Old Town, New Address...

Bible says: " See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns......". But they sure do make nests, so do us humans and passionately call it our home, gathering each twig with so much care and love, keeping the comfort and happiness of our baby birds in mind...Recently we changed our nest, to a more 'comfy cosy' one (borrowing Achu's vocabulary). We brought along sovereigns from all our previous nests which delicately links our memories to the paths we have travelled. Unfolding each piece of cloth, turning each page of books all brought lot of memories some of which were forgotten but always lay hidden like fire in ash. I had to be merciless in throwing certain things to which I was emotionally attached, things which have turned useless over time. That's the cruelty of time, those which were nurtured and cherished preciously turns useless over time. After all, man could never make anything non-perishable, not even feelings.

When the dawn broke in Singapore on May 8th we were prayerfully starting a new life in our new home. The pooja was conducted by the honourable priest from Sengkang temple. My journey in Singapore started from Lakeside, one of the western most part of Singapore. Maash, that's how I call Sajeev because all his friends call him so, had given me a clear picture of Singapore in the six months of our acquaintance before marriage. The moment I landed here I could breath a clean air, see clean people and clean roads, everything was neat and clean. Flat-life was not new to me as I had lived a couple of years in Kuwait while I was doing my eleventh and twelfth. Those were wonderful days, the memories of which I hold dearly to my heart. The abode Maash rented to start our new life was a new and awesome five room apartment, the details of which he kept as a secret. It was right in front of the main gate of Chinese garden. My first reaction was, oh my god,its so big, how am I going to maintain it, to which Maash just gave a smile.Our evening walks through the beautiful avenue of Tah Ching Road  and the banks of reservoir are unforgettable. We used to dream and make plans for future. I did my masters degree while staying there and it was very convenient for me as NTU was quite nearby. From that beautiful house we had to move to a house in Clementi, where I could see the hustle and bustle of a city life. I was carrying Aishwarya and came to India for delivery and started working in Motorola upon return when she was six months old, while we were staying there. From there to a JTC apartment in Khatib as I joined Motorola.Thanks to Maash as he always put my convenience before his. From Khatib to Sengkang,our present town.

We are still in the old town, but just changed address. We fell in love with the place the first time we visited here. Its one of the newly developed areas of Singapore, it has lot of empty spaces where families and enthusiasts come and fly kites on evenings and weekends, the houses here are well designed, got a sports complex, well known schools, a fruit park and a river very nearby (evening walks over the bridge, feeling the gentle breeze, is something we love to do as a family). After three years of stay we decided to look for more space for our baby birds to run around, fly around, hop around,crawl around and what not. The moment we saw this Executive apartment , we decided that its ours. We didn't bargain much about the price.Maash never bargains over things he like, a quality I really like in him. It has open space in front, it is facing North, got a couple of tall acacia in front of the house which reminds me of the cypress tree in the courtyard of my mother's house, its in the path of wind and can enjoy cool breeze all the time, and most importantly its a plain house and can view the horizon from the house. We like to craft our house from scratch ourselves. Mash spent hours designing it using google sketchup, each and every room and each and every angle, while I was giving my ideas on how things should be. We form a good team and this time around the designing was easier as it is the second time we are doing so. Once designing was over, we went around looking for contractors. The big names quoted higher prices, so we went for independent contractors and we got one which fitted our budget and personality.

We were on a tight schedule. The contractor was given only three weeks to complete it, which was really a Herculean task for him and they worked overnight to complete our work, hats off to their hard and excellent work. And thanks to my dear papa who was there to see through all the activities. He was of great help mentally as well.He is a great strength and moral support to us, his daughters.I am lucky and proud of being his daughter. Maash had his project submission and presentation. He had to spent nights working over it after office hours in between all these. Hard work never goes wasted. We felt like being tested in all the ways possible.Our new helper, Aman,was also of great help in the process of packing and unpacking. And in between Kannan started rolling over and my sweet naughty fell down from bed taking my breath away.We managed it all, together as a team and we are proud and happy that we did it all not by our merit but by God's grace....:)