Lost, Anyone found our Zebra?

Has anyone found our Zebra? 
Or seen it somewhere to make us at peace that it is fine? sigh. :-(

We lost our Zebra.
Yes you read it right, "our Zebra". His name was "Zeb".

Of all the animals that we have, we liked it the most. It was so nice.  
I had brought him home specially for lil Bun's first birthday. Along with  lots of other animals.
Yes, because lil Bun loves animals. 

How did it manage to escape? well, silly us. 

I was working in backyard, cleaning it for a change. 
It was a nice sunny day, and warm ofcourse. So we kept the backyard door opened to let some fresh air circulate.
Meanwhile dear hubby was working on clearing garbage and opened the front door to throw things out.
So that's when may be our dear Zeb also realized how nice it was outside.
Or may be Zeb was intrigued with the idea to explore outside, to taste the freedom. 
Or may be Zeb was too warm inside and just wanted some sun and fresh air !
Ofcourse we didn't realize what was going on in its mind. Unaware of all the things going around, we kept working.

And there was a sudden gush, of air, of Zeb running out of the door. Zeb dived, up above the canal, above the water and above the trees !
And went free up above the sky, in the clouds. Couldn't even take its last picture, couldn't even bid it proper good bye.
All we could do is to see him go, to let him go.

If you happen to meet him somewhere on the way, please pass on our love and that we miss him, Lil Bun will always cherish nice time he had with you. And his friends Lion, Tiger, Giraffe and Leopard are doing fine, but ofcourse misses him.

Here is a pic, that i managed to dig out from hard disk.

May you live happily wherever you are.

Happy Father's Day !

As they say, there comes pros and cons with everything in life and so does with this life as an expat, living away from homeland. With so many good things, one which tops as a down sides is missing family back home, missing parents!

It is but obvious why suddenly this is on my mind, Yes 20th June - Father's Day !

Well , back in India this occasion didn't mean much, not because it is not celebrated or no one knows about it, ( in fact in recent time if i say there is hardly any day or festival not celebrated in India it will not be an exaggeration. Indians love to celebrate and they need a hint of a reason), but more because of a culture where parents and children relationship is a bit different and even staying together with parents for whole life is also considered a way of life. Then your everyday is a mother's day or a father's day.

Today morning i messaged papa wishing him Father's day and reply came...

" Thank you, but i believe these formalities are not necessary,fir bhee new society rules it's ok. we will also follow the social norms. we miss u."

And i couldn't but smile !

There is no way any of us can thank our parents for all what they have done for us with a single word of "Thank you ". But isn't it still better to express your feelings on a name of one day than to think one day is not enough and then never express how we feel !

So think there comes importance of such days, they give us a reason atleast to express our gratitude or just to acknowledge the fact we know and we will be always grateful for all the love. Wish we can be as you are.

When compared mom and dad, Mom's love always remains more expressive, but still it is dad's is never the less.

I know days when papa would be late from hospital due to some emergency and i will fall asleep before he is home. When back, he will just sit beside me with his hands in my hair eventhough i wouldn't know !

I remember days i used to think that if i am sick and papa will just touch my forehead and i will be alright as he has special power and somehow growing up from a kid hasn't help much with that belief. For most of us as a kid, dad is always a super hero who fixes all our problems in a blink of an eye time.

I remember when i would be angry and sleep crying, he will come to my bed at the midnight as he wouldn't fall asleep. He will sit there beside a sleeping kid promising to make it ok whatever made me cry or angry.

I always knew when you didn't tell me something or gave an opinion about something you didn't like or didn't approve, just because you knew we will never disobey your words and you wanted us to be ourselves, taking our decisions ourselves. Thanks for that wisdom and freedom Papa.

As a part of growing up, understanding/maturity came ( or atleast we thought so ) - me, my sister and brother, we decided that we should be sorting out our silly problems ourselves than any tensions or troubles to parents. Being the eldest I also ordered them to come to me if that need arise than troubling parents with our silly problems. And we all agreed thinking we are mature now.

But alaaas... what were we thinking? Is it ever possible?

From tone of our voice they know what's in our mind. With a glance of our face, our smile will make them know. They have known us longest and there is no one who can know us more !

One of those time while i was staying in a different city for my masters studies and was trying to prove myself more responsible and grown up, not speaking much when in fact i needed them most, i received a call from dad, asking how was i doing and as i replied my usual all well, he told me something which i will never forget ...

Dear, we know you are mature, and we believe in you and all the decisions you take. We know you can take care of yourself and you are strong enough to manage everything but all we want is to be there for you. Let us to be there, let us be the part of your life - of what you are going through. We don't want anything but to support, can you please let us just support?

And there i was, speechless with tears in my eyes! Guess we are never grown up enough when it's our parents.

That taught me - no problem is that big to discuss with parents. May be one day whole world will turn face against me but still i will have them.

Thank you for everything Mom & Dad, thank you for what you are.

I know wherever we are, you are always there as a strongest support / pillar of our lives and values we hold in life today.

Happy Father's Day Papa, I know you will be always there and I promise i will be always there.

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&

Google Image

Let me know if any of images used on this Blog comes under copy right issue, i will happily remove them or will be more than happy to give the due credit to the creator / owner.

Snowy Netherlands...

Ok Ok, i remember that i said break for a few days... but then thought why not to share some of the beautiful pictures of recent snow.... and i am going to schedual this post in a week i am away, on vacation :)

This one is captured in the morning, first day when it started snowing.... We slept and when we woke up everything was painted white ! Amazed were we !!

In front of my office.... it used to be green !!

A rose in our garden....
And then started snowy days....snow, snow and some more snow....
A view from our backyard, look at our poor chair !
A view from our backyard....
Our home front yard....poor garbage bins turned in snow stands....
Some foot prints in our home front yard....
Our lil snowman, resting on chair :)

And now is the time for me to rest and you take rest too.... have a nice time... Enjoy the New Year eve and wish you a very happy coming New Year !! :)... Have fun ! :)

Photos : Snow in Netherlands from 17th Dec to 21st Dec'09.

Okay M'am, Anything else.... ???

I have already mentioned that I can be crazy at times, haven’t I? (Of course I did, otherwise how would a tag named Crazy me exist!)

Okay so it goes like this….We moved in our new house few months back and only then we realized long delivery time it takes here for any furniture we order, so after a few months of we started living here, we still do not have furniture more than” MUST” ( and by must I mean, kitchen or mattress ;o) )

Two weeks back we got Dining table delivered. It has a glass top so both of us (or is it only me?? ) are very conscious right now not to make spots on that already. Also it has to do with the fact that we still haven’t done house-warming party (we wanted to, but where guests would sit if they come???) and when we do we don’t want it to appear as if we lived here since ages ;o) hehehehe
So most of the time we end up eating not-on dining table ;o) I think it will still take some time before it sinks in that dining table is meant to be used for dining ;o)

Now we still await our couch delivery and meanwhile we made temporary arrangements for sitting, which looks like …. Ok let me share a picture to be clear…

Now it takes so much effort to make it look wrinkle-less. Today while I was cleaning and tiding up the room, after I was done I instructed Ashu;
Now don’t sit on this….
He smiled….
I gave a confused look and response came …
Ok so we don’t sit on dining table….
And we don’t sit there also….
Anything else m’am? :oD

There is a reason why I call myself crazy sometimes … or feel that with my age I am becoming Monica-ish (yeah I am talking about F.R.I.E.N.D.S)

Celebration of brotherly love....

Today is “Rakhi” or as we call it in Gujarat “Raksha Bandhan” (‘Raksha’ means ‘protection’ and ‘Bandhan’ means ‘tie’ literally meaning “Bond of Protection”), a festival dedicated to all the brothers and sisters In India, symbolizing the love and emotional bond shared by them. Traditionally there are many things and rituals done on this day, but most important and very common is every sister ties a knot of sacred thread on brother’s wrist praying for brother’s health and prosperity in all aspects and on the other hand brother promises to protect and safeguard his sister from all the hardships, problems, obstacles and evil forces in whatever ways he can. ( And ofcourse brother gives sister some gifts ;) hehehe )

May be this tradition was developed when women used to be not so independent and used to be dependent on male counterparts for many things, and may not appear very relevant today but still I love the essence behind the festival. We so enthusiastically celebrate Valentine’s Day, Friendship day and Mother’s day and Father’s day, so may be this we can take as indianised way of celebrating Brother’s day for all the sisters and Sister’s day for all the brothers.

I remember last year, this day I was as depressed as I can be. I felt homesick, which normally I don’t, considering the fact that last 10 years I was on my own from the day I entered the university, then masters degree and then for career. But then that was the time anyhow I used to visit home at least once or twice a month for a weekend. And never ever I celebrated any festival alone away from family.
And last year it was the time when we shifted to Netherlands and it was just 2-3 months and it was not possible to make a trip to India. So on this day I felt homesick. I missed everyone so much that I almost cried.

Today while tying a knot on my dearest brother Viv’s wrist, I felt so happy and blessed to be with my family this time.

Milestone "21"

Milestones...!! How many ways can we relate this word in our lives ?!?!!?!!
In work, projects, goals...all the time..! But how about our live !!
What can we call "Milestones" of our lives? May be going school for the first time, entering university, getting married, having kids, etc etc.
* Wait*
How about turning 21???
Yeah turning 21, Isn't that a different feeling??? That is the legal age ...
( Ya but in India only for males; for our species it is 18!!! hehehe. So I can say girls are smarter by 3 years than guys in India... hehehe )

I Google searched on what are the things which you can do when you turn 21and got a list of a few things that people think they would love to do when they turn 21.

- Can legally get married...! But why will anyone want to marry at age of 21? I had that right at 18, but boy did I wish to get marry at that age??? Then why should we be discussing about this?? So leave this.
- Can legally go to Bars and drink...! Ok now this may interest some of you but of no use if you live at a place I grown up. Yes in Gujarat! It's a dry state and drinking is not legal even when you are 50 without a permit.... yes drinking permit. There are some relaxations in the rules now and also depends on contacts you have... but we are not discussing that either.
- Vote - In India , we can vote at 18.... So that rules out this too.
- Driving Licence - Aah that's also 18 !!

So what is left for turning 21?? Only that one can get married legally ?!@#$%?!

Okay okay leave it, this seems like going nowhere. Let's talk about some one behind this post today.
My brother Vivek ... Yes guessed it right... He is turning 21 today....yuppieeee
Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday dear Vivek.... Bappy Birthday to you.

~~

So I am no more entitle to see him as a little cute baby, arrived in our lives 21years back and ohh God how happy I was, I could never put my hand off his chubby chicks.... hehehe
When I asked him what does he think about turning 21, this is what appeared again in the answer he can legally get married !?@#$%!?
Hell Nooooo !! Now didn’t I mention earlier that 21 is not the age to get married... you have whole life young man... enjoy you time, but I wonder why will you think about marrying at this stage? As per my knowledge your relationship status stands at single at the moment.... or is there something I am missing out here...!?!?!
(We need to talk about this later, Vivek)

~~

Hmmm so when my baby bro is nomore a baby, So many sweet memories I hold of him close to my heart.......
He started walking at the age of some 7-9 months and i was so so protective of him that I would be always shouting at people that please don't make him walk, he will fall down and they used to laught at me saying you can't learn if you are afraid of fall.... And now i understand what it means !
When he was 1.5-2 years old, he would drive bicycle and not just drive but will always drive it on slops and then to climb back reverse from the same was one of his favorites...! Too much for a baby !

~~

I remember, as a kid how he used to go to watch chess tournament at a club and then will cry as they won't allow him to play as he won't fall under minimum age required to play a match. On one incident, looking at his interest, Organizers asked some guys, who were done with their competition and just waiting there, to play with him to make him happy. And then there was a whole crowd around them when he started winning. Yeah that's my brother Vivek.

~~

As a kid, he was emotional, ( Still he is, just that now he has learnt to hide it behind smiling face) I still remember people will tease him saying ... ya one day you will be all grown up, will go to study somewhere, or move somewhere, will marry and move somewhere else... all of which mean leaving home in the end for some or other reason, and he will cry and cry hugging mom saying no why do you say that, I will never leave anyone !!!
~~

He won’t express everything to everyone and I remember how we used to go on the terrace and would talk about everything whenever he is upset and things are bothering him. He actually said I was his best friend....yeah... I feel bad now when due to this physical distance we can't talk that much. But I still want him to come to me whenever he feels like talking, and I hope he will.

~~

He is someone whom every parent will be proud of. He made dad's wish true by going for medicine as Dad always wanted at least one of us to be in medical field like him and neither me nor my sister did. And I can't express how proud Vivek made us all feel when he topped the merit list!
~~

With time he has changed according to his age and in my sister's words has become more "style-maru"... but I think that is the age effect which will fad away with time ;)... or will stay forever...whatever..!

~~

On my wedding day, he said he won't cry, but I think he did. ( But later he explained to me that it was just some fluid coming out due to some medicine or something for some dermatology treatment or something....aaah, now how do you expect me to remember exact words he used to confuse me using his newly acquired medicine knowledge !! )

~~

I can write pages and pages about him.... but I think I shall leave that for some other Milestone, what do you say Vivek??
For now, Happy 21 Viv... May you get whatever you wish... Happy Birthday...!

A weekend with lots of "Finally"...

A three days long Weekend ! A good weekend for my "To be done" list status, with a few of them...FINALLY done /accomplished.

Please find below some edited (censored is the right word, hee hee) pages from my diary, for your reference/ updates on me.
( Yes, ofcourse only if at all you are interested !!)

Day 1, Saturday, 30th May 2009

Scene 1 - Somewhere at the furniture shop.

1:00pm - We enter this shop specializing in couches
1:30pm - Still walking across ... confused and frustrated considering 2 months of couch- selecting exercise and no results yet.
2:00pm - May be this or may be that.
2:30pm - This couch or that couch?
3:00pm - Ok if this, will it fit in our house... size-wise and colour-wise?
3:30pm - (Finally) Decide one,but we need extra sitting tables and main table.
4:00pm - Ok leave main table, we will get from somewhere else. Let’s fix the colour first.
4:30pm - Hmm this one or that one??
5:00pm - Ummm, this...no no that...
5:30pm - Ok, we order this couch but will confirm colours on Monday.

I must admit, Shop Lady was so nice to ask us to take colour & material samples with us so that we can decide at ease and come back and confirm on Monday.
We sign the order and leave. And we notice it is already 5:30pm, and opening time for shop that day was until 5:00 pm only.

As we have seen the directness of people here ( In Netherlands) , i will like to say... lady and shop manager, thanks a lot for your patience with us and thanks that you didn’t ask us to leave saying hours are OFF. That was really nice of you.
(Ya, that is other thing that we gave you a good business too, helping you achieve your day's /weekly target...hee hee)

We walk happily towards the car, thinking what next !! Let’s go to sea-shore...it is a bright sunny day. Or lets go to that fair which has come to the city... ok lets do that.

Scene 2 - Somewhere in-between parking and fair.

We go there, search for the parking, park the car and come out.
At the entrance of the fair....
ohh my god, this much entrance fee? That is too much. And there seems like just shops inside.
What to do? (I told Ashu, may be we have to pay here only and shopping inside is free... hee hee. Good one na?? No but he didn't agree! )

So after a long walk, we go back to parking....
At the door it has written "Eerste naar automateparkingkaart then naar uw auto". (Meaning first go to automating parking stand, and then go to car)

Yeah dude we got it... but atleast open so we can go there... but it didn't budge.
So we stand there confused on what to do. Then we decide to walk back and search for some other entrance door, that moment we see a family coming this way...so we stop and wait to see what they do, in the case we were doing some mistake, considering out very little Dutch knowledge!!
Ahhhh, they couldn't enter either!!

So then we all stood there and waited.
We see a couple walking towards door, (Finally) wave at them and as soon as they open the door, we all rush in; thinking let me get in first before we get locked outside again!!

Day 2, Sunday, 31st May 2009

Finally...
- Found a wall where I can make a hole and place all the boards we bough to create racks for study room, yey ( I tried with hundreds changes in type of screw & type of drill for different kind of structures... like wood, concrete, metal etc etc. But it wouldn’t budge. May be coz of load bearing, so then finally selected this other wall... and conquered it finally!! )
- Could take that platform we bought for study table to second floor, which had created backache even when we tried to move it from out-side store room to inside home.
- Study room looks a bit like going to be a study room!!

Day 3, Monday, 1st July 2009

Scene 1- Morning

I keep complaining, Ashu is not romantic... he proved me wrong today!! (Finally ...!)
He had waked up earlier than me.
- I came out taking bath and I found a red rose with a note in front of mirror. (Ahh, what was written in that?? come on, it was for me, I cannot tell you)
- Went to check my cell and found a violet rose with a note beside it.
- Went to kitchen for breakfast and found a yellow rose with a note.
Ashu, That was so so nice, made my day. Thanks dear, love you.

[ Yeah i know you are angry for not telling you what was written there, but i know you are one of those who respect the private life of public figures...lol...hee hee hee, and apart from that i don't want to appear as one praising my good self !! hee hee hee. Hope you understand ;) ]

Scene 2- Noon

We went and confirmed the couch colours!! (Finally)
With half and hour this?? No that...ahhh this... no that's better.... But we FINALLY did it... After more than 2 months struggle, not leaving any furniture shop left to visit, from north to south and east to west, exploring all the regions finally we decided and finally we ordered. We did it FINALLY... hurray!!

Such a relief... aaahh

Ok now next is dining table.... start now !! :-/

Scene 3- Evening

Finished working on the study room, racks, table, drawers, chair, all done (Finally). Now what we need to do is, actually use it!! hee haa haa

Quite an eventful and busy weekend, isn’t it? ;)

First rose in our garden...

While talking about little joys i remember how i felt when 2 days back i saw a first rose of this season in our newly bought house garden.

I opened the gate, tired from office hours ... and there i see something dark clinging on a rose plant... ohh, can that be a rose?

hmmm but that's pretty dark colour to be a rose .. but sure its a flower ... hmm let me see ... so i go there closer n yeah it is a rose...a purple rose ...!

Ashu...ashu... loooook....

yeah....

we have a first rose in d garden... wooow... and it's purple.

***** pause.... ****** and then...

ohh..ummm.. u see that now? i saw that in d morning..

phew...!

okay okay, whatever .... but since then i have been to that plant uncountable time and taking everyone to show it off who visited our house...

Now it is a full grown flower, all petals expanded and i clicked some pics.. and now it doesn't look that dark too... but indeed so beautiful with white spikes in it.....I bow down to smell it... ooo i can feel that smell right now, sitting here n writing that post !

And now other one popping from behind the leaves... with fire colours... orange-red, holla i love this place !