House Hunters

I have been trying to write on this topic from past 2 weeks… just could not come up with how to begin the topic…. HOUSE HUNTER. Yeah that’s the reason of me missing from action for so long. I have a new profile now House Hunter although we have closed on a house 2 weeks back and moved in so its House owner… but the process of doing it was one of a kind. As first time buyers having no clue of the terms used here, it was journey filled steep curves and narrow lanes.

Being a part of General Google… we googled for everything, google became our best source to learn and understand the market, the terms used by realtors, search properties, loan options, legal documents and every possible thing you can think of related to buying home. For weeks we just ate, talked, slept of options found on google.

Once we made ourselves familiar with terms like foreclosure home, homes on short sale, FHA approved, buying agent, credit rating, good faith estimate, HOA etc. we started the act of looking for a house. We saw all types of houses, beautiful, comfortable, BIG, small, House with red florescent and blue walls… he he, once with leaking roofs, houses which felt like Battle of Panipat took place there and our dream house… Big comfortable… with a fire place…. lots of closet space….cute patio, a nice private view very near to P’s workplace… we jumped and signed a contract for it… the very same day. So excited by the house we got our friends to place in the evening and literally trespassed the ground to show the house…. And then was the most difficult thing to do… wait… wait for the Bank to get back to us…. And we had feared not to happen happened.. bank did not approve of our contract… L So.. me and P with heavy hearts started the search again…

Our enthu was dampened by the fact that we did not get the dream house… and nothing can match that one. But we continued our search and again saw few more houses…. The ones we liked or choose were always taken… gone…under contract or the worst for senior living… he he.. at one point we almost thought that we will have to rent a place again… but thanks to internet, remax and a joint effort by of our buying agent AA and us we managed to find couple more of them which were could fit our budget and give us stuff we wanted (not in comparison with dream house). We shortlisted 2 from the list one with a pool view… I loved the view and the other with 2 car parking…P liked the later. Comparing both we decided to go with the one I like…the house with pool view… agreed on price and asked AA to draft another contract. Happily we decided to head back to our temporary weekend home… my best friends (BF) place. On our way back a 40 mins drive… we talked about the house.. the view…one thing led to another and compared the two house ‘one with view’ and the other ‘2 car parking’ by the end of the drive we were convinced that the other house is better option and so sheepishly we wrote an email to AA asking her to change the contract for the other house…. The next day we checked the house again to be sure, and then signed and submitted a new contract… and then… kept our fingers crossed….. to our surprise the wait was only few hrs and we got a call…. Saying the bank has approved our contract! Shocked by the quick response both of us were shocked by the news and felt silent… still remember my BF’s hubby saying… khush ho jao yaar… tumko ghar mil gaya! :D :D

It didn’t end there… then was the task of getting loan approved and at the rate which was promised to us.. the EMI changed every day, we were always asked to compromise this not available… that will be more expensive… our loan agent working on weekends for us… to get the best deal.. us calculating and hunting for other options… days passed, emails flew in all directions, phone calls.. uff… by the end of it we just wanted it to happen.. and then the D day came… Friday the 13^th for apartment no 313 :D :D . Finally the loan was put in place not completely on our terms… but it was not a bad deal at the end.

And now we are HOUSE OWNERS and not house hunters… It does not have a fire place but I guess we can still keep it warm with our friends and family… the view is not a pool view but of woods.. its nice to listen to birds singing in the morning… and the closet space…. It has plenty room for my shoes

Welcome to OUR home!

Bus, Train aur....... HUM

Just back from home land and I miss it more. It was a great trip back home; it is always nice find things where you had left it. You will not believe we were out of the Airport and Bang hit the traffic jam at Saki Naka…he he some things will never change. Mumbai felt and smelt the same as it always did warm and welcoming.

After being in the state of lost between countries and time it was my turn for the journey back memory lane. It was refreshing to meet my college buddies and talk back things which we dreamt in college, laugh on same old jokes sorry… pj’s and learn that some relationships never change. Kudos to PAKAUS! Being with friends, family and other familiar things I learned why I hate being in this country. Not only because I am away from friends or family, but fact of being cut off from the outside world. By world I mean outside my little apartment. Let me put it this way “IF YOU DON’T HAVE A CAR IN THIS COUNTRY, YOU DON’T HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE.”

Our country might be termed as developing country but still we have an infrastructure that helps to commute from one place to another.. roads or no roads you will still find a way to commute. I did a lot of travelling this trip home and could feel the upgrades and face lifts that the mode of commuting has gone thru. And I must say a BIG thanks to no other than Lalu ji. After almost 4 or 5 years I travelled long distances by train, and was pleased by my experience. The compartments be it AC coach or the normal sleeper coach are always clean and dry, the loo’s don’t stink (either we have become highly civilized or the housekeeping is very good). Here you take any subway or an Amtrak train they always smell…. Nothing particular, but it does smell. Back home we eat such spicy food in closed AC compartments but it never smells. And yeah the best is… no more you have to stand in Q’s for booking train tickets, just do it online. IRCTC’s payment and refund system is amazing. Things like Mumbai smart card lets you travel in trains and buses. You need not have perfect change to buy ticket in the bus… just have yr prepaid Mumbai smart card punched in the Bus. The best was Megacabs…. Just call them and they will pick you up from home and drop you at the place you want to go…. rates are almost the same and these big air-conditioned cars. All this makes me want to go back to India more and more.

Going Home SWEET Home

At this moment there are so many topics in my head for this weeks blog. But none of them can over power the thought that i will be reaching Mumbai on Friday. From past few weeks there is nothing but this excitement of reaching Mumbai and meeting everyone... Its like i have been waiting for this moment since the time i set my foot in US. Everyone here says you will find it very different, it will be difficult for you to cope up with weather, traffic, air, pollution etc etc. Well! i really want to feel that... i want to see that just one year of staying outside my country can change my habits so much? I mean the air which i have breathed for more than 25yrs of my life; i will find it difficult to do so? I agree with the traffic part :D

Right now i feel like a spectator in a tensed India Pakistan match, where India has to chase 380 runs. The suspense of the 2nd innings.... the excitement, the doubts in yr head and the bursting patriotism in my heart. In my one year here, on anyone asking "how do you like it here" my answers where.... i miss mumbai, don't like it, HATE it. Though the comforts i live in now are more than i ever asked for its peaceful, more secured but..... these things could not win my heart. I wonder why?

So here i am waiting to reach my mother land, waiting to see again all the familiar face i have know throughout my life, waiting to visit the familiar places and waiting to feel the difference. Mumbai here i come!

Saraswati Puja

Jaya Jaya Devi
Chara Chara Share
Kucho Jogo Shobhito
Mukta Hare
Beena Ranjita
Pustaka Haste
Bhagawati Bharati
Devi Namastute

Today is Saraswati Pujo, as a child I use love this day. Mom-dad use say “no, don’t touch your books today”. Saraswati Pujo is celebrated by Bengalis on Vasant Panchami which falls on fifth day of Magha according to lunar calendar.

There are lots of traditions that I as a bong followed for this day. Mom and all anuties would say not to eat Kool (the fruit – bore in hindi or Plum). I use to save any yellow colored dress year around for this day. Imagine when you reach pujo pandal and you see 50 hues of yellow, Wow! Every bong who is studying or has kids in school observes a fast. Mom use to say… “don’t even have water till you offer pushpanjali to maa shoroshoti” (pushpanjali is the prayer offered with flowers)

For pushpanjali we use to fight to get palash phool, flower rare to find vibrant red in color… as if; we will not score good marks in exams if we don’t get that flower during pushpanjali. And the Phal prasad given after pushpanjali use to be special, furits like Kul (bore mentioned earlier), sugarcane, very sweet seeded banana use to be there.

For toddlers this day is special too. No Bengali parent teaches there kid to right or read till there Haathe Khodi ( haath is for hand in bangla and khodi is for chalk) every bong kido writes their first alphabets in front of goddess saraswati, the journey begins here! You can read more about saraswati puja here

Namesake

As days are coming nearer for my long awaited trip to India; I keep skipping into flash back mode of old days…. School times, college days, time spent with friends – family. And somehow it took me to what my friends and family called me at different stages of my life.

Yes!! My parents named me as JAYA, Meaning -Feminine form of JAY. It is another name of the Hindu goddess Durga. Initially though they wanted to name me as USHA… as according to my horoscope the hindi akshar U came up, but my mom wanted something a little uncommon. As a Bengali or rather in Bangla it is pronounced as J-O-Y-A. So I am called as Joya by all the Bengalis. At home only my father calls me Joya; di and mom calls me Jayu, i miss the way mom would take my name every morning to wake me up. All my non Bengali friends in our first 10 questions after introduction asks “so do you have a pet name like all bongs do? Which sounds like ribu, papu, popi, dodo,” the answer is NO. Two of my close friends from school call me Jayu too..(I hope you guys read this blog :))

As a teenager and a bully in school people nick named me Amitabh Bachchan ha ha….. I really was a dada in school. In college my group “PAKAUS” called me as Jaya dada, I tried to leave my bully and tom boy traits back in home – but it didn’t quite work.

Then came those days of facing the real world… yeah work life! I have worked in 5 different places… everywhere was named something @ Informatics it was chulbuli fataka, Call centre – Chelsea Roggers (pseudo name) they also called me Bong Babe, friends at Maratha…….. ha ha we use to great each other as… chudail, kamini, manhus (we still do that), GRM… it was - J- just that…. And my last place of work… I really miss ITC GRAND CENTRAL my boss Mr. Malik called me Miss India, fountain of English, Gonchi Gaan (means confused cow) depending on his mood, other colleagues called me Bhatakti atmaa… coz I use to appear at places least expected of me to be… :D :D

Just when I thought it was over… after shaadi… it didn’t… I got another name, what my loving Sasu maa calls me Mamuni (all her love can be felt when she takes my name) So that’s it till now…. I am sure there will be many more…

Makar Sankranti

Yeah!.... it’s too late to wish Makar Sankranti for this year, but the reason I am mentioning it is not to wish you all. I have always know Makar Sankranti as the day of holiday in school and to eat pitha (Bengali dessert made during marakar sankranti) tilgur, pongal for my south Indian friends and a day that everyone tries a hand on flying a kite! I always thought that Makar Sankranti was a harvest festival. This year a day before Sankranti I just did what I love to do most of the time ! google’d- Makar Sankranit; I was so amazed by what I read.

According to Vedas, Makar Sankranti is the time when our planet Earth is farthest from Sun and after day the days start to become longer. Sankranti means to go from one place to another (to change direction). The time when the Sun changes direction from one constellation (of the zodiac) to another is known as Sankranti. During this time Sun moves from zodiac Sagittarius(Dahu rashi) to Capricorn (Makar rashi). Hence it is called Makar Sankranti. From this day onwards the sun starts travelling northwards, the Bhagavad Gita mentions the importance of the northern path of the sun at the time of death. This was the reason why Grandsire Bhishma, who was wounded in battle and in semi conscious state, while lying on the bed of arrows, chose to wait it out, awaiting the northward path of the sun, before choosing to die. It is believed that those who die in this period have no rebirth. The other reasons to celebrate Makar Sankranti are ofcourse what is commonly known harvest festival.

What amazed me was not the belief of getting Moksha for those who die during this time. But by the accurate knowledge of Vedas. How accurately could they calculate the time of earth’s orbit to sun; and their predictions based on the same. During the time when there was no telescopes or any advance equipments. Though Vedas do not mention heavy terms like Perihelion and Aphelion, but the study on it is so exact. That is when I remember what my dad always use to tell me “Everything we study today is already mentioned in Vedas, Mahabharat & Ramayan.” During ramayan-mahabharat days on TV when we use to watch those battle scenes… where one arrow shot becomes multiple arrows, dad use to say “the concept of atom bomb comes from here”. And when I think now it sounds blizzard but relative.

So, there is so much knowledge already with us and we ignore it saying Antha vishwas or say that purani batien hai… But if we take a little effort to find more we can learn so much about our culture and religion, and learn deeper meanings attached to them. I hope, I didn’t chew too much of my readers brains… thanks for reading!

Big Apple / Amchi Mumbai

Last year when I came to US, I reached city that everyone dreams to visit once in a life time.... New York. I was told that you are gonna live an American dream.... it all sounded so fascinating.... WOW!!! i will live in one of the most popular city in the world..... So here i was, living in Manhattan- New York (mind it.... not Brooklyn Queens or The Bronx :D its like staying in South Mumbai and not Brandra, Chembur or Thane) only 14 street down Times Square, it is said that almost 1.6 million people pass through Times Sqaure everyday! Exciting!! So while I was fighting the cold and wind in NY and getting in terms with the New York lifestyle; Robert (VP of PPC.... the company where Pal works) asked me, "So how does it feel like to live an American Dream?" And all I could tell him was it feels like living in Mumbai. He was taken aback by my remark (his expression was… how can you compare any city with New York?) and I told him… yes it is exactly like living in Mumbai.. You have Wall Street, we have Dalal Street over 2.6 million people travel to South Mumbai every day and just like New York it is island city...

Only then I realized how much I miss the hustle bustle of amchi Mumbai… the Bright red coloured BEST buses, the over crowed local train, the stench while going to Bandra, the hot wada pav and cutting chai, and the warm breeze just like the spirit of every Mumbaite… I still remember the days when I use to sulk with my friends and and complain about every thing… kya bakwaas traffic and… kya stupid garmi hai, yahaan itni baarish kyu hoti, yeh rastien mein gaddhe hai ya gaddhe mein rasta hai :D :D But I miss that… really staying away from the country has made my will only stronger to go back. So friends though we hate the life in Mumbai, it is no less than living in New York and in many ways even better than New York.