The month just whiiized by…

I have genuinely neglected my blog. But I have been busy. Also not my fault that January simply decided to whiz by. The month began with a bang with some good friends, food and fun and party every night. And that’s the way the month went out. With a bang and a fantastic party.

I spent the new years’ holed up at a hotel in Nashville. While the hubbies were working (poor guys), we women and children got together every evening with a new dish each and had a whale of a time trying to defeat the men (who just dragged themselves home for dinner) at Dumb Charades and a popular Indian game Antakshari. Needless to say, we still lost! Everyday!

Perhaps for the first time I didn’t mind losing but it broke our hearts to know the men had been cheating all the time. And we women innocently conceded defeat at tough words. Men!!!!! Urgh!

Meanwhile, my stint at Milford Piecemakers is keeping me busy. I finished my first quilt and its going to be showcased in the public library. Along with the beautiful quilts made by the veterans. They are also keeping me real busy trying to catch up with their one-quilt-a-week act. So less time to blog, lesser time to watch movies, and no time to read. I am still loving it!

Finally the month had a bang to its end. My daughter had a Zumba party to celebrate her 7th birthday. Oh boy! Was it fun? I must thank Corazone Family Fitness, for the fantastic choreography. They even included Bollywood songs and that was enough to get the moms and dads going. Soon the whole party (maa-baap, bacchaa sahit) was Zumbaing away!

After all that vigorous routines, we simply had to attack the pizzas. The pizzas were supplied by Aditi’s friends mom who runs her own Italian restaurant and they were so yum, we actually ran out of pizzas. We were forced to use cakes to fill every yearning mouth.So there’s January in a nutshell. Hopefully February brings more fun with it (and the winter stays mild).

Caught sleeping...

The title works well for me personally and India’s government. I have been derelict of my blogging duties. The entire August went by without nary a word from me. Can I be excused? I was on vacation for the whole month :)

I ate, slept, swam, ate, slept. Not in my good ol’ town but near Grand Ole Opry. Nashville, Tennessee: Music City, Athens of the West, Home of the Parthenon, Publishing City. A city with many names and many facets. Loved standing on a stage with nearly 100 years’ of country music history. The Grand Ole Opry is the mecca for all country singers and has been since 1925. You can not buy a membership to the Opry. You have to be invited to oldest music hall of fame. Photographs will follow, I promise.

Nashville is cool. Wide streets and even wider highways. A lot of history there. The best building was the Bat building. Not Bruce Wayne’s home, though it would have been a fitting abode for the superhero. It is the AT&T building. It is surrounded by all the bigwigs of the music industry. The studios are awe-inspiring. To know that international stardom is created within those walls was overwhelming and kept thinking of Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood walking up those steps.

I loved the spaciousness of the city and beyond. Every little establishment had huge grounds, something of a luxury here in Connecticut. Not even the government buildings can boast of vast grounds. And there a man’s personal home had been surrounded by 30000 acres of manicured gardens. It took us half a day to see the various segments within the Botanical Garden. Humidity and Heat took its toll and we beat a hasty retreat.

Perhaps that was the only downer. The heat was oppressive. I didn’t dare to even open the door during day time. But that only gave me a good reason to sleep in. :)

Aah and the other entity caught sleeping. Not that I am one. But the Indian government surely is. Or should I call it a joke. Even with one of the best and honorable man at its helm, India can’t get its act together. We are becoming something of a laughing matter with bombs blowing up in every bazaar, office or train. Is Indian security so poor that anyone can attack it with impunity and walk away without the slightest fear of getting caught?

Are our chosen leaders and hired officials that impotent? Does not one official realise that he needs to take his job seriously? Not just as a source of income and security but with responsibilities and duties? These terrorist attacks are so regular that even the Indian public, the biggest victim of such acts, are getting anesthetized to them. Not caring for anyone except sending up a huge prayer of thanks to God that it wasn’t them. This time!

The social media denizens have led a hue and cry, baying for blood. Anyone’s blood! As the perps have long vanished, the face of governance Mr Manmohan Singh is the target. Poor man! He is a good man caught in a bad position. One man cannot change this country or its state of affairs. We all need to change. How?