In the comfort zone....

I reached India last week (thursday). My trip back was eventful as I expected. More about that in my next post.

Bangalore is the same; crowded ;the traffic is crazy; there are more one-ways; more flyovers; more contruction. The weather is very nice- chilly and dull. Perfect days to just laze and do nothing. I am enjoying mom's food ( eating like I've just come from Somalia). Met most of my relatives. Did loads of wedding shopping. Just enjoying all the comforts here.

Needless to say, I am putting on weight and unless I get out of my comfort zone, the result on my wedding day will be disastrous.

There are many things I miss here and keep thinking of my life back in US; yet sometimes I feel life here is so much better. Is there a place where I can get the best of both worlds ?

Leaving tomorrow !

I am leaving to India tomorrow, for almost 8 weeks (hehehhe). I am very excited. This promises to be another adventure...I am sure I'll have a new Flying escapades part 4 :-)

I've tons of work to do; its one of the crazy days; I've 130 papers to grade and post by evening; I've a research meeting with my prof; I've errands to do; And ofcourse I've to pack. Needless to say, its chaotic.

So, I will be continuing my blogging (read cribbing) from India :-) with news abt my wedding ofcourse.

Hornet's nest....

Gingko tagged me; the topic - 20 Random things about myself. Hmm...Before you start grinning at my plight; be warned ; you could be next ! Here are things you may already know about me and some you wish you din't know :-)

1. Teaching
I love to teach ! I've taught a large undergrad class for two semesters now and although it is time-consuming and tiring; I still enjoy it. It has been a learning process and the knowledge of the students here never ceases to amaze me.
Eg: I was teaching about latitudes, longitudes, seasons and other things about Earth; I was explaining everything wrt USA i.e., North and South hemispheres. At the end of the class, one student raised her hand. She said everything I mentioned made no sense to her and that she did not agree with me. I asked her why and she replied "USA is in the Southern Hemisphere; so why do keep saying that it is in the Northern hemisphere?" . I gave her a duh look and told her USA was in the N.H. but she refused to accept ! Finally I had to show her the globe to convince her. The rest of the class was in splits and she was very embarrassed. How ignorant can ppl be ?

2. Newton's Laws
Being a true Physics student, I sometimes follow his first law and continue to do the same action unless there is an external force. Eg:
* When I start reading novels, I don't put them down till I finish it.
* I can keep dancing all night, till everyone else is tired and I'm forced to stop.
* I can sleep all day and all night.
* I can continue shopping; till my credit card maxes out.

3. How to reduce Tension
People have many innovative ways to reduce tension and stress; some like to meditate; some like to work out; some like to read;
My way: I brush my teeth whenever I am tense ! LOL ... I know its funny and sounds silly but it always works wonders for me :-)

4. Obsessive Compulsion Disorder ( OCD)
Most people have some sort of OCD without even knowing it. Some are obsessed with cleaning, working, eating etc. A little introspection made me realize mine. I have a OCD to clean my ears. Hehehehe. When I was a kid, the ear-buds used to get stuck in my ear sometimes and my mom would rush me to the doctor. LOL. The Doctor would scold me everytime and tell my mom to keep the ear-buds away from me. My mom would get irritated and say ' kadha potu kodayade' [ Don't dig into your ears]. ROFL.

I seem to have developed another OCD after coming to US, I keep moisturizing my hands and feet. A recent incident made me realize exactly how obsessed I am :-)

5. Addicted to Chai
The title says it all ! I can drink tea anytime. I can keep drinking many cups without any side- effects. I can drink chai and go to sleep immediately. Missing my cup of chai in the morning messes up my whole day and makes me cranky and irritable !

6. Driving skills
This is not about my car driving skills. It is about how I learnt to drive a 2 wheeler when I was in Engg. A 2 -wheeler is the most popular mode of transport in Bangalore. My college was very close to my house; so close that there was no public transport and no autos would ply. So, I decided it was a good excuse to get a bike - I mean a Kinetic Honda. My dad agreed and my friend Tanu taught me to drive in her Scooty. I learnt it quickly and started driving my uncle's kinetic immediately. I was so confident that I convinced my friend to sit as a pillion rider. Ha. The Kinetic was a lot more powerful than I thought. Within a few minutes, I had banged an auto. I gave him a sheepish grin and he let me go. Phew. Next collision took place within a few minutes; this time it was a scooter. This man was not kind and got very irritated. He yelled ' yaramma license kotru' [ roughly translated means' Lady, who the hell gave you a license']. I was very careful after that.

7. Language Skills.
The trouble with knowing many similar sounding languages is getting words mixed up. I do this all the time; when I talk Kannada I use Tamil words without realizing. I mix up Malayalam words with some Tamil words. I am one confused person !

8. Sense of Smell.
This sense is very highly developed in me. Which means, I am very sensitive to smells. This has become a big problem when someone cooks because the odor tends to hang around. I cannot stand people who stink ( or don't use deos). I share my lab with a stink-bomb; she does not shower everyday. Her stink is everywhere. Yuck. I have 3 potpourris , scented candles , room fresheners and some other stuff. Inspite of all this, I still feel like throwing up somedays. :-(

9. I hate Gold jewellery.
I don't care if others wear it but I don't like wearing them. This is going to be quite a problem during my wedding. I love jewellery; esp silver. Basically anything but gold.

10. Moody.
I am very moody and tend to change my mind often. Everything I do depends on my mood.

11. Frank.
I'm very outspoken and frank. This is not a good thing. I've lost many friends and gained many enemies. :-(
Now, I just control my urge to say what is on my mind. As they say, A wise person is not one who knows what to say but rather one who knows what not to say.
I am not claiming that I'm wise ;-)

12. Left foot is the right foot.
My left foot is longer than the right by a cm or so !! I never knew this till a few months back when I went to buy hiking shoes. It seems most people have this problem ! LOL !
So, now when I buy shoes, I always try my left foot.

13. Sleepy Face.
I am not a morning person. I hate waking up. I feel annoyed and irritated most of the times. It takes me a few minutes to come back to normal self. My ex- roomies always made fun of my morning face and try to avoid it. ;-)
And yeah, I blabber a lot when someone calls me when I'm sleeping.

14. Daydream.
I like to daydream. Somedays, I feel very lazy and just curl up with a good book and a cup of chai. Especially true on cloudy, gloomy days.

15. Teddy.
I love teddy bears. I always slept with a teddy curled under my arm since childhood. This still continues. I've a disturbed sleep without my teddy. Hehehe. This could be a bit of a problem after my wedding.

16. Romance.
I'm a romantic fool. Roses, wine and dine make my day/night. :-)

17. Sports.
Wats that word ? I cannot really associate it with myself unless laziness is considered a sport.

18. Observation skills.
None. A person could walk past me and chances are unless I'm not day-dreaming, I would have never noticed them. Needless to say, that rarely happens. So, unless someone nudges me to look at someone; I would miss the person entirely.

19. Gossip.
I love to gossip. :-) Really like the gupshup sessions I've with my roomies. If everyone is in the mood to talk, it can go till dawn !

20. Things I like in a guy
* I like men who are tall
* I like men who can dance (hopefully with me all night)
* I like men who are intelligent but not nerdy and yet witty ( hehehehe)
* I like men who dress well
* I like men who talk well
* I like men who smell good
* I like men who work out ( and not flabby)

Too many demands ? I don't think so, afterall I did find a perfect match in one man!!

Phew....This is one long post...Time to pass on this tag to someone else and the lucky persons are
Archana, Archana Bahuguna, Thennavan and Rahul.
If you don't continue this tag, you will be cursed with a Bloggers's Block . :-)

For those who escaped, your turn will be next........!