Temptations that should be curbed...

I was at the Newark Airport last evening, waiting for my flight to Washington DC. As I waited for my flight, I was reminded of my first day in United States of America. I was at the Dulles Airport on August 7th, 2007 when I had come across the real coke-drinkers, the french fries connoisseurs and the cheese burger lovers.

How difficult is it to watch out for what you put through your system ?

She is a Keeper...

I was in NY this weekend. I had been there to attend a job fair. Until 1 week back, I was the recruiter. In a week's time, I was the applicant. Suddenly the feeling of being on the other side of the fence crept in. But, this post is not about how I delivered my elevator pitch or how I sucked up to the recruiters. This is about something funny!

On Saturday evening, Deep, Govind and I boarded a PATH train from Newport station to 33rd street. We were meeting a few of our EY-Kelley buddies to celebrate Govind's birthday. As the threesome got busy chit chatting, an old lady entered our Bogie. She traversed the entire length of the compartment, twice, in a hope to find a place to sit. I watched her jostle her way through the insensitive and un-noticing eyes. She was on the far end of the compartment. I sat between Deep and Govind, moving my head in acknowledgment to their banter, with my eyes closely following her movement. In a few seconds, she was at a feet's distance from me.

Mrids - Ma'am, would you like to take my seat?

Old Lady - Well, I would love to. Thank you so much. God Bless you.

Mrids - Oh, don't worry about it. That's fine.

I got up and the old lady gladly sat between Deep and Govind. It took the 2 guys 2 minutes to realize that I was standing in front of them and not sitting between them. I laughed at their funny expression. So after a split second, both the gentlemen got up too, each offering me a place to sit. I smiled and took one of the seats besides the old lady. She whispered in my ears - "I think you put them to shame". I smiled and continued my conversation with the guys. Old lady got busy with her newspaper too.

After a few minutes, as the train halted at 14th street station, she panicked.

Old Lady - Are we in Jersey City again?

Mrids - Oh no ma'am. This train is New York bound. We are a couple of stops away from 33rd street station.

Old Lady - Thank goodness!

She got back to reading her newspaper and we got busy being nostalgic about our school lives (read cursing the busy-ness of our current life). In a few minutes when the train approached 33rd street station, I told the old lady that we were in NY.

Old Lady - Thank you. You are old school. I have not seen girls like you in a long time.

I smiled and stepped out. As Deep and Govind passed her, almost getting out of the compartment, she shouted from the far end...

Old Lady - Guys.....She is a Keeper!

Hearing that, both Govind and Deep almost tripped....They laughed uncontrollably...I wondered, what happened to them suddenly... 

Govind shouted back - It's too late Ma'am, she is already taken! But we will let her husband know...

All three of us laughed loudly as we walked out of the smelly station!

Simple things, Simple smiles

Mr. Mathur has recently shifted his career focus from IT to Consulting. He has started with KPMG, Pune. He shares his experiences with Mrs. Mathur everyday. He gets excited with things like being able to work on power point presentations and creating slides. Mrs. Mathur smiles and listens to his everyday banter with all the interest and enthusiasm that she can muster at 1 AM in the night after a long day at work! She understands that how liberating it might be for him to not look at the black and green screen for a change. There have been times when super excited Mr. Mathur has woken her up in the middle of the night to ask questions about editing graphs and fonts on a slide.

Now, Mrs. Mathur has been working with powerpoint presentations for a little over 3 years and her comfort with the application is to an extent that most of the times she is able to solve his midnight questions without even looking at her computer. Mr. Mathur is more than awed about these simple skills that he thinks his wife is blessed with. She smiles to herself and goes back to sleep.

Another birthday away from home...

Just when I think I would not have any more topics to rant about, things happen...

... and I write!

Another year, another birthday away from home is not a new experience for me. I write this literally sitting half way around the world thanking all those who wished me and all those who thought of wishing me. After all it is the "thought" that counts! 

Owing to the time-zone confusion (between India and US) that I have put my loved ones through, for the past 3 years, my birthdays have begun on August 8th and have continued until wee hours of August 11th. This year was no different. But this year, everyone (and "everyone" primarily includes my facebook friends) had predicted that my birthday would be somewhat different. Their prophecy stemmed from the fact that it was my first one after our wedding. Neither he nor I have had a chance to comprehend the difference yet, but I guess, if so many people thought that way, it was supposed to be different.

So Mrs. Mathur started her day on a casual note chit chatting her way to glory with friends and family members while she drove to work. Once at work, she was overwhelmed with the face book messages. One of the facebookers wrote something like -

FB friend - So what's the plan for the day Mrs Mathur?

Mrs. Mathur "wanted" to write - Duh, the only plan I see in front of my computer screen is  the MS Project plan that I am supposed to be working on. But instead of that, I am responding to the facebook wishes. And unless Mr. Mathur plans to fly down to spend the evening with me, there is possibly nothing else that could put a smile on my face. 

But instead she wrote - No special plans, at work today. Thanks for your wishes FB friend.

Just when Mrs. Mathur was getting ready to leave from work, thinking of the laundry that awaited her at home, and debating whether to eat Maggie or sandwich for dinner, two of her school friends (who are now EY colleagues too) stopped by her desk and insisted that she has dinner with them. She wanted to excuse herself, but one of the friends, who she has known for almost 10 years was very adamant. So Mrs. Mathur spent her evening having dinner with 2 of her school friends. It was good to catch up with them after a long time! As she called for the check, bang came the waiter with a plate of mango Kulfi and a candle on its side.

Mango Kulfi with the birthday candle - 1st bday cake

Mrs. Mathur looked at her friend with inquiring eyes - Ab yeh kya hai boss?

Jatz - I tried getting a cake, but could not find one. This restaurant serves only Mango Kulfi and Kheer for desserts. I thought that of the two options at hand, Kulfi would be better for you to cut with the plastic knife, unless of course you want to try your hand at cutting through a Kheer bowl?

Mrs. Mathur - This is so very sweet of you Jatz, but you really did not have to do this.

Jatz - So who did it for you? The fun piece is still to come...couldn't have ended the evening w/o embarrassing you! I know how much you detest the cake cutting...

With 10 waiters around our table, and 20 odd strangers staring at us from their tables, these friends of mine continued to sing the "Happy Birthday" anthem, until I stuffed the singing mouths with Kulfi. It was by far the most strangest (read unique) birthday cakes I have ever cut.

After thanking her friends for a lovely evening, Mrs. Mathur bade them good bye. As she drove back from Washington DC to Virginia, she secretly hoped that the highway somehow made its way to Pune. She pined for his company and did not want to go back to the empty house. She managed to drag herself from the parking garage to the apartment to find a notice hanging on the door that read -" Dear Resident, A package awaits you at the reception desk. Please collect it per your convenience"

Mrs Mathur ignored it, threw the piece of paper on the kitchen counter, dumped her laptop bag on the couch and reached out for a glass of water. As she switched between the TV channels, she started talking to herself - Who has left a package for me? No one could possibly have had the address to my new apartment. No one...yeah no one...I have not given the address to anyone....except...except Neha! 

She threw the TV remote somewhere between the couch and the Kitchen counter, grabbed her apartment keys and rushed to the reception desk. As she impatiently waited for the front desk guy to get her package from the mail room, she wondered - But I gave her the address like a few hours ago...barely 24 hours. There is no way Neha could have had anything shipped so quickly! Naah...no chance. It is possibly the Marriott guys who must have left me a welcome kit or something. I could have collected this tomorrow too. Darn! Why did I rush now?

Front Desk Guy got a small brown package and asked Mrs. Mathur to acknowledge the parcel's delivery by signing on some sheet. Mrs. Mathur, had gotten too busy scanning the parcel to see where it had come from. Unable to get any clues and to avoid any more stares from the front desk guy, she quickly signed the delivery papers for him and ran out. She could not wait until she got to the apartment. While still on her way to the apartment, she managed to open the box to find a card and a cake inside. It said - "Dear Mridvika Happy Birthday. Love - Maa, Neha and Saurabh."

Birthday Cake and Card from Neha - 2nd Bday Cake

Mrs. Mathur was pleasantly surprised and was now smiling ear to ear. A much needed smile to end the day and sleep at ease. So her birthday did not go by without cutting the real cake. Knowingly or Unknowingly Neha had saved an hour of her brother's morning time which otherwise was sure to go in pampering Mrs. Mathur's sullen mood. Mr. Mathur was spared of the effort because of his sisters gesture.

I will have fond memories of this one for years to come! It was indeed different....Thanks Jatz! Thanks Neha!