The standing joke is killed

For everyone, the passport is a document that lets them travel to foreign

countries. For me, it is the document that lets my family take a mean dig at

me and laugh like the lunatics they are. Reason – I simply did not have

one. Passport.

I mean, I look at the Emirates hoarding and go ‘Wow I am saving up and

going to Egypt soon.’ And my mom butts in with that very un-necessary

comment ‘Of course! It’s not like you need a passport.’ I watch the DSF

special shows on TV and say ‘I am going to Dubai next year and shop

like crazy’. My Dad offers to give me Gafoorkka’s phone number so I can

make do without the passport. The brother reminds me that the code

is ‘Sadhanam kayyilundo?’ And Bumble B has eaten half my brains out about

my disinterest in the passport issue.

Since every dog has a day, the joke that stood the longest is now officially

over.

That's for real. Duh

In my head, it was just one of those practically useless documents every

citizen is supposed to have. Just like the electoral ID that comes handy only

when the nation is in need of more chosen idiots. The last I drove a car was

for my licence test; that explains the relevance of my driving licence. The

only document I have use for is the PAN card. Ah! The joy of paying taxes

and filing returns!

For a fact I dragged my feet about getting a passport done, but then what

reason did I ever have to get it done urgently? I have no plans to be in

London for the Olympics. The Dubai shopping festival is another story.

America? What is it? A holiday in Srilanka sounded like a good idea though.

Sigh…

But now, much to the joy of my parents who think their daughter is the

star whose prospects warrant a jumbo passport, I have joined the club. The

club all members of which have those lovely looking passports but are not

likely to travel anywhere farther than Bangalore in the

foreseeable future.

Now, over to the next joke. Of The Great Indian failure who got a passport

but never set foot outside India.

God, please don’t let this one stand too long.

Bounty from the garden !

There is a tree in the backyard of my house that bears lovely red berries. I dont know what these fruits are called in English. Cos' there are some things even Google can’t tell you. Unless you know the right keywords to search with, of course. Yeah, so in Malayalam, they are called 'Love-lolikka's'. Since Google failed me, I conjured the audacity to christen them 'Love-berries'.

Our tree bears bunches and bunches of these lovely berries. My Amma is a farmer who does adventure farming, the kind that involves adventures like climbing up ladders to pluck lovelolikka, muringakka, sheema-chakka, pomegranates etc. Yes, we cultivate all these exotic fruits in our garden. And I don’t care if muringakka doesn't sound exotic to anyone. So here are some fabulous pictures I clicked of a handful of the lovely berries we picked this morning.

After the photo-session, the lovely Lolikka's were transformed from good-looking models to yummy pickle. No mercy !

The hysterical happy dance !

( I take great care to keep my act together and never behave in ways not befitting my age and killer looks. But today is a rare exception. Lo, behold.)

Yayyy!! Yayyy! Yayyyyyyyy!

* doing hysteric happy dance *

 

I passed Cert CII.

For the uninitiated, I passed the exam for Certificate in Insurance from THE Chartered Insurance Institute and that’s BIG DEAL for anyone working in the insurance industry. One whole year, three huge-ish study modules, a lot of reading and highlighting and three OMR sheets of darkened bubbles later, I made it!

* doing final steps of hysteric happy dance before fainting from happiness *

On a wider perspective, this is just the tip of the Insurance iceberg. But for me, who started out blissfully ignorant about insurance, who didn’t even know what premium meant, this is a fabulous achievement that will add a lot of value to my CV and place me one good notch up the ladder. And it’s more the sense of accomplishment than the actual pass that’s got me high! If that wasn't enough, I didn’t have to pay a penny for the course. Hell yeah ! This was on the ‘You pass We pay’ scheme driven by the company. Some good things do come free so there's still hope left in this world.

My sincerest thanks to the Great place to work. Without you, this wouldn’t be. And now that I passed, you better go pay !

*drinking some water before getting back to next round of hysteric happy dance*

Happy New Year !

 Its that time of the year again !!

The time that everyone waits for.To break out the bubbly and throw the mother of all parties.To put behind all that went awry and got twisted. And start afresh on top gear. No matter how phenomenally screwed up this year was, the New Year deserves the best welcome. Simply because there’s something about New Year’s that makes us want to start all over. That nip in the air that tells you all is cool. That lovely morningof Jan 1^st, that looks and feels like the harbinger of all things awesome.  

Reality check ? For one second, shake off the hangover, put down the rose tinted goggles and look again. Nothing’s happened to anything just as Jan 1^st dawned. Really… nothing’s changed a bit.

The only change is those happy tingles that go up your spine and raise your hair ! Voila ! That’s what the New Year does to us. That absolute magic that perks up spirits and makes everything around look sparkly and shimmery! The glimmer of the very season that rubs off on each one of us and transforms us overnight into new people with happy perspectives, song in the heart and spring in the step.

Keeping up with the spirit of the New year, I kick off my brand new blog on this auspicious day.The idea of starting a blog came about as a whim and over time transformed into a strong desire. No theme's, no agenda, no hopes of bringing about a revolution, all I want is for this blog to be a journal. Virtual proof that I exist. Some day I want to scroll down this page and feel happy, proud, amused, enraged, ashamed and teary-eyed...the works. Too much I know but King-size is the only way to aspire.

On that note, I click Publish.

Come 2012, lets break a leg !