My Lemonade Chronicle

Resolutions.... Mind It

2012-01-17T23:05:00.002+05:30

Last year ended well by a nice Christmas and New Year celebrations. Though it cannot be termed as celebrations but it became one with me being in the company of my best girl gang. Went to my one of my favourite restaurant for lunch on Christmas and had turkey and wine just to maintain the tradition of Christmas ;). New Year was spent in Kerala again and i travelled to Kovalam and Varkala . I think with this trip i have almost covered most of Kerala. That trip deserves a long travelogue: P.

I just finished reading “The girl with the dragon tattoo” and that makes it my first book of the year 2012! Just got another book from flipkart and will disclose the name only when i start reading it ;). I am happy that at least till now i am actually following what i have thought of and MIND IT it’s not called resolutions ;). I think resolutions have a jinx associated with it, as soon as you tag a certain thing as resolution then for sure you are going to leave it midway :P . For this year i have just decided to TRY on few things and make some short terms goals. Reading books is just one of them. Coming back to my “TRY” list, i will try to read more books and try to be more regular at this space. My short term goal for the time being is to be focus on my fitness and to seriously think about my career. Apart from that i have few travel plans too, let’s see what happens to them :) . I just wish that i am able to accomplish some of them ;). Amen...

Be Happy !

2012-01-12T16:59:00.004+05:30

Welcome 2012!

This year I decided for no resolution and the simple reason being this ;)

I was browsing and found this beautiful pic online. I decided to implement at least few of these things this year!

Have a Sense of wonder, Yes, I had more than enough sense of wonder last year: P. This year if any wonder I want to sense, it should better be on a happier side.
Stay Inspired, This year I have to stay inspired for things I couldn’t achieve last year: P. Losing weight and changing job are just two of many.

Help others. This thing I am good at but I expect it in “vice versa “too ;)

Do things you are good at. I never knew that I can cook well, I just had this realization last year and I want this to keep going this year too.

Read books. This is one area where I have to seriously catch up. There is still a huge backlog of books in my shelf. I bought “The girl with the dragon tattoo “almost a year ago and didn’t bother to read it. But since the movie is releasing in India sometime in January, I have decided to finish it before watching the movie.

Limit Television. Yes, I have to really stop watching TV. Perhaps I can cut some time there and invest that time in sweating out at gym: P Amen ;)

Love your work. Here comes the most dreaded part. It’s been a long time in this company and my learning curve has dipped to the dangerous low. Worst, it’s not just my good friends has left the company, even my mentor and my role model has left. I think it’s a sign for a change and that would be my focus for the first half of this year.

Exercise. I think I don’t have any right to talk about it. Every start of the month my guilt for not losing weight reach to an all-time high resulting in making a surprise visit( for my gym instructor) to my gym and paying the month’s fee ,only to be regular for two days and then being invisible for the rest of the month  . I joined power yoga for a month and really liked it so planning to continue it from this year . Let’s see for how long I can do that: P

Face your fears. I read it somewhere that whenever you fear about something then just consider the worst situation that you can face because of that fear and how you can handle that. Once you accept the situation and its solution that fear will automatically leave. So I am going to implement this principle ;)

Believe in Yourself. Hmmm I have to.

Stay close to friend and family. Yes, I am. Though my family lives far north but I consider myself happy to be surrounded by the person who gives me the strength when I need them the most.

Let you heart be your guide: I think it’s better to take some decisions in life by head and not by heart. So this year let me use my mind also while making decisions ;)

Also, it was too long a hibernation and very late to wish you all a Very Happy New Year.

Wish Everybody a very happy and prosperous new year 2012 !

To God...

2011-12-27T00:31:00.001+05:30

Finally I have downloaded app for blogger and now this is my first post through my phone :P and guess it's for whom?
I haven't blogged for a while and for the first time I didn't felt like it also. The time has been hard and this is something which is not new to me . But this time it's different. The heaviness cease to go from my heart no matter what I do. I have always felt that I am surly not the God's favourite child but then I am his baby and I need him now by my side :(
Where are you God and why you always make me believe that you favour your naughtier children more. I did everything to make you happy and still I think I lost to them :( . I have even passed the stage of questioning you that why it's me everytime. Like other times I have to face it and fight back and I will , as they say "something that won't kill you , will make you stronger" .

Just wishing that someday you will look upon this girl of yours and realise how much she wanted you to be by her side. I wish that day to come soon ...

Lemon Fresh from Office Cafe's Menu ;)

2011-11-21T17:20:00.006+05:30

Misspelled :P

Heights of creativity !!

Que Sera Sera

2011-11-09T18:02:00.004+05:30

It's tough time here and hence the absence.Just wishing for things to go alright . This songs is apt for the moment :

Idiot Box Latest

2011-10-18T17:48:00.002+05:30

I realized that I am getting a way too infrequent here :( . It’s something which I never want. Writing here gives me inner peace ( Master Chifooooo’s secret :P). The last few weeks have been turbulent , both personally and professionally. I felt like losing on both the front and that was one of the major reasons behind my absence. Sometime I feel that I should blog as anonymous and pour my heart out over there.Share my grief and take suggestions from all you beautiful people :) . As for the present, I got a diversion and that is my television.

I love watching TV (One thing that I have inherited from my mother: P) and it really proved very fruitful at coming up in terms with the life. I have picked few soaps and following them. I love “Bade Achhe lagte hain” on Sony and while watching that I saw the promo of “ Kuch to log kahenge” . I didn’t like the promo much but loved the title song and it is just so awesome. I researched for it onlineand found that it is a remake of famous Pakistani serial “ Dhoop Kinare” . Now , that’s really a news for me. It bought back immediate nostalgia.

Flashback, sometime in early 1990s. It’s sometime before the cable TV . The favorite pastime for children used to be playing outside(quite different to today’s children) and for the housewives it would be watching Pakistani serial cassettes on VCR. Do you remember this device? This device will only appear in the scene either when we will have our vacations or when we have to watch somebody’s marriage cassettes :P . We used to live in a rented accommodation at that time. So, whenever a movie used to be played in VCR, the entire neighborhood would gather and watch it . When the men would leave for office and we children for school, ladies would gather and watch “Dhoop Kinare”. Till date it’s my mother’s favorite serial. This year, when she visited me , she asked me if I can get her some old Pakistani serial CDs. I opened youtube and found it there. She completed the entire series of 51 episodes in just 2 Days!
So , when I realized that “Kuch to log kahenge” is a remake of “ Dhoop Kinare” , I immediately called my mother and told her this . And this was her reply “I knew it from the time I watched first few episodes”:P . Sorry Ma, I forgot that I have inherited tele watching from you: P .

Here is the title song , Enjoy !!

The Seven Year Itch

2011-09-21T16:03:00.004+05:30

So if you are wondering what exactly is the meaning of “The seven year itch” , here goes the explanation: The seven year itch is a term to describe a married man or woman. After seven years of marriage, the eyes tend to wander. It refers to the inclination to become unfaithful after seven years of marriage. The term was coined in 1955 by the movie with the same name "The seven year itch".

Even I didn’t know the phrase till few days back. It was when I was reading this article in the newspaper about the growing divorce rate in china and the Chinese post office’s unique policy to address it. The couple can write a letter to each other on their wedding day and it would be stored by the Beijing post for seven years. The letters would be sent to the couple on the occasion of their seventh anniversary. If the couple is undergoing martial problems then this letters will tell them the vows and love they have for each other seven year back and perhaps will help in saving their marriage by rekindling the romance. There are many loopholes in the process though like: the seven year itch research dates back to 1950s in US, which perhaps is irrelevant in these times. Today is the couple is unhappy in a relationship; they won’t take time to come out of it and proceed with another one. Getting a letter from and ex will not be taken on a brighter note then. Secondly, in the time when people are breaking up even on social networking site, how relevant would a letter bee in saving a relationship? Thirdly, when you are getting married, you are all in awe for the person. Marriage is a different ball game altogether. You come to know a lot of newer things about the person you had married to and these things either strengthen your relationship further or start breaking it. And lastly, is the couple sure that their address is going to be the same even after 7 years? These are just the few of many questions which are needed to be answered.

I however love the concepts of love letter. No not an email, but actually a letter. It’s probably a curse of technology that today even though we have all the means to tell a person how we feel but still we won’t and even if we will, it will be a card tagged to your love in Facebook or your proclamation of love through a twitter. Don’t you think that it lack the warmth of a real letter? A letter which is perfectly calligraphed for you with each of the words distinctively penned the warmth of holding it in your hands and the scent of love. You can read it umpteen numbers of times without bothering of opening your system/laptop/cellphone/tablet. You can keep it under your pillow and feel as if the person is as close to you. You can keep it forever and ever and treasure it for your grandchildren to show off: P.

I have never received a love letter (sighs and sobs) and as for a normal letter goes, I think I have received a one twelve years back from one of my aunt. So, even though getting a love letter is very good idea, getting it at right time at right place and by right person is very much important. I hope the Chinese understands.

Gastronomical Delight: Palak Paneer & Makki Di Roti

2011-09-11T19:02:00.005+05:30

Last weekend my classes finally got over (and i am still sulking over the amount of reading i have to do now). There were so many things which couldn't do due to these weekend classes. So, this weekend i got up very late, watched a movie in the multiplex after a very long time, had dinner at my favorite place and finally managed to cook(I loved the this part the most :)) . I decided to cook "makki di roti and sarson ka saag". But when i went to shop for the food items i couldn’t find the rest of green vegetables except spinach so i changed the menu to "Palak panner and makki di roti". Here is the recipe :

Palak Panner:

Ingredients:

Spinach : 2 bunch

Panner: 200 gms

Onion: 2

Garlic : 10 cloves finely chopped

Ginger: 20 gms finely chopped

Green chillies: 3

Method:

Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seed to it . Add ginger, garlic and green chillies to it. Add onion (not finally chopped) to it and sauté for a while. Add spinach leaves and salt to taste. Sauté for a while and den add half cup of water and put a lid on the pan. When the spinach become soft , let the mixture cool and then grind it in a mixer. Put some ghee in a pan and fry the paneer cubes (you can however skip this step and just take panner cubes). Add the fried panner to the mixture and let the gravy boil on a slow flame for a while. Once done, season it with butter on the top.

Makki di Roti:

Ingredients:

Makki ka aata (don’t buy the white corn flour, ask specifically for makki ka aata)- 1 cup

Coriander (finely chopped)

Wheat flour( it’s difficult to knead just the makki aata , so it’s always better to add wheat flour)-1/3 cups

Method:

Knead makki and wheat flour and add coriander while kneading. Put a ball of kneaded dough on a polythene sheet and keep pressing it with your palm till it become round ( it’s better not to use “belan” as the dough will keep on breaking ). Put the roti on tawa and heat it like normal chapatti with help of little ghee. Serve hot.

I hope you like it , till next recipe Bon Apetit !!

Leh & Ladakh by Pixel Factory

2011-09-08T17:46:00.017+05:30

Ahhhhh , Leh and Ladakh. Seems everybody is visiting the place except me (and i am reallly hating it) . My college friend send me the picasa link of her "girl gang "adventourous trip there . Monika also posted about her visit and i am eagerly waiting for her travelougue.One of my collegue (and the best budding photographer i have ever seen )has just returned from Leh and shared few of his awsome pictures with us. His photography comes under the name "Pixel Factory" and you can just get a glimpse of his photography skills by the pictures below .

Here is his short travelogue :

Ladakh Landscapes

It was a wonderful road trip and that i can remember forever. We left for Delhi ...on 25th evening and on 26th to Leh by flight.

Day 1 : We visited Shanthi StupaDay

Day 2 : All the monasteries near by leh. Starting with Hemis followed by Thiksey, Shey palace, Sindhu Nadi and Stok.

Day 3 : Start of an adventurous road trip by bikes. We rented 2 bullets, 1 Thunderbird, 1 Avenger and a Pulsar. This was the day we all experienced altitude sickness at Khardunga Pass, the highest motor-able road in the World. Our journey continued towards Nubra Valley(Near Indo-Pack LOC)

Day 4 : Back to Leh from Nubra Valley.

Day 5 : Pangong Tso Lake(Near Indo-China LOC). This lake is of 135kms long and 2 Kms wide. 45Kms of it is in India and rest is in China. In winter it will be frozen and no one except indian army is allowed to be at that place. Stargazing in the night near the lake was an unforgettable experience.

Day 6 : Back to Leh from Pangong Tso Lake. We passed through the Third Highest motor-able road on the way.

Day 7 : Journey towards Tsomo-riri Lake (Near Indo-China LOC). Beautiful place near the border. We had a wonder tea time with nomads near this place for half an hour.

Day 8 : Back to Leh from Tsomo-riri. This time it was Second highest motor-able road on the way.

Day 9 : The best and scary experience of Rafting in Indus river. Many whirlpools, hot sun and finally ended with raining experience while rafting :D :)This is gist of our 9 day Leh Trip. Once our travel log is well written will share it soon :) Thanks guys :)

Disclaimer: All the pics above are the copyright of Pixel factoryand clicked by Karthik Vn.

Tit Bit

2011-09-07T22:50:00.003+05:30

This post is totally random :P , there were so many things going on my mind that it became difficult for me to pen it down separately , so here it goes:

I realized that I have become super lazy. I am in bench from past two months and I think it has added to my laziness. So much so that I find it extremely difficult to get up on time and catch my company shuttle. So, last month I paid double the amount for transportation. One for company shuttle and one for missing it, paying 130 bucks to the stupid autowallah created a big hole in my pocket. Thereby today I finally cancelled my bus pass and decided to take public transportation for work. Sigh! I feel relieved now :)

My year resolution of losing weight is still left and I am nowhere near to it. At the start of every month, the guilt of gaining weight reach to all time high, so much so, that I would run to the gym and pay my monthly fees. That day i would work out like Sylvester Stallone and sweat like pig, only to return after a month to pay the fees again.

My reading habit has gone haywire and the credit goes to my iPhone. From the time I have got it, I am totally occupied by the big apple. Games, apps, movies, Face book and so many other think. I think the fad will soon evaporate and I will get back to my favorite hobby.

I haven’t posted/scraped/walled about Janlokpal bill at all (plz consider this as an exception). It seems all my friends on Face book were as much excited about it as their wedding. Everybody was giving their opinion about it when even half of them wouldn’t even know completely about it. I totally respect Anna and think he is did a great job. But wouldn’t it be better to show the solidarity towards him or the bill by participating in the movement real time rather than being opinionated in the virtual world?

I have pets at my place and they are cute little fish. When i got the fish bowl i bought two goldfish but they died soon after. Later after lot of googling i found out that you shouldn’t keep them in fishbowl. My manager, who is from Kerala and has a huge aquarium at his place, got me few fish. Last week while changing the water the bowl slipped from my hand, however we were able to save all the fish miraculously. But after this incident i have decided that i am never going to have fish as a pet again. I am better with dog ;)

And finally, I am hooked to KBC. I watch it just for Big B. I love his immaculate Hindi and the way he connects with the participant. I think it was the major thing lacking in SRK‘s KBC. And now, since i am watching it , i am replying to all the questions for audiences religiously. I know it’s a bit teenagish but then it’s worth a try. Wish me luck!

Treat them Fairly...

2011-08-24T17:59:00.003+05:30

It was all going smooth, my cousin loved this guy in her office and she introduced him to her parents. They were ready in spite of the whispers from the relatives of the marriage being an inter caste .Her parents decides to meet the guy’s parents and then inevitable happened. His mother decided to walk out of the relationship when her husband’s abuses became extreme. Though not divorced, they are living a separate life. Hearing this, my cousin’s parents decided to call it off. The reason was the stigma of woman left by her husband (even though it is the opposite). Unknowingly, they became a part of “Educated yet orthodox” community who, still consider it to be a women’s duty to carry the weight of a dead relationship full of abuses. And yes, most of the women still do so, just to protect their children from being stigmatized. And if they do something as brave as the guy’s mother has done, they would be stigmatized for life by the society.

One of my friend’s father left her mom and the kids (She and her brother who is physically challenged) to marry another lady. He had an extra marital with the lady and when the wife found this out, she was given a choice to either compromise or he will leave her. She walked out to make a life for herself and her children without any support. The father neither gave the alimony nor visited the children even being in the same city. Yes, seldom he calls them, just to shower them with abuses. She started working and gave her children the best of education and everything. Today, her children are faring well and are proud of their mother and so are we, her friends. We visit her mother whenever she is in town and just get mesmerized by the strength of the lady. Today in our generation, majority of women are educated and independent. We know our rights and society is coming in terms with non-stigmatizing separations. Think of the women who faced this in the earlier generation, when every decision was taken after considering about what the society will say? They didn’t even have support from their family who will always ask them to compromise. Majority of them were not educated and seldom were they independent. The only options available before them were wither to take abuses all through their life or to end up their life. But still there were few brave ladies who decided to take a brave stand and yet when we should acknowledge this fact we are mistreating them. How fair is it? Aren’t we encouraging violence towards women by acts like these? If we won’t stop this attitude towards women then probably, woman will keep on enduring pains and abuses just for not ruining their children’s life which, obviously will be ruined the same day when she will take the decision of being in an abusive relationship.

To my Father

2011-08-13T21:20:00.001+05:30

Mom called me yesterday and told me about my dad retirement which is in November. It came as a surprise to me ,as everyone of us in the family was positive about his service extension to two more years i.e. to the age of 62 . Whenever i would talk to my father about his retirement he would always be in denial and non acceptance mode. So yesterday, when mom and he went to a photo studio for taking his picture for the retirement, he was very silent and my mom has tears in her eyes. My mother was upset because my father was about to get promoted to a position which he has always deserved in the next few months and which he cannot get now because of the retirement. My dad was upset because the sixth pay commission took a way too long time to revise his salary to a respected one only last year and only if the extension would have happened, he would have been able to perform some of his key responsibilities. I know it sound like a typical middle class attitude but it’s so true for a person like him.

My father was born a few years after independence to a family of a govt teacher. My grandfather died young and being the eldest of the six siblings, he fulfilled all his responsibilities. He funded for all his siblings educations and kept all of them with him for their higher studies as he was the only one from the family living in a big city. He took care of them till they are settled. Once that responsibility was settled then came us, the family. He worked his entire life providing all of us a good life and feels that only if this retirement would have extended he could have done better. I don’t have a heart to talk to my father about this, as for me he has done the best of whatever he could do with the limited resource and unlimited responsibilities. He should see the affection in my grandmother’s eye for him being the best son , the gratitude in my uncle/aunt’s eyes for being the best of a brother and a father figure, the respect in his subordinate’s eye for being the most honest employee in the organisation. And if he still think that there are few things still left undone then we , his children promise him to accomplish those :’)

Kathakali

2011-08-02T23:21:00.023+05:30

On my vacation to Kerala in February this year I got an opportunity to watch “ kathakali” , the traditional dance form of Kerala. It was indeed a very heartening experience for me as I always wanted to see this dance form which I have only seen either in TV or during republic day parade in New Delhi . The best part with the performance was that they allowed us to see the live makeup for the artists and also narrated the history of its origination along with the nitty gritty of dance form. Kathakali derives its meaning from “ Katha” meaning story and “ kali” meaning dance, that is telling a story through a dance. The dance form has five elements:natya meaning dramatics; nritta meaning pure dance; nrithya meaning dance with expressions: geetha meaning vocals and vadyameaning instrument .The dance are based on mythological stories expressed through dance in various mudras and bhaav.

The performance which I watched in Munnar was “ Naraktundhi ko mila dand” (Punishment to Naraktundi). There was a brief narration before the show about the story , which goes as: Naraktundhi was a demon and fall in love with incarnation of Lord Vishnu . She disguises as a beautiful lady and tries to attract Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu however rejects her offer and asks her to leave. This make Narakthundi very angry and she comes to her original form of demon. She start the fight with Lord Vishnu and gets killed in the end. After the narration of the story the character played by narakthundi showed us various bhaav and the meaning of each one of them. After this narration the performance started.

The Performance poster of Kathakali and Punjarani :

The makeup :

Vadya at the starting of the show:

The character explaining Bhaav : Surprise:

Happiness:

Sorrow:

Anger:

Pain:

Various Mudras:

The performance starts:

Entry of Narakthundi:

Entry of Lord Vishnu Incarnation:

Narakthundi in disguise as a beautiful women perusing Lord Vishnu for marriage:

Narakthundi gets angry and comes in her original form leading to a fight:

Lord Vishnu finally kills Narakthundi :

Close up of the artist :

The artists after the show:

Seasons

2011-08-01T23:32:00.002+05:30

Few weeks back I watched Atul Kumar’s play The Blue Mug at Ranga Shankara. The cast includes all the biggies of theatrical circle: Vinay Pathak, Sheeba Chadha, Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Munish Bharadwaj and Konkona Sen.The play doesn’t includes a story , it’s just about the memories of the characters who are suffering from the disorder of short term memory loss. They keep on reliving their past with mostly sweet and few sour memories. One of the memories of Rajat kapoor, who play a person from old Delhi, is the celebrations which come with each season and this post is about that.

I rarely can differentiate between seasons while I was there in Pune and then here in Bangalore. Being from a place in Uttaranchal, which has almost extreme of all the seasons it was actually a nice change. Pune I believe has just two form of weather. It’s either summer or rainy season . There you will find girls either in attire which is totally out of bandit queen (with scarf all around hair and face and a sun coat) or with an umbrella plus raincoat. I religiously followed this dress code and was happy with the fact that at least there are no winters: P .Bangalore boast of the best weather in India. It’s neither too hot nor too cold. It’s just perfect. But Rajat kapoor’s memory of celebration of weather was just so true for people like me. I just hate winters for the sheer reason that it’s just too dull and on top of that adds more to my plumpness (by wearing everything right from thermals to sweaters to jackets and what not). But how can I forgot the memories which I had from this season. The fight for “ garam Rajai “ and who will go out of it to bring something from the kitchen. Being at my grandmother’s room to heat ourselves in the “ Angeethi “ , having fight with my brother to light the “ angeethi” with coal , Mummy’s hot tea and pakoras(only if she is in mood to come out of the “ rajai” herself) , my favorite “ moongfali(peanut) and various type of “gajaks” . The special “ Gajar ka halwa” as carrots will come only during winters. Gulping numerous cups of hot masala tea and “ khatai” made up of “malta(a variety of orange).If we are at my grandmother’s place then just running around in snow and catching cold the next day.

Spring arrives with Holi and so does the time for “bhuttas and challi (corn)”, time for mother to make “aam ka achar” and us sneaking into terrace to have a piece or two of it . Summers means mangoes! The huge “ Dushari aam “ soaked in water and fight for the biggest one. There would be a competition at my granny’s place among us children for plucking the maximum “ litchis” from the tree. Rushing to the “chuski” vendor outside the school gate and enjoying two rupee chuski . Rain means lot of gossip sessions with cousins ;) over tea and rainbow of umbrellas open in the classroom .

There are so many of the memories associated with each of the seasons that it’s very difficult to pen down everything over here. I miss those days spread across the seasons with each bringing its own delight .

For the love of song !

2011-07-20T21:46:00.004+05:30

Just love this movie and song , I never knew it's meaning since it is in Tamil/Sanskrit.Today , while watching this video in youtube found it's meaning too . Sharing it with you all :)

mangalyam tantunanena mama jIvana hethuna
kanthe badhnami subhage! sanjIva Sarada Satam

meaning …

This is a sacred thread. This is essential for my long life.

I tie this around your neck, O maiden having many auspicious attributes!

May you live happily for a hundred years

Ohhh Humdum sunio re..........

Yercaud Trip

2011-07-14T17:57:00.038+05:30

Yercaud is a hill station near Salem, Tamil Nadu. It is at an altitude of 1,500 meters from mean sea level. Yercaud has lot of silver oak trees and is famous for it’s coffee plantations and orange groves. It’s around 180 kms from Bangalore and 30 kms from Salem.

Yercaud is also known as “poor man’s Ooty” and you can easily make this out when you reach there. The temperature difference from very hot Salem and a lake just at the center of the city instantly reminds you of Ooty . After that try not find any other comparisons, you will be disheartened for sure. You won’t find as good hotels, eatery and places to visit as you find in Ooty. Infact, you can cover the entire Yercaud in just few hours if you want to visit just “must see” places. There is a lake similar to our sankey tank. A garden and a horticulture which nowhere can be compared to Lal bagh, few viewpoints which are poorly maintained and a fall which has very less water. So then you will think that what exactly you should do there? Yes, there is nothing to do there and that is the charm of the place. The place has nothing similar to the commercial Ooty , neither do it boast of many “ must see” places. It’s just the place to run off and spend some time in the lap of nature. You can trek and cover the entire place on foot among the groves of white silver oak trees and with the feel of fresh air. Putting some pics from the trip:

Aerial view of Salem from Yercaud ( remind me of Dehradun from Mussorrie)

The route from Salem to Yercaud boasts of 20 hairpin bends:

Shevaroy temple:

Kiliyur waterfall:

Nature trails:

Seen coffee plant for the first time :)

On the way to Montfort school:

The only good cafe in Yercaud !Bang opposite to Montfort gate :

The must visit place of Yercaud , mainly for the architecture:

Emos:

The lucky lone peacock and peahen ;)

You scared me :-x :

Te laziest fella :)

I love Myself......

2011-07-10T09:38:00.002+05:30

While writing this post i have just bunked my Sunday class for a certification i have applied for. i got up on time and then suddenly decided to drop off. That's what is happening with the office too. I was never like this . Yes, i have bunked college but always for fun with friends . Here i am bunking just for solitude. A time just for myself , whereby i would do what ever i love. i want to sleep, read , blog , watch my favorite movies , shop , paint , cook and exercise all by myself . Enjoying company of my other self which has been lost somewhere while i was trying to meet deadlines and making others merry. The only left weekends too have gone for my 5 hrs long classes and i am back again to office on Mondays with the list of things i still have to do. A friend suggested to just take some time off and relax at home. i can but for some time i just want to go into oblivion . I don't want anyone around except for me and myself. Yes, i am talking like a selfish person but this selfishness have come out of selflessness. There is a canvas lying in my room since ages to be painted , so many books on my shelf to be read , a lot of movies to be watched , a lot of dishes to be learnt , a lot of items to be bought and a lot of items to be searched. The worst is losing my credit card which i haven't even opened from the envelope it came in and now when i want to cancel it , i don't know the details. I have to pay my water bills which i haven't paid from last two months and i have an outstanding credit card payments for the first time . I was planning to join some weight loss program since the start of the year and the timeline was till my birthday and here i am with my birthday just approaching and not losing a single ounce. It's not me .I am not even able to study what i am learning at my weekend classes! I always used to wonder about people wanting some "me" time and now i am realizing what it mean. I want to do things which like , which i want without paying the hid to what other's say. My current project would be off by this month end and i am surly taking few days off , all for myself . I pledge.

10 Things a Women Must Know

2011-06-23T14:49:00.003+05:30

Read the article in “India Today- women" June 2011 edition in my office library. I liked it very much so thought will share with all the great women in my blog roll :). Here it goes:

1. That life is not a fairy tale and there will be no prince charming, you just have to buckle up and take control.

2. That the greatest source of misery is clinging to the past, if it hurts, you have to learn to let go.

3. That your mother will eventually end up being your best friend so stop the resistance and cross over because mother does know best.

4. That love is not worth giving your dreams for.

5. That if you don’t slow down, you will eventually crash.

6. That learning to say no cane be a liberating experience.

7. That if you wait for the right time to follow your dreams, you would outgrow them.

8. That as you grow older your most valuable confidantes are your childhood friends, the people who know you before life happened.

9. That it is all right to outgrow a friendship and still be civil to each other.

10. That you cannot pretend to be someone else, no matter how much you try.

Harishchandrachi Factory

2011-06-21T10:53:00.009+05:30

I don’t know how many of you even know about this movie forget about watching it , because same was my condition sometime back . The only thing I know about this movie was that it was India’s official entry to the Academy Award for year 2009.It was sometime back that one of my friend (who is also a Marathi)asked me to watch it and I completely dismissed it. There were two reason behind that, First, that I don’t trust the national selectors(considering their history of selections for Oscars)and secondly it was a Marathi film , which I hardly understand. The last regional movie I watched was Arundhathi(with subtitle) which was supposedly a horror flick and I think I was more engrossed with the subtitle rather than the movie itself :P

Harishchandrachi factory was an entirely different experience. The story is about Dada Saheb Phalke whom we remember because of the awards given every year for excellence in cinemas in his name. Little did I know that he is the pioneer of Indian Cinema. The movie show his struggle of directing India’s first motion picture “ Raja Harishchandra” in a time when people used to consider that taking a picture will suck the life out of people . It starts in year 1911 when Dada sahib leaves his business of printing press and start performing magic show as “ jaadogar Kelpha” . One day he see a motion picture on the life of Jesus Christ with his elder son and get so impressed that he decide to make a film . He went to London for learning film making and when he returns ,collects money from his friends and family to start with the shooting. The film ends with Phalke making India’s first motion picture and making way for Bollywood to be the world’s largest film industry .

The movie’s best part is portraying the hardship face by Dada Sahib in a light humorous way.The movie is named "Harishcandrachi factory " because the crew who used to work for the movie were not getting brides as they couldn't explain their to be in laws about the kind of work they do.So they say that they work in Harishchandra's factory and hence the name! Scenes like his family taking him to mental hospital after seeing his obsession for cinemas, his effort of finding the heroine of movie in red light area and finally settling in for the guys for doing the ladies role and his persuasion to the guy (who was playing the role of the heroine) to shave his moustache off as in those days a man shave off his moustaches only when his father dies will tickle your funny bone while taking off the graveness of the scene.The film also tells the story of Saraswati Phalke's unconditional love and support for her husband.

The movie is a must watch for all the lovers of Bollywood or cinema as such. It would be a tribute to the achievements of pioneer of Indian cinema

TCS World 10 K Bangalore

2011-06-10T21:19:00.043+05:30

The one good thing about the last weekend was my dear friend's trip to Bangalore. It was really a surprise when she told me that she is visiting me because i have asked her umpteen number of times to visit Bangalore in her past two years of stay in Mumbai and she never came. And then she came for after two years for just two days to participate in Bangalore 10 K marathon. My immediate reaction was "Marathonnnnnnn?? You are coming to Bangalore just for participating in a race? 17 hrs of journey for a race? ".

I never was sport person and Marathons were limited to watching Mumbai Marathon and that too for watching celebrities :P . But the above reaction was not just from a sport unenthusiastic but also from a dear friend who just wanted her friend to spend some more time with her .

So , early morning at 6.30 we left for Kantiveera stadium .While she participated in the open 10 KK , i spend the time capturing the race in my camera :). Here it goes :

The Route map :

Few Participants :

Social Causes :

I loved this NGO Toy bank , they collect toys for underprivileged children:

Everybody was amused seeing the attire of this anti corruption man:

The Race begins:

The magnificent Indoor stadium:

Runners for social causes:

Celebrity runners: You can see the chief minister , actor Ganesha and Siddharth Mallaya:

View of UB City from the stadium:

The TCS crowd:

The Wheel chair race participants :

The Women 10 K firsts:

Kingfisher Run in Costumes participants being interviewed :

And the race concludes.....

Rants & More Rants

2011-06-09T12:27:00.003+05:30

It’s been a long gap again at this space and this time I had a lot of time to write too .It was just that I didn't feel like writing , actually I didn’t feel like doing anything . Last few weeks again tested me by making me face some things which I really wanted to avoid .People say that I am strong and yes I am. Some people do face hardships so early in their life that they have no options other than being strong. It’s like either you break or choose to survive and I did survive. I never got things easily but then I literally fought for it. I do used to get jealous with people by looking how easy it is for some to get things (and I don’t mean materials, I mean happiness) and how difficult this is for me. But then I have left this feeling a long time back. The hardships for some just cease to stop and with time you realize how stupid it is to compare your life with others and add more pain to it .A sense of calm had prevailed since then and I was in my lone journey. Time nowadays is a bit grueling both at work and home. It’s like I go to work unhappily and come back unhappily. Politics has come out of the parliament and you can see the Chanakya’s chant not just in office but in your family and all across. I know that everybody’s work s@#$ at some point of time or other but after 3 long years of working, I still feel lost. People @ work, whom you have trusted and respected, have suddenly (& surprisingly) shown you their darker side like they do in Ekta Kapoor’s serial. The sense of calm is lost again and no it’s not jealousness, it’s hatred. Things are almost the same at home front. I fail to understand why people take excessive interest in other people’s life. My life and my doings are just accountable to my parents and nobody else. An extended family should remain extended.

I came to work with all these thoughts and happening yesterday. Left early and did what I love the most shopping! This time it was not for clothes or accessories but for grocery. I exceeded my budget for that, bought loads of unwanted and avoidable items. Then went home and cooked (I don’t know much of cooking but I am not a bad cook either ;)) and treated myself with three course mealJ. Lemon bhel for starter , Paneer masala , raita and parantha for the main course and ice-cream plus mangoes for desserts ! I ate without feeling guilty of the weight I am putting, without thinking of again going to the office after 8 hours and the other mess of life and then when I reached office today I just blogged it down . By the time I am writing this last line, I can feel the sense of calm again. God knows for how long it will prevail but right at this moment I feel light and for a change HAPPY J .

Eat outs @ Bangalore-1

2011-05-18T21:45:00.003+05:30

Globetrotter has been to Chennai this weekend and is all gaga about the city as usual. He had been working there for almost 2 years before coming here to Bangalore or rather I say Belandur (as he has been living in the same place from past 2 years).By now he has been to all the restaurants in Belandur and surprisingly loves all of them equally :P so, when after this weekend trip he told us about the awesome food @ Murugan Idly, we didn’t take him seriously! Bang come Mr. Globetrotter the next day with “Eating out in India 101 favorite restaurants” book and there it was Murugan Idly in one of the must eat places of Chennai!(as by Marryam Reshii)

I however, directly went to the must eat places of Bangalore and here is the snapshot of the same ;)

Disclaimer: The list is taken from“Eating out in India 101 favorite restaurants” by Marryam Reshii . It’s just a small part of the book. Refer the book for the complete list of eat outs throughout India.

1. Blue Ginger:

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Location: Taj West End, Racecourse Road, Bangalore

Recommended for: The whole experience of dining in the semi open with Vietnamese cuisine and the buzz of the place, especially at night

USP: Prawns with sweet tamarind sauce, tenderloin curry with baguette

Meal for two: Rs. 4000

2. Caperberry:

Cuisine: Contemporary Spanish

Location: The Estate, Dickson road, Bangalore

Recommended for: When you want to educate your palate

USP: Starters

Meal for two: Rs. 2500

3. Harima:

Cuisine: Japanese

Location: Devatha Plaza, Residency road, Bangalore

Recommended for: An authentic Japanese meal in smart, no uss surrounding

USP: Sushi. Their Sushiya is from Okaya

Meal for two: Rs. 4000

4. Kamat Lokaruchi :

Cuisine: South Indian

Location: Janapada Loka, Archakrahalli , Mysore Road, Bangalore

Recommended for: A vegetarian experience in rustic setting

USP: Raggi mudde and Dink laddos

Meal for two: Rs. 400

5. Kanua:

Cuisine: South Indian

Location: Near Wipro corporate office , Kaikondrahalli, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore

Recommended for: A really stylish, true to type coastal Karnataka restaurant .

USP: Chicken ghee roast , masala prawns

Meal for two: Rs. 1200

6. Koshy’s Parade Café:

Cuisine: Indian(Keralite) , Western, Snacks

Location: St. Marks road, Bangalore

Recommended for: Getting an eyeful of arts crowd in the city .

USP: Ham sandwiches , mushroom on toast , chicken cutlets

Meal for two: Rs. 800

7. MTR:

Cuisine: Indian(Karnataka tiffins and meals)

Location: 14 Lalbagh road, Bangalore

Recommended for: A heritage eatery whose menu hasn’t changed for decades

USP: Coffee, bisi bele bath , holige, pongal, karabath

Meal for two: Rs. 400

8. Olive Beach:

Cuisine: Mediterrenean

Location: 16 Wood Street , Ashok Nagar , Bangalore

Recommended for: An effortless chic great food, superior cocktails, live performance, art shows and the cool crowd

USP: Sea food, Sunday brunch

Meal for two: Rs. 2000

9. Sea Spice by 7 Star:

Cuisine: Indian (Karnataka), Coastal

Location: 9^th main , Kaverinagar, Banashankari 2^nd stage , Bangalore

Recommended for: Blow out Karnataka coastal seafood meal without making a huge hole in your pocket

USP: Chicken ghee roast , kane fish fry

Meal for two: Rs. 1500

10. Sunny’s:

Cuisine: European

Location: Embassy Diamante,34 Vitall Mallya road , Bangalore

Recommended for: It has been a city favorite right since its inception , in an older more funky avatar . The magic continues

USP: Glazed ham , Paris brest

Meal for two: Rs. 2500

I have named this post as Bangalore-1 because the foodie in me wants to post it's own list one day ... Till then Bon Appetit!!!

Tag Time!!

2011-05-17T16:06:00.006+05:30

I think this i going to be my second tag ! Thanks Wishesgalore for tagging me ;)

Rules
: Fill in the rest of the sentence with the title of a book you have read this year.
I slightly tweaked the rules, as I haven’t read many books this year, yet. so,I have filled in the blanks using the names of books I have read last year and this year (Here)

In School I was: Shadow princess

People Might be surprised I’m:(from) A town called Dehra

I will never be: The Twentieth Wife :P

My Fantasy job is: Chasing the Monsoon

At the end of a long day I need: Chicken soup for Romantic soul

I Hate It When: In other Rooms, Other Wonders

Wish I Had: Bridget Jones diary

My Family Reunions Are: Connect the Dots

At A Party You’d Find Me With: Braking news ;)

I’ve Never Been To: India unbound

A Happy Day Includes: The feast of Roses

Motto I Live By: Breaking Dawn

On My Bucket List: Don't lose your mind lose your weight

In My Next Life, I Want To Be: A Princess remembers: Gayatri Devi

Happy House Hunting!

2011-05-16T21:18:00.003+05:30

Oh God! I am back at it again L . It has been just 9 months since I have shifted to my current house and I have to start with the entire process of house hunting all over again. Looking through classifieds, online portal and making irritating phone calls to brokers have started and finally my house hunting marathon will start by this weekend. But this is just the starting of a tedious journey and by the time you will finalize the house you would be physically, mentally and financially exhausted. Finding the house in Bangalore is a nightmare and being two times experienced I would be happy to share some details with you:

The big Catch oops classified: In my earlier two instances of house hunting through classifieds / sulekha /99 acres, I have never found a single house for rent which was from the owner and not from the broker. If you really don’t want to pay brokerage, then the best way is to ask your friends in different IT companies to search for a house for rent in their respective bulletin board.

Good Samaritan aka Brokers: There are few things which you should know before going for a broker:

The very first question they will ask you is about your budget so never overprice it, as they will show you the worst of the house in highest of the money

The second question which will come promptly is about your marital status bachelors or family sir??

If you are living in Bangalore , of course you would be in IT and by default you have enough money to pay good rent and of course brokerage!

No house is too far for them and if you say how far inside they will go in the road be ready to hear “Just”

No house is bad for them even if it’s without windows or doors “it’s for your safety siirrrr”

He will ask you to become a vegetarian for the apartment, of course, not for real but just in front of the owner.

Inquisitive Owners: Yes, it’s true that it is “THEIR” house so you should be ready to deal with the possessiveness which comes along with it. “No extra electronic appliances, no nails on the wall, no loud music/party, not coming late” are some of the few. The most common one is “are you a vegetarian?” don’t expect “Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend” to be too personal: P.

I remember an incident whereby I went to a house and as I was about to step inside, the landlord shrieked “madam, how can you step inside with your shoes on?”. I apologized and removed my shoes immediately, but he didn’t stop “You should not forget that you are an Indian, you should not follow this western tradition blindly especially when you are women.” I apologized again but he still he continued and by the time he finished, I was sure that I am not taking this house. There was another landlord who quoted exorbitant figure for the house reasoning that the house is very lucky since the last tenant got two promotions in one single year: P.

Many owners have inhibitions regarding your relatives and friends visiting the place so it’s always better to clear this before taking the house. Also, do remember to ask for the electricity and water bill whether it’s individual or combined. I have a big time in getting terms of water bill of 1800/month for two families: P

Love thy neighbors : It’s very important to have good relations with your neighbors. I know it’s difficult if they peep through their windows every time to check who is visiting your house or put the entire blame of high electricity bill on you even though they are using all the family appliances like washing machine , oven etc. if you can’t love them then maintain good distance , remember good fences make good neighbors!

So , wish me all the best again!!

A mother is a mother still , the holiest thing alive - Samuel Taylor

2011-05-12T16:33:00.000+05:30

Clicked this picture in Hampi at " Mango tree Restaurant" . I tried to move a bit closer to get a better shot but she didn't let me . I thought it's the mother children time and i better not disturb them .

Happy Mother's Day to all!!!

Hampi : A lost Empire

2011-04-20T22:25:00.014+05:30

Hampi, once the glorious capital of the Vijayanagara Empire is situated on the banks of Tungabhadra in Karnataka. It is said to be the kingdom of Bali and the birthplace of lord Hanuman. Hampi is now declared as a world heritage center and a must visit for the connoisseur of history and archeology.

Best Time to visit Hampi:

I visited the place in February end and it was still; very hot there. However, the best time to visit is somewhere between November to February.

How to Reach:

The distance from Bangalore is 350 kms. There are lots of buses operating from Bangalore to Hampi. I took a KSRTC bus as it was the only one which goes till Hampi and leave you just in between the ruins. The rest of the private operator just leaves you till Hospet which is almost 20 Kms from Hampi and from there either you have to book a cab or take a rickshaw which would be very expensive.

Places to stay:

You can either stay in the main Hampi city (near the bus stand) or on the other side of the river. But it’s preferable to stay in the city itself, as the last coracle cross the river at 6 pm so you always have to hurry back to your guest house( with nothing to do) as most of the places to visit are in the Hampi city.

You need to book the guest house in advance only if it’s the busiest of the season. Most of the guest houses in the city are well maintained.

Eat outs:

One thing you need not to worry in Hampi is the FOOD. You name anything and you will get it here. I have never found falafel in any of the Bangalore’s restaurant’s menu (at least the one where I visited) but I found it here. You have cuisine ranging from Israeli to Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, Indian and Tibetan. BTW don’t even try to order Indian food while in Hampi. You will find it Anglicized ;).

Mango tree is a very popular restaurant of Hampi. It offers a very good view of the river and of course nice food. However, it’s a bit aloof from the city and the entire stretch has no lighting so better not to try it for dinner. Some other good restaurants are Shanthi and Gopi .

Travel:

Hampi ruins are spread over a very vast area. However one can cover important sites in almost two days. Most of the places to see are within city limits and are not very far off from each other so it’s always better to rent either a bike or cycle in Hampi. However, one can also hire an auto for the entire day (@ rate of 200 per person) . Most of the autowallahs have their own itinerary to follow .Hence, it’s always better to do your own research to determine which place you want to cover.

Places to see:

You can get the map from anywhere in Hampi indicating the major places . The major places to visit are :Vittala Temple, Virupaksha temple,royal enclosure,Kadelukalu Ganesha, Lakshmi Narasimha ,Queen’s bath,Lotus Mahal, Hazara Rama Temple, Achutaraya Temple, Anjaneya Hill & Temple Elephant stable, Matanga Hill for a panoramic view of Hampi . A coracle ride on Tungabhadra is a must, as is the sunrise.

Things to buy:

Hampi market is labyrinth of many streets having lots of trinkets shops selling trendy hippie clothes, bags, junk and silver jewellery, souvenir, handcraft and beautiful stone carvings.

Cricket Jhinga-la-la!!!

2011-04-04T22:27:00.002+05:30

Yipeeee!!!! Congratulations everyone , we finally have the cup with us after 28 years of long wait .I was (and know that you all too) so happy to be a part/viewer of the hysteria that follows afterwards.I had a plan to watch it at one of my friend's place when we were joined by few other friends, their friends and then their friends.It seems that a cable wallah cut the cable line of a rival cable person , who inturns cut the cable line of the former and the war of cables soon spread in the entire area. My friend thus had an entire gang at his place resulting in more fun & celebrations :P . So if you are thinking how come he was having cable connection at his place , then the answer is simple, Tata Sky laga daala to match jhinga-la-la ;)

Before Sunrise

2011-03-24T10:28:00.023+05:30

I have never seen a sunrise so beautiful , may be it's the surroundings that made it more special . Early morning at 5.30, from one of the small cliff and with the chants of Ramayana from a nearby Hanuman temple at Hampi ,i saw it rising from the rubbles of rustic Hampi . Here it is :

Half hour before sunrise,orange color at the horizon
Few minutes before sunrise
The sun rise behind the rubbles
Here it goes .......
Big...
Bigger...
& Bigger ....
Here it is Finally...
I was not the only one who clicked ;)

To Life !

2011-03-22T16:06:00.008+05:30

Ahh , it’s again a big gap at this space and my only resolution left (since the past two have already been broken) for this year is also dying a slow death L . The past two months have been gruesome on all the fronts, be it personal or professional. So many times in these two months I have wished the time to go back by a year, just a year! I know it cannot be done so decided to get a grip on my life and move forward strongly.
During this entire phase I have got a company with me at my workplace: D. It was a pigeon who had made a nest just outside my cubicle’s window.

The Pigeon

She would be sitting there in the same position for hours with another pigeon coming there for company sometimes. It took us some time to realize that she is laying/hatching her eggs.

Pigeon with small egg beneath her

One day due to the curiosity of the passerby onlookers the pigeon got frightened and flew away, we could see two tiny eggs in the nest.

The two eggs

After some time when the entire commotion dies down, she returned and again sat in the same position. Days passed, with me looking at the nest now and then only to find the pigeon tediously sitting there. One day on reaching the office on Monday, I found the nest along with the eggs missing from the place. It seems that the cleaning guy has removed it just making me wonder how that little home to someone was bothering him. For some time I missed my companion of solitude thinking about the two eggs which could have been two tiny chirping birds after sometime. I completely stopped looking at that deserted place for some time when again after a weekend on Monday I found a new nest in making at the same place! It took the two pigeons almost one more day to finish their nest. They even added a sipping straw to complete their nest. Finally after a day I saw the pigeon back to her duty, sitting in the same position.

The pigeon again

I got relocated to some other place and then I visited the place again after few days to pay visit to my solitude companion only to find her not there. But I was happy, seeing someone else on her place, a tiny throbbing piece surrounded by a web like thing.

The baby !

Yes, she was finally out against all the odds and after losing two of the siblings. After sometime the mother also came an again started hatching, perhaps that little bird still require some care. I haven’t visited the place afterwards but planning to make a visit soon just to inquire about my friend’s and her family’s wellbeing!

Pondicherry Once More !

2011-02-21T21:40:00.006+05:30

I love Pondicherry!So this time when i visited the place i made sure that i just stay enough to explore the city inside out and i should say i succeeded :P .The first time when i visited the place it was a hush affair whereby we reached in the morning and left by the night but i must say that first time was as special as the second tine ;) this place you just can't have enough . This time i visted with my mother and sister , especially on the insistence of my mother as she wanted to see the vast ocean and she just loved the place.

BEACHES

We were there for two days and stay in a hotel just near the rock beach. The hotel was decent( i mean really decent) if you can ignore some incidents like a lipstick stained cup for tea :-X . In these two days we covered the entire French colony by feet and just loved each and every street . The houses are really an architectural delight. As for the foodie i am i visited these places and here my ratingss for the same

Le Cafe : mmmmm my favortite , ofcourse not because of the food but because of its location . Try the dinner buffet there which they have on their rooftop and that moment is sheer bliss!
Rendezvous: This place is nice but food is no French
Madam Shanthe : The place won't look good from outside but they have a nice restaurant in the terrace and it really offers good food.
Bamboos Garden: Nice ambience , nice food but pathetic service
Anjappar : Go there only if you are tiered of having French/Italian food. Good only for non vegetarians
La Terrasse : Try the Pizza ( Oven smoked) and salad there .
Touskilfo : Ii's a cafe but i won't talk about coffee as i was just bowled over by the interiors especially the wood work :)
Pizza Hut : Our very own Pizza Hut , i went there for parcel but again the interior is awsome compared to Bangalore's Pizza hut !

ARCHITECTURE

Don't forget to take travel guide from Pondicherry Tourism Office nd then enjoy the beauty of Pondi !

Valentine it is !

2011-02-16T23:54:00.007+05:30

The season of love is here again though valentine is long gone but still you can see and feel love around you. The little chill in the morning is taken over by warmth, trees sprouting new shoots, flowers showing signs of bloom and faint smell of blossom. More colours, more scent and of course more love ;).

I remember watching “ Dil to Pagal hai “ with few of my elder cousins and it was the first time i have watched a movie in the theatre without my parents. After watching this movie i knew one thing that whenever i will fall in love the guy would be like Rahul . He will woo me through his songs, will make me laugh through his stupid talks and will take me to another world altogether. How silly right, but then i was just 13. Then came Kuch Kuch hota hai and that was the first movie i was allowed to watch with my friends. It added few more expectations from Rahul. He would crazily propose me , will woo me with flowers and chocolates . He would be a passionate lover like Sameer in Hum dil de chuke sanam , a bespectacled silent lover like raj in KNPH, will fight the world for me like Aditya of Saathiya . A few other movies adds some more criteria to the list like dedicating a song in Karaoke , playing a song in guitar for me and what not .
And then you come out of this Bollywoodish definition of love and reality strikes you. The things may change and so would the ways to express it but at the end it’s the love that matters,like he may not crazily propose you but it doesn’t matter more then the three letter words you wanted to hear from him. But still thanks Bollywood for making us a dreamer. A Dreamer for love !

Flower Show 2011 @ Lalbagh

2011-01-30T23:48:00.023+05:30

If you are a Bangalorean then you ofcourse would be knowing about Lalbagh and for the one who don't know it's a lush green garden spread over an area of 240 acres at the heart of the city.It's one of the biggest gardens in India proudly having 1854 species of plant.

It was my second visit to Lalbagh on this month's 23rd and the occasion was the flower show which is organized biannualy on the occasion of Republic day and Independence day . Here are few pics:

Colors Of Republic

2011-01-28T15:29:00.027+05:30

This year on 26th of January India celebrated it’s 62nd Republic Day. There are so many instances associated with this event that I remember it in one way or the other. Foremost being my brother’s birthday on the same day.

It was my brother’s fifth birthday and we didn’t celebrate it that year as I lost my grandfather a few months back. My brother was upset that this year he will be devoid of the entire frolic, gifts and of course the attention! He went to my dad and asked him that why are we not celebrating his birthday and my dad answered that his birthday is being celebrated by the entire nation and not just us. He showed him the parade on TV with our nation’s military prowess, tableaux from various states and of course the performance of school children. My brother of course was on cloud nine seeing this huge celebration on his birthday. It was only after few years that he realized that his birthday coincide with the formation of great republic of our country.

Another memory is of our participation in early morning “Prabhat Pheri” in school. All the children from different schools would participate in parade singing patriotic songs and slogans. The parade will end at a ground where the Mayor of the city will hoist the flag followed by some speeches and cultural .

One day, my brother came home all excited after school and told my mom that he is playing a role of freedom fighter in the play on republic Day and need to get a white “Salwar Kurta” for this. My mom was very happy imagining his son playing a freedom fighter, she bought the brightest of cloth material for stitching and the best tailor was searched to stitch it as per his fit. Every day she would tell my brother the stories of my great grandfather who was a freedom fighter and ask him what role is he playing? Whether it’s of Bhagat Singh, Raj guru or Chandrasekhar. My brother being a seven that time knew none of them that time and replied that he is with Gandhiji. My mother felt more proud thinking his son to be either of Nehru or Sardar Patel. My brother will come home late after “rehearsals” and my mother will shower her adulation upon him.

The day arrived and he was given a flag by my dad, special Prasad from my grandmother and “don’t be afraid, perform well” from my mother. We reached early to the venue and took the firsts of the seat. Finally the play began, the freedom fighters came and went and we couldn’t spot my brother. And finally there he was in “Daandi March” with Gandhiji as one of his follower among 100s of follower and shouting slogans! He came running to us once his part was finished and asked my mom if he performed well? And the answer was “yes, the best”. BTW, I still tease my brother for his role and as for my mother; she still has his photo in that white salwar kurta with the tricolor in his hand, safely in the family album.

Once we were visiting Delhi during Republic day and my grandfather took all of us kids to Raj path to show the republic day parade. It was an experience which we all kids can never forget. We all were sitting in the Raj path with our woolens on and enjoying every moment of the parade right from the tanks to the tableaux.

I remember this day because of my memoirs but with no cultural festivities in school and colleges on this day and we treating it as just another holiday, it’s difficult to say if our children will ever associate themselves with this occasion. I feel good that the Republic Day parade is there to remind them of this :)

There Is Something About Sheila

2011-01-12T23:35:00.005+05:30

Yes, there is surely something about Sheila that has bewitched almost everybody right from 5 to 51 years old . " Have you watched Sheila ki Jawani" yet ?" was the question i was getting from all the corners , when the item number was aired for the first time.And from then to till date it's all about " Sheila and her jawani " so much so that :

1. My otherwise Akon loving and Eminem grooving gym have started playing it on popular demand from gym fanatics.

2. My 5 year old nephew ask his father to play " Sheila ji ki jawani" again and again in his car stereo and croons " m tu zexxy fore u " , much to the embarrassment of his dad and confusion for the rest that whom exactly did he mean by " Sheila ji" ;) .

3. The cliched " best" DJ in the city ,especially called from UK for the New Year bash ,end the party by playing the only bollywood number of the evening and that is none other then Saadi " Sheila".

4. My colleague who don't know much of Hindi come and ask me for " Sheila ki jawani " song ;)

5. It's the only song which acts as a pacifier in my office cab for the otherwise fighting co passengers for Hindi , Kannada , English radio channel .

6. Management graduate doing branding analysis of " Sheila ki jawani " Vs. " Munni badnaam hui" :D.

7. And lastly a surge of forward mails on Sheila :P as follows:

Reasons Why Prefer ‘Sheela’ Over ‘Munni’
1. Branding:
Munni is bad-nam But Sheela is jawaan

2. Place Of Performance:
Munni danced In some desi daru ka adda where as Sheela danced In some
metropolitan disco

3. Demand And Supply Concept:
Munni is offering herself easily (Refer Line – Darling Tere Liye) so huge supply
and demand will be limited.Where as Sheela isn’t available easily (Refer Line-
Tere Haath Kabhi Na Aani) So low supply ,huge demand

4. Dance Style:
Munni repeated age old ‘Latka Jhatka’. Where as Sheela dance with Drumbeats

Agar “Sheela” thodey din pehlay jawan hoti.
Toh aaj “Munni” Itni badnam na hoti ;)

And the best , outside a gym :D

Welcome 2011 !

2011-01-11T09:38:00.012+05:30

Wish you all a very happy new year!

I was thinking of writing this post from past 10 days and somehow the laziness again crept on me. But no, not again as I have resolved to be more regular at this space this year (Oops! I hope it does not die as my other new resolutions already have ;)).

New Year festivity ends with the same fervor that it had started with. Like you dance and get sloshed on 31st just to get up with a bad hangover on the very first day of the year only to resolve that this year you will try to be more sober.Many other such resolutions are broken as soon as you have started implementing it.

Talking of facts and stats:

1. 8000 + people gathered and celebrated New Year at the famous M.G road of Bangalore and Bangalore got up on the New year finding 6500 + alcohol bottles and thousands of cigarette stubs there , which took 6.5 hrs to clean the stretch !

2. Most of the resolutions die their natural / psychological death within 7 days!

3. The most common top three resolutions are:

Quitting smoking

Reducing weight

Spending more time with family & friends

As for my resolutions I have already broken one and I should better not mention the rest as by the time you all will read it few of them would have already been broken ;)

Let this New Year be free of all the resolution we cannot keep ;) and full of luck, laughter, love and happiness!!! Wish you a very Happy 2011 once again!

Of Santa & Secret Santa

2010-12-24T22:02:00.001+05:30

It’s Christmas time again and I can sense it with all of the Christmas decoration around me. Even my team’s cubicle in office is decorated with a nice Christmas tree, balloons and other decorative stuff. And the excitement is evident not just because everybody is celebrating Christmas but because it’s the time for homemade wine and cake from my big boss and also , since this time our team (which has inflated to a good 100 + from last year’s 30s) is celebrating “ Secret Santa” and people are more excited about getting gifts from their respective secret Santa then gifting one to their “ secret child” ( no, no it’s not what you are thinking , it’s supposed to be the person whom you are secret Santa to ;) ). And I was secret Santa to a guy whom I didn’t know. So while rest of the people were playing guessing game by giving different clues to their secret child I was just sitting clueless about what to do and what to give. Finally i bought a coffee mug for the guy along with some mints. BTW this entire exercise was fun for at least some of the people as they get some or the other gift almost every day along with some puzzles to find out who their secret Santa was (except for me :(). So today when everybody reached office they either found some gifts in their desk or some puzzles to solve to get the gifts from their respective Santa and again I got none. I checked my desk, drawer and my mailbox from time to time with no success. And then when I lost hope and about to go home, I finally got my gift :) . It was a cute bunny and I loved it:) . Though I still don’t know who my secret Santa but then that’s the beauty of it!!

P.S: Saw two people (from different teams) dressed up as Santa (with their beard on too) smoking at smoking zone! Be careful Santa ;) .

A tale of two distressed souls

2010-12-13T22:59:00.003+05:30

After my daily purchase of vegetables and milk I collected my bags from the guard who manages the baggage counter of Reliance Fresh. He passed a smile to me and i returned it. No, no it is not a love story in making ;) in fact it’s a signature for “sorry” which we give to each other whenever we meet. It all started one fateful day when i was in a very foul mood. I had a terrible day and one of my colleagues was accompanying me after office. We went to Reliance fresh (with me cribbing as usual) when the guard (i think he replaced the other guard the same day) stopped my colleague asking for his laptop bag. He told the guard that his laptop, wallet and everything else is inside and that he don’t find it safe to leave it there. Even after a lot of persuasion from our side the guard was still adamant. Finally my colleague left the bag with him. Now it was my turn. I was just carrying a handbag with my Tiffin, cell phone, money and OTHER stuff inside. He asked me to leave it at the counter and that was it. I bluntly replied that shall i take my money in my hand leaving my bag there. He didn’t say anything and i started to move inside. He shouted that i cannot take it inside as it has Tiffin boxes and i shouted back saying that do i look like a thief. My colleague interrupted saying that if he want he can check my bag once i am leaving the store. I said i won’t give my bag for checking , since no rule says that you cannot take your handbag inside the store. I just barged inside the shop and the guard followed me shouting. I turned back and then i said which i shouldn’t have said at all and which I regret till now “Shut up”in full volume and then he shouted back “ kya boli, phir bol” . My colleague and other guard on duty inside the store acted as pacifiers. My colleague took the guard outside and started pacifying him. And the guard inside the store started pacifying me with both saying the same thing to the guard and myself “He/ She had a terrible day at work today and he/she is in a very foul mood. We are sorry from their side, hope you will understand” . And yes, we understood. So much so that the very next day when i visited the store again (and was actually very embarrassed of my last day’s behaviour) and met each other we just exchanged a warm smile without uttering any word. Till now i don’t have enough courage to go up to him and say “sorry “for my behaviour that day but I know for sure that he has forgiven me and that i can in his smile and perhaps he in mine .

What's cooking : Carrot Halwa ;)

2010-12-07T10:42:00.000+05:30

Winters remind me of the only thing which I love most of this weather and that is “Gaajar ka halwa” .Usually I used to be at home during winters and relish the delicacy made by my mom .Though, my mom would only make it if and only if we (i.e. the children) grate the carrots and the reward was the one who will grate the most will get the biggest portion ;). Obviously , no one used to do it apart from me as my siblings believed that their outdoor activities are more worth then that (That’s also one of the reason of my being more on a “ chubbier”(obviously I myself won’t accept my being fat ;)) side.

So, this weekend I tried it for the first time all by myself. BTW, it’s better be called as “carrot halwa” as I made it out of orange carrots instead of the red one , as you rarely get red carrot here in Bangalore(BTW , I never knew that they call it Delhi carrot over here ;)). This recipe is for bachelors like me ;), who can make it with least resources (like processor, oven, proper pans and all) and in least possible time.

So, let’s start cooking ;)

Ingredients:

Carrots, half kg (enough for 4 people if you eat desserts like dessert ;))
2 teaspoon ghee
½ ltrs. Milk
Almonds, Raisins and Cardamom
1\4 can of milkmaid (It’s very difficult to get Khoya here so I used milkmaid instead)
Sugar (“ Swaadanusaar” by that I mean , put some sugar and then taste if it’s fine if not add more and if it’s more then of course sweets are supposed to be “ Sweet”;))

Method:
Grate the carrot (preferably use a processor else you will find yourself with Band-Aids in most of the fingers ;)) and put the milk to boil along with some cardamom. Boil some water and soak almonds and raisin in it. Then, heat the ghee in a thick bottomed pan (preferably a kadhai) and put the grated carrots in it. Stir the mixture until water is dried up, and then add the milk to it. Peel the almonds and slice it and add it along with raisins to the mixture. Cook over medium heat and stir the mixture occasionally to prevent any sticking till 3/4th milk gets dried up. Add sugar and again stir the mixture till milk starts drying up. At this point add milkmaid and stir the mixture to prevent any sticking. Once all the milk has dried up keep it aside, decorate with dry fruits and serve it hot.

Donate With Dignity

2010-11-25T19:43:00.001+05:30

I looked at my college sweatshirt and again that nostalgia occurred which occurs almost every time I take it out of the box. Memories, I tell you, don’t let you leave so many things and the result is my box full of clothes, which I haven’t worn since ages and probably won’t ever wear again. There was my college sari which I didn’t let my mom give it to our maid. A grey scarf, which I used to wear in school. A jacket for which I and my sister fought almost every day, since my uncle just got one as a gift and mom asked us to share it among our self ;) . My favorite kurta which I got from my first salary and cannot wear anymore as it doesn’t fit me. My mom’s handmade sweater with a doll holding an umbrella, which I had worn since I was in class 12th and now cannot wear because it’s never so cold here in Bangalore. I would have almost closed the box once again but this time I decided not to. How long can you clutch them and not let go. Probably this is the time to part. I ironed them and put it in a bag and wrote “ Goon j “ on the top.

Every year just before Diwali, my office administration sends a mail to all the employees asking them to donate generously to “Goonj” not in cash but clothes. The mail is always titled as “Donate with Dignity” meaning donate only those clothes which can be used by somebody, not the one which are torn and almost unusable. Goonj had been founded by Anshu Gupta. The NGO collects clothes through various channels, sort them, mend / repair them and then dispatch them based on geographical and cultural need. Torn clothes are used for making various things like school bags, mats, baby sheets, undergarments and even sanitary napkins.

You can find more information on their website http://www.goonj.org

When I was young, I and my sister used to wait for my aunt (my dad’s elder sister) to visit us. She had three daughters (all elder to us) and used to bring their clothes (since they used to outgrow them almost every year). We used to get almost new and stylish clothes (as my cousins were in their teens and used to be our role models right from dressing to almost everything else ;)) and would be very happy. So, this time when I opened my box I decide to keep the memories and distribute the happiness. I decided to “ Donate” , “ Donate with Dignity” .

So what if you don't have a man?

2010-11-13T23:58:00.004+05:30

Read it in today's TOI and really really liked this article. So ,i decided to put it in my blog .

Disclaimer : This works is a production of " The Times of India" . This article is work of the writer of column for TOI.

Are you SAS( Single, Attractive, successful)?Or a woman of a certain age (i.e. Middle) on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Because whoever you are and whatever state you'r in , surly you occasionally feel that other woman have it easier. Married women look at single friends and think " Lucky cow. All that room in the bed and no arguments about remote control". singletons gets frustrated by turning up to the parties alone and wondering who'll look after them when they are ill . Mothers feel torn to pieces, pulled every which way by their kids , work and partner- if they have one. The childless hit their late 30s and get a yen for teeny socks and plastic toys.The truth is no one's life is perfect. No woman has it completely easy Not even Kelly Brook , and she's well , Kelly Brook. As radiant as young Liz Taylor and , as of now, free and single. But even Kelly must have moments of self doubt . She gets slated enoughto bring on: for being able to hold on to a man(she's only 30) and for taking her clothes off for playboy. Kelly, though seems to be doing all right. She's canny enough to concentrate on her carrer when it looks like it going place . Then there are women like Jennifer Anitson , Kylie Minouge, Cameron Diaz . The se women are doing fantastically well. They are beautiful, successful, happy and have preety good love-lives. They are not all in relationships , but so what? They have been, with some gorgeous men , and will be again.

But it seems every famous woman, no matter what how fantastic , is still defined by certain things . How she looks . And if she is settled down and spawned. But can't a woman be herself, whether or not she's ticked certain conversational boxes?Famous women are , by definition, successful:they would't be famous otherwise. So horray for them . They shoud crow about theit luck , not be glum over their sad lives. Bexause that's allit is , really , Luck. Some people are lucky enough to meet a life partner, some have children ; some are born beautiful;some make right carrer choices.

Why aren't women allowed to concentrate on the good things in life , rather than where we've supposdly fallen short? You are not a failure if you don't have it all . You are human , that's much more intresting. Relish the joy in our lives and stop picking over the rest.

Courtesy : The Times of India, Bangalore Times,13-Nov-2010.

Lemon Fresh on Diwali

2010-11-06T21:03:00.002+05:30

Wish you all a very Happy diwali!I hope you all have celebrated with bursting lots of crackers , putting up colorful rangoli at your place , doing pooja and ofcourse stuffing lot of sweets( i don't want to feel guilty all alone , so please say yess!). As for me, i didn't celebrated much as i was alone at home . My roomie went home and my sister has office ( thanks to the great "O" of outsourcing). I did perform Pooja , cleaned the house , decorated it , lit my place with diyas , candles and light . Alas , all alone:(.

But in the morning i visited my cousins's place . It was her son's naming ceremony. My cousin and her husband are new to Bangalore and still setting up the place.They however arranged for the priest , but he knew very little hindi and english, so most of the pooja actually happened with sign languages ;) . After the pooja it was time to put the boy's name. And the alphabet was "V" . My cousin and her husband being an "IT" couple has already taken the help of Kundali software and has come up with their own version of kundali and the letter which the kundali has suggested was different from "V" . So when the priest asked them to suggest three names starting with "v" , they asked him to wait for a while and started googling(IT couple right!) :P. They started reading name mentioned in the site one by one to take everybody's opinion. One word was " Vishnu" to which the priest exclaimed " Achha" , " God Vishnu" " good name" . My cousin said that it's good but they want to put a little modern name.The priest replied immediately " Vishnu Vardhana"!!! Another word came up " Videsh" , again the priest said "Good " " foreign jaayega" !!!.Few other words were too common , too oldfashioned and sometimes too girlish ;) . Few of the comic suggestions were" Virappan" and "Villian". After half an hour of struggle , they put it as "Vivaan" . Parents were happy, we were happy , Baby Vivaan also seemed happy and ofcourse the priest too was happy after we told him that "Vivaan" stands for lord Krishna! So, i think that the key take away from this "Lemon Fresh" (Sorry for using such a technical phrase! i work in IT you know !!) was that when you are expecting child , atleast pick up 3 names each from all of the alpahbets for both boys and girls ( as Sex determination is illegal and you should respect the law but also let there be a bit of surprise ;)). Lets welcome little " Vivaan" and wish him all the best for his future.

Confession of a confused soul :(

2010-11-02T01:30:00.006+05:30

So i am back again and this time it's a good two months . It's never like i didn't want to write or that i am too busy with things. It's just that i felt a bit lost somewhere . Lets call it an introspection phase. Where you know that you are thinking about something but you are clueless about it. Confused?? Yes me too . So what i did in this introspection phase ? Well, i did think about where i have been,where i am and where i would be? Then read it somewhere that past is something which is long lost and future in unpredictable so just live in the present.So,my introspection zeroed down to my present and it's surly not like" everyday is a gift and that's why you call it present :P".

My present starts with an early morning ,where i always think about getting up @5 AM sharp to go to gym.But getting up realising that i am just not only too late for gym but also for catching office cab.Almost running to catch the bus and making all neighbours realise how good a sprinter i am( or for some " how can she be so late always) i catch the cab with " you are always late " glance from co-passengers.Then spending a fifth of a day travel to work and eating my heart out at breakfast(Eating always is a great stress buster). Reaching my desk and thinking about the last day argument(oops discussion) with boss,career path discussion with HR , a little serious discussion about " how i would like to put my energy on some other project which intrests me" discussion with big boss,his big no and my hopeless walk to my desk, where i am sitting just now. Then start doing something which i probably won't like but can't resist too and if i still want to do share all this grief online then wait.. blogger has been banned and so does the rest of " SOS" social sites.A few cribbing here and there @ lunch, tea and way back home.Shop my heart out on mood enhancing but self esteem reducing foods.Hogging on them while answering my roomies questions on being a "little chubby". Answriing my mom's calls too asking for an introspection again for current phase of life. Diverting mind off to idiot box or shall i say ekta kapoor box and realising that it's just adding more pain to my wounds.Switching off to facebook , further sneekingg into other's life and thinking if it could be mine ( when the truth is that they would be thinking the same).Desparate to pour out my emotion vsomewhere and here i am penning it down @1.30 in night . knowing for sure that i would be getting up late tomorrow again , missing gym and henceforth.

Confused .. so am i! Wish to be more regular at this space i hope i could.

Lemon Fresh from Office

2010-09-02T15:46:00.002+05:30

It was just another grim meeting of project when our PM asked (in hindi) one of the team member about a deliverable which has to be sent yesterday. Our dear friend, who has learnt Hindi through few of his Hindi speaking friends and some typical Mumbai masala films and who still need to be corrected for his improper use of nouns , pronouns and rest of grammar, replied “diya na main kal tere ko, tere mailbox me atak gaya hoga ”. This one liner caused a red sheen on my PM’s cheek, a screwed smile on our face and a proud expression on my dear friend’s face who just replied to his PM’s question in Hindi. :P

After A While

2010-08-31T11:34:00.004+05:30

It’s been a long time since I have written over here (almost two months!). I almost missed to write about so many things, my blog’s first birthday (Yes, it’s almost a year since I have started writing yippee!) and also my birthday (and I realized that I am growing old), movie which I wanted to see so much (Eclipse), my shift to a flat (after spending almost 2 yrs in a PG) and my first trip to States. Phewww… the one thing which has really taken a lot of time was house hunting (and I think it deserve a separate post, which I will write soon) and then making house a home. But now I decided to be regular here and I am all set for that, just wishing Mr. Balaji to fix my broadband connection soon so that I can start scribing again ;)

Confession of a Tea-a-holic II : Adieu

2010-07-02T14:28:00.003+05:30

From today I am not receiving my favorite tea at my desk because my company decided to cancel the contract for handmade tea and coffee and replace it with much popular (and criticized) machine tea and coffee. Yesterday was the last day of “Mallesh bhaiyya (the person who serves tea on our floor)” and he gave the last handmade tea to us by telling that tomorrow he is leaving for Kerala (his native) .It was a very nostalgic moment as he was the one serving tea to us from past so many years. He will serve tea to us at 9.30 in the morning (as if telling us to leave early morning laziness and start working) and at 3 in the evening (awakening us from the after lunch syndrome). Requests for an extra cup of tea or special tea (without sugar or coffee with less milk) were seldom entertained.A few health conscious people would give their green tea bags and honey to him and he will provide special tea at your desk. He knew the preferences of everybody in the floor , whether it’s tea for me, coffee for Mr. Narasimhan , badam milk for Anil or boost for Vishnu . If you are suffering from common cold, he will give you a cup of piping hot milk so that you can add turmeric to it and drink. Yesterday was his last day (and so was the last day of my fav brew) and we gave him farewell by gifting him a shirt and a watch. His place has been taken by a glitzy coffee machine, which serves you a variety of coffee like cappuccino, espresso and latte (which most of the time tastes the same) but serves you a tea which is too frothy and too western. I so much missed my ginger tea and coffee drinkers missed their typical south Indian filter coffee.

Today morning I too joined the queue (which was never there earlier) in the pantry for getting tea and saw everybody giving same disappointed looks to the coffee machine. Everybody was missing the smiling face of Mallesh Bhaiyaa, his warm “Good Mornings “and also their favorite brew. Today, I realized that technology comes with certain disadvantages too and some things can never be replaced by machine. You can replace the entity but you can’t replace emotions.

Why Women are Complicated

2010-06-22T14:29:00.005+05:30

Got this forward and couldn't resist to put it here.

PS: I strongly oppose "women being complicated" ;) What's your say ??

The FIFA Fever

2010-06-11T17:16:00.005+05:30

I could see the world cup fever catching up from the month start. Newspapers started with a world cup special page and even my favorite page 3 papers were not spared with it. My inbox started receiving world cup forwards whether it’s the schedule, top players or link to websites catering to the world cup news and I faithfully forwarded them across( so that I can delete them and relieve my inbox with space crunch) . Alas, people mistook my sending FIFA forwards to them as my being an ardent football fan and I got more forwards back. Sorry going back to the football fever conversation, as soon as the K’naan’s ‘waving song’ soundtrack was released I could hear it all across my office bay (as ringtones) and also as dialer tones(though I should confess that I love this song!!). Today (being Friday a casual wear day), I could see people wearing different team’s jersey to show their support to teams. My friends asked me which team I am supporting ? Which obviously I took as most embarrassing question as I rarely know which team play better apart from some famous few like Brazil or Argentina(which I think everybody would be supporting ;) . Hence, to be on a safe side I replied Greece (Nop , I really like Greece as Greek man are considered most handsome ;) ) . As if this question was not enough they asked me who my favorite player is. Gotcha!!! . Now, this was more embarrassing then the first question. I know only few players like Beckham (who is not playing), Zidane(who I think is retires now) and Ronaldo( God knows if he is still there :| ).Thankfully somebody took the conversation to some other track and I was spared. Coming back to my bay I can see people leaving early so as to get some beers and catch up with the first match today. This weekend, outings (if any) are surly going to be in some sports bar. Anyways, I have decided to follow this world cup devotedly (so that I can answer some basic question at least). Though I don’t have any favorite team as yet but I just wish that the best team wins.

At last the final words before the world cup begins :)

Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets are, exaliftin , as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration its around us, every nation, all around us

Singin forever young, singin songs underneath that sun
Lets rejoice in the beautiful game.
And together at the end of the day.

WE ALL SAY

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom Just like a wavin’ flag
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
- K'Naan

Pic courtesy :eazysong.blogspot.com

Different Faces of love

2010-06-01T17:02:00.003+05:30

Read news in TOI sometime back about a grandmother becoming a surrogate for her daughter’s baby. But, I am not talking about surrogacy or the ethical issues involving that in my post here. It is about unconditional love between the daughter and her husband. The lady has been born without a uterus. This doesn’t deter her husband (then a lover) to marry her especially in a community where bearing a child is considered to be your foremost duty.

The second one, (which again I read in TOI) is about a guy who discovers that he has cancer just few months before his marriage. He undergoes treatment for cancer while his friends speculated about his marriage, especially, since it was only months (as it was an arranged alliance) that they know each other and have started chatting. But to everybody’s surprise the guy told them that the girl insists on marrying him despite his denial after his cancer episode and want him to go for sperm banking.
But then every story doesn’t have a happy ending. The one which I am writing about happened to one of my known. She was engaged and about to get married when one day while on her way back home she got strangled in the bus door and came under the bus. She was saved though she lost one of her leg. While she was lying unconscious in the hospital, oblivious to the fact that she has lost her leg, her to be in-laws and fiancée didn’t waste a single moment to cancel the marriage.

I never thought of putting this incident over here. But these two columns which I read in newspaper sometime back, forced me to write about it. I see her sometimes and wish to tell her not to worry about people from her past, there’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future.Perhaps they are just not worth it.Love deserves respect and you somebody better.

Alcohorscope : Your Drinking Personality

2010-05-27T09:55:00.005+05:30

Got this as a forward this morning and thought will share it with all my blog buddies. This post tells you your expected behaviour(based on your sunsign) after you get drunk ;) . Check this out :->

ARIES : Drinking style: Impulsive Aries people like to party and sometime sdon't know when to call it a night. Their competitive streak makes them prone to closing-time shot contests. They're sloppy, fun drunks, and they get mighty flirty after a couple tipples. Getting Aries people drunk I sa good way to get what you want out of them, should other methods fail. Aries can become bellicose when blotto, but they will assume that whatever happened should be forgiven (if not forgotten) by sunrise. They can be counted on to do the same for you -- so long as you haven't gone and done anything really horrible to them last night, you sneaky Gemini.

TAURUS Drinking style : Taurus prefers to drink at a leisurely pace, aiming for a mellow glow rather than a full-on zonk. Since a truly intoxicated Taurus is a one-person stampede, the kind of bull-in-a-china-shop inebriate who spills red wine on white carpets and tells fart jokes to employers, the preference for wining and dining (or Bud and buddies) to body shots and barfing is quite fortunate for the rest of us. This is not to say thatthe Bull is by any means a teetotaler -- god, no. A squiffy Taurus will get, er, gregarious (full of loud mouth soup, some would say) and is extremely amusing to drag to a karaoke bar when intoxicated.

GEMINI Drinking style : Gemini’s can drink without changing their behavior much-- they're so naturally chatty and short-attention-spanned that it's just hard to tell sometimes. They can amaze you by conversing with finesse and allusion, then doing something to belie an extremely advanced state of intoxication, like puking in your shoe. Gemini’s possess the magic ability to flirt successfully (and uninfuriatingly, which is very tricky) with several people at once. They like to order different cocktails every round -- repetition is boring -- and may create a theme (like yellow drinks: beer, sauvignon blanc and limoncello) for their own amusement.

CANCER Drinking style : Cancer is a comfort drinker -- and an extra wine with dinner or an after-work beer or six can be extra comforting, can't it, Cancer darling? Like fellow water signs Scorpio and Pisces, Crabs must guard against lushery. Cancers are brilliant at ferreting out secret parties and insinuating themselves on VIP lists -- and, in true Hollywood style, Cancers are never really drunk; instead, they get "tired and emotional" (read: weepy when lubricated). But there’s nothing better than swapping stories (and spit) over a few bottles of inky red wine with your favorite Cancer. Even your second-favorite Cancer will do. The sign also rules the flavor vanilla, and you'd be adored if you served up a vanilla vodka and soda.

LEO Drinking style : Leo likes to drink and dance -- they're often fabulous dancers, and usually pretty good drinkers as well, losing their commanding dignity and turning kittenish. Of course, they're quite aware they're darling -Leos will be Leos, after all. They generally know their limit, probably because they loathe losing self-control. When they get over-refreshed, expect flirting to ensue -- and perhaps not with the one what rung them. But Leo's not the type to break rules even when drunk, so just try to ignore it (try harder, Cancer) and expects a sheepish (and hung over) Lion to make it up to you the next day.

VIRGO Drinking style : Cerebral Virgos are compelled to impose order onto their bender. Their famously fussy quest for purity could lead to drinking less than other signs, sure --but it could also lead to drinking booze neat, to sucking down organic wine or just to brand loyalty. They rarely get fully shellacked -- but, oh, when they do! Virgo's controlled by the intellect, but there’s an unbridled beast lurking within, and they let it loose when walloped. It's dead sexy (and surprisingly unsloppy). As one Virgo friend used to declare, "I'm going to drink myself into a low-level of intelligence tonight." A toast to the sub genius IQ!

LIBRA Drinking style : "I'm jusht a social drinker," slurs Libra, "it's jusht that I'm so damn social?" Libra loves nothing more than to party, mingle and relate to everyone. Whether dipped in favor of Good Libra (with Insta-Frienddevice set to "on") or heavier on the Evil Libra side (they are little instigators when bored), the Scales can really work a room. Charming as they are, Libras are notoriously lacking in self-control, however, which can get them into all sorts of trouble --including wearing their wobbly boots waaaay too early in the evening, flirting with every man/woman in the roomor even blacking out the night's events entirely. Oops!

SCORPIO Drinking style : Don't ever tell Scorpios they've had enough, for they’ll smirk at you and quietly but intentionally keep tippling till they're hog-whimpering drunk, out of 100-proof spite. Scorpios like to drink, and screw you if you have a problem with that. Most of them seethe sauce as something to savor in itself, and not asa personality-altering tool -- though if depressed, self-loathing Scorps seek total obliteration. But generally, they're fascinating drinking pals, brilliant conversationalists and dizzying flirts. They also remember everything -- especially what you did when you were blitzed. Only drink with a Scorpio who likes you.

SAGITTARIUS Drinking style : In vino veritas -- and, for Sagittarius, in booze blurtiness: When buttered, they'll spill all your secrets and many of their own. Tactlessness aside, Sagittarius is just plain fun to drink with. This is a sign of serious partying (what else would you expect from the sign of Sinatra, Keith Richards, the Bush twins and Anna Nicole Smith?). They're the people who chat up everyone in the room, then persuade the entire crowd to travel somewhere else -- like a nightclub, or a playground, or Cancun. Good-natured hijinks are sure to ensue (including a high possibility of loopy groping; spontaneous Sag is a brilliant booty call).

CAPRICORN Drinking style : Capricorn is usually described as practical, steadfast, money-hungry and status-thirsty -- no wonder they get left off the astrological cocktail-party list. But this is the sign of David Bowie and Annie Lennox, not to mention Elvis. Capricorn is the true rock star: independent, powerful and seriously charismatic, not too eager to please. And if they make money being themselves, who’re you to quibble? But just like most rock stars, they’re either totally on or totally off, and they generally need a little social lubricant to loosen up and enjoy the after party, especially if they can hookup with a cute groupie.

AQUARIUS Drinking style : Aquarius and drinking don't go together that well(except for water, that is). They have an innate tendency toward know-it-allism, and if they get an idea while sizzled, they're more stubborn than a stain or a stone. If they're throwing a party or organizing an outing, however, they're too preoccupied with their duties to get combative -- and they make perfectly charming drunks in that case. Fortunately, they’re usually capital drink-nursers. They also make the best designated drivers (if you can get them before they start raising their wrist):Aquarius is fascinated by drunk people and capable of holding interesting conversations with soused strangers while sober.

PISCES Drinking style : If you're a Pisces, you've probably already heard that you share a sign and an addictive personality --with Liz Taylor, Lisa Minnelli and Kurt Cobain. Not only do Pisces like to lose themselves in the dreamy, out-there feeling that only hooch can give, but they build up a mighty tolerance fast. Who needs an expensive date like that? On the other hand, they’re fabulously enchanting partners, whether in conversation or in crime. With the right Pisces, you can start out sharing a pitcher of margaritas and windup in bed together for days. The phrase "addictive personality" can be read two ways, you know. ...

Disclaimer: Got it as a forward, so don't know the source of this post.But whosoever is the author , kudos to him.

BTW it's my 50th post. Cheers to blogging !!!!

Indian Male and Teamwork: A Psychoanalysis

2010-05-18T11:12:00.002+05:30

Damn, it still sounds like many of the presentations which I make everyday. I thought about a lot of names for this post (which includes “Psychoanalysis of Indian male and its association with team work” . Ha, that sounds like some typical, complicated and out of the world stuff) and zeroed on this and I promise, that it is not that complicated to understand as it sounds ;) . Please, bear with me.

Read this in “India Unbound “by Gurcharan Das and found very interesting. It’s about poor teamwork prevalent in Indian society that time (Somewhere around mid 50s).One of the probable reason explained by one of the psychologist was:

It begins with the Indian bride, who is not fully accepted in her husband’s home until she produces a male child. She is so grateful when a son is born that she indulges him to excess. As the boy grows up, he remains close to the mother and distant from the father. The end result is that boy grows up narcissistic and has a weak ego. He is less comfortable on his own. He needs appreciative, older, hierarchical figures, even late in his professional life. His relationship tends to be vertical and ‘control oriented’, and he is not good at forming horizontal, cooperative relationships with his peers. This translates into poor teamwork.
But since, Indian society is changing. More woman are working , and there is less time to overindulge the male child ; so perhaps there is hope that the Indian male will grow up with a healthier ego and be a better team player.

How was that? Interesting analysis right? I think that can be one reason (obviously apart from their hard work) of finding women at top in the corporate ladder nowadays and their being a good team player. ;). An era of suppression and discrimination had actually made us a good team player ;)

Happy Weekend

2010-05-14T17:55:00.011+05:30

It’s going to be a long weekend. Friends are out to attend colleague’s wedding, out of the town to meet friends or simply working on the weekend. My sister, who always complains about not spending enough time (which includes our different office timings and different holidays in week) with her, informed me that she is also working on the weekend. Poor me then decided to turn up to my best friend for life, which has always given me a shoulder to lean upon in solitude.

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. ~Charles W. Eliot

Books truly are our best friends and I have a huge backlog to cover. This includes:

I stopped reading typical romantic novels (which includes mills & Boon) a long time back, perhaps, simply realizing that it has more of a fairytale (apart from Sex) and knights in shining armor, which perhaps gives you a lot of excitement to think about your prince charming while growing up and then, you grow up only to realize that there is nothing as knight or fairytales. You then reach to wrong sides of twenty and your interest shifts to the books which appeal you more. Like “Bridget jone’s diary “ , “ You are here” or “ Almost single” . My interest shifted so drastically to them that I bought all three of them at the same time.” Message in a bottle” was my first proper romantic novel after “Twilight series”(I prefer to categorize it as romantic rather than fantasy) which, my cousin (aged 14) taunted is to be read only by teens  . But I think there should be no restriction on the kind of book you read. I have started with Harry potter when I was in graduation and I know of many grown up people still reading “Tintin”. Nowadays I love reading books which includes biographies and auto biographies. I am getting old I think ;). I haven’t got a good book to read from quite some time. As they say “To choose a good book, look in an inquisitor’s prohibited list.” So, I asked my colleague to help me with selecting books for my weekend and here is what I got:

That place that does contain
My books, the best companions, is to me
A glorious court, where hourly I converse
With the old sages and philosophers;
And sometimes, for variety, I confer
With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels;
Calling their victories, if unjustly got,
Unto a strict account, and, in my fancy,
Deface their ill-placed statues.
~Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher

Happy Reading ;)

To Mom, With Love

2010-05-10T17:59:00.002+05:30

I wished my mother on mother’s day yesterday and realized how easy it is for us to show us all our love towards her on a single day and in just three simple words “I love you” Mom. We will take her out for dinner or purchase her a gift or spent our day being with her or simply call her up and wish her and we are done. I still remember when my brother on her birthday sent her a birthday card and it remained there on her bedside table for almost a year and then got shifted to our family album. She will always pack my bags while leaving home for Pune and on unpacking I will find all the stuff which I had asked her not to pack (like chavanprash, almonds, ghee etc.). How much you say that you are going to a CITY and you will get all these stuff there still she will make sure that you have it. There is so much of love on her part which cannot be summed in these three words but will always be expressed through her never dying and unselfish love.
This song is my dedication to my mom. "More Than Words" is a ballad written by and originally performed by the rock band Extreme. Though it’s a perfect romantic song but sums the situation well. Here it goes:

Saying "I love you"
Is not the words I want to hear from you
It's not that I want you
Not to say, but if you only knew how easy
It would be to show me how you feel

More than words
Is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
'Cause I'd already know

What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real

What would you say if I took those words away
Then you couldn't make things new
Just by saying "I love you"

More than words

Now but I've tried to talk to you
And make you understand
All you have to do is close your eyes
And just reach out your hands
And touch me
Hold me close, don't ever let me go

More than words
Is all I ever needed you to show
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
'Cause I'd already know

What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real

What would you say if I took those words away
When you couldn't make things new
Just by saying "I love you"

More than words
More than words
More than words
More than words
More than words

Confession of a Tea-a-holic

2010-05-07T14:49:00.007+05:30

Has it ever occurred to you that your mornings just don’t start without a hot cup of tea? Or you just wait for clock to stuck 3 so that you can have your favorite brew after lunch? or you feel that something is missing if you don’t get your favorite cuppa in the evening. So, if you suffer from any of the above syndromes then surly you are a tea-a-holic .

My tryst with tea started when I was doing my post graduation. A hectic 9-8 schedule, sleepy lectures and time outs with friends made me addictive to it. This really surprised my mom, since, living in a place which has coldest winters never made me fall for it. A lot of contribution goes to my friends who just laughed off the very first time I told them “I don’t drink tea” and that was the last time I said it. So much so, that me and my roomie E used to go to small Tapri (popularly known as Dilip Bhau ki tapri) outside our college to get the best cutting for just Rs. 3.Being in Bangalore has deprived me of my favorite brew. Firstly, the tea doesn’t taste tea over here and secondly it’s damn too expensive. I even tried switching to filter coffee but still it couldn’t replace my dearest tea.
Though, it doesn’t enjoy the kind of attention its half sister coffee enjoys with lots of dedicated coffee chains and numbers of television shows on its name but still, there would surely be some of these “tea moments” in everybody’s life:
-Nonstop tea and nonstop chats in canteen
-During exams, when tea along with sugar and milk powder will be stocked to help you
stay awake for late hours.
-Having tea and looking at the rain outside your window
-Having Batata/Kaanda Bhaji with hot cuppa tea in a cold evening

Also,if you are bored off meeting your friends over a cup of coffee at some suburban coffee outlet then try “Cuppa”. It is an outlet dedicated specifically for tea lovers. It boasts of 32 varieties of tea ranging from exquisite Assam and Sri Lankan tea to our very own cutting and masala tea. Don’t forget that tea has its health benefits too. So, a cuppa or two won’t do any harm. Cheers to all tea lovers!!

What personality is that blog?

2010-05-05T17:52:00.002+05:30

Hated being away from this for such a longggg time and really really hated it. Time just sped by giving some sweet memories to cherish and some sad to forget about.Hah but that's life. Anyways, come across this nice tool Typealyzer that unravel the personality of a blog writer through the use of words on the blog. This is what it says about me. What does your blog say about you? Put your blog url to find out!

ESFP - The Performers
The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Trip to Pondicherry !

2010-03-17T12:31:00.033+05:30

I went to pondicheery 2 weeks back and from then i was thinking to write about it. All the contribution for delay goes to huge size of pics and my efforts of reducing them to the size which can be fitted to my blog.
My trip was totally unplanned. A friend's birthday party at 12 in the night lead to this idea and i was literally picked out of my bed at 1.We left bangalore by 1.30(after a bit of packing and lot of "are you sure"') and reached Pondicherry at 7 in the morning . Road was awsome(Nh-7)though once we took a wrong route and has to come a long way back.
The first 2 pics were the first one clicked on the way after entering Tamilnadu.And what can it be apart from amma's when you find her smiling all through your ways. The morning sun though was nice;)

Took a break and saw this old fort early morning.Had breakfast at Le cafe on beach road. It's a bit expensive though , so if you are hungary and want to hog on then can go to A2B.

Beach road gives you a nice view to the great arabian sea. just stroll there for a while and enjoy.

Pick up a map from pondicheery tourism if possible and rent up a two-wheeler(which you get at a very reasonable rate) else you would be easily robbed by autowallahs.

BTW , Pondicheery is known as Puducherry now(which i realised only after reaching there). It's a former french colony,hence,there is a lot of French architecture to be seen around the city right from churches to houses to restaurnats to hotels to houses.

You can find a tinge of France in food you eat to the wine you drink(anywez we went on a dry day so can't tell you about this) to the names of places around

Try sea food there.You will get every thing right from fish to crab to prawns to lobster to shrimps to sharks to anything which you havn't even heard before(as for me, i don't like sea food ugghhh). Had lunch a Rendezvous(and telling you Bamgalore Rendezvous is much much better then that)and didn't find it great.

Visited Shri aurbindo Ashram,Museaum,Auroville and Auroville beach.Auroville beach is very clean as compared to the ones which you are used of seeing in metros;), but i think the best is the paradise beach, which unluckly we didn't visit :( .

Auroville Ashram boast of a huge campus with a huge golden dome.You can easily spot lotta foreigners on your way to the ashram. Also , do shop for some junk jewellery, silver and hippie cotton stuff.

Through with all sightseeing , had dinner at a restaurant at beach road , strolled on the road aside the arabian sea for a while. Beleive me the sea looks even more beautiful at the night and so does the full moon.Drove back to bangalore the same night(which means two sleepless nights)and reached by morning. Thank god it was sunday . I slept like a log the entire day :).

Sorry missed Aliance Francaise pic here . Will put it soon;)

An Ex-Wife's Revenge....

2010-03-11T10:58:00.004+05:30

I received this forward early morning today and just loved it. So thought will put it in my blog.Many of you must have read it.For those who haven't,here it is ::

She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.
On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things.
On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining room table by candlelight, put on some soft background music and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar and a bottle of Chardonnay.
When she had finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimp dipped in caviar, into the hollow of the curtain rods.
She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.
When the husband returned with his new girlfriend, all was bliss for the first few days.
Then slowly, the house began to smell. They tried everything; cleaning, mopping and airing the place out.
Vents were checked for dead rodents and carpets were steamed.
Air Fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which they had to move out for a few ays, and in the end even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting.
Nothing worked. People stopped coming over to visit. Repairmen refused to work in the house. The maid quit.
Finally, they could not take the stench any longer and decided to move.
A month later, even though they had cut their price in half, they could not find a buyer for their stinky house.
Word got out and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls.
Finally, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place..
The ex-wife called the man and asked how things were going. He told her the saga of the rotting house.
She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly, and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for getting the house back.
Knowing his ex-wife had no idea how bad the smell was, he agreed on a Price that was about 1/10th of what the house had been worth, but only if she were to sign the papers that very day.
She agreed and within the hour his lawyers delivered the paperwork.
A week later the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home....
.
.
.
.
including the curtain rods.
I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING, DON'T YOU?????

A little voice against domestic violence

2010-03-04T14:12:00.007+05:30

I asked my friends to read this poem before I put it on my blog. After reading a few lines they stopped. Some stopped when I told them it’s about domestic violence. Some said it’s too sad, some said it’s too negative. But have we ever thought about them who go through this nightmare almost every day.
I was just going through various blogs when I reached this blog http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/is-a-known-devil-really-better/ and read that article, thereby deciding that I would write about it. But more than writing, this sensitive topic need a lot of support from all of us. Join hands with “bell bajao “campaign to show that you care.

It started,
After that “live happily ever after”
Assaulting my soul, robbing my laughter.
I remember your first slap and the day I got hit,
I thought it’s just an anger bout and you didn’t mean it,
But it shattered my dreams of a happily married life.
That was the first time when I died.

Then started what they call domestic violence and abuse,
My bruises and scars say everything which my tongue refused.
I walked to my parents and begged for refuge,
Just think of our reputation and your siblings was their excuse.
They told me by time my suffering will subside,
That was the second time when I died.

I waited and hoped that it will get over,
May be a baby will make him a bit sober.
I realized I was wrong when he hit me again,
But I couldn’t cry this time as my baby will see my pain.
I have to bear this for his sake,
He needs a father my life is already a wreck.
Tears blurred my eyes and I silently cried,
That was the third time when I died.

Here I lay in a big white room,
Waiting for what everybody call doom.
They came and sympathized that I will die,
But it seems so better then my SOS cries.
They don’t know that I have died so many a times,
This physical death will lead me to divine.
Where I would have no obligations no sacrifice,
I can live what they call life.

Pic courtesy:http://bellbajao.org/resources/

Is it possible to love two people at the same time, equally and romantically?

2010-03-03T10:12:00.001+05:30

This is the question of the month from D. As for my answer,yes,I think it is possible to love two people at the same time, but not eually and romantically. You always bound to love one person more. May be you won’t realise it at that time and think that you love both but with time you will realise the other was just an infatuation or crush and actually never existed in your heart.

My South Indian Connection

2010-02-24T15:42:00.003+05:30

I entered late in the class and looked for a place nearest to my friends when I find her sitting alone. I asked her if I can sit there. Her reply was a BIG no. She is waiting for her friend to come she said. After some days, the scene repeated again. This time she said I can sit with her. I saw she has put her bag between us. I asked her if she can put it somewhere else. “Is it uncomforting” she asked? “No, I feel it signifies that you want to keep distance from person sitting with you” I said. She obliged and here starts my friendship with Pavi.

We were just opposite (and it includes from being two opposite part of country too) and I think that was one thing that complemented our friendship. “Are you a south Indian” I asked her surprisingly one day to which she nodded. “But your name is very short and you speak awesome Marathi and flawless Hindi” I said. She told me that she was born and brought up in Pune and that is the reason behind her good command over Marathi and Hindi. And after that like a typical north Indian I asked “so you are from Chennai (thank god I didn’t say madras)” and that’s where she exploded,” You know being a south Indian doesn’t always mean that you are from Chennai, like being a north Indian won’t always mean that you are a Punjabi. There are four different states in south with different languages and culture. Can you name me all the four states along with their capital”? I told her that the farthest south I have ever travelled is Pune, after that she made me memorize all the four states along with their capital and the language spoken there. She asked me this question continuously till our last day in college just to make sure that I don’t forget it. At her place I drank my first filter coffee and through her Tiffin I knew various southern delicacies. Her mom was born in Chennai and her dad was from Karnataka and she picked Telegu by watching various south Indian channels, so officially, she knows six (7 including Hindi ;)) languages which include Kannada, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, French and English. She was my one and only south Indian connection (though she always emphasizes that she is a Marathi) till I moved to Bangalore.

My first dinner in Bangalore was at Pavithra Restaurant. I immediately called her up and said “You know there are so many places here by your name (till Pune I always thought that her name is very unique) but with an extra “h” “.Ya they put an extra “h” with “t” everywhere she replied. I asked her what she meant by “they”. To which she replied South Indians (still emphasizing that she is a Marathi.) And I was telling her look who is talking ;).

To Haiti......

2010-02-22T11:10:00.007+05:30

They measured it in magnitude
They measured it in toll,
They measured it in building fallen
They measured it in injured souls.

They gave us tents, they gave us food
They even mend our hurting wounds,
They are bringing aid, they are mending road
Everything will be like before, we are being told.

I wish they could bring you back,
From the earth that cracked, and house that crashed
I go there every day and search for you in the rubbles,
What if they missed you? I will lose you forever.

They asked me to go away
And said you cannot be alive,
But I have seen people rising from rubbles
And that’s what my heart strive.

They say they understand, I wish they could
These searching eyes, these unspoken words.
I wish they can measure broken spirits,
My shattered hope, my pain beyond screams.

His Name Is Khan And He Is Not A Terrorist

2010-02-17T14:25:00.005+05:30

Watched “My name is khan” this weekend. I hated it’s comparison with Forrest Gump and Shahrukh’s comparison with tom Hanks in the reviews which I read before watching this movie. I am not saying that it is nowhere close to the movie, of course it is (which half of the Bollywood movie are) but if you will watch this movie keeping Forrest Gump in your mind , you will never be able to enjoy it. That’s what I did and regretted. BTW I didn’t intend to write a review here so I better be silent in this regard.
This is about Shahrukh and his controversy with "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named". We live in a democracy and have got freedom of speech which entitles everyone with the right to say whatever he/she believes, unless, it defames someone. If Shahrukh commented something about the inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL, it’s totally his point of view. It doesn’t make him insensitive towards his country or moreover a traitor. As for "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, you have also been given the right to protest but in a manner which shouldn’t harm anybody. It doesn’t mean that you keep on threatening people, government and multiplex owners if they wouldn’t succumb to your demands. Coming to twittering now. Shahrukh, you need not twitter it every time that you are an Indian, a Mumbaikar and a patriot. Like all of us you belong to this country and everybody knows that. By emphasizing this again and again you are just giving “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” another chance to question your integrity. Just stand by your opinion and make them realize that your name is khan and you are not a terrorist.

A Cold Affair

2010-02-03T17:28:00.010+05:30

I saw him chit chatting with my roomie and sister. I was avoiding him from quite a time now. Next day I saw him with my colleagues. Day by day it was getting difficult for me to avoid him any further and finally, I fall for him.
Aaaaccchhhhoooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmm, I fall for common cold, commonly known as viral fever. You can easily sense that it is coming simply by your red running nose, watery eyes, itchiness in throat and feverish sensations. But that’s not the only thing that troubles you. The trouble to wade this trouble away is more troublesome ;).

1.Garrrrr garrrrrr gargle:
This is the one thing which is No. 1 on my hate list. Sadly, it is the most referred one. You have to put hot (beware of temperature) salted water into your water and start making all kind of sound(don’t get me wrong here ;)). The worst part is your roomie watching you while gargling, and when I asked (sorry I should say gestured ;)) why she is standing there she said she was just thinking how good I gargle since she don’t know gargling :p (I haven’t got such a nice complement ever I swear :( )

2.Rub Rub Vicks vaporub:
If you are not used to the menthol smell and you have cold then get used to it. As you have to apply it on your forehead, nose, throat, chest, back, feet etc. etc. . . It’s especially useful when you are still attending office in spite of being sick. Since its smell will let your boss know that you have cold.

3.Daadi ma ke nuskhe:
Don’t ever call your mother or grandmother if you do’t want to get nagged by advises which you are dreading to follow. Like, turmeric with milk(Though it looks like badam milk but surly don’t taste like that), ginger and pepper with honey(even honey can’t give it a sweet taste) etc.

4.Popping pills:
You have to go to see doctor and swallow antibiotics, anti allergic and other anti-tasting drugs.

5.Quality Time with yourself:
You can't go to office/college(ya, that's the only good part)but you can't meet your fiends also(or they wn't meet you until you get well ;)). So , ou have got quality time with your Tanhai. Enjoy maadi :( .

Now after all these remedies if it’s still there, then perhaps you have got the uncommon cold. Go and get yourself checked properly , it’s H1igh time N1ow.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

2010-01-27T15:40:00.007+05:30

It’s been a long time since I last watched this song and then I watched it yesterday in an entirely new format. This is one song that would be remembered by almost everybody from our generation. The generation who grew up by viewing Doordarshan (if not fully but at least initially, before the advent of cable). Who can forget”Baje Sargam”, “ Ek chidiya” or audio track of “Malgudi days”, “Jungle book” , “Karmanye (Mahabharata)”? These songs still remains in the heart of millions of people especially “ Mile Sur mera tumhara”.I knew the song by heart that time, even though it was in different languages and so does my PG friends . I can easily sense it because as soon as the new version of the song was aired for the first time in Zoom yesterday, all of us were glued to the idiot box and started singing it (though in bits and pieces).

Everybody was excited and was recalling old times. Though the new version has the same lyrics but still it has a new feel and obviously new faces. My P.G. is a mini India by itself, with girls from all parts of country. So, whenever the lyrics from a particular region will come, girls from that state will start singing that part. But the best part was me singing the Marathi part though not being a Marathi or my roommate from Karnataka singing the Bengali part. I think, that is the magic of this song, a perfect example of national integrity and unity in diversity. I still love the older version but felt it was a nice initiative on the sponsor’s part to have recreated the magic again. I don’t know if schools nowadays still have “ Saare jahan se accha “ in the morning assembly , or if our younger generation still remember our national anthem by heart. At least, by this way we cherished this particular song one more time.

Lemon Fresh: With Mom

2010-01-24T12:31:00.009+05:30

Scene: Me reading Linda Goodman's Sun sign,Mom drinking tea.

I said cheerfully "Ma , my sun sign says i can cook better then French chef".
Mom said "Cook daal first then learn French Cuisine"

One Last Time

2010-01-20T16:55:00.005+05:30

One last time,
I want to hold your hand
And walk forever.
One last time,
I want to get flowers from you
And keep it forever.
One last time,
I want to drink tea from the same cup
And let the moment last forever.
One last time,
I want to watch movie resting my head on your shoulder
And wish that movie never has “the end”.
One last time,
I want you to hold me,
And let me not get lost in crowd forever.
One last time,
I want to cook for you and hear,
It’s the best food you have eaten ever.
One last time,
I want you to hug me ,
And let me forget all the sorrows forever.
One last time,
I want to look into your eyes
And say the words left unspoken.
One last time,
I want to say please don’t leave me now
I want to be with you forever and ever.
One last time,
Just one last time.

Lemon Fresh from workplace

2010-01-20T16:41:00.008+05:30

So, this is the new section which I have started since more than half of our day is spend at workplace and we all can correlate better ;).

Disclaimer: This series of posts are generic and by no means refer to my employer.

So, I and team were sitting in meeting room along with boss. It was almost 6 in the evening and our boss was telling us the future course of action of the project and how diligently we have to work to finish it on time. After the boss left, we looked at each other ,still thinking about the workload. Then I saw P in the deep thoughts. I told her not to worry too much about this, when she said “No. I am just thinking what I am going to cook for dinner today”.

Mirrors Don't Lie

2010-01-18T11:07:00.008+05:30

I looked into mirror, one more time,

But still couldn’t get the feeling of sublime.

Something was incomplete, I don’t know what,

My dress, my accessories, everything was intact.

Then I saw you looking at me into the mirror,

And your smile made my look complete dear.

I realized, and the thought made me shy.

I am most beautiful in someone’s eye.
.

Weighty Issues

2010-01-15T13:57:00.013+05:30

Ok, so I was trying on my dress which I had bought for my birthday this year (oops last year I should say)and found that it doesn’t fit me anymore( I think the correct sentence would be that I didn’t fit into it). No, my reaction was not of shock, I was actually expecting it :( .
So how did I add these extra pounds? Thanks to:

1. Work (and it’s not workout) = Weight
This hypothesis does not require any scientific or theoretical research. It’s proved. My workplace is very much conducive to my overeating, how? Thanks to my extended hours at my workplace, like other cubicle dwellers I had my breakfast at lunch, lunch at snacks time, snacks at dinner and dinner on my bed. Then add gallons of tea/coffee to this and it’s done. You just added some hundreds calories more.

2. Sweets at my desk
So, if you don’t know it, this is the common mail sent for celebrations like “engagement, anniversary, just back after a vacation” and then there is highly occurring and most sought after “chocolates at my desk” not for any celebrations but since you have just returned from abroad. And why to say no to these yummy sweets? So add some more 100s of calories for that.

3. Lets meet up over a cup of coffee
So you are meeting your friends. And what’s the commonest meeting zone? None other than coffee shops. Indulge in gossips with a cup of sinful coffee adding just a few extra ounces to your weight. And by the way did you say “with extra chocolate syrup, scoop of ice-cream and hint of whipped cream”. Here it goes from ounces to pounds.

4. You love Chicken
You love chicken but you have to wait till weekend to have it (condition applies: Only if you are like me, surviving on dabba for dinner and veggie menu for lunch) so what will you do? You will HOG like a pig. And I need not tell calorie count for this ;)

5. Chocolate helps chocolate heals:
Chocolate is a great stress buster and mood lifter. So, are you having a foul mood or has tons of work to finish? Angry on your friends or does your boss reprimanded you? Just grab a chocolate and entire wrath will melt like chocolate in your mouth. Uummmmm BTW did they say that it’s dark chocolate which helps? Doesn’t matter it’s one and the same thing (including calories).

Welcome 2010

2010-01-06T14:49:00.007+05:30

It's my first post for year 2010 Yipee..... Happy New Year to all my blog buddies!!!So, a flashback to year 2009 for me- It was pretty uneventful year except for few moments like I completed a year on my job and started my blog. There were some sweet and some sour moments and then there were some regrets. Sweet, will be cherished forever and sour won’t be remembered forever. As for regrets, “ it wouldn't be New Years if I didn't have regrets.” ~William Thomas. As for resolution I believe “Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it's twice as onerous a duty.” ~John Selden. Especially, when they are meant to be broken ;).

But with the advent of new year I make it a point to read my horoscope ( I Know it’s too superstitions but who don’t want to know what will happen in the coming years ;) Though, at the end of it you find that 80% of things didn’t happen or matched as per your horoscope prediction). The second thing which I look forward to is the quota of holidays for the year, which, sadly is only 6 holidays this year:(.

Bye Bye 2009 and Welcome 2010.To make an end is to make a beginning.

Christmas is all around me

2009-12-24T14:02:00.013+05:30

You know it’s Christmas time when:

1. You start feeling chill in otherwise sunny mornings

2. Suddenly all the shops in the marketplace is full of glitters and Christmas stuffs

3. Churches start looking more beautiful with all lightings and decorations

4. You see small kids selling Santa caps in traffic signals

5. Shopping malls offer special Christmas promotions and are decorated in Christmas themes.

6. Restaurants have special Christmas menu

7. You don’t get tickets for your favorite movie even when you try booking the show few days in advance

8. Christmas songs are played frequently on radio

9. Colleagues suddenly start missing from office after wishing you Merry Christmas

10. Friends start asking your plans for Christmas weekend and you start wondering
what to reply :(

11. And last but not the least, your boss gives you Wine and cake… yummmmm

Christmas is all around me , and so the feeling grows........
Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Twilight Saga

2009-12-21T16:24:00.016+05:30

This twilight Saga started when I was picking books from my regular roadside bookstall (I am sorry for encouraging piracy). The bookstall wallah knows me very well now.Firstly,since I am a regular shopper there and secondly, since I am a good bargainer ;). He was cross selling me Twilight saying “Madam, is book pe movie bana hai, acchha book hai le lo” . I saw the cover page and recognized Robert Pattison( By that time I never knew his name , Just know him as Cedric Diggory from Harry potter and the Goblet of fire ,who sadly die in the end).I picked up the book and in another two days finished reading it. In next one week I finished the entire Twilight Series i.e. Three books (New moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn). But it’s not here where my Twilight saga ends. In fact, it begins from here.

My PG friend Gargee (Whom we fondly call zoo zoo ) also started with twilight after she got bored by continuously listening the excerpts from me. She was so engrossed in it the book that she finished the entire series in flat 4 days (much to my amazement since she is not such an avid book reader). After there the twilight flu caught the entire PG, with me and Gargee arguing every time over whom Edward belongs to. So much so that the frog (soft toy) which Gargee owned (Who was nameless till then) was named Edward (The logic being that the frog will turn to prince charming once kissed ;) and the prince charming was none other than Edward).We both were going gaga over Twilight with Gargee downloading everything right from wallpapers to songs to “new moon” trailers from net. We went crazy over Jacob after the trailer of New moon was on air. Finally, I watched new moon yesterday (As for Gargee she couldn’t wait that long and have already watched it, I think 3 times by now).So as soon as I reached home she asked me “ so whom are you going to take now? Edward or Jacob?” I replied in typical Bella style “I love both, please don’t ask me to choose”.

As for my reviews on Twilight series books and movies (Which again nobody has asked me LOLs), it’s a must read and must watch. If you have read Harry potter and have grown out of the world of wizardry then welcome to the world of Vampires and werewolves. You are surly going to like Twilight Series and of course Edward and Jacob too muaaahhhh!!!!!!!!

Salute to single mothers

2009-12-18T15:25:00.008+05:30

Saw “Paa” last week and was crying throughout the movie much to the embarrassment of my sister , who was wondering what is there to cry about(and yes she is used to it now as I almost cry in every other movie ;)) . My heart moved for Vidhya and her flight as a single mom (I know it’s fictitious but then too). It’s difficult to be a single mom that too single mom by choice in a country like India. I was amazed by Arundhati Nag’s (Who played her mother in movie) support to her daughter’s decision especially when Vidhya herself was apprehensive whether she should have baby or not considering society’ s reactions and hardships of raising a child alone. Her mother’s answer (who was also a single mother though not by choice) was simple “If I can raise you alone without anybody’s supports then you have at least me”.

That reminds me of somebody who is considered as an icon of strength in my family. Her name is also Vidhya. Her father was a officer in British rule and she lost her mother when she was a child. She got married to an Officer with roadways at a very young age (16 I suppose) and was blessed with 3 sons. Tragedy struck when her eldest son was diagnosed with polio (polio elimination was not such a widespread campaign that time). Her husband expired when she was not even thirty and soon after that her youngest son was diagnosed with kidney failure. There she was , someone who was not as educated as girls are today at the time when working for women was still a taboo(compared to today’s scenario when we have so many privileges right from our education to working not just different cities but countries and choosing a life partner of our choice) without any financial or emotional support . She, who till now was living a lavish life shifted to a leased house with husband’s pension as only support. But she neither cried nor cribbed simply because she cannot afford to do so with three children to take care of. Her children are well settled now and she has grown old. Now when we, her grandchildren ask her the question that how she managed it all she simply replies” You get the strength by seeing your child and I have three. I had three times the strength”.

So, that was a story of a single mom (without choice) in a world with fewer resources but now when an increasing number of women are opting for being a single mother by choice (Thanks to the career Vs. Biological clock) I think we should respect their decision for the same. They are strong enough to raise a child alone without a husband’s support with grace so lets them give the applause they deserve.

Infidelity :The Forbidden Fruit

2009-12-13T13:19:00.012+05:30

I haven’t read newspapers or watched news from a very long time (Thanks to my extended office hours). So, today when I picked up the newspaper I got to know about the infidelity episode of Mr. Woods. I never followed golf but like most of people knows about Woods since he is “The star" of Golf .His infidelity didn’t came as a surprise to me since now a days you read about some or the other celebrity cheating on their wives or girlfriends . It would be the headlines for some days with paparazzi covering every details of your betrayal and then it would all end up suddenly with a “Sorry” speech and teary eyes. Everybody will speculate a divorce which won’t ever happen and then like the celebrity’s wife everybody will forgive it after some time. You will only remember it when there would be any news about that celebrity after this episode which will focus more on this “one” event of his life rather than his achievements (Remember Clinton).

As for my opinion on this (which nobody has asked me LOLs!! ) I think it really hurts when you are betrayed by somebody who is so close to you and even though you are ready to forgive him for all his deeds (Most of the times because of your family esp. children) the damage is irreparable. Your relationship undergoes massive change. Even though you are ready to invest in your relationship and start afresh your feeling changes. The feeling of trust that you have cultivated after so many years of being together is suddenly devastated by a single incident like a storm.

So, what should you do? The answer is simple. And no, it’s not “Leave that %^&*$# and start afresh”. It is to follow your heart without a tinge of compromise and sacrifice. If it asks you to forgive then remember “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner were you” and if it ask to set yourself free then remember “You are moving onto bigger and better things”. As for Woods, let him work on his relationship now. May the best follows!

Toast to three lovely ladies

2009-11-26T16:38:00.007+05:30

This month was the month of I do with two of my close friends and my first cousin getting married and guess what? I went to none. I won’t tell the reason since I still feel guilty for not attending any. S , my friend from MBA and my roomie for two years in Pune got married on 19th of this month . I am still very sorry for breaking the promise which six of us (all roomies in Pune) made: “We all will attend the wedding of whosoever will get married first from B-17 (That was our flat number ;)), Irrespective of any reasons”. After MBA it was a coincidence that we all got placed in 3 cities in a group of two!. Me and S in Bangalore, P and NS in Pune and E and SD in Mumbai. S and I couldn’t share a flat as our offices were in two ends of the city but we always made a point to meet on weekends. I still can’t forget her shopping spree before marriage, whereby we almost shopped from morning till night every weekend. She got married to A and i have seen her transition from being a friend to A to his girlfriend to fiancée and now to wife. I wish them all the happiness for their new life together.

M also got married on the same date this month. She was my friend from std 5th to 8th , after that I just met her twice and then no contacts for years. I met her recently (all thanks go to blogging) in a rather unexpected and purely coincidental way. She married H this 19th. My congratulations to her and I wish her all the happiness she always dreamt of.

Now comes my cousin G. She got married this 22nd. I couldn’t attend her wedding also (adding much to my mom’s disappointment and please don’t ask me why?) but I think I make up for it by calling her almost every day and taking firsthand account of wedding from the bride herself ;) . Again called her up this morning and she was leaving for Phuket for her honeymoon ;). So I think I should say ENJOY (apart from my congratulations) now!

I wish all the three ladies a very happy married life .Enjoy!!!!

Yipeee i am tagged !!!!!

2009-11-03T12:11:00.008+05:30

Thanks a ton to Wishesgalore for tagging me. I really wanted to get tagged ;)

1. What is your current obsession?
    I am not so consumed by anything but for hobby I will say blogging

2.What are you wearing today?
    Salwar Suit

3. What's for dinner?
    Stale chapatti, yellow watery dal and some unidentified sabji(no I don’t live in a jail , it’s my P.G food)

4. What's the last thing you bought?
     My breakfast

5. What are you listening to right now?
     Keyboard noise from my collegue's desktop

6. What do you think of the person who have tagged you?
    She is my long lost friend , am lucky to find her again.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for , fully furnished anywhere in the world , where would you like it   to be?
    I think here in Bangalore because I really want to shift and this city is damn costly

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
   A long staying deo ;)

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
    My hometown

10. Which language do you want to learn?
   French. Though I learnt it for full two semesters but still can’t speak it :(

11. What’s your favorite quote?
     “Go with the flow”

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
     My mom

13. What is your favorite color?
      Blue. I think it represent boundlessness like sky and calmness like sea(Too philosophical isn't it ;))

14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own closet?
      Nothing ,I think I got to go for some shopping

15. What is your dream job?
     LOLs does it exists??

16. What’s your favourite magazine?

     All girly ones ;)

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
     I think I would add some more and buy a nice camera

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
      Matching it all

19. Piercing or Tatooing?
    A big no for both. Not meant for me.

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
     Long hairs with side fringes

21. What are you going to do after this?
     Lunch break ;)

22. Ever wanted to change anything?
     A lot. First being my name

23. What are three cosmetic/makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
      Shampoo , soaps and toothpaste. I think You ought to have it before going for a makeup. LOLs

24. What inspires you ?
      People with a genuine smile on their face despite all the hardships.

25. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
      Wear your hair loose, put little kohl and gloss up your lips with a nice shade

26. What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
      Do some mix and match and accessorize it to make me feel that am wearing something new.

27. Coffee or tea?
      Tea anytime

28. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
      I know it’s too girly but I cry my heart out :( and it really helps.

29. What is the meaning of your name?
       It has two meaning , love and rain

30. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
    My friend’s , their friend’s and their friend’s friend and I won’t leave this habit as I found my lost friend this way only

31. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
    Gajar ka Halwa

32. Favorite Season ?
     Monsoon

33. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
     Nothing, cooking is not allowed at my place :(

34. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
     Make them realize that they don’t mean anything to you.

35. What are you afraid of the most?
      Losing whatever is dear to me.

36. Is it possible to be in love with two persons simultaneously?
    Is it? I don’t think so but you can have many crushes at the same time ;)

Respond and rework – answer these questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own, and add one more question to the list.

Girls will be girls

2009-10-27T15:57:00.004+05:30

One of my friend A in Pune had a migraine problem which becomes worse every time after exams. Once,her headache worsened and we took her to doctor who asked to get an MRI done (just to be on a safer side) .We went home and decided to go to the hospital next day. The day was very long and with each passing second she was getting more anxious. Next day we went to hospital and doctor referred us to MRI room to meet Dr. J . We were horrified to look that room from outside and I can see some moisture in A’s eye .I took her hand and we went inside and there he was, Dr. J. My mind said “He can’t be doctor he is so damn young and uhmmm smart” .I asked for Dr. J and much to my surprise he said “yes”. My mind said “ok he is THE doctor but why is he in company of this horrifying machine “. Suddenly A said that she is referred for MRI. My mind shifted to A and so does my heart. He asked us to wait. A was afraid and so was I. I asked her not to worry and keep it cool though I know how difficult it is at that time. Then Dr. J came and asked her to be ready and lie down in that machine. I can see tears in A’s eye by now and I took her hand. Dr. J. gave an assuring smile and I left A’s hand. When she was going inside that terrible machine tears start welling up my eyes and finally I broke off. He said “don’t worry; it’s going to be all fine”. My mind said “I know, but you go away and stop distracting me “.After the scan I went to him and asked if it’s all fine and he just smiled (oh that contagious smile!!) .My friend’s report was normal .We were happily returning home when I told her that she was worrying unnecessary to which she agreed and said “Really but I couldn’t help it, by the way did you notice that doctor? Wasn’t he damn too smart? I am sure he must be an intern and his smile was just so charming. His name was J right? “ . I said ”Excuse me, when did you notice all that?” She replied “Do you have to work hard to notice it”. We just laughed our heart out. Girl’s mind sometime works so alike isn’t it?

pic courtesy: http://www.freephotosbank.com

Little sugar in lemonade

2009-10-22T16:48:00.008+05:30

Just came across some lovable things(some are comic though)so captured them in my camera . Here it goes:

Right from my office's Lunch Menu :

Does ice cream has any other taste? Never thought we can eat jaljeera also;)

My Dear Edward (BTW it was named after Edward Cullen from Twilight ;) )

Edward in Bath tub Edward taking sun Bath

Rang Shankara on Diwali:

And few last ones:

Joy of my life Business expansion ;)

REVIEW : 2 States Story of My Marriage

2009-10-22T10:28:00.003+05:30

Ok so here goes my first review(ya, i know i promised that i won’t write any reviews but really can’t help it as i am writing about so many stuff which i thought i would never write like poems;))

2 states : the story of my marriage revolves around Krish and Ananya who meet , fall in love and want to get married. The only hurdle being their parents who belongs to two different parts of India i.e North and South . Following the deeply rooted Indian culture in their soul ,they in a typical filmy ishtiyle decides to get married only after their parents approval and its here were the entire fun part begins.

The book captures the essence of difference beween two states right from Delhi to Madras(Oops,sorry i mean Chennai), tea to coffee, Batra’s to Bala’s, paranthas to curd rice, lahengas to kanjeevrams, desi ghee to coconut oil, butter chicken to rasam rice,panner to idlis, Pammi’s and Sweety’s to Manjunathan and Balasubramanian’s , Bhangars to Carnatic music , Petrol pumps to IIMs, baraat to morning weddings and sherwani to vesthi.

The protagonists tries everything to resolve the differences just to ensure that their love story doesn’t end up like “ Ek Duje Ke Liye” (where both girls and boy end up their life). Chetan not just tickles your funny bone but also focusses on serious issues like dowry and importance of girl education.All the witty line doesn’t seems from book but just out of real life.And yes,( as he has metioned ) he has really taken the liberty to make fun of both the cultures. So please don’t feel offended.

I have read all CB’s book and felt that the soul of 5 point someone was missing in every novel which came after that but i think he has compensated it all with his new novel. The best part is the kind of language he use which is not at all difficult to understand and correlate and ofcourse the price(Please buy an original book it just cost 95 bucks).I just wish if he would have worked a bit more on the cover page.
The book is a must read and total value for your money and time.Enjoy!!

P.S: BTW i really want to know how aloo gobhi cooked in coconut oil tastes? Any idea anybody?

Welcome to Commonwealth , India

2009-10-12T17:04:00.010+05:30

The recent one I read in TOI is about grooming classes in Delhi for policemen, bus/taxi drivers, conductors, tourism officials and bureaucrats for a nice display of good behavior and etiquettes ahead of commonwealth games.

I was just wondering if the grooming schools also teach:

• No spitting on sidewalks, walls, roads and any other public places.

• Not relieving them anywhere and everywhere.

• Not to use abusive language publically.

• To follow the principle of queuing.

• Stop littering at public places.

• Stop honking unnecessarily.

BTW is there any crash course also ;)

The Weekend with lot of Firsts

2009-10-12T12:27:00.008+05:30

This weekend was quite exciting as I did my few firsts , like:

1. For the first time I accompanied somebody for shopping and didn’t bought anything for myself, that too, with lot of Diwali distractions around (I think I should call it an achievement)

1. For the first time I went for a movie in a cinema hall and not a multiplex in Bangalore. I went to Rex with a friend of mine. I was apprehensive to go there because of its shady appearance .My apprehension strengthened further when at the ticket counter the guy said “no card only cash”. But all apprehensions vanished when we went inside. It was a nice place with a very good crowd (student crowd mostly) only if you are ready to pay almost equal to multiplex and can adjust yourself soon in excessive uncomfortable chairs(anyways I think that’s easy to do unless you are going to see a 4 hours saga like “What’s your rashee” )

1. For the first time I actually bought some books from “Blossoms”. I have visited the place often but rarely bought anything. Thanks to the few affordable books (like Chetan Bhagat’s latest) and good discounts at Blossoms I picked up few books.

1. For the first time I had food at “Queens” a place hided by all giant restaurants on Church Street. It had been referred by lot of my friends so I finally visited there. Nice food and ambience but I think it’s slightly overrated.

1. For the first time I had black coffee (actually I didn’t had it but sipped a little from my friend’s mug at a nice coffee shop) and it was awful.

1. And last but not the least for the first time I had crab (which is also my zodiac BTW) and beef. Though, I really wanted to have crab from a long time but beef was purly by chance or rather I should say by confusion as I thought it to be some mutton dish (but it tasted good actually!). Sorry mom, I promise that this first would always remain my first and last.

Kahaani Karvachauth Ki

2009-10-07T16:29:00.005+05:30

I think every working person just rejoice October. Month starts with October 2(Though people are still tweeting whether it should be holiday or not). Then comes Dusheera and after that Diwali. But there is one festival (I am actually not sure whether to call it a festival or event. Unfortunately, we don’t have holiday on this day so it must be an event I think!)which create more buzz then all these festivals and that is “Karvachauth” .Now don’t tell me that you haven’t heard of it (irrespective of your marital status).There are so many things that reminds you of this event:

1. Love Aaj Kal:
Love kal was when fasting was observed by married women for the long life of their husband. Love Aaj is not limited till marriage (and husband of course). if you are engaged/involved/committed/married/going around (or whatever your courtship status is) , you will eagerly await this event not just for the well being/long life of your husband/boyfriend/ to be boyfriend /fiancée/ to be fiancée but to make him realize strongly that he is formally yours (and thus he can’t escape).This theory/bond would be strengthened(or should I say stamped)further if he is also fasting for you (no matter if you are “coaxed” or “ emotionally blackmailed” to observe it)

2. Saas Bahu saga on idiot box:
All the saas bahu serials on the T.V will show a “Karvachauth special” episode. Where the protagonist will be showing her “pativrata” status by fasting, performing all the ceremonies (many of them even your grandma won’t know about) and touching their husband's feet. The background music for the scene will change according to the situation: happy melody if their married life is going smoothly and sad if there is a turbulence (or rather I should say a “third” is there between them).

3. Kab Tak:
Then there would be news channel like “Kab tak” which will be telling you every microscopic details about the event, right from how the position of Mercury, Venus, ~~Earth~~ (oops! sorry not this) Mars is effecting your husband’s wellbeing. Then there would be special advices from astrologers on what you should do for your husband’s wellbeing. Special coverage of celebrities’ fasting (of course the focus would be on newlyweds like Rakhi (BTW she isn’t married yet)).At which time you can see the moon and if moon won’t appear at their forecasted time, they will go to the extent of showing a lady looking up to the sky for the moon in the similar fashion as a farmer would look for the clouds during drought.

4. Advertisements:
There would be constant advertisements showing how important is the life of your husband so better to insure it or, how lovingly your wife is fasting for your well being so why not gift her with some diamonds.

5. Gossips and Grapevines :
There would be gossips all around the place confirming your relationship status. “Do you know she is fasting” means she is no more single now. “ Do you know she is not fasting” means she just broke off. “Let’s see if she fasts” means response to proposal is awaited.

6. Reincarnation of Parvati and Tulsi:
And if all the above events still didn’t remind you of this occasion, then just wait to see women in your neighborhood or office .They would be showing their full devotion towards their husband through their heavy makeup , jewellery and clothing.

Wake Up Girls

2009-10-05T18:33:00.006+05:30

“I don’t think I can fall for somebody like you”. So what kind of guy you want? ”I want somebody who is mature and responsible; I want a man not a boy”.

So, how many times have you used this line or heard it from somebody (Not just in “Wake up Sid” of course).How many times have you emphasized on these two simple (yet so complex to define) words: mature and responsible? These are the top two words in my list of must have also (though I myself never knew what that mean seriously)

So, what happens when you meet your Prince Charming the so called Mr. Mature and Responsible? You blindly follow what he likes. You will start following Jazz though you never understand it. You start listening to the band he likes though you don’t like it at all. You start adopting the kind of food he likes though you just can’t stand the smell of it and what not. Simply, because you want to make them feel that you are in their league too. That you are also mature (whether its music, food or liking) like them. Though you yourself are a girl by heart and not a woman. So what if you want to go to some nice movie instead of a Jazz show or you want to listen to your favorite songs instead of his favorite band or you want to eat paanipuri at some road side stall instead of some Italian stuff at a nice sophisticated restaurant or wants to get drenched in rain instead of waiting in a cofeeshop to get it stopped. Sounds quite immature right or sounds like a true you? If you are lucky you realize “it’s just so not you” on time and follow your heart and if you are not so lucky, you keep on struggling to find a definition for these two complicated words.

Hmm... I don’t think I have to write an entire post to realize you this. So, Wake up girls and follow your heart or should I say go and watch Wake up Sid!!!
Anyways, there are few things which I put on my “must do” list after watching this movie:

1. To seriously start thinking about enrolling in a photography course (Thanks to Sid!! But somebody plzzzz gift me a slr, I really can’t afford it)

2. To shift in a flat( Thanks to Aisha)

3. To pronounce Mumbai as Mumbai and not Bombay( BTW whom should I thank for this ? Karan or Raj Thackeray ;) )

Little Angel

2009-10-05T12:02:00.008+05:30

This poem is dedicated to all my friends who , right from my very first poem were teasing me " that you write what you experience" .I always thought that i will put a disclaimer before any poems i write explaining that this is not experienced by me or related to my life in any way.But i found the best way out ;).
So , here goes my next poem which i am dedicating to my college friend N who has been blessed with a baby boy recently

You came,

When they put you on my lap
And that instant I know,
You have filled that gap.
The void existing in my life,
Feeling called motherhood,
I always strive.
I was so afraid, to put you in my arms
You were so fragile; I hope I won’t do any harm.
Then I saw your face If it resembles mine,
It was like an angel’s, so pure, so divine.
You who once was a piece of me,
Here lie in my lap; I can feel I can see.
I can feel your heartbeat, I can feel your breath,
Your half open eyes and your silk smooth skin.
Your little hand clutch my fingers so hard,
As if realizing me, you are my part.
Even though you have come out of my womb,
The bond which was there, Is still so strong.
Your tiny body warming against mine,
Makes my eyes misty, I see you every time.
When I hold you, touch you,
And feel you little dove.
I know I have lost my heart again,
And this time it’s you, my Love.