A Thank You letter isn't enough, we need a book!

Dear Zindagi,

I often complain about you, but today as I sit to write about you, I find myself to be so unreasonable. You have been beautiful and so much more! For so many years, you have come so smooth that at times I have pinched myself and wondered…. “Dude, are you for realJ!!” Alright, I shouldn’t praise you much but just to let you know,

I love you Zindagi for bringing with you a friend like mother who is always up for anything. I don’t think that you could have done any better than our mother-daughter vacations, random shopping trips to the mall, crazy cooking sessions in the kitchen, and her simple solutions to all my gigantic problems. I adore you for giving me an absolute gentleman of a father who has provided for me, always pampered and encouraged me but never pushed me to the extremes. I thank you for giving me the best of both worlds of being younger to a sweetheart sister and elder to a super adorable brother, the three musketeers!!

You wide opened for me the doors to experience your dimensions at a time when I was content and comfortable in your protective version. When the innate literally homesick me was scared to go out there, you, my darling pushed me ahead making up for the pettiest or mightiest of setbacks. When I couldn’t get into a premier b-school due to a sheer lack of document despite the perfect score, you got me through another great management school where I made innumerable memories for life. Should I be thanking you here?? No…because no gratitude would be enough for the experience of those two years at campus.

The beautiful campus

You kept on bestowing good luck on me and I kept working more and harder than before. Whenever I doubted myself, you turned events and we happened to do each other proud. I will never ever forget that feeling of accomplishment of “First person to get placed at the campus”.  

When most of the people just can’t have the liberty to study or work according to their interest, you held hands with my parents and stood by our side as I set out to break the convention of ‘girls of our family needn’t work’. I must acknowledge that you on a personal level were so generous but the professional you was no less kind either. Learning and improving every day, meeting with big CEOs and visiting life size factories was indeed an exposure I will always cherish.

Sharing the table with the MD, Mr. Praveen Kadle

I confess that parting ways on the professional front by leaving the good pay-good profile corporate job with the prestigious Tata Group was daunting but with you by my side, taking the entrepreneurial plunge didn’t seem scary. Yeah, it is not easy right now and might not get easier anytime soon, but I believe we will do well there too!

You and I will soon be completing thirty milestone years and we have had our share of laughs and tears. When I first moved out leaving behind all luxuries at home, bruising my elbow and breaking a sandal in the Mumbai local, getting drenched in rain and even letting boss take my work credit were my biggest problems with you. Then you got to a phase when I was entirely by myself, be it shifting homes, eating and staying alone in hotels or guesthouses on work trips to even once watching a movie alone in a cinema hall. You are aware of the times from when I cried myself to sleep after consecutive failures to the times, the heartbroken I, pulled off smiling faces at friend’s weddings and baby showers.

Honestly it didn’t come easy but today I smile for those handful tears which have only made me stronger and taught me the lesson that things will come and go, some people will choose to leave but we will go on! I have lived you day by day and I have loved you for most of the days. I believe in ONE LIFE and have been fortunate enough for the opportunities and resources to live each day as our last.


Every day with you is like a different movie, sometimes it is a fairy tale where I get to travel all over the world, sometimes a melodrama with hopefully a happy ending and sometimes even a light action lest you will get boring!

Dear Zindagi, I thank you for what you have bestowed upon me. I thank you for who I am and what I have. I thank you for everything we will together be! When we part ways, we should have a farewell party to celebrate our amazing journey. Believe me, this letter isn’t enough… someday we will have our own book! Till then, keep surprising me!!

In absolute awe,

Shruti

“I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda“.

My favourite Love Story!

First things first…. A declaration! It is not my love story coz my prince charming is yet to find me and sweep me off my feet: P

Second thing second…. I am a hopeless romantic who takes much interest in love stories. I might have read and heard forties of them but my personal all-time favourite is of my maternal grand-parents (naana ji and naani ji).

Their saga of love commenced with the arrange marriage of her sister and his brother. Somewhere between him picking bhabhi from her maayka to her spending Sundays at her sister’s sasural, they fell in love and got married!

My fondest memory with them is of the times when I used to spend ten days every summer at their house. It was the time when it became one crazy place with nine kids chatting and playing all the time. 

                                                                                      Chopad and cowries

“Chopad”, my naana’s favourite game was allotted five hours of every day.

My naana ji has always been a loyal gentleman but he never ever played fair at Chopad.  At every chance, he used to arrange the cowries and we used to catch him red-handed. Then he would give an affectionate smile to Naani Ji, she would grin and somehow convince us that he didn’t cheat. So was their love!

Every Holi, naana ji used to put gulaal on naani ji’s cheeks while she was asleep. Every year, she knew that she would wake up with colour on her face, yet she would always laugh and ask him with love “Aap kab bade honge?” and he would always reply “Kabhi bhi nahi”…. So was their love!

Whenever they sat together, they always pulled each other’s leg. He used to tell me “Teri maa bilkul dramebaaz hai….apni maa pe gayi hai” and my naani would say “Koi baat nahi Shruti…tere naana ko drama bahut pasand hai ;)” So was their love!

One Sunday, I accompanied them to a Jain temple “Padampura” near Jaipur. When she faced difficulty in climbing the stairs, he joked with her “Sushila….abb tum boodi ho gayi ho… Walking stick use kiya karo” to which she giggled “meri stick toh aap hee ho, par kya kare… aap toh khud hee boode ho gaye ho : D” So was their love!

I can recite hundred stories where I have fallen in love with their love! Teasing each other, laughing with each other and laughing at each other…..Being for each other and unconditionally loving each other for sixty five years… So was their love!

                               The most beautiful couple with grand-children and great grand-children

I miss you naani… Rest in peace!

“This post is a part of #LoveAndLaughter activity at BlogAdda in association with Caratlane.”

#LoveAndLaughter 

 Shruti

I looked dazzling, but then it happened!

Jaipur, 28^th January, 2006

Engagement of my BFF Pooja’s sister

We (I and my other girlfriends) were pretty excited as it would be our first saree experienceJ.  

We wanted to look ravishing and steal the limelight of the bride (Yea… we were mean ;) We had prepared ourselves well by reading lot of Vogue and Femina and watching shows on Style Check. 

We had roamed around the city for one full month to find the perfect girlish sarees and gone through numerous fitting sessions with the tailor a.k.a masterji (no boutiques back then!) to get the perfect sexy yet decent blouses. 

We exactly knew how we wanted our hair-do, how should our make-up be done and in what styles should our sarees be draped at The Big Day. We were the self-acclaimed Fashion Divas.

We had everything sorted out. We all stayed at one friend’s house so that we could go together to the beauty parlour and then directly to the engagement party and later get a drop back home by Pooja’s chacha ji.

We timely reached the venue looking beautiful and feeling gorgeous. We walked our way inside and saw an empty stage as the to-be-weds hadn’t arrived. Our only familiar face of Pooja was nowhere to be seen amidst the thousands of guests.

We decided to take a round of the garden to look for her and also show off our perfect looks! I for one was too happy with my net saree and the designer blouse (that’s how I liked to call it ;), the neat hair up-do and my new golden high heels.

As I walked with my head held high, I accidentally stepped on my saree and suddenly the tucked in pleats came off. I was shocked and embarrassed but my dear friends quickly circled me as I hastily tucked the pleats back. Okay! Even though my saree wasn’t perfect anymore, my new stilettos bit my toes and their heels sank in the garden with every step, I tried to display the confidence of a fashion maestro (not that, I felt that anymore!). It was just then my chic blouse decided to mock at me with the cleavage show off behind the net pallu and the misbehaving zipper at the back. I was irritated and then when I looked at my friends for some consolation, I realised that all of our make-up was way too loud for a ring ceremony in the Marwari community. The Clothes… Sandals…. Make up… Nothing fit right…! And there we were (particularly me) a classic example of misfits.

We took seats in the front row with our plates full of veg Kababs, spring rolls and chilli paneer as the ring ceremony was announced. Confetti blasters were popped, gifts were exchanged and solitaires sparkled on the ring fingers but our friend was nowhere to be seen. (I so wished we were allowed cell phones that time!) 

So after the ceremony, I asked aunty (one can easily make out bride’s mom right!) about Pooja. She looked puzzled and questioned me “Who Pooja??”

Our faces turned blank….. Was she kidding us? NO!!!!!….. We were at a wrong party!

Oh! We were so embarrassed.

Next day, we got our butts kicked by Pooja and got mocked by everyone else (crazy stories travel fast: D) for missing the function in the adjacent lawn!

It has been ten years now and we still can’t stop laughing reminiscing the good old embarrassing times: P   

This post is written as part of the "That didn't fit right" blogger contest by Buttercups in association with Women's Web. 

Image Source: Internet

Celebrate yourself with a perfect fit. Take the Buttercups quiz @http://bit.ly/buttercupsquiz and get that perfect fit you deserve. Use GYRF10 to avail a 10% discount. 

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Keep Smiling!! 

Cheers, 

Shruti Jain

WOW… ‘Nobody Knows That I…’

Well, for a talkative person like me, it takes lot of effort to think about something that I know and haven’t shared with even a single fellow.

Okay…. So what could be something that is not meant for the public eye? Dark secrets…. Embarrassing stories… A love affair….Or anything that will scare me of being judged! Hmm….I got nothing… Haha… seems my life isn’t that fun!! (Although my friends tell me that it’s a fairy tale ;))

So, before I put out my only secret on a public forum, here is a little about myself… I like reading love stories and am a believer of happy ever afters; and keeping a secret is not lying ;)

June of 2008; it was during the beautiful days of MBA that I found these treasures of my life. She was my hostel - neighbour and he was a member of my Economics group project. Now I don’t remember how and when did I introduce these two but I am glad I did.

Here’s what happened!  Every night my two besties would voice chat on Gtalk and then the next day I would spend listening all about it by him in the class and by her as soon as I returned to my room. She used to go all gaga about him; his humour, his ambitions, how she really likes talking to him and on and on….. He wouldn’t stop blabbering about her innocence, her passion and how he really likes talking to her and on and on….  Basically, they talked to each other all the time and talked about each other for the rest of the time. And in the middle I, the chatterbox actually happened to listen!

It was the last month of college and they hadn’t even gone out on a date. Basically they acted dumb heads who hadn’t expressed their love to each other but me.

It was one night when she sobbingly told me that her father had shortlisted some bio data’s for her to see. I was angry with my BFFs for acting such chickens and it was just then, I decided to play cupid.

I had watched lot of romantic movies and thought to test them for real. So, I bought two beautiful cards and wrote in both of them –

“I like myself when I am with you. I am not sure…..but I think I am in love. So, if you feel the same way, be at Serendipity Café at 7pm tomorrow…. IT WILL BE A DATE!

However, if you don’t feel the same way, forget about this card and don’t turn up…..I promise, we will still be the best of friendsJ”

Then I undersigned their names and ensured that both of them got those cards… And guess what! An hour later, they both were telling me about the cards they received. (They were going crazy!)

I must admit that I was thrilled to hear them being so happy but at the same time I was hell scared of being killed when they would find everything out! I decided to hang on to my halo and help them a little more. I picked out an adorable dress for her to wear and went shopping with him to buy her the perfect gift.

Well, it was no wonder that a day later, I listened to THE DATE story twice! Ah! I wanted to be acknowledged when he blushed about her charming looks in that blue dress. I wanted to pat my back when he continuously kept singing “I’ve had the time of my life….No, I have never felt like this before”. I wanted to be high fived for being an awesome planner when she shared the tiniest of the details of their romantic candle light dinner. I wanted to shout “Yay… I chose that song” when she pulled me into a dance while humming ‘Pehla Nasha, Pehla Khumar’.

Okay, It was no surprise that they had hopelessly fallen in love with each other. What though is a surprise is that now they have been happily married for four years and a baby is on the way!

PS - I am really close to both of them and we still talk about every damn thing; however, none of them has ever raised an eyebrow of their first date. So, I guess my secret (that I thought would be out on their first date and would get me disowned by my besties) is still safe!

‘Nobody Knows That I played a cupid!’ Oops... I guess now ‘Everybody knows!

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Image Source: Internet

Cheers,

Shruti 

Dubai Memoir !

Happy Holidays to All !
Cheers,
Shruti

10.45pm show of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

Everyone told me not to watch Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP), but still I did.... And after I actually did, I asked myself…… Why I did what I did?

Okay!! In my defence, I had really put in lot of thought before trading my almost midnight sleep of three long hours. My few reasons to justify watching this one despite the not-so-good reviews were -

   a) The belief of awesomeness in the maker of "my can’t ever have enough of” movie Vivaah

     b) The grandeur , the costumes , the jewellery and the thumkas in the title track

        c) Awesome shooting locations in my beloved state of Rajasthan

Now as a viewer, the story, the screenplay, the direction, the casting and everything else individually don’t matter to me coz all I care about is entertainment. However, PRDP has moved me so much that in the interest of those who haven’t yet taken any call about PRDP, here's what I feel about the movie. 

I say if you have already bought the tickets, you can either choose to be generous by gifting the tickets to someone you don’t much care about or you can experience the few moments of happiness offered by the maker. The comforters could be the double delight of Salman Khan in absolutely contrasting double roles, gorgeous and stylish princess look of Sonam Kapoor, the extravagant locations, the ornate sets, the beautiful costumes and the jewellery. 

I am personally annoyed with Sooraj Badjatya to have made this and Salman Khan for having signed this and breaking my heart with the failure of their magical duo. Although Salman has managed to save some misery, Sonam’s marvellous look hasn’t even remotely made up for her much unconvincing performance. For the first time ever, love story of Prem doesn’t feel believable given the fake chemistry between the 30 and 50 year old. All the other actors are mere extras and add nothing to the movie but time.

As far as the songs go, the hit Jodi of Salman Khan and Himesh Reshamiya has doomed too. The ten (not so hummable) songs in the movie feel like 25 given their rapid frequency and no reason to be played out. The overall music and lyrics are old enough to make PRDP look like a film straight out of the ‘80s.

Apart from the trivially sketched characters and timeworn songs, PRDP definitely lacks freshness. Stretching on family values and importance of relations through unnecessary elongated scenes to make up for a reasonable run time doesn’t really work in favour of the film. In this ever-changing world, Sooraj Badjatya hasn’t just carried forward the legacy of Prem but has also used the same recipe of a “family oriented film” spelling out the moral of “lucky are those that have the support and love of their families”.

Although the story is set in present time, it has an archaic feel which clearly indicates the wrong amalgamation of a contemporary drama and a period extravaganza leaving me as a viewer much confused. 

Overall, the movie is quite predictable, old-fashioned and overly melodramatic. Sonam's unpolished acting, the not-so-good direction, over-sightedness with respect to the story and screenplay and animation much below bollywood standards do not justify Rs.80crores consumed in the making of this film. 

PS - PRDP is a good family movie only if it was made a decade earlier than it actually has. 

Now looking forward to Tamasha, Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani!

Shruti

The tale of A Romantic !!

When I was little, my mother used to read me a bed time story… A fairy tale of how a prince charming came riding on the horse and took the girl away.  Night after night I used to hear the same story, secretly imagining that one day; my handsome prince will also take me away to live happily ever after.

I think God has programmed females to be romantic. ”. And, I am no different. …. In school, I had these crazy Infatuations. The guy who helped me with the assignments, the one who gave me the notes when I reached late for the class, the cute friend with the dimples, the handsome classmate that I haven’t ever spoken to were all part of my silly hallucinations. I watched Hindi romantic movies and I believed in them. I believed Rahul when he said “Pyaar dosti hai”. I believed Pooja when she said “Kahin na kahi, koi na koi mere liye banaya gaya hai…. Aur kabhi na kabhi main usse zaroor milungi”. I believed in love…. I wanted to fall in love!!!!

I watched English movies and I dreamed… I hoped…. I imagined my soul mate…..I dreamt of the perfect date… brunch at the upper deck of a yacht, a romantic movie, a private ballroom dance, moonlight dinner by the sea , romantic chariot ride and the proposal- “You make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And if you’ll let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way. Will you marry me?” I imagined walking down the aisle in the most beautiful white trousseau with my father, exchanging vows of unconditional love with my soul mate and heading off Just Married in the car with tins rolling down the road.

To be continued...

Shruti