Happy Birthday, Mummy!

May you be young (at heart!) and happy always!

R.I.P

Today is my dad's 16th death anniversary. I hope he's at peace.

The Namesake

Our trip to India was for two reasons : Mr.R's mum's 75th birthday and my brother's wedding.

Baby bro (grown up too soon) married a co-worker. He also proved my theory that there are no such things as coincidences. Here's why: My new sister-in-law (SIL) not only lived only 15 minutes away from us, but also (gasp!) shares the same name as me!

Those who know me, know that my first name is not only unusual, but also rare to come across either in reality or literature. To me it sounds like a concoction of other names, but obviously other parents also had the same idea. The only other person I 'knew' of with a similar name was the niece of my 8th standard teacher who suggested my name to her family because she liked it. In the 8th standard, I was flattered. Today, I feel sorry for the kid.

Coming back to the SIL, the only difference between her name and mine is that mine has a 'y' whereas she has an 'i'.

You can imagine the confusion.

Every time someone calls out, both of us respond. In the days before the wedding, I remember taking a call where the caller asked for *my name* or my brother. Since it was my home, I answered and couldn't figure out what the guy was talking about. The tube light went on then and I passed the phone on to someone who could take a proper message - my mum.

The wedding was peculiar for that reason. I struggled to ignore the MC, stray voices and calls from the photographer calling out *my name*. It's a reflex action - responding to your name and it's hard work curbing that reflex.

For those of you with more common names, my sympathies. I never really stopped to think of this as a problem!

I wonder what it's like for my mum. When I left home, she had a while, a spell of not having *my name* mentioned or called out at home. Now suddenly, like Arnold, *my name* is back - just in a different avatar! Does my mum find it weird? Having lived with one *my name* for decades, she's suddenly faced with the prospect of living with another.

I just hope that my namesake is nicer to my mum than I was. I hope she treats her better, listens to her and cherishes the woman who brought up her new husband through tough times.

It's surely more than mere coincidence that baby bro came halfway around the world and found someone with his sister's (unusual) name. Divine intervention? Lets hope so.

Being a new daughter in law in a new home is not the easiest thing for a woman. But for my namesake, her name will make her feel at home.

To her, welcome to the family.

To my mum, sister and brother - you can't get rid of *my name* so easily :)

To everybody else - come up with a way to call each one of us. *my name* with a 'y' or *my name* with an 'i' is just too lazy.

I'm not sick, just lazy

On the phone the other day, my mum wanted to know if I was feeling better. Not having specifically said to her (or emailed) that I was ill, I was puzzled how she knew I had a bad cold over the weekend.

The culprit was my punkymood cartoon on the blog. I put the 'I'm feeling Sick' one when I was sneezing away on Saturday. I got better by Sunday evening (no chance of calling in sick at work!), but was too lazy to change the mood. I didn't think anybody was paying any attention anyway...

Well, mom. It's changed now. I'm better now, thank you!

Are you on Facebook?

I've successfully managed to stay away from invitations to MySpace, Ringo and god-know-what-else. I had a dormant account on Facebook, but managed to avoid being a regular. That was until people began finding me - college mates, cousins, fellow writers on other forums.

The trick to enjoying being on Facebook is to keep the numbers small and limited to people you really know. This month has been extra special because I found two great friends from college (admittedly, one I found on batchmates.com - it pays to occasionally check old, really old, email accounts) and it adds a whole new dimension to my life because I've missed having them around.

It's also great to have cousins and other members of the extended family all in one place. This gives me a chance to get to know what's going on with them and to keep in touch without sending long emails back and forth. Having grown up in different continents and cities means we are not close, but at least we can start afresh.

I found Shoefie there as well - she's a fellow writer and I do feel I know her rather well (at least the public persona!), so that meets my criteria :)

Here's to more reunions.

Relatively speaking

The house feels empty this morning.

For the last 2 weeks, my mum, sister and brother-in-law were with us on a holiday to England. I took time off from work and we did the usual touristy things - London Eye, Mme Tussuad's, London Zoo, The Aquarium, Thames Cruise and the Sightseeing bus, Trafalgar Square & the National Gallery, Green Park & Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park , the Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial, Oxford Circus and shopping. We also managed a day trip to Windsor Castle.

We ate ice-cream in the rain (as is the traditional English thing to do in June), walked for miles and shopped for bargains. We went to see a play (somewhat scandalous, but still quite funny), had several barbecues in the sunshine (brr!) and when nostalgia overtook us, watched movies on Star Gold.

In all, I hope they had a good time. They'll probably need a vacation after all that walking (who walks in Mumbai?!). Being bumped up to Club class on the return flight (envy, envy!) may prove somewhat rejuvenating.

Happy Annual Birthday, Little Sis!

How does it feel, waking up in the morning and not having my pretty face wishing you after all these decades? Must be a damn good feeling, I think!!! :) As per tradition, I looked around for a 'mean' birthday card for you, but they're all out of stock - I think you've given them all to ME for my birthday over the years. Thinking about your birthday brings back some memories about the times when friends wanted to buy you gifts and ask me for my suggestions (which was not a very smart thing to do, as they eventually learnt!). You would end up with things that both of us could use - if it was cosmetics, it would be something of MY choice! The advantages of being older, smarter and just generally wiser, I guess.

I don't get presents on your birthday anymore :(

Doesn't matter. YOU can get me something as a memento for all those birthdays when I didn't fight with you. And as those occasions are few.........Well, have a good day today and everyday!

Birthday

I've been banned from having birthdays
A new rule has been made
Signed ,sealed and delivered
By the local Fire Brigade!
They say that all those candles
Would create such a blaze
They'd have to come and put it out
And stay around for days !

So, I guess I'll have to party
Without the birthday cake,
Perhaps I'll light one candle
Just for old time's sake ,
Those firemen ! So fit and strong,
Such handsome looking men -
Whose birthday is it ,anyway ?
Let's light them all again !

Copyright;Margaret Glendenning

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PS : The Mantralaya tricolor has been washed - it looks very clean.
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