As much as I enjoy the concept of personal blogging, there is one thing that I don’t often write on. I rarely pick up tags or questions that I need to answer, say like Liebster awards and such. It’s just a personal choice, because I often get my knickers in a twist trying to come up with answers that won’t send my readers to sleep. Which is possibly why people have stopped tagging me entirely.

But on this occasion, I’m going to make an exception.

Of late, a set of 55-questions have been floating around in the Blogosphere and this time, I’m going to give a shot at answering all of them as honestly as I can. I’m hoping that in the process, you’ll get to know me a little better too.

It’s called the ‘Ten to One : Get to know me better’ challenge.

---

TEN HOW’S!

How did you get one of your scars?

I think I was about 3; My mom says that I decided to investigate a sound coming from the cupboard. My father used to have a Polaroid camera – yes, one of those huge ones. The word on the grapevine is that as I opened the door, the camera, in all its eagerness to ‘capture the moment’ did a free-fall off the top shelf, taking a small portion of my right eyebrow with it.

How did you celebrate your last birthday?

Ah! At a 5-star resort in South Goa, with my wife and son. We even had a surprise cake …well large slice … delivered to the room, courtesy of the resort. It was good one.

How are you feeling at this moment?

Mixed emotions, really – slightly confused, a wee bit agitated, but still optimistic.

How did your night go last?

Shouldn’t it be ‘how did your last night go?’ It was good. Let’s spare you guys the details (and some blushes)

How did you do in high school?

Academically? Not too bad. Slightly above average student – though the fear of the fact that my mom taught in the same school, might have had something to do with it
Overall, I think I was the silent, ‘praying-that-the-teacher-wouldn’t-ask-me-a-question’ types. Tongue-tied when it came to girls; in fact, my father used to complain that if I didn’t start talking to girls, he would lock me up in a room full of women.

How did you get the shirt you are wearing?

Bought it online after getting bitten by the HOUSE MD bug. It quotes House’s famous ‘Everybody Lies’ saying; something I should probably take more seriously,

How often do you see your best friends?

Hmm…this one’s tricky. I think once every few months. I’d love to see them more often though.

How much money did you spend last month?

Haha! I think that’s for my wife to answer. She holds the purse strings. I get pocket-money to spend 😛
PS: She’ll probably say a lot more than I really should be.

How old do you want to be when you get married?

I think that ship sailed a while back.

How old will you be at your next birthday?

Old enough to know that adulthood sucks the joy out of life at times.

---

9 WHAT’S!

Your mother’s name?

What? My mom’s got a name? Amma, you didn’t tell me!
Just kidding! It’s Latha.

What did you do last weekend?

Spent some quality time with the family; watched the new Ice Age movie with the little one, drank a lot…Oooh..and doing this. My present favourite place at home.

What is the most important part of your life?

Family. And some friends.

What would you rather be doing?

Instead of answering this? I’d love to be out there with friends, enjoying a good conversation, wine and some great food. Or have a nice candlelight dinner with my wife, and catch a movie together.

Oh, wait. You meant in life? I think I am where I am supposed to be. Don’t think I’m cut out for the corporate rat race; So yes, writing it is for me, I think. Unless there’s a job that pays for you just eat, binge watch TV shows and read.

What did you last cry over?

This scene from FRIENDS. IT’s been over 22 years since the show ended, but this scene (which I coincidentally saw once again last week on TV) – it made me shed a few tears.

[If you don’t feel even a little bit overwhelmed watching this scene, you’re made of stone, I tell you!]

What always makes you feel better when you’re upset?

Cake. Well, almost always.
It depends – most times it’s a hug from my wife or son; unless they were somehow involved in the reason behind me getting upset. In those cases, I prefer to be by myself; I find that I resolve it quicker.

What’s the most important thing you look for in a significant other?

Since I already have a significant other, I’d say the fact that I love about her the most is her ability to understand my silence. And of course, she laughs at my jokes – which to be honest, is a pretty important factor.

What did you have for breakfast?

A double-egg white omelette with some veggies.

---

8 YOU’S!

Have you ever liked someone who had a girlfriend/boyfriend?

I’m not going to answer that question on the grounds that I don’t want to. 🙂

Have you ever had your heart-broken?

Yes. A couple of times, I reckon.

Have you ever been out of the country?

I was born outside the country of nationality ?

Plus, while I’m not that widely travelled, I do try and go on one overseas trip at least once every couple of years.

Have you ever done something outrageously dumb?

Ah! Where do we start? I think that should be the tagline to my decision-making process – Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest.

Have you ever been backstabbed by a friend?

Buhahaha! Not ‘A Friend’, but by a few different people I’d considered friends. Ideally, it should make me wary enough to make new friends – but I don’t learn. Plus, I think I like to give people a chance.

Have you ever had sex on the beach?

Like the real thing? The drink – yes – not a fan; The real ‘act’ – no? I don’t think it’s quite for me – too much in the public eye; plus I ‘hear’ that the sand really gets into the parts and cracks that must not be named 😉

Have you ever read an entire book in a day?

Yes. Two, actually – The Folks of the Faraway tree by Enid Blyton when I was in school; and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; I was quite late to the HP bandwagon, but I completed this after my 12th, I think. I didn’t have much to do and took to reading.

---

7 WHO’S!

Who was the last person you saw?

My wife and son – since they’re both still asleep. Though, I did dream about Scarlett Johansson – does that count?

Who was the last person you texted?

A friend who had called me to let me know about his marriage. Damn! I need to call him back. I had to text him my address

Who was the last person you hung out with?

My wife – we went out for lunch yesterday, which is quite a rarity given her busy schedule.

Who was the last person to call you?

Vinita Bahl, aka BlogwatiG. And it was a call that was the telephonic equivalent of a good friend smacking me on the head for saying something silly.

Who did you last hug?

My son, when I put him to sleep last night.

Who is the last person who texted you?

My wife. To let me know that she was on her way home after a night out with her friends.

Who is the last person you said, “I Love You” to?

The last people would be, once again, those two lovely souls lying asleep on our bed – my wife and son. It’s Saturday; and I usually get up earlier than them and it’s become a sort of habit to just go around and give them both a kiss on their foreheads and whisper ‘I love you’. Of course, since they’re both asleep, I don’t get anything more than a grunt in response, but its a routine that I don’t like to break. And you know what, up until this moment, assuming she is reading this, I don’t think she knows this.

---

6 WHERE’S!

Where do your best friends live?

I have a handful of them and they’re spread sort of all over the country – Some in Bangalore, some in Mumbai, a handful internationally too

Where did you last go?

Before I wrote this? That would be to the ‘Little Boy’s room’ . Ah! I suspect you were looking for a more sophisticated answer – I’d have to say the kitchen to take out my Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart and eat it.

Where did you last hang out?

At a restaurant yesterday. And home of course; which reminds, need to set a date with a couple of my besties next week.

Where did you go to school? 

A school called Indian Public High School, in this little town/emirate called Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. I did shift schools for a brief period, but that’s where I did most of my schooling.

Where is your favorite place to be?

Wherever my favourite people are.

Where did you sleep last night?

Is this a trick question? On my bed, of course.

---

5 DO’S!

Do you think anyone likes you?

I’d like to think so. There may be a few who probably couldn’t care less about me, but I think there are at least a handful who will stand by me, no matter what.

Do you ever wish you were someone else?

You mean like a superhero? Yes, I think I used to. But then I realised that I’d look pretty amusing in spandex, lycra and a cape of sorts. So ditched that idea. Right now, I’m happy being me. I think I am my superhero

Do you know the muffin man?

Is he related to the Duffin man? I do know the rhyme, I think. I’m a parent, after all. We have very eidetic memories when it comes to nursery rhymes.

Does the future scare you? 

A little bit. I do wonder about the kind of world that’s left behind for future generations. About my personal future, not so much. I think I’m in a good space – of course, we all do have some fear of the unknown, I suppose.

Do your parents know about your blog?

They do. In fact, I think they do send a lot of ‘traffic’ my way too.

---

4 WHY’S!

Why are you best friends with your best friend?

They (yes, there are a few of them!) are my best friends, because they understand me and they’ll always have my back.

Why did you get into blogging?

Darn! We’re going to be here all day with this one. If I’m honest, I think it was pretty accidental. I needed an outlet of sorts because I was ‘at-home’ and dealing with some ‘raised-eyebrows-from-society-and-family’ and figured it was a good way to go.

Why did your parents give you the name you have?

I don’t think I’ve ever asked my parents about it. But, I think deep down my mom’s a bit into Buddha. I mean, there are buddha figurines all over our house – so maybe she has some deep ‘Zen’ connection to buddhism or something. Hence, Sidharth. Yes, that’s what I’ve heartlessly chopped to Sid.

Why are you doing this survey?

I thought it would be fun to write something that would get my readers to know me a little better.

---

3 IFS!

If you could have one super power what could it be?

To eat everything that I want and remain healthy. Wait, that’s just metabolism. Jokes aside, it would be the ability to apparate to any place I want to.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you? 

If it is something that needed changing, yes.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring one thing, what would you bring?

A well-stocked fridge that magically replenishes. Maybe I should think ‘less food’ and more other things.

---

2 WOULD YOU EVER?

Would you ever get back together if one of your ex’s ever asked you?

Nope. I’m with the person who makes me happy.

Would you ever shave your head to save someone you love?

If the shaving of my head would make a difference, yes. But then again, in a few years thanks to my hair loss, I think I’ll have a shinier head than Vin Diesel. So…..

---

1 LAST QUESTION!

Are you happy with your life right now?

In a nutshell, yes I am rather content with my life right now. I have a very loving wife, an awesome (and some other adjectives that I won’t use now) kid; I get to stay-at-home while still working on my writing and the blog. I have a bunch of great friends who I know will stand by me no matter what. I’d love to lose some weight (make that a lot), but hey, life’s never perfect.

Phew! That was …well…hard, I think. It’s always difficult to answer questions about yourself on a public forum.

If you’d like to give these questions a go, just let me know and I’ll send them over. Oh, and since I am answering questions, if you have anything to ask me – writing or personal – well, ask away in the comments.