The passport.......Is it valid, is it?

Scare after scare after scare.. Monday evening, Chandan informs me my passport has been expired for the last 4 yrs. We look totally shocked, kaise, I mean wasn't it issued for 10 yrs? But it clearly states that it's cancelled. Is it? Then..............? Ring Ring Ring... Calling friends & family left, right & centre. Do you know any govt official who can issue me a verification certificate? I need a tatkal passport. Ya, thank heavens, I haven't booked my flight tickets. Oh! You do but he's out of town? Finally my father sends me to his friend, who is director in supplied dept., Indian govt. I feel very blessed to be so well connected, with a dash of cynicism. My father knows this guy, can he be actually helpful?! We get the verification certificate. Run to local office for getting spellings corrected on Voter ID. Need an identification, who am I? Reach the SDMO office, & guess what? It's Shindh New Year, what ever that means. To me it meant, an wasted journey, for the office babus were on holiday. Go back on wednesday, & get my work done with amazing speed, skipping lines & the whole thing. Why? Maybe because I'm a single female, willing to say "please bhaiya" to the right bhaiyas in charge. I totally support discrimination based on sex, & have always benefitted from this disctinction. You see, God bless chivalrous men, & may I not jinx myself. I would say Amen to that, but am really not cool with blasphemy, even in small doses. Wednesday afternoon sees me in Notary office, getting my Annexture I printed on stamp paper, clearly stating my travel will not cause security threat to my nation or the nations that I'm visiting. & I have a totally new self respect for my hidden potential. The Notary office guy thinks it is his duty to charge me 450 INr for what costs 120 INR since I'm single unaccompanied female. See the discrimination based on sex is at work again, but I know I still have the last laugh. Not only the Notary guy does my work at super speed, he is quite sad when I give him INR 450 without much haggling, he could have got more only if he had asked. His crestfallen expression was worth the not bargaining. Go to husband's office, to get all docs scanned, & Husband comes back with query, "So, how much did you spend in terms of money along with sun burnt skin that you got for free?" Me: "roughly 1 K." Husband: "Good, cause I'm saving you remaining money & head ache of applying. Your passport is valid, we just did not flip the pages & note the validity extension stamp." Me: "Oh!................Oh!" We go out for diiner to clelebrate..... spend some more K eating delicious Italian food at Theos. Next day, my husband informs me his US visa will reach him in 5 week's time, which will give us about 2 weeks to plan our trip if at all. & I'm back on the pendulam, I'm going I'm not. I'm going now. I'm going later......... :-)

Happiness Undiluted

2nd April 2011... India lifts cricket world cup trophy... Harbhajan cries like newly crowned Ms. Universe........ Dhoni tells it's Gambhir's fault he did not get the century in his acceptance speech,

Virendra Sehwag being opener goes to collect his memento first despite name being way down on the alphabetical order........

Yuvraj Singh dedicates his fine form & performace to Sachin.. many a girl friend's aspiration shattered...

& it rocks to be on the winning side!

:-)

The explanation of the grind factor...

I never immagined saying yes to travel would mean sitting till 5:00 am in the morning doing reserach.

• Free things to do


• Non Free things to do.


• To do with kids.


• To do without kids. (No chance, but we're optimistic).


• Travel made cheap.


• Currency converter.


• How to be safe.


• How to be adventourous.


• Smart street food.


• Fine dining for you.

& note, each factor is opposite to the other, because well, I may do nothing at home, but wouldn't want to miss hard work on vacation, do I?

The trave planning........ the grind?

& all the lows that must accompany my highs......

I'm just noting this down, so that I always remember this phase. The disbelirf, that my vacation is actually going to happen.... The going to Mahindra Group of holidays... The sweet talks while signing up. & then after payment, the first reality check, you can book hotels only after 45 days of signing in... Which leaves us what, 15 days to book flights & visa? & then the follow up begins..... & continuing as of now.... we pressurizing for early booking..... they letting us know processing delays. Even spontaniety should be planned, & that's a very sad realization.

Some dreams coming true....

I have always been one of those people eager to travel. I have always been one of those people who have never travelled. Okay, so I do make a pleasure trip to some hill station once a yr, & go home about thrice a yr, but that's not travel to me. For the restless soul in me, always wants to go far.. never sure, what that would achieve, but still wanting it. & finally the husband got the hint.. The hardworking husband who would rather sit at home. The one who truly detests any travel, to the point, he does not feel need to go anywhere, & is much content, everywhere!! So for this birthday, he's taking me to UK... :-) 8 days only.. won't take more than a week's leave :-( But what the heck? & the real fun is in the anticipation.. For the seasoned traveller may make discoveries galore.. But the excitement of the first time is unmatched yet!

2011: Thoughts during a cold cold January!

I'm cold to my bones, having not a single warm bone in my body,
all apparently are located in my heart!
& this is the tale every winter,
as sometimes even higher evolved mammals called homosapiens are cold blooded living beings,
example in this case being me!
But why me?
Every shivering moment I think: Why me?
In plain Hindi: Itna sardi kyon hain Bhai?

As I grow older, I realize how easy it is to lose the folks most special to us.
You move states, your family represents numbers on your mobile.
You move houses, your friends represent more numbers on your mobile.
You change lifestyles or jobs, your acquaintances represent more numbers to be deleted from your mobile.
Maybe the contact list is too long, & the contact too brief!

& if indeed we're the sumtotal of all our thougts & experiences,
then boy, does life let us know the truth of the words:
We come alone, & we go alone.

Despite such deep thoughts,
wishing myself a happy new year! :-)