Day 20 | Back to normal

After yesterday’s post, it would not be right if I don’t post what happened later. Even if I would read my blogs after a few years and I would’ve forgotten everything by then, I would start wondering how we patched up.

When Abbas came upstairs, we had a long talk. We both agreed on one thing, that it was the other one’s fault 🤣🤣🤣 Then we agreed to disagree on all the rest 😂😂😂 We fell asleep peacefully 😇

This morning was as any other normal morning would be. In the evening when I caught the train, I was still contemplating if I should message him to come and pick me up from the station? Or should I just walk? That’s when I received his usual message asking where I was. And I was so happy that he was completely fine too. So this is how the conversation goes! Grocery has become the main focus of all our conversations, sigh!! He also sent me pictures of the rose flower that has bloomed in our garden today.

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Day 19 | The fight

Abbas and I have the usual silly skirmishes every now and then but we get back to normal soon. Once in a bluemoon, we have a full blown fight which lasts a while, resulting in cold war. Today was one of the bluemoon days. It started in the morning when he had finished his share of morning chores (unloading the dishwasher and making tea). He then exit the kitchen and it was time for my entry to get on with packing all the boxes. I sat to look at something on my phone (I know I’m getting too addicted to the phone and it gets on Abbas’s nerves sometimes all the time)

Abbas got so annoyed that he ordered me to keep the phone and get going with my work. I don’t like being commanded firstly, especially not in a raised voice. I calmly asked him, what time was he planning to leave? It’s funny how he gets angrier when I am calm. He stormed towards the staircase and issued warning about dire consequences if the lunch wasn’t packed by the time he got ready and came down. I calmly again told him that he could eat outside if that was the case. I had touched a raw nerve and he immediately said ‘Don’t dare to pack my lunch.’ I asked -‘How about breakfast?’ He said – ‘Don’t pack anything. Don’t talk to me’. Being the docile wife that I am, I obeyed him (wink wink)

He came downstairs and the girls could sense the tension. Abbas told them his version of the story which I felt was not complete. Abbas left after kissing them but didn’t kiss me. He said you all don’t have to come and say bye. We still did as we always do. We went to the garage and waved at him when he drove off. I spoke to Mantam and told them how human beings have a fight, we always find the other person at fault. We never evaluate our own action. We always blame the other person. I told them my version. I dunno how much of it they understood but Mannu was worried that he would starve. I consoled her saying he was an adult and could buy food from outside if needed.

In the evening usually Abbas picks me up from the station. Today he did not ask me what time I was reaching, neither did I msg him. I walked home. We didn’t talk all evening. When I asked everyone to come for dinner, I just couldn’t continue the resistance anymore. I hugged and kissed him. We ate, cleaned up without talking. Will try to talk to him now as I don’t want to take the fight to bed!! Need to resolve this and get back to BAU before the next bluemoon arrives.

 

Day 18 | Busy weekend

This was one of the busiest weekends in recent times.

Last week has been so hectic for me, I have been coming home late on most days. I decided to leave early on Friday as my friend had asked me to bake 100 Amaretti cookies for his house warming party. But luck had it that something came up and I was late again. If it was any other Friday, I would have perhaps ordered some food in. But we had already ordered in during the week on the night when I had a terrible headache. I usually try to keep the order in/take out to once a week only unless unavoidable. So I cooked dinner and after we ate it, there was no energy to bake the cookies. Abbas suggested to bake in the morning as we had to go there for lunch. Abbas was on-call that night and had to be awake pretty much the whole night due to some issue. I too could ‘t sleep well as his phone was constantly ringing and he had to provide support.

Next morning, I baked the cookies. The house was in a mess as always by the end of the work week. Abbas had to take the kids to the Tennis class and also buy groceries. After baking was done, I cleaned the bathrooms, changed the bedcovers, pillow covers, cleared all the mess. The girls came back and helped a bit. Abbas vacuumed the home. We knew that our common friend and family would come home after the house warming party. In between all this, we had to get ready and go to the party. (The best part about guests coming home is that it gets cleaned by magically by team work within one tenth of the time that it takes otherwise)

We attended the party, Abbas was given the duty of a photographer. He kept flirting with all the women there. One lady came up to me and said that she saw Abbas and me on Wednesday at a certain place. I told her it wasn’t me, Abbas must have been with someone else 🤣🤣🤣 We came back home with our friend S and her family. We asked them to stay till dinner and they left around 11ish. After that Abbas sat to watch a movie, I started to write my blog post for the day quickly but couldn’t think of what to write. I just started writing the title and the phone died. It came back alive after a while, I started writing but didnt know when I fell asleep. Luckily I woke up just before midnight and hit the Publish button.

We slept like babies last night. We woke up after 10AM. We had a quick brekkie of sorts with leftovers. I cooked lunch of fish curry and a mixed veg-spinach-prawn-mustard side dish. We had also invited our neighbours for afternoon tea. I was planning to prepare masala dosa for them. So, got the batter ready, two types of chutney and potato bhaji. Cleaned all the dishes, sink, gas stove, kitchen countertop spic and span. We had a lovely time with them. Laddoo is now the centre of attention for everyone visiting us.

Rest of the evening was spent with the usual folding of clean laundry, sorting and putting things back to place, calling my in-laws and having dinner. Abbas is back to watching the movie and Im here typing away to finish my post of the day before calling it a day. Leaving you all with some pictures! Hope you had a lovely weekend too. Much love, Seema

 

Day 17 | Lifeline

Just as I was wondering what to post today, my phone suddenly blacked out. It was fully charged. I was at my wits end when I was trying hard to press and hold the button yet it was not coming back to life. I did not know what to do without my phone. It’s funny how a mobile phone has become an integral part of our lives. It has replaced so many things in our lives.!

I have a lot to write but Im so sleepy.

Edited to add next day: I did not realise when I fell asleep with the phone in my hand and luckily just woke up before midnight and hit the Publish button. Sigh!!

 

Day 16 | Fart

If the title of this post disgusts you, then please don’t scroll beyond this point. I will write a better post tomorrow (hopefully)

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If you are still here and reading then I hope you don’t leave this space for good after reading this post. It’s so silly but I have almost half an hour left to post for today. So, here goes!!

Me: (Don’t ask me why I started talking on this topic) Mantam, do you know that in English language there is only one word for Fart. But in Konkani we have varieties.

Mantam (in sync):Ewww Mumma, why would you bring this up now?

Me: No seriously, listen! First variety is…

Mantam (By now, they know that they cant stop me. They start laughing out loud)

Me: Ok listen. First variety is called Puski and it is a very dangerous one. Because, Puski doesn’t make any noise, it is the quietest of farts. But the smell that it spreads is deadly and unbearable. The worst part is because there is no sound, it is hard to determine the source

Mantam: (not able to contain their laughter)

Me: Next variety is called Paadu. Paadu is the opposite of Puski. There is no smell but a loud explosion.

Tammu: Mumma, but mine is a combination of Puski and Paadu 🤣🤣 They laugh a lot more again.

Me: ok now u tell which among these two is your favourite?

Mannu: Mumma, who even can have a favourite in types of fart? Ok, why don’t you tell us which is your favourite?

Me: I like the Paadu better as I can bear the sound but I don’t like smelling Puskis

Tammu: Mumma, tell me. If you are given an option of two things to choose from, what would you choose? One is that you are locked up in a room that is filled with the smell of your own fart, second option is that you danced so badly and get yourself insulted in-front of the whole world.

Me: Tammu, I dont mind the former because its my own fart smell 🤣🤣 By this. I remember a saying: Fart and Success have two things in common!!

Mantam (By now, they are fully convinced that they have crazy mum and just can’t stop laughing)

Me: First similarity is that – if it is your own, you won’t mind it and may even enjoy it. Second similarity is that when it is somebody else’s it may be uncomfortable to you.

Mannu: Mumma, I don’t feel uncomfortable when it is somebody else’s. In fact, I feel happy for them (she clearly meant success)

Me (in a playful mood): Tammu, look!! Mannu is saying that she feels happy when someone farts.

Tammu: yes, Im already giving her happiness inside the quilt 🤣🤣🤣

 

Day 15 | Ten Two

We have a colleague B who always targets to catch a certain train in the evening. Because if he misses it, then the next one would be half an hour later. His team mate N is a kind soul and reminds him to leave almost everyday so that he doesn’t miss his usual train. Today N was pretty busy and I saw B walking past at 5:30PM and…

Me: Hey B, are you not leaving to catch your train?

B: Oh I think I’ll miss it, so let me wait longer and catch the next one.

N: Ohh B, I forgot to remind you today!! What time does the train leave though?

B: Ten Two and next is Twenty Past

Me: (puzzled and wondering to myself if they are speaking English and I’ve lost my hearing capability or they must be speaking a different encoded language that is known only to them)

N: Oh Ten Two?? Then you can make it. You still have time

B: Oh yeah, you’re right. It is Ten two. I better get going then.

Me – By this time, I’m so lost. I was wondering if I should ask N what is this Ten Two!! What if I heard it wrong and it was something very obvious!! But I really couldn’t resist. So I tried to play safe and ensure that what I had heard was right or wrong.

Me: N, what time was B’s train did he say?

N: Ten Two

Me (just couldn’t hold the curiosity any more and decided to risk coming across as dumb) – What is this Ten Two? I don’t understand.

N (she starts giggling) – It’s our way of saying Ten to Six. We just say Ten to and don’t say the hour as it’s obvious. And if it’s Twenty past six, we only say twenty past.

I realised it was Ten To and not Ten Two. And I learned a new Aussie language quirk matey!

PS: I will have to write a whole new post on all the fun Aussie slangs I have learnt. They are so fascinating to me.

 

Day 14 | Wedding Saga

This post is going to be about Sindhu’s wedding (again!!! I know. But that’s all I have been occupied with at the moment). Bear with me if I sound like a broken record talking about the same thing again and again!!!

• My sister’s wedding was today but there have been theme based rituals going on at my home for the last 5 days. All my cousins, aunts, uncles and everyone related to us (even not related) have united. My parents have booked the entire hotel and everyone is staying there. The kind of arrangements that were made were top-notch and I think the town hadn’t witnessed such a grandeur before. My jaws dropped looking at the photos and videos. I was telling Abbas that my dad is a stickler for setting trends. He loves to do things out of the box. I was not surprised that the wedding was trend-setter on so many grounds. At my dad’s wedding, there were so many people that the wedding hall was over crowded and people had to sit outside. There was a live telecast of the wedding on big screens outside the hall for people to see. I’m talking about 1984 and it created a huge sensation everywhere. Looking at Sindhu’s wedding pictures and videos, I’m sure it will be the talk of the town for many years to come.

• My aunt told me that my bro gave a presentation at one of the ceremonies introducing all the family members. Apparently he talked about how he was the eldest in the family (while he is younger than me). My aunt told me and said that she was very hurt and told me that she felt they will never forgive and accept me. Honestly, I don’t blame them for not announcing about my existence. I am not a part of their life anymore. I feel that I am above all of this (I am actually patting my back for being mature and taking it all in my stride) I will always love them as I am a part of them and I exist because of them. I will always hope for them to accept us. If they do, it would be good for all of us. If they don’t, that’s their call to make. I am so happy for all of them and especially for my parents. My wedding was a dream for my dad. I did not give him the opportunity or privilege to say, do or be in the wedding. He had put his heart and soul into Sindhu’s. I couldn’t be happier and more relieved. I feel so zen like today!!!

Sorry for the constant yapping about the weddings!