With tears in my eyes

A close friend's father passed away this morning. He was one of those fathers who was always approachable and was always so loving towards us. My friend's house was right behind our college and we would go to her house during lunchtime or after class. He would always greet a whole gang of us with a big smile, inquire about our families, feed us forcibly. Once I moved to US, the few times I saw him, he would ask about my life here and tell me stories of his time in Texas during Grad school. That's where our personal encounters stopped, but I have known my friend and her two sisters since kindergarten days. These three beautiful girls that called him Abba - looking at them, I can tell he was a wonderful father who championed his daughters to become strong women. I am sure he was a great grandfather, husband, brother, uncle, friend. His sincerity touched everyone who came in contact with him and everyone is going to miss him terribly. Jahangir uncle, I know you were suffering a lot lately, we still were not ready to let you go. Please keep an eye on us from up above, because without your watchful eyes, we feel lost. We are grown-ups now, we are meant to be independent, but who are we kidding!?! We would always be "Daddy's Little Girl" in our hearts. My heart goes out to my friend for her loss. Stay strong my dear! He is going to be looking out for you from a better place.

Things I want to teach my kids

1) If you have nothing positive to say, don't say anything
2) Always look for inner beauty in each and every person you meet  
3) There is no shame in honest work
4) Respect elders
5) Do your best for every thing without worrying about the consequences
6) Don't leave anything for tomorrow. Do it today cause tomorrow may never come
7) Travel, travel, travel

I have a feeling this might be a running list!

Dear Amanda Berry

I apologize on behalf of all decent human beings for the last 10 years of your life. However you look at it - 10 years/120 months/3650 days/87,600 hours/5256000 minutes/315,360,000 seconds - it's f*ing long time! I can’t begin to think the horror you went through. Ever since you kicked your way out the door and into our hearts, I have been obsessively reading every article I can find online. What a nightmare this must have been for you three! I can’t even think about you without tearing up. With a daughter of my own, I am trying to make sense out of this nonsense. How do I teach her to not trust anybody yet to keep trust in the goodness around us? How do I teach her to fight back in the face of adversity without losing hope? How do I teach her to have faith in herself when she doubts herself? How as a mother do I protect her from crazies out there? I can’t keep her in a bubble for long, though I sure would like to try. How do I let her go out there when I am scared of unknowns myself. I hope someday, I can tell her your story and show her after all that monster did to you, he couldn't break you down! What a lovely soul you are! Your courage makes me proud, your smiling face brings me hope that you will be ok. I pray life brings you ONLY happiness from today onward. Stay strong! Take care of yourself and know we are all very, very proud of you.

Link I am loving

Stumbled on this website somehow. Absolutely adorable!

You are my wild

Things that should not be discussed at work

We all know not to discuss religion, sex life, politics, money issues, health issues at work. Imagine my discomfort when I overhear a co-worker discussing bowel movement on the phone! Read on for more details!

I had to go to DC last week for a work meeting. I don't go to the DC office all the time. We have what we call "hotel cubes" for situations like this. So I'm sitting at my hotel cube with some other people that i don't know occupying nearby cubes. This guy starts chatting on the phone with someone. I'm usually very good at tuning out other people's conversation. This conversation however went on for a while and I started paying attention to what is being said. This is how the conversation went down:

Co-worker: "she has been constipated since the weekend! "
........
Co-worker: "no, it's not helping. I was sitting right next to her and I could tell she was in pain!"
Me thinking "TMI to be discussing at work"

Then I got busy with work. In between, I kept hearing "I don't want her to be girly. I want her to be playful"I
Me thinking "oh lord! Is he going to start discussing his sex life now!!??"

Co-worker: "she tries to grab my hand!"
Me thinking: maybe I need to take a walk to the kitchen! Oh I got it! I'll put on my headphone and pretend I'm listening to songs or something!

Co-worker: "love you mom! You should come soon to visit your new granddaughter"
Me thinking: "I seriously need to get my mind out of the gutter!!!!!!!"

Funny Car Sticker

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a weird sense of humor! That weird sense of humor was tickled pink this morning seeing this sticker on the car in front of me ;-)

Calculator Trick

Raffae's class celebrated "Electronics day" the other day - its an incentive for kids to be on their best behavior and being able to bring an electronics to school one day. Sadly, most everyone comes to school armed with a Nintendo DS and spends the time playing with it. Raffae doesn't have a portable game device and was almost in tears that he doesn't have anything to bring to school and no one is going to share their DS with him. He wanted me to give him my iPad which was absolutely not happening! So I thought why not find some cool math tricks that he can use a calculator for and I had a feeling, it would tickle his nerdy side. I found some cool math tricks and showed them to him and he was in heaven! Now what I didn't show him is below! Try it out, won't you!!?? :-) .




(Type all the numbers in the parenthesis on your calculator)

There was this girl she was (13) years old. she wore bra size (84). she wanted to wear size (45). so She went to the doctor and he said (0) take these (2)(X) a day. She took them (4) times a day. and she ended up...



turn your calculator upside down to see the answer. Works best with regular calculator fonts. I know! I have a weird sense of humor! :-)

Lesson Learned

Went to Starbucks this morning on my way to work to get my coffee. I always ask for "Tall, regular coffee with room for milk" and they always give it to me full to the brim. As I was diligently pouring out some of the coffee in the trash can to make room for milk, the barista looked at me and said "Next time, ask to pour the coffee in a Grande cup so you don't have to waste good coffee."

I am in utter shock over all the good coffee I poured out over the years!

Boohoohoo!!!

I ADORE Sarah Jessica Parker, but this article just might have put a chink in the statue.

Sarah Jessica Parker reveals perils of cheap shoes

She can obviously afford the finer things in life, but to talk about it openly while the women going to watch her film is actually wearing the "cheap shoes" she is bad-mouthing - not a good strategy. On the other hand, that explains the sixth toe on my left foot! 

New Project

It is supposed to be a loop scarf. This pic was taken couple of days ago. I have about 2 more inches now. :-)

Ask Who I Am, Not What

Just recently, I had a conversation with a friend who said even though she was born and brought up in USA, she constantly gets asked "Where are you from?", not "What is your ethnic background?". Her offense? The color of her skin. When I heard about the Race Card Project on NPR this morning, I thought of that conversation first. Listening to some of the stories that have been collected over the past two years for the project, I was reminded of this incident. We are lucky that we live in a diverse community and I truly believe no one around me is biased by race, but then there are those little things people say that gets me once in a while. At International Night at kids school, we made a poster for weddings in Bangladesh. Someone asked "Where's the elephant?" Err...not all weddings have elephants! Actually, I dont think I've been to any weddings that had elephants! If you are going to use Indiana Jones movies as your sole cultural reference to South East Asia, I don't have much to say to you! Then there's always the "How did you learn to speak English?" In Bangladesh, by going to school once I was done fetching water and food from the jungle! Thank you very much! How do we break down these cultural barriers? There are people I know who are very interested to know about my background and they are not afraid to ask questions. They are truly the minority. May be its time I volunteer to the PTA and start a open discussion on Diversity among parents. I truly believe its much better with our kids. They are growing up in a multicultural environment and they accept that different people have different backgrounds, stories. Raffae's class just did a project on immigration and I thought that was very cool. We need more projects like that on a bigger scale!




My Six Word Story:



Judge me once you know me

Hairy Situation!

Zoya tells me the other day that she doesn't like the fact that she is the only girl in her class who has hair on her arms! My dad's side of the family is a hairy brood and I guess I have passed it down to her! I alone have kept many a different beauty product companies in business by getting rid of unwanted hair over the years, but she is too young to be starting now! Or is she? I told her she is too young to be starting these type of things at second grade when she informed me one of her classmates gets her hair dyed blonde! Really?!?! Why?!? In second grade?!?! Wow! However, I'm still not budging. I've removed my razor from the shower so she all of a sudden doesn't put two and two together. I don't think she knows about the other products I have under the sink. Lets see how long I can hold her off!

What do you think? Too early? (She is 8) When did you start? (I got my first threading done at 18!!!!) What was the first thing you tried?

And I am back...............

I've been itching to come back to blogging for a while now. Had a little down time today and thought why not start today. Its been a while - some things are still the same, some has changed for the better I hope. The kids have grown into little (pre) tweens, hubby is doing well. I like to think I've matured over the last couple years while I have been gone from the blog world. Celebrated the big 40, feel calmer, very comfortable in my own skin :-), have friends and family I am proud of, reading again now that I don't have diaper duty anymore! A good place to be in and I am grateful for that.

So, if you are a new reader, here's an ABC Meme on myself. If you are a follower/subscriber, here's to refreshing your memory!

A. Age: 41
B. Bed Size: Queen
C. Chore you hate: Tidying up!
D. Dogs: Not a dog fan. Not a cat fan either. Not a pet fan. Period!
E. Essential Start to the day: My cup of tea
F. Favorite Color: Black and White
G. Gold or Silver Jewelry: Silver
H. Height: 5'2"
I. Instrument you play: Does Harmonium count?
J. Job Title: Applications Development Analyst
K. Kids: Two. Son - Raffae. Nerdy, omnivourous reader, cub-scout, video game afficionado. Daughter - Zoya. Drama queen, very good at drawing, future pianist, omnivorous eater, video game afficionado (kicks raffae's butt pretty regularly)!
L. Live: Maryland and love it
M. Movie I last watched - Silver Lining Playbook (in theatre), 5 Year Engagement (on tv)
N. Nicknames: Lubna, Vejal, Buno
O. Overnight Hospital Stays: 8 years ago when Zoya was born. Didn't sleep a wink the whole night cause drama queen was in full blown performance mode!
P. Pet Peeves: When people don't put things back to its original place after using
Q. Quote from a movie: Err...Expelliarmus!!!!!
R. Reading (currently): Swallows of Kabul by Yesmina Khadra
S. Siblings: One. Sister. Canada. Two cute nephews
T. Time it takes you to get ready: Without shower - 10 minutes, with shower - 30 minutes
U. Ultimate Vacation: What can I say. I love travelling. Every time I get to go to a new place and experience the culture is my ultimate vacation!
V. Vegetable you hate: None really
W. What makes you run late: Kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
X. X-Rays you have had: Do sonograms count?
Y. Yummy food that you make: Lot of things :-) I'm a decent cook
Z. Zoo animal: Giraffae? Panda? Dolphin? Lion? I dont know. I'm not a pet person, but I like going to zoos!

Learrn anything new? Did any answer surprise you? I'd love to read your ABC meme if you have a blog or you can leave a comment with your answers!

She has a point!

So Zoya doesn't want to shower today. When I told her she doesn't have a choice, she went into the bathroom and slammed the door. I made her open the door and asked her why she slammed the door. Her answer: "I read in National Geographic that you are more likely to be in a bad mood on a Thursday. Today is Thursday. So I must be in a bad mood"! Kids!!!

Leave the girl alone!

Never did I think I'd write about Aishwarya Rai, let alone defend the beauty queen. She had been vilified in the indian press recently about her weight gain during her first pregnancy. I heard there is a video up on youtube with her post-pregnancy images where they used an elephant stomping sound in the back. Really?! I can understand people raising an eyebrow when they see her now, after all, the girl used to look like a goddess!

But to actually call her out in public like that is just shameful! The first days of motherhood is a special time. She should be doting on the gorgeous baby girl she has. If she wants to take her time to lose the weight, leave her alone people! She finally looks human, feels human, let her be human.

Some ranting

I find it hard to accept when I hear someone killed himself/herself. Even worse is when I hear a father killed the whole family and then killed himself. Seriously – what can be sooo bad that you have to take a life/lives? If you have the courage to kill your innocent 4-5 year old kids, what is out there that you can not face? I’ve seen multiple cases recently where the family is losing their homes, losing jobs and then as a last act of desperation, killing the whole family and themselves. Why?!!! Why?? Why?? People get set on a type of a lifestyle and they just can not see themselves living a lesser of a lifestyle. Atleast that’s one reason I see behind these killings. When did we become so vain?

P.S. This and this prompted this post. And I just found this!!! God help us!