Unforgotten

On the beautiful day of 26^th November 2008, G and me were celebrating our 2^nd wedding Anniversary. “Let’s indulge”, had been our mutual agreement that day and off we headed to Rim Naam, a Thai cuisine restaurant at The Oberoi, Bengaluru.

I remember being swept away by the posh décor and the beautiful garden surrounding the restaurant on all sides. I am usually never too thrilled with the fancy food served in 5-Star hotels (I was more of a bhel-puri person), but that day I was amazed by what we had eaten. I don’t remember what we had ordered, but it had been mind-blowing.

What stood out the most though was the service. The staff was exceptionally attentive but not nosy and respected our privacy. We had misjudged the weather and had not carried any jackets. The waitress had seen how uncomfortable I looked initially and had magically gotten me a warm shawl. I was so grateful to her.

After a wonderful time at Rim Naam we had headed home. I am so glad we did not have smartphones (especially WhatsApp) back then, because if we had, then our phones would have never stopped buzzing. We went to bed oblivious to what had been happening at The Oberoi and many other places in Mumbai around the same time.

The newspaper the next morning took my breath away. What had happened in Mumbai was beyond comprehensible. I kept thinking of the staff who served us in Bengaluru and then wondered how lovely the staff at the Mumbai branch would have been. So many lives lost, all while we were having a gala time miles away. What if the terrorists had decided to attack Bengaluru instead? What were the victims celebrating that day…Anniversaries? Birthdays? Promotions? Business Deals? A Date?

I can never not think of that beautiful and horribly tragic day with mixed emotions. Though we will always celebrate “our” special Day, we have not forgotten how Mumbai bled that day and we never will.

 

 

Just Home It!

When I think back to my parents or in-laws living in the same abode for nearly 3 decades, I am amazed. I wonder if we will ever be in that stage. I also wonder if we ever want to be in that stage.

In the last 14 years, we have moved houses 13 times. Yes! You heard it right. The 13 includes a house where we moved 2 times. I will tell that story later. And it has not been because we are spies or in some special witness protection program or in jobs that require transfers.

Somehow, life just took us to different places and thereby different houses and we just went with the flow.

       We lived in apartments across Folsom (California), Bengaluru (India), Singapore, Hyderabad (India) and Dublin (Ireland). The maximum we have lived in one home so far has been 2.5 years and the minimum has been…drumroll please…1 month! We left that place so soon because we got a place at National University of Singapore (NUS)’s student accommodation (which was way cheaper). So basically we lived in NUS student accommodation for 1 year, then NUS said they could not renew our lease. So we moved to a slightly bigger and way more expensive apartment and within one month NUS says…”We can still offer you your old studio if you are interested” and since we were practically living hand-to-mouth in Singapore, promptly we packed our bags and headed back to campus.

       Some houses were in prime areas, some were in downtown. Some had landlords eviler than He Who Shall Not Be Named while some were literally messengers from God.

       In all these moves, the priceless item I had to dump most times was my precious Pressure Cooker. I think I have had some 7 of them. When we moved to Ireland, I put my foot down and said I am carrying my pressure cooker no matter what. Guess what! The apartment had induction hob which rendered my (gas-hob) cooker useless.

       Most houses were rental, while 2 of them were our own. Our first bought apartment in Hyderabad was decorated by us with a lot of love, money and sweat (please visit Hyderabad in the summer). We lived in our beautiful home for 11 months, before an exciting opportunity brought us to Dublin. Now that we have bought a place in Dublin, I am thrilled but also skeptical. I wonder if I should give our “new-for-us but actually "an-old-house" some makeover” or should I let it be as is in case we move…Again!

       Do not get me wrong. I am not complaining. I think we have lived rather unusual lives. We have lived in wonderful places and have enjoyed our stay in most (well maybe not the cockroach/lizard-infested campus accommodation in Singapore). We have become experts in Moving-&-Packing/Relocations. Each move, although tiring has surprisingly been exciting and joyous.

       So maybe it is ok to keep moving…maybe it is ok to keep changing our house every now and then. Maybe the next time we move will be some old Irish cottage by the sea. Maybe we keep moving till we can…or may we finally call some place “our Home”… soon!