Shot Breakdowns, Scripts, Edits, Rehearsals & Catch Ups!

The last few days have been busy and productive. Here's all that I managed to get done.

1) Completed the shot breakdowns for all the scenes except one, for the new feature film. That one leftover scene is something I haven't cracked yet. The challenge is that the scene is very long and I need to figure a way out to make it visually engaging throughout. Fingers crossed for some idea to strike me soon!

2) Had two rehearsals for the film - one of them while walking through the crowded Pagoda Street in Chinatown, under the hot afternoon sun. This was to get the cast familiarized with the layout of a typical street market, which would be the location for this particular scene. Of course, the hot afternoon sun was just a by product of the scheduling vs. an actual requirement, but I guess it doesn't do any harm to familiarize with the heat... which is something to be expected in Abu Dhabi by April.

3) Completed the next episode for Athazham - this meant sitting down with my editor to finalize the edit, doing subtitles (one of those tedious, boring things that I consider a necessary evil), updating the food blog, etc. It should be released tomorrow.

4) Scripted a new episode for Athazham - this one will feature two guest roles, so it's gonna be fun! Now we need to figure out when to shoot it!

5) Caught up with friends - finally! I hadn't met anyone for more than a month now... what will all the traveling, so now I finally caught up with the usual gang and also my best friend from P&G (who is also an ex P&Ger now). I also managed to have catch up chats over the phone, whatsapp etc. with whole lot of others, all of which I think is good use of the sabbatical time.

6) Tickets booked for shoot! - Last, but definitely not the least, our (i.e. the cast's and mine) air tickets are booked for the shoot of the feature film next month! Phew! It is going to be incredibly exciting but I am also bracing myself with how incredibly exhausting it is going to be as well as how many issues we are going to face (I am certain there will be plenty). But I think this would be an experience of a lifetime and I can't wait!

So far, so good!

Weeks 11 & 12: From "Mainstream" Producers to Indian Plays!

First I was blogging on a daily basis. Then I changed that to a weekly basis. And look like now it has moved to a fortnightly basis. It is rather sad. I see this blog dying a slow death. But before we get to that, let's recap all the awesomeness from last couple of weeks. 

Firstly I had the good fortune of watching an Indian play featuring none other than Naseeruddin Shah and Rajit Kapoor and directed by Ratna Pathak Shah. The play called "A walk in the woods" showcased the conversations between an Indian and a Pakistani diplomats and in two acts and four scenes, it managed to engage the audience with a socially relevant, thought provoking and highly entertaining conversation between just these two individuals.  

I spent a nice Vishu day. I took off from work, met a friend for lunch, visited a charity organization to discuss potential tie up for Aravindum Aarumughamum as a fundraiser for them, went to the temple with the little one, and finally, very unexpectedly, managed to catch the Vishu Sadya (feast) at Swaadhisht when the hubby rushed back from his work in Malaysia just in time to make it for a late night sadya. Overall, it was a pretty good day. 

I had written a feature film script during my maternity leave. It was what I call a "mainstream commercial film" which basically means that to make it, I need more money than I usually tend to put into my films and people who really know the craft in the technical team. And that means it needs a real producer from the industry. It so happened that my editor friend in India knew one such producer who expressed interest in reading the script. I was excited to share it with him - not because I think I will be making this film with real stars or even a real camera for that matter - but because, I was curious to hear what a "real" producer would have to say about my "mainstream commercial script". I even have added song sequences in there to make it totally Indian in feel, so I was eagerly looking forward to his feedback. His feedback came and apparently he loves the script and was asking questions on whom I planned to cast etc. Needless to say, it made my day. 

I also had a reading session for my Malayalam sitcom with one of the actors. The sitcom is to feature only two key characters and I wanted to kick start its making at the soonest. I know whom to cast for the lead male role and I am contemplating about the female role.However, it was good to do a reading because it gave me a good idea on whether this is going to work at all or not. I tend to think that the first reading was promising. After a few more rehearsals, we should be able to kickstart the shooting. This is going to be a totally different project from all that I have done before, so that's going to be exciting. 

I had an almost private lesson at yoga ! It was a Friday and there was a major downpour in Singapore. As a result my yoga class saw me and just one another girl during that time slot (usually there would be more than at least ten of us in a class). So the teacher made it a super customized class with really good individual attention and I think I gave my best and the got the best out of it too! I felt closer to yoga than I had been for a while now. It was wonderful! 

There was a nice gathering in my house of all the creative people I am close to here in Singapore. It included the full team of Aravindum Aarumughamum including by incredibly talented music director from India who happened to be in town, as well as a few other friends. It was fantastic to have all of them together and I had a lot of fun chatting away and felt blessed to have this team to associate with. 

Last but not the least, a few compliments came my way too - on this blog, on my film Inganeyum Oru Katha and my performance in it, as well as at work. Needless to say, I love compliments and it felt good. 

 

Alright, on that note...I am going to take an extended break from blogging and will get back when I figure out how exactly to go about this in the future. I don't think this weekly process is working for me - the summarizations kind of ruin the detailing and beauty of all that was beautiful and yet I dont have the time nor commitment to write on a daily basis like I used to. So let us see what's the best way to go about this. 

Until I figure it out, Adios! 

Week 9: Rasgueado, Golpe, Efforts for Sympathy & New Feature Film Script!

24 - 30 March, 2014

It was a rather quiet week where nothing much seems to have happened. Or at least nothing BIG seems to have happened. 

But there were several tiny little gems of experiences along the way. 

1) Finally... and I mean F.I.N.A.L.L.Y, the edit for Aravindum Aarumughamum is locked. The full & final edit. Sure, we still have the sound design to be locked before we can release it, but this is already a big milestone so I am happy about that. 

2) After a gap of about a month, I finally got to meet the regular gang. And that always gives me a lot of joy. It was great to catch up and each of them bonded with the little one (yes, she had tagged alone too), in their own unique ways. 

3) I learnt two really cool things to play on the guitar called Rasgueado and Golpe. Both are techniques used in Spanish guitar (Flamenco guitar, specifically) and I was given an exercise where they needed to be used. And I LOVE it! SO MUCH FUN! 

4) The Little One is turning out to be a real hoot. Her new found technique of earning my sympathy is as follows. If I scold her for something, she walks up to the coffee table and very purposefully, yet very, very gently, bangs her head on to the glass top of the table. Then she rubs her head, looks up with puppy eyes fully expecting me to melt and sympathize with her. I told her that the technique would have worked had I not seen her deliberate attempt to go and bang herself. After a few unsuccessful attempts at earning my sympathy this way, she decided to garnish the theatrics a bit. So now, she goes and bangs her head first and then rubs it gently while looking up at me with sad, pleading eyes. And then, for full effect, she goes back to the table and reprimands it, just like the way we do when she falls or hurts herself any way - we scold the object that caused her the pain which quickly seem to make her happy. So now she does that herself. What can I say! 

5) I signed the Little One up at a playschool. Yet another milestone. This place is only a stone's throw from my house and one evening the Little One, my Mom and I walked over and signed her up. She will begin classes from July but for now she seemed rather happy with the bright, cheery place full of children of her age. 

6) I have started to write the script for my next feature and I have completed one scene so far. This is planned to be one with a really small cast but that doesnt mean low budget because it is planned to be set in a location in India (I just don't want to shoot in Singapore anymore!). Because of this thought of an outside location, the working title for the film is "The Destination Film", until I can think of a more sensible one. Talking about titles, I am yet to name my previous feature film script in Tamil. That's currently going by the very creative title of "The Tamil Feature Film". Oh well. 

7) Last but not the least, I have to admit that this event of the helper being away did turn out for good at the end. Sure, it was tiring and quite stressful to manage everything but it did get my mom (and for a short while, dad) down. Once the dust settled down and we got into a manageable routine, we got to spend some quality time together. That was really a blessing in disguise! 

That's about it then. Nothing major. But all good.

Week 1: Some Progress and a Lot of Fun!

25 January - 2 February, 2014 

I have to admit that this blog had not been on my list of priorities for the past several days. Of course, this is evident from the grand total of ONE post I wrote for the whole of January 2014.

It is not that I don't have enough things to write about. In midst of all that relaxation, there's been a lot of good stuff happening and I will come to that in just a bit. But the point is that I still didn't get myself to write anything beyond a single post in a month. I believe the reason for that is with this whole moving away from writing on a daily basis (or at least summarizing something for every single day) with each post even counting the days in its title, to this year's of resolution of "not more than 1 post a week", I kinda lost a structure to conform to. And I work best with structures - I like set process to follow, I like organized way of approaching things than otherwise. Without it, am indeed lost.

So that made me think. Do I really want to continue with this blog?  Both my previous blog and this one initially had a clear purpose. The former ensured that the days leading up to my 30th birthday were put to the best possible use and the latter ensured that the first year of motherhood has been maximized (and by that I mean, while I had a fulfilling time with my daughter, I also ensured that I did my best at work, I wrote, shot and edited a short film, I travelled a lot, I spent quality time with my parents and in-laws, so on and so forth). Both were important milestones for me, and the blogs helped me go through them in a way that I am happy with. But now that these are in the past, what next? Should I continue?

I gave it some serious thought and have decided that I should continue. Reason being.... (I will giving this in the usual list format, to further prove how organized I am). 

a) What am capturing here always make for memorable reads later on for myself - be it about a new film I am making, a new place I am visiting, a light moment I am enjoying with my family or friends. Many a time, I don't remember the details had it not been for the blogs. 

b) I still don't want to lose the focus on being happy. Sure, I don't want to stress myself and write blogs on a daily basis, but that stress was exactly what made sure that I do something worthwhile each and every day.

c) Last but not the least, I think it will make a treasure trove of experiences captured of the little one. I can't help but notice how fast she is growing and each day is one of discovery. I would love to capture most of that, and I believe this could continue to be the avenue for that.

So there, my three good reasons.

But then I still don't want to write on a daily basis. Because that really does get me worked up at times. So here is the solution - I will write on a weekly basis. Brainwave, yeah?

Ensuring every week is beautiful one way or the other, is good enough. I can live with that.

So there, that's that. From here on, it's gonna be a Weekly count in the titles. Starting with this week.

Meanwhile here is a recap of what's happened since my last post here.

1) Work - On the work front, things are moving at breakneck speed but I am enjoying myself. There has been some progress on a lot of different projects and am happy with that. On the other fun side, the culture team that I lead organized a super fun Chinese New Year celebration. We had everything from calligraphy contests (apparently am very good at Chinese calligraphy...I thought the characters that I painted looked nothing like what they were supposed to but the Chinese colleagues seemed to think otherwise), to Lo Hei celebration, a God of Fortune who came and distributed red packets with "gold" (chocolate) coins (I didn't even know there is a Chinese version of Santa Claus!), and even an activity of eating dumplings some of which carried a sterilized 5 cent coin - indicating immense amount of luck to the person who got one (I got one!). It was all very enjoyable and I had a great time and felt super proud of my team for having pulled this off!

2) Little One - The little one is a hoot these days. She has progressed to walking with only occasional bouts of crawling. It's almost like sometimes she forgets that she can choose to walk instead. Then all you need to say is "Come, Walk!", and she will be like Oh yeah... and then will get up and walk. Initially she used to hold both her hands high up, to help her balance as she walks but now that she can balance herself without that extra support, it seems like she doesn't know exactly what to do with her hands, so she flops them to her sides and walks around like a drunkard. Which I love. We also celebrated Chinese New Year together. She helped me put up some red and gold decoration on our door (she basically held on to the cellotape and also pointed out where she would like the dangling decorative pieces to be tied up on the gate). Later, she watched the Lion Dance performance next door with much interest. She was the only Indian kid around and the only kid to not cover her ears or wail and also was the first and only person to clap post the performance. She clearly appreciates the Chinese culture. We also have been frequenting her new found favourite place - Spruce. It is a brunch place with decent food but good service and a playground for children. The little one really warmed up to all the staff there, constantly giving them instructions in her baby talk, reading the kids menu with much interest, and enjoying her new found ice cold lemonade with mint leaves (totally an adult drink which the dad and mom had ordered). Am really enjoying watching her as she does her 'growing up'.

3) Writing - I wrote yet another episode for the Malayalam sitcom. I am planning to write another 4 episodes before we start to shoot, which means a long, long way more to go. But still, any progress is good progress!

4) Yoga - Maybe it is an outcome of the "realization" but  I have been totally hooked to Ashtanga yoga. So much so that even during the Chinese New Year public holiday, I woke up early in the morning and did 1 hour of it every day! So proud of myself! In the month of January, I exercised a total of 19 days, most of which was Yoga - Ashtanga Yoga, Bikram Yoga and 1 time of Kundalini Yoga too. I am beginning to see small improvements in my  postures and strength, and am incredibly thrilled about it!

5) Guitar - This one is definitely an outcome of the "realization". I dusted up my old guitar as well as my two decade old books with guitar lessons and settled down to play some of the simpler stuff. It was not easy for sure, but it felt great to get back to it after so long. My finger tips started to hurt very soon from the lack of practice but given that I had a very enthusiastic one-man audience - the little one who encouraged me throughout with claps and laughs, I kept at it for a while. I hope to get back to learning it very soon, from the scratch, but this time never to give up.

4) Friends - Thanks to the Chinese New Year holiday, I also had a great time catching up with several friends. I had multiple dinners and drinks with the usual gang, I had a great time at a lunch thrown for the film gang by one of my good actress friend, in short, we made the most of it! 

5) Hubby - I also got to spend some quality time with the hubby. One day we even took a long 4km walk together, something which we have never done before. Such fun! 

6) Aravindum Aarumughamum - This film is currently in the post production stage and that basically means sound design, music, colour correction, final edit and all that. These are being done by my friends in India. The progress has been slow for several reasons, but over the last few days a bit of the background score has started to flow in. And I love it! I think it is going to take the film to a totally different level and I can't wait to see it to completion! 

7) Holidays - Quite a bit of progress on the holiday planning has been taking place. In May, we are planning to do a roadtrip with my parents and in laws and I have finally managed to shortlist the accommodation options at every stop. That was no mean task - given I had to find affordable places big enough to hold all of us. Then my dad is visiting us in March for  a few days, mainly to see his grand daughter and I am planning to take a short break with him as well. After much research and thinking, the destination has been fixed for Krabi because I want to go snorkelling with him. I think that is one activity he would really enjoy. So that's progress on the holiday front and am really looking forward to it all. 

So yes, it was a remarkable bunch of days that went past. There was progress at work, in yoga, in writing, in film making, in holiday planning and in guitar, even. And of course, there was a ton of fun to go along everywhere! So far, this new year has been great! 

Days 362 - 363: Friends, Dance, Fun and the Indo-Japanese Wedding!

28 - 29 December, 2014

What a fantastic two days, it was! I had an incredible amount of fun at what was probably one of the most happening weddings I have ever attended!

Firstly, it was the largest coming together of our "gang" for any wedding so far. It so happened that there was a grand total of about 12 of us at the wedding, which was a first. It was lovely to catch up with everyone over the two days and of course, to see our lovely Indian friend getting married to his Japanese sweetheart.

After much contemplation, I have concluded that the best way to write this post would be like a timeline (accuracy of time less and content more important!), just so that I don't miss any of the details that I want to preserve for years to come.

Day 1: 28 December

8:00 am - Woke up and got ready. The plan was to have breakfast, attend the morning functions which were to be held at the groom's house, get back and rehearse for a dance which we, the gang, is supposed to be putting up later in the evening at the Sangeet, and then attend the Sangeet. Anyway, to kickstart all of the above, we had to wake up and get ready and we did that.

9:00 am - Enjoyed the awesome spread and the sumptuous breakfast at the Marriot. If I remember right, I had everything from poha to bacon and masala chai to sweet yogurt. Yup.

10:00 am - Just as the hubby and I were done with our breakfast the rest of the gang trickled in and soon all of us were sitting around chatting away and extending the breakfast time. Over this conversation, we decided that we will start our dance rehearsal right after breakfast and then leave for the groom's house by lunch time.

11:00 am - Based on the above plan, all of us walked around the Marriot premises looking for a suitable location for rehearsal - one where we would have sufficient space for all of us to dance in.

11:30 am - After walking around the swimming pool and the lawns, as well as checking in on the ballrooms, we decided that we might as well practice in one of our rooms, thereby successfully wasting 30 minutes of precious rehearsal time. We proceeded to a room and squeezed in in whatever space available between the bed and the wall and started the "rehearsal". The "rehearsal" is in quotes because much of the time was spent on getting the music ready as well as convincing some of the shy folks that they too can and should dance. (I should mention at this point in time that the dance we were planning to perform to, is one from our university days. Four of us in the current gang, including the groom, had performed the same dance about 10 years ago in college! So a few of us were familiar with it but as for the rest, I had sent out the video of the performance from 10 years ago for their advance preparation, but can safely say that not a single person took a look at it.)

12:30 pm - We got through about 30% of the dance before it was time to leave for the groom's place for the functions and lunch there. There was a bus arranged to shuttle between the hotel and his house, and we dutifully ran through the dance steps even in the bus. By now, the whole gang was pretty enthusiastic about the dance. There were no more of "I can't" and "I won't"s anymore!

1:15 pm - We reached the groom's place and sat around watching the festivities, enjoying panipuri and other delicacies, taking pictures, taking a tour of his very lovely house (I especially LOVED all the paintings!), receiving gifts (sweets for all and jewellery for the girls!) and enjoying the Bangalore winter morning.

4:00 pm - We got back to the hotel and immediately started on our dance rehearsal again but not before ordering some masala chai to refresh ourselves. The rehearsals progressed beautifully this time. Everyone was pretty committed to the cause and within an hour, we wrapped the rehearsal and we were all set to burn the dance floor.

5:00 pm - We got back to our respective rooms, took some rest and then started to get ready for the Sangeet. I got into a lovely black churidar, courtesy my in-laws. Always trust them to get the best clothes for me!

7:00 pm - We went down to the poolside the lawns of the Marriott, the location for the Sangeet. Much of the evening was spent on clicking pictures, enjoying some of the yummy finger foods that were being served and carrying on with our never ending "catch ups". One bummer was that the hubby went down with a terrible fever and flu in the midst of it all. So he joined in late, but good news is that he tried his best to be part of the festivities and even managed to dance. The Sangeet was pretty fun. I was amazed at the quantity and quality of performances put together by the groom's family - it seemed like everyone, young and old, men and women, had all put in so much effort to put up the show and it was very entertaining. There was also a really cute skit on how the Indian groom met the Japanese bride, which was hilarious and extremely well made!

10:00 pm - It was our turn to dance! The 'gang' including me were pretty excited by now and were raring to dance! I gave a quick introduction first - that we had performed this piece 10 years ago and we are doing it again, dedicated to the groom, who was the star performer all those years ago. We went on stage and some of the more enthusiastic ones among us cheered ourselves on! And then we danced and had a blast!  We didn't care what the audience thought of it because we clearly were convinced that we rocked it! It was so much fun! The highlight was when the groom joined us and did his signature "helicopter" move, something which he had done in the original performance 10 years ago as well! Too cool! After our dance, the groom and bride (Japanese, let me remind you) burned the dance floor with their performance on "Dhinka Chikka". It was awesome and I went hoarse with cheering! I also felt good that they had learnt the dance by watching a video of a performance by the hubby and I, to the same song, at the hubby's cousin's wedding in 2011. I can honestly say that I never expected them, especially the bride, to be able to pick up the completely Indian tapori steps so well! So proud of them!

11:30 pm - Post the Sangeet, we grabbed a quick dinner and retired early for the night, mainly due to the hubby's ill health. By the time we went to bed, we had sent several self congratulatory messages on Facebook and Whatsapp about our own performance for the night. An extremely fun day it was!

Day 2: 29 December

9:00 am - After getting ready and having breakfast, we were all set for the Indo-Japanese wedding ceremony! I must add here that I, for the first time ever, wore a sari with pleated pallu, which was amazing because I managed to wear it so well! Sure, it took a really long time to get it right, but I am so proud for finally having draped one in that style! Really, So proud.

10:00 am - We accompanied the groom to the beginning of the baaraat (wedding procession), where he climbed on his vehicle for the day - a beautiful white horse. With much music and dancing, we accompanied him back to the wedding venue. The highlight was when the two "dhoti" wearing guys from the gang, started dancing to the very happening "Lungi dance" song. It was so much fun that I couldn't help but join doing the same moves with my sari (and my sari held through it all, which again, makes me so proud of myself!). Soon all the uncles and aunties from the groom's families were doing the lungi dance, which to me, was super duper cute!

10:30 am - I had spent a long time taking a ton of pictures throughout the baaraat as well as later and a friend and I started to upload these to a dedicated Facebook page live, which I thought was a super cool idea on his part!

11:30 am - My in-laws also joined the wedding and we had a nice time together watching the rest of the ceremony. We later proceeded for lunch together (lunch, especially the goan fish curry, mutton biriyani and rasmalai, were awesome!), I had a nice time catching up with a friend's parents who had also flown in for the wedding (and also to meet their son's girlfriend's parents ... you know, "officially"... so I had my fingers crossed for that lovely couple too!), we took the inevitable "group photo" with the groom and the bride on the "stage" and then it was time to say goodbye as most of the folks except me were flying out within today itself.

3:30 pm - As many of the "gang" took their leave and the hubby took some much needed rest in our room to get over his fever, one of my best friends from school (and also my partner in founding the unofficial die-hard fan club for Michael Jackson in Thrissur about 17-18 years ago), came over to meet me at the hotel. Over some pretty average coffee, we had a very much overdue and much needed catch up on our lives. It was heartening to see that we think exactly the same as each other even now, and it was absolutely terrific to have an opportunity to meet her.

6:00 pm - After the friend left, I decided that I will shop a bit in the mall next door. The shopping trip was, to put it mildly, disappointing. There was absolutely nothing there that caught my fancy but given that I spent about 45 minutes there, I got myself to buy a simple summer dress.

7:00 pm - The hubby and I had dinner together at a restaurant in the mall. Ever since he has been ill, there has not been much of "romantic Bangalore" anymore other than me ordering hot soups for him, so this dinner was a good final romantic activity before he returns to Singapore today and I return to Kerala with the in-laws tomorrow.

8:00 pm - The hubby took his leave for the airport, while I caught up with the groom and his mom (one of the most fun aunties I know!) in the hotel lobby. Oh, I must mention here that the groom was mighty pleased with all the pictures taken by yours truly this morning and he even mentioned that I should "copyright" them. Woah! Given that I have absolutely zero technical skills when it comes to photography, this was some really good compliment. Ego was duly boosted and a wide smile was born.

10:30 pm - A junior of mine from my school days came down to visit me. Given that it was late in the night and that she had to travel a lot to make it to Whitefield and that she had given up dinner with her fiance's family after some wedding shopping (she is getting married in a month's time), I think it was incredibly sweet of her to make so much trouble just to come see me! I had hardly known her in school other than as my friend's younger sister but thanks to Facebook, we had gotten to know each other a lot better in the recent past. It was lovely to meet her and have a long chat in person!

12:00 am - After seeing off the lovely young lady, I hit the bed, happy about all the fun I've had and even happier about all the wonderful people I have in my life. To top it all, just as I was about to doze off, the friend whose parents were to meet his prospective in-laws, messaged that all went extremely well between the two sets of parents and his wedding is very much on! That was the best news to end two very beautiful days with!

So happy!

Day 361: "Romantic" Bangalore!

Thus, after a day in Kerala, we were off to Bangalore, leaving behind the little one with her grandparents. The "leaving behind" turned out to be a pretty smooth process. We were expecting some high quality "please don't leave me mummy & papa!!!" crying, which....well..... didn't happen.

Nope, not even remotely. 

Instead, she decided that focusing on my mom's box of accessories was a much better activity. Just as well. 

So we - the hubby and I, were off to Bangalore! 

Now, naming this post "Romantic Bangalore" has nothing do with Bangalore being romantic. It is just that this is our first trip together after 1.5 years - the hubby and I alone, without the little one or friends or parents... and to me that alone was "romantic". We chatted all the way from the house till the airport, shopped together for books from the airport bookshop (they always have the best collection!), got ourselves chai and patties from the airport cafe, had a long conversation while savouring it, almost missing our flight in the process (see? romantic!), had another long catch up on the flight to Bangalore, got an airport cab and chatted away again while observing the sights and sounds of Bangalore, until we reached the hubby's aunt's place where his parents were also staying on a short visit. 

At the aunt's place, we had a really nice time catching up with everyone and also stuffed ourselves silly with a lot of awesome home cooked dishes (both aunty and uncle are great cooks and cooked a variety of southern Indian dishes and even Biriyani! They also made their own mojitos, which was just fantabulous!). 

Then the hubby and I took off on the last drive for the day - to the Marriot in Whitefield, the venue of the wedding. We checked in and was soon joined by the other friends who had also travelled in from various parts of India, leading to another round of catch ups and fun. 

Oh, we were also informed by my parents in Kerala that the little one had not one bit of separation anxiety through the day. Good news. 

Thus, day 1 in Bangalore came to an end. Tomorrow, the wedding festivities begin! 

Day 356: Finally A Fantastic December Day!

I was really looking forward a day that felt like it was in December - relaxed, festive, happy! Thanks to work and all that, "relaxing" was not something that was happening and I haven't had an opportunity to take part in any festivities so far either.

But today, I felt like it was December. Finally! It was a perfect day. Like, P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

I had just completed the dub sync work until 2am this morning and then went to bed. I woke up late and after getting ready, the three of us - the hubby, the little one and I - set out for our Sunday outing - something that hasn't been happening in the last several weeks.

We went to our favourite restaurant Antoinette on Orchard road. We had a good lunch there while the little one made friends with all the service staff.

After lunch, we walked around in Orchard Road, soaking in the festivities, something that I have been wanting to do for the longest time! This is my annual ritual, something that I really love to do, and this year I wanted the little one to take a look at all the decorations and activities around the area as well.

And we could finally do it!

We walked a long stretch along the road, enjoying the Brazilian Samba Brucata music that was being played (which was AWESOME!), taking in the decor and all the different christmas trees, enjoying the beautiful cool, breezy weather and stopping for a drink at our favourite hangout place Brotziet - during which the hubby and I caught up over a nice long conversation as the little one dozed off. Also, in true tourist style, we even got a picture of us blown up on a huge LCD screen outside a building (it was some Samsung promotional thingy). How cool!

After that beautiful outing, we set off, with great excitement, to meet the baby boy a close friend had just given birth to a few hours earlier. We went to the National University Hospital and welcomed the little one to our world. Our little one also tagged along and had a momentary bout of jealousy when her mom, that is me, picked up the baby. It was pretty cute to watch!

Incidentally the hospital was in the campus of our alma mater National University of Singapore, and we were excited to be back on campus. We decided to have dinner there and walked to our regular hangouts from the yesteryears - the paratha shop at Abang.

As we entered - complete with baby, stroller and baby bag, the uncle and aunty who owns the place recognized us and made quite a deal about the fact that  we used to study there and now have returned with a baby! They told and retold the story to everyone who visited the place! It was so cute.. and really, a very interesting experience. All those years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be back there with a baby of my own! Phew!

Back home I had a long, much overdue, fun chat with the in-laws, after which the hubby and I once again set out for a short night walk to get a drink. The weather was simply gorgeous!

This was the December I wanted to enjoy! This was the holiday season I was so looking forward to!

I went to bed a really happy person. Wonderful day, indeed!

Days 351 - 355: From Good to Awesome!

17 - 21 December, 2013

In my last post, I had written about how the days have gone from being pretty bad to pretty good. Now in the last few days, I can safely say that the days have gone from pretty good to pretty awesome! Several awesome things have been happening:

1) The dub for Aravindum Aarumughamum is finally complete! It took staying up until 6:30 on friday night/saturday morning to get this done, but thanks to a cup of exceptionally good black coffee and a lot of humour and wit from the team even that late into the night, we managed to get through it. It took me another late night to complete the entire sync and edit of the dub but then... soon enough, we were done! And it felt awesome!

2) We, the culture team at work that organized the Christmas party, had a really nice celebratory lunch at the Ku De Ta restaurant in Marina Bay Sands. This was a gift given to us by the boss, for the good work ! The lovely atmosphere with the cool, breezy weather, the gorgeous views, the delicios Japanese bento set that ordered, as well as the fun conversation that flowed throughout, all made it a really nice experience.

3) I had  been pretty much stuck with the ideas for episodes of the Malayalam sitcom that I had started to write, but now I have a new thread in my mind. I haven't yet written it down, but this is already a great start!

4) I started to pack for the last and final trip of the year - back to India!

5) I finally started to feel that December is here! Work was easing off, mainly because nobody is around to not let it ease off; The work on the film at my end was finally pretty much done, I was beginning to think about the holiday finally (and panicking about the packing, if I may add) and I even managed to catch a Bollywood film, Dhoom 3, in the theatre. I was visiting the cinemas after three whole months... I don't think that kinda gap has happened ever before, but that's how busy it has been! It was great to be back... and I think I enjoyed the film more than anyone else. Sure, it has a mindblowing list of flaws, but just watching it for the performance of Aamir Khan and production design, was good enough for me.

6) I had two really good yoga classes!

7) Thanks to Youtube, I am still receiving messages from strangers on Mausams,even though the film is almost three years old now. Especially when I feel like I am in a rut with the dubbing or some other issue with the film, one such message quickly pulls me out and up and I feel like this is all worth it! Everytime this happens, I feel so thankful!

Nett, am an awesomely happy person! 

Days 317 - 322: Storyboards to Babies!

14 - 19 November, 2013

Alright. A LOT is happening. I have probably written this already but we are shooting Aravindum Aarumughamum this weekend. And to me, it is a BIG deal. HUGE deal. HUMONGOUS deal. OK, you get the point. Over the last six days a lot of prep has happened. We had multiple rehearsals, I completed my usual hand drawn storyboard, I completed the moving stills-board (i.e. a video that puts together all photographs of the different frames we want to shoot, so that we get to see what the movie will actually look like...it is just a more fancy version of the traditional static storyboard but one am very proud of having achieved), we have been through all the pre-production details including costumes, props and equipment, I put out an open call for help with production for the days and have got some response, I went through the shot breakdown multiple number of times, I tweaked and re-tweaked the dialogues during the rehearsals...in short, the last few days were extremely happening.

That's on the movie front.

Separately, I went for a few yoga classes where my postures - which had fallen to be down right pathetic post the vacation - have now improved significantly.

Also, I am pretty much working double shifts now in office (thanks to the workload and also because my reportee is not around) but am happy because some progress, albeit very little, is happening on that front.

I also visited a good friend and her newborn - a darling little girl of just 9 days old! It was so wonderful to hold her in my arms (I completely hogged her and didn't want to let her go). I couldn't believe that my own little one was that little just a year ago! It was surreal. The little one who had also tagged along, was less impressed with the baby but was totally taken by my friend's dog. Both of them hit it off very well and she couldn't have enough of the "bow wow". I was extremely pleased that she likes animals and wasn't scared of them.

I also had my "celebrity" moment when a random stranger recognized me in the subway as the "girl in the Malayalam short film" that he liked so much. How flattering!

Nett, am super duper busy but am pretty happy. Most likely the next post will be after my shoot! Fingers crossed!

Day 291: The 2-Month Late Birthday Celebration!

Yes, the hubby and I share our birthday and it was two months ago. But we celebrated it with our gang of friends here in Singapore today.

This is what happened.

Over some random conversation, I asked the gang whatever happened to our birthday gifts this year, because we didn't receive any. So they promptly reminded me that our birthday treat was still due, and no treat means no gifts. OK fair enough. We were in Europe during our birthday and since then there was never a good time when everyone in the gang was present for a treat, so it was indeed due.

Thus, this Friday, we gave our birthday treat to the gang at our new favourite place Pind Balluchi. And it was a real fun celebration because everyone from the gang, kept up with the occassion, and wished us "Happy Birthday! And watching my excitement whenever someone did that, even the waiters at Pind Balluchi wished me when we were leaving. I felt like a school girl, in school on her birthday, wearing non uniform "colour dress" as we used to call it, distributing sweets to fellow classmates. It felt awesome!

Post the dinner and one round of drinks, we made our way out of Pind Balluchi to find another place to hang out for the rest of the evening. Just as we stepped out in search of the next hangout, there was a thundering noise. We realized that it was the rain slapping down hard on the high ceilings that covered the paths within Clarke Quay. There was a sudden gust of wind and it turned pretty chilly. I loved it! It was lovely to walk around listening to percussion above, enjoying the cool weather and the breeze, and occasionally coming in the way of the rain that gets blown into the covered paths. I felt like it was the perfect "birthday" celebration!

After walking around for a while, we found no other place in the whole of Clarke Quay that offered a quiet spot serving drinks, so we went back to Pind Balluchi. Yup! So we were there two times in a single evening and over a bottle of Sula wine, had a nice long conversation, well past midnight! I hardly stay that late out anymore because of the little one. So this was a nice change and the perfect end to a tough week at work.

I hit the bed a very happy person.

Days 216 - 222: Birthdays, Neighbourhood Cafes, Discoveries and Princess Parties!

When I started out writing this blog, I had put up a "reasonable" target of writing at least one entry a week. I thought that with my multiple roles as mother, wife, brand manager, health conscious human being etc., I wouldn't be able to achieve anything more. But truth be told, I had actually expected myself to deliver far better on the frequency, given my tendency of wanting to over-deliver on targets. And I had done reasonably well so far too - this is my 128th entry for the year, it seems! That's definitely a lot better than a weekly entry!

But recently, I have been struggling to keep up. There have been a lot of combined entries vs. daily ones, and as of today, I think I have hit rock bottom on frequency with this post - which is following the previous one after exactly 7 days!

So why am I writing such utterly inane statistics here?

Because it helps to describe the state of my life very well. Yup, my life's gone crazy busy, mostly due to work.

But that's fine. Good news is that there has been something to smile about (rather widely most often), almost every day!

So here are the highlights from the last 7 days...!

a) As a Malayali, I get to celebrate two birthdays every year. One according to the universal English calendar (which is coming up this week), and another according to the Malayalam calendar (which is a lunar calendar, as opposed to the solar English calendar). The Malayalam birthday, thus, doesn't fall on specific date every year but keeps changing by +/-15 days or so every year. Long story short, it was my Malayalam birthday on Sunday and unlike previous years when I mostly forgot or ignored it, this year I didn't. All thanks to my mom who made quite a big deal out of it with early morning prayers and a celebration involving semiya payasam (dessert made of vermicelli, milk and raisins)! It was a small celebration, but indeed a beautiful one!

b) Ever since we shifted to our current place in Bishan in 2009, there was only one flaw that we could find in our otherwise perfect and extremely convenient neighbourhood. The absence of a Starbucks outlet! There's been countless times when the hubby and I would want a cup of our favourite Chai Tea Latte but there is no Starbucks in the vicinity. If I had a penny for the number of times I said, "I love Bishan... but really wish there was a Starbucks here", I would be pretty darn rich by now. Good news is, it is true that if you really want something with all your heart, the universe does conjure it up for you! Yes, we have our own neighbourhood Starbucks now, within just a few minutes walk, and we - i.e, the hubby, the little one and I, made our first trip there! Woot!! Over a cup of Chai Tea Latte, I thanked Gods and the Starbucks management for making Bishan perfect, finally!

c) It was a 4-day long weekend in Singapore thanks to the National day and Eid holidays and I spent the majority of it on packing for our upcoming trip. I had already written up a 150-item long list, bulk of it being the little one's necessary items. The thought of packing all these have been daunting me for the longest time, but I am proud to say that after several hours of non-stop, focused effort, it is almost all done now! We are pretty much ready for our first long vacation together!

d) I made two new discoveries - First was the Lantern Bar at the Fullerton Bay Hotel, which had a fantastic view and a great ambience. I have to say that the service left much to be desired, but it is definitely worth going there for the view and ambience! The second one was "Blue Ginger" at Tanjong Pagar. I had been here once several years ago, so this was more of a rediscovery. They serve Peranakan cuisine and I particularly loved their Blue Ginger Chicken.

e)  There were also a couple of fun catch ups with friends. A school friend of the hubby had come from India on a short visit and it was lovely to meet him. And we also met up with the usual gang over a very late night drinks session - it was almost like a farewell session because we would be meeting each other only next month now, thanks to everyone's travel plans.

g) Last but not the least, the little one went for her first "princess" party - which was the theme of the birthday party of a friend's five year old girl. The parents had done a pretty amazing job of bringing the theme to life - what with princess themed cakes, balloons, wands, crowns, plates, cups, napkins, and even a storyteller in full princess costume with a "prince" in tow. Our little one, even though had no idea of the theme or the stories or the games, was clearly fascinated by the proceedings. She was so excited that she showed absolutely no signs of crankiness for a span of two whole hours! I guess this is just the beginning of several such parties to follow, and while it makes my head reel to think that I will have to organize such events in the future, as far as the little one is concerned, it was a great beginning for sure!

Now looking forward to our holiday next week! 

Day 208 - 209: All These Wonderful People!

Over the last two days, I had two sets of visitors to my place.

First, it was the hubby's super inspirational ex-boss and his family of a beautiful wife and two adorable girls. While I knew a lot about the big boss from the hubby, and have met him a couple of times before, it is always heartening to see how down to earth and chilled out a guy he is. It was also fun to see the great rapport he and his wife shared... and I had a really good time chatting with them. And my own little one seemed to have a ball of a time playing with her two "big sisters" as well.

But that's not it. Honestly, whatever I have written above will do no justice to how awesome these people are. So I think the following will showcase it better.

When they were at our place, it was tea time, and they were discussing what to do next - maybe a movie, maybe straight to dinner, maybe go back home and so on.

Instead, I realized that they  proceeded to an event supporting cancer patients, and the dad and the oldest daughter (around 11-12 years old), both shaved their heads off to in support for the cause!

Seriously!

That's not something one does instead of watching a movie or going for dinner. And the little girl did it too, when she had long, dark tresses before.

Inspiring.

And really, really, wonderful!

Second visitor was my friend from college, now based out of New York, who had come down to Singapore with his girlfriend, just for a day. It was super nice to meet him again, after a long gap of three years, and it was absolutely delightful to meet his lovely girl friend too. Our usual college gang met up with both of them at my favourite hangout Canopy, where we had a long, fun conversation over some great food. Then all of them came over to my place, where we continued the long, fun conversation over some great dessert wine (at 3 in the afternoon, I must add). The last time this friend came down from the US, this conversation took place. This time, his contribution to our lives was a tale about how he convinced some American friend that a certain maple syrup was a Rajasthani maple syrup, when it really was just ordinary maple syrup.

Yup.

And as usual, it was wonderful to watch his excitement as he narrated the maple syrup story.

It was rather sad when it was time for them to leave but then again, at least I have all these wonderful people in my life! 

Day 201: Rehearsals, Publicity, Parties!

It was a packed, exciting day!

It started off with a rehearsal for Aravindum Aarumughamum. It was a good rehearsal where both my actors showed tremendous improvement. Considering that it was only our second rehearsal, it was very promising. They have already begun to live the characters and that's always fascinating to watch!

Post the rehearsals, we started brainstorming for ideas on the publicity materials and I believe we have struck a few new themes that are different and more exciting than the previously planned posters and such. The new ideas will involve more work but I think it is all for the better. Looking forward to seeing the ideas come alive now!

We also had a lot of discussion on potential themes for future films, plays and stories. In short, it was a rather creative morning!

In the evening, it was time for a house party with the usual gang, at the brand new place one of them had bought recently. And that was fun too. The house was great... it was so new that it didn't even have furniture... so we all sprawled on cushions and bean bags on the floor...which was awesome! Over a lot of food, a lot of conversation and a lot of Hindi-movie-song watching, we had a wonderful time!

A good day, indeed!

Days 194 - 199: Kickboxing, Cycling, Poster, Friends & Family!

I just realized that I have not written a post for an entire week almost! Just about missed my promise of writing a weekly post! Blah!

But then, that's how busy I've been.

Quick list of one highlight per day:

1) On 13th July - I had the most wonderful evening with our usual gang of close friends coming over to our place. First the hubby and a friend went for tennis, then all of us went to the pool together with the little one and everyone one had a ball swimming or watching her trying to swim. Then a few took a steambath and that was followed by drinks, dinner and a LOT of mindless conversation. We hadn't done something like this in ages, and it was great fun!

2) On 14th July - After introducing the parents to Din Tai Fung where authentic Chinese food was served, it was time for enjoying Ichiban Boshi, where authentic Japanese is served. Just like how they loved the former, they loved the latter too! The excitement over wasabi, edamame, miso soup, sushi and katsu don was infectious!

3) On 15th July - Another partner workout - this time with kickboxing! Super fun!

4) On 16th July - As of today, I have completed 100 days of exercise for this year! That was the target I had set for myself at the beginning of the year, taking into consideration my new found role of a mother and the demands of having to juggle exercise with work, family and leisure. But I had never expected to complete this within just 6.5 months of the year! So proud and happy!  

5) On 17th July - I made the teaser poster for "Aravindum Aarumughamum", by accident. Yup. It all started when I was doodling on my iPad, using an app called 'Sketchpad' for those of you who want the details, to make a reference sketch for the poster. I wanted a illustrated, minimalist poster for the film and I was planning to sketch out my idea for it and send it to a friend who had promised to help me with the actual illustration. After completing the doodle, I asked the hubby what he thought of it. He said the doodle, with its crooked lines and uneven blotches here and there, serves the purpose of a teaser poster just as it is. First, I was surprised by that reaction and didn't think much of it. But with his encouragement, soon I was convinced that instead of being just a reference, this could actually be the teaser poster for the film. And thus the first publicity material, a teaser poster, for my new short film "Aravindum Aarumughamum" was released! (And by "release", I mean, it was put up on Facebook). Yay!

6) On 18th July - I took on cycling again. For those of you who had followed my 1000-day blog, you would know that cycling is an activity I had picked up only last year. It was one of the things to do on my before-30 list and I got to it with just 9 months to spare. But as soon as I pretty much got the hang of it, I discovered that I am pregnant. Since then my bike had been lying discarded in the storeroom. I didn't get back on it for this long because I wasn't sure how it would work with the pelvic pain I had sustained post pregnancy. But now that the pain's almost all gone, I got back on the bike today. After a lot of nervousness and some initial fumbling, I could ride it! Sure, I still need to get more controlled but it was great to be able to ride a few hundred metres without breaking any bones! Special thanks to my dad who was my teacher for the day!

Few happy days! 

Day 187: Friends, Celebrations & Eco Gourmet Cafe!

Fantastic day of celebrations!

First the hubby, the little one and I met the hubby's work partner, his wife and their cute, little two-year old boy. In other words, the partners met each other with their respective partners and kids. The occasion was to celebrate all the recent successes, small but significant ones, that have been happening at the husbands' business venture.

The venue we chose for the celebratory brunch was the super duper lovely Eco Gourmet Cafe. It seems to be a pretty new place and I discovered it online by chance. And I fell in love with it! It was located in midst of heavy greenery giving a feel of dining right in the middle of a jungle. The decor was pretty nice with wooden flooring, cane chairs, huge bell lanterns and a lovely seating area. It was not crowded at all and the food was good too. I ordered the regular brunch with poached eggs, bacon, sauteed mushrooms, rosti, green salad and an orange-lemon-cranberry juice which I enjoyed.

So yes, the venue was great and our meetup was awesome. I had a great time chatting and catching up with them and playing with their little one who is a really smart, young chap! A beautiful brunch it was!

The next celebration was that of a very close friend's 30th birthday. Over dinner and drinks and cake-cutting, we celebrated his birthday in style! Another one joins the 30s club!

A good, celebratory day indeed! 

Days 175 - 179: People, Plays, Films, Yoga, Work, Music And Such Happy Things!

I am having a good time! Yup... all up, hardly any downs (touchwood). The past few days have been pretty happy and I feel good!

Why? A variety of reasons!

a) I went back to work on Monday and got showered with a few more compliments on how well the offsite was organized. Am not one to shy away from compliments and yes, these made me very happy!

b) I went to watch a play after more than two whole years! And I loved it. It was a locally produced play called Fourlies and I thought the writing, direction and performances were brilliant! It is always great to watch such splendid works of art and considering that this was a completely original work from Singapore, it was even more heartening.

c) I watched Raanjhanaa, a new Hindi film and fell in love with it! As far as I am aware of, it was a romantic drama made like no other romantic drama from India so far in terms of its storyline. It was funny and tragic at the same time. It had both the leads playing not white but very grey characters. It had a dark, scrawny guy from South India making his debut in the highly discriminating fair-skin-loving Bollywood, and flooring every single person with his talent alone. It had brilliant music and very good integration of the songs with the narrative instead of force fitting them. Nett, I felt really good watching it.

d) I went for yoga three days in a row, which is a big deal because the last time I did that was some time in March! Once work had started, it's become increasingly difficult to hit yoga. And the irregularity had also contributed to laziness. So it took all my willpower to do three days in a row. But I did. And it was awesome.

e) I had a great chat with my editor friend from Mumbai in which I narrated an entire feature film story. And now we have just that - a full feature film story! Surely there is a long way to go from a storyline to a final film but it gets me super excited when a new idea brews. So yes, I am excited!

f) Got to spend a lot of quality time with the in laws, which included long chats, chai time and bargain shopping, even! It was a good last week, as they will be on their way back to India this Sunday.

g) I discovered the wonderful, wonderful songs from three Hindi films - Raanjhanaa, Lootera and Fukrey and I can't stop listening to them. They are definitely fodder for happy thoughts and glazed smiles and I love them!

i) I had the most amazing lunch with one of my best friends. One of those where we don't talk about our daily mundane lives but our takes on what our lives have been so far, where we think it is going, where we think it should go and what we can do about it. I feel really good post that 1.5 hour Friday lunch.

h) The little one has discovered the art of clapping. Or rather the art of repeatedly slamming her right open palm on her left closed fist, in the name of clapping. She crawls all around the house and demonstrates some over the top excitement when she sees me (as well as her other favourite like her dad, grandparents and nanny....but I am there too!). It is such overwhelming joy to see her break into her toothless wide grin when she sees me early in the morning or after I can back to work. I can see that she is already not just the little vague baby but a full individual with pretty much her own unique personality and this journey of motherhood is getting more fascinating by the day.

So yes. I am happy. With all of the above and more! 

Days 158 - 160: Koh Samui!

We made a short weekend getaway to Koh Samui - by "we" I mean, the hubby, the little one and me. It was the birthday celebration of a friend, who was part of the gang I had written about in the previous post. He had booked a five-bedroom villa at the Four Seasons resort for all us - yup, for the 12 adults and 5 infants.

Of course the experience of spending time with such a bunch is unique in itself, but what made the whole trip even more fabulous was the resort the friend had picked out for the trip. It was the Four Seasons at Koh Samui. It was beyond anything I have personally ever seen. So much so that I didn't take any pictures. There was no point. There's no way my photography skills could justify the wonder of that place!

And there is no way my writing skills can do any justice in describing the place as well, so I will let it be. But let's just say I absolutely loved my two days there!

On top of the fabulous villa, the gorgeous views, the exceptional service, there was also the joy of having typical Indian cuisine like Aloo Paratha and Masala chai, thanks to the cook who had been flown down from Dubai! Yeah, I know. I was equally stunned when I knew that the friend had gone to such extremes to make all of us feel so special! It was royal treatment indeed!

And then there was the joy of spending time with friends in such a beautiful location. These are technically the hubby's friends from school and hence, I hadn't interacted a lot with most of them before. Even then I didn't feel out of place even for a second and they were all super nice to me.

So yes, it was a wonderful few days - I got to stay in a wonderful place with a bunch of wonderful friends together with my own wonderful family. A big hug to the friend who made it all possible. God bless him!

Awesome!

Day 131: Back to NUS!

It was a friend's birthday and the birthday dinner was organized at NUSS, a club within my alma mater National University of Singapore. So there we were, the usual gang, most of whom are from NUS, back there on our dear campus, together.

To make the most of it, as soon as we were done with dinner, we took a nice long walk, introducing the various places to non-NUS friends who were around. Post this sightseeing and memory-raking trip, we further postponed any plan to return to our respective homes and instead, visited our popular haunt there, the Nikki's Cheese Prata shop, also lovingly called Abang. I had my all time favourite drink, Teh Halia (Ginger Tea) while the others ordered the different types of Prata and Milo Dinosaur the place is famous for. And more memories were revisited.

Needless to say, it was a beautiful evening! 

Day 126: Good News!

When Indian aunties ask of the "good news", it pretty much means they are asking whether you are pregnant or not. Today, I got the good news from a very dear friend! She's one of those ladies who I am certain would make a terrific mother and to hear that she was expecting was just such a not good, but GREAT news!

I met her over lunch and shared the joy with her! We had an awesome, exciting and happy lunch together!

Of course, I also imparted much maternal wisdom, since am already quite an expert at motherhood at six months postpartum. That gave me some joy too.

I am super happy for her and her huge, great news totally made my day! 

Day 123: A Day of Fantastic Opportunities & Great Progress!

It was indeed a day of progress and opportunities.

Firstly, the little one has managed to say "mum" and then "mum-mum" when I was teaching her how to say "mummy". Great progress!

At work, I made major headway in a project that I am handling, which gives me immense pleasure!

Then I got an offer for a very exciting assignment. The background is that post my maternity leave, am currently on a temporary role with specific projects for a couple of months, before moving on a to more permanent role. There have been a few discussions on what that new role would be and today, I got to know more about a potential one which seems to be a great fit for me. So that's an opportunity I am looking forward to taking up.

After work I hit yoga, and got a "Good one, Shilpa" for my Eagle Pose or Garudasana. It's the first time am getting a "check" on this particular pose postpartum, so that's great progress in my yoga practice as well.

Then I went for a very close friend's dance concert. It's my first concert post pregnancy and my first solo trip to a concert in a really long while, both of which I take as progress in my social and personal life.

And last, the icing on the cake with cherry on top - I have a producer for my feature length film! A dear friend from India, who had recently turned part-time movie producer, was in town and I met up with him together with the hubby. Over a good dinner from Mirchi @ Esplanade, we discussed various topics until he asked me where I was with my script-writing, especially the one that I had worked on during my maternity leave. So I gave him a rundown on the theme, the production requirements and how it can be marketed and before I knew it, he was saying that he was keen to produce it! He immediately called up his producer-partner and asked him to get details on how to go about this given that my movie is meant for the Tamil industry, while they had experience producing films only in Malayalam and Hindi so far. He was insisting that if this film gets made, I should be in the director's chair and not just be the writer. While that won't be possible for me right now given my work and family commitments, am definitely excited about the opportunity for my script to be turned into a film!

What a fantabulous, exciting day!