Its a Hap Hap Happy Birthday!

Happpyyyyyyyyy Birthdayyyyyyyyy

Ricky!!!!

Many Happy Returns of the Day!!
May all your weirdest wishes be fulfilled and the wildest dreams come true!!

Ricky, we all know you always come up with the best birthday surprise posts for everyone. Infact, had there been a Best Birthday Post category in the Blogerratti, I am sure you would won hands down. How can I ever forget the special and lovely post you wrote on my birthday. Well, for me, its a task impossible to write something that comes even close to yours...

So, just wanted to wish you on your day. You have been the most wonderful friend one can have. Thanks for always being there for me, not only to patiently listen to my inane blabbering and bearing my PJs, but also to always give a listen whenever I am low...for cheering me up and giving me suggestions when I needed them the most. And of course, how can I forget the numerous surprises you have thrown in from time to time to show you care. I sure consider myself very lucky to have you as a friend. You are a gem of a person and I am sure there will be many who will fully agree with me.

Okay...now enough of compliments for the year :P Since its your day, I will let you bask in these compliments. Hope you have the most awesome birthday ever!! By the way....if you are wondering whats in the box....its a surprise :P Keep guessing, you will come to know soon enough!

Alright then....get going and enjoy your day!

Proud to be...

I cant help but feel proud about this news :-)

Paune barah baje - whats going on?

Hey guys...I know its been a long time since I have been active in blogsville. Nothing much happening...just that dont feel like writing anything. Thought I'd update you all on whats going on at my end.

Blog-wise

Not writing or commenting. But have been reading your posts.

TV-wise

Have been following KKusum, Jassi and Yeh Meri Life Hai...and sometimes even CID Special Bereau. Also been following Fame Gurukul pretty regularly. More than interest, its lack of having anything else to do or watch that drives me to watch the episodes every day.

Have been watching lots of Sienfeld and Food Network too.

I guess, what tops the list however is me watching Anandam. Anandam is a Tamil soap on Sun TV. Though I dont understand a word, I follow it everyday since thats my landlady's fav show and falls right during dinner time. She is so into it that she makes sure I follow whats happening in the show! LOL. Her aim is to make me learn Tamil so that it'll be easier for me to follow Malyalam. :-P

Lovelife-wise

Last weekend V was here. The weekend was too short and within no time he was on his flight back to Columbus.

Food-wise

Have discovered this lovely Thai place that delivers food to my office for lunch. During the heavy downpour of last week, we took solace to this place and had scrumptious Thai food. I love their

During V's visit I took him to the Indian street here in NJ. After years we got to eat Dhabeli. I dont know whether staying away for so long has made me forget the real taste or whether they really did make the dhabeli good...but we sure did enjoy it a lot. Also had paan after a long time...twice... followed by Ravalgon's Pan Pasand.

Movie-wise

Since my move to NJ, my movie count had reduced drastically. Lack of time and more importantly lack of company lead to it. Plus my landlord doesnt have HBO. Anyway, I saw Wallace and Gromit - Curse of the Were-Rabbit last weekend with V. I have always loved Wallace and Gromit so enjoyed the movie a lot.

Song-wise

Have been listening to a lottttt of Tu Jahan from Salaam Namaste. Infact thats my current top song. I loveee the music and the words and the way it has been sung. Also, have been listening to Green Day's American Idiot album. Fav song in that album is Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Work-wise

C'mon ...u seriously want to know about my work? ... I didnt think so either..so am giving this a pass :-) But yes..to gain a few symphaties from you, let me share my commute woes. Last week was terrible...either the buses were on adjusted schedule due to some holiday or other (which meant adjustment from our side which is not good, right?), or they were delayed due to the bad weather or they broke down! Not once did I reach my work on time. And to add to it, twice I had to stand on my way home...for the entire 1.5hrs of bus drive! Sigh!

So, I hope I have covered all. Dunno when will I write next...but I am sure it will be soon enough. No one can stay away for long, isnt it?

Happy Dashain!!

My dear friends,

My warmest wishes on this auspicious occasion of Vijaya Dashami.
May you prosper and lead a very happy and successful life!
May the blessings of Goddess Durga always be with you and your dear ones.

Happy Dashain !!!

Love,
Colors.

Oktoberfest..with a difference

This weekend Columbus, Indiana organized their years old tradition of celebrating Oktoberfest aka The Ethnic Expo. In this residents of Columbus belonging to various countries put up stalls to exhibit the food and culture of their country. Its a fun event extending for two days where people from surrounding counties visit Columbus. We used to enjoy it since not only do we get to eat good home made Indian food and food from other countries, but also get to see so many people. Staying in a small town like Columbus, you tend to miss the crowd and enjoy when there are more than 10 people within 4 feet radius of you.

Among all the food stalls put up, the Indian one is the most popular with people actually queueing up to buy the food and is also the stall whose supply gets over the fastest. The recipe and menu is decided by the Indian Asso and work distributed to various volunteers. Stuffs like poori and dosa is made right there on the spot while other food items are made at the volunteers' homes. This time, it seems due to the huge rise of the Indian population in Columbus, most of the desi food was consumed by the desi public themselves leaving very little for the rest of the crowd!

Apart from food stalls, they have stalls that sell curios from different countries. The Indian stall sell Indian clothes and bags and jewelries apart from other stuffs. They even have a 'henna tattoo' thingie. Cultural events are also organised. Normally the host country puts up variety shows but I believe this year other countries participated too. One of my friend with other females put up a dance on 'Dholi Taro' song...and it seems to have been quite a hit!

In last years Ethnic Expo, an interesting thing happened. On Saturday night, after everything got over, people were packing up the stalls. Our Indian people, fun that they are, had put on desi music and guys were generally dancing to the music while packing. Pretty soon some more joined in and the music got louder and the people started spreading out to the road outside the stall. Passers by stopped to look and soon everyone joined in. We had a party going on! The teens specially enjoyed our songs and learnt few of our desi thumka moves. We had a blast. This went on for about 2 hrs and once it got over, they were asking us CDs of our music.

It seems this end-of-session desi party is now going to be a part of the tradition. V told me this year too they did the same thing. Nice way to make desi presence felt..wat say?