Diwali Night

I never had this much fun in the recent past. Diwali night in our apartment was a major hit with the remarkable program that was lined up and the yum yummy dinner as a finale. The rains did hamper with our program venue as we were forced to perform in our club house with limited space disparate the lovely stage with lighting we had invested in. However our outfit provided the fundamental glitter for the evening. Our dandiya performance was enjoyed by one and all as praises showered in after the show. Not to mention the kids (including adi) who rocked to the tunes of the latest bollywood numbers. I leave you all with some videos of our program …enjoy.

Diwali Dandiya

Unfortunately this video is not very clear.

Bachna Ae Haseeno by adi and gang

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Poof! The job is gone…

NO! I am not talking about my hubby’s job but yes! 7 years back, the lay off terror in the US affected us when Aj faced it, But then we were free birds with no responsibility of kids and it was easy on us since we din’t have a housing loan or anything else to pay back. We just returned to our homeland !! where we were always safe. I am so GLAD we did that then. With the US market recession and many more lay offs now , I am sure I would not deal with it the same way I did 7 years back owing to the situation I am in right now .
The highly paid investment bankers are the prey to the situation now and it’s sad to see the BIG banks close down leaving thousands job-less. Getting laid-off in a country where there is no family support is bad. I feel sad for the Indians (and other global workers) among them with a H1-B visa or pending green card, who are especially vulnerable to layoffs. How does one sell the home, pull the kids out of school and flip over one’s life at such short notice? It’s also sad that many think that the I-bankers deserved it.
The joke on i-banks is that being an i-banker means working long hours. First you work long hours to make money and make MD, then you get divorced since you didn’t find enough family time and lose all the money so you work harder to make even more money, only to get laid off like this someday.
Thankfully for us , we have a roof on our head with no loan to pay back and no high interest rates to be bugged with. A decent investment and a check on spending too much may save our situation even if it meant losing job again. Fingers crossed!!!!
The recovery seems to be a long lug.

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4 movies in a day …

…is not too much to watch if you enjoy them all likewise. Three Malayalam movies and one hindi movie this Sunday was a treat though I must confess that it was pirated CDs. We settled our bottoms at 9 A.M, took a break for lunch and continued the movie mela until 9 P.M thirsty for more. When the start is good only to get better with a gratifying end is time well spent even if it means a headache towards the end obviously as the heat from your bottom has transferred to your head after being a couch potato for 9 hrs at a stretch. Though the Hindi movie didn’t match up to the Malayalam movie themes which are usually more realistic, it definitely had a breezy effect towards the end.

Bachana ae haseeno with Ranbir aka raj( wonder what’s with the kapoor family- addicted to the name “raj” ) in the lead role who plays the flirt .The lady cast includes the dashing Bipasha, Deepika padukone and Minissha. The flirt dumps two women only to get dumped by the third women who manages to turn the man into a saint. The saint realizes his folly, wants to make an apology and heads back to the two women who by now have lost their conviction in love and are leading a mechanical life. How the guy admits the guilt is bakwaas!! However the first half is funny but the second half is pathetic with a dull climax.

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I want to go out….

...is the mantra that Adi chants directly after breakfast. 10 days at home and the brat cannot think of anything else beyond loafing with friends day in and out. When I say NO, he gawks at me like am his foe, runs into the room right away where I have buried heaps of white paper, pulls out couple of ‘em and gets busy painting his heart off. The end result being a colorful mess on the floor and a bowl filled with black liquid. He does know the recipe to irk me. One look at the mess and I say “OUT YOU GO”. Out he goes and even before I breathe a sigh of relief, he returns with couple of other brats and says “they want to play with my toys”. OK! I have to be a good mom and so I smile the most gentle smile to fake a good image in front of the other kids and say ”WHY NOT”. Come in and have fun. Then I run into the room to avoid nagging them with NO es only to come out later and find all of ‘em sprawled on each other after a virtual earthquake.

Dushera holidays have always been fun for Adi. It’s either having a ball at home with a range of options like swimming and hanging around with friends or like always visit Ajith’s home in Kerala where all the cousins wander around the greenery,go fishing and frighten the snakes off their hiding once in a while. The list goes on until they tire themselves out only to get a good sleep which prepares them for the subsequent adventures the following day. However we missed it this time as Atul is not geared up to stay anywhere other than our home. Hope we can make it next time.

My holiday begins when Adi’s holiday ends which is 4 days from today[]

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An Award

...for me by the ever so sweet Jasmine.Its very sweet of her to have considered me eligible for these awards and am so honored.

1. "I Love Your Blog"

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The rules of the award are:

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2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you have nominated.

Previous awardees: Mabelle, Prily, Ate Norma, I Love Philippines Too, Shenga, Nova, WebbieStuffs, Nancy, Webloglearner, Pinay Wahm, and My So Called Life, Let's Spice Things Up, Beauty and Shop, Idealpinkrose, allin, kimchiland, Korean Food, The Paper Vision, Embrace Simplicity, Me and Mine, A Window To Our World, A Grateful Heart, Can of Thoughts, A Mother's Stuff, http://housewifeatwork.blogspot.com/, MommyAllehs Up-Close and Personal, Glossa~licious, The Spirit of Blogging, Help my novel save the world..., A Great Pleasure, Listening, Learning, Living, Rainbows,Arbitrary Thoughts

ADD YOUR LINKS HERE.

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2. "Spread the Blog Love"

(Pls. don’t remove)Credits: Elements/Paper by Dani Mogstad/ Layout by JennyLRules:
1. Don’t remove the credits when you post the image

2. Please link back to the person who tagged you and pass this tag to many of your friends

3. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.

4. Remember to come back here at A SLICE OF LIFE (pls. don’t change this link and leave the exact post url so I can add you to the master list to help increase our rankings and improve our Technorati Authority.

6. Spread the BLOG LOVE FEVER!!

BLOGGERS:

1.Jenny Said So2.Simply Jen3.This and That4.Bargain.Sales.Deals.5.A Slice of Life6.Aussie Talks7. When Mom Talks8. Me and Mine<9. Creative in Me10. For the LOVE of Food11. Little Peanut12. Pea in a Pod13. It’s Where the HEART Is14. Around the World15.SugarMagnolias16.kathycot17. buhay misis 18. when mom speaks19. walk on red20. kathycot cooks21quicker822. Eds Mommy Life23. My Precious Niche24. Just Me.. Eds25. Can of Thoughts26. Designs By Vhiel27. Vhiel's Corner28. Anything and Everything in Between29. Good things in life...30. Precious Moments..31.Beachlover 32.beachloverkitchen. 33. Little Corner of Mine. Rainbows,Arbitrary Thoughts

Your blog is next.

3. "Beautiful Site Award"

I am glad I recieved it and I pass this on to
Suchi
Sumee
Thanu
Anjana

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Continental with love

That was my gift to the old man on his birthday!! When the taste buds get bugged of customary food, I thought it best to cook up something different. While the norm was to go out for dinner to some elite bistro for either of our birthdays, I thought of giving a personal touch to the gift and the outcome was this


Mashed potato and gravy, grilled chicken and tomato, boiled veggies


Look at the blissful look on the old man's face :)

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