Granger Gab

Category: Friends

Vacation…

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On July 27, 2011

In Friends, Life's Little Learnings

I’m on a much needed break but the first 5 days in London were anything but relaxing. 3 days at LORDS, 1 evening at musical after some work visit in the day and the next day roaming the countryside with friends. I put up some pictures on Day 1 at LORDS on my cricket blog – detailed posts on my experience there and more pictures from day 4&5 will follow over the weekend.

Yesterday morning we landed in a small village in Ireland – village in Galway county. My school friend married an Irish guy and quit her city life to settle in an unknown land. I’ve met her husband only twice and been wanting to get MDH to meet these two folks; the life they lead is MDH’s ideal life – his dream. Me – I’m the city girl – is, was, always will be. But I’m enjoying the experience – I may never make this change in my life but I simply admire my friend and her husband for the professions they chose ( so different from the norm – so different from what all my friends do ) and the quiet beautiful life they chose. Far away from the hustle-bustle of the city, the maddening rush – in the midst of nature.

I’ve so much to narrate about them and their place – but that will follow once I finish my vacation.

I’ve always mentioned on this blog how blessed I feel because of the friends I have – in their unique ways they have influenced and touched my life. Every time I meet them – I only learn more about life – the life I may never live but get to experience through them

Here is glimpse from the back of their house – I’m sitting in their conservatory – a lovely huge house with greenery, gardens, and mountains all around.

photo

Little things you do…

By

On November 8, 2010

In Friends, Life's Little Learnings

I chanced upon  the Vodafone Delights adverts on television and fell in love with them. They brought back so many memories of the best days of my life – my school days and my crazy gang.

They say the friends that last the longest are the ones from school –

Who have seen you at your best and at your worst

Who have laughed out loud with you and held you close when you could not stop sobbing

Who have pulled your leg, but cheered you up when you were nervous and scared

Who have been around for so long with you that you don’t know how to pretend in front of them

Who have not been regularly in touch but are the ones you can connect at any point in time

Who still remember the minutest details about you such as the brand of the pen you used, the house you belonged to in school, the crazy times spent at attempting to cook, and your first crushes!

With whom you can fight and argue and still get back to being the best of friends once it is all over

Who have been closer to you, at times more than your family

Who make you feel blessed!

Seeing them refreshes all those memories of decades ago and brings back the much needed smile. Thank god for technology – Email, Facebook and Skype – all helping you to get back in touch with them after decades, keeping in touch with most on regular basis and reliving all those memories whenever you meet up!

Thank GOD for blessing me with these great set of girls ! To all my school friends – these advertisements dedicated to all of you.

But the one titled “ Annual Day” goes especially to my bestest friend ever – my Rock of Gibraltar – the one who has been my friend for so long I cannot recollect the day we met! We were 3 and we met up everyday of the week, month and year till she moved to the US of A to pursue her studies! My stupid, intelligent, witty, beautiful, charming “Doctor” friend!

Here’s what the jingle says and it is so damn true:

The little things you do for me and nobody else, make me feel good.
Little things you do for me, making me smile, when no one else could,
That’s why – I like to sit next to you
And hear your mad stories, I know they are not true,
And I like that we share a secret or two, together!
The little things you do for me…

So tell me what are your memories of your school friends?

And how do we make a bday special…

By

On July 31, 2010

In Friends

In Dubai, I met my soul sisters – A and the 2Ds. We four are a riot together and I cannot imagine how I would’ve survived this place without them! From these 3 ladies, I’ve learnt a lot – strength, courage, compassion, loyalty and love!

It was A’s birthday today and we decided to surprise her in our own way. (We missed junior D  as she is away in India). Another friend M too joined in and we ensured A would not forget this one.

‘A’ loves food – non-veg, especially if it is a little spicy and oily. Though we are getting tremendously calorie conscious, we let go on occasions like these. I may not sound modest here but the fact is that 4 of us are very good cooks and have our own specialities.

Senior D & I met up at her house and cooked the following:

  • D’s speciality – mince kebabs,
  • I cooked my mum’s speciality – prawns green masala and beetroot cutlets
  • D & I came up with our spontaneous recipe for chicken curry – spicy and oily just as A loves it.

M managed to get the rotis and rice and we landed up at A’s place at 10.00 yesterday night – her hubby and daughter aware of our plans while she slept blissfully

She tried to convince us that she was aware of our surprise but we knew she was faking it. At the stroke of 12.00 her hubby landed with the cake, balloons and a lovely Longines watch, her daughter with a life-size greeting card and her expression was worth capturing and framing for a lifetime.

We all played our part, but as always the one who stole the show, was MDH with his awesome, spontaneous poetic skills. A lovely day began for A amidst her loved ones and the following poem summed up what she has meant to me , MDH and our entire gang in the years we have known her:

Maajhyaa baykochi ti maitrin aahe
Pan kharatar maagchyaa janmaachi bahin aahe

 

Thodishi impatient aahe
Pan energy cha atom bomb aahe

Minal and Ti bhetli ki gossipcha pur yeto
Majhyaa IQ madhey Achaanak mothaa jump hoto

Tine keleli Baangdaa curry and kori roti chicken khaun mi trupt hoto
Good manners mhanun ghari zaun dhekar deto

Kaahi vel tila job mule traas zhaalaa
Pan malaa tyaa kaalaat kharyaa maitricha aabhaas zhaalaa

Honesty and Integritycha ti ek zabardasta example aahe
Maajhyaa Mulaanaa mi tichi story nhemich saangnaar aahe

“P” aani tichaa jiv “N” madhye guntalelaa aahe
“N” pan talent cha ek solid package aahe

Tishichyaa var zari asla ticha vay
Panchvishitlyaa mulinaahi tichyaa beautycha prashna padtoy

Aaz hyaa special person laa vaadhdivsaachyaa shubhecha deuyaa
Tu ashich hasat rahaa ..we all love u..our dearest “A”

Wishing you a wonderful birthday girl and may you have millions more joyous one to celebrate.

Chaat Fever and a Farce called Dahi Wada …

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On August 19, 2006

In Friends, Uncategorized

Being away from Mumbai the one thing you miss the most is the roadside food. The ‘Chaat’ by which I mean Bhel Puri, Sev Puri, Pani Puri , Dahi Batata Puri , Ragda Pattice and Mumbai’s lifeline the ‘Vada Pav’.

Dubai serves excellent food in all cuisines but what I miss the most is my Mumbai roadside food. Yes I’ve suffered from over eating out too (jaundice struck in the second year of MBA) but you simply can’t resist it!

Ours is a neat group of 5 couples here who get together every weekend and most of the times we go out trying out new restaurants. However this time around we decided to be home and have a nice ‘Chaat’ evening. The menu was:

My mouth was already watering when we were discussing the menu. I took up to prepare Vada Pav cause I had my grandmom’s recipe for it and which is as good as the ones you get in Mumbai. Each family picked up a dish or two. We all were done and gathered at one of the couple’s place for the night. We knew this would be a night to remember but for me it really turned out a night that I will remember for the rest of my life.

I’m new to the group as I’ve recently moved here and H had all along kept bragging about how he makes the most amazing Dahi Wadas in this world. Dahi Wadas are my weak point so everytime we met; and he brought up the topic, I used to pester him to make it once. Since this was a ‘Chaat’ evening he decided to put to test his culinary skills on us as well.

As we were getting ready to set up the goodies H insisted we try the Dahi Wadas first. I was keen we have it as dessert later but he insisted that if you find them good I can make more later as I was not sure how they would turn out. Now I could not resist this offer and I said fine serve it first. Anyways I’m dying to eat them, I had caught a glimpse in the fridge and they looked delicious.

I was the first one to try it, I wanted to have a little bit first but he insisted I take up the whole Wada. So there I obliged again. I put in my mouth and suddenly it seemed different, why was I not able to chew the god damn Wada and why was it tasting soggy. The other two ladies were trying to break the vadas into small pieces but could not. Now, the nice little thing that I’m, I did not say anything at the first instance thinking H might have made some mistake and it would be so rude to comment on his favorite dish in his house.

But then again I saw his wife S smiling and I knew what it was, it was no Dahi Wada it was a god damn cotton ball!!! Out everything came and I kept shouting its tissue, its paper, and the other ladies who had not tried it held their hands back and everyone burst into laughter.

Now everyone there had been the victim of this trick and since I was the new entrant I was the latest one! I wish I had clicked a snap to show you all how delicious they looked and how atrocious they tasted!!

I’ve had many a pranks played on me and been quite a target in my college days with my friends one cause I was really naïve and secondly cause they thought I was pretty sporting about it in the endJ, but this one really took the cake and the icing and everything one can think of!!

I did not stop laughing the whole night and kept pulling H’s leg over it again and again by checking twice whatever he offered me to eat. Others joined me too and by the end of it H commented, “Minal I think you are so shocked now that even when you are dying I think you’ll refuse water from me and cross check it before drinking it!”

Well H & S I don’t think I will do that, but I did learn a few things yesterday.

  • Things are not what they seem to be
  • Greed never does anyone good
  • Friends like you all make me miss my home and family a little less
  • The next few years here in Dubai will be enjoyable ones cause I have you all around

Cheers to a fun evening and many more to come…

Friends…

By

On July 1, 2005

In Friends

Someone once said you cannot choose your family but you can choose your friends. And what a blessing that is.

Actually we don’t ‘technically’ choose from the word go. I don’t think any of us, when introduced to people, start thinking ”Hmmm this person is going to be my friend for life, let me just be acquaintances with this one or the extreme; I’m never gonna talk to this person again.“

I don’t think we do that, we are not built that way.

We let the interactions happen; we let the talks happen, and over a period of time we either become close to some of them or we drift apart. Atleast I don’t recall telling people I don’t wanna be your friend for so and so reason and you are not my type, that’s pretty mean isn’t it?

If I don’t gel with certain people or fit into a group of people, which according to my best friend and hubby dearest I always realize a little late, cause for my entire life I’ve strongly believed that people are always good at their heart, it’s the circumstances that make them behave the way they do. But at times I’ve been proved wrong and those are the occasions I have stumbled and fallen flat on my face in friendship. I’ve met people who are mean just for the sake of being mean and that I find mean!

Anyways, mostly on such occasions, I’ve quietly kept myself out of their way, and over time moved apart, such that neither do you nor they realize it!

I think we make a choice of whom to be with only after we have given the person enough chances. I’ve heard most people say that school friends last a lifetime; they are the true ones you make. I have a great school group too and we are in touch regularly, but I’ve made lots of special friends post my school life. Out of a girl’s school, I was pleasantly surprised at myself to have made the best of my friends among guys in my engineering college, who later in life turned out to be my best confidants.

Friends see each other through every phase in life, the school days, the college days, the messy career days, through heartbreaks, through crushes, through depressions and gloom, through joys and happiness, through choices one makes in life, through success and failure.

They add that special meaning to your life. Moments shared, the long chats, debates and arguments remain in memory forever, and you keep revisiting and reliving those whenever you get together.

I cannot imagine not having them around during the important occasions in my life. Not only those, but even the smallest happy moments in life. Their presence makes the most ordinary happenings extraordinary. That’s the magic they weave into one’s life.

You just don’t realize when you grow up together and become an integral part of each other’s life. Nothing is forced, it just happens, because you chose it that way 🙂

Birthday Bash Bang in the Middle of a Working Week…

By

On June 8, 2005

In Friends

It’s a special occasion. A birthday, not just for the person whose birthday it is but for all the loved near and dear ones.

Yesterday night, yup right in the middle of the week, one of our friends decided to keep the bash for his girlfriend. He and his sister had contemplated the weekend program, but then they thought, it’s that day, that moment that counts. I must give them hats off for convincing everyone to make it! To top that, we all had a whale of a time with no worries that everyone would have to be up in few hours and get into the daily rut!

We were around 20 of us yesterday and all landed on time to give our dear friend a huge surprise. Poor lady was not aware and had heard all kinds of stories by everyone! She was stunned and took sometime to sink in what was happening.

She got some pretty gifts, from dresses, to flowers, to chocolates, to music cassettes and Cds. However, I think the most exclusive gift of the evening came from Madhu (our friend’s sister), she got cans of chilled coffee in different flavours by Nescafe. Most of us did not know that it existed!

It was a complete hit, even got a vote above the chilled beer and whisky! I intend to buy this, thanks Madhu:-)

The B-day gal has a penchant for wrapping papers. She is justified in her stand that if someone lovingly wraps a gift for you, how can you tear it apart and just see the gift, you got to preserve the paper. I can’t do it, I don’t have the patience, but I liked her thought:-) I don’t know if I’ll take inspiration and implement it though! Our friend surely won’t, cause he kept ragging her about it all night long!

The preparations were excellent, and it showed how much the b-day girl is loved by all. Forget the presents, the preps & the food; the mere fact that everyone made it inspite of the hectic schedules just about proves how special it was for everyone there. Glad we were a part of it:-)

As I always maintain, little things in life matter a lot…they simply make life a lot more special!!!

Happy B-day once again! Hoping that the years to come are even more special:-)

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