I stand next to a book shelf. Eyes glancing up and down, right to left. Looking for a companion for the night. A short, light read, that transcends me from where I am to where I could be. Limitless possibilities. I can always pick something I have read before. Or may be get a little bold and pick up Allan Bloom’s Love and Friendship. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I spot The Hindus by Wendy Doniger. I still have No Full Stops in India to finish. But there’s no rush. Such books are for the days when you cannot find anything else to read. And I can also write tonight. And may be I will…

Such is the feeling tonight. No rush. No goals. No preferences. And no agendas. All I am looking for, is a connector that will take me from where I am now to a peaceful sleep. God Bless such days.

With the 2nd behind us, I am now looking forward to the rest of October. With Ashtami on Saturday (and yes I have two kanjaks lined up for chole poori halwa), followed by Durga Puja, Dussehra and then Karva Chauth on the 18th, and then Diwali on the 30th, we have our hands full. The festival season brings out my most feminine side. It’s a season for purification and reflection, and of course Fall cleaning and Goodwill trips.

Switching topic – It is so unfortunate but we realize the value of people in our lives, only after they leave. When a close friend shared that she is leaving for Seattle, I was extremely happy for her. She is choosing a better life than the rat race of Silicon Valley. But on a personal level I was extremely sad. She was a wonderful thought partner. Someone I could easily share my world view with. And sadly there aren’t so many of such people around me. I often wonder if I am too selective, or too formidable. Regardless, I will miss my good friend and her free spirit which will continue to be inspiring, along with her intellect and charm. May she have a good life! I am just glad I could make her a biryani meal before she left. I only know of one way to show that I care. By cooking.

Switching topics again – Last Monday I woke up with a paralyzed right hand. With the pain intensity of 8/10, I rushed to the doctor to get myself some relief. And there I see my OBGYN. She remembered me and we hugged and I showed her pics of Tara. It was such a lovely encounter. For those few minutes I felt numb in my right hand. As if the pain gave way to cheer. If I have not shared before, I absolutely love my OBGYN. She is the smartest and most tactful woman I know. I seriously just want to ask her out for a Girl Coffee date some day. And I probably will.

Back to my right hand. Basically my bad posture since last 10+years of work life finally paid out. I have had more Ibuprofen in last one week than in my entire life. And I am wearing a hand split for good 12-16 hours a day, along with applying oddly smelling Arthritis creams, and ice packs when I can. Things were so bad last week that I had to rush home early from work twice, since I needed ice to ease the pain. But the good thing that came out of it was that I am learning to be ambidextrous. I can text with left hand and do a lot of kitchen and daily chores with little help from my broken right hand.

Last Friday I was also very thankful for the company that I shared a happy hour with. I finally have some real fun girl friends around me.  I guess this is one reason I will never be able to leave Google very easily. I love the people I work with. I learn so much from them.

Lastly, we accepted an offer on Granada. I am pretty detached. I expected emotion but there is none. And I feel good about the fact that I did not tie my emotion to a non living object. Perhaps I am finally becoming wise. Granada gave us a lot of memories, happiness, support and most importantly enabled us to buy The Nook. It will forever stay etched in our memories and will always be Tara’s first home. I hope the new owners will enjoy it as much as we did, and may the house bring them all the luck that it showered on us.

And that bring us to The Nook. Our final abode. It is complete, with a nook for our books, a lovely kitchen and our lil green backyard with its limes and roses. We look forward to a long innings at The Nook. May it be a launchpad for all things fun, creative, and satisfying.