O: Opera House

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Opera House:

Spicy Veg balls in hot garlic sauce, Chicken Schezuan noodles, hot and sour soup and other lip smacking delicacies.

If you were surprised that I wasn't talking about any theatre or play, I'll tell you why. This little restaurant with the same name was set up when the actual "Opera house" closed down. Tucked in at the far end of Brigade road, just before Shoolay circle, they served Indo-Chinese fare. I read this article in the newspaper recently that were all set to revive the Opera house (not the restaurant)and it brought back a flood of memories.

During the days when I had just found my independence (read college) and of course with that came pocket money, this place was one of our frequent hangouts. I think this was pretty much my introduction to Indo-Chinese food, which is still my favourite food till date. Come to think of it, if you asked me today, I would rate their food as just average. But the biggest reasons for us to hangout at this place was
1) The cost: We could have a decent meal for two in anywhere between 50-100 rupees (No kidding!)
2) The location: It was located at Brigade road and it was outdoors. Honestly, I cant think of why we loved to hang out here but maybe it was because it meant easy access to shopping outlets and movie theatres (no malls back then!)
3) The staff: They would let us hang out there for as long as we wanted without bothering us as long as we had ordered some stuff.

My friends and I must have been one of their favourite customers (not really!) as we frequented this place too often for our own wallets. There have been times when we have just managed to collect 50 bucks between us and then go out for a meal here. I think I've even been on a few dates here. Cheap food, decent fare and some place to sit and talk, what's not to love!

Of course as we grew slightly older and found jobs, we started to frequent other more expensive Indo-Chinese places but we still would visit until they eventually moved to Fifth avenue. From there, things went downhill for them and they shut down eventually. We were never able to find an other place similar to this one. I have very warm memories of this place and of events we've celebrated here. I think all my friends have been here with me, one time or another! Most of all, I think it was Vee and me who hung out here. And Vee, if you're reading this, maybe it's time to get together and have some Chinese fare, whatsay?

Prank calls

This is in the days when mobile phones were not common. Hell, even landlines were not present in all homes. I remember we didn’t still have a phone at home. My neighbour Mr. Joshi had one though and he was generally kind enough to pass a message if a friend  called. It was called a PP number. To this day, I don’t know what a PP number means. It was one of those terms that are loosely coined and no one really knows or cares about what it stands for.  And we’d have secret codes when we called each other. For eg., we’d let the phone ring once , hang up and then call again just to signal that it was one of us who was calling and the called party would quickly pick up the phone so that the parents wouldn’t know who was calling. But coming back to my story, my home didn't have a phone but Shee’s house did. In fact she had one line in her room.

There are some things that we do as kids that we think are fun but we realize much later that maybe it wasn’t so much fun for the other party.  This is one such thing I’m guilty of. When the Jackdaws got together for a night of fun together, this was one such "fun" thing we did. We’d call someone’s number (stranger or someone we didn’t like) in the middle of the night and make ridiculous jokes. We thought it was funny. The calls weren’t malicious, they were just meant to be a prank. But, I’d like to apologise to you if we ever called you in the middle of the night and your baby woke up or if the calls tormented you for many nights afterward. We’re really sorry!

But the one joke we had, I think it was funny. I don't think we came up with it. We must have heard it from somewhere. We’d call some number and after many rings, when someone would pick up in a sleepy voice, we’d ask:

“Kya aapka fridge chal raha hai? “(Is your refrigerator working?)

And the confused person would say yes. And then we’d say

“Pakad leejiye, varna bhag jaayega!” (Catch it now, or it might run away.)

And then we’d quickly hang up.

The best cook in the family

I'm going to use one of the BlogHer prompts and blog about the best cook in the family.

This topic really appealed to me because the answer is a no brainer for me. The best cook in the family for years to come would be my 'Mave', my aunt. She is my mother's sister and 'mave' is what we call her.

My earliest memories of mave's house was when we visited Mysore during our summer vacations. Her kitchen was like a magical land for me from which amazing aromas and dishes were produced. Her kitchen was neatly and systematically arranged and there was an order for everything. I remember that she had rows and rows of cylindrical steel and aluminium boxes. Whenever we attacked her with whines of hunger, she would open one of them and dish out some home-made snacks. I used to imagine that all the boxes had special things to eat and I would fantasize about opening one after the other and devouring all the goodies.

The sweets she made were probably the only sweets I have loved since childhood. Even as a grown up, we always looked forward to visiting mave. Going to mave's house meant some amazing meals and she would always welcome us home with great food (our favourite dishes, no less) on the table. I will never forget the puri chole (chickpeas) and shevai for breakfast, which were ready before we woke up and the amazing prawn fried rice and chicken dishes she made for dinner. Or the home made pickles, papads, snacks and cakes. You name it and she made it.

Relishing all the yummy food that she cooked was awesome but watching her in action in the kitchen was really a treat. I remember hanging around her while she cooked. She would shoo me away but I would stick on and watch her cook until the heavenly aromas made it impossible to stay there and stay away from the food. I think she was one of the reasons I got interested in cooking. My mother is a good cook but she is no where as good as mave. Mave was always experimenting with new dishes and was constantly learning with all the cookery shows on TV and from the people around her.

Mave is no more today but her legacy lives on. I guess after her some of us in the family take after her in being decent cooks. My cousin R (her daughter) is a great cook and I am a half-decent cook, even if  say so myself. I will always regret not spending enough time with you in the kitchen and learning from you, mave. I miss you in more ways than I ever thought I would.

Is that enough excitement for you?

This is seventh in the series of the"Escapades of the Jackdaws". If you've missed the earlier story, you can read it here.

"Did you think we'd end up like this on our runaway night?", asked Vee.

"I'm not sure I was expecting anything. I don't think I thought so far ahead. " quipped a sleepy Mee.

"What are you thinking, Shee?"

No answer.

"Soo?"

No answer again.

"Soo, Are you asleep?", Vee nudged her.

"Vee...Hmmmmm.. let me sleep, pleaaaase!" squealed a tired Soo.

Vee and Mee giggled. They always teased Soo and Shee. But tired as they were, they soon drifted off to sleep.

After a while, Soo felt a hand on her neck. "Vee..please leave me alone. I really wanna sleep", she said. The hand was still on her neck. She held on to the hand tightly as it moved towards her chain. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Vee. She then realised that Vee was fast asleep and her hands were by her side. It was then that it struck Soo that the hand did not belong to Vee. A terrified Soo shrieked as loud as her lungs would allow her. The hand, by then retracted to where it had come from. From the window!

The girls had been careless enough to leave the window open. Some intruder had noticed this and had looked to see if he could see anything on the window sill. Not finding anything, he had noticed the gold chain on Soo's neck and that it was within reach. He had then reached inside to tug at the chain when Soo woke up.

Soo screamed and ran to Aunty and Uncle V's room. With a shaky voice and six words, she explained the situation to them. "Aunty, thief, window, hand, my neck". Uncle V was too stunned to move. Aunty V immediately picked up a cricket bat that was lying there and opened the door. She turned on the lights around the house and walked out. "Who's there?", she asked. By then the other girls woke up and ran out too. They all walked out and looked around the house but couldn't see anybody around. When it was clear that the intruder had run off and that no one was around, Uncle V walked out and yelled "Who's there? Come out, you coward! If I get my hands on you, I will beat you black and blue". The girls rolled their eyes at him.

Finding no one there, they all walked inside the house and assembled in the living room. Aunty V pacified a shaken Soo and gave her a glass of water. She reprimanded the girls that they had left the windows open. They discussed what had happened. Soo told them that she had thought it was Vee. Uncle V made fun of Soo and said that she had run to their room in three long steps, one out the girls' room, one in the corridor and one into their room. "Good that you have long legs!",  he teased. After all the excitement had died down, the girls returned to their room. They immediately closed the windows and made sure that they would remain closed for the rest of their stay there.

Too tired from the tiring day but still high-strung from all the adrenaline, they decided they had had enough excitement to last them for a long time. They lay down on the bed for a long time without talking and eventually fell asleep waiting for dawn to wake them up and praying for no more excitement for that night!

On the run again?!

I realised that I haven’t still finished the “escapade” series. Recently I was reading this blog where the blogger started a very interesting story and had me hooked for sometime. But she didn’t finish the story and I got mad at her. And then I realised that was exactly what I had done too. So, I decided to come straight back to my blog to finish the story or at least continue it. My apologies to anyone who was waiting for the next in the series.

So here goes. This is the sixth in the series of "The Escapades of the Jackdaws".  In case, you haven't read the story so far, click here.

After Aunty V made them breakfast, she sat them all down and started talking to them. She asked them why they had all run away from home. She patiently heard their entire story and their reasoning. Although she was sympathetic, she didn’t once say what they had done was right. In fact after speaking to her, the Jackdaws almost felt sorry for what they had done. Well, almost! Once they finished, they went right back into rebellion mode. A decent lunch and a nap later, they were all bored. Suddenly, it seemed to them that all their initial excitement had fizzled out. All they had to do now was to sit and wait for Vee's parents to show up.

In the evening, Vee mentioned to aunty V that they would like to go out for a walk. Aunty V would hear none of it. She said that she wasn't stupid enough to let the girls run wild in the city. After much coaxing and cajoling, she finally agreed but only if Uncle V would accompany them. Being a softie, Uncle V agreed to go along. They finally got dressed and went out for a walk. Uncle V was very proud of the locality that he lived in. He walked along with them pointing to them and showing them houses of celebrities and even an ex-prime minister of the country. He was so vain he even told them, "Do you know the ex-prime minister and I share the same dhobi?!" The girls were quite amused by the man and kept egging him on for entertainment. Completely oblivious to the fact that he was being made fun of, Uncle V enthusiastically went on and on. Finally, he ran into a pretty neighbour and stopped to say hello. The girls quietly gave him the slip and walked on. 

Once he was out of sight, Vee suggested that they run away again. Mee said that they shouldn't do something rash and stupid. She reasoned that one, they didn't have much money left and two, they had no where to go. So she suggested that they should stay on with Aunty and Uncle V for a while longer until they could figure something out. They argued for a while but finally Mee's reasoning won and they decided to head back home but not before they had devoured a few plates of pani puri and other street food with some of the money hidden in Mee's pocket.

When the girls reached Uncle V's home, they found Aunty V giving he winker an earful for letting them out of his sight. She was mad at the girls for having run off too. She promised them she wouldn't let them go out anywhere again! The girls feigned their apologies and went to their room. Aunty V had assigned them a room with a huge king size bed and they would all have to live there together for the next few days. There was a huge window on one of the sides of the bed that overlooked the street. It was a good place to watch all the happenings on the lane. Later, they cozied up on the bed. Mee slept on one end with Shee and Vee in the middle and Soo next to the window. They talked for a few minutes after turning out the lights but exhaustion hit them after an eventful day and they were all fast asleep in no time. Little did they know that neither their day nor their excitement had ended yet.

Q is for Quality time

When I was a kid, the number of working moms was fewer than they are now. My mom, however, fell into that category. She used to work for a bank. I was really proud of her and would tell anybody who'd ask that she was superwoman, Yes, she had 4 kids and still went to work (and worked at home too). People would raise eyebrows and wowed. I never understood why. But I remember that Ma was always around. Even when I think really hard, I can't remember a time when she wasn't there for me when I needed her.

I remember, no matter how early I woke up, Ma was always up. I remember thinking that maybe she never went to sleep. But every morning, she would be so fresh. She would tend to each one of us and help us get ready for school. Our breakfast would be ready and she would pack our lunch boxes to take to school. Ma went to work from 9 to 5. But once she was back from work, she was all ours. She would play with us or help us study. She would immerse herself in making sure all her kids were happy. She would go with us to the playground (for as long as we wished for her to go with us). And even at home, I never ever remember her saying that she was busy or that she didn't have the time. She would just leave everything and play snake and ladders with us. Saturdays and Sundays were even more special. She took us to parks and on bus rides. Every little thing was special.

My dad was a workaholic. He never got home early. By the  time he got home, most of  the  time we would either be sleepy or fast asleep already. I don't remember him playing a very active role either in our studies or in our playtime. But strangely, I never missed him. Because Ma was there and she was enough. Ma never asked for 'me-time'. I don't remember her going for any pampering sessions. Neither did she demand that dad be actively involved with the kids.

Today I look at how things have changed. I love spending time with Pickles,but  I want my 'me-time' too. The time that I spend outside of work has so many demands. I want to cook, read, surf the net, watch movies, work out, go for a run, swim, spend time with my friends, with R, go shopping. Phew, the list is endless. So, there! I want to do more. I want some of my life just to myself. I am selfish. I am not happy, just being a mum.

One spare moment, and I am looking at my phone, reading a message or chatting. Or reading some article or book on my ipad. I remember that is how I spent most of my breastfeeding time when Pickles was little. I knew I shouldn't but I did it anyway. I still do that sometimes, when he has just fallen asleep, snuggling next to me. Maybe that is why the concept of 'quality-time' came into being. To make sure you had some non-electronic-gadget time. To actually stop multitasking and enjoy the moment, doing the most important thing, spending time and making memories with your baby. And it's not that I don't spend quality time with Pickles. I do. But I am not happy with that either. I always feel I am not doing enough.

Ma had a job, a busy workaholic husband, minimal help and 4 kids. Still, Ma was always happy and had a smile on her face and no complaints. I have a job, a very helpful partner, full-time help and one little kid, but you will still hear me complaining that I don't have enough time to do everything I want. The amount of time that she had and I do are similar but the problem, I realised is that  I want to do more and more. I am never satisfied. Maybe I should slow down and do fewer things for now. I should probably pick the things I want to do carefully and put off the rest until Pickles grows up. Maybe that will make for more quality time with Pickles and a happier me!

O is for Operation Runaway

This is the third in the series of the 'Escapades of the Jackdaws'. You can find the earlier parts here and here.

Part One of their plan was now successful. They had decided to go to take Vee to Bangalore. The girls now had to start thinking about putting the part two of their plan in action.

Uncle Chot was an influential man. The girls were sure that he would have planted people in the bus station and in the railway station to look for Vee. They had to make sure they could get her out without getting caught. From their town, they could either take the bus or train to Bangalore. Although quite a few buses went to Bangalore, the girls decided to take the one train that actually travelled from Mumbai to Bangalore but passed by their town and stopped there for exactly 3-5 minutes. Travelling by bus would mean standing at the bus station for long periods of time before the bus left, meaning there was a greater possibility that they would be discovered. Also, the bus could actually be stopped anywhere.They decided that  there were lesser chances of getting caught on the train as long as they managed to board the train on time.

The girls now had to figure out:
1) how to get enough money for their tickets and stay in Bangalore?
2) what to tell their parents and whether to tell them or not?

To arrange for the money, they began to collect all they could from the money they had saved up. When they checked, they realised that they were short. By a lot! They started to collect all their old text books to sell. They even got the reluctant Mee to sell her older text books in the little second hand book store in the market. Even after all this, they had enough money only to buy one train ticket. They decided they needed to tell their parents something and get more money and at the same time, get permission to leave town, at least till they were found out!

Shee went and told her parents that Vee's brother was getting married in Bangalore. Vee went personally to Shee's parents to invite Shee. She told the trusting Shee's parents that she would love for Shee  to come to her brother's wedding in Bangalore and they agreed. So, they now had money for Shee's ticket and a little more for her expenses. They made Soo tell her parents the same lie, and they agreed too! With that, they had money for Soo's tickets.

The problem with saying the same lie at Mee's place was that Mee's parents knew that Vee's brother was only a year older and hence could not be married so early. So, Mee told her parents that Vee's aunt was getting married. But it was a long process of crying and coaxing before Mee's dad agreed but he also agreed to send Mee off only for a couple of days. Now they had money for all their tickets and sightly a little more money to manage expenses for a couple of days or so. for more money, they badgered one of Soo's ardent admirers Shaan (a friend too!) to loan them some money. He was nice enough to loan them some money and also asked them to be careful.

Now, about buying the train tickets. If they were to reserve train tickets, they would have to give their names and this in turn meant that the names could be seen by anyone prior to them boarding the train. To solve this, they decided to get unreserved tickets i.e. tickets to the general compartment, which meant no dedicated seats. They thought this would be only a slight inconvenience. And because anyone of them would be easily spotted at the train station, they got Shaan to queue and buy the tickets for the four of them for the next day.

Now they had train tickets, money and were in high spirits. They just had to manage to get out of town unnoticed!
.....to be continued.

J is for Jackdaws

For all of you who've been asking for the next part of the Escapade series, I'm sorry for taking so long but thank you for waiting. And trust me, the story will be worth the wait! If you haven't read the first part of the story, you can find it here.

So, there they were, all four of them, wondering what to do next. Now, the reality of the situation hit them. Tomorrow morning, they knew Uncle Chot would realize that Vee was missing and would immediately call their homes to find out what he could. They had to do something. They also had to make sure that none of their families found out, or they would all be in a lot of trouble.

"Let her stay here and we'll keep her hidden", Shee said.

'But for how long?!, Your parents will eventually find out and then what?", retorted Mee.

Everyone came up with ideas, only to be shot down by someone else. Finally, one thing was for sure, they had to get Vee out of town and to Bangalore and they had to do it without getting caught! The reasons for choosing Bangalore were simple: Vee and Mee had actually grown up there and had a lot more friends there who could help (or so they thought). Also, Vee's parents lived there. Vee was sure they'd be very happy to see her and would eventually come around to see her side of the story. Methodical as ever, they decided they would break the plan into little bits and take it one step at a time.

Part one of the plan was to convince Chot that they had nothing to with Vee's disappearance and also to keep Vee underground, until they could take her out of town. Specific instructions were then given to Vee and Shee. Sure, they could have fun but Vee could not be seen or heard by anyone else. Shee could go out of her room but Vee had to stay inside at all times. They were also not to let anyone inside the room. Shee had to also make sure she would herself answer all the phone calls that were made to her house, so that nobody would get the least bit suspicious. Soo and Mee had no phones in their homes (yes, it was that long ago!). So people would always call their neighbours' places and ask for them. The neighbours were of course nice enough to oblige as long the calls were not routine or didn't end in long conversations. Soo and Mee had to look out for phone calls to their neighbour's houses and make sure their parents didn't answer them.

Once their plan was made, they all hugged good night and Soo and Mee went home for the night. Everyone spent the night tossing and turning, thinking of what the next morning would bring.

The next day morning, as expected, Chot called Mee's neighbour's place. As Vee's best friend, she was the first one Chot suspected. Promptly, Mee went and picked up the call. Chot told Mee that Vee's relatives had not found Vee on the bus she was supposed to be on. He asked her if Vee had said anything to her. Mee feigned shock and concern over her friend's disappearance. Chot asked if he could speak to her in person and asked Mee to come over to their house to have a chat. He also called Shee's place to ask if she knew anything. Shee also played her role well and said she'd come over with Mee to see if they could help.

Shee left Vee hiding in her room and with Mee, went to Aunty K's place. They had discussed in detail what they should or should not say. At all costs, they had to stick to their story. Aunty K and Chot were very nice at first and seemed concerned but more about the fact that they would be held responsible for Vee's disappearance, rather than be worried about her well-being. They asked Mee, when she spoke to her friend, the last time. Very innocently, Mee replied that Vee had said good bye a couple of days ago and had forbidden them from coming to the bus-station. She also told Chot that Vee was unhappy about being sent off. They told Chot that they were very worried about their friend and would help any way they could.

Chot, who was initially very quiet and mild, got very frustrated that he was getting no information out of the girls and turned hostile. The girls still stuck to their story. Finally Chot threatened Mee, "I am sure you know more than you admit but if anything should happen to Vee, I will come and catch your neck!". Forever the loyal friends, they refused to budge an inch and just stuck to their story. Finally, Aunty K told them to leave and to call them immediately if Vee were to contact them. They assured Aunty K that they would and left.

The girls heaved a sigh of relief and quickly rode back to Shee's place and related the morning's events to Vee and Soo. They described everything in great detail and had a good laugh about Chot's threats and how they had got the best of him. Part one of their plan one was a success! Now on to plan two: Buying train tickets to Bangalore.

...to be continued.

H is for Hero(ine) worship

So, I was browsing through some tabloids the other day. It had pictures and stories about a lot of Bollywood stars. It got me thinking, there are a lot of these young actors today who are competing for the so-called number one spot. When I was younger (a lot younger!), of course there were a lot of actors and actresses too. But the debate for the numero uno spot was simple. Based on this, people were also broadly categorised under two classes.You were either a Madhuri Dixit fan or a Sridevi fan! It was as simple as that and there was no third option!

I remember having been a very ardent Madhuri fan. And my sister A, a fierce Sridevi fan. We used to have routine arguments about who was a better actress. Every time, a movie of one was released, our home would be a battlefield, leading to enormous headaches for Ma. The walls in our rooms were decorated (or rather destroyed) with umpteen posters of the respective actresses. If I got one poster,  A would go out and get two more. It didn't really matter who the better actress was. It was simply a battle of who was the better fan!

I also remember our wars got more intense sometimes and we would slyly tear out the posters in the others’ room. Ok, I’ll admit it, I was the nastier one. I remember having drawn a moustache and a beard on one of A’s favourite posters with a permanent marker. I don’t exactly remember why I did it. How much she cried after that?! She swore she would never talk to me again in her life! She did, though!

We had a good laugh about this a few days ago when we watched English Vinglish together. I loved Sridevi in the movie and I’m grown up enough to even admit it openly. So, I asked her “ I don’t really care any more but who is your most favourite actress today?”. “Why, Sridevi, of course!”, she said. A has now officially won the best fan award! And I wont deny her the title at all! In fact, if anything, I love her a little more for her loyalty even after all these years.

F is for Friends and Family

Family has been very important to me for a long time and has always taken priority over everything else. Needless to say, so have friends. I do not have 876554 friends on my FB profile but I have a few VERY good friends. In fact,  I can almost count them on my fingers. When I count my blessings,  I  would count my family and friends first. But I digress. This post is about something else.

When I was expecting Pickles, like all expectant moms, I had a plan. My in-laws were supposed to arrive at the end of the 8th month to have the baby shower and stay on until a week or so before the due date. My parents would arrive just as the in-laws would leave and then stay on for a couple of months. So, in any case, the plan was to have either set of parents around when the baby came. But Pickles, I guess, had other plans.

So, when I was somewhere in my 8th month of pregnancy and having a good time with friends, I thought I felt my amniotic fluid (water bag) leak and went to see my doctor at the hospital. Just to be safe, they admitted me and said I had to be on bedrest until the baby came. The baby, however, did not want me to be on bedrest for too long and arrived that very night!(more on that on another day). His arrival caught R and me totally off guard. We had not even decided on a name for him, not to mention, done any baby shopping for him at all. Since he was premature, he had to be in the NICU for a couple of weeks. I, on the other hand, was discharged the next day. I had no family around to help. I had a tiny baby in the NICU, who I had no clue what to do with. And I came back home from the hospital, minus the bump but without a baby. It goes without saying that I was terribly depressed.

I had no clue what I was going to do now. My parents couldn't travel immediately due to my dad's health and for reasons I can't remember, neither could my in-laws. In some sense, I was glad that Pickles was in the NICU, because had he been sent home, I would have freaked out because I had absolutely no idea how to take care of him.

When I came home, I had my friend, A, who did a small ritual to welcome me home, like my mum would have, had she been with me. I remember being so touched, that I held on to her and bawled my eyes out. She left after making sure I was ok and that I had food and after giving specific instructions to R about how to care for me. In the next few days, I went to A's place for several meals like she insisted. The only thing I kept doing was pumping breastmilk like I was advised to, every three hours, and promptly ferry it to the hospital, so that they could feed Pickles. It also helped that A lived closer to my hospital, so travelling back and forth was not so hard, between pumping sessions.

The next few days after that are like a crazy dream. Days just whizzed past with repeated daily visits to the NICU and trying to do some preparation to make  the home ready for the baby. It was at this point that my other friend P, who had her hands full with a 5-month old and another toddler, made sure she sent home-cooked meals for me. Not only that, she made sure she cooked nutritious food like she was given when she had just given birth. How she managed all this with two kids, is really beyond me. Even though I told her I was ok, she just kept sending food until the family arrived.

In between this, I had another friend, Sayesha, who went one step further. Because she lives far away from us, she decided she could not do much from being afar. She arrived with her little girl, Xena and stayed with us for a few days. She cooked meals for me, gave me moral support and also helped me shop for the gazillion things that needed to be bought for the baby. Since she had been through a similar ordeal, her being there provided a lot of comfort for me. At this point, I have to mention Xena, who was my personal stress buster. Having her around helped distract me from the yoyo of depression that I was going through.

Those few days were the hardest days of my life. Watching my little helpless baby in the NICU, dealing with the health issues that come with having a premature baby, dealing with the feelings of guilt that I was somehow responsible for his early arrival, all this was not easy. But I pulled through, thanks to my friends! Eventually, the in-laws arrived just on the day we were supposed to bring Pickles home. Later on, Sayesha even had a post-baby baby shower for me, because I had missed my baby shower. Do I have the greatest friends or what?!

I remember speaking to my mother everyday. She herself was feeling very depressed and helpless because she could not be there. And I would give her detailed accounts of what I ate and what I did etc. She always said "You are blessed to have friends like these. With them around, I'm sure you don't miss family at all." I am indeed blessed. I remember that when I came to Singapore, I used to think I'll never feel at home here. Now, I think, I feel at home and it is not because I'm used to the place. It is the people I met here, my friends, my family!