If I met a Genie...

If I met a Genie today..and considering the 'condition' the world is in today, I dont think 3 wishes would suffice.. I am gonna get greedy and say... 

If I met a Genie today, and she were to grant me 10 wishes, I would ask for --

1. I wanna Holiday far far away, right now, where there is no mobile network and no cable network (IPL is on...)
2. I want a back Massage..sigh.. I have s****ed up my Back again... so quite in pain!.. actually a Day at the Spa will do too! :P
3. I would love to go to Delhi, to my parents for a week.. and do nothing but eat yummyummm "mamma ke haath ka khana".. sniff sniff..
4. I wanna Shop! Like Really.. not 'recession' shopping..but ShopShop.. coz i have a list, hon! ;)
5. A Holiday...i know i know.. again.. now u know how 'desperate' i am for it. But this time, I wanna go to Brisbane.. Coz its beautiful.. its happening.. and my Sister is there.. hehe.. So i wanna Party Party Party..and Shop Shop Shop.. :D
6. I wanna eat carb-loaded food -- and not put on an ounce of weight! Thats Right.. we wanna eat yumm too!
7. I wanna be Appreciated at Work.. Ya i know i am being 'wanting/greedy/immodest'.. but wat the hell!.. i am working my a** off here... and unlike the 'project guys' who get appreciated for coding some code and doing extra hours.. us marketing ppl get nothing.. Coz we are 'supposed to work' and thats just normal!! &%^&&$&*$^*$*.....uffff
8. I want to run away somewhere with my S, and not be found for a weekend.. i swear... I soooo wanna do that!!
9. I want a Good Young Leader to be chosen for our country.. not to sound all-blahblah.. but honestly, i cant have another 80+ neta enforcing his stupid outdated rules and blah at us.. not again!
10. I want to crib less in my life...about my life.. Coz what i am not realizing is that.. I am wasting and ruining my present..coz I 'want this and want that'! So, I promise to S.. babe, I officially quit Cribbing from Today! :D.. pomishhh!!

:D

A Fitness Regime Has Begun...

I am crazily paranoid about my weight! Yes yes.. i am one of those women, who counts the calories while eating and i think.. i really think... i put on a kg or 2 if i 'SEE' delicious carbohydrates!! Yikes! Its the story of my life. I have never been a 'Thin' person.. In fact, all my life, I have battled the 'weight-loss-weight-gain' cycle. How I have wished to be, for once, that Size-oh-so-kareenaish-zero... but nooo.. I have not! At my best (that is now) I am a size 8, and I have sort of settled myself there. Come on, its wayyy too difficult to work out for 3 hours a day to go below that - what with work and stress and blah blahs of life! So, my goal now is to:

1. Eat healthy
2. Stay Fit
3. Maintain my current weight (wouldn't hurt if I manage to miraculously loose another 1-2 kgs)
4. Find out that darn time to Exercise Daily (errr...at least 5 times a week!)

Recently, I say about a month back, SMM introduced me to this group called 'Fitness Fervor'. Their tagline is -- 0% fab; 100% flab. So apt, i say...and also, Hail to that! :D. 

Let me give you all a backgrounder -- It is a blog effort initiated by Roop (another fitness freak) and has a whole lot of fitness freak contributors who discuss weight loss, exercise plans, schedules, diets, fitness regimes and share notes of their failures, day-to-day stress and we all chip in to help/motivate! When I read a couple of early introductions, I saw a whole lot of me in a whole lot of them. They were all looking to find fitness, looking to successfully complete a diet, looking to juggle Work, Workout and Home at the same time! I jumped in.. 

So, before I go further, let me tell you a bit about me... rather spell it out -- I Need External Motivation. Period. The reason for my constant battle with the fitness is coz I am highly lazy when it comes to my fitness. I need someone to be there next to me urging me to workout, I need that external force to make me wanna workout, I need someone next to me saying, "dont have that samosa/pizza/burger"..else i eat it. :( Another truth is -- I Love Food. Period. I cant live without it. It is one thing in my life, that makes me smile/go wheeeeeeee/feel good..etc..etc... 

So, for the past few months, S and I have not been working out.. at all! We were regulars at the gym and then one fine day we just stopped! Oh and before I forget to mention my one big achievement in life, I lost about 13 kgs last year before my shadi and in the quest to maintain that, I was regular at the gym, post wedding! So I have not been the typical newly married who gets bloated coz "she is married now..and who cares". Well I Care! Damn I do! I wanna be 'Hot for Hubby'! He should be proud of taking me out! And oh I love clothes! hehe...

But damn the work and damn the stress, we stopped! For the last 4 months or so, I have been controlling my weight-gain (I dont think I want to become that fat-me again..how will I fit in my sexy clothes??..teeheee) by controlling my food. I know.. I know, its the worst thing to do. So I would eat out today, and control my food for the next 2 days.

I decided to end this with Fitness Fervor. I had found my External Motivation Force. I had to do something about myself. S and I had come to the conclusion that Gym was out of question. We did not have a set time to go and work out and come back (what with work and morning meeting calls and maids...). When I signed up for FF, I knew I could not just 'do nothing'. I had to follow some sort of workout regime (otherwise I wouldn't have any updates..hehe). So I started...rather, S and I started (yes yes.. i managed to get him going too) :)

And today, 2 weeks of following a regime, S and I are placed such, in our Fitness Regime:

• 1 1/2 hours of every morning workout
• Home-cooked food for 5 days a week (I cook in Olive Oil and follow a very healthy diet)
• No Eating Out, if eating out, then Healthy eating only. 
• No alcoholic beverage.. except Red Wine for Moi and Whiskey for S. (maybe once a week)
• We have bought dumbells, exercise mat and Resistence Band.
• We have started 2 fitness routines -- XBX (for women) and 5BX (for men).
• We have enrolled on an online website -- SparkPeople, which helps you plan your fitness and diet goals and has Videos of workout routines. You must check it out! Helps me plan my meals and has great videos for Abs and Muscles. Its Free too! ;)
• S and I have started the 200 sit-ups Challenge too. It is a great way of just doing your abs. :).. This is not so much to see if you can do it, I am sure you all can.. But it is just a good way of doing it in Reps (repeats)!

May I proudly say -- S and I have been following the above for 2 Successfully Fit Weeks and we feel absolutely great in the mornings. Infact I have started waking up at 7AM (I am a lazy person as I said earlier.. hmph!)... and putting on my shoes to start the workout in our spare room. And, needless to say, it is absolute fun to Workout with your Partner (recommended). We joke, We pull each other's leg, but more than that, we motivate each other to strive for more... :)

And I am simply hooked on to getting back in shape again (whatever little wobbly i got there..)!!! 

PS: I will keep you all updated with new links to workouts, new diet plans, new ways of getting fit and fitting in your favourite Saaxxxy clothes! :)

Cheers to Fitness!

Giving back to the Society..in my own little way :)

Since i have been 12 years old..old enuf to realize the world outside my cocoon, i have always felt for the street children... the ones who come at your car windows and tap gently. If you look beyond their grimy faces and ragged clothes, you will  probably see honesty in their eyes and a teeny-tiny hope.. my throat would always choke up looking at their faces. Since then, i had this 20 year plan -- Once i have enuf money... i will build a 'home' for these kids... (always had something to do with the kids that melted my heart)... and educate these kids, teach them art and craft (have u ever noticed what amazing things they make and try to sell to you?) and sell their stuff to earn money for them. But i never knew where to begin till i earn 'that much money'!

Last week i got my opportunity. So, you may have heard of the Teach India Foundation. I applied for that months ago. They replied in January, asking me to report to an organization called "Youth For Seva". They run schools all across Bangalore where they teach underprivileged children. Its an organization started by an IT fellow 2 yrs ago and now has grown crazy big. I couldn't go for the orientation (my parents were here)... and then work took a monster turn and i found myself with no time to breathe. 

Then, they came up with a "Sponsor A Child" program. I decided that the least i could do was this. So i sent them a mail that i would love to Sponsor a Child and in case they want me to be a 'Coordinator' for any building (they needed those too), i could find time for that too. Last week, i got a call from a  volunteer, telling me about the process of Sponsoring a Child. After he was done, he asked me where i worked. When i told him Oracle, he said "me too"... which building (we have over 10 buildings in Bangalore)... and before i knew it.. he had made me the 'Coordinator for Youth For Seva Of Oracle *My Building*'! I was thrilled.. This was it.. this was my chance to do my bit for the kids!!

And so, now i am making my plan to promote the cause in my office, telling people about Youth For Seva (and how its not a fraud)... how extraordinary and different the Sponsor Program is..and how they can see where their money is going. Its 500/- a month, you can make a 5-year plan for your sponsored child, you can 'choose' the child you want to sponsor, you need only 2-3 hours a week to spend with the child, meet his/her family and be completely involved!!! I love this! :)

I am glad, that finally, i am involved in something that i am passionate about. Infact, in my first job in a PR agency, one of my clients was 'Christel House', an international NGO/World-class school for underprivileged children in Bangalore. May i confess, i worked hardest on this client, i didn't miss an opportunity to visit the school and meet the children, the children who used to greet me every time they saw me -- "good morning Didi".. filled up my eyes... 

A small incident that i remember which shudders me up till today. I was at Christel House one morning and visiting the 'Sick Room'! In the room, i found a little 10-yr old boy and a 9-yr old girl, talking to the 'Lady Doctor' there... They were talking in Kannada and the girl was crying.. i sat there, like a stone, coz i knew something was wrong and i wanted to know wat it was. When the kids left, i asked the lady, wat the problem was. She said, "The boy and the girl are in the same class. The girl always gets tiffin for the boy. But given any opportunity, the boy hits the girl, mostly for no reason. The girl cries, but then goes back to the boy and gets him tiffin the next day again. The girl doesn't break the friendship and the boy continues to hit her." I was shocked to hear that and wanted to go hit the boy myself. The lady said, "Tanu, do you know the reason behind this? The boy has seen his father, hit his mother, for no reason. The girl has seen her mother being hit by her father for no reason, and the mother still feeds the father after all the atrocities. This is what we are dealing with, Tanu." I had nothing to say, i sat there dumbstruck, till it hit me -- these people are not only giving knowledge to the kids, they are also teaching them valuable social and life lessons! 2 months later i returned to the school, spotted the girl and the boy, they were walking to the playground hand-in-hand. I went and asked the 'Lady Doctor' as to how the situation was, she said that the boy had written a 'sorry' card to the girl and now they were best friends. No one hit Anyone! :)

What i did for Christel House was coz it was my job.. Wat i am trying to begin with Youth For Seva, is a passion. A friend asked me "do you have time for this?".. i say - Hell yeah!... I will make time to promote this cause...and i will ensure that maximum people from my office sponsor a child.. 

Guys, come on, its a small little opportunity that make a huge difference in the life of a child! And all it takes is 500/- a month!!

Will Write Once A Week - Repeat After Me.....

So i hate doing this.. i need to follow my resolution - Write 'At Least' once a week on my blog..and look at this.. over 2 weeks.. shame on you.. Tanu.. shame on you!! And.. i have like tonnes of topics that i wanna talk about/over/on... and i am unable to do so.. coz all i end up doing is talk about 'what happened in the past 2 weeks..blahblah"... grr... okkk.. so this is the last 'Update Post'.. the next one will be this weekend..and will be about something i strongly feel about -- Travel! :)

Now that i am done with self-bashing... this post is going to be a mix of 'pictures' and 'tales' of the 'over 2 weeks gone by'! i say i have had a very 'painful' 2 weeks... Work... performance... more guests..and a very very very bad Muscle Spasm in the spine.. ... But.. first thing is first.. my 'now famous' White pants.. pic... dahlings... (like they say on page 3s...)...

Yes yes.. this is the loo of Fuga in Bangalore.. The blasted bouncer kept placing his hand on my camera lens... so i had to take pics in the loo! lol... 

Ofcourse my office realized that too much fun i was having entertaining guests... i might as well 

start entertaining my office colleagues.. therefore came the -- Pain Killer... this is our annual Cultural Fest. Well, Oracle has about 20 buildings in Bangalore, so the building that i am in -- have their own CulFest.. and what better way to beat the stress than to dance.. as i mentioned before... i love to dance! so there i was 

gettin' jiggy with Desi Girls and Latin Salsa! :D... 2 weeks of crazy practice in the office cafeteria... meeting new people..it was all worth it... and the performance.. wah wah! worth it all. it felt actually like 'home'.. when i got on stage.. sigh.. that feeling.. the exuberance..the euphoria of it all.. just to take it all in and perform.. wohoo!!!

 

of course post this came the Withdrawal Symptoms and the Muscle Spasm... Apparently due to sudden movements and too much stress (just coz there is a cul fest on..doesn't mean that they will give us less work...!)... left me 'loving' the hot water bottle more than the hubby! not good...i say.. not good.. the doc said its stress and too much of sitting on the seat (like a duck)!! resulted in...big catch somewhere in the spine..tra lalalaaa... and i was in bed rest for 3 days.. damn! 

Well...phew.. now i am out of bed.. happy...perfectly sane..normal..and with a healthy spine.. ready to work my ass off again! sigh! how i wish a holiday was planned by someone for me..and i could take off without thinking of anything.... sigh sigh....

Well.. that's it! i am done with describing my life post Feb 24th... next post.. will not be so far apart..... promises! :D

Some Wonder-ments....

Caution: A bit of 'male-bashing' coming right up... so in case you are one of those men, who think too highly of yourself or you are one of those, 'MCPs'... (pardon the language)... i suggest, you dont read further... and come back when i write a new post! :) (u know i dont wanna loose readers.. and i am not always this bashing-types).... [innocent smile]....

So.... I was just wondering:

• Why are men so full of themselves? 
• Why do men, despite not knowing the directions to a location, would rather go round and round and loose way, than ask a woman (who probably does know the way.... but is left unheard)
• Why do men 'make a joke' and 'pull your leg' and get so oh-so-angry-and-pouty when a woman pulls their leg and says something funny about them? I mean, they can get sarcastic and 'apparently funny', but if the woman does the same thing - its a 'oh-you-are-so-bad-with-jokes'?
• Why do men  get so defensive if you criticize them? They always have a 'joke' ready in their pockets... in case you try and criticize them - just an effort guys, to make you more 'human'!
• Men have this bad habit of behaving weirdly in front of their wives/girl friends/partners when they are in the esteemed company of their male back-slapping friends (brothers).... why is it so difficult to give respect to women in front of your friends guys? Why cant you just behave normally like you do when you are alone with us? A Man get possessive about the woman when they are around 'her' friends' but suddenly in front of his 'male' friends, all the decorum goes flying out of the window!
• Whenever the woman and her girlfriend talk privately, why is it that the man thinks that we are definitely 'bitching' about them? i mean come onnnn guys..we could be discussing very very private and intimate details!!!!
• Why are men so aggressive about everything they do.. and they have this weird 'reverse psychology' going on with the women... that does get on to me!
• Why do men think, its a thing of 'pride' if they do not know how to give women surprises? I mean - how difficult is it? Don't forget important dates, give lots of flowers, give lots of surprises (small ones will also do) and always give compliments when the woman makes an effort to dress up! 

hmmm... just wondering...

PS: ohh i do love men.. and i think they are adorable and nice.. but sometimes their attitude and their testosterone gets on to me!!!! grrr...

The House is Full of Guests.....

Phew... i finally got some time after the long and amazing weekend.. to write... you see.. I am busy playing the 'perfect host' at home! Seems like the year started with a lot of 'travelling' (which i love) and a lot of 'guests-coming' (which i love too, as in, i love to take care of people)...so after parents.. came my Best Friend of over 12 years... Rads.. I cannot begin to tell you how excited i was that she was coming.. plans were made, itineraries were drawn... parties were planned.. leave was taken...and names were put on various guest lists! It was 'Partyy-hyy time'!!!!! :D

So we did a Masquerade Ball at Opus, a Submerge evening at Fuga, a Spa session and a short trip to Bheemeshwari (for a day picnic complete with Poha and Cold Salami sandwiches) and of course the alcohol! :).... It was a great fun weekend...and we had a blast... there was a whole lot of 'male bashing' that my hubby endured... but then.. he knows.. when Rads n I meet, the men go insignificantly to the background! :) 

So she left today, and tomorrow, another very close friends (couple) Ash and Sid are landing and staying the full weekend..and i cant wait to spend time with my Favourite couple... they are not only fun but fun-er and awesome company...and i guess its been 'forever' that i saw my favourite 'biatch'... Ash i mean! :P.. so there is a College Reunion, Pancake session, Home-made food session and a party planned! 

A full weekend, coming right up! 

PS: Don't worry Anand and Rakesh (my Blog buddies) - i will still manage to write about something that i want to write about.. gimme time till tomorrow! ;) till then, kindly endure the 'update' post! hehe....

Knock Knock! Who's There? Tag. Tag who? Tag-on to know me more... :P

So i DO work..and i DO have a lot of work pending..but what the hell... i have been meaning to do this for a while now.. I am a Facebook Addict.. I know I know.. So i have been seeing these 'tags' have been doing the rounds lately.. therefore i decided to spend a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, talking about '25 Random Things You May Want To Know About Me' (no pressure... ) This is me - Tanu - under the microscope... for you! :)

1. I Love the Rain... I love the Ocean... I love the Greenery... I love the Mountains.. I love the Scenery and the Breathtaking Views.... they take me to my Happy Place..
2. I am a Discovery Travel & Living Addict.. I love House-renovation, travelling, cooking shows and tattoo shows and bike shows on it! :) And 
3. Dancing is my passion.. it is something i 'do' to de-stress, to enjoy, for mood upliftment etc. I Live to Dance and I Dance to Live... It has sort of become my persona - i even choreograph steps in my head when i listen to a certian number.. :) Psst - i know belly dancing too! wink wink!
4. I love to Bake and Cook - I love to hunt for receipes and creating 'culinary wonders' in my kitchen.. expecially when it comes to Baking - its a passion! :)
5. My Family matters the most to me - i, somehow, want to do lots for my parents and my sister - and i will forever be indebted to them for everything they have done for me! sniff sniff... 
6. Continuing from that.... I am extremely bad in 'saying' out my feelings aloud... i truely SUCK at it... i just cant say 'i love you' to my mom.. and i cant get myself to say 'lovey-dovey' things to my husband... and i cant do PDA with anyone.. but i CAN write it all down and give it to them (my mother has a stack of letters from me and so does my sister and my hubby! :P)
7. I Love My Partner - if i start describing what i feel for him, i would probably go on to a new post.. but i do.. for eternity.. he is the best thing that has happened to me ever.. and i Thank God, every day for giving me Soubhagya.. he has been a pillar, a pillow, a punching bag, a shoulder, a friend, a support and everything else... he is my 'Everything' and i am fiercely crazy about him... :)
8. I Love to Talk and i Love to Write.. therefore the blog (duhh)... and people actually ask me if i am on Steroids..coz they cant seem to believe where i get my energy from.. Well you see - i am a happy person..and i love to blabber... i love to gossip..and i love people around me.. therefore.. i have the energy to endure a conversation for the longest time! :)
9. I Love Dogs - they make my day.. Gimme a Bad Day and then gimme a Pup - and i am happy as a monkey! :) I, infact, wanted to marry one.. not the monkey.. you food.. the Pup.. ! teeheee
10. I am extremely Emotional... but i also come under the package deal of - Emotional but Logical. You see.. i get logical in 'dire situations' and 'when solving problems'... but i get emotional when it comes to 'friends', 'families' and 'loved ones'...you could call me an 'Emotional Fool'!!!
11. I lost 12 kgs in 3 months last year and i feel extremely sexy now.. but there is not 1 second in my life that i dont 'fret' about piling on that weight and becoming a 'cow' again! yikeesss!
    
12. I Love to Eat - My favourite 'thing to do' is - try out new Cuisine.... but then, my favourite food is -- Italian, Lebanese, Indian, Mediterranean, Continental Fusion, Mexican and Thai (i know i know.. it sort of covers it all.. but wat to do? as i said...i Love Food)
13. I Have an 'inferiority complex' about myself. I feel that i am below-average in looks and therfore i try to compliment or cover it by 'fooling around' and making others laugh! 
    
14. I love to 'give surprises'! I think i was born to do that.. Since i remember.. i have been giving Surprises to my mom, dad, sister, friends, now hubby, etc etc etc... i just love to see that 'smile'.. that 'happiness' and the 'shock' on the faces of my loved ones.. it sort of makes my day!
15. I hate getting 'Expensive' Gifts.. My day is made if you give me - a Rose, a hand-made card an ice-cream, a compliment or even a hug... :)
16. I am very Transparent at Heart -- You see what i am and you hear what i feel inside! there is no Pretence and there is no Hypocricy... I dont believe in keeping things within...and cant stay still till i say it out!...
17. I DETEST Hypocrites and Show-Offs!! aarrggh... if i see one in sight, i shall definitely want a licence to Punch the Species! :X
18. I am fiercely over-protective about my Little Sister.. i can get quite out-of-hand if there is anything/anybody bothering her.. infact i also get quite protective about my friends..you talk crap about them and i unleash my 'bad bad' side to you.oh trust me! i can get really bitchy when i need to! :)
19. I Love to Party... and Party Hard - you will catch me on most weekends dancing my A** off at the closest disc.... I love to catch up with frends over music and drinks and enjoy a nightout! :)... somehow i have become the 'Yellow Pages ' of parties amongst my friends.
20. I Love Archies Comics - i have a stack at home..and if ever given i chance.. i would buy that instead of a novel! ;) and psst - i love Betty! 
21. I love to 'take care of people'! ahem..yaa.. i will 'feed you', get 'protective' about you.. get all 'mommy around you'... and i am extremely good at being an SOS listener.. dude! you bare ur heart out to me and i will have both my ears fully-open and my mouth ready to shoot off 'solutions'! :)
22. When i get very angry... i start crying - yes i do! sniff sniff.. I will not be able to 'give it back' to you immediately but after 24 hours of pondering over it, i will think of 'retorts' that i 'could have' said..." i will say it the next time..."
23. I can become 'friends' with you in precisely 5 minutes.. i swear i can! Give me 5 minutes and i have this innate ability to make you feel comfortable and right at home!
24. I Talk animatedly about anything and everything... Give me one 'story' or an 'incident' and i will make it a Conversation Delicacy for the next 1/2 hour.
25. I Love Music.. Anything.. any Kind.. Any Genre will do.. so next time - dont ask me what kind of music i listen to! coz my answer will be "anything that is good" - and i dont know the definition of 'good' for music.. its just anything! :)