Here’s the first post of the year!

This New Year’s Eve was the most special ever – the first spent with family – with so many of our family. That night all of us were more than a bit drunk – some on alcohol, some on pure fun. And in that happy haze, amidst the chatter and the laughter, cheered on by each other we all made resolutions – wrote them down and signed them for good measure. About a third of them are to do with weightloss, two are would be marathoners, a budding author, a wannabe swimmer and from the kids.. the promise to do well at school!

Almost a week later, everyone has gone.. Cousins, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts – back to their homes, jobs, schools. That night already seems so far away. Which is why I need to reiterate my resolutions.

Two of them stand out – Weightloss and writing. Mercifully both are things I’ve been doing for a long time and can be reasonably good at provided I put my mind to it – and that precisely is where the catch lies – ‘Putting my mind to it’. 

And so the biggest resolution of the year for me – I will put my mind to whatever I do. You can help guys.. push me, pull me up.. keep visiting. Your presence here is a reminder of all that I’ve set out to do.

Wishing you all a very very happy new year.

Linking to Write Tribe.

In the New Year

Aren’t accidents things that happen to others? Well yes.. Until they happen to you. We were on our way back from a wonderful holiday in Goa (where I also turned a year older but birthday posts do not come easily to me so this bit of information has to suffice) and it happened to us.

We were travelling in a convoy chatting.. calling, whatsapping.. 12 of us split into three cars. The road is twisting and narrow so we are driving at a careful pace. The Husband being the most careful brought up the rear. One minute we were joking and the next we see a car coming right at us at an alarming angle in a bid to overtake another one. ‘Gosh it’s sooo close’ was my thought before it crashed.. right into us. I barely registered the noise as the air bags sprung out. My first thought was my sister who was in the back seat with my daughter, N. They were thrown right out of their seats. 

It seems like a miracle that we are all fine, in both cars, other than some bruises and muscle pulls. The Husband couldn’t get out because the door was stuck. N was a mass nerves and had a small fainting spell and that was as far as the damage went. The cars are however in a bad shape.

What happened was scary. The ‘What If’s’ were way more scary. What if my sister hadn’t been with N to break her fall? What if we had been pushed off the road to a fall along the mountainside? What if we hadn’t worn our seatbelts? On and on…

As I sneak away from the family (who are all writing down their New Year resolutions complete with signatures) to quickly type this last post completing my hundred for the year, I have plenty to be thankful for. 

This laughter, this togetherness is the only gift I want to take with me as I enter 2014.

Happy New Year Everyone!

We’re all in it together!

Isn’t being together the essence of Christmas? This year togetherness took on a new meaning when our very own Vidya turned into the bestest Santa ever and put together a book that had a bit of all of us. The busy bloggers of our writing group Write Tribe  selected their best posts to go into the book. Mails and messages bounced around carrying reminders and clarifications along with the usual crazy banter of WTers.. nope we never talk straight or short (check Vidya’s blog posts if you’re in doubt!). I digress.. but I warned you, didn’t I.. no straight or short work here.

The book was part of Vidya’s fiftieth birthday initiative.. yeah she’s a bit upside down like that – people get gifts for their birthdays but she decided to give a gift instead. And so finally after months of slogging and editing and re-editing she got the book out of her Santa bag bang on Christmas. Take a look..

The most heartfelt thanks ever to her, she’s the best. Thanks are also in order for Corrine for supporting the initiative and to Vaisakh who spent long hours cleaning up our works. You can download the book here

Stories to tell…

The last few days we were in Goa creating memories for a life time… Some great ones and some not so great ones too. Signing off for the night with a thank you prayer that we’re safely back home together. There’s truly lots to be grateful for. More on this tomorrow.

A gorgeous sunset at Calangute Beach

Blessing in disguise

She shaded her eyes
scouring the streets for an auto. “Who will be out in 45 degrees on Sunday
except a slave like me?” she grumbled moving her heavy bag to the other
shoulder. She cursed her boss for insisting she send the report today.
“Hi, may I drop you
somewhere?”

There’s something about men
on bikes.. isn’t it?
It was HIM, the new guy in
her society, quite the handsomest man ever.
‘You going home?” His
dimples shown.
‘I umm… yes.” She realised
she had been staring and was now stuttering.
‘Well hop on, then.”
And she did.
She loved her boss.

What a blessing in
disguise!

Linking to 100 words on Saturday at Write Tribe for the prompt ‘A Blessing in Disguise’ given by the wonderful Shilpa of ‘A Rose Is A Rose is A Rose‘.