To Sweden... With love..

Sweden. Yes. You are the one I'm going to remember all my life.. even if I move away, even if I visit and stay in a thousand other countries all my life. Because you are special and very very close to my heart. Because you are the first place (rather literally) I have moved to after I was born in a lovely city in India. You are the one where I became the closest to the special man I have loved, my life partner and best friend.. even though I would have been close to him obviously, had we rather moved anywhere else as well.. but yes, for me, it was you. You are the one who welcomed my husband to your land about 4 years back, even though I had not known him then, but the fact that he spent about 2 years with you before he met me; obviously makes you all the more special for me... You are the one who I was introduced to about 2 years back (even though I never knew you existed on the globe of the earth; and I supposed it was rather Switzerland). You are the one who attracted me and made me want to come to you so fondly because my husband lived with you for a long time. You are the one where I started my new love life and married life with my life partner. You are the one who welcomed me with open arms, even though I have never been away from my home and parents; and never had I known how is it to be at an unreachable distance from home... You are the one I love, and that's why you are the one most special to me...

I landed on your grounds in the cold month of January, which is very often detested by the locals as well as all the people residing here. But well, not for me. It was a white-silvery land for me, completely covered with snow, and more, soft snow was falling over my head as I stepped out of the Stockholm-Arlanda airport. At 7 in the evening, it looked completely dark, with the snow reflecting back some of the light. Before I could look further, we were seated in a taxi which was racing towards our home. HOME, yes.. my new home, the place I would start my next life from now. Completely mixed feelings.. But my feelings were soon taken over by the white, silver roads, trees, buildings.. pretty much everything covered in beautiful snow. This was something I had never witnessed in my life. It was you who gave me the beautiful experience of living with the snow. It was the cold winter, snowy months with high winds that followed, which made you different from the place I came from. It was the short days, mostly without any sunshine, and long, dark nights which excited me as nothing else, which completely made me wonder about a lot of things. I tried to capture the snowy place and times in pictures, whatever little I could, because you can never capture everything you see, feel and experience in form of a picture... unforgettable nonetheless.. !!

Some months were definitely coldest I had ever experienced but I was delighted when springs greeted me with the cold gradually fading away and the cool breezes and the lovely fragrance of flowers was in the cool, fresh air. If that was not heavenly enough, summer kicked in rather quick and lo! it was a pure bliss and no less than an actual heavenly wonderland !! Beautiful flowers, cool winds, temperature soaring to a beautiful 20-25 degrees which was soothing than ever, picturesque scenes at even the shortest distance, the clearest of the blue skies and crystal clear sparkling water with the sun shining above; short clothes and sun-bathing was never as fun. This was what I had never seen, never experienced and totally unforgettable... 

She turned to the sunlight, and shook her little head..

Whispered to her neighbour; winter is dead !!

I never think summer could get better than this... So green, so beautiful, so serene.. just like a new life being blown in everything; be it the nature or the people.. beautiful nature, happy people and kids everywhere.. I never imagined this place really has so many people living here, for they were rarely seen in the months of winters.. but summer, is pure bliss.. just heavenly !!

"And so with the sunshine and the great burst of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies; I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with summer."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Lazily sitting about in the sun, tanning myself but enjoying every little ray of sun while I could, sitting by the lake for a nice bird-watching, lying down on the fresh cut grass, breathing about the divine smell while the wind caressed my open hair, reading a book on the bench by the church overlooking a busy market, looking at the hustle-bustle of happy couples holding hands, older ones sipping their coffee or drinks on the outside open seating of the restaurants, little kids running around merrily, while even the little ones chuckled and laughed chirpily as their mothers carried them out for walks in prams. That's what summer was all about..so happy, so full of life.. 

When the summer started fading away slowly, I saw the rising of another beautiful season which I had never seen in real life, autumn.. Autumn was no less than another wonder to my eyes, as I had seen autumns only in the movies and I had always wanted to experience in real life. 

Come little leaves, said the wind one day..

Come to the meadows with me and play
Put on your dresses of red and gold;
for the summer is past and the days grow cold.... !!

I was engulfed and indulged in the breath-taking beauty and charms of the autumn season and tried to capture as many shades in my camera as I could. Even though it was cold, I spent time outside, taking long walks along the scenic views which were spread in all directions. I kicked the dried red and yellow leaves scattered on the ground all over on my way back home, sat under the trees on the leaves to read a book, with more leaves falling over my hair and adorning my book as the winds blew hard, spent time breathing the mixed scent of the wet and dry nature as the air moved through cool towards cold... Autumn was undoubtedly the best season I have ever lived on your land, as today I await the next autumn season while trying to completely breathe in the summer...

As the winds grew from cool to cold, and from cold to chilly, I felt the season closing in fast, the days started growing shorter and darker, and it started marking the arrival of the early winters: a season of chill, dark days, warm clothes and icy cold weather, yet again. From the onset of winters to the growing colder and colder as the days passed by swiftly, I realized it was the month of January again; a year since I had stepped foot on your lands, and wow, it was such an amazing and beautiful journey that I hardly noticed..

Other than all the beautiful seasons like never before experienced in life, it was a lot many things I fell in love with all along. The amazing public transport, the safety for all, specially women (so unlike India, where women are unsafe at any given place and time), the clean environment, the beautiful people (be it men, women, kids or elder ones) and beautifully dressed always an at any point of the day (yes really.. oops), equal parenting; meaning fathers can be seen pushing prams, and nice healthcare for all, specially kids and older people. 

Along with falling in love, there had been a lot of things I learnt being in this land (some of them being the hard way too). I learnt that we MUST stand in queues for our turn at any place, be it a grocery store, waiting for the bus at the bus stop, at the local Apotek (medicine shop) or any government offices (Skattaverket, arbetsförmedlingen, migrationverket and the like) where we HAVE TO usually take a slip from a dispenser machine, with a number and we wait for our chance to be spoken to or attended to.. (really? I never did that before.. Yes, now I do it every time). Standing in queues is considered polite in Sweden and we dare not try and cross a queue, unless we want a look from all the people present that makes us want to disappear at that very moment. Queues. Always. That's how I increased my patience. 

Swedish is very important for conversation (although it might not be useful in any other part of the world), but you MUST learn it if you are looking for any job in here, because every requirement that pops up asks for a fluent Swedish. Okay. I had my basic training of Swedish and can read, write and understand. Job? Haha.. No. I learnt that while in here, I must go shopping before 18.00 and the grocery stores close at about 20.00 on weekdays and 16.00 on weekends (okay, not all of them, but mostly: Coop and ICA till exemple). 

I realized that recycling is an amazing way to help save environment, and that this place and its people believe in the same so much I have never seen. From having green, red and several other different bags for separating wastes from households, more than 99% of household waste is recycled in some way or the other. I learnt to separate newspapers, plastic, metal, glass, electric appliances, light bulbs and batteries, and of course food waste (in green bags). Wow. Apart from this, the knowledge that Sweden even imports tonnes of waste from other countries to recycle in one form or the other made me love and respect this place even more.. Even the grocery stores charge for each plastic bag to keep waste to minimum, and so we learn to recycle..

I came about knowing the meaning of fika, the traditional coffee with a sandwich over a conversation, which is the favourite of all of the Swedes; learning about important festivals in here such as Easter, where the places are decorated with colourful feathers, and to the onset of spring where beautiful flowers begin to bloom, the grand celebration of Christmas, the Swedish Midsommar, which is definitely an outdoor celebration, on June 20-21 to celebrate the longest day of the year, wherein people gather around a pole to dance, eat, drink and enjoy like there's no tomorrow, the Swedish National day, where the Swedish spirit can be seen everywhere, from kids waving little paper flags in their hands, happy, cheerful people to all the newspapers admiring their land, where usually the weather is beautiful as well.. Also some more celebrations for eating such as Fettisdagen, Våffeldagen, Cinnamon bun day.. Surely a happy and lovely spirit you possess dear Sweden..

Many other things learnt are punctuality for anywhere, because the bus and/or the train leaves on time, with me, or without me; the state-owned alcohol monopoly (systembolaget), the only place where I can buy drinks other than from bars of course; safe tap-water to drink, thinking twice before tossing out plastic bags (as I would be charged for a new one), month-long summer vacations, where a lot of businesses shut down (really?), shop before 6 P.M. and GET IN A LINE (the famous queue system).. 

From developing myself to be a more patient and punctual person, respecting time like never before, learning to live and take care of everything by myself, becoming a responsible person, adding a new language (the basics of course) to my portfolio, using my time to learn to cook and master many new recipes I never had before, exploring the beautiful, beautiful nature and capturing moments in pictures, spending nearly a year and a half with you, I say I am in love with you.. with much to explore, much much to learn and so much more to see and love, I'm looking forward to take myself as a more beautiful person, inside and out, with you Sweden.. 

Pictures sources: Google (Other than pictures having my bookmark)

Chicken Curry Masala

Here comes another experiment in my kitchen, after trying out various kinds of chicken dishes, I could pretty much prepare one of mine.. And so I did !! And guess what, came out just perfect !!

So here goes how I did it.. Was feeling creative, and always I had heard to garnish dishes with coriander leaves.. So I thought, why not something else.. so I decided to go for spring onions. So what I did was to cut out spring onions in little rounds and fried them brown and crispy, and garnished the chicken with them at the final stage..

I had marinated the chicken overnight so as to let the flavors blend in completely. While most people prefer to make a paste of all the marinade ingredients, I choose to grate them instead, so as to have a little coarse flavour in the final dish. The chicken was marinated without the turmeric powder, in yoghurt, so it was all white and beautiful, with aromatic smell. So here are the picture of the making stages of the Chicken Curry Masala.

And here goes the final, yummy mouth watering chicken dish. We usually eat with plain rice, but possibilities are endless; and can be eaten with jeera rice, roti, paratha, poori, naan etc..

And here goes the recipe for the same..

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryani.. Aha !! Mouth-watering.. isn't it?
My mouth waters every time I see pictures of biryani, cooked by self or someone else and I crave it immediately. I had heard a lot about the famous "Hyderabadi Biryani", but never did I think I would make it in my kitchen.. 

It is time-consuming, and not very easy to make, as the ingredients must be perfect, otherwise it won't taste half as good, with all the effort wasted, sadly !! So, after thinking for weeks on and pondering over weather should I make it myself or just wait to get back to India to have it in a nice restaurant, finally I decided to give it a shot.. and whoa !! It turned out to be perfect, and though it has been more than a month I prepared it, my mouth still waters when I look at the pictures.. Oh! It was just perfect.. I could only capture how it looked, I wish I could capture how it tasted as well. 

Biryani was introduced when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb conquered southern India. The blending of Mughlai and Telugu cuisines in the kitchens of the Nizam, rulers of the historic Hyderabad State, resulted in the creation of Hyderabadi Biryani.

These perfect pictures of the biryani remind me of the amazing taste and I drool over and over!!

Hyderabadi Biryani is made in two ways: Kacchi biryani and Pakki biryani.

In Kacchi biryani, we marinate the chicken for a longer time and cook it in steam, layered with rice. This is more difficult version of the Hyderabadi Biryani.

In Pakki biryani, we marinate the chicken for the shorter time, and is cooked before layering with the rice; which is the easier version.

I have cooked the Kacchi Biryani version, and here goes the recipe for the same:

Ingredients: 

Basmati Rice 2 Cups 

Chicken 500 gm 

Onions (sliced) 4 

Ginger (grated) 1 inch 

Garlic (grated) 3 cloves 

Green chilli (chopped) 2 

Mint leaves (or mint powder) a handful/ 2 tsp.  

Cumin seeds (or shah jeera) 1/2 Tablespoon 

Biryani Masala 1/2 tsp.  

Hyderabadi Masala: 1/2 tsp. 

Yogurt: 1 Cup 

Saffron: 2 Pinches 

Lemon juice 4 tsp.  

Orange food color 1/2 Tablespoon 

Milk 1/4 Cup 

Ghee 2 Tablespoons 

Cinnamon stick: 1 inch

Cloves 2 

Green cardamom 2 

Bay leaf: 1

Salt To Taste 

Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp. 

Cooking oil: 4 Tablespoons

1. Wash and clean the chicken and keep aside. 
2. Heat 2 tsp. oil in a pan and add 2 sliced onions. Fry them until brown. Remove from heat and keep aside. 
3. Mix yogurt, salt, red chili powder, ginger, garlic, Hyderabadi masala, cumin seeds, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 green chili (finely chopped) and half the mint leaves. 
4. Mix this with the fried onions. Marinate the chicken pieces in this mixture for about 4-6 hours. The longer the better.  
5. Wash and soak the rice for 1 hour in water. In a big pot, boil water with cloves, cardamom seeds (and covers), cinnamon, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 green chili, 2 tsp. salt and a few coriander leaves (optional). 
6. When the water starts to boil, add the soaked rice. Cook until the rice is boiled and done. Drain all the water and keep boiled rice aside. 
7. In a pan, fry the remaining 2 onions in a little oil (as done for the marinade). All the onions can be fried together also. Then use half for marinade and half for layering. 
8. Add 2 tsp. oil to the marinated chicken and mix well. 
9. Now, in a big pot (which can be covered tightly), add 1 tbsp. ghee and the bay leaf. This will keep the rice from sticking to the bottom. 
10. Now spread a very thin layer of boiled rice. 
11. Then add the marinated chicken with all its contents above the thin layer of rice. 
12. Now from the remaining rice, add half in the next layer and spread evenly. Then add fried onions and mint leaves (or mint powder) and spread evenly. 
13. Add the remaining boiled rice to the top layer and spread evenly. 
14. Mix food color in 2 tsp. water and sprinkle on the top. You could use turmeric powder also if you don't have the food color. 
15. Sprinkle the biryani masala and the saffron above it. 
16. Add the milk and ghee on the top layer. 
17. Now cover the container with the lid and tighten it with atta dough on all the sides. Keep it on lowest flame and let it cook for 60 minutes. Do not remove the lid in between to check. After 60 minutes, remove the lid, mix and serve hot with raita or achaar or Tamatar ka salan or Baby onion ka salan. 
     
    

Goodbye Orkut

I wrote this sometime back, but today I added these lines because I came to know that Orkut is being closed down now on 30th September. Orkut truly taught the young generation of India the actual meaning of social networking. It gave me a lot of friends, a lot of knowledge, and a lot of unforgettable experiences as well. 

Orkut WAS  social networking site sometime ago. Yes it was. It is no more. And it was the only one. I'm sure we all still remember Orkut because that was the first social networking website for the people of my generation. That was where we met a lot of old and new friends. That was where we wrote scraps to each other. Do you remember SCRAPS ?? Yeah, yeah, scraps which we wrote on each other's pages. Some people even wrote testimonials for others. TESTIMONIALS? Anyone? Yes. They were about the person to describe him that he/she is my best friend/brother/sister/lover and how cool/amazing/charming/loving he/she is. Then the person had to accept the testimonial which then appeared on the bottom of his/her page. Then there was a truly devilish option (in my views), to be able to see who visited your profile, and whose profile you visited: recent visitors. I mean, why in the world? When I see somebody's pictures, I should be able to do it anonymously. If you don't want me to see your pictures, simply hide them away. But I don't want you to know that I saw them. 

The Orkut login page. Ah! Old memories. There were the days where we logged in to our accounts everyday to check out scraps, testimonials and chats. Then came themes in Orkut. Themes like beach, greens and sunsets or snow, as far as I remember. Some of us changed our themes (backgrounds for profiles), but soon it was no more interesting. Long gone are those days when one single scrap count would bring a glitter in our eyes.. and we must admit, scrap count was the criteria of popularity !!

I heard that Orkut updated its feature that the users would not be able to see the comments they made on the scraps, instead it would appear on the conversation page, which would be private to the user... It was, well, about, more than an year ago.. I truly wonder if anyone used this feature before we switched off our accounts from Orkut and switched in Facebook. A world of friends, family and relatives where we have our little, virtual world. Personally I have no idea what Orkut interface looks like today, because I deleted my profile from there, well, and eternity ago. I'm no pro to the world of networkings and greater knowledge of the workings, but still I would never forget the first one which taught me the meaning of social networking. 

I shall always remember those last profile visits, those testimonial, hot lists and crush lists. With Orkut, I got back a lot of my old, school friends. It was a blessing to have in the good old days and it surely has left a mark in our lives.. Orkut was our friend, and it will always be. Let us pray for it together. R.I.P. Orkut.

All I want to say that others such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are just websites, but Orkut, you are an EMOTION. Even if you go down, you will still be in my memory.  

I did not love him when I married him..

Love is a word that is constantly thrown away, more these days than I ever saw. I grew up with the belief that love is supposed to be a very sacred word: love means giving yourself away to the one you love, love means caring, love is sacrificing and compromising, love is tending to the needs of the other more than your own. Love is devoid of ego. Love is pure. Love is heavenly. Love is divine.

But it breaks my heart to see and experience these days where the true meaning of love has lost its importance. I have heard a lot of people say "I love you" and every time I am so bewildered (still) when I hear the same person saying the same words to any other, just any other.. !! I have always believed in love, but sadly, in today's so-called modern times, the one who sacrifices for the other is a fool, the one who gives themselves away to the other is being used by another selfish one, the one who opens his/her heart truly to the other is always taken advantage of, sometimes blackmailed.. Love has lost its meaning for most people and I seriously feel a pang of sadness when I read/hear/know incidents of heartbreaks/cheating/break-ups without a reason.. This is not love. This modern version of love is not love at all.

I come from a place where weddings are still majorly fixed by the parents and families. So ours is a completely arranged alliance. We talked on the phone and met with our families to see each other for the first time. Our alliance was fixed and our wedding was six months apart, in which period we lived in two different parts of the world, in two different countries, two different time zones. Ours was an arranged + long distance relationship. Phone calls, chats and Skype videos were the only ways of communications as there existed no way where we could physically meet.

As we began to talk and know about each other, we started feeling close to each other. He was alone, and I was alone, so when we got each other to talk, and we knew we have to live together, we began to feel in love. I felt I am in love. I wanted to say so a thousand times everyday. He said "I love you" a thousand times a day, and so did I. We were apart but we felt connected. We sent messages to each other at work. We kept each other awake at nights just to say "I love you". We felt the need to hear each other's voice a lot of times every day. We talked for hours and never got tired. We sacrificed food and sleep just to talk. We told to each other we would live happily, we would never fight. I was pretty sure this is it. This is LOVE. I love this man. I was happy.

But today, as we cross one year of being married and living together, I have known for the surest, that I DID NOT LOVE HIM WHEN I MARRIED HIM. Neither did he I suppose. When we lived together, I began to realize that true love is not just holding endless conversations about nothing, it is to understand the other just by looking at the other. While I do not underestimate the need of saying "I love you" to let him know I love him, I have known it is much more. Love is better expressed by actions rather than words. Love is no longer the urge to touch each other, but to understand if the other is happy/sad/angry/low/irritated even by the way they write any message to you, even if that says nothing about their mood, even if it contains a very few words. Love is apologising when you are wrong, and when you are not. Love is not holding yourself back, but love is giving yourself completely to the other, in all the right and wrong moments of life.

Love is about preparing breakfast early morning even if sometimes I feel like sleeping, but I do so, not because I am supposed to, but because I cannot see him go without eating. Love is not calling and/or sending texts to each other at work, but understanding it might distract the other from work which should be his main focal point during the day. Love is not about talking about everything you might want to say, but restraining yourself from doing so because you understand the other doesn't need to listen. Love is not about finding the similarities in each other, rather it is about respecting the differences. Love is not about bringing roses every other day, but is about his smile which he brings home everyday, no matter what he faced at work. Love is no longer about gifting and /or getting chocolates, love is about having all the sweetness of the world in one moment of meeting each other's eyes..

Love is not waking each other at night to say "I love you", but its about caring and understanding that the other needs sleep to be able to function the next morning. It's about being very careful not to make the slightest of sounds to disturb the other from sleep, even if you can't seem to sleep. Love is not only promising to hold hands forever, but it is going through a storm, and coming out of it, still holding hands. Love is not about wanting to hear each other's voice any more, because you know the other is always there for you. Love is never about sacrificing food and sleep just to be with/hold a conversation with each other, rather love is knowing that even if we don't talk for a day, he needs to eat and sleep well, because he will be be there for me the next day as well, and the conversation can wait...

Love is not seeking/giving attention from/to the other at all the given times, but knowing well that the other needs space of his own, and that's why sometimes we don't even speak a work for a stretch of 1.5-2 hours because I understand and appreciate he needs space, and so I read, write, play or study at the time, while he has his space. Love is not about never fighting, but love is when you feel a pang in your heart to see tears in other's eyes. And love is when you know the other feels a pang in their heart to see you cry. These are the things that are biggest in life. Love is about trying to make the other laugh when the other is sad/angry, even if you yourself feel frustrated to do so, but you do so because you cannot bear the other feeling bad. And love is giving up your anger/sadness because you know the other cannot bear to see you the way you are. Love is about giving what all you have and never expect anything in return. And when the other does the same, you know it is true love.

Love is all about listening without interrupting, speaking without accusing, giving without sparing, answer without arguing, trust without wavering and forgiving without punishing. Love is a beautiful game played by two people, in which if one wins, both win; and if one loses, both lose. Love is believing that the other is doing all they can for you and they love you in every possible way they can, even if you expect more or something else, but this is the way they love, just as you have your way of giving love.

Love is not about making big promises in life, but is about caring about the smallest things in life. Love is about him cooking/doing dishes when I don't feel fine. Love is about me feeling more than happy when I cook something that is just for him (I'm a bit choosy for food). Love is about holding me tight and never letting go when I'm mad, till I laugh. Love is sharing each other's crazy thoughts, and laughing at them together. Love is when you argue like friends, fight like siblings and protect each other like lovers. Love is never, ever in the big things of life. Love is never about moving mountains, but its about slightly brushing aside the differences and hugging the similarities. Love is about accepting the flaws of the other with open arms, just as they do yours, because that is what makes you both human. That is why you have each other. To complete each other. In every possible way.

Love is a hug to say good morning, and a light kiss to say good night, and love is everything in between. Love is in holding of hands, taking walks together, bursting in laughter, shouting in anger, gorging on food, admiring the snow/sun/wind together, calling names, teasing each other till the point they get mad, then making them laugh again, talking in eyes, beating each other playfully, pulling hairs, and hugging tight at the end of it all to say I am here for you, no matter what happens. I know I have never needed a man who would bring me stars, but someone who would lie down with me to look at them together.. I have known love in these little ways, and I have known love in a way I never have known. It was definitely not love when I married him. It was an attraction of a sort, nowhere close to the love I have today. Today is love. I am love. I love. I am in love.

My second baby turns two !!

Yep. That's my second baby. If you don't like the fact then you may quit reading this, but the love for my babies is much more than my love for any human being. For they are the one who are much, much better than any other human being in the world. Where would you find someone so selfless and so sincere that they would love you more than themselves and ready to even lay down their own lives for you... This you cannot get in any human being. And the fact that I love them more than anyone cannot be changed. He has a piece of my heart and will forever continue to hold it. So when he's not around, my heart aches because a piece is missing, it's somewhere so far away where I cannot reach.. not yet.. No, he's very much celebrating his second birthday at my home in India, but very very far away from me.. 

When I got him first, he was just a cute little ball of fur who made scratches on my skin with his paws and sharp, sharp little baby teeth.. that is just unforgettable. But that was the time he used to be in my lap and was so tiny I had to carry him everywhere.. he was so adorable, I fell in love with him ever since I saw him first..

From the very first day I got him, he used to look at me with his lovely big eyes that used to melt my heart every time I used to look at him. That made it practically impossible for me to concentrate on my work after I catch a glimpse of him in the morning, while he looked at me as if pleading me not to leave him to work.. It was a battle with my head and heart every morning, even though my office was just upstairs, my heart ached to reach downstairs to cuddle him and just sit down with him.. And that's what I did for hours after my work hours were over.. I was in love, overwhelming love.. !!!

That's how my evenings went by, photographing my new baby and talking to him, while he tried to scratch me every time I went close.. Oh! how I miss those times while he was a cuddly baby.. !!

You whined and barked, and made big noises

Sometimes you were difficult to handle..

You slobbered on the eatables..

and left them of the floor sometimes..

but always found your way 

to the kitchen dustbin..

You were always so fond of food

you could eat whatever and whenever..

you shed a lot and I cleaned up a lot...

and sometimes I got so tired and irritated..

but you comforted me by putting your front paws

on both my feet.. !!

You never wanted to have a bath..

and were rigid to even sleep sometimes..

you wanted to cuddle and keep me close

you raised you paws and held my hand..

You took a piece of my heart forever..

your shiny bright eyes..

always are full of love..

you melt my heart with just one look.. 

I miss you my baby..

I miss you dearly from this distance..!!

I love you always.. !!

But, of course.. life moves on and times change.. they never remain the same. And so, I was destined to leave him with my parents and move to another country, far far away.. So I managed to click a few pictures before leaving him for a very long time. In a short time, he turned one, and he was a beautiful baby. I was far away, but I sent all my love to him for his birthday, wishing for his long life.. 

After 11 months, I was again ready to visit my parents' house and I could not wait to see him. But my parents, my husband and my brother were sceptical of weather he would recognize me after such a long time.. this made me think, what if he doesn't recognize me any more.. !! After all, I hadn't spent a lot of time with him.. so even I was confused as to what should I do.. Ah! will see when it happens.. 

When I reached home, after hugging my parents, I asked them where my babies were (yes, there are two... one german shephard and other cocker spaniel). They pointed to the backyard where I could see them from the window. I opened the window and he climbed to the sill.. so everybody asked me to hand him a biscuit from a distance (after all, he might bite you !!). So I tried doing the same (even I was scared because he was a very big baby now). The moment he touched the biscuit, he smelled my hand and licked it instantly. It was an amazing moment and suddenly I was fearless. I know he recognized me.. It was a moment of pure joy !!!

I opened the backyard door and flew in there. But, to my surprise, he was a little too heavy and big for me.. he jumped right on me, wanting to lick my face and I was thrown off balance. I tried to sit down but all he wanted was to lick me and cuddle with me. Ah ! this made my face and hands and my hair very muddy, not to mention the new crisp white jacket I was wearing.. but I loved the moments in which I again realized pure, selfless love !!!

These were the moments of pure bliss. I felt blessed to be home again.. to be able to play and spend time with them.. I sacrificed food, sleep, tv, talking with my parents also to some extent to spend maximum time with them, because I personally feel that they are the only ones I cannot talk to on the phone while I am away, but I can do so with my parents, and friends and family.. 

So I managed to have some random clicks while spending time with him, even though every time I tried to take a picture, he used to jump on my phone, thinking that it was something to eat.. !!

I don't know how he looks today, but he sure looks quite the similar (these are two-months old pictures).

But I wish him a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY  and pray to God he lives long, and healthy. I miss him terribly from this distance and send all my love to him, today and always. I wish God may take some years of my life to let him live.. I wish to hold him close very soon. 

Love with all my heart my baby.. my Tango..

From mamma.. :)