WhatWhen Series - Episode 4 - All About Apache

What when you and the other half are stark opposites...🤔

Weekend was finally there; & following a few mega stressful ones, I finally had some breathing space. I could definitely do with a generous amount of "me time," but there were a few things to do before that. 

As I approached the wardrobe, determined to sort the clothes out, I stared in disbelief...gasping at the image that stared back in equal horror.  The three sliding-door wardrobe fitted with full length mirrors seemed to have an affect no less than that of a magnifying glass; leaving no scope to hide, whatsoever!!! 😣

I mean I had just managed to lose some flab & here it was, back & how!!

Binging on crisps, chocolates, & ice creams had definitely helped cope with the stress. It definitely felt mmm...ohh so heavenly 😇😇.  But damn!!  It was all out there now... The Ugly Truth (and it was no where as charming as the movie).  To put it in the nicest way, I resembled MoonFace minus all the cuteness... aaarghhh!!!😡

As though that wasn't enough, focus shifted up vertically to find my scalp peeping through the thinnest patch of hair right above my forehead😨. Was it hormones...? Or was it diet? ....oh...was it stress...?? Oh no...was it age?!!!!😱😱😱

Just when my anxiety levels had begun to rise, HubbyBaby chirped "Wow, Apache is coming to India!"

"Apache!?  Is he still relevant? Why's he traveling to India anyways," I queried.

Having heard no response, I turned around for any obvious expression or gesture and indeed caught him looking all confused.  "What?? Who 'He'?" he asked.

'How did I expect this geek to know🙄🙄' I thought, completely forgetting that it was him who had read out the news. "Apache Indian...that Pop singer... remember?"  I picked up the phone & played the popular "Boom Shack-A-Lak" followed by a less popular but more familiar "No Problem."🕺

I knew he wouldn't recognize the former; however the Prabhu Deva number did trigger his memory, "oh yeah, I know this song, but is he really called that!?"

'Phew... would I have to explain it all...I personally didn't like his work but how does that matter...he was quite popular back then. Back in the...9teen...9Teeeeeeeeees....OMG.. I am indeed getting older' I thought & was beginning to cringe when HubbyBaby broke my train of thoughts again.

"So this is the Apache you know, huh?" he asked with a 'Good Lord what do I do with her' kinda look on his face!🙄

"Of course, ask anyone... that is the One & Only Apache....has he created some new music again??!!" I asked out of curiosity.

HubbyBaby literally did a facepalm as he turned the laptop around towards me, & I peered in to an article titled:

"IAF receives first AH-64E Apache attack helicopter"

Oh wow!!!  Seriously?! Now who was named after whom?! I thought.. of course, in my own private Zen; managing a sheepish grin externally. Hehe...

Any guesses as to what happened next?

Manufacturing & testing of a Chopper's fan blades, it's engineering & functioning, & of course the special attributes & abilities of this particular combat helicopter.  Yep yep, I got it all.

  As he went on & on, my mind did what it does best... kept wandering away to the pending tasks' list whilst switching to the  'awwww my brainy bear' mode every now & then. 

After all, being poles apart does have it's own perks as we seem to make up for each other's shortcomings💕

Also, it indeed is a moment to celebrate as Apache now adds to the pride & valour of IAF.

Jai  Hind

P.S.  If I have left you wondering how old I am, then ask my husband who feels I act like a 13-year old..haha.  I am indeed enjoying my "me time" as you can see, & my brain is already nudging to zone out of the post as it chalks a 'fat to fit' plan & suggests seeking solutions for hair care from the Goddess of Our Era, Google Devi.  Ooohhh, & it says, "Vidya, for once, make my efforts count & execute them all !!!"😳

#WhatWhen #CouplesSweetSquabbles #LoveyDovey   #OverlyIntellectualHusband #EyeRollMoments #LoveForLeisureWriting #WeekendStories 

#OppositesAttract  #StayYoungAtHeart #FitnessGoals  #AgeIsJustANumber 

🎊Happy Birthday Pri 🎊

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Friends...whilst they come in various size, shape, and colour, they also come in different characters & kinds.

This girl I met was very unique, intellectual, observant, & different from other minds.

Small frame yet a persona so strong,

It took a while to understand without getting her wrong.

Along with her no-nonsense & go-getter attitude, 

She's filled with child-like wonder & gratitude.

A movie buff who gets curious & reads the plot online,

Yet manages to watch & remember every costume & punchline!!

Loves planning surprises & making people smile,

She's ever ready to help & go that extra mile.

A dutiful wife and a responsible daughter,

A wonderful mum and a loving sister.

She's a little gem who is loved by all,

Through Winter, Spring, Summer, & Fall.

Here's wishing My Dear Foodie Friend a day filled with love & laughter,

& A fulfilling journey through Life's every chapter.

   🎊Happieeeee🎂Birrrrthday🎂 Priiiiii🎊

  💕Thank You for Being My Confidant...My Main Chick. Thank You for Being There💕                                                              💕Always 💕

WhatWhen Series - Episode 3

What when you've just got back into the headspace of writing (you will understand this only if you are or know a Gemini),
You've just posted your very first couple of informal toned scenes out of your daily life.

HubbyBaby wakes up like a little kitten, blinking & rubbing his eyes. For a brief second, he squints at me as I am sorting the wardrobe out & makes a real quick transition to a "Hey Gundu, there's something for you!!"

My eyes widen in excitement & anticipation as he shuffles in the bed searching for his other better half, the iPhone 5s.  My heart begins to race as I try to figure out what it was all about & suddenly seem to recollect that he had shared my blog post with our extended family & that there probably were some lovely appreciation messages waiting for me.. Yipppeeee 😊😊

He hands me the phone with a video playing; it's not pitch dark, but I can barely see anything. He urges me to hold it closer to my ears; & even as my brain begins to process the instruction, there's a little roar that I hear.  I try to concentrate whilst noticing the ''Gottcha" look on his face only to realize it isn't really a roar, it's just a snore 😲😣

I mean... really?! Do you even know you actually play a complete orchestra while you are asleep - I say in my head; but his child-like mischievous look makes my lips curve up into an intial awkward smile & then has me in splits. 

Still giggling, I see my phone light up with a WhatsApp notification.  "Brave Human Living with a Lioness" is the caption. The video has, of course, been shared with the group - factually titled "My Family."  How had I not seen that coming!!

Still smiling but slightly embarrased, I feel I should find a solution.  A ray of hope flickers as I find something right away as I type "How to stop snoring" on our know-all search engine.  Yes!! He won't get another chance to take a dig at me 😀  Gosh, am I living on a different planet? How is it that I never knew these things existed!! 

I am staring at this product called "Anti-snoring Chin Strap" which I am not sure how one can be comfortable in - yet, read through the product description and do a little victory dance in my head (yes, my head is The most important & favourite space - everything happens there - literally Everything!!). 

Just to make sure, I scroll down to check consumer reviews & burst out into a roaring laughter.

HubbyBaby is still puzzled as to why his HunnyBunny has suddenly got this wicked look in her eyes.  Well, the product costing just under a Fiver would just be perfect to prove that I am, indeed, a Lioness; ain't it 😉😉

It's Revenge Time Baiiibeee...
Huhahahahaha...
errr...I mean.... Rooooaaaaaaarrrrrrr....🦁


#WhatWhen #CouplesSweetSquabbles #LoveyDovey #DontMessWithWifey #WickedHumour #StressBusters #LoveThySpouse #FindingHarmonyInMatrimony #LoveForLeisureWriting 

P.S.  Just wanted to say, na, no point trying to scroll down. I ain't sharing the video here. I ain't giving you the pleasure or privilege of listening to this Lioness roar. Try your Luck at the Safari 😉

WhatWhen Series - Episode 1

What when HubbyBaby's doctor, a Vascular Surgeon, comes down & says, "Sorry, I know you are starving since midnight, but I can't take you up until about 8 p.m.  The Neurosurgeons have 3 cases lined up." 

& Before the doc even finishes his sentence, HubbyBaby just gives me that look, & I know it's my Consultant battling it out there - saving a life.

I just turn around & say to the husband, "Naa, you are alright. You can definitely wait." 😳😐

No points for guessing that someone's still mental & fuming 😂

#Whatwhen #EyeRollMoments  #StressBusters #WickedHumour #MyConsultantIsTheBest #CouplesSweetSquabbles #LoveyDovey
#MedSecStories

WhatWhen Series - Episode 2

What when you've had a terrible couple of weeks,

& You have just been plain lucky to have to exhaust your annual leave from the previous year.....

I'm thinking of a lazy morning with a cuppa in bed,

& A yummy brunch just to give me that extra resting time to ease out the aches.

HubbyBaby is peering at the computer screen, grazing on his morning feed of news,

& Just when I'm hoping he lets me be, I hearhis voice & my mind screams "oh noooooo."

Unperturbed, he reads aloud an article wherein a very wise passenger has opened the emergency exit of the plane thinking it was a damn window!

Luckily the plane was still taxiing & it was fun to dissect the scenario & laugh till it hurt.

Just when I have dropped guards, pounces the crouching tiger that had been hiding like a dragon!!

He goes "What do you think would have happened had the plane been in air"; that's easy I think, only to realize he hadn't finished; "ok, first tell me what's the force called?" he adds.

And there goes my mind, all blank.  Eyebrows all curled, forehead wrinkled, I freeze. Noooo, this isn't happening again!!!

But could anything or anyone stop him??

Thrust force, lift force, drag, weight. So on & so forth.

"You are an Aerospace Engineers' wife; you should know all this," he says.

As I'm still trying to get a grip, he reads about Storm Hannah & shoots "Okay, How is a storm built..?" I give up!! 

Wondering why I had stayed home, I drift off into thoughts of seeking help - maybe try & borrow some equipments off my boss.

Well, if the Secretary's words won't work,

The Neurosurgeon's tools definitely will !! 

#WhatWhen #CouplesSweetSquabbles #LoveyDovey   #OverlyIntellectualHusband #EyeRollMoments #WickedHumour #DontMessWithWifey #MedSecStories 


P.S. Hours later, an airplanes' flight mechanism has been successfully explained & the wife desperately needs a dose of Ibuprofen 😉😂

Happy Women's Day 😊

From being a protected little delicate flower...
To blossoming into realizing one's own power.

It indeed is a wonderful journey filled with joys...
Whilst also learning to tackle life's varied ploys.

Juggling different roles with ease in both sunshine and rain...
Staying calm & composed in all disdain.

Empowering fellow lassies, setting examples of valour & courage...
Flocking together and soaring high at all age.

Celebrating the most Celebrated Being...that has the ability to mother & nurture...
& Bring about loads of love, laughter, & fervor.

              Celebrating being a Woman 😇

                    Happy Women's Day💐

This Day....That Year....

I literally went 😲 on logging in and finding the number of drafts that are waiting to be finished.  But then, it's so so very me.  A Gemini that I am, I go round and round, hopping from one activity to other, every single of which I love - enjoying each of it at that given point of time.  So that way, my list of hobbies & to-do things is just endless, and my mind might be in a totally different space every time you bump into me!  Hehe..

While I have been away, life definitely has changed yet again, taking me through different phases and altering and moulding me into a much better version of myself.  As I say that, there is an urge to write about a lot of other things; but I am trying hard to stick to the reason that brought me here this moment.

Sipping a cup of spiced tea, I got on to my set-weekly routine of checking Facebook on a Saturday evening for any messages.  And though I remembered this fact, there was a cute little picture that came up on the networking site as a 'memory' that made me smile.

It was this day 5 years ago that I took off from my Indian home ground to land on the foreign turf of  United Kingdom.  Just like they show in the movies, just like it happens with every Indian who flies abroad for the first time, my entire family was there at the airport to see me off.   Haha...sounds amusing isn't it, but there definitely were a dozen more families at the airport that day sending their young ones off.  And that is when these two precious little gems of my life, my dearest brother and sweetest little sister, who were trying to keep any emotional drama at bay, clicked this picture.  

All through the drill of finding a match for me, my mum had ensured to shoo away any proposals from prospective grooms living abroad.  Not that there was anything wrong with them, but the sheer fact that packing bags from one city to the other, travelling across India with my banker dad, had made her miss out on so many things in life that she just didn't want her daughter to go through the same.   She had missed attending most of her cousin's weddings, she could not be there for my grandfather's funeral, she missed out spending sweet but precious little moments with her loved ones for a major part of her life.  But as the saying goes - Man Proposes, God Disposes.  HE had different plans for me.

So, there I was, travelling with my brand new husband of 2 months who had been packed off on a deputation to Bristol from the aerospace company that he worked for.  As we rode the bus from London Heathrow to Bristol, the landscape alongside the motorway took my breath away.  Cattle grazing on calm, serene, endless green pastures.  Surprisingly bright blue skies on a wintery day with traces of white smokey tracks left behind by airplanes that had just flown across.  It reminded me of the then very recent game on Facebook called 'Farmville' and all the Enid Blyton books that I had devoured as a child.  Just as I was soaking in the beauty, a silly thought ran across my mind....Was Bristol a village too???  I always wanted to be able to get a first hand experience of things and locations, and so I had never read or inquired about the place.  And now, all I was wondering was if I would be able to adjust??  Would I find friends?  Would I miss my family?  And then I realized how far I had come away from them all.

But then my worries were short-lived as a little friend was already waiting for me right opposite the little studio flat that my husband had rented for us before we flew in.  A 4-month-old cute little bundle of joy, Haasya, along with her wonderful parents - who have now become an extended family of ours, welcomed us into the land that she was born into.  The feeling of having someone there, especially from the place that we belonged to, was such an instant comforting factor.

We soon embarked on our first shopping trip to the nearest supermarket, Tesco Extra, to buy a duvet as we realized there was just a mattress and nothing else.  It was 8 p.m. and freezing cold, & my husband had suggested sleeping with our warm winter coats on, but I was quite sure we would be frozen by morning.

That was the real beginning of my "married" phase with me enjoying every bit of the homemaker's role that I had happily donned.  

It amazes me as to how every single moment is flashing across my mind as though it was just yesterday.  Finding an Indian grocery store, buying the first box of mangoes, celebrating festivals in our own little way, feeling proud at the first flight of A350 - the project that hubby was called in to manage, the hot air balloon ride, the little studio apartment that actually became the most beautiful home providing beautiful memories, making merry like kids with my new found girlie gang, unexpected travel back to India for a bit only to return unexpectedly again, getting back to work, every bit of it has been so amazing. 

Five years have definitely been a roller-coaster ride with more of downs than ups, or probably it would be better to say that we have just been on a down-slide and the ups are just around the corner.

What has significantly changed though is the fact that - that day, I walked in with a man - my husband- who was just a little over a stranger to me.   And today, after having lived through the good and bad moments together, after having faced and survived situations, that stranger has become the core essence of my life.

And over these 5 years, the 'village' that I wondered if I would adjust to - the City of Bristol, apart from being so warm and beautiful in itself, has enriched us with so many fulfilling and learning experiences that it has now become our second home.  😁