Eloor lending library Cochin :)

I remember the first time I went to the dentist to get my braces on a sunny morning sometime in 1997,I had to get 4 teeth pulled out at once and needless to say I was scared/nervous/sad/angry everything!I remember crying the entire night before anticipating the pain and asking mom why I wasn't born with pearly white in a row perfec teeth like her :(

Anyhow the next morning did come and I did go to the dentist and he did pull out the 4 teeth as promised.
It was while I was sitting in the waiting room that my mom had the bright idea of a little treat for me when I m done with the entire thing.
The prize....membership at Eloor Lending Library :) Now I was a voracious reader(I don't read as much as I would like to now) and "Paico" in cochin was one of my favorite haunts when I was a kid.
So after the ordeal we trooped to the library(me with my mouth numb and stuffed full of cotton) and got my membership :)

I still remember it was  500 bucks for a lifetime membership and you could take upto 5 books at a time and return it within 2 weeks.(Awesome of what!!)


Now this library is a little non-descript lil thing,in a non-discript lil building,in a non-descript lil lane with non-descript lil staff and to top it off its a non-descript lil room...but....filled with rows and rows and rows of books!I m telling you they have everything!I challenge you to ask them for a book that they havent heard of or better still do not have!

The staff is surprisingly knowledgelble about the books they have and will guide you to a lil corner that you might not have known the library had in the first place and get you the book you want.
Also when they came to know that I would be a regular there the rule of 5 books at a time was quickly forgotten and I was allowed to take as many books as I liked(I remember picking up 20 at a time during the summer hols :) )

This library has seen me through my Enid blyton days,the Archie comics days',my Goosebumps days,to my MBA prep days,to my Daniel Steel days,to my Ayan Rand Days and then I went off to college and could not frequent the library but you will not believe I still remember my number there!(This from a person who is yet to memorize her current phone number!).

I have gone to the librbry on and off after that but then I got married and moved to Bangalore and then there was absolutely no chance I could visit them.I hadnt used my librbry number in ages!3 years to be precise!

So when I was in Cochin recently for 4 days(a  luxury in between work and life!) ,I figured I would drop by and check out what is up at good ol Eloor! :)

And you wont belive the staff remembered me,the account still worked and I went WILD!
I couldn't decide what to pick up,how many to pick up and if I ever wanted to go back to Blore at all!! :) :) (Alright I m being a lil too extreme here :) ) But still you get the picture :) :)

I had the most lovely time and it resulted in joining the Just Read library at blore,but sigh... nice books but an electronic card that swipes what you issue and what you return,a system that tells you what books are available and a system that lets you request for a book that you want :( No human interaction,no coziness, nothing like Eloor basically :(

But I guess this will have to do :(...... for now :) :)until I maybe start a library of my own :) Its  a thought isnt it :)

Near miss :)

So I was home for one awesome weekend last week :) The weekend didn’t start off awesome but pretty much ended up being that way!

:)

So bags packed me and Ram head to a restaurant close by called Kumarakom and the husband exasperatingly wants to try everything on the menu with me begging him to hurry in the background! We settled for the chicken biryani and 2 Kerala porotas with egg curry,and just when the dish reaches the table he spots that the guy at the live counter is making fresh appams and now he wants to try that as well!!(Do you see what I mean by exasperating?!) 

Anyway done with the meal we rush to the bus station and I go give the ticket printout to the guy to get my boarding pass and this lil doubt suddenly crosses my mind, so I ask him this is a ladies seat isn’t it and he says no it isn’t, in fact it’s the last seat, which isn’t even the 2 seater thing but a 4 seater and it’s all guys!

Now I am confident and can pretty much handle myself if anyone acts smart with me but hey here I am with a freshly popped avomin pill ready to pass out cold :( I freaked out to say the least!

I then got Ram to run up and down Madivala the bus station area and ask every travel operator there if there was any last minute cancellation, he came back with no luck, so then I checked for flight tickets but there were no flights suiting my schedule, they all left Bangalore too late and reached back too early!

So there I was praying to all my gods that they somehow manage to get me one lil seat somewhere,the bus reaches and I jump in only to see its quite full and it’s only that one formidable seat at the back that’s empty,my heart sank and I got out of the bus bags and all :( and we were just discussing what we could do about this situation when suddenly the travels guy sticks his head out and says he has managed to move some people around and that I have that “Ladies seat”!!! :)

 

Yippppppppppyyyyyyyyy and away I went on my way to having the most fab weekend at home with Cookie :)

 

25 Random things you should know about me :)

So I'v been having a ball with my blog today :) changed a bunch of themes :) blogged a lil and I must say I am getting more and more comfy with this blogging business but I can succumb to an easy way out occasionally rite :)
Here are 25 facts about me:) how many did you know :) :)

1.I love long baths.
2.I hate washing my hair with cold water.
3.Give me a book and food and I could live on a dessert island.
4.I would place shopping over eating.
5.I love watching old english classic movies.
6.I am the hugest FRIENDS fan alive....I swear I know all the dialogues by heart!
7.I love parties and dancing,I m sure I ll be pub hopping even when I m old and probably not hip enuff to get into the clubs I want to go to....shudderrrr....!!
8.My folks(mom in particular) have pampered me rotten...they know it and I know...wonder if the world knows it... :P
9.I want to go on a backpacking trip across the entire world.....I want to see EVERYTHING!!
10.My fav passtime is googling things out...I hear somebody mention a place they have been to,a food they have eaten and I insistantly google it to figure more out about it!!(Does this sound jobless....?? its good fun tho..and u learn a lot ;))
11.I have climed the middle himalayas upto the height of 14000 feet,if ooty s highest peak is approx 6000 to 7000 imaging trekking up this!!
12.I have done rock climbing and rappeling and white water rafting and river crossing and have loved every bit of it....!!
13.I want to go bungee jumping in Australia.....hopefully soon!!
14.I think an MBA is the best course in the world...it has a little something for everybody and really teaches you to survive in the world!
15.I was a wallflower till the 10th standard and then came into my element in the 11th...(or well the best of my element :))...lol
16.I love public speaking even though I still shiver whenever I get on stage.
17.I am at a lovely place in my career...touchwood :)
18.I m a good cook(self proclaimed I know)...But really I am...and I didnt know it!!I always thot I d burn water.... :)
19.I cant believe its been 40 minutes and I v only reached point number 19!
20.I dont particularly like gtalk or msn or chatting online for that matter....gimme a phone anytime ;)
21.I love animals and my doggy in particular was treated like part of the family!!
I tried feeding a dog at a bus stop once by standing in q at the nescafe vending machine and buying it chocolate milk coz i m sure ppl only throw stray dogs a couple of biscuits or 2 and the mutt sniffed and it and walked away with its tail in the air!!
22.I like things organized.
23.I am extremely house proud and take great pride in matching curtains with carpets and choosing the china and crystal... :)
24.I am desperately trying to put on weight and so far thats a lost cause :(
25.Am extremely happy with life right now...and I hope it stays that way :)

Buddies :)

So everyday I head to work I switch on my system and the first thing I do is to send out a beeeeg helllo to all my regular chat buddies :)

I would be happy to use their real names here coz I m pretty new to this blogging thing and I m told that's not the right thing to do so instead I m going to pick up the names that my buddy Pooh uses for these friends(and yes we have pretty much the same circle of friends :) )

So lets start with Pooh as she was my inspiration to start blogging(and I v kinda stolen everyone's names from her :) )  Its just so great to see her online everyday and to KNOW for sure you'll have someone like minded to yap with today :)I think even though she is far away(not too far,its just Singapore :) :) ) but still she probably knows every lil thing that I v done,am doing or am going to do :) and of coz its vice versa :)My day is most certainly not complete without pinging you Pooh :) and it would reach the level where if by any chance I dint see you online I d probably drop in a message to you Singapore number demanding to know where the hell you are :) :)
P.S Before I forget shez the one whoz christened me Fashionista and I love it!!! :)


Then there is Dee,SH and Hazel people who have been my friends for ages now!!And not all of them have access to chats at work and so we have this mail chain going from our official ID's.I just wonder what the administrators would think if they did snoop through our official mails one day :)We discuss everything from our weekend plans to current meetings to reminiscing old days,to pulling each others legs :) to sending pics of things we think the other would like and it goes on and on :) The mail chain ends when we pack up to go home and I can honestly say my heart sinks a lil when I think I ll only be in touch with them tomorrow now :( Love you guys and I must say 5 years is nothing looking forward to 50 years ahead :) :)

Then there is good old JK a long lost friend who suddenly came into contact :)  he was my tuition teachers nephew and a lil kid when I knew him not that I was any bigger then but still :)but now he is all grown up and working and I find it so much fun to chat with him :)We discuss everything from dating to girls/boys to "why the hell are men/women so irritating/amazing" (as the mood may be :)) He is surprising wise for his age (well I considered myself wise at 23 too :) ) and manages to give me quite a bit of good advice at times when I needed it :) Its fun hearing about his escapades and shocking him with some of mine :)(considering I m quite the aunty now :) ) But again a good chat buddy and the kind where our conversation picks off exactly where we left it no matter how long its been :)(never is too long tho :) )

All in all I must say I am absolutely blessed to have this cozy lil group to fall back on?no thats not right!I have them no matter what :) beginning of the day :) end of the day and anytime in between when I need them :)

They complete my day and there is no other way of putting it :) :) love u guys :)