Simple Pleasures

I was driving along a lovely English lane, listening to Michael Buble on Smooth FM, thinking about how much I love my home town! I know I wasn't born here, but having lived in London (or rather just outside London) for all but 3 years of my life, I think I am entitled to think of this place as my home!

So I am going to list how I feel about the simple pleasures of my life -
- the sight of magnolia blossoms blooming, the creamy whiteness contrasting with the magenta centres
- blooming daffodils, golden and standing erect with their trumpets blaring a bright farewell to the winter (regardless of the frost on the ground, the hail, sleet and even snow flurries blustering around them!)
- the bright potent palate of other spring flowers bordering our gardens (gosh our gardeners do a damn good job!!)
- spiky bare branches of trees still slumbering
- knotty stubbed twigs on trees trying their hardest to push leaves out through their hard winter bark.
- clean streets - no rubbish, no faeces (animal or human), no spit marks, no stray animals laying any old place
- orderliness - on the pavements, on the roads, in the shops, in the car parks - and all with out 90 year old 'guards' directing people and the cars into almost un-doable positions!!
- sleeping in my own bed, on my own pillow with my quilt up to my ears!
- wearing socks in bed (sexy, huh??!)
- driving along a lane with a wood running on one side of the road and a farm with horses grazing on the other.
- reading The Daily Mail and The Times and a couple of other papers every single day!
- eating any cereal I fancy - having a choice of 9 in the cupboard (no fear of rats, cockroaches, ants, termites, moths and other tiny, brown insects that feast and flourish in your food stores and bite humans - but I don't know what they are called!)
- having a full size oven!
- driving in London - (not Chennai) - where upon approaching a traffic light that is on green it is safe to put your foot down and feel fairly sure that cars, autos, bikes and bullock carts will not come hurtling at you from every direction.
- not seeing autos swerving, driving sideways and backwards
- driving myself!
- shopping without being touched, pushed, queue jumped and pestered!
- buying food that is pre-packed, pre-washed and organic!
- not scanning back and forth, manically, for mosquitoes!
- seeing a pale blue morning sky with only the jet streams slicing the sky with great big white cloudy lines
- playing tennis
- going to The Riverside - our health and leisure club (yup we maintained our membership!)
-watching Nikh and The Ray play tennis with My Darling, in blissful abandonment.
- swimming and sitting in the jacuzzi, knowing that most people are not going in fully dressed and then using the structures as public bathrooms (I hope!)
- stopping in a Starbucks for a frothy hot choc and a luscious melting chocolate cookie
- using bathrooms that are mostly NOT flooded with all kinds of toxic, unhygienic fluids - bodily or otherwise! Even using bathrooms in shops and restaurants, not looking for a 5 star hotel or having to 'hold on' until we get home!
- letting The Ray go to the loo, anywhere - no fear of disease and lack of disinfectant!
- not having some woman in a sari staring at you while you do your best not to let the afore-mentioned fluids come over the top of your open toed sandals and actually make contact with skin!!
- having lunches, dinners and snacks in all kinds of different restaurants, coffee shops, bistros, gastro-pubs and being able to have a choice of beverages - alcoholic or otherwise!
- walking in the park
-walking on the pavements
- going to the post office
- ordering on line and having the stuff arrive almost the next morning!
- wearing my boots - ankle, knee high, - any kind!
- wearing cashmere!
- blowing out freezing fog as we walk along the street!
- watching The Ray;s face go bright red and glowy from the chilly wind!
- watching Sky TV - choosing from 800 channels and watching Oprah an hour, or even two, later just in case I was out shopping when she was on!
- listening to the radio - Magic, Radio 2, Smooth, Heart, Absolute, Capital and more!
- listening to conversations that stimulate and music that simply rejuvenates!
- cooking in MY kitchen
- not purifying anything and everything that I bring into the house!
- spending time with My Darling, Nikh and The Ray without having upwards of three observers moving back and forth around us!
- having private conversations!
- getting a good deal on my mobile phone contract!
- spending time with good old friends
- laughing, laughing and more laughing!!

Finally, in a couple of days I will add how much I enjoy spending time with my parents and my sister, once they come back from their hols.
Meantime - I still miss friends who happen to be all over the World, USA, Canada, India, Europe, South America, Rabat, Cairo, Australia, Africa etc etc etc!

But you know, my simplest pleasure is just coming home.

Unlucky for Some!!

Thirteen years! Wow! Thirteen years! I still can't believe it!
Yup, today is our wedding anniversary and when you add in our five year mammoth engagement, it is actually more like EIGHTEEN years that Biren and I have been together.
My romantic (then!) boyfriend 'married' me with a ring pull from a coke can when we were in a tiny little temple up in Nandi Hills (or someplace near Bangalore - I was completely jet lagged!) and it was just the two of us, he pledged his undying love, fidelity and forever happily ever after in a stone room which was so small we had to bend over to go inside or risk losing the tops of our heads!
That was 1991 when we were announcing our engagement to the world, here in India. What a long way we have come since then. We had our registry wedding in October 1995, the full on Indian wedding, minus a video, in March 1996, moved houses three times in London less than 100 metres from each other! We have had Nikhil, our miracle! Then moved to India, had an ectopic pregnancy and a few miscarriages. Found out we were expecting another baby, but no heartbeat. Flew to London to find a heartbeat, thank goodness! Had Rhea, here in Chennai, our second miracle baby! Moved houses twice in Chennai. Nikhil has moved several schools. We have made loads of friends and acquaintances. We have bought and sold cars and various household appliances! Travelled to places in Europe, America and Asia. Had parties - surprise and not!

We have had humongous, massive, enormous fights ... I am happy to say that I have realised that our fights are almost always about things and people outside of the two of us! The spats are not about him and me!
It really doesn't help that I am not the meek and mild traditional Indian wife who touches her husband's feet each day, idolises him and worships the ground he walks upon! I do however think the fights are quite healthy for a relationship! The making up is pretty good, too!

I must say though, that even now, when he turns on the charm, gets a certain glint in his eye and turns the full power of his tiger brown eyes on me - well, puddle of mush is the result!

Long may it last!!

btw - I do have one picture of our wedding day but it is in adobe format so if anyone knows how to make it into a regular attachment I can upload it to my blog!! just call me technologically challenged!!