Kebabs & more

Wednesday was our night out with Papa & we went to a Kebab joint called "Astor". I must be going there after ages.......maybe 5-6 years or even more. My dad has spent many many years in Lucknow & he is a Lucknowi to the core. So where Kebabs are concerned, he has no control & he can fill himself up with them. Now, having Kebabs for dinner for Abhi was a whole new concept. On top of that he is a vegetarian, so the choices are quite limited. Poor guy struggled throughout the meal. As for me, the sight of food, any kind, is enough to make me queasy. I struggled with a single Kebab & my Virgin Mary thorughout the meal & came out & puked. What a waste !!

The conversation was great though. It was fun hearing Papa narrate an instance when he drank some 16 bottles of beer in an hour & a half & won a bet. Could never picture him do that. He is always so much in control. :)

Nanu & Ansh

My dad is here for his meeting & myself & Ansh spent some time with him yesterday. After his stay at his Nani-Nanu's place, I see a definite change in his relationship with them. He has become as comfortable with them as he is with his Dadi & Baba. It was so nice to see them chatting away yesterday. They had so much to converse & Papa knew all the right questions to ask to make him get into lengthy discussions.They talked about the kittens in Bhutan how they miss Ansh,they made plans of what all to do in the next vacation, they talked about Ansh's school & studies.

The only downside being that I hardly got to have a father-daughter types conversation. Today however, we are leaving out Ansh to take papa out to dinner. So we'll make up for it all.

Very recently Ansh had seen a black Bolero on his way back from school & assumed that Nani Nanu had come over since they too own the same vehicle. I tried to explain to him that how there could be so many similar vehicles here but he refused to accept my version. I am so glad that Papa's visit happened soon coz I know that he was missing them.

This & That

Papa arrived yesterday for his meeting & we had him over for dinner. Since there was no help at home, I could hardly spend much time with him as I was busy serving & getting things in order. I hope to meet him again today to catch up. Ansh was excited at having his nanu come over, but was really sleepy , so was put to bed early.

Ansh did it again!!! & this time was the worst. He cut his hair Gajini style. Really, Really short. I had taken him for a haircut on Saturday & he cried so much saying that he gets hurt when his hair is cut. Of course, when he did it himself, it did not hurt him. I was informed of this at work by a teary voiced MIL. She is a sucker for appearances & said that he would look so bad till his hair grows back. We did have to take him to the saloon for uniforming his hair. I really do not know what to do about this any more. I had given him a big lecture last time & he seemed to be convinced that he'll never try this again.

Papa is here again...

With the frequency with which Papa has been coming to Kolkata this past month, it almost feels like he is living here & I sometimes get the feeling that I have a home away from home right here in the city. But, I may be talking too soon as his next visit may be only after some months now.
So , myself & Abhi went to meet him & have dinner with him in his guest house last night. I did not take Ansh along as I knew it would be late & he'll miss out on his sleep. But I regretted it the next morning. Apparently his dadi had told him the previous night that Nanu is in town. So he got up in the morning & told me that that he had dreamt that Nanu had come home & had brought cake for him . He asked me to go check in the fridge. Now, I did not have the heart to tell him that dreams don't always come true. But on his insistence, I sent the maid to go & check the fridge & when Ansh's dadi heard from the maid that Ansh wanted cake she quickly sent her to the nearby shop to get one. So when the maid walked into the room with the cake in hand, Ansh's happiness knew no bounds. He told me "Dekha, Maine aapko bola tha na ki fridge mein cake hai" (I had told you that these was cake in the fridge). I had decided to make amends today & take him to meet Nanu thinking that he can well manage with less sleep one night. But then, he has a birthday party to attend today with his chacha & chachi.

Busy week

We've had a busy week . Mummy & Papa returned from their Singapore trip & stayed a night with us. Lots of usual gup-shup. Then there was a day of the famous "Bandh" in Bengal. Though it was a national bandh called by SUCI but it did not affect any part of the country except Bengal where life was at a complete stand still. Mummy , Papa had to bear the brunt coz they took the train of the eve of the Bandh. So, their train was made to strand in a desolate "Farakka station" for 14 hours straight. What a horrible situation . So they reached NJP at midnight instead of 8 in the morning. From there they had another hitch on the road trip to Bhutan & had to take a detour. All in all, it was a bad experience, especially after a fun filled vacation!!& All this while when they were stuck in the train, we had a relaxed day at home while we enjoyed a forced holiday.

Rest of the week was smooth. Had my KBF meeting over video-con from Tinplate office. I am part of the assessee community of the Tata Business Excellence Model through which every year I get to assess a different Tata Company & give them feedback on where to improve. This year I have got the assessment of "Tanishq". Looking forward to that.

On Saturday was my friend, Shruti's birthday & we went out to dinner at Gupta Brothers on Theatre Road. Then, there was the Janmashtami celebrations on the same night.

Yesterday we went out to see "Bachna Ae Haseeno". I quite liked the movie & simple adored Ranbir Kapoor. He is surely going to be the "next big thing" in Bollywood.

Today I attended a seminar on down stream steel industry in Bengal which was graced by the chief minister Shree Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. It was good listening to him in person.

Today Papa is here again for one of his quarterly meetings & I am going to meet up with him after office. So busy busy busy.........but happy busy :)

History repeats itself!

When we were young & papa used to go on tour , we really used to look forward to the aeroplane candies. In those days, Indian airlines was the only domestic carrier & it had those typical "foxes" like candies. Papa used to keep collecting them & on his return we used to raid his briefcase.
Now, Papa does the same for Ansh. The airlines have changed & so have the candies.So now Papa brings the mouth-freshener sachets & imli candies for Ansh & I am glad that Ansh is as excited about it as we were all those years back.



We had Papa over for dinner yesterday & had a great time together!

My dad

....is here in town today on his quarterly visit for a particular Company's Board meeting. I love this coz it gives me a chance to connect with him. Mummy does not accompany him often. It gives me & papa a chance to spend an evening alone coz when Mummy is there, we ladies are so engrossed in our conversations that poor papa is ignored most of the times.

I have such distinctly different relationships with Mummy& Papa. It is believed that girls are always"papa's girls" & boys are "Mama's boys". But that has never been the case in our family. I have always been emotionally closer to my mom & this closeness has grown more & more as the years have passed by. With papa, it has always been a different relationship. The reason is that Papa has always stood for whatever is "right". Whatever he has achieved in life today has been not only because of his hard work but also because of his very strong values & that intimidated me for many many years. I was always afraid of doing something that would not be right in my papa's eyes & that scared me . Not that I had much to be scared of. I was a good child, excellent in studies & all other co-curricular activities. In hindsight , I guess it was only because I wanted to please papa. Whenever I used to overhear him talking to others about how proud he was of me, I used to be over the moon. He was not very expressive & so I did not get many "pats on my back" directly.

The moment of truth arrived when I fell in love & wanted to marry someone outside the community.By community I mean not only caste & creed , but business vs. service class family. I knew I would ,for the first time be in the "Bad" books of my dad. It all turned out just as I had expected. Papa was angry ....very angry. But his ultimate decision was that I could do what I wanted as long as I qualified in the Chartered Accountancy Exams. Now, during the height of my relationship with Abhi , I had sort of ignored my studies for a while & my dad thought that my love for Abhi & the condition that he had put for my marriage would enable me to concentrate & pass the course. Little did he realise that that is when it dawned to me how much Papa wanted me to be successful in life .He was using his condition as a way to get me back on track. I worked hard but that was not because of love for my hubby, but it was because of love for my papa. The day I passed , I heard my papa crying over the phone for the first time in my life. I am what I am today because of my papa. :)

I am also so happy with the way my relationship with papa has metamorphised over these years. I always look towards him for advise, whenever I am in any kind of doubts & he always gives me the advise which isthe toughest to follow but which is "right". I cannot be like him all the time but I keep saving the things he says to me in my non erasable memory. Like last time, I was very disturbed about a certain situation that I was/am in where I have to give to someone who is not thankful & respectful towards me. He told me simply that I should be happy that my hands are always in the giving position & not in the taking position. He made these gestures with his hands. I realised how true it was. Though I cannot follow these things always.

So on hand is my mother, with her unconditional love & support. I know that no matter what I do, right or wrong, she'll be there to support me & on the other hand is my father , driving me to excel & be a "good" person in life.

I wish we as parents can give this kind of balance to our kids. :)

Papa

Papa arrived yesterday for his Board Meeting. I went to meet him in his new guest house in wood street. Abhi joined us later & we went to Kwality for a hearty dinner & great conversation. Ansh did not come coz it was really cold outside & papa was at home to take care of him. Today is papa's meeting & he'll leave tomorrow. Since today we have 2 marriages to attend, we won't be able to meet papa. He as to leave tomorrow morning.
Mom & Chachi sent so much stuff for us. Mom sent me a sari & undies (lol) & utensils & dryfruits for Ansh. Chachi sent a bed sheet set, toys for Ansh & a clock. Papa got some diaries for Abhi too.
We went home yesterday & Ansh was asleep in Shweta's room. So, yesterday the whole day I could not meet him. Today he got up before I left & of course accompanied me to office.

Hamlyn Shoes

There is a sale on in Hamlyn & yes, I did get a shoe in a metallic colour today.Its really smart. :) Got it at 50% off-Rs 550

Tomorrow we'll be going for the audit dinner, probably to Sanjeev Kapoor's restaurant.

Papa is coming to Calcutta next Sunday & Abhi is planning to leave with his friends to Baijnath Dham on Saturday. He will return on Monday. Lets see if his program materialises, the doubt being Jalan's health. He is in hospital since yesterday getting his check-up done. He has been losing considerable weight. With his drinking habits, I hope he has not spoilt his liver. Poor boy!

Today I got a new phone from the Company-Nokia-3110.Looks good. Papa will take the phone & give me his one. He cannot operate his hi-fi phone.

Kalyan da talked to MD about the club subscription yesterday. He talked of Corporate Membership in CCFC. 10 Lacs for 10 years-3 people. MD did not say "yes'.

Pratik had another son yesterday. He was expecting a daughter.