Another Milestone!

My last post dates back to 4 weeks back from now. Bad!
Actually the reason is that when I come to office in the morning, I make this plan – today I’ll write about ---- but what can I do? Writer’s block you see! (Can I use such words or is it patented only to big writers?)
I’m bored to death. Office is too boring and I keep saving up little bit of work left so that I can do it the next day to keep myself occupied. Now, if you think that it’s great to laze around in the office, I would like to correct it – It’s really not when you have the constraint of spending 9.5 hours in the office and especially when all your friends are either in a different tower or on leave or gone onsite or are pregnant! ;)
I met Rahana after 2 years when I was going back from office one day. The same as she was in college. After our 10 minute long discussion, I realized that people are really keen in settling down. So many of my classmates are pregnant and many are mothers by now. Life seems to be running off like loose sand. Guys are picking up as well. What I fail to understand is the differentiating factor that we have gained in the last 4 years after college. Except for a well paying job and stay outside home, I don’t find any significant change. And I was thinking till a few years back that 25 is old. It looks like yesterday when I was running around for Nani’s marriage and that actually is 8 years back. At this pace, I fear that I will remain confused as my kids grow up and suddenly when they are over 20, I will sit and think of how I got married as if it was yesterday. Is it the effect of the place where I’m or just the age. I don’t know the reason; all I know is that I do not like this pace. Enough of philosophy, let’s get to more interesting things – I’m getting married!
Marriage – one time in a life time. You have all the liberty to plan and splurge money to your wish – that’s Nami’s advice. Good or bad, I’m spending enough money and time for planning. And that’s what keeps me occupied all these days. After Sreeja left to Mexico, I have all the time in the world to do whatever I wish. Last time when I went home, we finished the most dreadful and painful part (Gold shopping). After that we thought of going to Coimbatore for checking out Sarees. It was a Tuesday and I suppose it’s not a good day for people in TamilNadu to purchase silk. Good for us, we had at least 10 sales girls around us for our assistance. We chose Ganapathy silks and thanks that we did, we have no regrets. It was like a mall with 5 floors. I have heard my friends say that they have sarees of regional taste more but I don’t agree. They have everything, mostly in silk. Only thing is that you have to specifically ask for, sit and choose. What I was amazed at was the price range. You ask it and you get it. You can go to the shop with just 1000 rupees and yet return back after shopping to your hearts satisfaction. Tamilian’s are known for their hospitality. When we were done with the shopping, they kept the sarees for Puja and gave us a big steel thattu with manjal and kunkumam, also a discount of 1000 rupees. And when I was waiting for acha to get the bills cleared off, I had a chance to meet the owner. I was amazed at the way they managed the store. They have fresh stocks coming every week; they have only one branch and 1500 people working in various shifts in the same shop. They have policies laid up clearly. The employees get PF, performance Bonus, they get salary from ATM’s, they have a clear count of Annual and Sick leaves and what not. I admired the owner and the management there as I heard all this from a sales manager there. We had to admit the difference in experience – the previous day, we shopped for lacks in a Jewellery shop and it looked no better than the street market. No matter how high the gold price soar, the place for the yellow metal in a typical Keralite family is very big!

Things that I like in TamilNadu
· Chettinadu cuisine – Non-veg in particular. They are just so spicy.
· Silk sarees – nothing to match the rich colours and intricate works in Kancheepuram silk sarees
· Jasmine flowers – They wear it for all occasions and when it is unadulterated with orange and green additions, they smell so good and are nice to see (Only if they wear it after taking bath ;) and trust me the reverse is not very rare.)
· Their hospitality
· Respect for women
· Their readiness to change and develop
· Their anklets – Only thing is that they end up wearing it for wrong occasions, a client meeting in office for example.

What I dislike
· The turmeric, which is the all time hit moisturizer there.
· The climate

I started with something else and ended up analyzing TamilNadu … great!
I’m waiting for comments…yes yes go ahead ….!!!