CHETAN BHAGAT'S NEW LOVE

As I went on a lazy Sunday evening stroll into the near by Odyssey store the big board at the entrance welcomed me......." Chetan Bhagat's 2 states" released on 9th October. The die hard Chetan Bhagat fan in me was tempted to buy the new book. A bright red cover and the excerpt of the book which said marriage between people of different communities totally convinced me that I would love reading it. Armed with the book I returned home, poured myself a glass of chilled milk and sat down to read the book. The cute lil love story of Krish and Ananya was exhilrating! The way they first meet and how Krish describes Ananya's looks. A fair South Indian!! he he! and How he begins teaching her economics and in the process they fall in love. Their days at IIM Ahemadabad. Their first smooch, the first time they sleep together..all vividly described. Then comes the time for their placements. Ananya chooses HLL and Krish Citibank. Krish does not get along with his dad and wants to live close to Ananya and chooses a posting in Chennai. His saga of convincing Anusha's parents- teaching her brother Manju for IIT, helping her dad with his presentation and giving her mom, an aspiring singer to perform with SPB! Finally they are convinced that he is their prospective son in law. Then it is Ananya's turn to go to Delhi and convince Krish's parents. She intervenes and saves his cousin Minti's marriage. Now that both parents were conviced they wonder who to make the families gel. A trip to Goa and things only get worse. Finally it is Krish's dad- the bad father all the while- who turns good at the end and makes the wedding happen. A typical South Indian wedding in a mandapam at Mylapore marks a new beginning for Krish and Ananya! The last page tells us that Krish and Ananya are blessed with twin boys!!
I couldnt put the book down until and finished and having read such a cute love story I went to bed with a lovely smile on my face :-)

THE JOY OF GIVING WEEK

September 27th to Oct 3rd was called the Joy of giving week and across the country various events were organized during the week. I decided to be part of this week and share my joy with everyone. I first took part in the I love Chennai run on sunday morning which was part of the Chennai marathon. What an experience it was to run with 70,000 people. the heavens were pouring but did not deter the spirit of the runners. we knew we were running for a good cause- to educate 14,600 underpriveleged children. The second event that I was part of was the Battle of the Buffet. The brain child of Mahadevan of Oriental Cuisines. Savera, Raintree, Residency, GRT and Taj supported him and they served a lavish buffet to the donors. We paid 5000 each which is given in full to the NGO we support. I supported Tanker foundation and indeed Tanker sold the highest number of passes- a whopping 100! and I also got a free pass for Mom. so we both went for the event. It was a great evening. Suhasini Manirathnam was the compere and we got to hear a melodious kutchery by Sudha Raghunathan. I enjoyed listening to Brahma Mukute and Kurai Ondrum Illai! and then we headed off for dinner. The Strawberry mocktail was amazing. I chose to eat Chinese and the Oriental and Lebanese cuisine. The food was ok! The dessert very mediocre. I missed having a fresh fruit trifle. I did not indulge much in dessert because I am trying to get in shape! and Nina has just complimented me on my looks! Truly she keeps me motivated to get in shape! And other than mom she has taught me the Joy of giving! and it feels great to have been part of this lovely week! and now that I have learnt the Joy of giving, the Joy of touching lives and seeing a smile on someone's face, there is going to be no looking back! I will always share a smile, a hug and all that I can...because it means so much to be able to touch someone's life :-)