Adversity

"India is a land of unity,
In all its shades of diversity,
And more so in times of adversity,
But let's keep it till eternity."

The lines my grandfather helped me write for a school project, when I was 10.

Why did it have to be that word that is prominent today?

Falling

A bookworm in school, a nerd in college, a double doctorate and a professor of Physics - Karan was indeed a loner. He still wonders how Anukta said yes to him.

Since then, his ice-breaker with every new class has been, “You can't blame gravity for falling in love!”. The laughter continues thru the years.

Hundred

The maroon silk saree, simple yet fine jewelry, a hint of makeup.  Anu dazzled like a princess.

The prospective groom & his family arrived.  The sweets and savories were served.   The dog and pony show ended.  Yet again!

Anu was ready to add to her list – the hundredth reason that makes her an unsuitable bride.

Cold

Stuffy nose and the perpetual sneezing. Samar was sleep deprived. To top that, Sana dint bother checking on him. No calls, just text messages. Something was not right.

"You haven't come to see me, Sweety. All ok?"

"You will hate me if I told you the truth. Just dint want to catch your cold, Baby."

Blind

Pinkal read that love was blind. She never believed.

She finds her perfect love. Her world suddenly seemed different. Parents disapproving, friends advising, colleagues mocking.

"So what if my love is twice as old?"
"So what if my love is married?"
"So what if my love is a She?"
"It's magical for us."

Miracle or mere sensible engineering???

Our fun road trip was all good until we were running out of gas. The trip meter showed 40 miles to go and we were sure of finding a gas station on Highway 40. Minutes passed and we watched the meter drop in number but no gas station to be found. We passed 3 stations that sold only diesel. Bad luck??? Maybe, to put it mildly.

The GPS indicated that the closest gas station was 26.9 miles away and our trip meter showed that we had gas only for 12 miles.

Sitting on pins, keeping our fingers crossed, unaware of what was happening on the road, ignoring my favorite Ms. Ghoshal singing for me, all our eyes were on the trip meter and the GPS. The meter got down to 2 miles and we still had a lil over 14 miles to get to our 'power source'.

Moment of truth happened!!! We were down to 'zero' on the meter.

Speeding at 80 mph, our hope was to cover the 14 mile mark.

The laughs and jokes were purely to mask the anxiety. Every mile we covered was a sign of relief. Finally made it into a city and the engine was still running.

The high-fives and hugs ended the drama but then came the awesome thought of, "How much longer would the car have gone if we skipped this gas station???"

Well, we dint want to find the answer :) Call it a miracle or sensible engineering, the experience will be one we will cherish forever.

On a side note, it's hard to believe that there is no gas station for close to 40 miles on such a busy highway.

The fun continues as we get ready to ring in the New Year !

It's a tradition !

A wonderful birthday filled with great food, laughter, surprises, good wishes and not to forget, hectic work.

I laughed my heart out after a real long time talking about good ole times with dear dear friends. Less said the better about the wonder of technology that aided in connecting with family and friends across the globe.

As I write this, a bunch of sweet messages pass thru my mind. Every single one has been special in its own way.

The day started with this song playing in my car as I drove to work. What an awesome way to cherish the journey of life :)

"Thodi Si Meethi Hai
Zara Si Mirchi Hai
Sau Gram Zindagi Yeh
Sambhaal Ke Kharchi Hai"

Thank you all for making this day so special and memorable.