Valentine's Day

Red , Red and Red every where. Teddies, Chocolates,flowers,gifts, Why can't every day be valentine's day?

I am always hyper on Valentine's day/Friendship day/Mother's Day etc etc(I guess you get the idea:-). I try to reason myself by saying its just another day, but, I am never able to control my excitement. It was the same even before meeting Sudhir and when I did not have a Valentine. Now, I am more excited because I have a valentine :) Sadly, we could not be with each other today as he had to travel on work.

I saw a couple wearing red and exchanging gifts in the bus, Office meeting was fun with people talking about their plans and I find a cute bouquet waiting for me when I return from work . I treat myself by cooking a special dinner and having it all alone yet excited that it is Valentine's day! Stupid isn't it.

My Childhood friend...

I don't know why I started thinking about this friend of mine. It has been ages since I have spoken to her.

I remember our childhood days. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I always wanted to look like her(though I knew I could not). She used to come to our house to talk to me and we would talk about anything and everything under the sun. She was older than I, but it never was a problem. I would try to understand when she spoke about marriage/kids and she would bear with my school stories.

I have the bits and pieces of memory from those days..

We used to watch tv endlessly at my place/hers (That explains why I was never into any sports).
We used to enact this stupid song every time it played on tv.
We had a favorite recipe i.e Top Ramen noodle. (That was all we knew to cook)
We used to study together(ya!!true)
We were crazy about cricket. South Africa was her favorite and I struggled to find a team other than India .
I used to get jealous when she went to meet another friend of hers in our neighborhood.
We used to do many stupid things and laugh about it
We had promised about meeting back after 10 years and still be the same
We talked of marrying the same guy!;) so we could be together.

Things changed once I started my college and she got married and moved. Though she used to come to her place once in a while, we started having trouble finding a common topic for us. Sadly, cell phone was not an option those days and I was too lazy to write to her. I was too young to understand the value of friendship.

Now after may be 10 years, we are so apart but memories still make me smile. I realize now, she was my first best friend.

Sister of my heart- Review

In the Library, this novel caught my eye. I did not think twice before picking it up when I saw that it is from an Indian Author. I was hooked on to it from the moment I started reading it.

Story is about two cousins born on the same day, Sudha and Anju. Along with the birth date, they also shared a misfortune of losing their father on same day. Raised by their mothers and an aunt, they had to lead a life fearing the society and trying to live up to the expectation of well known family in Calcutta. Their childhood passes by being inseparable from each other, sharing everything they had until Sudha comes to know about the secret of their birth. From this time on, Sudha makes sure Anju gets all the happiness so much so that she even sacrifices her love for it. Story takes a turn when they get married and separate. How the circumstances divide their loyalty between friendship and their new families, how they survive the difficult times of their life and love each other unconditionally just the way when they were kids is the backbone of the story.

I loved the narration by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. This novel makes you feel the love Sudha and Anju share in each and every page. I read many pages with tears in my eye, when Sudha was forced to get married/abort a baby, Anju has a miscarriage because she works too hard to support Sudha with her struggle to fight against the world to keep her baby alive.

The novel talks about all the hardship women go through,yet how they manage to survive for their loved ones. Book is all about Love,Sacrifice friendship and Loyalty. A must read.