ROSHAN’S ELEVEN : 11 Things I Expect In A Good Friend

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Here is my criteria or just the top 11 for what I believe is needed to be a good friend.

  • Do not preach or offer unwanted advice but be supportive and offer suggestions. And support them no matter what decision they take.
  • When your friend is down & upset, be there in person with beer or in spirit with cheer
  • Humour
  • Loyalty
  • Have their back
  • Laugh at their jokes
  • Tease them horribly
  • Never let lent or borrowed money come in the way of your friendship
  • Get to know their family
  • Offer a ear that listens & a shoulder to cry on
  • Once in a while join in one of their activities which you have no interest in but hey – he/she is your friend

That’s all I got so far!

Kramer In Kozhikode (Calicut)

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I can’t believe I never posted about this before. Well, this post is courtesy of my current tv series watching schedule. I am currently watching or I should say rewatching, the entire Seinfeld series starting from season 1. I have watched Seinfeld on cable tv before but it was a few episodes here and a few episodes there so I haven’t seen more than….let’s say 50% of the episodes. Now in the beginning I didn’t think much of Seinfeld as a show but it was being shown, 5 nights a week, on Indian cable tv just before FRIENDS and I loved FRIENDS. I have learned to have a much better appreciation of Seinfeld since then and hence the watching of the series.

So now to the actual post, back in 2002-03 I live in Calicut (the city has officially changed it’s name to Kozhikode but I still prefer & use the old name of Calicut) for a total of 8 months while I was under the employment of a now defunct company based in that city. While there I stayed in a single room in a lodge and I had two of my colleagues also living in the same lodge. Most mornings we’d meet outside the gate and go to a small mess right opposite our lodge for breakfast and then take a bus or share an auto to the office. In the evening we’d either go to the mess or one of 3 small restaurants within walking distance from the lodge. At one of these restaurants, which we preferred because the food, though more expensive, was the best we’d meet Kramer.

Not the actual Kramer ofcourse but the waiter who usually served us bore a striking resemblance in looks, height but mainly in hairstyle to Cosmo Kramer (played by the actor Michael Richards). And this waiter was weird, looked like he had slept in the clothes he was dressed in, hadn’t combed his hair since the mid 90s and was a bit rude and obnoxious not just to us but to other customers as well. When I first saw the guy, I did a commendable job of not shouting “Hey, look it’s Kramer” and later explained to my two companions as to who Kramer was (they hadn’t seen the show) and hence we always referred to the waiter as Kramer. Towards the end of my stay in Calicut and me and another colleague had gone to the restaurant and at the end of our meal, I explained to the waiter about who Kramer was and that he bore a striking resemblance to the funny character.

He seemed to like that a lot and he actually smiled for us – first time we had ever seen him smiling!

Buds & Mother India

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Two incidents from around the year 1997 comes to my mind. The first one I was with a friend of mine and we were walking down the road after classes at NIIT and were waiting for a bus. Suddenly my friend started flicking his ear and told me that something like a tiny insect had flown into it and it was irritating his ear. So we cross the street and went to a small store – where you get snacks, some groceries, soft drinks and tea/coffee.

He asked the guy at the counter for some “buds” (meaning cotton buds to clean his ear) and the guy turns around and gets something from a shelf behind and asks “Is this to for here or do you want me to wrap it for you?” and my friend replies “No, it’s for my ear as I want to clear our something that went in!” And the guy at the counter stops in his tracks, dumbfounded, holding two bread buns in his hands -cause that’s what he had heard, buns instead of buds, and he was wondering what kind of person would shove a bun into his ear! :D

The second incident must have happened a few months later; a cousin & I had traveled by bus from our ancestral home in Mattancherry to Aluva where our uncle lives. We were there to take his car and drive it back to Mattancherry as another uncle wanted to borrow it for a few days. So we drove the car back and joining us was another cousin from the house in Aluva. On the way we stopped for a bite to eat and a soft drink and my older cousin wanted to buy smokes too. So we stopped at a small shop by the road side and ordered some snacks.

One cousin wanted a 7up and the other wanted a Pepsi and I told the boy, about 13-14 years old at the counter that I wanted a Mirinda. On hearing this the boy looked stunned and then went to consult with his father, the owner of the store. The dad came up to the counter and asked me “What did you want to drink?” and I repeated “I want a Mirinda”. The owner then laughed and said “Oh, ok, coming right up” and went back smacked his son on the head and said “He said Mirinda not Mother India!” My cousins and I were laughing at that for a long time!

Beer & Chinese Food With Anil & Madhu

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A year later we meet again – Madhu was back in India on a month’s vacation and he treated Anil & myself for dinner & drinks last night. Actually he had just reached Cochin early yesterday morning and took a long sleep and then called us up. I knew he was reaching Cochin early and thought he’d need some time to spend with his family and was surprised to get a call from Madhu at 6pm asking me to get ready by 7pm. Anil would pick him up on his scooter and meet me in the city.

So I changed my clothes and got ready and met them outside Center Mall but we ended up not going in there. Instead we debated and decide to go to Couchyn for some beer. So we enjoyed an hour or 90 minutes there drinking a few beers and some peanuts and also shared half a plate of chicken tikka. Couchyn, which is now one of the only few bars left open that we can go to, started filling up and by 8pm it was quite crowded, which is odd for a Tuesday night.

After what felt like a quick 90 minutes we left and then was debating where to go for dinner. We finally decided to go for some Chinese and after listing out the list of places decides to walk the 10 minutes to Chinese Garden in nearby Pallimukku. We had some hot n sour chicken soup, shared some noodles & fried rice with dragon chicken, shrimp manchurian and some other shrimp stuff that I cannot recall this morning! It was all good. It started raining a lot by 9pm and we were lucky that it started dying out by the time we finished dinner.

By around 10 pm we walked back to Couchyn because that’s where Anil had left his scooter. We stopped so that they could have a smoke (which is rare for them and I don’t smoke at all) and then I caught an auto to come back home. I was in my room, dressed in my night clothes by 10:30pm and watched some Fraiser till I fell asleep.

It’s My Party & I’ll Cry If I Want To!

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You’re throwing a party — for you! Tell us all about the food, drink, events, and party favours you’ll have for your event of a lifetime. Use any theme you like — it’s *your* party!

Let’s see. I haven’t hosted a party in many, many years. I’ve taken small groups of people out for lunch or dinner. One reason is mainly because my apartment, where I live in with mum & dad, is pretty small. If they were out for the day/evening, I’d be comfortable in hosting a little lunch / dinner party for a group of 5-10 people. That would be fine. Back when we were living in our old house in Thrikkakara, we used to have friends & family over for lunch or dinner quite often and we had a nice big living room / dining room combo so we could easily fit in 20-30 people if needed. But I only used to have people over for my birthday party or something like that, if it was just be throwing the party.

I remember one year – age 17, I think – I took permission from my dad & mum to invite 8 friends to a dinner for my birthday at the Cochin Suburban Club, where my dad has a lifetime membership. I remember I had injured my knee and hence was limping over to the place helped by a friend who lived near me. I love treating my friends out for lunch or dinner if I can afford it but there is a difference in having people over for a meal, even if it’s food that you’re catering from a restaurant. It feels different because it’s at your home, your table and chairs, your plates and you control the whole atmosphere in the place and can have your own music or put on a movie or two. My sister does a good job, usually for new years, in hosting a good casual dinner party with lots of snacks and drinks and good meals following the festivities with desert.

I would love to have some music playing – song list chosen specifically for the occasion – some snacks like chips, chicken, fish, beef or shrimp as appetizers, drinks (vodka, brandy, beer, whiskey, rum and coke, sprite, pepsi & 7up) and for main course it will be fried rice, some noodle, two types of chicken dishes, some pork, some sea food and maybe some lamb. All the while, laughing and cracking jokes. Some games that involve everyone and a fun movie that everyone will love (comedy, adventure, action or scifi). Desert will follow and people will relax in the sofas and be as comfortable as possible until late in the evening when it’s time for people to go back home. Simple and yet for me it would be very satisfying.

Prompt by the Daily Post at WordPress.com.

Juices & Biriyani With Alapatt

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Had a day out today. I meant to just go out for an hour or so and pay my internet and phone bills but as I was finishing breakfast my close buddy Anil Alapatt called me up and said he was on leave and in town and would I be free to hang out for  few hours. I said yes and I went to Bay Pride Mall (a little late but better than never) and met him at the entrance. Now it is a freakingly hot & humid day, as the weather has been brutal for the past couple of weeks and we were thirsty and tired. We went to the food court and bought fruit juices; he had a watermelon juice and I had something called a “sunrise” which is orange+musambi mix.

We sat at a table and waited for our drinks. We talked for almost 2 hours over there and enjoyed out cold drinks, which were delicious and refreshing and talked about a lot of stuff. We also called Madhu in Qatar and spoke to him for a while. At around 2pm we went across in the searing heat to Ceylon Bake House and ate chicken biriyanis and lemonades. Now a couple of things – most biriyanis in the hotels these days makes me depressed and the quality had dropped quite a bit. But hey atleast there were 3 pieces of chicken, which I rarely get these days in a single biriyani! The quality & quantity though leaves a lot to be desired.

Despite only going out in the sun for a few more minutes we were both tired and a bit scorched from the heat. Anil wanted to sit somewhere and talk and so we went to Coffee Beanz for something to drink. I went to pay my internet bill (the hub is 2 stores away) and then went to find Anil in the cafe. As Anil was nursing a cold he wanted hot coffee and I settled for a cold “lemon fizz”. They served me that which looked good but tasted bad! It honestly tasted like melted down lemon cough drops (like Strepstils or Vicks) mixed with soda and ice! I swear I am not making this up. I sent it back to add more soda and dilute that shit but it still was terrible and I could only finish half. We waited till 4pm and then went to the Marine Drive walkway for a few more minutes and then parted ways.

Buffet Lunch With My Buddy Anil

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I hadn’t seen my buddy Anil since October of 2013. I wanted to get together with him in December but with my injured foot I just couldn’t go out. Today out of the blue he wants to meet for lunch and called me at around 10:30 am to fix up a meeting. I said sure, I wasn’t doing anything so I could go and spend a few hours.

we met at around 11:30 at Menaka and walked across to Bay Pride Mall for coffee at the Abad Food Court (one of our favourite places to sit and chat over a cold drink or two). After a long chat, the place started getting crowded, so we went to the walkway and found a nice bench next to a shady tree and sat there for a while as we talked about recent stuff in both our lives.

By around 1:30 pm we were hungry and we looked around for a good place to have lunch that also served beer. We went over to Hotel SeaLord (a place where I’ve been to twice before but never had anything other than some beer and fish fingers) and found out that they also have a buffet. So we ordered a couple of Kingfisher Premium lagers and munched on some peanuts before going to try the buffet.

The buffet was reasonably priced at Rs.199 per head (most places have ridiculous prices) and so we went to try some food. The salad (with some kind of dressing that was really good) was delicious as were the honey glazed potato fries. The chicken was disappointing.

For round two we had rice (he had plain white rice while I had the disappointing, bland and a little cold vegetable pulao), poppadom and this time they had changed the chicken dish and it was a lot better with fish and some more of the potatoes. Overall it was ok, not much of a recommend from me. by 4:45 pm I was back at home.

My Facebook Friends – 2013 Year End!

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Last year I made a FaceBook friends poster image around this date. Since then I have added a few more friends and lost a few, it’s only fitting that I make another one.

To make your own click here! Here is my friends list – Indians, Canadians, Americans, a few Brits and a handfdul of assorted Europeans! A total of 562.

Reunion Of The Holy Trinity

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After a long gap of 21 months Madhu, Anil & I were meeting up like we used to do for so long. This gap is ofcourse because Madhu had moved to Qatar as he had got a job there in January 2012 and this is the first time he has been able to come back on leave. He is on leave for a few weeks but he has family commitments and a couple of weddings to attend in & around Kerala and we fixed today for the day that the 3 of us would meet for a get-together. Madhu treated us for his job and new life in the Arab nation of Qatar; he has a good job and a nice life there along with his wife.

Here is the man of the hour. We met up at Bay Pride Mall at around 10:45 am and sat there for a couple of hours.

We had a little brunch while we sat at the Food Court of the mall. To drink we had Iced Tea while Anil had a cold coffee.

We ordered some sandwiches from one of the stalls. Not a good sandwich, it felt a bit stale.

We then made out way to the lounge bar Couchyn which is at the Grand hotel and look at Anil all cool & hip.

We started off with Long Island Ice Teas and split 2 bomber bottles between the three of us. Wes at there for about 90 minutes.

We then made our way to Volga Bar and restaurant in Kadavanthara. We ordered a lot of food among and had 3 rounds of drinks each (brandy for them, vodka for me).

Among the many dishes we shared were garlic prawns (which I never eat) and chilly pork (below).

By 6pm we made our way back to Bay Pride Mall and went to the walk way behind Marin Drive. First we had small ice cream cones (they had Spanish Delight while I had Black Currant). We then walked about for a bit, sat at different places to catch our breath.

It was a lovely evening as the sunset and I took a few snaps as the three of us talked and joked and laughed.

By 7pm we went to get cups of coffee and then 20 minutes later we called it a night and left for our respective homes. It was great to see Madhu again after such a long time. We might get to see him next only by April 2014.

Matrimonial Merry-go-round!

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Write about a time when you gossiped about someone or something and you got in trouble for it.

Well not really gossiped about it and I didn’t get into any trouble at all but there was this once incident back in 2007 or was it early 2008. At the place where I worked one of my colleagues, who I was good friends with had transferred back to Bangalore (the city he lived in and from where he was temporarily transferred to Cochin when the office here was started) after 6 months here. I kept in touch with him as much as I could (he would do odd stuff like call me at 3 am after he had been drinking all night to shoot the shit!). He had a girlfriend in the Cochin office, a woman who had moved to Cochin from another city. They had an affair going on and everyone thought that they would get married to each other soon (even though they had only seen each for 6 months).

A few months after he had left we began to hear stories about his life and past. He has already been married once and gotten divorced and then was with this other chick for a while before he meet our common colleague. However we still thought that they would still married once she got a transfer to the same city where he lived. And then I got to know from a very reliable source that this guy was currently already married! Since the information was from a reliable source I wasn’t quick to dismiss it as a rumour but I wasn’t sure. He was a friend but how do I ask him? So I did the next best thing – or so I thought at that time! I casually asked a mutual friend if this was true. She said she wasn’t sure but that she had also heard the same thing. And you know what she did – she went and told the other colleague that I was asking everyone around the office if my friend was married!

She came to meet me and said that she was “appreciative” of my concern but that the rumour was not true. I said ok and cursed the other stupid colleague who went and babbled to this colleague. But hey – it turns out that there was some truth to it! The two of the got together and did get married but it turned out that the marriage was declared void as he was still married legally to his second wife!! Holy crap that was a mess. I still reel from all the stuff that went around in their life but it isn’t my shit to be bothered with. I’m still friends with him but lost contact with her after a while – she kept her Facebook relation status as “it’s complicated”! Yeah, no shit genius! Anyway they weren’t a match for each other so all’s well that ends well I guess. He is single now!

Fancy A Blog Switch Mike?

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If you could switch blogs with any blogger for a week, with whom would you switch and why?

I don’t really want to switch blogs with anyone, rather I’d want to make mine a lot better, a lot more popular and a lot more glamorous. However if there simply must be an answer, well I guess I’d like to switch blogs with only one blogger and that’d be Mike Boon aka Toronto Mike from www.torontomike.com!

Once you have checked out his blog a bit, you should know why but if not I’ll spell it out for you….really slowly cause you must be slow (no just kidding). Mike has been blogging at his blog since November 2002. I’m not sure about this but I think he’s also blogged at another blog before this. The reason I say this is because I first started blogging in October of 2002 (using a blogspot account) and I’m pretty sure that Mike’s was one of the first blogs I read which made me want to go start blogging myself. I can’t be sure of that and I guess I just have forgotten to ask him or put a comment in one of his posts.  Anyways as far as I can remember I’ve been following his blog, reading & commenting on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

I will admit to having been inspired by one of his weekly posts – he used to have a Friday Five (top 5 lists of various things) that he used to post earlier but hasn’t in a few years. This was the inspiration for me to start my Roshan’s Eleven (a pun on Ocean’s Eleven) posts that I do from time to time. He blogs a lot about things I like including tv shows, music (Pearl Jam, The Tragically Hip being among his favs), movies, etc etc. Also he gives me a taste of Canadiana in the form of posts, photos & videos from time to time. He also gets to try out different gadgets, a couple of cars as well and gets free tickets for sports events and some other free stuff from companies because of the popularity of his blog and for his reviews. That is awesome. Also I am a big fan of his & Rosie’s banter on The Toronto Mike’d podcasts. Oh yeah – he also does podcasts – he hosts 2 and produces 3.

So if I do get to switch blogs with anyone, it will be him. Because, and big props, I’d get to be in Canada for a week. Yeah I know it’s only Toronto (not Vancouver or Ottawa or Montreal) and also I’d be close friends with his good friend Rosie of My Toronto Scoop! Anyway, thanks Mike for some inspiration, a lot of entertainment and keep blogging & doing podcasts.

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Lady Banana Hits 300 Comments

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For those of you who frequent the blog you’d know that I have a regular reader & commenter named Lady Banana. She’s an English lady from London and she is awesome. She blogs at Lady Banana and has been a long time blog, email & twitter friend of mine. She’s always been there for me ever since I’ve known her; whenever I feel down if I reach out to her, I know she will make me feel so good about myself. Not surprising as she is also a longtime nurse, a profession that I have a lot of respect for.

That Diana has stuck with being my friend for this long is something I consider to be cherished. I just love her so much. She is my cheerleader and she is so kind and sweet.

She has two cats Mabel & Freddy and has a daughter and a son and a grandson. Check out her blog when you do get the time.

Q1. State your name, location and what you do for a living?

Name – Diana – better known as Lady Banana

Q2. Do you remember how you came to know about Awake & Dreaming?

I really don’t remember, I seem to have known Roshan forever, in the nicest possible way :)

Q3. How often do you visit my blog?

I visit 2/3 times a week, sometimes just in my feed reader.. Often I’m too tired, lazy or at work – don’t tell the boss, lol, so I can’t always comment as much as I could/should.

Q4. What is it that you like so much about Awake & Dreaming that you visit frequently and post a lot of comments?

I like the mix of posts, sometimes personal about yourself, some about sport and movies and books.

Q5. What are the kind of posts that you like the most in my blog?

I like your personal posts the best, the ones that help me get to know the real you, your likes and dislikes :)

Q6. Is there any topic that you would want me to blog about (that I haven’t yet)?

Just keep on doing what you’re doing, you do it so well :)

Choose the following

Q7. Admit it: you have a big crush on Roshan and that is why you are here a lot : Choices (true/very true/absolutely true/damn right it’s true/hell yeah and I’m proud of it! :)) ).

Q8. This is for you; say anything you like and I’ll post it here (cause you deserve it)

Your’s is the blog that makes me happy when I open my reader and see you have posted!

You are a good friend, far far away but I know that if I ever need a natter, a cheer up then Roshan is there for me. Long may it last {kiss kiss kiss}

Hope the answers are ok, and here’s to the next 300 comments.. (They are more than ok Diana, they are excellent)

Breaking Apart

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A couple of days ago I went to have dinner with a couple of my friends – let’s just say that their names are Guy & Gal. Guy & Gal are married to each other for the past three years, I have known then for 8 years and for most of that time they have loved each other. Until recently it seems.

Along with us for the dinner were Gal’s brother – who I barely knew & their female cousin who was also a friend of mine. The hostility between Guy & Gal was so obvious that it ruined what was supposed to be a reunion of friends. I hadn’t seen any of them in a long time and I was really looking forward to a great evening. I was filled in on the details of the rift between the married couple by their cousin. She has called me from her cell just before I left the house to join them for the dinner and gave me the shock of my life when she told me that it looked like the marriage was heading for a divorce! She told me just so that I wouldn’t feel weird sitting there and seeing two old friends take snipes at each other during the entire meal. Gal’s brother is either not aware or blind to the whole sorry situation or he does not care….or perhaps he is masking his emotions behind a facade. It did seem funny to me that he was very quite throughout the whole evening and just sipped at his two beers. I could barely finish my beer & eat half of my dinner, which was actually quite well prepared.

The sad part is although divorce is nothing uncommon now, I can remember when these two couldn’t bear to be apart. I helped them a bit along the way to their marriage and was happy to bask in their love, which I thought was forever and atleast thought that in the likelyhood that I would never get married I could always depend on my friends being happy.

The 5 People

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Jim Rohn once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. If this is true, which five people would you like to spend your time with?

I have a friend who lives in Bangalore. Not only is she very sweet & a nice person but she makes me feel good about myself. Plus we enjoy a very flirtatious yet totally platonic relationship & friendship. Currently she is one of the few girls who receive – and has even appreciated & asked for – my flirting skills.

I have two friends I used to very close to. Asha & Catherine – both girls and both who I have treated like they were closer than sisters to me. I miss them terribly and I know I was & still could be special in their hearts. Due to circumstances, they both moved away with families a few years ago and we lost touch for a while. And now once in a while I get a comment on Facebook or a “hello” here and there. I wish it were much more. They are really special girls and I wish I could be as close as we were before. Sorry – women!

Anil & Madhu : Madhu is now living / working in Qatar and hence I do not get to see him. When we was here the three of us were a trio (I compare us to Kirk, Spock & McCoy) and get together for drinks & dinner once a month or so. These two are my best friends and I miss the fun we had till January 2012, which is when Madhu left for Qatar. I’d really want to spend a couple of evenings or more with the two of them each week if possible.

There are a whole lot more people, some who I haven’t even met that I want to spend time with too :)

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My 500th Facebook Friend Gift Giveaway

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500th friend give away. I’m at 499 friends on Facebook at the moment. Never thought I’d get that many. So I’m going to give away a gift.

The 500th friend request that I receive and approve (no duplicates please) will get a little gift from me. Whoever it may be (unless it’s someone I already know and do not like the person at all). Ofcourse you will have to send me your address so I can mail it to you. Who will it be?

Update: I went through my Facebook friends list and found 20 dead accounts in it and deleted / de-friended them. No need for that shit. And I’ve only gained one friend since then. The search for the winner is still on.

Boom! Selma Hits 500 Comments

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Most of you who regularly visit my humble blog know that there’s someone called Selma who comments quite often. This is Selma. She blogs at Selma In The City. She is a wonderful writer. She lives in Sydney, Australia. But she was born & lived in Scotland for many years. No she is not a cat, although she could be as graceful as one. And – she is my friend.

She is one of my strongest cheerleaders and such a wonderful, positive & vibrant woman that just a comment, email or reading something that she has blogged brings a huge smile to my face. The fact that this awesome person continues to regularly visit me and is my friend boggles my mind but I love that she does and I love her.

Also, she states a great truth in question # 7 :P that I have suspect for so long :D

Q1. State your name, location and what you do for a living?

My name is Selma Sergent. I live in Sydney, Australia and I am a freelance writer.

Q2. Do you remember how you came to know about Awake & Dreaming?

I came to know about your blog through the wonderful and amazing Meleah Rebeccah from Momma Mia, Mea Culpa.

Q3. How often do you visit my blog?

I visit your blog several times a week when new posts appear in my reader.

Q4. What is it that you like so much about Awake & Dreaming that you visit frequently and post a lot of comments?

I like hearing about life in India, the music and your sense of humour. I also agree with a lot of things you say.

Q5. What are the kind of posts that you like the most in my blog?

I like the ones about your family as well as music and TV shows you like.

Q6. Is there any topic that you would want me to blog about (that I haven’t yet)?

Maybe the local sights of your town, places to visit…stuff like that.

Choose the followingQ7. Admit it: you have a big crush on Roshan and that is why you are here a lot : Choices (true/very true/absolutely true/damn right it’s true/hell yeah and I’m proud of it).

Yes. It’s true. The real reason I visit Awake & Dreaming is because I have a HUGE crush on Roshan. But doesn’t everyone????

Q8. This is for you; say anything you like and I’ll post it here (cause you deserve it)

8. You have become a really good friend to me, Roshan (even though we have never met.) I enjoy hanging out with you in the blogosphere and hope we continue to do so for many years to come. Hope I hit 1,000 comments someday.

Thank you Selma – I hope you do hit 1000 someday. I really consider myself lucky to call you a friend even if I have never met you. But if do get the chance I will visit Sydney and pop in and say hi. I hope 2013 is your year and I will be cheering from the sidelines in full team Selma colours all along!

A Dream Come True For Two

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I met a former colleague & friend this evening. It was purely by chance that we met, both of us having decided on our own to go to the Abad Food Court in Bay Pride mall to get a burger, fries and pepsi each. Chance meeting – in my case because my lunch sucked and after eating it I was still hungry and was craving for a burger. So after work I took the bus to Menaka and got down there at around 6:15pm and went to Bay Pride and strolled in and using my card bought a classic chicken with fries and a pepsi. I sat down and dug in as soon as my order got ready and I went to get my tray from the counter at Mary Browns. In a few minutes a familiar face came and joined me.

His name is Prince (can’t remember his last name) and we worked together in Aspin Wall back in 2003 for a little over 7 months. After that he has worked for a couple of HR Sourcing companies and now he is a working for the Indian branch of a US based company that deals in ERP, SAP and stuff like that which I don’t have much information about. Ok so, back in 2oo3 he has told us that he was planning to go to the US along with his brother. His mother & father had migrated to the US a couple of years earlier and his maternal uncles were already based in the US, both engineers and they had gone around 25-30 years back. With her brothers being well settled, having gained citizenship there, Prince’s mom was being badgered by them to join them in the US along with her family. Since her husband had a really good job in India they did not want to leave for many years but once their sons both finished college they decided to take the plunge and migrate. Unfortunately this was just before September 2001! Yeah and immigration for their sons became a big headache.

Prince and his brother have been trying for many years to go to the US and it is finally happening. This May their mother had applied for and received citizenship. Yay for her! The dad will apply soon as well. So now, all the paper work is done and things are cleared for a go. Prince & his brother will both be leaving for Chicago in 2 weeks. And Prince is also luckier since he gets to work for the same company that he is currently working for. I think he said that the main office is in Seattle but he will work out of Chicago for a while, working from home for the time being. His brother will have to start searching & applying once they reach there. But still, its awesome for them. I’m happy, jealous ofcourse and envious but still happy for them. All the success, is my wish for the two of them.