What's up? May 2013

'What's up?' - This will be a series of posts that I have thought of writing every month. The posts in this series will include my schedule insha'Allah for the particular month. What am I currently reading, practicing, planning, doing, cooking etc etc! So here we go with the first post of the series for the month of May! Let's see what I'm upto this month!

May has always been my favorite month of the year! You'll know why as you read further! ;) So currently I am -

Thankful : To the Almighty for blessing me with such a good family, especially for my son who just turned one. Seeing him learn & do new things each day gives me immense happiness & a reason to thank for being able to experience it.

Watching : I am an avid fan of Korean shows from the time I came to NYC. Currently, I just started with this show called 'Gu family book' - watched the first four episodes & loving it! Hopefully the awesomeness continues in the future episodes too! Other than that watching the series 'Scam city' on the Science channel. It's a truly amazing show and you MUST watch it if you are accessible to the channel. It's a show about scams going on in major cities of the world. Already three episodes have been aired which includes Rio , Delhi & Buenos Aires. You'll be shocked to see the tricks they use to dupe people! And ofcourse , The Big Bang theory, Yes dear, The king of Queens! ;)

Planning : For a week long vacation with my hubby & baby to Orlando, Florida! Woohoo! A week full of fun & excitement! Disney world, Universal studios, Sea world etc! Few days to go & I have to start with the packing! Last minute craziness is one thing which will never go out of me!

Reading : Parenting magazines, while I wait for our turn at the pediatrician's clinic :/
Seriously, I need to start reading a good book!! Any suggestions?

Wishing : For peace in the world. Period.

Missing : My family back in India & Canada. And yes, I miss spending time on my pc, thanks to my lil brat. It's like the moment he sees me on the computer chair, he runs to me screaming like the earth will swallow me!

Cooking : Lots of shrimps, Indo-Chinese food, wanna do some baking this month too! Hopefully I stick to my plans!

Laughing : At my son's dance moves when his favorite ads or cartoons come on tv!

Worrying : About the safety of my family at all times, especially when I have a son who is so naughty and keeps banging into stuff & knocking himself down!

Loving : The change in weather in NYC. Finally, it's time for some hotness! ;)

Focusing : On becoming a better Muslimah.

Excited : For the birthdays! Hubby & I share our birthdays this month! Teehee!

Anxious : About my driving test at the end of the month! Hopefully I pass the test! Pray-drive-pray-drive!

Craving : Manglorean Food & Shawarma! I miss them :(

Learning : To be happy with what I have, to be a good mother & a good wife :) Yeah, need to work on it constantly. Very important!

Enjoying : Every moment of my life, Alhumdulillah! :)

So how did you like this post? Would love to get your feedback on any improvements that I could make, any suggestions? And lemme know what's up with you guys this month!

Until then,
Stay safe, stay happy!

Only the boring get bored

"I'm so bored"

Isn't this something we say and hear so often?

Bored - Our definition to being bored is to not having anything exciting to do or rather not having ANYTHING to do. It's so easy how we just announce our boredom to ourselves and to the people around. I find myself in this situation pretty often and just go with the flow, meaning just continue getting bored. Little i do is, to take away that boredom and think of why is it that i'm actually getting bored.

Yesterday, i was at a talk at a college here in NY. This was something which i usually don't see myself doing. Not that i can't, but it's just that i never thought of doing it earlier. The entire trip from how i decided to attend the talk to the moment i got back home after the talk, was exciting. I was happy. I thought to myself - 'Why didn't i do this earlier?' In fact, i was even thanking the cousin who invited me to the event and asked her to invite me more to such talks, because i felt so good being a part of it and i definitely wanted to have more of it.

While we were getting back home, i came across something which i bet, was meant just for me.

This ad was put up inside the train in which we were travelling. I was standing opposite to it and when i read it, i was like "WOW, That's actually so true"!

Funny how we just say 'I'm bored' but don't reflect on the 'Why' part of it. There is sooooooooooooooooooo much (infinite 'O's could be added in there) to do,  IF WE WANT TO. But no, we choose to be bored instead. Isn't that the easiest way out? Being bored is easy, to take away that boredom requires effort. And that's something a boring person would least care about.

Why am i bored?

It's because you aren't doing anything.

But I don't have anything to do! ANYTHING!!!

Really?

Congratulations! You are being conferred with the... 'Boring' title.

No, Seriously!

It's upon us what we choose to do and how we choose to be. There is such a wide world outside our homes and inside as well, courtesy, the internet. Yet, we choose not to explore both.

Let's  go out, explore our neighborhood, explore our city. Every walk we take down that street, would be something new. We would see new people, learn new things. We wouldn't even realize that we are learning, but trust me, we do. There are so many events going on around us, let's strive to be a part of it, let's make an effort to engage in the community, the society that we are in in our own small ways. Talking to someone, even giving a smile, gives us a kind of happiness, at least for me it does.

Being on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc and refreshing feeds over and over again is not a way to take away boredom. In fact, i feel that's boring! Let's try using our time well. Internet has so much good to offer if we want to take it up. That hobby, that interest of ours, let's take a shot at it. We sure have a long way to go, but let's take that first step towards it. Seek knowledge about the Almighty, take up a course, DIY projects, write blogs, make videos (useful ones i mean), help someone, volunteer for good causes, meet friends and family, celebrate small achievements, smile, give a lot, share ideas, visit the library, READ, explore nature etc etc etc. In short, start getting better in any small way you can think of.

Saying this is easy, the difficult part is to execute it. But won't it be for our good? A little effort, a slight push is all it takes to get started. I got bored, i'm writing this post! ;) See, easy-peasie! :D Ain't it? You can do something else, something that you are good at and there is DEFINITELY at least one thing that you are good at. I bet my life on that! If there is nothing, that's even better! You can take up anything under the sun and start getting better at it! Coolio!

So the next time before you say 'I'm bored', think twice! You don't wanna be labelled as 'boring'! Do you?

The Virtual Messengers!

Living in a country far away from your homeland brings along a bunch of emotions. At the outset, you are very excited, want to explore the place around and on the other hand you miss your home country, your old life. And when the distance between the two countries is 13,289 km, it's even more complicated. You try to find things which will help you get adjusted in the new place and yet be connected to the old. That's when the  awesome saucesome messengers/networking sites come to rescue! Whoever coined the name messengers to these connectors, needs to take a bow!

Before being married, i use to have a Yahoo! messenger id but i would hardly use it. I used to live with my parents and siblings, so wouldn't need that to talk to them, though i see it happening now in some homes and it's gonna go up in the future!! Kill me if i'm wrong! To talk to my friends/cousins/neighbors, i had my mouth which would personally be present with me and i had my cell. More than enough. Way more than enough. Yahoo! would be used to chat/talk with folks who were geographically far, in the sense that i would need to travel at least few hours to talk to them personally. Adding to that i had an account on Orkut (Rest in Peace), Hi-5! (Don't even know why i had that), Hotmail Messenger ( I guess it was called that earlier) and other sidey sites whose names i don't even remember now.

And then i got engaged. Yahoo recovered its money.

We used Yahoo! Messenger (YM) to chat. Initially, Once a day, then multiple times a day. Oh Yeah, I should give credit to Gmail, for that was used to 'correspond' first. Gtalk was used rarely too. But Yahoo! Messenger takes the trophy. Firstly chats, then video chats. The emoticons were soooo cool and we would have so much fun using them in our chats. Aaah, what a beautiful phase that was. I always tell the 'Engaged-madly-in-love-couples' to enjoy the time from their engagement to the wedding, because that is seriously the best time of one's lives! Trust me on that! So yeah, there we were enjoying that phase and taking full advantage of the virtual messenger, Yahoo! The offline messages feature was used to its full capacity too, thanks to the distance between NY and India.

We got married. Enjoyed one month together until Darling Hubby (DH) was back in NY. And then Yahoo! was back in action too on our comps & smartphones. We were very happy with YM. The video quality was not that great but we were happy. Truly, Love is blind! LOL! 10 months passed by, i was finally in NY. Alhumdulillah! Yahoo! was again being used but to a different audience now. Audience, because now i added  family, friends, neighbors and everyone else whom i missed. Until one day Skype was downloaded.

A lot of my family/friends used to always tell me to use Skype but i was kinda loyal to YM and so i would say i'm happy with YM and don't see the need for Skype. But Alas! Kisi ki nazar lag gayi ( I actually think it was done by one of Skype's employee, Hmmn) that my YM was hacked and i couldn't log in. I was sad, i was furious. And i downloaded Skype. I guess it was the 'Let's-try-it-once' thing that made me do it.

Since that day to this, i have been using Skype. I asked my family to download it as well and they loved it too. Video quality was much better and i realized later as to how bad YM video quality was! LOL! No offence YM, i still have a soft corner for you, after all you were the one who was with me in the most beautiful phase. (i guess that's the reason i am still logged in to it through my phone, tablet and comp though i hardly ever use it).. So now we started 'skyping' daily.

And then came the mother of all. Whatsapp! Amazing, mind blowing app, which i know everyone who uses it ,will join me in giving three cheers to it. Hip hip hurray.. Hip hip hurray.. Hip hip Hurray! That changed so many things. Of course there was Facebook to be in touch with my friends but WA was so cool, so easy and so very convenient! Best part, i didn't have to search for anyone on it because the people who mattered to me were in my phone's contact list and so automatically i saw them on WA if they were on it too. I was so excited to be using WA. No one in my house back in India, had WA on their cells back then and so i told my younger brother to install it since he had a smartphone. And he did.

Voila! That began the series of sending pictures and videos of Zidaan, which wasn't so convenient earlier. Now, it was just click, Whatsapp and send. So very cool! Best part he would check it instantly and show it to my parents and other siblings. We started loving it so much. I would chat with my other contacts too and my love for WA grew every day. One day a friend of mine created a group on WA. Our BBM batch group. That brought in so much of fun!! Initially we were just a couple of us and now we are 27. Imagine the fun we all have together. The 27 of us are in different countries, different time zones  all living different lifestyles but one thing common is Whatsapp! It has made us close friends even closer now. The chat is on almost the whole day with someone or the other posting something. Of course we all have kept our notifications on mute, otherwise our phones would be buzzing the entire day and night! But believe me, this is the best way i have ever been connected to my friends.

Whatsapp has made us do things which we would have otherwise never done. The biggest of all, it made my dad change his phone!!!!!! My mom who was so fascinated by WA, started pestering my dad to get a smartphone too so that she could get access to her grand kid's pics and videos more often, sine my brother would be away most of the day at the office. And he did oblige! LOL! My dad was so loyal to his phone but   he didn't think twice when he had to change it. All because of Whatsapp! Now my dad, my bro and my sister all have WA enabled phones. Yes, i gifted my sister a smartphone last month while i was in India for her birthday! I couldn't have given a better gift as nothing beats the fun of having conversation with your sister ;)

As of now i have 86 contacts on Whatsapp who are all dear to me and with whom i chat regularly. I am part of 4 groups too ;) The fun we had on BBM group inspired me to start two other groups. Both close to my heart. It's the MBA group where i have my best buddies from my MBA class together sharing happiness and creating fun and the AAA group, which stands for Andaz Apna Apna. People who know me very well know my craziness for the movie AAA and i have my friends who are equally crazy about AAA in that group. Actually i met these friends on a AAA forum on orkut and we have been such awesome friends since then.
( I have a post due from so long about AAA, will write about it soon Insha'Allah) ;)

Whatsapp has made me close to so many friends and family like i have never been before. Of course being together personally, talking, having fun is the best, but this is no less! It's all thanks to technology which has made the world so small and life so much fun and easy. Being away from family makes one feel lonely at times but these app's and sites help us in living a happy life, keeping us close with our loved ones. I never imagined being so close to so many people in spite of me living so far away, but it has happened. And it is awesome.

From this day until the next, when some other masterminds create even more unimaginable app's that will make our world tiny, Let's all create happiness and spread love & peace around.

The 16 hour challenge..err..Journey!

Yaaaaaaaaayy! We are going to India!! It's my first trip back home after moving to NY, Zidaan's first EVER trip to his homeland, 70 days of fun, laughter, yumm food, family, friends!!! Boy! It couldn't get any better.

La..la ..la .. All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go,
I'm standing here outside your door,
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye..

Hey! Hey! What?! Zu, You sleeping?

 Aw, shucks! You ain't coming with us to India!! Nahiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....

*OMG, Why? How? Where? When? Who? WHAT??*

*Bhurrrrrrrrr.. You can do it, Naaz*

Yes, I'm gonna travel with my 7 month old brat.. I mean Baby, on a 16 hour flight to India, without my husband or anyone known to us! Woot! Cool! Super cool!

*Man, It's giving me the heebie jeebies already! How am i gonna handle this kid on such a LONG journey, ALONE?!*

Now the possible explanations to the WH questions!

Why? Cause my DH was so loving to have used up his vacation days during my delivery, when i needed him the most.. And of course, the vacation to Canada! When are we going back there! *Hugs*

How? How am i gonna manage with the static baggage and the mobile baggage (read Zidaan).How am i gonna entertain him throughout? How am i gonna make his food while having him on lap? How am i gonna get done with the airport formalities without having to run around behind Zid. How am i gonna eat? (Just Being human  here) , How am i gonna pacify him when he cries?!? *Pacifier Naaz, Dont forget to pack the pacifier*

HOW AM I GONNA MAKE HIM SIT IN ONE PLACE FOR 16 HOURS?!

Where? Where am i gonna feed him? Where am i gonna keep my luggage while i feed him, change him at the airport?

When? November 25, 2012 . NY- Dubai- Bangalore- Mangalore! 3 Flights.. Duration : Total time until i see my brother's waving hand at the Bangalore airport : 20 hours!!!

Who? Who will my co-passengers be? Will they be able to handle a hyper baby and a crying mom? *What a sight would that be*

Can i really pull this stunt off? Will i be able to reach home with my senses intact? Will the pilot, staff and passengers tell us to get off the plane mid way.. Oops! worse, mid air?!

Thank god for the airport at Mangalore, otherwise you would see breaking news on TV - "Baby lifts mother and runs around the airport"!!! Watch it LIVE!!

No joke this. Travelling alone with an infant is really a challenge people!

Faith in Allah (SWT) , A motivational talk by Zu, experiences by mothers who have traveled with their infants before and the Emirates website, awakened the challenging spirit within me, to take this up!

I MUST say, I was blessed. The prayers and the good wishes worked. The staff and people at JFK were so loving and caring. I didn't have to even touch my luggage, they looked after everything so well , plus they were so good with the Baby, playing with him, trying to make him laugh, while i got done with the formalities.

A special thanks to William Kent. William Kent who? The guy who invented baby strollers!!! How could i possibly achieved success in my challenge without his support? Okay, the stroller's support? On behalf of all the parents in the world whom you have kept sane, A big Thanks! We all love you! :D

Woot! Gate checked in the stroller! Entered the flight.

''Hello Ma'am. Ohhh.. Soooo cute he is"

Beginning.Of.Every.Conversation.I.Had.In.My.Entire.Trip.

25K - *Hope i get to see some old lady next to me who has a dozen kids and 3 dozen ULTRA HYPER grandkids*

Voila!!! Am i dreaming? Old lady it is!! A south Indian!!  Extra points!! *A silent prayer thanking God*

I get in to the row annnnddd 25K - Oops! Not a window seat! I get the middle seat! Awesome!!

Who is the other passenger?! OMG, Please take my test some other day!

I settle down in my seat after 5 minutes, Yeah, 5 minutes! I leave that to your imagination how i kept the bags, had Zid and me both sit comfortably, without giving the lady a trailor of our craziness.

It worked. A smile from the lady and a cheek-pull at Zidaan! An awesome start! And it got better.. Zid smiled back!Initially, I couldn't figure it out whether it was the 'Hello Lady, I'll make sure you enjoy the flight' smile or the 'Hey, I'll make sure you never sit next to a baby again' smile!

"Excuse me, Hi! I'm the window seat guy"

"Hi"!

*A guy in his mid twenties, looks like he tied up with his work & college, has absolutely no experience with the kids and must be looking forward to a peaceful sleep after ages* Damn!

Fun fact : Zidaan was more happy to see this guy than the lady. Again, for better or worse?!

Little conversations were held and it looked like we are kinda good to go. He was a Gujarati guy going to India for a wedding and Yes, He loves Kids! *Bonus points*

Alhumdulillah! We got going. And I can very proudly say, They were the best ever co-passengers i could, anyone could, ever ever ever ask for. I wish i could somehow tag them, to let them know they were so good to us. Ofcourse,  i did tell them at the end of the flight, but you know its something i cant stop thanking them for.

Thank you Lata Aunty & Snehal.

Now the person whom i owe my biggest Thanks to - My baby. Zidaan.

I could never have even imagined Zidaan behaving soooo well. He was calm, he was comfortable and more importantly, he was happy and so was I. It was like Allah had angels at work full swing to keep Zidaan happy and playful throughout. We had booked a bassinet seat for him and he so peacefully slept in it, allowing me to grab some 'me time'. Lata Aunty & Snehal played with Zidaan, and we kept having small conversations throughout the flight. Fed him on time and he wasnt fussy about anything! Changing time was so peaceful too thanks to the staff of Emirates who offered to help me with it and take care of Zid while i made his food or had to use the washroom etc. Of course, most of the flight time everyone spent, was by sleeping.

I chose not to sleep because Zidaan could wake up anytime and i surely didn't want him to disturb the others. Thanks to ICE at Emirates - Information, Communication & Entertainment  i spent my time happily! Prayers, News, movies.. Bliss! I was so happy to be on such a wonderful journey! Alhumdulillah!

13 hours later, We reached Dubai airport. Just one word. AMAZING. The airport and the people.

We bid goodbye to each other, I, thanking them profusely for helping me have a happy journey. Snehal offered to help me with my cabin luggage till i got the stroller. Another flight awaited us, waiting time was about an hour, which was spent in getting the formalities done for the next flight. It was a 3 hr 40 mins flight and i wasn't worried much about this one, but just was a little concerned about the co-passengers. It was time to board the aircraft. This time 52K. Again. the middle seat.

Fortunately, it was a family, with, hold your breath, an infant! Yessss!! *Fist pump*

The mother was with her infant and Father was with the other kid at the back seat.

Hello, hi, exchange of smiles. The 'Oh-so-cute' line, Of course!!

She: "Travelling alone with an infant?"

Me: Yeah!

She: "How could you even dare to take this trip alone? Please tell me! My hubby & i almost ended bruising each other when he asked if i could travel alone with the baby"

Me (Proudly) : Well, I guess it's the thought of going home which made me do it! ( The truth, that i didn't have any other option was duly kept hidden) Hehe!

Well, we had another wonderful flight, except that the other baby didn't sleep for a second and was trying to wake up Zid. In my mind, i shoo-ed and asked him not to do it while in reality i had to just smile and go 'Awwwwwwwwwwwwww'!!

Destination Bengaluru. I don't really want to recall the time i spent at my homeland airport. All i can say that is wasn't friendly. If i could, i would have requested the JFK and Dubai airport officials to demonstrate a 'how to be humane by offering help to mothers with infants'. They so need to learn that.

Anyway, after i got done with all the craziness, the moment arrived! I saw my brother waving that hand at me, which, if my imaginations would turn real, would have got fractured with the number of times it had waved at me in full swing, from the time i had booked my ticket, to this day.

We did it. We reached India. Safe and Sound. The latter was more important with respect to me.

We had to catch another flight, but well, I am not alone!!! Bhayya is with me! Ek se bhale do ;) Just an hour flight and we reached Mangalore!! OMG! I'm gonna be seeing my parents , my siblings! I'm gonna reach home, EAT and sleep!! I very well, deserved it! After all, i pulled it off in style ;) Didnt I?

None of this could have ever been possible without the Blessings that Allah (SWT) showered on us, the kind co-passengers we got and for the amazingly wonderful baby that made the journey so happy and peaceful. It is definitely not easy to travel with a baby on such a long flight but i guess we just have to have faith in God and have the confidence in ourselves. Babies will be happy as long as they are given attention and love and of course food. Forget about yourself and just concentrate on keeping them comfortable, Trust me, it will go well. Having had such a fantastic experience, when the thought of having to fly back to NY came to my mind, all i said was... 'Bring it on!!!!'

The Resurrection

A hobby is defined as a regular activity or interest that is typically done during one's leisure time. It can be collecting stamps, coins, singing, dancing, travelling, reading, writing.. oh wait, writing?! That sounds familiar!! Jaana pehchaana sa lagta hai.. 

*Sudden realisation*

OMG OMG!! That is supposed to be MY hobby!!! 

If you are in the search for a person who is lazy to pursue her hobby, look no further, Tada! It's me! 

Seriously, how can one forget one's hobby! Heights of laziness that is. One tight slap to myself and Yes, I am back to blogging! Hopefully! :D 

My last post was on July 2011. I can't believe I forgot writing for 16 months!! I probably need more than one tight slap! *I know Zuhair, you are ever ready to do the honors* 

So where was I all this time, what was I doing, I ask myself.

'Busy?'

'Everyone's busy, nothing new there.'

'Living life, maybe?'

'Everyone does that too. Any solid reason?'

Zidaan Zuhair Kapadia.

*Bow down* You win!

Having Zidaan inside me for 9 months & outside me for 7 months, is the best way I can convince myself for not posting on my blog. The apple of my eye, the warmth of my heart, the joy of my life, my baby boy is the best gift I could ever receive from Allah. Alhumdulillah!!

How could I do anything other than basking in the glory of pregnancy, taking care of him in my womb, dream about him, listen to advices, read parenting books, search on the internet for the best baby stuffs, all leading to making plans for his arrival! And once he was born, it was just so hard to take my eyes off him. So innocent, so pure. Maasha'Allah!

In the 7 months, how the innocence turned into naughtiness is another story! :D

Being thankful to the Almighty is the least I could do for bestowing us with such a wonderful child. Being a mother is the best thing that could happen to any woman on the planet & I am proud to be one.

On that note, I am glad to say that I am back to blogging world and Insha'Allah,  I would pursue my love for writing as frequently as possible. A big 'Thank you' to my friends & family who have always supported me & motivated me to keep writing. This is for you.

A Desi's Desh Vs The Videsh!

I.N.D.I.A

I Love my India. Nah I'm not promoting the movie 'Pardes', nor its songs. I am saying this from my heart! :) I truly madly deeply love my India!

A.M.E.R.I.C.A

I Love it too! But not as much as I love my India! America is beautiful and New York is electrifying! I love everything about NY, Then why is it that I love my India more?

''The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.''

I wish I had described India so beautifully. That was by Mark Twain.

I lived in India for 25 years. That's a lot! I am living in NY from the last 5 months. That's very less. But one thing I can assure myself is that my love for India will grow irrespective of how many more years I am gonna live in NY, Insha'Allah! I say this with due respect to both the countries.

India is where I lived, where I grew up, where I learnt everything about life, people and everything surrounding me. America, Insha'Allah, will be the place where my kids will grow up, learn everything about life, people and everything surrounding them. It was definitely the best place for me to grow up, but for my kids.. I will just have to wait and watch!

My life in India was F.U.N! My family, my friends, my neighbors, my school, college, hang out's, everything was so special to me. I have to say, it was not as organized as how my life is now, because of the surroundings, but whatever it was, I loved it! And that is important! American life on the other hand is sooo lively, organized, gives us so many options to have fun, hang out, hog, explore, travel and what not! Then why is it that I love my India more?

Indian roads are bad, Indian government is a mess, India is not clean, Indian schools, hospitals are more commercial than service oriented whereas American roads are awesome, Government is less messier, Definitely CLEAN, schools are actually schools but hospitals are more commercialized than Indian hospitals, thanks to Insurance companies! Then why is it that I love my India more?

Indian movies are so entertaining, doesn't matter if the script has more songs than dialogues, co-stars have father-daughter age gaps, makes us cry more than laugh, whereas Hollywood is sensible, rational, true and so perfect that it makes you actually believe that Godzilla, Harry Potter actually existed! Then why is it that I love my India more?

India gave me Big bazaar, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, M.G road shopping, Hampankatta shopping, Dadar waali shopping and NY gives me Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's and so many other ''Quality'' clothing! Then why is it that I love my India more?

India gave me South Indian food, north Indian food, this Indian food and that Indian food! It gives me all that I LOVE to eat! NY gives me American breakfast, Indian lunch, Pakistani snacks, Afghani dinner and any world cuisine, anytime I want! Then why is it that I love my India more?

India gave me cricket, Kho-Kho, Lagori, Jubilee, Antakshari, Dumb charades and other games, NY gives me Baseball, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Arcade games and other truly awesome games to play! Then why is it that I love my India more?

India gave me the Dhoom style auto rickshaw rides, the Gaali filled taxi rides, the never on time bus rides and no-place-to-breathe train rides. NY gives me the on-time metro train rides, the comfortable taxi rides, the posh bus rides! Then why is it that I love my India more?

India gave me a Kannada speaking neighbor on the left, an Urdu speaking neighbor on the right, a Malayalam speaking neighbor on the opposite and Tulu, Navaiti, Tamil, Guajarati speaking neighbors in the building! NY gives me a Punjabi family on the right, a Spanish family on the left, a Chinese on the opposite, a Paki family on the far left, a Mexican family on the far right, a Bangla family downstairs, a Japanese, Korean, Guyanese families in the building! Then why is it that I love my India more?

India gave me Summer all the 12 months with special appearances of Rain and very rare visits of Winter. NY gives me Winter, Snow, Summer, Rain, Spring and fall. Then why is it that I love my India more?

The Answer lies in the question itself!

Because India was always mine and will always be & No matter how long I live in America , It will never be able to make me hers.

Hello From New York! :)

Alhumdulillah! I have reached NY.

I came here on the 23rd of February and it was such a longggggggggg flight. Mangalore - Bangalore - Dubai - NY. Total travelling time - around 25 hours! But thanks to Emirates, i LOVED the journey :) I had so many options to pass my time that i simply did not feel like i was having such a long flight! The food.. Aaaahh.. So yumm..Movies, flight cameras, tv shows, news, gorgeous air hostesses all kept me occupied. And i guess i was a little xtra lucky coz the other two seats in my row wernt booked and so i had the ENTIRE row to myself. Yawnnnnnn.. what a peaceful sleep i had! Hehe!

The best part was yet to come. The reception i got at the JFK airport was mind blowing! I ofcourse knew my hubby and my in-laws would come to receive me and i was looking forward to see only them. But when i got out of the airport, what do i get to see!! Zuhair - My hubby with a beautiful bouquet, my in-laws, Zuhair's uncles, aunts, cousins, Grandma! Around 15-20 people to receive me at the airport! And each one had a bouquet! My face was burried with the bouquets and all the hugs , kisses and love i was receiving, all of it made me  feel soooooooooo happy! Trust me i did not feel so important even on my wedding day! LMAO! :D

Thanks to the winter here, everyone were packed with sweaters and jackets and i was just in my abaaya ( burqa).  Though i had my sweaters and jackets with me i decided not to wear them cuz i wanted to 'feel' the cold! Hehe. Staying in Mangalore you never know what winters are, so i wanted to feel this. I got out of the airport lounge and Oh my! It was seriously real cold. All kept asking me if i wanted a sweater but i kept on saying no just enjoying the weather. But the car ws parked a little far and as i reached the car i started to shiver cuz of the cool breeze. I quickly got in to the car and sat next to Zuhair. What better warmth can i ever get ;)

I reached home and to my surprise there was another young reception committee waiting for me! Snow sprays, paper crackers, wishes, sweets and gorgeous girls (Zuhair's cousins) with a banner saying - 'Welcome to the Family Mehnaz Bhabhi ' )! I will never forget that day as i was welcomed by each and every member of the family with so much of love and open arms! Maasha'Allah! Let the love remain forever and ever! Aameen!

And since that beautiful day to this day - a week later i have been enjoying every bit of my life here. Ofcourse i do miss India and my family - Nothing can match that - But here is a different country with different people, different lifestyles, food, weather etc etc. Alhumdulillah i am loving every moment here. I pray to Allah (swt) to bless me with good health and patience to help me live a life filled with love, care, happiness and success in this world and the herafter. Aameen! :)