We wanted ice cream. The kind that gives you so much pleasure that as you take each delectable, divine, luscious, mouth watering, scrumptious, titillating, HEAVENLY bite, your taste buds get an orgasm! This urge is what found us scourging the desserts aisle in Fred Meyers at 9 pm one weekend.

We have tasted different kinds of ice-creams – Other than the plain flavours of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, butterscotch and pista, ice creams like double cream, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookie dough, butter pecan, neapolitan, praline fudge cake, death by chocolate, rocky road, chocolate mousse, oreo cookies n cream, german chocolate, pralines and cream, banana split, boston cream pie, chocolate macadamia, chocolate fudge brownie, chunky monkey, mud pie, very berry, crème brûlée, mango, tiramisu, rum and raisins…the list goes on… BUT, believe us when we tell you that this is one ice cream you have GOT TO try Private Selection’s Denali Extreme Maximum Fudge Moose Tracks (and remember the name in its entirety, because it is NOT Denali fudge moosetracks which has peanut butter cups in them!) Once hooked onto it, I’m sure it is going to be one of the top 5 stuff to stock your freezer with

Like a fellow blogger – The Vores – wrote about this ice-cream, “Your life is about to begin.” – once you savor the taste of Private Selection’s Denali Extreme Maximum Fudge Moose Tracks.

PS: For those weight watchers out there you can checkout the nutrition facts at Fat Secret which I can vouch will shake your ‘determination @ fitness’ at least a teeny weeny bit (That note is from experience;-)).

His smile brightens a hundred thousand nights,
and fills my days with sparkling rainbows.
His laughter is music that I can never get enough of.
When he looks at me,
my every worry.. my every sorrow, is wiped away.

Thank you God for this gift you’ve given me,
Thank you God for my darling son.

Thank you God for blessing me with this wonderful baby,
Who has infinite patience with my antics,
Who tries to let me know what he wants,
without the crazy bawling and crying.
Who winces and bears most of the time,
Thank you God for gifting me this child,
Who never embarrasses me in public,
Who sleeps throughout the night
and does not fuss.

I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am,
how happy I am,
to have my son to hold close
and to love unconditionally.

My son makes me a better person than I am,
than I ever thought I could be.
He makes me so proud.
My son

Clueless.

That pretty much sums up my current situation. It is a pathetic state to be away from family members, away from your homeland in the midst of strangers where even a homeless person has more value than you. Where you are almost a non entity. Someone none will ever know or miss. Someone with nothing to do other than hamper another persons lifestyle.

To boast that you are finally with your spouse is nonsense because ‘being together’ does not mean that these two persons are one in mind. Whoever said that “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” never stayed away from a loved one before. I just feel more bereft and lost with V these days. The foundation that I had painstakingly built over 3 years all crumbled in the short span of 10 months! Maybe the said foundation was not as strong as I thought it to be. Maybe God is punishing me for all the times I wished and whined and cried to be with V when I should have been joyfully glowing over the fact that I was going to be a mommy.

The current soundtrack for my feelings would be that from ‘Cheers’.

“…Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name..”

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/

Now, it’s been 4 months and 2 weeks now and I still remember like it just happened yesterday!

It was a fine sunny August day at 7:00 am when I walked into the operation theater. After being ‘prepared’ for the C, they explained that I would first be numbed waist down so that I could see my baby and then I would be given general anesthesia. To be truthful, I was a little worried about what my reaction might be if I were to see the surgical instruments that would obviously be in use and mostly I had this insane fear that the anesthesia might not work. I would be in DEEP pain! Then what??! All I could think of was that I wished V or my mom was with me!!! If I could just see one reassuring face, I knew everything would be alright. But neither of them were there..

7:30am: All set with the urine catheter and drip, so close to the scheduled time.. “I’m scared and I want my mommy!!!” :/ Nurses try to keep me comfortable. Some talk to me..Some are praying..Some chat between themselves..Some are goofing around..while others prepare for the surgery.

8:20am: Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity and the nice doctor came in. She allowed my mom to come in and see me for a moment. The surgical attendants were all ready.

8:22am: I walk into the operation theater (HATE that word!).

8:24am: The anesthetic began his procedure on my spine. I’ve heard epidural doesn’t hurt. I guess that is true in a way. While I was given the epidural, a nurse held my head down while another kept patting my hand to keep me from freaking out. I could feel a sharp cold metallic feeling. I don’t know how to explain it any other way! After awhile, I couldn’t feel my legs..and the surgeon began her work.
Being Hindus and knowing that a C-section was inevitable, the time we had in mind for the baby’s birth was between 7am and 8:40am. So there I lay with doctors and surgeons hovering midway down.The clock ticking away the seconds.

8:27am: “How long does a C take? Could I hold the baby? Who will hold the baby first? I wish V was with me. I hope he surprises me by waiting for me with our baby once this is over… I hope the operation goes smooth. Ooh! I HATE hospitals and the thought of operations!!!

8:30am: Oh! Was that feeling a knife ‘cutting’ through my skin??!! It feels like someone rubbing my belly really hard..I hope the baby doesn’t feel all these crazy things.. I was alarmed! I wanted to ask the doc what was happening but there were so many things happening around me, my mind was in overload mode!

8:32am: Tick..tock..tick..tock…

8:33am: I hear the cry “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ammmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”, The doc says, “It’s a baby boy.!” My baby. My darling baby..It’s a boy!!:) They show him to me.. His hands are outstretched towards me while he wails his little heart out , his eyes screwed up!!! At that moment, I knew I could love no one or anything else with the intensity with which I loved this tiny being who was my companion and my friend listening to me and comforting me through soooo many months..I loved my baby!!
I could feel the wide 100 watt smile dawning on my face when suddenly the process of general anesthesia began. The oxygen mask was clamped onto my face covering my nose and mouth.

After that, I only remember waking up to see my mom’ face and deliriously telling her how handsome and long my baby boy is!!

….

My sister had reached, my in-laws were waiting and my mother was right by my side!! )
But, I wasn’t allowed a glimpse of my little one or hold him till the next day as he was in the NICU. Being a big baby, he was finding it hard to adjust to ‘life outside mommy’. The more they kept me waiting the more I was worried! (or rather terrified!!!)

At last, the next day, once the doc said “OK”, the nurse brought my baby to me and I held him in my arms for the very first time. When I called out to him, he turned and looked at me…recognizing my voice. I was in 7th heaven! That was the best moment of my life!

He had to stay in the NICU for some more time. Only on the 3rd night of his life was he allowed to lay with me..It felt so nice to have him snuggling by my side, my arms around him.

We fought for it.. Against our families..our parents who were scared of the relationship and wanted to nip the dream in its bud (or so they thought!) We knew there was none other but him who we wanted. Before we came together, I knew it was the culmination of all my childhood dreams, my hopes and my desires! MY FIRST BIKE. My very OWN Pulsar 200. Our baby. Our Beast!!

Lucky: I remember the time when Vin’s parents were so totally against his purchasing a bike. Guess they were just anxious (a lot!). What with all the stories they’ve heard and news articles that keep getting published…

Vin: Phew! It was so hard to convince them. But I knew I just had to get it. It was something I really really REALLY wanted from the time I was in school! And with the little savings that I had, it was the perfect gift to myself

Lucky: Ooh..I remember the days we spent on our ‘beast’. It tackled all barriers, survived rain and heat, storm and puddles, never letting us down even for a second! He’s witnessed our celebrations, our arguments and our duets with his never wavering speed, durability, balance and sturdiness.

Vin: Those were the days!! My love beside me on my modern day steed. But all good things come to an end, don’t they? Yes. The day came when we had to make that miserably tough decision of selling our faithful ‘steed’. Not because of anything else other than a long term international assignment. I was to work out of Seattle and our bike had no other home other than with us

It was a very sad day for me, when I left him with my friend and had to turn my back on him even now it brings tears to my eyes.

Internet Explorer:
- Comes along with Microsoft package.
- Sassy new look.
- There are sites which will open correctly ONLY using Internet Explorer.
- It has unnecessary pop-ups and ‘communication dialog boxes’!!!
BUT, the new upgraded version speed-wise is not as good as its previous version!

Mozilla Firefox:
- Just takes up humongous space!!!
- Speedwise the upgraded version keeps hanging so many times!

Google Chrome:
- Got to say that this is currently the BEST in the market. Initially I thought it was not as good as Mozilla. But once Mozilla did an upgrade, it was clear that Chrome was far better!
- Easy to use, pretty fast (esp since it does not hang as often as the other two explorers!)

The price of each pack is exorbitant. I mean, really! With so many other connections, one would think that Tata Indicom would at least try to be more competitive by bringing in actual value-added services and offer packs. But no. As the years progress, all that happens is it gets tougher to select an internet pack with VSNL’s rocketing prices.

Initially we had purchased (due to ignorance and urgency) the Surf Power 7500 plan; 2 mbps for Rs. 3034/- valid for 6 months.

Since it was a new connection we thought it was ok. Also, Airtel (another lazy service) had not yet put a connection in the area we live (and still have not). But later, to recharge this Tata Indicom account, the least expensive plan they had was Rs. 1000/- for 3 months at 2mbps speed. They charge around Rs 0.38 per mb or 8/hr. This is Surf Power 3750. Isn’t it a little overpriced for the normal layman??!

As I’m away from home sometimes for extended periods, upon returning, I find that the net connection does not work! Upon calling customer care services, the first time if the executives are busy they say the estimated time is less than 6 minutes. Once we get fed up and hang the call to try again after awhile, they say that the estimated time to take our call is less than 8 minutes! Now, what kind of customer treatment is that??! Plus, their number is NOT toll free. ‘Appreciating that we have taken our time to call them’ is not enough and is not the requirement here. Clients call them not to chit chat but to inform them how inferior their services are.
How can I not call their services inferior when EVERYDAY at sharp 10 am their servers go down??!

Recently when I faced the same issue – Error 678 – (5 times in 1 week!!!) and checked after 7 hours (according to the minimum time taken by them to resolve any issues!) to check if the internet connection was working, can u believe what the executive told me? They said that the complaint showed a status of closed because they spoke to my “Husband” and he said it was all working fine! What bullshit when my husband is away on official purposes and I answer all the calls!

Personally, I find it a big hassle to keep badgering the customer service executives with the same issue every single day. There ought to be some way by which the customer is able to speak directly to the manager or escalate the issue to someone who can ACTUALLY make some visible changes.

PS: Seems at VSNL (as an executive once told my buddy) when a particular connection is not being used for awhile, they can pull that line for another person’ connection!!!! And this executive advised us to change the switch to “LOOP” when the internet is not in use s that they can monitor when the lines are being exchanged. Can you believe that?!!!