What next??

Its been a little more than a month since I set up my own website. And I got around to setting up my blog on the website just now. Actually, I had set up a blog earlier, but for some reason I wasn’t really happy with the way it shaped up. So I deactivated it and set up another one.

So, for now, I’m just going to be putting up some of my old and favorite posts from Yahoo 360 here. I might intersperse it with some new stuff too! This is finally getting exciting. A new blog is like a new dimension of me on the internet and although I intend to make sure I don’t lose the old dimension, I’m all set for whatever comes my way!

So for now, this is just what came into my head after I set up this blog. I am still figuring out how to change the theme. I don’t know why the new themes are not showing up. It’s late, I’m tired and I have loads of work to do when I get up, starting with sending Saboor to school for his last exam of the year! Whew!

Azhaan’s vocabulary

I remember that Saboor at Azhaan’s age was much more vocal and could join two or three words together to make a sentence, its still a thrill to hear Azhaan speak. The only thing is that Az is stubborn like anything. He refuses to learn the names of objects by what they should be called. He insists that we call them what he calls. He’s got most of the names right. Just some are too funny and have to be listed here.

What Azhaan says	What he means
Boo	Milk
Buwa/Bwa	Bhaiya(he actually starts calling out Buwa, Buwa, whenever I’m calling out to Saboor!)
Mammy/Mimmy	Mummy
Panni/Paayi (depends on his mood)	Paani
Nanji/Nadji (that’s what Sab calls my mom)	Nanji
Pappaja/Peja	Papaji – my grandfather, who is universally known as Papaji to everyone in the family. Az has been the only one to change his name!
Chaya	Yaya (and that’s what Saboor calls my sister, Sidra)
BeeBee/BeeBwee	Baby/Rayaan ( he sees himself in the mirror and starts going BeeBee)
Kaayin(‘n’ is nasal)	Car (he’s madly in love with my moms Swift)
Chaayin (nasal n again!)	Chocolate
BhauBhau	Dog
Kowa	Crow
Ap-ha	When’s hurt himself or touched something even slightly hot!
UmNumYumMum	He smacks his lips and says this when he’s hungry and he wants to eat something. It could also mean that he’s spotted something that looks fried and delicious to him and he wants to eat it. (he’s a terror in restaurants!)
Lastly..the best of all…Jee	He calls Mansoor ‘Jee’. Its SO funny. I don’t know where he picked it up. I teach him, say ‘Abbu’ and he looks at me, and says ‘Jee’! J

Some pics

All these pics were taken by my cousin Azeem. He loves taking photos and whenever he comes home, his favorite subjects are my sons, Saboor and Azhaan. Btw, the pics in which I am there are not premeditated. I had no idea he was taking them! I love the spontaneity in those pics even though I’ve got oiled hair and absolutely no make up on!!!:-)

Here’s where I am

I’ve been out of circulation from the past few days. The reasons for this are plenty:

• I got my new laptop which has been keeping me occupied almost all the time(I’ve shamefully neglected my old desktop in favour of the laptop)
• Saboor’s exams which are giving me high blood pressure, acidity, sore throat, and a host of other things
• Our visit to Vellore (might blog about that if i’m in the mood!)
• And amazingly, the idea for a new novel…I just hope I’m able to get the idea out in one piece and it doesn’t disintegrate into something that’s just corny or plain silly

Whew. The coming month is bound to be even more busy, what with us shifting out of BTM. I am almost scared of the summer vacations. Saboor at home, full time, creating a ruckus/racket/hungama of “I’m bored/I’m hungry/I want to play on the comp/I want to watch TV”. Of course, he hasn’t waited for the vacations as he’s already developed enough practice for this litany even now, during his final exams.

Jab Nus and I met!

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So, we finally met. After knowing each other really well for more than 7 years, Nusrat decided to hop down to Bangalore with his lovely wife Bazma and his cute cherub, Zayan. We met up at Pizza Hut and surprise, surprise, there was NO surprise at all in meeting him.

Ok, for some background.

Nus and I met over one of my mushy stories on Sulekha! He had posted a comment on my story and I didn\’t even know that he was a \’He\’ until Sowm told me. Yeah, she had got in touch with him, (over my story again) and they had become friends. Sowm gave me Nusrat\’s email id and we got to know each other through my remaining stories. Our friendship developed over the years and it was really amazing how it turned out to be!

Nusrat is this fantastic person with a great sense of humour and he was somehow completely different from anyone else I\’d known. With Nusrat , I\’ve always shared this bond where we can pick up where we left off, even if its been months since we\’ve spoken or got in touch! Nowadays, his work keeps him very busy, and we hardly get to chat online or talk on the phone. But I don\’t mind, because in the back of my mind, I\’m content that Nus is there whenever I need him. Even if its just to listen to me yakking away about nothing in particular, or sobbing about my problems!

We\’ve been planning to meet up from so many years, and it finally happened this February. I\’d been meaning to blog about this from such a long time, but it kept getting postponed for some reason or the othe. Nusrat and Bazma had a very brief stopover in Bangalore, before they headed to Ooty, where they had to visit with Bazma\’s brother.

Bazma has a lovely smile and she and Nus are perfect for each other, mashallah. I pray you both are always together Nus! And I hope that the next time we meet, Zayan and Azhaan can even play together!

The dreaded psoriasis

My father had psoriasis. It changed our lives completely. I don’t recall when it was diagnosed, or when we realised the severity of the situation because we were too small then. But the psoriasis had become a living, breathing entity that changed our lives because my father considered himself abnormal for having that.

We went through hell as Abbu blamed himself in various ways and the various ways in which the disease manifested itself in our lives.

Psoriasis occurs when the skin cells grow faster than normal and hence get accumulated on the skin a little like scabs. There was no treatment for psoriasis in the late eighties. I had reason enough to want to forget all about psoriasis until this evening.

Saboor has developed a form of psoriasis apparently. His skin had become rough and dry on his fingers and there was a scab on his sole. I had taken him to a dermatologist who diagnosed eczema and gave him medicines and ointment. When that didn’t work, I took him to an alternative medicine doctor. He immediately recognised the problem as psoriasis although he didn’t tell us right away.

I felt worried when he didn’t say anything after seeing Saboor. He then asked if anyone in the family had this disease. What disease, I asked, feeling a little terrified. When he said psoriasis, I felt as though my world shook from the very core. Why did it skip a generation and come to Saboor? I really wish I had got it and not him. I almost started crying at the clinic itself. The doctor who is a homeopath as well as a spiritual guide consoled me saying that they can cure psoriasis now, and Saboor’s is still in the early stage.

I’ve started the treatment now. I just hope and pray, really pray that it works and my baby is spared the trauma that his nana went through.

My thirtieth birthday

My thirtieth birthday got off to a great start! Ayesha messaged me on 4th night at 10.30 itself because she wanted to be the first to wish me, and also because she had to go to sleep early

I wasn’t really expecting anyone to actually call up at 12 though. But then, I usually stay up till 12.30 and I was up reading some book when the phone rang at around 12.15. It only said ‘call’. I was surprised because that usually meant an overseas call and it had to be pretty late for Jun to call me from Hong Kong. And when I answered the phone, it was Lubi!! What a pleasant surprise that was!

In the morning of course mom, papaji, Sidra and Jun called. There were calls from my friends from all parts of my life….Ayesha, Nusrat, Zeenat, Vinod, Firdouse and then my aunts and uncles(not surprisingly only maternal side) also called.

My day was made most special because Mansoor actually gave me a gift! Well, in the 11 odd years that we’ve been married, he’s given me gifts only twice for my birthday. So, I really wasn’t expecting anything from him this time either. But I was almost shocked that he had got me two gifts! He got me a very pretty wrist watch and a perfume. Very sweet of him.

That made me feel rather magnanimous to everyone and I invited everyone for dinner at Mainland China…which kind of made a big hole in my pocket afterwards….:D But hey…you don’t turn thirty everyday, so I felt it was justified!

Mom got me loads of stuff for my house(remember, I’m going to be going nuclear soon). And to compensate for not giving me something I can really enjoy, she got me a box of chocolates too! Mom! Tussi great ho!

I was thinking from the past few weeks actually, that I wanted to gift myself something. I was considering a new mobile phone, but upgrading my phone has lost its novelty and I’m shocked to realise that I’m actually happy with my Nokia 6300! So, this time around, I’ve gone one step ahead, and I’ve asked Jun to get me a laptop from Hong Kong. He bought it yesterday, and now I have to wait till the 15th of this month to give myself my lovely gift, because that’s when Jun is coming to India.

So, it was a great day and I hope its a great year. Thank you all my lovely friends, each one of you who wished me and wished such good things for me! I love you all!!!!!

Turning thirty

Gosh! Its really here! I can’t believe that I’ll be turning thirty in less than an hour!

I don’t have many thoughts right now, except that I have done most of the things I’ve wanted to in my life, before turning thirty. But the one thing I’ve wanted most has eluded me. I suppose I had to turn thirty for that to happen. And now that I’ve reached the big 3 oh…I hope my book gets published and soon!!!!

And as my blast says…’you’re only as old as you feel…and I really do feel like I’m just seventeen! ‘

My own website

Jun and I had a few small arguments over it. He thought that www.andaleebwajid.com was too narcissistic. I didn’t think so. I wanted it to be something that would turn up easily on a search engine, and more importantly, it had to be something that could be easily remembered.

So, here it is. I’ve been working on it on and off and its not completely finished. There are sections I’m going to add, but any comments, suggestions to improve the website are completely welcome!

www.andaleebwajid.com