I  bump into friends or acquaintances, Cochin is where I can hail a rick and reach where ever I want in no time, Cochin is home...

Reliving some beautiful days in Cochin through some of my favourite  pics...

Clicked @ Hotel Abad Plaza on one of my birthdays while lunching with family...

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                        Clicked on the day V came home for the first time.. The happiness is evident :)                               

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The most memorable, yet the scariest day of my life - my wedding day... I was so tired with all the standing,  I thought I might want to surgically remove my legs.. Argghhhhh! Yet, I managed to smile through it :)

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On a mad day when my sis and aunt decided to indulge me by clicking my pics non stop. How sweet of them. :).. This hairstyle of mine gave me the nickname "pekinese" for obvious reasons !!!

                       
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One of my all-time favourite pics. I think V's favourite pic of mine too:)

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Sharjah International Book Festival

I am a lover of books... I love walking into a crossword (or any bookshop, for that matter), finding a cozy nook and flipping through books... I love the feeling of holding a book in my hands, smelling its pages and reading its blurb... I get totally excited by seeing  a new book... Sometimes, even talking about a new book gives me an adrenaline rush... Now that doesn't mean that I am a voracious reader... Strange, isn't it? I know... How much ever I love being taken into a different world through books, I always find something more lovable to do... I need a very quiet, lonesome place to start reading a book.. Most often,  my laptop, TV, mobile phone or magazines take up my free time.. But once I do get hooked on to a book, I find it really hard to keep it down...   I love sitting alone at a  coffee shop and enjoying a book, sometimes enjoying the coffee more than the book (esply if its cold coffee with whipped cream)...But I love immersing in a book the best, when I am travelling.. That is when I have very few things to distract me..except, ofcourse the fellow travellers who want to distract.. But then books are the best excuse to keep them at bay....

There is no wonder then that the Sharjah Book Fair excited me.. I get to walk into a hall full of books!!. That thrilled me to the core...So, me and V did go to the fair and I had a good time being amidst the books. Well, I didn't buy any books though.. Ofcorz, we are Indians who do the conversion math after all!.. So I carefully noted some book titles to be bought during my next visit to India...

When I asked V to click a pic of mine, he obliged readily, but not before making me pose with this book titled "Why men marry bitches".. He tells me he could have easily co-authored the book :D

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This is the Live Cooking Corner.. Many internationally acclaimed chefs whip up their recipes in front of us.. Sanjeev Kapoor and Vicky Ratnani were also among them... But unfornately, I had to give it a miss.. I was really starving, and went as close as I could get to the cooking corner, hoping that I would get to sample something.. But tough luck :P

Another click from the Fair...

Doobai Diaries...

Unlike most Malayali girls from middle-class families, I NEVER wanted to marry a man working in the Middle East. I was pretty much sure that I would be living in India all my life, in one of the metros preferably. This is not because I was fiercely patriotic or anything. But it is because I was pretty sure that I would make it big in my life, and living in India, kind of facilitated it. Becoming successful internationally was a tall order. Gee ;).

On a more serious note, I wanted to be closer to home, not too far away from my parents, sister and a lot of relatives we Indians are entitled to have. Even though, I love novelty and excitement, I am very much a creature of habit. Home sickness can sometimes get the better of me. So venturing too far away from my home town was never part of my plans. But there is a nomad in me, who loves to travel the world and explore. The nomad in me has places to see, things to do, cultures to absorb, cuisines to try out and adventures to get psyched out in. But even though I love holidaying in exotic locations, moving to a new country with a stranger freaked me out.


 When my parents were out looking for a groom, I made it very clear that I do not want to marry a  guy who is based in a foreign country. But I realized that what matters in the end is to have a great life with a good partner. And by focusing on guys who are based only in India, I am limiting my chances of finding a good partner. Slowly, I opened myself up to the idea of settling abroad. But I decided that Middle East would be last on my priority list. Stories about the exorbitant heat, traffic jams,  astronomical house rents, bad quality of water etc turned me off. But my life took an unexpected turn when I fell in love with a  guy based in Dubai. I eventually married him  and shifted base to Dubai.


 I remember the day I left my home country, with copious amount of tears rolling down my cheeks and my heart heavy with sorrow, fears and doubts. Accustoming to my new life was a tough task. A new country, a new home, new people, new relatives, new lifestyle, new routine, new responsibilities, new surroundings, new currency and expensive calls to India... Sigh! But despite the difficulties, I began to take a liking towards Dubai. I loved the clean roads, centrally-air conditioned flats, humongous malls, fast cars, beautiful beaches, lovely parks, an actual winter, lots of places to hangout, and lots of interesting events happening there. Even though I always missed my home town Cochin in particular, and my home country in general, I embraced my new land of residence. I made little discoveries along the way. I marvelled at some,  and wrinkled my nose at some others. This blog is mostly about my life here - the little adventures I make and the mundane, every day triviality.