I’ve been doing well myself. Not that you need an update about me…I know you are watching everything from somewhere.

It’s not that I remember you only once a year on a particular day and hence I write to you only then. But on the anniversary of this day, the memories are powerful and come back to me stronger than many of the other days of the year.

There are days when my eyes well up with unshed tears and a lump forms in my throat when someone mentions something or some incident happens, that reminds me of you…most often in a indirect way. I still miss you, everyday. Your departure left a vacuum that nobody or nothing else can fill. And yet I know you are still alive through me…there are so many things about myself and the way I am…that reminds me of you. The independent nature, the stubbornness, the always-follow-logic attitude, remembering to be practical and not be carried away in the moment…all that and much more.

However I am far more at peace now than I’ve ever been in recent times.  Especially since the first one year since you left, where I struggled to find my foothold and figure out where I am headed. You sent someone to me  to keep me company for the rest of my life. Of course life isn’t perfect and there are always struggles and obstacles along the way. The miracle is not in having a perfect life; it is by working to overcome the obstacles and learning to be happy by overlooking the imperfections. That alone makes the difference.

Each day is a new day. Each day I learn. And then I thank my stars that I knew and had you as my grandfather, with me, guiding me, for the first 23 years of my life. Whatever I am today, I owe it to you.  A single ‘thank you’ is never enough.

As another January 18th passes by… three years down the line, I have now learnt now to celebrate your life, than to just mourn your departure.

Remembering you everyday…

Your loving granddaughter.

Let me copy that from Smitha’s post.

What this is about:
To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.Rules:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part

2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

So I have to go digging for some my very good earlier posts. And that would make me sad…since those days I had the time and inclination to write. These days, chances of that are pretty slim. Even then I am trying to keep my blog active somehow. Anyway…here goes!

1. Your most beautiful post

That would have to be my very first post. It remains my favourite till date. And it contains the reason to start blogging. Need I say more?

2. Your most popular post

It is not everyday that a marriage proposal comes for you from the UK  Around the time I posted this was the time my blog was starting to pick up more readers. This made the readership shoot up. I guess that counts for the ‘popular’ part, doesn’t it?  Well it comes in a close tie with this post – the finale of the hugely popular MM series.

3. Your most controversial post

I generally avoid controversies per se on my blog. I prefer recounting humourous or happy incidents and stories. However 2 posts of mine…came within slight range of controvery. Someone who read the post the first time instead of reading the entire series labelled me as a NRI brat over here. And my friends gave it back left right and centre. But even then I really wouldn’t think they created much of a furore. Hmm maybe I need to start creating some controversies then!

4. Your most helpful post

Erm…come again? I haven’t really written of that sort, not really a travellogue (except pics of Kerala) and certainly no recipes, no how-to posts….hmmm… this tag is beginning to make me realise I haven’t got as much as versatility as I thought I did! Hmm this post would not be called ‘helpful’ per se since the tone is not intended for that. But then as I read through it I realised that quite a lot about the process for applying for a visa has been covered here….it might help people appearing for visa the first time round.

5. A post whose success surprised you

My posts are the best, they all deserve to be successful    This post was restricted to a certain tag and a certain number of people who would actually understand the plot. I had expected only a certain set of people to come and read this. However the tag became mighty popular and people started following it as a series. It started with hitchy, passed on to OG (who has by now almost disappeared from the blog scene), who tagged Vimmuuu, who finally pushed it onto me. The Al-Shabab team, please take a bow. The series rocked, and so did the post. Crafty did the tag after me, and then tagged Indyeah …who well…by then had stopped blogging and the tag died an unnatural death

6.  A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

This post came to me in the spur of the moment. And I promptly jotted it down. I love the narrative in this post, and the conclusion which springs out at you. I think it deserved more attention.
Not too many people would have read this one which is my second post. I met most of my (by now) blog friends only later. Would like to bring this post to everyone’s attention as well.

The problem is, I have many other posts…..but they don’t fall into any of these categories

Hey Smithus, whaddaya say?! Shall we invent a tag customised to individual post requirements?

Jokes apart, hope you guys n gals enjoy reading these posts… as much as I enjoyed digging through my archive and re-reading them

Gee….so THAT’s what husbands are for!! Thanks for letting me know!!

P.S.: Pic taken during my UK days. Found as an ad on the back of a delivery van!

For those of you wondering why we are not letting that window open for them to mingle, read the full story here.

So yes, they are busy rewriting ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ and all the k-serials and Hindi movie scripts put together!

P.S.: Edited from its earlier title ‘Mere Saamnewale Khidki mein’. The current one seemed more apt for the situation!

Ok so here goes:

Sigh…it was instant de-stressing the moment I saw the pics…… Wish I could back right away…. eat, sleep and generally do nothing

Yes, in case you are wondering….the last pic (one above) was taken right before the pic I posted in the last blog post.

Next stop: a proper blog entry! As in, writing!!

Pic taken at Palghat, Kerala

It’s not wordless, nor is it a Wednesday. But ah, who cares!! It’s just a lovely pic I wanted to put up!! DUH!!

Howdy folks!! All is well at my end. No, I have not taken any sabbatical or blog break. It is just that we had been busy house hunting and settling down, plus long hours at work, that I did not have the time to even breathe, let alone post an entry. I did find to time comment on other people’s blogs though (to my credit! )

I am taking a break and enjoying Diwali holidays in Kerala with family.

Will be back to post something soon, once things get settled. In the meantime, I will post this quickly….just to remind you I am still around and not gone anywhere!!

Hope you all had a great Diwali !  Belated wishes!!

Ah! I have to admit, there’s nothing like a bit of gymming to get the creative juices flowing! For your information – post the wedding and the all the puppy fat that comes with eating out and at relatives’ places continually for 2 months at a stretch – I have been inspired to go the gym and sweat it out to lose a few kilos. 

While I have always been in favour of the idea, it is only 2 weeks ago that a gym opened up in the basement of my office building. This made things much easier. The greatest barrier for me joining the gym would be usually distance and the difficulty to extract time for it on a daily basis. Even if it was close by home, I’d be too tired to take the effort to go there once I reached home from office. So a gym inside the office building sounded like the perfect antidote – to take off for an hour everyday post working hours. Damn it – why couldn’t this thing have opened up BEFORE my wedding? I’d have slimmed down in time for my wedding! Sigh…never mind, past is past.

Many of my earlier readers may remember an interesting one-off gym episode. I had been hoping for some similar interesting incidents, but so far lack of cute guys any out-of-the-ordinary episodes makes my post focus on other things – for now.

The first day I was let off easy and I thought, hey this isn’t so bad after all. The second day onwards, the grueling sessions started…and proceeded to get more taxing by the day. I am beginning to discover muscles in places I didn’t know existed. Each time I turn my body…it could be to wave to someone or to bend and pick up my laptop bag… I hear a crick in my neck or back like the creaking of a poorly oiled door on its hinges. Jeez! In a way I am glad I am starting this NOW. Ten years later, I’d land up in a hospital for having tried a gym routine. Not to mention the way the Gym Instructor (GI – nice nickname, pretty much GI-Joe style, going by their routine!) was pulling at my arms trying to stretch/loosen them…I feel like reminding him the idea is not to pull my arm right out of its socket! It would have been kinder to just break my elbow in a karate chop!

My colleague/friend PP also started gymming along with me on the same day. On the second day, while PP’s instructor was giving her a hard time by making her do ungainly push-ups on the floor, I stood to the side finishing off my the difficult stretching exercises myself. While I puffed and panted and finished my last round, my GI before hurrying off to attend to another customer turned around and looked at me with a glare: “Wait, wait, we have your lower body stretches left yet!”

He made me it sound like I was waiting to bunk classes and run off the moment his back was turned. I mean hello! I paid for those lessons in the first place!

“Your body/bones are very stiff,” he said reprovingly, once I cringed when I tried to stretch too much. Gee thanks, I didn’t know that! What do you expect when I haven’t done any proper exercise in 2 years?

The other GI was being a bit too harsh on my poor colleague cum friend who was trying her best to do some push-ups. “Your form isn’t in shape,” he quoted. My friend glared back to him. Talk about stating the obvious! “Huh? This is my second day here. Why don’t you try coming up to my office and trying to do MY work for a change?? Let’s see how much in form you are then!!”

The poor GI was taken aback and thought it wise to refrain from any more comments! I bit back a guffaw on hearing this and continued with my routine.

The icing on the cake however came from one of my other friends when he came to know I started gymming.

He: So, have you had your honeymoon yet?

Me: Not really…actually we are trying to sort out our leave issues and then try for a…

He: Perfect!

Me: ???

It was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

He: You can do your gymming, get yourself in shape for all the gymnastics and then for your honeymoon!

Me: :-|

He: Er..um.. I mean…you know…

Me:

The things you get to hear these days!!

P.S.: Pic courtesy: Google