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20/04/09

To be or (K)not to be !!!

I kept thinking about it, and at the end of the year, I had "TO BE" 30 years old... could not do much about it... so here I am on the other side of the decade... in my "Thirties" now :)

The photograph is not really relevant except that the the title of this post is the title of the photograph as well :) But in case you can get some analogy going with the shoes, the knot, the years, you are more than welcome... but please don't come up with the "tie the knot" thing... its too predictable !!!

I like quiet birthdays and on the contrary when I was a kid the birthdays were FAR from being quiet... Mom used to invite all my relatives home and the mornings used to be Havan time and the evenings a cake cutting ceremony... I used to love it, mostly because that was one day of the year when the entire family used to be together... all my chachas, mamas, grandparents, cousins... fun times !!!

But over a period of time, things changed, the way birthday was celebrated changed, the family gathering reduced to phone calls, SMSs, Facebook and Orkut wishes, and ecards... Friends became more important than relatives, and evening dinners with friends took the priority over family dinners...

and then another phase kind of took me away from these as well... as of now, I like quiet birthdays, silent, peaceful, with either my parents or with just the friends who understand how I feel within... and not driven by social networking obligations... I like those few calls from "parts of my life" far away from me, and I like waiting for them too... and Aro you ass, you did not wish me this time !!!


This birthday was different and full of loads of fun !!!

  • Midnight drive to search for Perkins and have pancakes
  • Not finding anything open at 1 in the night
  • Cutting a Apple Pie instead of a Cake
  • Conversations that were put to a forced stop at 4 in the morning
  • Getting late for all planned activities
  • Driving to 3 different key "what to visit when in Milwaukee" locations and not getting inside any
  • The amazing poori, matar paneer, aalu sabzi dinner... Thank you Deepak, Sapna for that effort, and ofcourse Deepali for the utensils :)
  • Me driving Pritam's SUV for atleast 150 miles in 3 days
  • The live music at Mo's Irish Pub
  • Deepak's confession, which is now recorded on the camera :)
  • Some conversations to laugh about for a long long time ! including what happens to a deer if you hit it with a car in Wisconsin :P
  • Getting Choclates and a CD from Canada (Thanks Jas)
  • Getting Tea cups from India (Thanks Swati)
  • Tricking Pritam into giving his iPhone to me when the new version comes out sometime this year (Thank you Pritam ;) )
  • Gifting myself a flash(not sure how much I need it, but I am sure I will put this to good use) and a macro lens (finally)

I have a lot going on in my mind these days... need to get some thoughts out, some things done, some tasks completed... one at a time !



side notes...
I am going to stop commenting on posts, blogs, photographs where the writer/photographer conveniently writes "thank you all", "thank you folks", "thank you friends", "thank you peeps" etc etc... I have seen that there are times when people ask questions or have something specific to say, and even if not, they spend time, a minute or two writing a comment for you... and its unfair to not address that comment personally... spending any time on such pages is only a waste of my time... I don't think it matters anyway to the author

25 comments:

  1. :)

    Hmm...I guess, most of us have been through similar phases.

    I have never been very excited about my birthday. Not even as a child. The only thing that made me happy on my birthday as a child was that I could wear a pretty dress to school and distribute sweets amongst classmates teachers. My birthday parties during my childhood days never made me happy and gradually I put a stop to them. I still don't know why didn't like my birthday as a child.

    Yes! I do remember a birthday in my mid-teens when my brother threw a surprise party for me. It was very sweet of him. I was touched. (Thank you, bhaiya)

    Things changed when I moved to Delhi 10 years ago. Birthday(s) during the hostel days used to be crazy with midnight cake cutting ceremony, feasts and music. Though, I could not escape the midnight madness but I used to squeeze out some quiet time with myself on my birthday.
    Thankfully, I still manage to take out some time to introspect on my birthday :)

    Is turning Thirty different? Pata nahi..but last October, on my 30th birthday, I did something that I really love. I celebrated my birthday for 3 long days by indulging in some adventure sports. I went for river rafting, waterfall jumping and hiking on my birthday...pst!pst! just wanted to tell myself that I'm still not very old...hehehe

    Uff..itna lamba comment. Kuch zyada hi enthu ho gayi comment kartey huay ;)

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  2. You had quite some fun times during your b'day weekend! :)

    I love b'days...especially when it is my own :D ...even though I am getting older by the day, I see B'days as a celebration of life. I don't have to go crazy partying or the like, but just enjoying the day, the phone calls, going thru emails, b'day cards etc., all of that makes me feel good inside, the thought that somewhere people are thinking of me and care for me gives me great happiness.

    Although I also seem to miss my folks and my buddies a lot during that time...

    Aur please aap aloo sabji poori ki baat mat kiya karein, muh me bahut zabardast paani aa jaata hai...abhi phir se pet mein chuhe koodne lage hain jabki hum sab aaj bahar lunch par bhi gaye the...And I absolutely admire you for personally addressing each comment on your blog, and I think that is the reason why we love having our cuppa @ Chai ki Dukaan.

    How were the songs, you like??

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  3. When I was in India, I used to keep a count of the number of phone calls I received on my bday..gave me some sort of joy.

    I am yet to celebrate a nice bday here in US... somehow , I am never happy with the way my bday turns out..don't know why that happens.. somehow it is never all happy.. something happens and it shadows the joy !

    Anyways --well glad you had a great bday ! Many happy returns of the day as great as that :)

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  4. good going and well thought out plans ahead :)

    enjoy maadi

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  5. MaaBadaulat kya aalishaan birthdays the aapke bachpan main..aur ab akele?? hainnn...bahuuut ache meeeyaaan !!!

    all the best for the new Charan!!!

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  6. I lurve my birthdays..main to ek week pehle se hi excited hona shuru ho jaati hoon..n yeah..just like your friend, I also keep a record of all the calls i get (yeah i still do that,so that atleast i dont miss on anyones birthday,who cared to wish me)..
    birthdays are the fun times..and yeah i had a great time on my last birthday!! Thanks for making it special..

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  7. thats how a bday shud be :)

    kaunsa macro liya ?

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  8. Belated happy birthday PB... i know its really too late now... but still btter late then never and no excuses/justification for not wishing you... you know i wudnt have forgetten though just cudnt communicate.

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  9. Glad you had a good birthday... now about Aro - I am almost sure he will call me and ask why didn't I remind him!

    Kab aa raha hai wapas?

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  10. @ Swati
    yea long comment yes :)

    I feel turning 30 is different, or maybe I just made it different for myself... I did not really have any clue about life or what I was going to do or be when I turned 20, but this time around things are different... I have a vision, and I have a dream, I am not sure how I will reach there, but I will..

    turning 40 is going to be a biiiiiiiig celebration... I Know it !!!

    @ Jas
    you bet...

    birthday's sure are a celebration of life :)

    and about addressing everyone personally, I guess thats the least I can do to make chai lovers comfortable around here :) and I treat people mostly the way I like to be treated :)

    I am so sorry Jas, I did not listen to them properly but in the background... will get back to you on it soon

    @ Shivi
    I have done that too :P

    next budday kab hai tera? maybe you need to get out of everything and find something newer!

    and thanks :) I still have your note on the fridge :P

    @ Tanu
    thanks dear !!!
    good to see you here... Chaudhvi ka Chaand ho gai hai tu!

    @ Geet
    hehehe...

    thank you

    @ Vaishali
    :) makes sense... i missed so many calls this time around primarily because I was driving !

    you are most welcome... it was for sure a nice evening :) we should do that again sometime !

    @ Deepu
    :)

    bhai no brainer thi ye choice par phir bhi chose the canon 100mm macro over the Tamron, and the Sigma..

    I am hoping to move towards Primes and L over a period of time

    @ Aqui
    thanks dear !

    @ Subbu
    haan bhai badiya thaa :)

    Let me know when Aro calls..

    waapsi ka offline discuss karte hain !

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  11. @Om: :)
    May God bless you and help you fulfil all your dreams and achieve all your goals, buddy.

    Well, I'm sure it will be BIG celebration. I hope, I'm still around to wish you...and you never know, I might send you a 'ketli' as a birthday gift...hehehe..
    pst..pst..btw, forty is just 10 yrs away and time toh bas udh jaata hai...hehehe

    God bless you :)

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  12. :)
    Kauno baat ki chinta nahin, jab waqt milega gaane sun lena! :)

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  13. @ Swati
    thanks :)

    yea just 10 years away... there is a lot to be done in this li'il time...

    time to pull up my socks and get going !!!

    God Bless us all :)

    @ Jas
    i need you to talk only in Punjabi, phir main bhi waise hi bolunga...

    you can then
    1. laugh at me
    2. correct me
    3. laugh at me again

    :D

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  14. Theek hai, theek hai. Ajj to main sirf punjabi vich hi bolaangi te punjabi vich hi comment karoongi!
    Te jaddon tussi punjabi galat bolonge taan main tuhanu theek (correct) nahi karoongi te khoob zorran shorran de naal tuhade utte hassoongi! :D

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  15. i came to see tune kya reply dia :) mujhe - chaundvi ka chaand :)

    I think I like that name :), :P

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  16. :) I hear you loud and clear on that side notes in this blog too.

    I have never spent my birthday at home in my senses. The only proof that I ever celebrated my bday at home is a picture of me standing on the chair trying to cut the cake . Guess I was 4 or 5.
    After that it was always friends and the hostel premises.

    :) Maybe this year I will celebrate my first (well first because.. I will be able to remember it) birthday at home.

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  17. ok.....looking forward to some shots from it. did u test tamron, have heard its as good as 100mm.
    btw 100mm would be quite handy for portraits too :)

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  18. Belated...Happy Birthday!

    I was also celebrating something on the 20th :)

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  19. @ Jas
    e hui na gall :P

    hun sadde next steps vi dasso !
    ____________
    @ Tanu
    hehe... naam nahin hai fact hai wo !!! gayab hi rehti hai tu ab !
    __________
    @ Kshitiz
    :) good good !!!

    aur bhai tere next birthday se do din pehle yaad dila dijo.. wish kar dunga :)
    __________
    @ Deepu
    haan it is expected to be delivered this week, and I feel with spring and summer being just around the corner this was a good choice... I have been drooling over the 24-70L but don't have the money to buy it...

    I would not have been able to find the difference in the performance of the Tamron 90mm and the Canon 100mm so I relied on the experts and read some reviews... Tamrom comes surprisingly close in performance, and is recommended where the price difference of the two is high. At a difference of about 60 bucks, I decided to take the Canon...

    yea, portraits.. street... I have that in mind :)

    __________
    @ Anjuli
    Kshamaprarthi hoon main devi, par mujhe na janmdivas yaad nahin rehte..

    aasha karta hoon aapka janambin bahut hi achcha raha hoga :) der se hi sahi par dheron shubhkamnayein :)

    Beach par birthday hi celerate ho raha tha kya? ;)

    __________
    @ Aseem
    bhai thank you bhi hai :)

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  20. Belated Happy Birthday Bhai........

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  21. nahin nahin B'day nahin...

    Anniversary :)

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  22. Agree with the last part..about those people who just say thank you all.

    Happy belated birthday

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  23. @ Amit
    thanks bro :)

    @ Anjuli
    ohh... I saw the photographs :) very nice ! it looks like a nice break from the usual

    congratulations :)

    @ Vinita
    thanks !

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  24. bhai...maufi...pata nahi kyun 25 tarikh dhyan main thi.... I owe you this one time.... big....

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