Merry Christmas and Happy 2008!!!

Looks like if there were no festivities then this blog would become extinct!

Firstly, belated Christmas wishes! I hope you all had a beautiful day. Secondly, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2008 (a leap year - and we have the Olympics coming up too!) is almost here! One of these days I will stop wondering just how fast time flies...

2007 has perhaps been one of the busiest years of my life! I have surprised myself and have truly changed as a person. Anyone who knows me can tell...

January: I left for India on the 16th of Jan. In Jan as we all probably know by now, Sudarshan and I got married. What more can I say??

February: After spending two weeks with Sudarshan's family in Hyderabad, I came back to Sydney to wait for my "husband" to join me.

March: While Feb seemed to go by pretty quick, March seemed to drag on. The house that I had lived in practically all my life and the people whom I had known all my life seemed so different. I felt strangely empty and lost not having my husband by my side. Everything was starting to look different and I was seeing myself as a different person too. I don't mean any of this in a corny sort of way - but I came to realise that knowing that you are eternally bound to someone and not having them by your side surely makes for a uniquely uncomprehendable emotion.

April: After a month and a half of being apart (it seemed like a lot more!) Sudarshan arrived in Sydney on the 6th of April. We had our legal wedding and really got to know each other.

May: It was all eventually starting to sink in. We seemed to finally have some time to sit down and think about all that we had been through and every minute of my 23 years were told to Sudarshan and in turn every minute of his 27 years were regurgitated to me.

June: Did you really think that 23 and 27 years could have been re-told in merely a month???

July: I remember talking about "honesty" earlier. I discovered what it means to be your true self in that month. I was content. I still am. Sudarshan was offered a job that month. We moved to our own place. A turning point of all sorts...

August: I learnt to cook and clean and iron and all sorts of things. I also discovered what it is like to live without a telephone or internet access! I started paying bills and the like... Oh so old!

September: I started planning for our reception here in Australia. Sudarshan and I had achieved so much in the first 7 - 8 months of our life together and we couldn't help but feel proud of that. I realised that my PhD was coming to a completion. Who would have thought that 2.5 years were already up??

October: Sudarshan's parents joined us in our very own home. I am not only a lucky wife but also as a very lucky daughter(in-law). Our reception in Sydney proved to be a very fun affair. "Periva illadha kuduthanum, Perungaayam illadha thaligai". To both Sudarshan and myself, a family is simply not a family unless it is an extended family. That is the sort of environment that we have both been raised in. Currently it feels like we are on a vacation of some sort - yes it is fun and all that, but we know that this is not the real thing and it won't feel like home without my in-laws.

November: I took time off work to finally work on my thesis and to finalise what exactly should go in it! ABOUT TIME! Sudarshan and I celebrated our "Thalai Deepavalli" and "Karthikai".

December: A year since the beginning of the year, I continue to feel happy and content with my life and feel like God must really love me. It scares me because I don't believe that I have done anything to deserve such contentment.

This year I would like to thank God for all that I have been given. I have been truly blessed. I am proud of both Sudarshan and myself for all that we have achieved - individually and together. More so, I am extremely thankful and pray that in 2008 that I will be able to grow as a better person because I can't think of anything more to wish for.

I wish you all a ton of happiness in the New Year and may everyday be filled with joy, love and a sense of accomplishment.

HAPPY DEEPAVALLI!

Sudarshan and I would like to wish you all a most prosperous and love-filled Deepavalli!

Keep smiling everyone!

Over the last 3 months...

Why have I not updated???

This is Why...

1) Sudarshan got a job!
2) Sudarshan and I were house-hunitng
3) Sudarshan and I moved to our new house
4) My daddy came back (apparently "for good")
5) My dad went back to India
6) My dad came back!
7) Everyone in my house had the flu!
8) I did all "grown up" things like paying bills, paying rent, paying deposits and bonds..
9) I am getting closer to meaningful results each day!
10) Sudarshan and I have been "managing" a house!
11) My in-laws should be coming to Australia soon!
12) We might eventually have our LONG-AWAITED Reception sometime in September / October!
13) I have been "Facebook-ing"!!!

And all of that is just some of the stuff that has happened over the last few months. Another reason I haven't been able to update is that we have no phone or Internet conenction at home yet!

Hope all is well with everyone. I just wanted to drop a line to let you all know that everything was fine at my end and there is no need to panic :P

Long Time Coming...

I haven't updated in sooo long! It is mainly because I haven't got much to say. Things have been very busy and I haven't really had much time to Sketch or Kvetch

Just so you you all aren't worried - I AM EXTREMELY WELL!!! I am sorry for not replying to many of your emails - I really have been that busy!

I am trying to finish my project by next March - or atleast have all my experiments done by then. I have simply had enough and am really looking forward to thinking about something other than my project. I am just sick and tired of feeling guilty everytime I do something not related to my thesis or experiments. It is crazy!

Maried life is beautiful - if it wasn't for that, I would probably have totally lost it this year! It keeps me going and gives me some much needed motivation.

Despite the busy-ness of it all, I am really enjoying life at the moment. I am enjoying it because deep down inside I am happy and very much content with myself and what I have.

What more can I ask for???

Gifts...

:D

4 more sleeps!

My husband will be joining me really soon and all I want to do is say "YAAAYYY!!"

To put it in MPA's words, "It is going to be a REALLLLYYY GOOD Friday!!!" :D :D :D

Bloody Indians!

I woke up this morning quite prepared to hear about India's BIG LOSS...

When I asked Srini how the match was going he said, "It's not too late for me to join Macquarie and do Business is it??". Too many Lakans at UTS apparently! :P

In answer to my question on how HIS Dhoni (yes... Srini owns Dhoni :P) did...

"I sent out a message as he was walking down to the crease saying 'Get ready for some Dhoni fireworks', a minute later, I sent another message saying, 'Ignore my last message!' ".

Anyways, I am just praying for Bermuda now - as a loyal fan I believe I should! If they beat Bangladesh... then India can still go through. However, a team that couldn't make it on its own doesn't deserve to proceed any further!

My favourites go something like this.... Windies, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and at the bottom of the list is Australia. The rest I am neutral about. GO THE WINDIES!

Past experience tells me that the team(s) that I go for, tend(s) to lose.

Major Clean-up

This is something that I do every 5 years or so...

I finally cleaned out all my stuff today! I actually went through years of books and papers (by YEARS, I mean things like exercise books from the 9th grade!) and finally threw them out. I have still kept some notes and a few essays and sketches, but otherwise, I managed to throw everything out! I cleaned my room and I had 4 * 50L boxes worth of stuff that I could stow away (not throw away!). They have been put away to be transported to our new house for when Sudarshan and I move out...

I am currently in the process of organising all the clothes I have. I have close to 50 sarees at present! I went through ALL my sarees and made sure that I had matching blouses for all of them. For those that I didn't have blouses for, I managed to cut little bits out so that my mum could get them for me from India. :D

The other major thing for me to do this weekend is CLEAN MY CAR! I am hoping to clean it either tonight or later this week, and then hand my car in for a service later this month.

It feels a little bit odd cleaning my room at present, because I know it won't be my room for too much longer - maybe a few more months... Rama is eagerly waiting for me to move out so that he can claim my room!

Exciting times for all involved!

Point to Ponder...

"I don't believe that GOD punishes..."

A Month On…

Today, Sudarshan and I complete a month of our married life. Everything with the wedding happened so fast that I finally feel like I now have some time to truly reflect on all that we both have been through over the last few months. When you are truly happy, you forget all the bad things and everything you have been through feels good and ... right! This is how things feel to me right now.

Just writing this little note to wish my husband a truly beautiful day. Sweets – wish you were here with me! Miss you ma!

Mug of My Dreams!

I won a Sigma-Aldrich Mug today. VERRRYYY EXCITED!!! :D

It is such a coooolll mug! Now, I too can look really important in Lab Meetings - with my mug filled with Milo! :P

:D

17 days later...

I have now been married for 17 days! It has been hectic, exciting, scary, and a total emotional roller coaster. I am enjoying it all though.

I am due to fly back to Sydney this Saturday night - arriving in Sydney on Sunday night. Sudarshan will be joining me in about two weeks time. It feels strange leaving India without him.

I am looking at myself and am quite surprised at the way in which I have changed over the last two weeks. I am learning new things about myself and other people too. I am understanding my parents better and my husband is starting to mean more and more to me each day. It is all very strange and quite unexpected.

I truly am looking forward to the coming year.

Miss Vasudevan says "Bye"!

This will be probably be the last time that I write as Miss Vasudevan! I know it should feel strange... but it doesn't!

Leaving for India tonight! For all of you in Australia - see you when I get back (Feb 18th!)! For those of you in India - hope to see you at the wedding!

I still don't really feel like I am actually getting married! It all seems too simple! I will try to upate when I am in India - if not, then deffinetly when I get back!

Wishing you all a great day / month!

12 days to go!!!

2006 - in retrospect!

2007 is here, and I actually still can't believe that I have lived through yet another year of my life - without really achieving anything! Or so it feels...

January - I think Jan was a good month. Work, work and more work! I learnt about the true support that my friends could offer me and learnt that in order to love the world, you need to love yourself first. No one can make you happy but yourself.

February - My daddy was here!!! I remember thinking, "This is probably going to be the last time we all sit together like this - as a family!". I also started my dance classes in Feb, and spent the whole month making trips to the airport!

March - One of my friend's from high school gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy!!! I BECAME AN AUNTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! I bought a great watch :P (which I still have - and still love!) and was truly enjoying life! Isn't it amazing what a good watch can do?? :P I think there were a few months in 06 that I will truly treasure because I know I was allowed to do the things that I wanted to do...

April - I started tutoring again... Continued to just enjoy life for what it was.

May - Srini turned 21. Our house was robbed... It was a real roller coaster month!

June - I don't remember much happening in June. I think I spent ALOT of time with the people I work with! It was a greatly social month as far as I can remember!

July - I bought a brand new car - a AQUA MARINE TOYOTA YARIS!!!! YIIPEEE!!! It was all very exciting! I also managed to really get close to my mum...

August - I went to my first ever International Conference. It was great fun - I got so many free pens that month! I spent a weekend with my friends from work at Moreton Island (Which was absolutely gorgeous and the dolphins were sooo cute!) and presented my student seminar. It was also the first month that my parents got really serious about my wedding. It was a month of great confusion - but things did start to get better... eventually!

September - WHAT A MONTH! It was the month that I first spoke to the person that I will now be marrying. Someone on my MSN list has a quote that reads, "Sometimes we grow up overnight". I think that night for me was in September! I think I really did change as a person then - maybe not overnight, but deffinetly over a month. I feel like the change that was triggered in September is an ongoing thing though. The mental clarity that I had been craving all year, came to me in September. That sense of freedom is a great thing...

October - Appu turned 19! 19!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?? My baby brother was 19! DO YOU KNOW HOW OLD THAT MADE ME FEEL??? (Yes it is all always about me:P) I went to India, decided to get married to Sudarshan, did all my wedding shopping (in one day - a sure record!), and then came back! I turned 23! I sometimes think "I am soo old" and then I think, "Actually I am not!". I guess I just knew that I was no longer a kid - however, it is best to be an adult in your head and a kid at your heart and that is what I like to think I am (most of the time anyway!).

November - I presented at the student conference! I spent the whole month getting to know and love the person that I was going to marry. I continued to experience a myriad of emotions - but everything happens for the best.

December - I did half my growing up in September and I think I finished it off in December! I went from doing nothing around the house to doing almost everything! I was no longer freaking out about getting married and was starting to enjoy every moment for what it was.

Overall, it has been a beautiful year. After I did a summary of 2005, Natasha said to me, "Did you count the number of months you mentioned your work??". It was an indication of just how many of my thoughts and actions revolved around my PhD. I guess much of this year has once again revolved around my workplace, but also other things...

I am looking forward to 2007 - it is already looking like it is going to be a lovely year! I will take what 2007 has to offer with the comforting thought that both the happy and not so happy moments can now be shared. Yes... it will be a beautiful year :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WELCOME 2007!!!! BYE BYE 2006!!!

WOOHHHOOO!!! :D:D:D:D

Wishing you all a truly awesome year!