I’M FAT!!!???? NOOOOO..........

Yet another truth about me...only difference is that it surfaced only today.

I’ve overweight now.

Not that I was slim as a twig before, but I always managed to weigh normal for my age and height…OR my body managed it…I always ate alike, right from childhood to the present day. And I never looked like an obese. When ever I complained about my weight, people comforted me saying “it’s just right for your height”. I have never tried to drop my foodie tag nor to gain weight .I always wanted to lose weight, for I’ve always thought I weigh more than needed. And now it has been confirmed...

BUT THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!

I’m FAT?????? OH NO…. :( :’(

Well, let me explain how all this started…

I confined myself to my home for the past 2 months… I finished my final graduation exams in April. I’ve been killing time at home for the past few months. My post graduation classes commence only in August which means, I’m still home, full time…all I’m doing is get up, eat, watch TV, sleep, read and then again watch TV, eat and then sleep. So that explains why I have gained weight….Today I went to a near by hospital to consult a physician to get my medical fitness certificate, only upon its submission will my MBA admission procedure get completed. It had all these fields asking for name and other basic info. Then my height (5.6), weight, things which I’m allergic to (I honestly don’t think I’m allergic to anything except raw wood dust and being silent), blood group and medication details. The doctor greeted me with a ‘Hello madam’ when I stepped in and showed me a seat. I was kind of both startled and impressed with it. He prescribed for a routine blood test to check for abnormalities in my blood cells count...I was sure there won’t be any signs of anemia or other deficiencies for I’m eating really well ,even more than enough now a days. And then I had to wait for more than an hour to get my blood test reports. According to the report, all was well. I was happy. No need to take that iron smelling, blood coloured tonic to increase my hemoglobin levels (once upon a time, I was made to take it regularly).

Now I’m at the consulting room. He asked for my name and other details to fill in the form. He paused at ‘weight:’ And then went over to ‘height:’ I haven’t checked my weight for months now and height for years. He asked me to stand on weighing machine. I tried to look down the meter but was immediately told to keep my head straight. The doctor was reading the fitness form the college sends me and so asked several questions about my graduation and PG while my weight and height were being measured. The nurse murmured the weight to herself. It was good that I didn't ask, for I would have fainted there itself not making it to measuring my height. I know they got my height wrong...Coz her measure said 166 Cm which unquestionably is not right, since it makes only 5.4 and I’m 5.6. I was then asked to sit and wait while the doctor fills in the details. I was asked about my present physical state. I used to be asthmatic... As a kid I was extremely exposed to frequent illness. But over years I have developed resistance to such problems and my Mother no longer panics as she used to even at a single ‘aahh..aahh..hachee ‘.

After completing the procedures with his official seal, the Doctor handed over the certificate to me. Without any delay I checked my weight. I was traumatized with what was written in blue link next to ‘weight:’

Any guesses???

I WEIGHT 68 Kg TODAY! ARRRGGGG…no no no…

That’s so close to 70!! And I’m just 20. My weight always bordered within 55-58 Kg. And now it went straight up to 68!! When the initial shock ceased, I enquire to the doctor if this was normal. He took his mobile. I sat confused. Why is this guy taking out his phone? What? He wants my contact number? Or he just got a call? Sorry man, this is a consultancy; you cannot use your mobile here.

Then after seconds he showed his mobile to me. His mobile had Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator on its application directory... And I read what was written across the display...It was my BMI. It would have appeared really funny to anyone but me…

In a comical manner, it said ‘FAT!!’

I stared and stared, I stared as he stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

“You’re done”, he finally declared.

I said a ‘thank you’ and walked out.

I was back home only around 4 in the evening and didn't even bother to help myself with a cup of tea to cope with the heavy rain outside. My mother called to know if I was back. I answered he call and told her the breaking news. There was silence for a moment and then she said. “Don’t worry; you’ll lose it soon since you’re going to live in a hostel”Mother’s are always comforting. Aren't they??

My father was laughing at the ‘breaking news’. He will never mind if I complain that I’m becoming increasingly plump, he’ll say,”Oh, It’s just baby fat” and will encourage to ‘eat well’. He still can't admit I’m grown up and 20. For him I will always be the little girl who sat on his lap in a yellow frock for the first ever family photograph. His school of thought is that girls tend to eat well as long as they are under the care of their parents. Once they move out and set up a family of their own, they’ll no longer bother to keep their tummy full.

I will not starve. But I’ll eat wisely. My strategy is going to be

1. Give up eating sweets and fries.

2. Eat salads at least once a day.

3. Absolute ban to junk food.

4. Climb the stairs up and down 20 times a day.

As a beginning,I’m going to make that stupid machine point its needle to a clear 60 (which is normal for my height ). YES I AM.

Guys…PLEASE help…any tips on losing weight by eating appropriately???

Yep.. I’m a foodie…

Another characteristic of mine... And most of my friends know that don’t eat to live but i eat to enjoy the food!! It’s like I live to eat !!

I know, u r grinning now… I don’t have a clue why I’m writing this… ...A Post on my food habits? but I think being a foodie gives u the right and courage to think, talk and write about food, 24x7..

if its dull then please excuse..

Literally speaking, most of the things we do affect others around us in one way or the other and we are often influenced or compelled. we cook, study, work, even sometimes live for others(now that’s something really worthy to do, no questions there) and I consider eating as the only thing we do for ourselves in its entirety(minus expectant mothers of course;) ).. So why should one be ashamed that he/she is a foodie??? :D

I love food...I love cooking and eating. The things I cook can be called ‘divya’s creations’ rather than by a particular name for each, coz most of the times, I invent the dishes and I tell u, it’s a really difficult job for me to name them.. So most of the times they are called ‘holy cauli’, ‘wonder deluxe’ or simply ‘vegetable tries’...

I try to introduce a distinction in the traditional way of cooking a particular foodstuff by testing with diverse ingredients, without evicting the basic ones.

My area of specialisation is salads…I a fan of salads…give me salads all three times a day and I’ll eat happily... :D My favorite among my own preparation is the cabbage-carrot-peanut salad which I eat like a cow. Chewing and chewing…its crispy, crunchy and sometimes yummy too because of the milk-cream I add for extra taste…and saucy coz of the pepper and lemon... mmmm…

Recently I was searching for a chaat recipe...India’s own chaat... and it crossed my mind... Why it is that street food tastes the best??? Always!!! No matter what it is... Let it be vadapav, bonda, vada with coconut chutney, pani puri, hot samose with chutney, chaat, or dosa or idli …..Whatever, it always stimulates my taste buds. (I donno the case with hot dogs coz I’m a veggie and I have never left India) One advantage of being a foodie is that you always know and get the best to eat. And you’ll always know where to go for the best and the tastier. And I give eating the same status as cooking. Both are arts that require dedication, a creative mind and loads of skill :D. Street food was many times a topic of discussion among us friends… and we have wondered why it always tastes like heaven… and then one day Aparna came up with the thought that street food gets that taste because its unhygienic… oh no. she made my day… I kept thinking about that all the way home. Usually on my way home, I used to steal a look through the restaurant windows on the either side of the road, inside people helping themselves with snacks and drinks when I was outside with an empty stomach, hoping that I may find something really delicious to eat at our kitchen shelf.But that evening i was totally unenthusiastic to throw a look into my usual places of interest...but it lasted only for a few days..within a week i was back to my usual self.. but i still continue to be bit nervous about eating anything i feel is 'from-the-streets'.

Everyone will agree that homemade food is the most hygienic and safe. Because we always know 'whats cooking'.And our chefs at home- our dear mothers always want to give their children the best,food which will give them the best of health and keep them away from illness..Mothers are obviously the best chefs in the world...even though i do often fight with Amma for not making my favorite food and going with my father's preference.. ;)

Speaking about fathers and cooking, sometimes fathers turn out to be better chefs than mothers.Well thats how it is at my home..i have inherited the tendency to experiment with cooking from my Appa..we often work together at kitchen playing chefs..and its really fun..the only part i hate is that when often orders me to bring things like salt and pepper and other such flavorings while he himself sits idle... he acts as if he's the head-chef and treats me as a sidekick..and that is when i push him out of the kitchen and take over control as the head..

The only sad part is the fact that my food interests and habits are limited to vegetarian food. I was born into a complete veggie family and follow the family footsteps. So I cannot stand the smell of cooked or uncooked fish, meat or any such thing that is otherwise mouth-watering. So I cannot and will never explore non-vegetarian food. But I’m not complaining. There are still loads of vegetarian dishes out there which I have never tired. I'm looking forward to taste it all someday.

Happy Eating. :)

Nostalgia

This post is inspired by my visit to the house where we lived from 1988-1999: Amma, Appa and I. The first ever visit since we shifted in May 1999. It was our first home. Spend all my childhood there. We love that house. It was small, but we loved the ambiance. It was this love that brought about the ‘house-to- home’ transformation. 

           ____________________________________

I remember, I remember,The house where I was born,

The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn;

 

        _______________________________________

 

 I still remember the day we moved to the new one. I was 10. After the housewarming in the morning, all the things were being moved to the new house which was at a short distance from the old one.  By evening everything was moved. I was at a friend’s home, playing hide-n-seek. Amma called and told me to come to the new house before it gets dark. Our game was finally over, it was almost dark, and i was about to go home. Then my friend jokingly said “don’t forget where you are going!”It was actually then i remembered what Amma had said, i had forgotten the fact that we no longer will be living in the house where we used to. A pain stuck in my throat. I won’t be sleeping at my favourite corner of the living room anymore. Night was falling fast. The sky was cloudy. It had rained that morning. But i couldn't’t help paying a last visit to my dear home. The front door lights were switched off. So it was dark there. That turned a privilege because no one could see me crying. I was weeping and i did not know why, weeping like someone had left me forever. It was not entirely true for it was not the house that left us, we had left the house.

       _____________________________________

One year later...

 I remember, I remember,The house where I was born,

The little window where the sun,Came peeping in at morn;

 

 

I got the Std 7 English text book some days into the commencement of classes and was going through it as a part of my pre-class-reading (strictly language text books only). I read this poem and fell in love with it instantly. I kept re-reading the poetry. When we were given the syllabus for the year, i was happy and also a bit sad to find that the poetry need not be learned. Happy because i would be able to use it for my English recitation (it was my obvious event at the school competitions, every year), sad because i could have scored full marks if any questions were asked from the poem. I showed the poetry to Appa, he read it and smiled. On my asking he said that the poem made him remember the old house where we lived, before we built this one we live in today.

 

 When i thought about it, i understood he was right. The oldie was an old-fashioned one, not an RC house, had high ceilings in the living cum dining room and low ceilings in the other rooms and kitchen. It was difficult for some-what-tall people to walk straight through the doors. They always had to bend a little to pass. The house had no rooms that could be used as bedroom in the ground floor, but had a single large room at the top of the stairs which was intended to be used as bed room. We were using that room, but treated it as an attic. I used to go up there when i was left alone at home with only the servant to keep an eye on me. She would be busy with household works, but always checked on me from time to time. 

 It was some time around age 7 or 8 that i first came into friendship with a Walkman. Someone presented a Walkman to my grandfather, who in turn handed it to me. I used to climb up the stairs, sitting beside the window, listen to songs for hours, of which my grandfather had a collection. Some of my favourite songs used to be (and still remains)’chinna chinna aasai..’ from ‘Roja’ ,’ambalapuzhea...’ from ‘Advaitham’, ’njattuvelakiliyea...’ from ‘Midhunam’, ‘bohat pyaar...’ form ‘Saajan’,’ aakhiyan milayea kabhi...’ from ‘Raja’ (i used to move my eyes like Madhuri Dixit did in the song, well to some extent).

 It had this long room in the ground floor which we used as our bed cum living cum dining room. It had a single window which would capture the entire morning light and direct it to the long room, and the entire room was bright throughout the day.As an infant, I used to have my cradle set up somewhere near the window. So the first lines of the poem were dear to me:

”....the little window where the sun cam peeping in at morn...”

I would be there, confined to the room, toddling and sometimes holding to the window for support and gazing into the bright light coming from the top: being an old house built in Kerala architecture, it had this quadrangle at the middle of the house, with the opening at the top which ensured good air and light. The window opened to it .The quadrangle also served as a place for me to enjoy the rains in later years: The place where i used to sit and read children’s magazines, study, eat snacks, cry when i had a fight with Amma or Appa..

All just sweet memories now..

 

But now after some 10 years, the house is in almost blown into bits. It’s now being used as the office and store of its immediate neighbour. He is dealer of agarbathis. So one evening when we were returning home after a short trip to the town we passed the house. I told Appa my liking to visit my first home. Thanks to the now owner, he was in the office and allowed us inside. I was shocked at the site of my once-home. It was cramped with large boxes of bhathis and other such perfumed stuffs. Loads of things: dates, candles, notebooks and a million other things. I wanted to go upstairs, but the dealer warned me about the poor state of the floor and that all the wood already consumed by termite. I wonder how it stands the heavy rains and the heat. But it is standing. And i hope it will stand for years to come.

 I Googled the first line of the poem and found it.It was written by Thomas Hood. 

 

 

The phenomenon called life.

Enough about my silly mistakes....

I'm bored now...so taking break from the label 'abbadhangal' and is trying to ponder on something else...but what??

Hmm...lemme tell you about my life..

Education comes first!

I started my schooling in a convent school...and i was an year younger than my classmates...i still am...most of my classmates are 21..exceptions being Bhavi(bhavya),Shupps(Prasanth), Srikanth, Aasan(Vaisakh) and myself..i'm not sure about Aasan but i strongly doubt it considering his size...that is the most amazing and funniest thing about all of us: the 'youngsters'  have a higher size to age ratio in comparison with the others...all of us a are >5'5 in height.. Aasan is some 5'10 or something- a big bloke, me some 5'7 or 8, Shupps also, Srikanth also reasonably tall i cant tell the exact height and Bhavya is 5'5 or 6..what i actually intend to say is that in spite of my size which gives me a matured look, people say that i'm just too immature to be this big..i agree..i have just the same opinion about myself...

An over-sized kid..!!!

Part one-

the early days

I was an year younger than my classmates when i joined Lower KG, i had problems digesting the lessons and hardly remember having friends...this is surprising because i was the same then, just what i'm today, the same attitude and today i can claim a huge treasure- a chest full of friends..love you guys...and i miss them a lot.

Sudi (Sudeep) agrees with me..he swears he was my classmate in almost all lower primary classes..but i DO NOT remember him..may be i was too busy with things: talking and talking, arguing, attention-seeking...hihi..and today he has grown to a friend from a classmate.. we completed our high school, higher secondary education from the same schools and now we are graduating from the same college :)

I mentioned the problem with studies, i was very lazy so i used get a lot of beatings from my mother...she mercilessly made me work on mathematical problems which i hated the most.English was my best subject,so she wanted me to master all the antonyms and synonyms..and grammar too.Thanks to her, because of these practice sessions i developed healthy reading habit, starting with children's magazines. Now one of my hobbies is to learn new words from the dictionary...i loved Science and Biology was my favourite..i was weak in Social Studies and Malayalam grammar...but i loved reading all the chapters from the Malayalam text book in advance given that it was prose..i never had the ability to enjoy poetry unless someone explained the 'inner' meaning..I was a bad-student , i missed classes at least twice a week. There were two reasons for this

1. I suffered frequent attacks of illness, some form or other. i was physically very weak. My father still 

jokes i used to look like some cross between a human(in basic structure)- a crow(in complexion)- and a small giraffe(in size-lean and long).

2. I hated going to school. I wanted to be at home , full-time, playing with friends and spending fun-time with my aunt.(My mothers younger sis, she brought me up till i was 7).

'But you were a sweet child'- my dad confirms.

I used to come home from school every evening complaining about some classmate bullying me- slapping or pinching me..it was true..all these stories had the same ending..

'i wont go to school tomorrow'. 

My mom used to comfort me not to care about all these and report to the teacher..but i was too scared to report it..This went on for about an year..then one evening as i finished my set of complaints for the day..my aunt took me in her hands..made me stand on the table..she looked straight into my eyes and said

 'i don't want to hear such complaints anymore, the next time someone slaps you, you slap back,someone pinch you, u do the same..tit for tat and if this reaches the teachers ears i'll be there to back you up'

this opened a wide range of possibilities and from the next working day i became one among the few strong girls in the class...and may be this is the reason why most of my classmates still remember me..

However some way this made me bold and i evolved from the shy, always-frightened-looking kid to what i am today- an outspoken,straightforward,friendly person, semi-practical,half-emotional...I believe  i am right about attributing myself with the above terms...not  mentioning the negatives..but on the positive note...Am i right buddies???

Part two follows........will post soon..

PS

 Aaasan claimed he is 6'2 or more after reading this post..

Jen(Jenshia) says she turns 21 the coming September only..so you are welcome to the group of 'youngsters' ..after all she is qualified in terms of size...

abbadham no.2

Hope you read and enjoyed my first post on 'abbadhangal'..

so here's the second one....

#2                              

Prologue

Ever since we bought a home PC we devoted more time in repairing or replacing the hardware parts, than actually using it...so after the replacement of the SMPS(switched mode power supply) twice and also the internal modems thrice , it was time for the fourth modem to blow up...and so it did.....i was sooo happy....i was sure that my parents are going to kill me this time...just imagine 2 SMPSs and 3 Modems within about one and a half years..All these happenings because of my carelessness...

modem nos 1,2 & 3 

reason: lightning , because i forgot, every time to remove the pin from the socket; my mistake.

But honestly the SMPSs didn't blow up coz of me in the first two cases..the reason was voltage fluctuations and blame the electricity dept for that , not poor divya...that my parents know..

but in the third case...i really donno who to blame....after the third one was damaged, the technician who is an old friend of my father wo assembled the system for us...he came and asked 'again?' 

i explained my innocence to him in front of my parents so that they might understand my helplessness...He took out the SMPS box and opened it..OH i cannot express the magnitude of my embarrassment..a small mouse fell out of the box, dead.He looked at the box, and then at the mouse and the me and then back at the box...we knew we were 'growing' mice at our home...coz an entire family had perished when my mother and myself attacked them a month before....but i was sure that one or two had escaped the massacre...and it looked like he had come to take revenge and sacrificed his life in the act...

after all vengeance is sweet... 

 so, it was time to replace the SMPS for the third time and the internal modem for the fourth time...and it was done in time..thanks to my loving parents...hugs and kisses to them..

Office of the sub-divisional engineer, BSNL               November 2007

it was our third semester study holidays...so i was at home most of my time eating and watching TV or sleeping and browsing....we had then very recently changed our LL phone no. It meant that we need to register the new number with the ISP(Internet service provider)  and ours is BSNL..so i tried it.. and it didn't work coz the website for registration wasn't working properly..then i learned that prepaid Internet cards are available with which we can use the service just like using mobile prepaid cards....so it was my turn to visit the BSNL office for the first time.

One fine morning my mother dropped me in front of a beauty parlour where i went to have my hair cut short (well it isn't that long) and then to the office which was near by.. it was already 11 am when i climbed the stairs to the office...i went in and saw a small row of counters, one for each, bills, mobile cards, IT cards and so...there wasn't a counter which said 'Internet cards here'...so i had no idea which counter to visit....i saw a small queue in front of one counter and went and took the place at the end....when it was my turn, the man at the counter held out his hand for what i donno...i said i wanted prepaid Internet card..he looked at me and took a deep breath only to tell me to go to the last counter..at the last counter i was asked to fill up a form...i filled it up on my mothers behalf since it was her phone...and i put her signature too ;)

while i was filling up the form i saw one somewhat familiar face among the people waiting in front of the counters. this girl was my junior at school but don't know her well...she is the friend of a neighbour...i pretended to be unaware of her presence..but she noticed me I'm sure...i was asked to pay Rs.167 towards the cost of the card while the form was handed fill up...i had so many doubts while filling in the details like whose name i should use? is it safe to give this much details?is it right signing with my mothers name and so..i got up at least twice to clear my doubts and I'm sure the man at the counter lost his patience..and finally i submitted the completed application at the counter and had a look at the office while the guy was checking for correctness..the office was a rectangular room which was partitioned into several sub-rooms for the staff and the officers..there were glass separations between the counters and the room where the staff were sitting, so that everything happening at one side is seen at the other and heard too coz the door is always ajar...

My mind was streaming through a million things when suddenly when i was tapped at the hand by the counter-man to give me the card...i was happy and said thank you..and stuffed the card inside my bag-which was to my disappointment a long piece of ordinary paper..i checked my phone for any calls or messages...

i have got this habit of walking fast and furious like going to hit someone...i took the same style and was about to reach the door when i heard shouts from behind...i turned back, bewildered...i didn't understand anything for a moment for more than one persons were shouting...but it was at me everyone was shouting..it took a while for my ears to register the fact that every mouth was shouting the same...

'kashu kodithittu poku molea'

i had forgotten to pay the cash-Rs.167..

i froze..oh crap!!!

then the man at the counter smirked and said '167 rupa'

okay..okay...i'm a joke now...i went back to the counter...keeping my head down took out the cash...i knew every pair of eyes at the office was focused on me..even the staff were interested in me than their work..i was sweating heavily considering it was raining throughout the morning....i felt like a thief in trouble..oh no..it was sooo embarrassing...

You know one of my greatest characteristic feature is that i easily come out of such situations..give me a minute and I'm back to normal again...But still i didn't lift my head even half a degree until i was out of the building...i have tried in earnest not to set foot there again..but the more i try the more I'm forced to go...for one reason or the other...

PS: It gives me immense pleasure in informing you that while i was halfway through composing this particular post, my SMPS got damaged for the third time....had finished the prologue one night and it suddenly happened... spend a whole boring week without my PC..thank God there was no need to replace it this time. It is repaired and is now back in action...

ende jeevithatilea 10 valiya abbadhangal- abbadham 1

I said i my last post i will publish my 10 greatest stupidities in life under the name

'ende jeevithatilea 10 valiya abbadhangal'

Ever since then i have been trying to recollect such incidents and events...

By 'abbadhangal' i refer to both funny and serious ones which

• either brought tears of laughter in the eyes of other people when i narrated the particular incident to them...
• or those which made me re-consider the options i had, at the time of making the decision, later. These are the ones i still regret .

     #1                       My first day in class 6                   June 1,  1999

My kindergarten and lower primary were completed at a convent school. After class 5 i was transferred to this new one.It was my first day at the new school , class 6. My parents didn't accompany me since there was this girl who was a neighbour and we were in the same class. So she took me along with her. I was not informed about which class:the division, i would be in, at the time of admission. So i went and sat with my new friend in her class.Then the teacher came in and started the calling the rolls. And obviously my name was not there. so she checked with the office and found my name. I was to sit in Class 6B. The class was a floor below .I climbed down the stairs and found the room. When i was about to enter the class, i got a glimpse of some familiar faces from my old school and i was very relived. But suddenly i saw a woman in saree inside who was talking down to a boy who was standing .

' Oh no, the teacher is already there.The first day and I'm late ..what will happen now??'

'.....................................................................................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

pettannu ende thalayil bulb kathi.

i cleared my throat..mhhmhh...may be a decent request to enter the class, convent style, can make a good impression...

"excuse me.. " several heads turned..

"may i come in teacher??.." asked i, brightly, glowing more and more with each word...

there was a moment...and then the entire class broke into a laugh...my mouth fell open a little...

'but..why are they laughing??'

the 'teacher' was smiling, but said nothing..then someone spoke out loud from among the smirking faces..

"She is not a teacher"

my mouth opened even wider..now i was literally standing at the class room entrance, gaping into the many faces, some still smirky.

then the truth struck me...

THE 'TEACHER' WAS ACTUALLY A MOTHER WHO HAD ACCOMPANIED HER SON..,COZ IT WAS HIS FIRST DAY AT A NEW SCHOOL

how silly of me...just because my parents send me school with a friend..it doesn't mean that every parent does so...

when the initial shock died out, i walked inside, located a free corner and sat there...

i neither spoke nor did anything for the next some 15-20 mts, something that was really not myself..

then to my pleasure, someone came to me and said hello..and then i started talking 

and 

i never stopped..i kept talking and talking..

my ability to talk endlessly about anything under the sun(or the galaxies) made my seniors name me 'sound box' (coz i used to talk really really loud)

And such an achievement in the very first week itself!!! Ooh.. I'm simply great ;)

So that was the first one...this series will continue..i will post the next one as soon as possible..as soon as i recollect the details ;-)

see u soon..!!!