Pari baby, on your 13th birthday. Be happy.

17 Sep 2014.

My darling sweetheart Pearly-baby,

I write this letter to you on the verge of your 13th birthday. When you read it, you'll have turned 13 already!

Many many happy returns of the day, my baby. I hope and wish that you shall have a fabulous day. May all your dreams come true, today, and forever.

My bachcha, you have simply no idea how much Mumma & I love you. Or maybe, you do!! Perhaps, that's why you are the wonderful person that you are. My sweetheart, I wish I could stop the clock and pause the sands of time to freeze us all into an unending eternal frame, where we could continue to cherish your cute antics and laugh merrily at your silly jokes. Forever.

Pearly-baby, on the stroke of midnight tonight, you'll no longer be our little baby girl... you'll officially become a young lady! You'll no longer be my lovely, sweet, kind, lively, bubbly, cute baby-girl... you'll slowly blossom into a beautiful, gorgeous, talented, intelligent, warm and loving young woman. And whilst this is a most beautiful transition that your Mumma & I witness, we can't help being a little selfish in wishing that you stay like this... always.

My betu, you are going to step into a new world. A world, where you'll face new challenges each day. Some easy. Some difficult. And then, some which will seem impossible to overcome. But sweetheart, if you give each challenge its due time and effort, not a single one of them will get the better of you. Not one! Remember what I always say - Every problem has more than one solution; our job is to find that solution... that one solution... which is the "bestestest" solution. 

Finding a solution is not difficult. Finding the optimal solution often is.

Anyway, I vividly remember the day we found out that Mumma was pregnant with you in her tummy. We were ecstatic. We danced and we danced. We simply couldn't believe that you were finally going to be in our lives. We were on top of the world. We thought there could be no other feeling that could have bettered this feeling. But, we were wrong. When you came into this world, and into our lives... every day has been filled with infinite such moments... each better than the previous.

You were, are, and will always remain our most cherished gift. For, that's what you are... HIS most prized possession, gifted to us to cherish. I thank God every day for bringing you into my life.

When Mumma had you in her tummy, she wasn't really well. She couldn't eat or drink anything. Things got so bad that I had to admit Mumma to the hospital. There, she was given drips to make sure she was taking in enough "food" for both of you. For 17 long days, she was in the hospital. I used to visit her every day straight after work. The hospital nurses were really kind/ & nice - they let me stay past the visiting hours every day.

Each day was a challenge for me... my riddle was to find something that your Mumma could eat/drink without feeling nauseous and be sick. For 15 days, I brought different things for her to try... with no success. I had tried everything I could think of... food that she liked, disliked, was recommended, etc... nothing worked. On the 15th day, Richard-uncle and I were talking about this at work, and he asked me... "have you tried fizzy lemonade?"... I said I had tried Coke/Pepsi/etc... but not sparkling lemonade! To which he said - "that's what Jill liked when she was pregnant the first time". That evening, I had wings! I went straight to the corner shop, bought both types of lemonade - sparkling and still... and a few more things that I can't recall... and nearly ran all the way to the hospital. Mumma, as usual, was hesitant to try new stuff because that meant she would end up being sick again! But, to her credit... she never gave up. So, she had a little sip at first. And then another... after a short while... and almost a cup-full of sparkling lemonade later... she was actually feeling better! For the first time in nearly 3 weeks, she was actually feeling better! Two days, and a dozen bottles of sparkling lemonade later, Mumma came back home with you still in her tummy!

So, my advice to my innocent baby girl on the verge of stepping into her teens is this - no matter how hard the obstacle may seem; no matter how impossible the task may seem; even if you think that the situation is not in your hands; or the world may seem to be against you; NEVER GIVE UP... and, you will surely succeed. Simply take "Failure" out of the options list.

As a father, I wish for you, a world which will give you mountains of happiness, and, only tiny ponds of sorrow. Yes, my child, one cannot exist without the other. With happiness, you must also adopt sadness/sorrow/unhappiness. But, it is in these unhappy moments, the world shall judge you ruthlessly. So, stand up straight, head held high, shoulders back and unwavering confidence on your abilities rooted deep in your heart... and tell the world - Do your worst. I'm right here. I won't run. I won't budge. I believe in myself. I believe in God. And HE is with me.

And, the world will worship you.

Go forth, my child... make mistakes... learn from them enough, to never make them again. Love like there is no tomorrow. Forgive easily. Be kind. Laugh the loudest. Dance like no one is watching. Work the hardest. Stand up to be counted. Help everyone. Give anonymously.

Be happy, my child... not rich.
I love you my baby. Forever.
Daddikins 

2014 now!

So, I've been away from you all for a bit. But, I'm back :p !

The past few years haven't been awfully nice to me health-wise. I've had to scale down consciously on my work life and balance it out better with my personal life. So, in Dec 2012 I moved away from Investment Banking and its manic pace to a more serene and sustainable pace of... the human race! Joined a fantastic firm locally in Nottingham as their Global QA Manager - and haven't regretted it one bit.

I'm with my family more! Yay!

Movie - City of Angels (Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan)

Sometimes I ponder... What is love? How do you describe it? How do you define love?

I recall watching a fantastic movie a while back - City Of Angels... I loved every bit of the movie, but, one part in particular, blew me away. Its when Seth (Nicolas Cage) utters these immortal (in my mind) words...

"I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss from her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it... One..."

... Damn! Gets me every time! There's absolutely no other way that I would like to describe love, other than that quote. 

... This is so me!!

I love unconditionally... and... I love forever. That's the way I am... 

Laters!

Laydeez & Laydaaz,


Its been a while... haina? Sorry it took so long. But, I'm back now... back with an update... of sorts!

Lets start with the newest member of our family is Oscar! A right cute, cuddly, lovable, un-put-down-able, adorable rascal Lhasa Apso puppy. Born also on the 25th May... he's just gone and stolen my thunder! Pics coming up soon... watch this space. Named Oscar, after my Pomeranian dog who passed away in the early 90's. 20 years on, and we've got another Oscar who's just as naughty and idiotic as the former. Love it when he comes and cuddles up on your feet, or, wags his tail in anticiaption of a prize or goes beserk when you come back home from work. Amazingly... he manages to look incredibly naughty and immensely lovable at the same time. Magic... I say. Loving every moment of it.

Moving on to Pari(dhi), the little monster... well, she ain't little anymore. She's a full 11... and preparing for the big school next year! The embarassing questions have gone. Replaced with some really intelligent ones... and some soul-searching ones too. Its always an immense pleasure having a chat or a discussion with her. Love the "Daddy-Paleebaby time" days. She's growing up into a very intelligent and kind-hearted young lady... and extremely witty with a strong sense of humour. Thank God she's taken after me on that bit! There's a bit of humour in everything... and she catches on quite quickly. She's also got a pretty strong sense of logic... not the physics type of logic, the normal one. She reasons things quite well... impressive. Perhaps the most important bit is that she's observant... VERY observant... and VERY perceptive. At the same time, she's still a child at heart and makes the same mistakes you'd expect a child her age to make. All forgiven, of course :). There can't be another way!

But, time's-a-passing! Like sand through my fingers... damn... the more I clutch at it, the quicker it goes. But, I can't help but clutch! A few more years and she'll be gone... and off to University... her own career her own life... her own family... I shudder at the very thought... but, I'm reminded of it every moment. I wish I could stop the clock... I wish I could turn back the time to relive every moment I spent with her... not just once... but, over and over again... at will... never stopping...

Sadly, it can't be. 'Cest la vie, eh?

As for the big monster... she ain't getting smaller ;p... (I never said that!). Getting more and more used to her. Can't even begin to think what I'd do without her now! Damn, it'll be 14 years to our marriage this January (2013). A momentous occasion, by any standards, huh? Wow... it’s been that long? It was just yesterday when I was flying back from Atlanta to get married to her! 5 days of marriage... then the honeymoon in Nepal... simply blissful... and then on to the "chakki-peeseeng and peeseeng". Like all married couples, we've been through it all... fighting on stupid things, ego-issues, not talking for hours/days, etc... and then the making up, standing by each other through thick-n-thin, pitching in with our bout with life when the other's knocked down, etc... the plus-es have far outweighed the minus-es. I'd rather live my life with her, than without her... every time.

But, 14 years... hmmm... one does wonder what got missed on the other side, of course ;p...
14 years... 14 years of married life... surely there must be a light at the end of the tunnel !! Arrey, even Bhagwaan Raam got a huge kingdom after the "chaudah saal ka banwaas"...!! And what about the lowly "mujrims" in our society?? Even they're set free after being sentenced the dreaded "chaudah saal ki umarkaid"!! So, I wonder... what's going to come after the "chaudah-saal-ki-shaadi" !?!
Think I've done enough "thunking" for the day... see you when I see you!

Takes-the-cares...!
Ankur

Cars terminology explained...

Came across this on one of my trips to cyberspace... very very apt and funny ;p.

Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer is when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall.
Torque is how far you pull the wall along after you hit it.

Weekend of 3rd/4th July

I know I've been a "bad boy" in Pari's terminology, and haven't updated the blog in a while. But, I hope to pen in a few words on a weekly basis for a short while at least. Why, you ask? I've resigned from JPMC and am serving out my notice period. So, hopefully, the next couple of weeks won't be as stressful as usual.

Last weekend turned out great with fantastic weather right through. I was still a bit sore from my op on Wed, so, opted to take things easy. After the usual morning chores & runs, Saturday evening was spent having fun.

How, I hear ye ask! Welll, Rekha had a show at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford. As usual, I was the Sound Technician and Pari - the lucky mascot! The other members of the band were Fiazji (male lead), Tony Singh (Tablla/dholak), Deepak (octapad & percussions), Rameshji (Keyboard/synthesizers). By the time we reached the hotel, Fiazji had already setup the rig knowing that I would still be sore (bless the man - he's a kind hearted soul!). Now, all that was left for me was to get all the members connected to the mixer and get the mix right. Usually the worst part, this time it was pretty easy - thanks to the wonderful layout of the banquet hall. We were up and running in less than 30 min! All that was now left was to get the practise session underway to bed in the band and get the sound right. By about 6:30pm we were all ready to perform!

The sound was spot on, the singers were loving the feel, the band was happy with the mix... we were rocking it! Not to say the least, so were the organizers! We actually started getting compliments whilst the sound was being bed in ! And they didn't stop either... for the first time in the past 6-9 months, we were all very happy with the outcome.

We kicked off the show with Fiazji welcoming the crowd and belting out a couple of solos. Rekha then joined him for 2 duets and took over the stage for a couple of solo numbers. 2 more duets and a couple of solos from both again ensured there was a heady mix to the first session.

We broke for dinner - which I simply have to mentione - was absolutely fantastic!

The second session started about 15min later than anticipated - which meant about 4 songs less! Anyway, the same format as the first session was adopted and we had the crowd going crazy again. The people were loving it... ! We were now getting close to 11:30 and the "farmayish" round hadn't started! We did a few requests and were forced to wrap up as the hotel had permission till midnight.

Wrap up completed by 1, and we all bid our goodbyes to each other and left for home. Snuck into bed by about 3am! Ohh, the bones hurt... but it was a great night!

Sunday was a bit more relaxed... bought myself a suit for the new job. The evening was spent with Virenbhai and family. He had invited a couple of friends from Pratik/Keval's cricket team. Met Dil - the top scorer in the Sri Lankan under-19 World Cup team. Pari loved taking his autograph! Poor chap... was embarassed to bits! Lovely dinner, great drinks... and oh, Happy Birthday Virenbhai! He's turned 50 today.

Great weather, even greater weekend! Best to close on a high... so that's how we spent our weekend. More next weekend!

Been a while now...

Hey folks,

Its been a while, I know, since I last posted. ALL the usual excuses apply here... I was busy, I was sick, too much work, too little time, double-booked, etc !! :-) I'm not lying, you know.

Christmas is coming up! Yehay! I should know... I've got to get the Christmas tree, decorations, etc down from the attic, set up the tree, help decorate it AND... buy the bloody presents that go underneath it !! I mean, how fair is that?? I should be the person GETTING the presents ... if only for doing all the work ! But nooooooooooo... never me! Ummm... so when was the last time I got a Christmas present.... uuhhhmmm.... never? That's right... NEVER !

Putting the tree up is a nightmare... its so much easier (and nicer) to have a fibre-optic with LED tree! I mean... no decorations to do... no setting up... nothing! Just pull it out of the box, plug it in and... Voila! All done! Back to the storyline... so, we decided to buy one to replace this monstrous tree. But, as is usual with us, we decide to get it when everybody has already emptied the shelves! So, no matter where we try to buy it from, its gone! Being Indians, we're doing the best we can to find a deal... but looks like there's too many Indians out there or too many people pretending to be Indians... there's NO bloody fibre-optic with LED trees left !! Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh !!

Anyway, we got back home and I couldn't take the quiet questioning eyes glaring at me from Paridhi's beautiful face... so, grumbling, I got the good old tree out and set it up. But, I was smart (actually, I still am!) and I took off a segment of the tree consisting of 3 layers! That chopped off about 1.5 feet off the tree and saved me some space around the tree. And... wait for it... it took us under an hour to set it all up, including decorations !!

Moral of the story - Start buying stuff for Christmas in November!

Tomorrow : Ankit/Anjali's 1st Wedding Anniversary!