And the Award goes to...The Return of the Prodigal Car!

It was a hot, sweaty evening in Mumbai (like most evenings in Mumbai ). I was out shopping on the streets of Lokhandwala when my phone rang and an unnaturally calm voice said, "Listen carefully..." Needless to say I got so psyched, I pressed the phone even closer to my ear. "What happened?" I whispered back. "Listen very carefully 'coz I'm going to say this just once..." the voice said very slowly. I'm sure my eyes were round as saucers and my mobile was sweating in my hands. "Ok, I'm listening. What is it?" I asked equally slowly, my heart thumping wildly.
"It is back", the voice replied with barely suppressed glee.

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So our car got stolen last year... right after we moved into our new house and went out to watch a movie and celebrate new beginnings. Yeah. A huge snicker from God if there ever was one! As for insurance, don't even get me started. Suffice to say that we were paying the monthly installments for a non-existent car for the past 9 months. That is, till the cops called us one hot, sweaty early evening and said in their typical charming manner - "Haan aapko insurance nahin mila na? Toh aake gaadi le jao. Aapki gaadi mil gayi hai". (Yeah, you haven't got your insurance right? So come take your car. We have got it back.)

After Sid's initial reaction (he thought it was a prank call and actually screamed at the cops!), he was so gobsmacked that he kept asking the poor cop if it was true over and over again. Only after the 10th reassurance from the Inspector that it was indeed our car , yes it was official and we could inform all our family and friends, did Sid call me with the news... And now you all know how that conversation went :D

The drama is still on. The once-upon-a-time SUV is now a jalopy and in police custody. Oh don't worry, nothing that can't be fixed I would like to believe! And the cops promise us every day that today is the day we can finally take it home... Well, tomorrow is another day!

Through all the jalopy drama, other than my deceptively-calm "whisperer" of a husband, it's my Sisterhood that kept me sane - My girl friends, my fellow bloggers and my family. So when Thoma of Kitchen Morph gave me the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, I was super-thrilled coz nothing could have been more apt! Thanks a ton Thoma.

Sojo of My Culinary Experiments - You made my day by giving me my first ever blogging award!! I'm a loyal follower of your blog and your lovely recipes...
Neenu Praveen of My Experiments with Cooking - Thanks so much to you too! You guys totally made up for my car turning into a hooptie with all these awards :)

And another very, very special award that comes from a blogger who is passionate not about food, but about films. And yes, food does creep into her blogs sometimes :D
Dolce and Namak - Thanks a ton for the Stylish Blogger award :) In appreciation, I promise to write on films more often!

Now since I have delayed this particular post so much and have this huge backlog of awards to pass on, I'm jus going to list my choice of 15 bloggers below and each of you can choose whichever award you want from the 3 awards above :)

Passing on this award to:
Karishma of Effortless Cooking. Easy Baking.
Laxmi of Bukvorm's Blog
Arundati of Escapades
Azmina of Lawyer Loves Lunch
Somoo of Oriya Food
Nashi of Plateful
Lavanya of The Diary of a disPlaced Housewife
Jayashree of My Experiments with Food
Latha of A Peek into my Kitchen
Priya of Now Serving
Priyanka of The Healthy Diary
Sra of When My Soup Came Alive
Vaishali of Zesty Flavours
Reshmi of Easy Cook
Simran of Bombay Foodie

Rules for taking up these award.

(1) Thank the person who sent you the award and link the blogger.

(2) Copy and paste the logo in your blog.

(3) Share seven things about yourself.

(4) Nominate 15 bloggers.

(5) Comment and let them know of the award.

In keeping with the rules, here are 7 things about myself that you might or might not want to know:

1. I can read stuff upside down. Actually that comes from the fact that I read compulsively. Anything and everything. Sometimes a newspaper that's placed upside down on a table too. What? No, that is so not strange. It's a gift! Hmmmph!

2. I love Shah Rukh Khan. I'm convinced I'm going to be in his life in some way soon... I have believed that from the time I was 14. I even met him in person during an event I was working on and he called me 'Darling"!!! Sigh... Its a sign. I'm going to be his new best friend, you will see!

3. I love watching Telugu and Tamil films. I also watch almost every Hindi movie that releases; though my real-life drama has been keeping me away from the theatres of late. But I believe no one can make comedies like in Tollywood and no one can make films like in Kollywood!

4. I can speak 6 languages - English, Hindi, Telugu, Oriya, Tamil and Bengali. Woot!

5. It is very hard for me to not correct people with bad English. Even if I may be considered rude. And no, I swear I'm not snooty. It's a disorder :(

6. I don't drink tea or coffee. Most people find it strange. I can have a cuppa occasionally. But I do not like either beverage. Give me a glass of butter-milk or lemonade any day.

7. I love my footwear. I can never have enough pairs of shoes. I currently have about 30 pairs and I keep adding and discarding almost every month. My dream is to own a pair in every colour and one day buy my own Jimmy Choos :)

Ok... after this really long, rambling, non-food blog, I promise not to go into hibernation again and post some recipes soon.

PS - At the time of going to press (:P) the Jalopy is finally home and awaiting a thorough servicing! Yaaay!