7 Random Things about Me..

I've been tagged by Tee for my first Meme... Thank you Tee!

I'm not really sure what to write but being the chatty person I am, hopefully it won't be too tough to come up with seven things.

1) I did my undergraduation in Singapore (on a scholarship) and lived there for 6 years total - studying first, then working. Though I didn't like living there initially (because I was extremely homesick) I actually miss it now. It's such an efficient, convenient, fun place and my life there was enriched by such wonderful, close friends. Living there, by myself, made me the strong, independent person I am now.

2) Food is something I've been passionate about since I was a kid. First, it was the love of eating, later I loved to read recipes, watch cookery shows and tried my hand making a few snacks growing up - my brother always loved whatever I cooked. I first started cooking during my final year of university (after my parents came over to visit me). Till then, my 'cooking' was limited to adding rice, dhal, frozen vegs, salt and microwaving them till done and then eating the resultant gooey mass with pickle and yogurt. A day before my parents landed, I went and bought the essentials - oil, mustard seeds, onion, g. chillies and a packet of vermicelli so my mom could make my favorite - Semia Upma. My parents cooked with gusto during their stay, for me and all my friends and the day they left, I rapidly wrote down some basic recipes with which I started cooking. Later, I searched the web, found the Bawarchi website, tried some recipes from there and got better. Through it all, my friends were my guinea pigs... :) but they never complained.

3) Growing up, my mother used to make idlis for breakfast almost everyday (during weekdays) since that was convenient and fast, what with having to make and pack lunch for all of us before 8am - I used to constantly crib about it but after I went to Singapore I missed it so much that in the list I made of things I wanted to eat during my first semester vacation, idli was on it... much to my mother's surprise !

4) I've dabbled in quite a few things without really becoming an expert at anything... art, embroidery, carnatic music - Vocal and Veena, a year of learning Bharathanatyam and so on. Singing carnatic music and playing on the Veena is something I stuck to for quite some time but over the years they've taken a backseat. I hope to revive my interests in them so I can teach my daughter. I even went for a tailoring class for a few months while in school and also spent a month at a typewriting institute so I could be faster on the computer but didn't do so well. But after typing a zillion emails during my first year of university, I became super-fast at typing.

5) I was quite ambitious (career-wise) to begin with... Wanted to be a doctor initially but after watching an open heart surgery on tv one night, I changed my mind once and for all. Then it was this obsession with working for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) like my periappa and used to intently read about PSLV, GSLV etc. and infact went on a tour of the facilities when I visited Trivandrum but by the time I was in my 9th/10th std I decided Software and have stuck to it since then. Once I started work, I wanted to be CEO of my company someday and would read the profiles of the top executives to see how they moved up to where they are now. Later I realized that it required some sacrifices on the home-front which I will never be able to make... so I just have smaller goals now.

6) Am a very friendly, talkative person. My husband on the other hand is rather quiet and takes time to warm up to people. My daughter, I think, will be more like me. I love my family and am very close to everyone - parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles alike. My brother is 8 years younger to me so I always think he's this small kid and get amazed when he does or says something grown-up. My parents are the best - so supportive, encouraging and loving - they always believed in us and gave us a lot of freedom. I wish I can be half as good as them.

7) I love to read - can easily get immersed in the book on hand and not know what's happening around me. Have been chided for that growing up. I used to even read what's written on the back of Shampoo bottles, maltova bottles, maggi packets and so on. Think I'm getting addicted to reading food blogs now! :)

Well, this meme was fun and I'd like to tag Bhags, Hima, Kajal and UshaPrashanth, ...if you have the time and inclination ladies....