The loss of a pet

She was 6 months old when we met her. I remember very clearly the day she was brought in. She came in sitting royally on the front seat of a white Honda. A little scared, a little unsure we were both. Maybe she was hungry we thought. Very soon we found out - Oh boy, was she hungry!
She howled all through the night. Turns out she didn't know where to relieve herself. The living room was a mess. Come here Chocolate, sorry we didn't tell you where and how. She slept in my lap until sunrise.
The adjustment took a toll on everybody, probably her too and they were all ready to return her. Everyone except me. I knew she was coping up with us just as we were trying to adjust to her too.
And then a week was all it took for everybody to fall in love with her.

Ver soon she was all trained - In no time she could Hi5, handshake, stay down, sit, jump up, hold a rat by its tail - you name it, she knew it. So smart! And she was multi-lingual too.
And loved to swim. Hated baths. Hated toothpaste. Loved playing with frogs and lizards.

RIP Chocky

And then all of a sudden, our dog died this morning. Had an epileptic fit. Just like that. It just seems so unfair that somebody has to die this way. No rhyme or reason to epilepsy attacks. There are so many things that you take for granted. The overjoyed greeting of your pet being one.
And then all of a sudden it just stops. There is nobody wagging their tail behind you. Following you around like they're joined at the hip to you. Nobody to wake you up in the morning. Nobody begging you to take them for a walk in the morning. You try and move stealthily to the fridge from your bedroom door hoping not to wake anybody up - but of course there's the lightsleeper panting behind you so loud - you're afraid the neighborhood would wake up. Not anymore.
As I sit here reeling in with the sudden loss - the world seems like a lonely place. The emptiness is engulfing. There are people around but what's the point. They wont be for long it seems. A stupid fit can end it all.
To everybody who's loved and lost - I feel you - but I so wish I couldn't.

Finding Fanny

Sometimes the entire plot of a movie is in the title. Movies are termed 'different' by every actor usually. Sometimes melodrama can ruin the movie when it isn't required. (Mary Kom, anyone? )
But Finding Fanny is none of that!

This movie lives right upto your expectations. You go in expecting a comedy movie and come out after watching a really different, lively comedy movie. It is a laugh riot - you will enjoy it through and through - I did. Will watch it again this week most likely.

Now for the best parts. The cast!
Every character is well thought out of. Endearing. Multi-faceted. Evolving. In short, very real.

Naseeruddin Shah is brilliant. Period. The characters come together and set out to find his Fanny, his love who he's waited for for 46 years because a letter he had written back then wasn't posted at all to her. He manages to keep the child-like innocence all through the movie without coming across as stupid, even though he's supposed to be a 60+ year old in the movie.

Pankaj Kapoor is amazing. You expect him to be a con artist throughout, find him borderlining to evoking disgust - which is what his character was supposed to make us feel, yet in a final scene he does prove himself to be the 'artist' who was really just following his muse.

Deepika Padukone is beautiful, she has been evolving as an actress and this is probably her best act so far.
Arjun Kapoor does ok as the angry young man. I am still unsure of him as an actor. In my head he is this guy who has this controlled poker face and only allows emotions to show through sometimes. Or maybe he's just another John Abraham. That remains to be seen.
Dimple Kapadia with her obviously padded fanny, is the town's Lok Kalyan trust(LKT) always helping out. (Mostly when it isn't needed.)

The characters are all very real and blend into the plot effortlessly. I had a great time watching the movie after a really long time.
The only 'issue' I found was, the movie is set in goa, but the accent doesn't come off as Goan.
But otherwise, definitely a must watch!

Have you watched the movie yet? What did you think of it?

PS: The picture isn't mine. Google helped me find it. 

Do. Improvise. Repeat.

Just read a couple of articles. Or maybe it was just Quora. So I decided to create a list of changes I want to see in myself 365 days down the line.

Here's my list for the next 1 year. Will check back in around this time and see how I fared.
1. Read for 30 mins in the morning - news, current affairs.
2. Exercise everyday for 30-60 mins.
3. Brush twice a day.
4. Read a book for 30 mins before bedtime.
5. Finish course in Algorithms on coursera.
6. Create a budget every month and start a savings account.
7. Write everyday.
8. Call one person from your pool of friends and family everyday.

Socializing

Hello! It's been a while since I wrote. After effects of the switch from being a student to a workaholic I guess. So many things have changed. Had written this a while back, didn't get to publishing it.
Do you cycle in and out of phases? Say, One week you are eating out all the time and then it takes forever for you to get back to your routine of cooking at home. One week you just want to stay out of your home. One week all you want to do is curl up with a book in bed.
I'm currently in the socialising phase tending towards curling up in bed - almost there.

So socializing. Say you go out. A mixed group. Old people. New people - You don't know. You know the old ones. How they act. What they actually like. What they don't. What they believe in. Yada yada. You get the point.
Then the unlikeliest of people start conversing and hit it off. You know what I'm talking about right?
So what do you like doing in your free time?
"Blah blah bla"
"Wow, really? I love that!"
You know both of them. And you're listening to the conversation..
Half the time you're smirking or rolling your eyes.
People can be so deceptive! It's like they're portraying themselves to be exactly what the other person wants to see. Exactly the opposite things. They're totally not into sports. "Oh I love playing sports!" translating to 'I'm gonna say whatever it takes for you to like me.' Disgusting it is.

Should I say disgusting? I don't know. I don't understand people's intentions. I am only looking at the outer layer of the behavior. Not really analyzing why people are doing what they do. Are we supposed to be doing that? Isn't that too much of a hassle? Why care about what they are actually thinking, right?
But somehow it is connected to your life. Your happiness and theirs is intertwined. One cannot live with people for too long. One cannot live without them either. And so you say anything when you do meet them. Phases.

Uh?

 I see a ray of light and run towards it. But as soon as I reach it, there's darkness all around again. I turn around and there's some light in the distance in another corner. I run towards it. Hoping to catch it this time around. Just ..too late. I am tired of running. But I can't stop. The moment I stop, I'll be lost in the darkness.

Sailing pics!

Hey so went sailing again the other day. This time it was a cold day and one of the crew people was missing, so I got to do a little more than last time:- I was the squirrel! Actually I was that the last time as well, but this time I did something in addition to this, but don't remember what it's called. Psch. God bless my memory!

Here's some of the pics to let you get a feel.

Mr. Rex - the Dad. 

Glenn, the son and owner of the boat. Oh you must see their constant bickering. You might think it would've subdued by this age. (He's about 40 and Rex's 70(?)) But no. Even now they fight like a teenagers. But it is entertaining, nonetheless :)
Oh and you see that open space on the very left of the screen? That's the squirrel's position.

One of the smaller fleet of boats.

Sailboats in a race.

How could I not put a pic of wolfgang! :)

Sherlock Holmes. Yeah.

It all started with a toilet seat that was left up. A toilet seat left up, In a woman's bathroom. Can only mean two things. Some guy used OUR toilet. Or there is a man among us! :O As improbable as that might sound, think about this. We've all seen cross-dressers or transexuals at some point on a subway metro bus, haven't we? Sometimes the line is blurred. Maybe it is made up. Maybe it is not. Remember Hangover2?
What if god intended to make you a girl, but changed his mind later? So your heart is that of a woman but the rest is a guy!
You decide to take matters into your own hands. Plus, There are doctors who help with that. It's a long slow procedure but it sure is possible. You fit all the parts with customized ones. The change is gradual and there is that awkward phase where you're in no mans land. You could be anyone.
So I start looking for potential women who fit the bill. The wolf in sheep's clothing.
The hero among the heroines.

After some trial and errors I zeroed in one figure. Ahha! Gotcha lady(?)! So i happened to be using the restroom the same time the wolf was using it. I chithatted about the weather and stuff and waited for her to leave. (Too much snooping around, no? )Then I went back to the one she had used. And the seat cover was not up!!
Psssh. 

And so my search for the hero continues.
Of course it'd be easier to just change the assumption that it was the cleaning guy who had decided to use the lady's toilet while he was at it, but hey what is life worth without some futile detective work?


You can say a lot more, it's ok ;)

Source Control 2.0

It is so annoying to listen to people talk about guys. Stuff like, How big their shoulders are. Or how tall they are. Pbbth.
 I mean there is so much more to think about than how they look! I switch off totally. Start making plans for next week and stuff. 
Speaking of which, been trying new awesome things, with new people.
 I went sailing! Amazing it is. If you ever get a chance to do it, you should. But be prepared to get tanned. So if you're planning to get married soon stay away. ;)
Or NOT. what the heck. It's your life!
Ok coming back, I forgot to put sunscreen on my shoulders and you won't believe how burnt they are now. So check point #2 : Wear sunscreen everywhere! Wait a min. Check #2?
What was check point #1? Be prepared to get tanned even after applying sunscreen.
Of course don't expect to be a master the first day. You'll get to hear tack, jibe a lot... If you're the inquisitive type you might wanna google about how sails masts work. You'll get a better perspective and understanding..
Abba I always go into weird details no? Anyway so I went out at about 10 am. And then there was no wind for the next 2 hours. And sailing is no fun with no winds. There is nothing to do. So we did the next best thing. Took off our clothes and jumped into the lake. ;) Had our own pool party with other people from other boats deciding to jump into the lake too..
Oh check point#3 : take hand sanitizer with you..you'll need once you swim and decide to eat. Sorry for the details again. But hey what fun is it without details?
Life would be so quiet without any digressing and arguing and coming to a consensus.
Applause for the originality! Ty Ty.

Ok then we ate and did some sailing. Since it was my first time I was just the ballast. Meanin whenever you tack (change the direction of the boat) you need to quickly go to the other side of the boat so there is more weight on the other side..
We had races with other sailors. Won one came 2nd once and came last the other time. And no there were not just 2 boats smart ass..
All in all I liked it. Will go again next week..hopefully.

Then last week I also played tennis..I think I'm naturally good at sports. Its like the chips for all sports are built in.. I just have to activate them..Also realized that I find  physically active men very appealing. It is sexy when guys put all their energy to return a shot. And what better sport to find that in than tennis. Ooh la la.

Studying wise, this semester is the most testing of all. Work getting more demanding plus two courses that I've taken as a distance student so I graduate this December. Then the job search.. You think you've reached  the stage where you are comfortable. And just when you start to get more comfortable, you are taken off guard. It's ok I guess. And then you feel good about yourself. Personality wise you are awesomer. Smile-wise you cant get any better.
I like to think I'm not narcisstic. But reading these posts you think otherwise, no?

Ugh and I hate trance. It is absolute shit. You have to be a dope head or completely drunk. Not my thing at all. I went to this dj concert kinda thingy. Full bored I was. Hard earned money gone down the drain . Bryan Adams is playing soon closeby. Dont mind paying for that..

Emosanal Atyachaar

 ऐसा क्यों होतो है की जो हमें चाहिए होता है कभी मिलता नहीं पर जो आँखों के सामने है, वो  चाहिए नहीं ? 

ऐसे क्यों है हम?

किसी की हसीं देखके जलते है

पर  रोता हुए देख आँखें होती है नम | 

किसी और की ज़िन्दगी मैं क्या हो रहा है ये जान्ने की बहुत इच्छा होती है क्यों

-ये जब खुद की ज़िन्दगी रेल की पटरी से derail होने वाली होती है|

अबे यार बहुत depression है यार||

Full-on ख़ुशी भी है और गम भी |

देने वाला जब भी देता, देता सब कुछ नाप के :|

Over and out!

Where am I?

What if someday you wake up and forget how to smile?
What if you forget your password to unlock your laptop?
What if you loved taking pictures, but no longer like doing it anymore?
What if someday you don't know what home is? You see a light at the end of a tunnel.
What if it is just the tail light of a train?
Then know that you are truly lost.
Or just have schizophrenia.

Birds and Bees.

Ok guys, some tips on general behavior around a girl. What NOT to do if you hope to be more than an acquaintance.

1.  Asking a girl's friend to set You up on a date. If you're not man enough to ask directly, why bother? Unless she's gay. Even then I doubt it.
2.  Everytime you see her talking to someone, you wanna butt in. Ok, that is fine. (Not really, but you can get away with that) But what is UNPARDONABLEe is you butting in everytime with the same 'joke': What is she troubling you with this time? (Or add some other sentence of your choice here) Get new jokes dude! OR wait for her sense of humour to change.
3. Calling her a dangerous snack mix or something on similar lines hoping that'll impress(!) her. If this works for anyone, please check, it's probably one of your guy friends with a wig having a good laugh.
4. Do NOT compliment a girl just for the heck of it. It is immediately noticed and all your attempts from that point on will go down the drain.
5. Comparing her with another friend of yours (girl) Doesn't matter even if you are complimenting her. Never ever compare two girls!
6. Do not lie. About anything.

Good luck! :)

Love love love!!!

Romantic or spontaneous? Some question I'd seen online, a quality you'd want in your husband. I think I'm spontaneous. So I wouldn't want the same thing in my husband.

On the other hand the guy who sits next to me in the office is damn romantic. I mean he's 70+ years old and calls his wife atleast thrice a day! All you guys out there take a lesson from here. He doesn't have a low voice so I can't help but hear him. :)
Some of things off the top of my head
"Hi!! I just called to say I was thinking of you" Woohoo! :)
"Hey sweetheart, do you want to go out for lunch with me. You decide where, we'll go to one of your favourite restaurants"
"Hi. Sorry I missed your call! Called as soon as I saw that you'd called. I miss you sweetheart."

It amazes me to see him so much in love. I mean at this age.
I can't imagine my grandparents being like this. Maybe they are, but aren't very vocal about it. But once my dad becomes a granddad, I can imagine him being all that..He recently said something in front of mom's dad. Grandpa was totally shocked. :))
Aaj bohot romantic mood mein ho kya baat hai.

It is true.
Love makes the world go round! :)

Warm fuzz

Somehow I landed on a blog. A dad blogging about his daughter. Everything about her. Like the tiniest possible detail. Made me relive all of my childhood.

How happy he must've felt when I was born. "'Kiti kautuk ticha'" How proud he must've been watching me learn to ride a cycle. Learn how to read. To swim. To study on my own. 

And somehow looking at all of dad's love, I also noticed the Mom always get sidelined. But then she's there somewhere in the background. These roles are probably reversed if you are a guy. 

Missing both of them. Like, a lot :( 

Ok gonna call dad now. 

Over and out.

Me and Theories. More me.

Over the years. Things change. You change. 

You sort of take the best things from around the people you know to become who you are.

Sometimes you pick up the wrong things. But someone else will come along and correct those things (hopefully)

OMG, How I met your mother is getting to me! Those lines sound like what Ted would say right? :))

But hey it's original haan!

So here are some of my quirks, lessons learnt, things that I picked up: 

1. I've begun reading books right from the foreword. Even textbooks. :)

2. I have to drink a glass of water after I brush my teeth.

3. I don't believe what people close to me are saying unless I get a proof from someone else.

    Got that from Dad. Pisses Mom a lot of times. Even I get pissed. 

    But, now, I do the same thing! :|

4. I tend to talk and be nice to people who aren't that close to me.

    But, My family, my room-mates: I get pissed with.

    Reversing that. Surely!

5. I want to travel the world. But, not alone.

6. I love watching movies on HBO. Entertaining. Insightful.              Missing that now :|

7. If the reasons are compelling enough, anybody can be anybody!

    "Miss Poet" talking :D

8. I think I let people take advantage of me. 

    My premise: Everybody is good, unless proven to be wrong.

    But, over the years again, it has changed to: 

        Everybody is bad, unless they keep proving they're good.

9. I like being goofy. It's sad when people think that is all there is to me.

   Shows they don't know me. Hence, I'm not supposed to feel bad about it.

   But, I STILL feel bad.

   Which gets me to the point:

10. I am super-sensitive. I cry. A lot.

     For silly things. Can't stop. :|

That rhymes.

11. I have a theory: People are born with/over the years develop a basic underlying emotion. That is the emotion they go to by default, when they don't know how to react. 

When caught in headlights, the deer:

Jokes/Cries/Gets angry.

My friend got mad at her bf, when he fell sick (How is it his fault that he fell sick?) But then, that is her underlying emotion: Getting angry.

Another one got yelled at by a random book-seller at a stall: She started crying. That is her underlying basic emotion..

Another...etc etc etc.

Think about it. Do you know what your underlying emotion is?

Something's fishy.

"Step out in style" - is my dad's mantra. To an extent I think his daughters have got a pretty good hang of it. :D
But sometimes the circumstances are not in your hands.
You have oil in your hair, the water hasn't heated up yet and exactly then your dog runs out of the house. And the roles reverse. YOU have to chase it.
Or something close to it.
So I like smelling good. Another trait inherited from Dad. And I totally hate it when I/my_clothes smell. No not the human sweaty smelly thingy. HERE, in the US of A, the ventilation sucks.
When I first got here, I remember feeling claustrophobic. No windows! AC on all the time, so everything has to be shut. But you get used to it. But the problem arises, for me atleast, when we cook.
The typical Indian food, with all the spices. You don't open the door and your house/clothes left outside- everything would smell of the spices. Don't get me wrong. I love Indian food. I love the aroma. I love the spices.. But not if it looks like my clothes have been washed in it.
I am extremely particular about keeping the door open and pissing off all my room-mates whenever I cooked.
So in this new apartment, I did the same. Opened the door. Cooking, oblivious to the surroundings.
Everytime we cooked, we would hear a door suddenly slamming shut. Then finally one day we were asked to close our door when we cook. This time, the neighbors had a problem.
But, I cheated. I kept the door slightly open. Didn't realize how frustrated my neighbours really were. Somebody actually came and closed the door shut from outside. :))

Yummy Avocado rolls at Kyoto's. You should totally try them!

I know it is annoying I guess. When people cook seafood, the whole floor stinks! You can smell it as soon as you step out of the elevators.
But then again, what is the other option? I dont want the house to smell. (Read: my clothes) An open window doesn't help that much.
Reiterating, why is the ventilation so bad! Stooopid ACs.

Mythological past Modernistic future.

Interesting read:

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/madhuribanerjee/2956/62470/the-5-guys-every-woman-should-have.html

Read and come back here to discuss with me.
Ok first the title: 5 guys every women 'should' have is a bit too much. I don't think the categories of the bad guy or the love buddy need to be in there.

I also think you can't really put one person in just one category. There could be an overlap of traits, after all, humans are complicated. Your best friend could smoke or be the bad guy, vice-versa. The one person who fits all the categories would be your husband. More than the habits/ thoughts it's how well you gel with him.
Who cares what has happened in the past. Everyone has a past. But if you want that to ruin your future, then even God can't help you.
Going by the comments on that page, half of them are scandalized about dragging Draupadi into this. To them: Go read/ watch the series again. Actually read. Because a video edits out a lot of details from a book.
You cannot compare everything to the scriptures. Back then, there was no government. There were kingdoms. And different rules. People thought differently. When someone gave a word to someone else, it was final. Draupadi wanted Bheem to go kill someone just because he didn't keep his word. Would that happen now? Are men like that?
When the men have changed, so have the women.
Did women work anywhere other than being maids or courtesans or cooks back then? Didn't the men enjoy more than women and treat them as objects?
Now we have women working and running the household. some cases even supporting the out-of-a-job husband. The household dynamics have changed. There is a shift in power. The man is no longer the 'man' of the house. Roles change. So do the expectations.
But still there are men out there who want to treat women like they are objects. Wake up! Give her the respect she deserves.

And then there are others on that page, who are offended just to think that their wife would have been with a guy before. Hypocrites who would have desperately wanted/tried to get a gf in college, but couldn't get one. And now can't accept it that she would have been with someone. To all of them, may you get a wife who will lie to you about everything, just to keep you happy. Who will fulfill every whim and fancy, and keep you 'happy'.

People don't know from the beginning if a relationship will work or not. You keep going until you/other person feel that you cannot marry this person.
And then there is the fresh new start. It's not that a girl/boy would have wanted to have a past. It's just that he/she does. Accept it. Don't let that ruin your married life.

Does the writing seem too feminist? I'd love to know what you think about this.

Feelings are universal.

Animals are lovely! It's amazing to see them exhibit all the usual feelings a human has. Sometimes maybe more human than humans themselves. Think of all the cold people you know of. To get what I'm talking about.

My dog is a part of the family. She loves us like we love her. We scold her she feels bad and goes and sits in a corner of the house feeling all dejected. You can see those expressions on her face!
We praise her and she's all happy and excited and tries to please us more and keep us happy.
She always wants to be in the middle of things. If someone is on the phone and in the house, she starts barking. Why aren't you talking to me?! Why are you giving that small object more importance than me? :)
So human-like. So lovely.

You don't talk to someone, it's a normal day for you. But when you talk, you're happy for no reason.

Not many people can make you feel that way.

Watch this video, it'll make you happy for sure.  :)

A perfect world.

Everybody has their own priorities in life. Some want to earn a lot of money. Some want to be famous. Some just want to be known as "the-guy-who-does-X-awesomely".
Whatever it is, everybody is after something.
But in that pursuit of theirs, they're trying to put everyone else down. Why I ask? Why are people the way they are?
So what if you don't know something? Accept you don't know it. If the other person is mature enough, he will understand that you haven't done it before and would help you learn.
But if the person is one of those countless others who once you tell them you don't know something, will belittle you at every possible occasion just because he 'knows': that's when people act like they know it, even when they don't..
Actually it's not even about maturity. Coz even old uncles who are supposed to guide and support you put you down! So, it'n not even about age or maturity..Some superiority complex I guess. Everybody wants to be called a stud. Doesn't matter if they themselves have gained knowledge some 5 mins back from someone else, in front of others, they portray themselves to be know-it-alls.
To avoid that feeling of being put down.
But children, Wake up!
Arey how can everyone know everything bhai? What faaltuness.

At least they're being honest. At least they're trying to learn. At least they tried.
So this one time my friend invited us over to her house for lunch since her parents weren't home. She had made food for a big group (about 10 people) so salt/mirchi is bound to be off by a bit. But hey, atleast she tried.
Then, this guy started making fun of her. Why did you try to cook? Why did you even try making things when you couldn't? Paapa. Atleast she cooked. Atleast she invited You!
Boys are idiots.
People are mean!
And I am a saint.

Aam Dosti: Fun intended ;)

So my friends and I did some online brainstorming and came up with this song!
All we need to do now is compose it. Will be out with a sound track soon. So till then, Enjoy the lyrics and wait for the song! :)


Inn panchiyo sang hum udey hawa mein
Chaley kahi us duur jahan mein
Hain jaha dost hamare
Udd chaley hum us disha mein

Chaahe hawa ho hamare against
Udd te rahe usi disha mein
Jaha ho mere dost
Vahi rehna hai mujhe the most

Jahaa din ho laughter se bhara
Vaha khana rahega sada
Hai vo jagah vahi
Dost hai mere jaha sabhi

Gaana bajaate rahenge is tarah
Jam karte jagah ko kardenge tabah
D scale bajayenge milke sabhi.
Is lamhe ko kaid karle yahi

Naachte gaate hojaye shaam
40rs mein 2 kg aam
Jab mil baithe teen yaar
Hum tum aur mango- the aam

Ye pal na aayega kabhi
Jeelo ismein zindagi sabhi
Aise hi ise na khone do
Iss pal ko gale laga lo

PS: Love our times together! :)
Sup Vj and me!

Lessons for my kids :))

Noticed how the past couple of blog entries have a complaining tone to it!
We shall talk about something happy today. :)
Like how some of the best things in life happen unexpectedly. Like how your personality has a lot to do with what happens around you as a kid.
Mom hates "socializing". You know going out or inviting people over to 'hang out'. But Dad's quite the opposite.

And..
I'm their kid.
What do I like?

So, unexpectedly, we went to mom's colleague's place one day. And somehow I often remember that day. I mean little things that happen everyday, remind me of that visit.
I don't remember the colleague's name: so we shall address him as Uncle.
Uncle had a huge dog. In an apartment. I was scared of dogs before that day.
But that dog was obedient and friendly and all that a dog can be. That's the first memory I have of me starting to love dogs.
Uncle introduced me to Origami. I enjoyed learning it. It kept me occupied that day and several days after that. Kept my friends busy too..
Somehow whenever I've made that paper ball again, it made me proud that I learnt something new.

Uncle also gave me this book of Hymns. I never used it. It just lay there in my cupboard. One day one of my relatives sees it and throws it out. "Why do you have a book on Christianity at home?" :O
Go be happy in your own religious world if that is what keeps you happy. Don't drag me into it!
I mean my parents never force me to follow things that I don't believe in. Although they believe in it. I think we have that freedom of doing things that feel right to us. And this outsider acted like he has a say in my life.
Why is everyone always  trying to recruit you onto their side?
As of today, I am in no man's land.

I'd like to teach my kids these things. Although I do understand that these things cannot be 'taught'.

Learnt how to make a bird today so I can pass on the joy of learning Origami to my kids. 

The bird would've looked nicer in colored paper I think. There's no "Assam tea uncle's" shop here that I can run and get something from. (There was a shop beside our house that sold arts and crafts and tea and everything in between. ;) Never thought I'd remember THAT of all things.)