Many firsts before the FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

Happy anniversary to me (us)!!! I don’t know somehow my neurons get highly excited about all the special days (which is exactly opposite with my husband) in my life. So yes, I am excited, happy and exuberant. But sadly today is the last post of my three day anniversary blog marathon (I have to start thinking about other topics now).

In today’s post I want to write about all the firsts in my life that I have done after marriage. This quick recap of one year makes me feel so special and loved and definitely, makes me realize how wonderfully we have spent the last one year. Like they say “It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that actually count”. So, may be it is just one year of my marriage with Raghu but somehow it feels, as if I have been living this life forever. I have experienced so many beautiful and unique things in this one year. So here goes the list of what I did from last monsoon….

1.  We both are ardent animal lovers and hence, we always skip the idea of taking an animal ride. But for the first time I went on an Elephant ride in Munnar and through out the ride we kept on screaming and talking to Lakshmi (our Elephant’s name and even after one year I remember her). We even fed her some fruits at the end. By the end of the ride, my husband was already feeling connected to her and the good bye was very painful.

2. Being born in coastal Karnataka, we both are very much exposed to the rich cultural heritage of the land. In Thekkady we got an amazing experience watching Kalaripattu and Kathakalli (Art of Kerala). I must add, we were taken to a different zone altogether.

3. Being animal lovers, we opted for a Jungle Safari through a river flowing amid the forest in Thekkady. Growling like tigers and wanting to see them, we finally satisfied our optic nerves by Deer and rare birds (I want to believe they were rare).

4.  I have very strong water phobia. Yet, taking a ride on the Alleppey water boat was worth the time. But the best part was seeing sun set and sleeping on the floating water. Trust me, I didn't get good night sleep. Visions from titanic were haunting me!!!!

5. Our next trip was to a resort in Byndoor, Sai vishram. Sai Vishram is located just next to the sea shore. Being a private resort, Sai Vishram offered us a range of water sports - ice berg, Jet Ski, Kayaki but the best part was we got to see dolphins in the sea jumping around happily (couldn't capture the moment as camera was not allowed). I can’t explain the joy we felt. It was indeed one of the best moments of my life. And like Life of Pi movie, fishes started flying (as the fishermen were trying to catch them) and some even ended up in our boats. We even got to blow some hot air balloons (once again, first in my life).

6. My wish of spending a night in a tree house was fulfilled in Chikamagalur. Early morning when dawn fell upon us, birds were chirping and when I opened my eyes, the entire forest was submerged in fog. Slowly drop by drop veil was lifted and the early morning sight made me feel nature is a magic in itself (and my husband was snoring loudly only to wake up late, missing out everything!!!)

7. I had been to Madikeri many times in the past but every time, I missed the Tibetian colony and the Golden temple. Finally, I got an opportunity to visit the colony and the golden temple. I felt as if I was not in India. Buddhist priests were all around the place and some beautiful religious songs were heard in the back ground. So serene and so peaceful!!! If you guys visit Madikeri, do not miss on this!!!

8. After this, came the experience of a life time. My first flight!!! Well now after travelling so many times it doesn't feel any special but my first flight was breathtakingly amazing. Especially, the high speed takeoff and landing.  I ate everything offered to me on the flight in spite of not being hungry (just to taste the food) and enjoyed the views through my window. I kept clicking pictures and jumped in joy like a small kid!!!!

9. Our next trip destination was the freezing Manali (yeah in the month of January) and undoubtedly Manali had a lot to offer. My first time snow experience (I was not ready to leave the snow and finally, I caught severe fever), my first paragliding experience (my husband was extremely scared and he told me often to find a new husband after paragliding), my first skiing experience (people were falling like crazy but somehow we survived the fall) and my first crane experience (view through the crane was simply superb). And how can I forget the traditional Himachal costume!!! So three words for Manali trip - Awesome, Awesome and Awesome!!!

10.  In Kulu, we went for River rafting. I was really scared before the rafting but the flow of water was not as fast as expected. Water was extremely cold and I don't know if river rafting only was my first experience or a frozen feet as well. So after 6 kms of river rafting our feet were completely frozen and we couldn't walk for a while. Yet, when my husband was shivering in cold I was screaming in joy. We even had to jump (with frozen feet) on the raft to get through some rocks. Simply, amazing!!! 

11. When I am talking about all the firsts, how can I leave out my first Burkha experience? I don’t know somehow I didn't feel offended but nice. I kept forwarding my Burkha cladded photo to everyone. 

12. After we shifted to Jeddah, all my firsts were taken a back seat and cooking and feeding my husband became my priority. But this time when we had gone back to India, I got a chance to sing with background music that too along with my husband (icing on the cake). I felt like a super star. I sang badly and I don’t care but how many people actually get a chance to sing in front of a crowd that too with live background music??

So here goes the list of everything that I have done for the first time in my life. I feel elated to share these moments with my husband and am glad, that I got to experience everything because of him. I hope to experience many more firsts in the coming years and post it every year. After all what is life without any fun in it? Right??? These might not sound great for people who climb Mount Everest but for me, these tiny moments complete my life and complete and compliment me as a human being and as a wife!!!!

My five best realizations about MARRIAGE!!!

We got married exactly an year ago. Since my childhood I detested getting married, for reasons best known to me. I thought a wife is more like a slave who gets lost in the ceremony of marriage. But how wrong I was !!! After my marriage with Raghu I realized, marriage is not about husband and wife, it is about companionship; about two friends leading a happy life till the end without any compromises, rules or boundaries. Just pure love asking nothing in return!!! So does a fairy tale romance come real? Yes, it definitely does as long as you believe in it. We took some drastic steps to get married to each other, may be that emptiness brought us close. Today so many people get inspired by us and are ready to get in to a love marriage against all odds; I ask them to re-think their decision. Every love marriage need not be successful but it is the love in the marriage that binds any marriage together. 

So what really happens after marriage? Many people might have their own opinion, some might even argue saying it is too early for me to define the institution of marriage but let me tell you my best five realizations about marriage:

1. When my husband initially told (some two years back) that we should never compromise in a relationship I was shocked to say the least. This is what is taught to us right from our birth, to compromise and to give up and to treat our husband like a god himself. When my entire thought process was questioned, I was forced to question it myself. He doesn't sleep early because I do or I don’t stop eating mushrooms because he doesn't like it. We don’t have to give up on our choices to make the other person feel comfortable. And also, my husband doesn't believe in implying rules on my life. He is a husband, not a dictator after all. And don't have unrealistic expectations from your spouse which would push them in to compromising. If it had not been for my husband, I would surely be compromising and sulking with some other guy now. Thank god!!!

2. If marriage is about love then it is also about fights. I know fights are common in every household but every time a fight begins, a percentage of hope slowly starts evaporating making us lose confidence in our marriage or at least this is exactly what I felt. We both are very egoistic and never gave up and like my husband says we still haven’t mastered the art of “agree to disagree”. So a small argument leads to a big fight and finally we end being angry with each other for five minutes to one day (depends on intensity of the fight). But ultimately we give up. Nobody says sorry or nobody is proved wrong or nobody is bent in front of the other. We just let the issue pass by and respect each others preferences. By fighting we vent out the anger in us (there by avoiding a volcanic rupture) and also by letting the issue pass on, we are back to normal. If you ask me, fights are as important as love in a relationship.

3.  Marriage can't only be about companionship. If you want to be in a successful marriage then the flavour of true love is a must. Love everything about the person be it good, bad or worse. I used to hate Raghu snoring in the night but now without his snores I don’t get sound sleep (He never agrees that he snores!!!). My dad once told me, when you are in love even the ugliest man can look the smartest (not that Raghu is ugly). Yes, it is the power of love that gives us the courage and will, to let go all the negatives and concentrate only on the positives. It also makes us believe that the person we are married to, is truly our soul mate.

4. I have often seen in Bollywood movies that hero gets extremely jealous when heroine talks to other men. This is what happens in real life as well and we tag this extreme possessiveness along with real love. We start believing that true love can’t happen without extreme possessiveness. I have started to believe that we need space only for trust in a relationship. So what if your husband talks to another woman, the ultimate fact is he is in love with you. So, we should chuck the concept of being extremely possessive, doubting on spouses and spoiling a beautiful marriage. Trust me, love with trust is the most beautiful thing on earth!!!

5. Marriage is also about having fun and giving enough space. Once married it is not necessary that we start saving up for old age and compromise on our present day life. My mom often complains that we are not serious in life and we should start behaving like adults. But why? Why can’t we still watch every Friday releases or take frequent trips? Why can’t we just pack our bags and leave for a vacation or dine outside? Why can’t we sleep late playing cards or scrabble or dance like crazy people on Telugu dance numbers? There is no rule for married life. Nobody has written "a code book" for the right conduct after marriage. After marriage it is not mandatory to have fun only with your spouse. Hang out with your friends, live every bit of your life. I believe as long as there is fun in a marriage, married life will always move smoothly. Even after being in Saudi (where there are n number of restrictions on women) life is still very much alive and crazy going. That excitement in life is something should never fade off, say even after sixty years.

Well, these are my five best realizations about marriage in the last one year of my married life. But sadly everybody compares marriage to a prison sentence. As if once we are married we are stuck forever in a dungy cell. This is not true. Marriage is as beautiful as a new born child. If we show it the right direction, it can only lead us toward a good future. And trust me, this applies to both genders. Days are gone when the husband bullied the wife or wife irritated the husband. Some how when I look at the young married couples, I feel this is an era only of love!!!I

P.S: All photos are downloaded through various sources via google !!!

How I met my better (best) half !!!!

Time and tide waits for none!!! I really can’t believe in two days it is our first wedding anniversary. I was draped in a mustard color saree and my husband looking dashing in his blue silk shirt, signed our marriage papers in a registrar office. What a day it was. It even drizzled right after the signing like gods showering blessings from the sky through the clouds. It was just the beginning of a new life and I am sure the celebration will last forever. Being a hard core love marriage, the story of how we met is pretty interesting (or may be every couple feels this way). 

Me and my husband (Raghu) shared a lot of things in common. We belonged to the same city, studied in the same school, went to the same tuition, studied in the same pre-university college and despite of all this we never met each other for more than 10 years. His primary school had become my high school but when I had joined he had shifted his base. I lost my chance of meeting him there!!! But his ex-friends had become my friends!!! During this period I decided to take mathematics tuition along with my other friends but discarded the idea at the last minute. Surprisingly, mathematics tuition was conducted at his house which was next to my school and his mom (my mother in law) was the tuition teacher.  Gosh, I lost the chance of meeting him again!!! After my high school, I joined Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College for Pre University and he was in the same college but in a different branch. Having more than 1000 students in 11^th standard (all batches included) and 80 students in a class, we hardly knew our classmates. So, the chances of knowing a batch mate were thin. The funny fact is I had initially opted for his branch finally shifting to biology. Once again I lost my chance of meeting him!!! During this period we both went to the same tuition (less than 15 students) but once again our timings were slightly different. I went in when he went out!!! So irrespective of all the positive odds, we never met each other, never shook hands or even passed a weird smile. Years rolled by, life moved on and we chose different career options and opted for different cities. 

Almost after 6 years in to our separate lives, having nothing in common (he was living in Bangalore, I was in Manipal; He was an engineer and I was a speech therapist), destiny brought us together through facebook. In FB we want to add all those familiar faces whom we have hardly spoken in real life. When I first got his friend request I immediately wanted to ignore it as I had a rule of not adding people whom I didn't know. But when I scrutinized his profile for minute details I was more than surprised. We went to the same school, same PU college, same group of friends and I started wondering if he was actually my classmate whom I had totally forgotten (may be a first bench-er!!!). But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't recall his image and hence, I sent him a message asking if he was my classmate. Well there was another Shruthi in his class and mine later, and she was the confusion creator which led to this friend request. Thanks to my father who named me the most common name in our town. There used to be at least two or three Shruthis in one class. Had it not been for this name, I would have never met my husband!!!

After clearing all doubts and wanting to plunge in to a zone of friendship, we decided to add each other. My memory (being an awesome one) did not let me down and it started pouring me with images of a lean man from the past, near my college and near my tuition. Even though he didn't recall my face (his memory is very bad) he remembered the girl who rode luna to college. It was quite embarrassing for me in those days but it seems he thought it was “cool” of me to ride a luna to college (well you need to have guts to ride a luna especially when you are in college). But this new found friendship didn't turn in to love immediately. Raghu was completely lost in his own world and I was seriously considering getting married to somebody else of my parent’s choice. During this phase, we became friends, then best friends, then best of best friends and started spending hours over phone every day sharing every tear and every smile. Amusingly, he gave me dating tips and I made him write love letter to other girls!!! Finally, when things were very serious about my marriage he even decided to create my profile in shaadi.com and took the responsibility of searching a suitable groom for me (Ah! What a great friend). 

Days passed by and with every passing second we grew closer to each other as friends. We took less interest in other men/women only to spend more time with each other. His mobile bills were shooting stars which he often complained yet, promptly giving me a call the next day. One of these days he casually said, “Maybe we should marry each other as our understanding is great and our frequencies match perfectly fine”. This casual thought lead to series of thoughts, which finally made us accept this friendship as something much more and divine. It was never “oh baby I love you so much” kind of love rather, it was a practical well thought decision. After turning our friendship in to a relationship, we actually fell in love with each other. But even at the pinnacle of love, hunger and sleep never left us. So, it was more like an arranged marriage but arranged by us. After being in a relationship for almost two years, we decided to marry each other and today, here we are living a beautiful life in our love nest and hoping to see many more enchanting years to come.

May be I am indebted forever

for having a chance to know what is love

As beautiful as it can ever get

As soothing as my heart can ever feel

It can only beat for you

saying, thank you for being in my life

thank you for loving me beyond boundaries

and thank you for making me what I am today...

I will stand beside you, holding hands

showering life with lots of smiles

I know, when you are next to me

Life could be nothing but a joyful ride

Let the whole world scream against

Let the society laugh at us if they can

but our love will bind us for eternity

as long as love will remain in the world per se...

P.S: All photos are downloaded through different sources via google except the last one!!!

Inhale and exhale... I am breathing!!!!

Where was I for the last one month? If you say solitude, I say prison. Yes, living a life without high speed internet is like living behind bars with no connection to the outer world. The writer inside me had taken a nap, and the blogger inside me was pestering to come out alive. In short, the last one month was not a bliss. I had caught some weird skin problem (thanks to Jeddah climate) and kept shuttling between India and Jeddah (Thanks to my husband's profession), I was living in a world of uncertainty. Not that things are all good now, yeah, I still do have some itching and will be travelling to Dubai this month end (Yey!!!) but thankfully, internet is back (3G, yet not high speed). But the sad part was, I missed my IndiBlogger family members.. So many posts to read (grrr internet is too slow) and comment!!!!


It is so rejuvenating to open the pages and read those posts. It feels like I am connected. Recently, when my husband's colleague's wife asked me how Jeddah was treating me and how do I cope up with no social life being inside home all day, I only smiled. I told her, my socialization is beyond boundaries. I socialize everyday with lots of people, sharing thoughts and views and educating myself. My friends are from all over the world and I get a chance to be inspired by them every single day. So Jeddah is treating me like India. However big the restrictions imposed are, I live my life peacefully communicating with people. But when the access to internet was limited, my entire socialization got restricted. It truly felt as if I was living inside four walls, eating, sleeping and reading!!! I got bored of the same routine. Then I went back to India. I got so busy there, I had no time to access internet and once again I felt lonely amid the huge crowd. I wanted to write. Something. Anything. but I wanted to write. Finally today when I am just scribbling some words, there is a smile on my face and solace in my heart. Yes, I am breathing, at last!!!


It is so strange that few years before, life was running well without mobiles, laptops, internet or 3G.. but now it feels as if we can't lead our lives without them... Let's hope internet doesn't leave our side and we continue to write and share always!!!

There is no harm in asking!!!

When I was 16, I was going through a rough patch in life. Boy friends, breakups, exams, mood swings, irritation, distraction and above all, an unending curiosity. Yes, I do agree life was different by then. Life is different today because of the mistakes committed in the past. But I often wonder, could life have been more better? Could  have I studied a little more harder to secure a place in a good college? Could have I kept myself away from emotional hassles which tormented me for years? Could have I kept my curiosities to myself without trying to get an answer and getting involved at a different level? 12 years before, it was like a whole different world. Mobile phones were babies and internet on phone was on the process of gestation, where as 3G was not even fertilized. The only option was slow processing desktops, with slower internet taking an hour to open google. So all the questions were unanswered and I was at no level of asking my parents anything.

Time changed, things changed and a whole new era opened up in front of us. From laptops, to tablets to 3G to 4G, seems like entire globe is revolving at our finger tips. And also, all the solutions to our problems!!! 

Be it a love affair or a strangled marriage status or an employment issue or a suicidal feeling, your every problem has found a new home to unravel answers, to feel supported and to hold those fingers, which would lead you towards the right path in life. It is a time in life when you feel you are lost and you need some one to guide you but the complexities in you make you totter and zip those lips. If this is the phase you are sailing in, then you should be a part of a group called "adviceadda.com". I wish I was only 16 now!!!

Adviceadda.com is a portal (launched already) with a team of experts and volunteers, who will not only solve your issues and problems but also, try to instill a new ray of hope by inspiring you at every level possible. Be it fashion, beauty, health, sex, girl friend issues or any personal problems, the experts from the panel will answer your queries and help you resolve your problem. Adding on to it, there will be lots of inspiring guest posts from the volunteers!!! When I told my husband about this website, he asked me why would anybody be interested in sharing their problems with a stranger. I believe sometimes, we can not share everything with the people we love (be it embarrassment or preserving our own image) but we feel at ease asking the same question to a stranger whom we have never met, who is also an expert in that area (so we know for sure there is no nonsense talk going on) and also, all our queries are met without any embarrassment or shame!!! There is also another angle to this concept. If I really need some advice on my looks I can't ask my husband, can I??? So here is a platform to all those people who seek help, who seek advice, who seek hope, who seek guidance or who seek inspiration. My husband always says, what is life without inspiration and at a tender age, kids don't need lecturing but encouragement. I am hopeful that adviceadda.com will sure serve as a catalyst to ignite the best in people, showing a better path to those who are lost and to those who are willing to walk.

Do visit http://www.adviceadda.com/ It is live now :)

or like it on facebook advice adda on facebook

or be a volunteer and help people to lead a better life (You can email at arpsgoel@gmail.com and share you inspiring life incidents and stories and be a part of the family)

This post is NOT written as a part of any blogging contest!!! I am doing free publicity as a volunteer as I believe adviceadda.com is up for a noble cause. 

Love beyond eternity...

It was an explosion; though it looked tiny, it had killed everyone aboard.  For once, it reminded me of crackers bursting in the azure sky during Diwali. This was different. It was not fun as the fire splattered the colour of blood. I gazed again through the window, wondering what really was happening but it had vanished, in seconds. Boom! It was all gone, burnt in ashes. The moment I caught held of my senses, I ran towards the luggage counter to report what my eyes witnessed.  So foolish of me, obviously the entire airport was engulfed in the smell of death, shattered, torn in to pieces. Saccadic eye movements asking bizarre questions made me nauseous; I too was at the rim of questioning.

I asked a passenger who looked quite lost like everybody else.

“What happened to that plane? Was it an explosion? Which plane was it?” In the verge of curiosity I had forgotten all my friendly manners learnt for years.

“Nobody really knows what is happening. Rumours are to be believed then we are still at risk. Terrorists are walking around in this airport right now. I just want to get back to my family as soon as possible” he whispered, rigid with fear and some strange longing to be alive.

 “Do you have any idea which plane was under attack?” I didn't know why that piece of information seemed important, which of course was important!

“Looks like, its JA 9w 321. That was the one to departure just now” he replied again submerged in the valley of unknown emotions.

I couldn't believe the words he uttered and after re-confirming, I just had to thank god for making me the sleepyhead.

Like always, I got up at 3 am to catch up my early morning flight. Staying at a good three hour drive away from the airport, I jiggled in the car unable to sleep. I made myself comfortable on the soft cushiony sofa only to make up for my deprived sleep. Thank heavens, flight was delayed by an hour. The best part of sleeping in an airport is, nobody wakes you up except the announcement chap but he seemed to have no effect on me. So I slept like a small baby sleeps on mother’s lap.  And when I was finally woken up by an old fellow -the kind who intrudes in everybody’s business- I was pissed off to be precise. I gazed outside window, still yawning, cursing the old fellow only to see a miniature airplane explode in the sky right in front of me; the same airplane which I had missed due to my torpid sleep. I thanked god, a zillion times for keeping me alive, for delaying the flight by an hour, for making me sleepy and for not hearing the announcements.

Considering the lightning speed work of journalists these days, my family would presume I was dead too. Neena! She would be broken. I had to call her at the earliest. But not-so-surprisingly there was no network in my phone and all the paid booths were dead. Damn the jammers, I had to call my family to inform I was alive. After pestering 'cut-the-crap', airport security officials for long, they threatened an arrest for causing security breach. Growling tiger to a tiny mouse, I let myself in to the lounge silently, waiting for the jammers to lift the curse. Thoughts about Neena began seeping in making me restless and calm at the same time. I knew she would be worried but the very thought of her made my lips twitch. I was smiling, in an airport where hundreds of people had died, where my own life had no guarantee, where terrorists were walking like civilians, and where death had invaded our privacy prying in to everybody’s life. Yet, there I was, sitting with frightened, agitated, horror-struck strangers, smiling silently thinking about my Neena.

I had first met Neena on the day I was born. We were born in the same hospital, same day and our cradles being placed next to each other made us fall in love instantly. Neena was not only my birth mate but also, my class mate, neighbor, distant relative and best friend. We grew up like two bodies cladded in one soul.  I had proposed to her in second standard amidst the entire family, literally screaming, that I would marry only Neena and she acting like a woman already, smiled in consent. I loved everything about Neena and as she grew up, she looked no less than Angelina Jolie. She had a lean and athletic body with naturally thick and pouted lips, which any model would envy upon. With brown eyes, long lashes and a perfectly heart shaped face; I let out a deep sigh every time I watched her cross me. But, the best part was her giggling laughter, which pierced my heart rendering a smooth pain making me fall in love with her every day. That was my Neena, an angel chiseled out of heaven walking straight in to my life as if she was born for me. Neena could have done so much better in selecting a groom considering my short and squat body, making me look shorter irrespective of being taller than her. I wasn't smart looking at all and to Neena’s standards, I knew, I could never match. With all the physical irregularities kept aside, we were madly in love. Not since second standard but since our birth, we were born to lighten up each others' lives. And so we obeyed destinies command. We got married right after college unable to bear the distance of two gates. Marriage not only bonded us for law but for eternity. Things never changed after marriage like warned by my friends, but my involvement in family business did. She often complained about my business tours. Having no other options left, I disappointed her each time, leaving her alone for weeks. This time it was going to be different as I had asked her to join me in Dublin, after my meetings were accomplished, for a romantic weekend. 

But the plans got crashed along with the crashing plane. Oh the terrorists!!! Didn't they get any other day for killing people? When I was parading between romance and helplessness, an airport officer pulled me out of my reverie.

“Excuse me sir, you need to come with us for some questions” I obeyed hoping I could go home soon.

They questioned me like I had planted a bomb in the plane I was supposed to catch and faked my sleep. This is what is wrong with the government; they catch the innocent walking past by the guilty. Anyways, after a lot of questioning, they asked me to wait in the lounge again. Phones were still dead and so looked the people in the airport. I sat again thinking about Neena as only she was giving me constant hope and much needed support in that valley of unexpected silent death. I sat, slept, prayed, hummed, dreamed, counted hours, minutes and seconds but we were stranded in the airport for almost fifteen hours. Finally, we were asked to leave, I breathed deep to suck in some fresh air. 

I rushed towards a taxi and jumped in out of excitement, to tell Neena, how I had escaped death. I once thought of calling her but chucked the idea as I wanted to surprise her. But again, took my cell phone out to find a dead one. I smiled silently, imagining her crying yet smiling face on seeing me. I stopped on the way and bought a bunch of her favourite Gerbera flowers and Cadbury silk, which we both licked in competition. Even after three years of marriage, we still acted like high school teenagers living in the cocoon of love and playfulness. Love meant everything to us; we fought, we kicked, we licked, we cuddled, we ran, we stopped, we flied, and we filled infinite colours of joy in our lives. A drop silently made its way out of my eye, imagining the beautiful days I had lived with Neena and countless to come. As the driver pressed the brake pedal hard, my heart accelerated anticipating her smiling face.  When I reached my house, I was overwhelmed with tears flooding, only to feel how much I was loved. People hugged me but no one spoke. I hesitantly pushed the crowd, making way in to my bed room to see my Neena. In between, my mother stopped me, looking perplexed, tears rolling her eyes and uttered a meek line, ‘are you still alive?’, as if she was sad to see me alive. It didn't bother me. I walked hurriedly towards my bed room, which was crowded again - I wanted to shout, leave me and Neena alone for a while, I am alive – only to find my Neena lying on the bed all alone with eyes wide open and that soft white skin turned blue. They were waiting for the police to arrive and take her body. I was asked not to touch her. I did not move- stood there watching my beautiful Neena lay motionless- god knows for how long. 

Her father handed her suicide note to me, which read,

“Life started with Akash and so will death. I see no life without his presence. I promised to follow him and I will, no matter where he takes me. I am sorry dad and mom for this drastic step, but I am sure you will understand that I can’t survive a single second of my life without My love, My Akash”

DOUBLE the salary!!!

Shuttling between India and Jeddah has been a fun ride so far.

Two days ago when I boarded my flight from Mangalore to Mumbai (connecting airport), I was heavily immersed in reading a novel by Preeti Shenoy, where as my darling husband as usual was stuck with his laptop working on his current project. Anyways, this has become a routine. Me reading a book and my husband romancing with his laptop every where, be it airport, cab, waiting lounge or way above clouds.

When you are reading a novel, you feel at a completely different level and so many thought processes go hand in hand. During the flight, after lots of chained thoughts, I asked my husband "what is the salary of these air-hostesses??" . Like all husbands immersed in work, without even lifting his eye lashes, he said "I don't know". Even my childhood I asked numerous questions especially to my dad and most of them were beyond the realm of any answer. After marriage and so many years of adulthood, I shifted my focus from father to husband unable to let go off my annoying habit. Initially my husband appreciated this, answering my every question but when he realized my questions never ended at an answer he started developing a habit of saying I DON'T KNOW. But I wanted to know their salary out of so many on going thought processes inside my head. So I asked him again, "can you guess?" and he got irritated and replied, "how am I supposed to know?". Being the stubborn one I didn't give up.

 "May be 20 thousand a month?" I asked waiting desperately for an answer

"not 20.. slightly more" he said still concentrating on his work

"40??"

"I think it is more"

"80??"

"You won't leave me alone. I don't know. May be one to one and half lakh per month"

Now my curiosity doubled. "Why do they pay air-hostesses so much when they do nothing but serve food, take the plates and give some instructions. Is it because they are always flying and at a riskier job? or is it because they don't get to spend much time with family? because if we consider only work they don't deserve this high salary". Now my husband had to stop working and answer all my questions. He talked about people management and all. But my brain wasn't satisfied. It kept pummeling questions at my husband, like what sort of people management they do when the people who travel is flights are so well mannered etc etc. Finally, my husband kept quiet and sucked in to his work.

When I boarded my international flight to Jeddah from Mumbai, I didn't know I was going to experience something so uncivilized during the flight. Previously, I had never faced any problems in business class but this was going to be my first economy class rough ride.

I was at the pinnacle of irritation when I observed the following:

1. People were not sitting in the seats allowed to them. They sat in others' seats and troubled all the passengers. Air-hostesses had to come and rearrange the seating for so many people.
2. Flight was about to take off and most of them had not even tied their seat belt and were wandering inside distributing food got from home. Once again air-hostess had to come and make them all sit.
3. When the flight was on the run away, an old lady from the front seat got up and walked till the end rows to get some water. I genuinely prayed for her to fall on the flight so that she never repeats it again. This time air-hostess came running and asked her to sit in the nearest seat. But the old lady was in no mood to listen. She literally argued when air-hostess was being protective about her safety. .
4. After half an hour juices were served and some people kept asking for more, while air-hostesses with a sweet smile on face, told "you got it already sir" but these people pushed their glasses in the front and ordered them to pour some more.
5. I don't know if it was a special day or in every flight people actually move so much. All the people were moving blocking the food trolley and yelling at air-hostesses for blocking their way. Aren't we supposed to get food during our flight? Why couldn't they see they were troubling the air-hostesses not vice versa.
6. Once again, history repeated!!! Before landing people were not in their seats and people who were in their seats had forgotten the concept of seat belts. Air-hostesses re-entered the battled field and fought bravely.
7. Finally, when the flight landed even before the seat belt signal was off, people were standing with their bags to rush outside. I actually wanted to scream by then and ask if all were nine months pregnant and water broken.


While getting down, the air-hostesses gave us all a sweet smile and waved good bye (even to those who troubled them).

I looked at my husband and said "one and half lakh is too less for these people. They should be paid double of their salary. They deserve it. I would have actually hit all those stupid uncivilized people (thanks to my lack of patience) but these women were so polite and gentle. They should be paid double for their people management skills and also, for their rock solid patience".