Yet another muser........

Beautiful prose

2011-07-25T19:39:00.003+05:30

I am currently reading this book called Three cups of tea. It is about a mountaineer turned philanthropist, Greg Mortenson. This book talks about his failed attempt to conquer K2 and his efforts at improving life in the remotest parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I came across this prose by Omar Khayyam from the Rubaiyat in this book which goes something like this...

"Why ponder thus the future to foresee,
and jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him--
He formed them all without consulting thee."

This is so true when we are especially fretting about the small things in life.
Putting this here as a reminder for tough times! We do our best and leave the rest to the person up there....

Life

2011-07-08T22:37:00.003+05:30

One minute you don't have a care in the world and the next minute it comes crashing down on you. It is a lesson for everyone that life should never be taken for granted. You never know what is lurking around the corner.

A dear dear friend lost his father to a road accident. I cannot imagine the pain and the suffering his family must have gone through when his father was in the hospital. The first phone call received, the panic and the hope that everything is going to be ok. His friends and family prayed for his recovery, but God had other plans.
No amount of prayers can save a person sometimes :( Thats life for you.

Dear Sanju, I am praying that God gives you the strength to withstand your loss and help you tide over tough times. A big warm hug to you from across miles.

Wishful thinking

2011-05-26T02:28:00.004+05:30

What is it about human mind that tends to worry about the something or the other all the time? No sooner you get something that you wished for, you start thinking about the next thing you have always wanted. You go ticking the to-do-list mentally. Can the mind ever be contented at what the present has to offer? Is it ok to keep aspiring for one thing or the other? Would you want nothing more once you are a hundred years old. I doubt that. If not something for you, there is always that little something your son/daughter/grand kid wants. You start building castles in air on their behalf as well. The mind is always thinking of an "i wish" thing. I wish we could afford a bigger house. I wish i could buy the new furniture that i saw at the store. I wish i could travel the world for a bit more. I wish my kids would study harder. I wish my grandkid lands his dream job....Even after you are dead, people are trying to fulfill your last wish!

patience!

2011-01-19T13:00:00.003+05:30

Patience, they say is a virtue. It is easy to say that, for me to put it into practice is difficult. Be it in any situation, most times all i need is a little bit of patience and tolerance. That is the single most thing because of which i end up screwing up things. And that is the most common advice i get from K, my mom and sis!
For example, i ended up wasting more than an hour at work today for something to work, all because i didn't have the patience to wait for the machine to finish what it was doing. I kept restarting the damn thing only to come back to the same state.

It has been the same thing with the relocation thing at work. I get the same reply every time i ask them. They are working actively on it and don't want to let go of me. While it is good to know that they are considering helping me relocate to where K currently is, it is very frustrating to not have a plan or a timeline. sometimes i feel i should just quit my job and go.

I take inspiration from this wonderful couple i know. They are seeing each other for a while now and want to get married. But the usual hurdle of acceptance from the family is stopping them. They are SO patient, that they have been trying to convince their families for almost 2 and a half years now! They just grin and bear all the adversities.

So from today on i will be trying to practice getting a hold on this "virtue".
Take deep breathes and WAIT! Things will happen when they have to happen...

2010 Round up

2010-12-23T12:19:00.004+05:30

Looking back at my blog entry for 2010, i only seem to have stuck with one resolution of staying healthy and fit. I am happy to note that i tried to get a fair share of exercise and i didn't fall sick at all. We even ran the marathon this year :) That was a first and I hope to do it every year.

Looking back it has been a good year for me. It started off with a trip to Canada. Even though it was an official trip, i was very excited as it was my first one ever to any place on my own. It was nice to experience solitude and be on my own although at the end of one month i wanted to be back with K. I also got to visit my sis in the US :)

We did a fair bit of travelling and socialising. Not to mention lots of friends got hitched this year.

Workwise it has not been a great year. I did nothing earth shattering. It was mostly the same stuff that i have been doing for a while now.

This year, K and I were together for roughly 8 months! I dont like living apart one bit and the whole long distance relationship sucks! God knows how some people manage to do that for years together. I really appreciate the effort it takes for them to stay apart from their spouses or GFs/BFs.

2010 has been kind to me but i am really looking forward to the new year. Lots of exciting things in store am sure :)

Bakery items!

2010-11-23T12:51:00.003+05:30

One of those moments of hunger pangs and i was transported back to childhood days.
A walk to the nearest bakery and there are so many varieties to choose from.

This is not the high-end fancy place where you get pastries, croissants, quiche and other unpronounceable delicacies.
This is good old Mr L J Iyengar's bakery whipping out yummy stuff using his imagination. Such bakeries are common in the city where i live.
Slowly being replaced by high-end pastry shops and cafes. For some reason, most of these bakeries are named after L J Iyengar.(who is this guy anyway?)

The most common one was the vegetable puff with the palya* in it.
And who can forget the Alu bun. Back in school days i stopped eating it for a while when someone told me that they actually put all the potatoes in a sack and stomp on it to mash them! Then there is the "toast", so called because it is made of a slice of bread toasted and covered with the yummiest onion palya.

And then there is the dil khush, dil pasand, our own desi version of pizza with a filling :D The filling is a sickly sweet combination of tutti-fruity, coconut, raisins. Just thinking about is makes my mouth water.

It was a Saturday morning ritual in school for us to go the nearest Nilgiris(the slightly upscale version of an LJ Iyengar bakery!) and ask for apple cake. This black-brown round cake-thing was rumored to have been made from leftover of other cakes. And then there are the honey cake and sponge cake. Oh the sheer joy of biting into one of these :)

I haven't even gotten started on the biscuits** and rusks. Benne biscuit, khara biscuit , koppri biscuit.

My cousins born and raised abroad never miss an opportunity to eat the milk/sweet bread which is not available in their countries!

You won't get to see any of the multi-grain/ brown-bread/low cal/no trans fatty acid stuff here. There is only place for heavenly mouth-watering goodies made of maida/vanspathi. And yes, they are always called bakery "items".

* filling made of vegetables
** cookies

The social network

2010-11-16T22:00:00.003+05:30

I spend quite a bit of time on social networking sites. It amuses me no end about various updates that people put down to the last detail! This is just a fun list that i am putting together...I may be guilty of some myself. :D

Cutsy pics posed with teddy bear and other soft toys if you are a grown up.

Kids having their own profiles. And adding all and sun dry to their friends list to get the numbers up. Seriously are 10 year olds allowed to have their own profiles created? Don't parents monitor a child's internet activities.

Updating country and city even if you are on a two day trip out of the country to show off your are abroad.

Using the word 'dear' to address someone. This usually happens most often between girls. Example : thanks dear, you too dear, nice dear..... gag!

Status messages like "I miss you honey, i miss you wifey blah blah"...if you are missing your husband/wife, please give them a call and let them know. The whole world doesn't need to know :P

Having chat conversations in the comments section. Please spare us the spam.

Students updating their status about bunking classes, bitching about their lecturers and teachers. Its so not cool.

Uploading all snaps that you ever clicked when you were on vacation. Sure i love looking pictures posted by others, but i don't want to know about every single moment of your vacation.

I knew this one guy who posted hourly updates about his journey while he was on vacation. "At the airport... boarding pass in hand...just landed...taking a taxi this city" etc etc...

Creating profiles for your pets and expecting other people to "like" them. OK, i did click "like" because everyone else did and these people are good friends.

Do you have any pet peeves?

golmaal hai bhai ..sab golmaal hai

2010-08-30T15:02:00.002+05:30

Just this morning K and i were watching the news. The news channels were full of the latest in match fixing( something to do with Pak cricket players being accused for match fixing). Every morning without fail, what seems to hit the headlines these days is corruption, cheating, money laundering etc. And not to forget the various other tragedies like bombings, murder or natural calamity Its just to depressing to start your day off on such a note.

Corruption is the single biggest thing affecting the progress of our country. Can we as common people do something about it? Can just a handful of people who have no bureaucratic powers eradicate corruption by not giving bribes, paying up taxes and generally adhering to the rules laid down by the government? Admittedly, this is a beaten-to-death topic. But one thing that i always wonder, is there anything you or me as law-abiding citizens do to bring down corruption and accelerate development?

The few weeks that i was in Canada, i repeatedly heard the same from the immigrants there, that corruption is prevalent even there but it never affects the common man.
Given India's situation i am ok if we come to a level where common man is not affected by corruption.

Brand value...

2010-07-07T09:20:00.005+05:30

I saw an ad in the newspaper for a herbal slimming product. A girl dressed in bridal finery with a big smile plastered on her face, while her parents look on lovingly. The groom looks like he will pounce on the bride any minute. The ad goes on with the father's narration : I was worried about my daughter being rejected by so many grooms because she was overweight. Someone then told me about "Blah" Herbal Slimming Product and I asked my daughter to try it. We could see the results in a few months! Within 4 months my daughter became beautiful and within 6 months of using the product she found a groom! We are very thankful for this product blah blah blah....

Now there are several things about this advert which had me worried.
First things was the whole shallow approach to marriage. Cliched as it may sound, physical appearance is not the only thing that matters!
Secondly how can anyone turn beautiful in a matter of months! You are how you are born and no one can change the way you look.
Next was the promise of weight loss using just some herbal concoction. What about eating right and getting adequate exercise? That matters more for a healthy lifestyle than consuming any amount of slimming products! So many things wrong about this ad!
When will Indian ad makers stop using age old cliches. Tonnes of ads out there depict women doing all the cooking, cleaning etc. The fairest and the most beauitful girl getting a groom after using a beauty product. Scoring highest marks making one the smartest in the class etc etc. I could go on!

I hope average Indian consumer is smarter that that to fall for such tacky shortcuts to fame, wealth or whatever it is that the ads want to convey.

2010-06-14T09:57:00.001+05:30

I saw too many people crying or just plain sad this morning on my way to work...makes me want to count my blessings! :(

Quote..

2010-02-05T15:14:00.004+05:30

My blog is beginning to resemble a collection of quotes, poems and other stuff that i read about. I am not too enthused to blog about other stuff these days!

Here goes one more from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.

True indeed!

If....

2009-12-04T15:14:00.002+05:30

I had chanced upon this beautiful poem a couple of years back and had totally forgotten about it. Read it again in "Bridget Jones". So here it is, "If" by Rudyard Kipling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

to do or not to do....

2009-11-30T12:06:00.001+05:30

The topics of conversation be it in the social, friends or family circle, seem to be drifting towards higher education, getting that coveted Master's degree. For some it has become essential to get a degree to change their line of work, MBA being the most common. For some others it is an MS degree preferably from a US university. And for people who cant move away from their homes/commitments, distance education seems to be the option.

I too had aspirations of having an MS degree from a US university. Even went as far as preparing for GRE exams and managed to get a decent score.
For me it was the experience of having studied in a different country, living independently which was the premise. The kind of course work, the radically different teaching approaches was what i wanted to experience. Of course i was also to gain from the "technical expertise" :)

Circumstances forced me to give this up and i can confidently say i am happy to have taken that decision.

Let me go on to enumerate the various options that i have and why it wouldn't suit me.

I don't see the point of distance education. I can never take it up full time i.e sitting at home and reading up pages of technical stuff. It isn't challenging enough for me. I can think of doing it part time. I cant handle the stress that would result from balancing deadlines at work, course work, projects and ofcourse domestic life. I would end up in a similar job in India that i now have, with only a slight increase in pay.

So what is the point of this rambling you ask? :) i see an increasing number of people around me doing their master's degree. And that leaves me wondering if i am missing out on something. Sheep mentality perhaps!

However i feel the reasons for me pursuing one now are not strong enough. It also feels like time is running out. But that nag of not doing anything about it keeps coming back.....

hmmm....

2009-11-12T11:18:00.003+05:30

It was a dream i had last night. One of my friends was visiting me during Diwali at my place. Nothing strange about the dream. It was just that "my place" was really my parents place and not my in-laws place. Close to two years of marriage, my subconcious has difficulty calling the place where i live, home. Even though i saw it built brick by brick, was part of every decision that was made and decorated the place myself. I guess more than 25 years of calling something yours can't be changed. My parents house will always be MY home. :)

shopaholic?

2009-09-09T11:03:00.004+05:30

At the new campus at work, there are splashes of motivational phrases and quotes every where!
One such was written on a curved wall when we were on a tour of the new office to check out the interiors. I could see only a part of the word which said "ALE!" written in bold uppercase letters .My brain immediately made a connection and i excitedly shouted out "SALE!".
On approaching the other side of the wall, I realized that word was "EXHALE!", much to the amusement of my colleagues.

Oh well! the point i am trying to make here is that its been ages and ages since i went on a shopping spree. And i am not even a person who waits for a sale to be put up. I hate shopping whenever there is a sale. It was quite sad to realize that I have been completely off the addiction because of lack of time :( :D

Old age bites back?

2009-07-14T23:38:00.004+05:30

An after dinner stroll turned out to be quite eventful and saddening today.

Close by home there is a temple outside which sits a security guard every night.
As we approached the temple we saw of couple of people milling around an old man who seem to be fast asleep. Looking at this i thought maybe the old man had lost his way. Having lived all my life in the same locality i can recognize quite a few people in the neighborhood. Thinking that maybe i would help the old man reach home, we approached the people who were standing around him. Turned out that this person wasn't someone i know. The security then told us it looked like the old man had deliberately left home as he had some bottled water and bread with him. It was his way of preparation to fend for himself.
One of the neighbors had got a blanket for the old man and asked him who he was and if he had lost his way. The old man looked like he was from a respected and well to-do-family. Any question that was asked to the old man to place his whereabouts, met with the same answer "Gottilla" (I don't know).

This situation moved me to tears. We stood there for sometime looking at the old man sleeping on the cold stone slab. And we moved on. Apparently this was the second time in the week that such an incident happened by the temple.

I wonder why people are ill-treated as they get old. I agree that they become senile and child-like. All they ask is for food,shelter and some love and affection if you are generous enough. After all the sacrifices and hardships parents face to bring up their kids, is it too difficult to take care of them nicely during their old age? Isn't it every child's responsibility and every parent's right?

It also made me think, how selfish the society in general is. All we did was, show sympathy for the old man ,feel bad for him and just get on with our lives. But then, I am an average person, whose decisions are impacted by/impact others around me. Or maybe i am using it as an excuse.
I have new found respect for people who are into serving the society. It takes a lot of selflessness and compassion to reach out and help people and give them permanent solutions to their problems.
Maybe i will go back with some food tomorrow, if not help find a shelter for the old man, thats the least i can do, if he is still around.

Weekend Gateaway : Coonoor

2009-07-03T12:38:00.010+05:30

After a 6 month hiatus we finally managed to getaway from Bangalore for the weekend.
After a lot of internet research by K, we chose Coonoor as that was the most easily accessible place by bus. Owing K's vision still not being clear, we chose not drive.

We took the overnight bus to Coonoor and landed there at 6 AM after a bumpy ride thanks to the last minute booking of the only remaining seats at the back. The place which we had booked is around 7 kms from the Coonoor town.
We were told to look for a place called "Bison Country" opposite the 7th milestone on the road. It was quite easy to locate contrary to some of the reviews that we read about people taking hours to locate the place.
It was the most amazing weekend in a long time that we had. There was no agenda...no places to visit and we were in no hurry to get anywhere!

Between eating sumptuous meals, catching naps we managed to go on long walks on roads that seem to lead nowhere or just sit at the balcony curled up with a book. We even threw darts and even played carrom. K managed to win every single time as my carron skills are rusty :D .

The silence was defeaning sometimes to us city dwellers. The only sounds we could hear were from the farms and the plant nurseries nearby. And ofcourse the incessant chirping of the birds. :)

The homestay itself is very pleasant. It has 2 suites called "hoofs" and "horns".
And 2 rooms called "Dens". The decor is tasteful, simple and sticks to the theme of wildlife :)

We also went on a 3 km walk through the Nilgiri forest to reach the Raliah dam. It was built in 1935 and supplies water to the town of Coonoor. We even managed to spot some Malabar Giant squirrels. I was only thankful we didnt encounter any bisons. Before we set out for the dam , the caretaker asked us not to worry about the bisons. He told us we could take pictures should we encounter bisons on our way!

Music for the soul!! :)

2009-06-26T15:42:00.003+05:30

Pandit Ravishankar's Vedic Chants of India never fails to relax me when I am mentally exhausted.

Simple every day chants set to soothing music be it the Gayathri Mantra or Asathoma. Brings tranquility to mind in troubled times. :)

Here is Sarve Bhavanthu Sukhinaha :

Here is the entire set : http://www.rhapsody.com/ravi-shankar/chants-of-india

Maggi Maggi Maggi!!!

2009-06-19T10:21:00.002+05:30

The other day i heard on radio that Maggi noodles is celebrating 25 years of its existence.25 years of comfort food for me :). It is almost as old as I am.
I am almost tempted to say that any child born in the Maggi era wouldn't have had a complete childhood without growing up on Maggi. Its almost like a cult.

I dont remember when i got hooked on to it. Even to this day, on the rare days that i come home early, Maggi has to be my evening snack.

There were so many variations that sis and me tried with Maggi. Adding vegetables would make it a "wholesome" meal. Mixing it with spoonfuls of tomato ketchup, am sure is a common practice. Or adding dollops of butter would make it yummmmmmy!!

Then there was the Indo-Chinese style Maggi, with veggies, soy sauce and chilli sauce. Perfect for a rainy day in Bangalore.

Maggi over the years tried to innovate with their product. They tried various flavours like chicken, tomato etc. They tried to sell it as health product with the atta noodles concept. Then came the rice mania concept ( Lemon, Pulao...yikes! ).
I guess its their original flavour that appeals to the masses!

Long live Maggi :D

Richard Bach

2009-06-17T19:41:00.002+05:30

While i was blog hopping, i chanced upon this book review. Boy, i was glad i did that.

Richard back has been one of my favorite writers after having read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and The bridge across forever. I discovered these wonderful books after digging through K's collections of books. Although he doesn't remember how he ended up with those books :).

Richard Bach's stories leave you astounded for the simplicity of the thoughts yet powerful living philosophies. Although I am never into reading philosophy, his books have had me wanting for more. Ordinary things which one wouldn't have thought about in daily life, get a new meaning. And reading them through Richard Bach's words is an experience in itself.

Illusions is about a Messiah, David Shimoda who is overwhelmed by people's demands for performing miracles, decides to quit being one. The very idea of Messiah quitting is something new and exciting. The book then talks about how he meets Richard, a barnstorming pilot and how he slowly makes him realise that everything is in the mind. One only has to think about it, for it come true. It is about how everyone of us is under an illusion regarding our abilities. We are only limited by our thoughts. He goes on to give Richard Bach,the "Hand book of Messiah" from which i leave behind some of my favourite quotes.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true.
You may have to work for it however.

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else is not only impossible but the mark of a fake messiah.

There is no such things as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.Rarely do members of one family grow under the same roof.

Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.

Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is upto you.

190 pages of sheer brilliance!

The day after....

2009-06-11T10:58:00.002+05:30

Its not worth spending time on people who bother you. It only saps all the energy out of .Not just that i wouldnt give people the satisfaction that the hurtful things they say is actually affecting me.
The previous post took away a lot of my time,energy and peace of mind. It just wasn't worth spoiling the nice things we have going on in our lives. :)
As the age-old saying goes "Dont worry be happy" is what i will be sticking to!!

RANT!!

2009-06-10T11:00:00.004+05:30

I will probably laugh at this later...but right now I am very very mad.

The conversations with people in my family(?) revolves around the same topic all the time.Yes I married someone of my choice, WITH my parent's approval .So what????
You, yes the lady who is my mom's close pal and a relative, that doesn't give you the right to remind my parent's about it every time. They have accepted it and moved on. But what is your problem? Why do you deliberately bring up that topic every time and indirectly tell them that they failed to get me suitably married off to someone of the same caste! And stop gloating that your daughter is getting an arranged marriage. Its not like a trophy that you won in a race against my mother. That doesn't make you or your daughter saintly. And if you really have a problem, talk to me about it. It is me you have a problem with, don't bother my parents or hurt them. I am responsible for my life and not them.

And you, the cousin stop being miss-two-goody-shoes. There is no halo around your head simply because you chose to marry someone your parents picked for you. I am leading a happy life ,thank you very much. And please move on with your life. I can only wish you the very best ahead! :)

And you, the cousin No.2 . Dont give me a once over and tell me "you have lost weight after marriage". Are you trying to say they dont give me enough food? Stop trying to beat about the bush. I know you want to say it out loud :P I almost laugh at your stupidity.

And you, the aunt in the first circle of relatives, i dont care you if refuse to touch the food at my house. You and your holiness i care a damn about. We dont feed crap to our guests. I am almost tempted to not even offer you a drop of water the next time!

And all you people giving me condescending looks, how many more years before you stop that? How different am I form you except for a bunch of rituals that you cant explain about. I have never been mean to you guys, so why dont you treat me the same?
And why do you bother my parents about it. They are perfectly happy, why dont you just let them be!!

Thank god for this blog that i can speak my mind out. I would never say this to your faces , because i can never act mean like you guys. I am better mannered and cultured and i thank my parents for that. I have enough sense not to point fingers at others and mind my own business.

phew!!!

Up close and personal?

2009-06-05T14:19:00.004+05:30

Conversation over the lunch table at office steered to job interviews. One of my colleagues wife attended an interview recently.In the HR round, after asking the usual set of questions, the HR asked her if she was married. When she answered in the affirmative, the HR wanted to know how long she had been married for. Later the interviewer wants to know if they plan to have kids any time soon. Thats none of his/her damn business if you ask me. My colleague's reasoning was they wouldnt want to hire someone who is likely to go away on maternity leave as soon as she joins the job.
But how far can one go when asking such personal questions? Are they even allowed to ask such questions?

Get well soon sweetheart!

2009-06-03T22:41:00.002+05:30

Its been a long day for us in the family and yet the one person who is at the center of it all is serene and patient. K just got his eye surgery done this morning and it is a big deal to me! Its scary to think about someone poking around one's eyes.
Surprisingly i was calm throughout the hour long surgery. Thanks to K's parents who deal with situations with practiced calmness. Be it a happy occasion or a tough one, their emotions don't go beyond a certain threshold! My family is diametrically opposite. We like to get our emotions out in the open. We get very excited when happy and freak out easily at small things :D

After the surgery was done, the doctor called me in for instructions. K seemed to be doing fine except for the huge bandage on his eye. And he seems to be following the doctor's advise to the T! Poor thing has been sitting with his eyes closed all day just listening to us talk. And he seems to be in considerable pain once the medication starts to wear off! And not once has he complained about it. I feel even more sad for him. Its tough to see him like this when he isn't usual self. :(
I wonder how one can have so much patience to be sitting all day idle with eyes closed. I know i wouldn't have coped with it, i would have complained and driven everyone around me crazy because of all the pain and boredom.

And nothing can make him miss watching cricket especially when India is playing. He is "listening" to the T20 practice matches. Thank god its Harsha Bhogle's commentary :D

It hopefully gets better when the bandage comes off tomorrow. But its going to be a trying week for him.

Just some things off the top of my head ...

2009-05-20T12:28:00.003+05:30

Looks like i have run into a dry patch for blogging already..... so now i am planning to follow what all popular bloggers do when they have nothing interesting to write about! write about what they have been upto in their lives. Although i fail to see why some one would be interested in reading about what i have been upto, I am sure i will read it some years later ( if my blog still exists ) and thinking about how boring or interesting my life was a few years earlier!! The 2 or 3 readers i have will know i am still an active blogger :)

phew...now that the rather lengthy disclaimer is over... i will get down to the actuals..

Firstly i had been crazy busy at work with some kind of an initiative that everyone had to work towards. It took ages to finish and took away most of my weekends too :(
And then I am in a top priority project for the schedules are quite hectic. so expecting a few more months of hectic schedules. But I suppose in these times i should be glad about having good work.

The house has been coming along quite nicely with most of the stuff put away where they are supposed to be. I am yet to tackle the curio cabinet which will house the crockery. I dont know what to do with the sheer amount of serving bowl sets we got as gifts. Combining the ones we got for our wedding it must be around 8-9 sets of serving bowls :P . Oh and the number of Ganeshas we got is enough to start one of those Ganesha collections. We got them in all sizes,shapes and colors. My MIL managed to give away a few of them and now she is feeling bad and thinks that it would offend Lord Ganesha and is planning to use some of the nicer ones around the house :)

After K and I realised that we have not been spending enough time together what with the house, office work and social commitments, we seem to be doing some fun things. Caught up on a lot of movies of all languages... I suffered through the movie "300" and gave it up half way as it was too gory! and poor K suffered through "sex and the city". Not sure what the hooplah was all about. I suppose one had to watch the entire series to know what the hype was all about.

K has an upcoming eye procedure this weekend. A little worried about that and hoping everything goes smoothly. Although it wont solve the condition, it will atleast prevent further progression of the condition. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

We joined a 12 session astronomy course at the planetarium. I was so hoping we would actually have live demonstrations inside the planetarium. Turns out that it is a series of lectures and the concluding session has a free show!
The lectures are very technical but it is fun. All the physics we studied in college are being talked about in the sessions. What was boring in college is now so interesting. It is so refreshing to go back to basic sciences than working on computer related stuff all the time.

A lot of introspection has been happening off late and as i understand people better, i am learning to tolerate people's quirkiness and look beyond it. Now that i know how certain people react, i dont waste my time thinking what i did or didn't do for them to react the way they did.

There has been this thing nagging me. Is it ok to be relieved/happy that some one from the group at work is quitting? We are supposed to be this close-knit group so not sure about how i should be feeling. I know i will be spared a lot of negativity in the group now! I dont have to worry about being judged harshly, or picking up arguements or generally putting up with the person's high and mighty attitude! :)

ok...i think i will get back to work now!

I hadnt realised that....

2009-04-16T15:43:00.006+05:30

something as inane as shopping for groceries can be fun!
Going to the busy market place, just looking at all the fresh produce makes me happy!
yup...i can be that weird!
Things look so colorful and it is so much fun to take in all the sights and the smells.
I even haggled with the lady selling flowers just to see if it works considering that I am a novice at it.
Maybe it wont be fun anymore if i'll have to do it on daily basis ;)

Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar....

2009-04-06T15:24:00.000+05:30

Seeing a house turning into a home is an exciting journey. Its like a piece of clay being moulded into something meaningful right before your eyes. And thats what we have been going through these past few months building a new home for ourselves.

At the end of each day, we would rush back home from work to see what amount of progress had happened. The walls have come up, the windows have been installed, the tiles have been laid on the floor. And then dreaming up of all the nice things what color you want the walls, what furniture would look good, the color of the curtains . We painstakingly researched, measured, matched, compared every thing that went into the making of our new home!

And then it happened, what we were waiting for almost a year. We moved into our new home yesterday. After all the arduous task of packing up and moving all the belongings, entering the new house filled us with excitement and a strange feeling as everything felt new and unfamiliar. It doesn't matter that the curtains haven't been installed yet or our entire belongings are still boxed, or that the smell of fresh paint lingers, or that the furniture we ordered is yet to be delivered but its still feels good to be home. :)

Musings 3

2009-03-20T10:48:00.003+05:30

Why is it that people are so forthcoming with negative criticism and cannot get themselves to speak about the good things?
Is it so difficult to show appreciation? My take on this is, if people talk about things which could have been done better, they sure can talk about things which went right. Not that I need to hear good things all the time, but it just goes to show the kind of person he/she is, who is reluctant to agree that something is good!

Reliving Holi....

2009-03-12T11:54:00.005+05:30

Its a day past Holi and as i was on my way to work, i remembered the Holi celebrations that we used to have a few years ago. Being from Southern India, Holi was not celebrated as a festival but only for the revelry. Seeing the remnants of Holi celebrations on Bangalore's roads reminded me of times gone by, of times that will not come back and of times that remind me that i have probably moved on from that phase of life. Nostalgia took over!

When i was a kid, Holi was celebrated with me tagging along sis and her gang of friends. I would be so thrilled at being included in the "older and therefore cooler" gang.
Years went by, and "The Gang of neighborhood kids" became an integral part of any celebrations including Holi.( Some of the greatest times where spent with the gang. It figures, since I met K there :) )
Much to the annoyance of dad, sis and I would beg and plead to go play Holi with them.
Dad didnt approve of girls going out and pouring colors on other people(read boys) on the streets! :D
It didnt matter even if we tried convincing him that we would all gather at a friend's place.
Only after a lot of coaxing by mom would he agree begrudgingly! (oh well, thats appa!)

Off we would go in old faded dresses that could be discarded after Holi, mositurizer applied to face,hands and legs, oil applied to our hair so as to get the colors off easily!

What would start as a just appying colors on people's faces would end up in tossing people into water tanks filled with colored water! And ofcourse the photo session later with unrecognisable faces. People who wouldnt turn up had it worse, the gang would head up to their houses, knock on their doors and smear colors.

And now Holi is not the same anymore, people have moved out of the country, drifted apart, gotten married and are busy with their lives . I somehow cannot fathom the same set of people playing Holi together anymore :) I guess those were our Wonder Years!

Experience speaks..

2009-02-27T15:12:00.006+05:30

Of late most conversations with my mother seem to be centred around the same topic. I usually take her advice on people management, what with her plethora of experience managing people. Perhaps this sounds strange if you dont have to interact with relatives on an everyday basis. With friends its different. Its more casual and you are pretty sure of how they would react.

But with relatives, you have to be more gaurded. They are constantly judging you, watching your every move, critiquing every word that you utter. If i had it my way, I would have thrown all caution to wind and wouldnt have cared a damn and spoken out what exactly i think of them, but sometimes it doesnt work that way. You need to have that harmony and maintain outwardly appearances atleast for the family's sake. That way i am lucky that K's parents are some of the nicest people i know and i dont have to worry about such things with them.

Anyway, coming back to what i started off with, one such conversation i had with my mom, it was interesting to note her reaction . "try to do those things which people want, especially with those who are always judging you and waiting for that one wrong move from your side. One should never give an opportunity for them to comment on you. With people who matter , its different, they understand you." However warped that logic sounds, i have seen that it works. Atleast you are at peace with yourself and spared all the negativity which would arise otherwise.

I have seen more often than not , sometimes experience in dealing with people matters more than just "doing the right thing". You sometimes have to compromise and do whatever it is that people want you to do. That way you are at peace. I guess thats the reason that she has successfully managed a big and happy household for 30 odd years.

She has humongous amounts of patience and tolerance for all kinds of people.Not sure if i can emulate her, but one thing that i have decided is atleast be patient when dealing with people, even though they have been nasty in the past and dont deserve the attention. Sigh, quite a task it will turn out to be.

Writing prompt

2009-02-18T12:58:00.002+05:30

Writing prompt # 4 from blogpourri

Rules: Take 10 minutes to write. Please time yourself. When you have finished writing, please leave a link to your response in the comments box. Have fun!

Prompt: Write about an ordinary, everyday event in your family's life. It could be something that your mother or father did every day - ironing clothes, cutting vegetables, doing puja. Or something one of your siblings did - washing the moped or scooter, perhaps. May be even something that all of you did together regularly.

This was not an everyday event but a Sunday morning ritual throughout my childhood. It was the only thing that prompted me to wake up early even on Sundays. Back then when it was a large family and a small house, we would sleep on mattresses spread on the living room floor. And without missing a single Sunday, my sis and I would wake up to the strains of the title track of Rangoli on Doordarshan. We would lie in bed and watch the program wide-eyed lest we miss a single moment of the 30 minute show. We would be thrilled to bits if they telecast songs from the latest movies. We would also tease dad to no end when his favorite actress, Hemamalini started hosting the show.
That half an hour would transport us to a technicolor world only to be brought back to reality once the program ended. It would only keep us wishing every day was Sunday.

At Death's door...

2009-02-13T17:22:00.005+05:30

I was returning home from office and saw a group of people huddled in front of the neighbour's house. I didnt make too much of it. I thought it was just a bunch of women gathered around to share local gossip. Being new to the neighborhood we have not yet reached a stage of familiarity where we indulge in friendly banter with neighbors. It was only later in the night when we saw an ambulance parked by that something was amiss. And we learnt that a 30-year old man had committed suicide. As we learned more, i realised that i had actually known the guy when a bunch of us kids had given a program on radio. That was 15 years ago and i hadnt seen him after that.

The news of his death saddened me and the realisation that i had actually known the person hit me hard. I remember him as a gangly kid with bright eyes and a ready smile. He was the most talkitive amongst us kids.

I still cant fathom what was so unbearable in his life that prompted him to end it. What could have been so irreversible that he resorted to this heinous act?
What went through his mind in those last few minutes before he made the decision?
How did he summon up so much courage to knock on death's door?

These questions, i know are the same that his family is trying to seek answers for.
His parents will never know his last thoughts. I can only pray that they find solace in this difficult time. I can only pray that his soul rests in peace.

Bangalore's answer to Rama Sena

2009-02-10T14:17:00.009+05:30

Here is what Bangalore's doing in response to the Mangalore pub attacks and other atrocious claims by Rama Sena

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/800-bangaloreans-oppose-moral-policing

Marriages are made in heaven?

2009-01-27T11:48:00.009+05:30

Cliched as the topic sounds, what made me blog about it was an email my sister sent me.
It was sent because my family went through a lot and was a lot apprehensive when i announced my intentions of getting married to K. This was at a time when the search for a groom for me by my family was intense and anything less than a traditional arranged marriage was unacceptable. Things finally fell into place and the rest as they say is history.

I thought the email was sweet and touching especially because she was my pillar of strength throughout the ordeal! Here goes the excerpt:

hey ...
wanted to share a cute li'l story with you guys.A friend of mine who is 45 yrs old lost her husband last year when he committed suicide coz they never got along well!!She tried really hard to make the marriage work, but could never satisfy him and I trust her when she says that because I ve known her for the past 4 years and she is an absolutely wonderful person.
Anyway, she is from Capetown South Africa and went back home for Christmas this year.There she meets this guy whom she knew since she was 6 years old and had not been in touch for 27 years.He apparently had never been married because he thought she was the love of his life and he was frustrated that he had lost her to some one else! So after 27 yrs and 1 dead husband, my friend finally hooked up with this guy and they had a beautiful beach side wedding with just the two of them and a priest at the ceremony.And the first thing she told me when she came back was that she had been looking for the ideal partner all her life when he had shown up in her life at the age of 6!!and so I told her, Marriages are surely made in heaven!!
Anyway, sounds like a movie story , but it's true! I kinda got reminded of S and K and how foolish it would have been for them to not have been together !!

This brought a smile to my face :)

Thought for the day??

2009-01-20T14:07:00.006+05:30

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you were doing the perfectly normal thing and then suddenly the world is criticizing you?
Everyone sets certain expectations and wants you to live upto them. And you are trying hard not to give in and do things the way you want to!
This is what i saw on The Bride's blog which echoes my thoughts today!

Rant!

2009-01-05T11:35:00.007+05:30

Here i go...my first rant post! Actually the second one because i never posted the first rant. Sigh...never mind.
People I know, especially the women who have a lot of time on their hands for evil thoughts, go by physical appearance to decide the happiness quotient in a person's life.
A few days after an arduous 2-week trek in the Himalayas, when i came back happy,tanned and lighter by a few kilos, i met a relative who lives down the lane. Oblivious of my recent vacation and going by my weight loss, she wants to know, if i had some problems in my married life and whether i was being treated well!

Such busy bodies!!

Ringing in the new year.

2008-12-31T10:51:00.003+05:30

Its that time of the year again when the office is empty, people are busy planning parties, drawing up elaborate menus, planning to indulge in excesses and oh! listing out things for their resolutions.

There are two things which i will be doing differently this time. Not party or celebrate New Year and try and make a New Year Resolution. Better still stick to it! Both will be a first for me!

New Year somehow doesn't seem the same anymore. There isn't the excitement and enthusiasm to plan a party or be a part of the celebrating. Big Deal, its just another year, another day. What's the reason to party or celebrate? Before you think i am sounding depressed, let me just set the record straight :D I don't feel like New Year has to be ushered in loudly.I just feel like spending some quite time today.Maybe i am a little weird, maybe i have mellowed down or maybe i am plain lazy. :D

However, I am planning to have a New Year resolution this time.I was never a believer in this.But its more like a wish list! :D
Hey, this is as good a time as any to start something new or pick up from where you left off. There are two things on my resolutions list. The first one is to stay fit and lead a healthy lifestyle and the second is to start driving my car.The rest of the stuff i am pretty content with.

Here's to another year! Have a great 2009 folks!

Discovery!

2008-12-30T12:29:00.003+05:30

On the recent road trip that i went on, I made an amazing discovery! Its the Lonely Planet book. It has all kinds of information one needs when traveling to the unknown.
Its got everything from to places to see, restaurant listings, hotels and lodges listing with the telephone numbers. It also has these little tips about the best time to visit a particular place, what to look out for, what to give a miss etc.
My next visit to a bookstore i am definitely picking up a copy.
Yay to The Lonely Planet!

Conversations with Dee

2008-12-11T11:39:00.007+05:30

This post may not be of interest to you unless you love kiddie talk.
If you still dont heed my warning ,go ahead and get bored!

My niece Disha is visiting us for a couple of months and its soooo much fun being around her. She is 3 months shy of turning two!I was apprehensive meeting her at the airport as she has never seen me in person before. ( The one week visit when she was 5 months old doesnt count!) She knows me only through the computer and through photographs..Boy! Was i delighted when she instantly recognized me and flashed a big grin at me :)

Some interesting conversations with Disha :D

What's your name?
Deeeesha! (She's slowly losing the American accent now and manages to say Disha!)

Me : Bruum yen ayithu? (What happened to the balloon?)
Disha : Bruum phoos.....
Me : Yaake phoos? (Why?)
Disha : Disha koootho (Disha sat on it!)

What's Disha eating?
shheal , doya bowl (cereal in her Dora bowl)
or kaanbeyy (Cranberry)
or something unintelligible!

What did Ravana do to Jatayu?
cut cut cut! (Ravana clips off Jatayu's wings in one of the episodes of Ramayana)

What does Disha watch on TV?
Namanana and Mahahaha (Ramayana and Mahabharatha)

What does amma say to Disha?
Iknnoooo! ("I know!" Thats what my sis says in response to Disha's babbling!)

Who is America's president?
omama!

I am having a great time with her! :D

Celebrating one year of wedded bliss :)

2008-12-01T15:21:00.003+05:30

This post is over due by a couple of days. We were out celebrating our one year wedding anniversary. We did what both of us like doing best, lazing around in a quiet place. We spent a day at a homestay in Wayanad. Taking long naps, followed by sumptuous Kerala food was the order of the day. :) The walk amidst coffee plantations was sheer bliss. The only sounds we could hear were the birds chirping and the bees buzzing around. It was the perfect holiday.

Thanks so much sweetheart! :)

Living under an illusion....

2008-11-25T12:29:00.008+05:30

I have always heard people talking about someone else being on drugs or being doped.
I have seen on TV and movies junkies snorting cocaine or smoking marijuana.
However today i got to witness firsthand some one actually under the haze of addictive stuff.

This happened on my way to work while traveling in an auto rickshaw. While we were waiting for the traffic lights to go green, i noticed this person sitting on the sidewalk,inhaling from a bottle. On close observation i realized that it was a commonly used correction fluid called Erazex. It is cheap and easily available and the most common addicts to such stuff are the urchins and people living off streets.

They probably see it as a means of attaining quick relief from the harsh life that reality offers them. They would rather be living under an illusion than be faced with hunger, homelessness and the generally desolate life they lead.

I looked up for more information on this and found an article relevant to the city i live in. You can read more about it here . It was published sometime last year.

In comparison to this, it left me wondering why people who seem to be relatively doing well in life end up doing substance abuse.

150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty

2008-11-19T12:55:00.009+05:30

Took up this tag from here. Though i am not 30 yet, i though i would take up this tag. That way i would still have 5 years to catch up on things i have missed!

Feel free to take it up yourself! You are supposed to highlight things you have done.Some of the things are really weird!!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said “I love you” and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg (Does a glacier count?)

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for your computer (I think K had it at one point :D )

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Played touch football

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theatre

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight ????

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”

83. Gotten flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a TV game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper (it helps if your friend is a journo)

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes ???

134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

Foot in mouth.....

2008-11-14T12:14:00.008+05:30

There are times when i talk about something very vehemently, especially if it is something i am very passionate about or something that i strongly believe in. I usually talk openly about what i feel about things. Often in such situations i come about as being opinionated,hopefully not over bearing !
One such incident happened at office today. We were all talking over our morning coffee at the pantry, boss included.
There are a series of events happening in office as a run up to the annual day.I found that the activities were not as well-organized compared to the previous year and expressed so.
The minute i said this , the boss said , "I approved the mail that was sent out".
I should have known then to keep my mouth shut then and not go on, knowing that he was part of the organizing committee. But no, I had to go on and elaborate why i thought it could have been better.

Sigh! Next time hope i think hard before i blurt out something.

Indian culture can be funny sometimes.....

2008-11-05T14:46:00.009+05:30

It was Diwali and i was standing in my balcony in the evening,looking at the neighborhood kids bursting crackers. I saw this 12 year old boy who lives next door, lighting flower pots using a sparkler. His mom was supervising the activity and before he could go light another flower pot, she asked him to move his arms in circles with the sparklers in his hand.

I am sure we have all done this when we were kids. Swinging our arms with sparklers in hand and be delighted at the play of lights by the sparklers.

The lady wanted her son to experience the same joy that she had ,when she was a kid. Sadly by the tone of the voice, the kid mistook it to be some kind of a ritual which is performed before one lights a flower pot.
So before lighting every cracker, the kid would move his arms in circles once or twice with the sparkler in hand.

This got me thinking as to how a lot of such inane activities have come to become strict norms in the Hindu culture.

How many of such things we follow without ever questioning the rationale behind it?

In South India, we are still not allowed to cut our nails after dark.Its the same when it comes to plucking flowers or leaves. The way i see it, back in those days when there was no electricity ,you wouldn't want to cut your finger accidentally or be bitten by insects when you were out picking the flowers!

The Rangoli\Kolam was drawn in front of the house to ward off insects. So was the thoranam of fresh mango and neem leaves which adorn the main door of the house during festivities.

I can think of lot more such examples but i am sure you must have got the drift by now :)

Of course not all rituals are without logic.I am sure most of them have some logical explanation. But over centuries , the meaning behind the rituals have been lost and they have reduced to a set of meaningless activities.

Musings.....

2008-11-03T12:38:00.006+05:30

Each time she picks up the phone, something holds her back from actually making the call.
Is there anything left to talk? To make up for the years of silence?
The words had never flowed easily. There was never a feeling of kinship. They had never been giggly teenagers who had shared secrets ,talked about crushes,gossiped about others.
She always felt she didn't measure up to the standards.
Why then did she feel that she still had to hold on to this one?

Valley Of Flowers : Part III

2008-10-31T12:53:00.019+05:30

I finally got down to finishing the last part of the trilogy that i had planned on writing. This post you could say is the Grand Finale. This is were i talk about the very reason why we planned the trek : to visit the Valley of Flowers.

All of us were pretty excited about this part of the trek. The previous day,we atched a documentary on the valley of flowers. An Indian researcher (i forget his name) has put together a documentary which captures the diverse ecology of the alpine valley. He visits the valley every year from June to October (or thereabouts) in the hope of learning more each passing year.

We were in awe of both his documentary and his passion for researching the valley. We couldn't wait to be there amidst the flowers ourselves.

The trek started early in the morning. The weather was picture perfect.Just the right amount of chill combined with mild sunshine.There was a spring in our steps as we started the trek. Maybe it was the silence around us added to the heightening sense of excitement. Unlike, Hemkund, there are no pilgrims here, just the hikers. There is no grazing allowed or human settlement. No mules and dhabas dotting the path. It was just us and Mother Nature.

After a short walk, we started seeing flora and fauna typical to this ecology. Each of us stopped every few feet to admire nature's beauty. Flowers of every concievable color and leaves with intricate patterns and the early morning dew on the gossamer spider webs was breath-taking. I was amazed at how beautiful the whole setting was. To add to this we came across a brook making its way down to the valley. Crossing that rickety,makeshift bridge was quite an experience!

It every photographer's dream come true to be surrounded by pristine beauty and for K it was not any different. He had to capture it all in his camera. He would stop every few meters to capture nature's glory. I let him be and walked alone. I just didn't feel like making conversation with anyone else in the group. I was content enjoying the solitude in this picturesque setting.
As i walked along i realized this kind of beauty is to be enjoyed and cherished in the company of a loved one and decided to wait for K after all ;)

We went walking along and taking pics and came across this glacier. There was huge crack right down to the middle of the glacier threatening to split and come crashing down any minute.
The glacier on the way to the valley. Notice the crack in the middle?

I simply cannot describe in words the rest of the walk. All i have to do is close my eyes to be transported back to that serene place. I will instead share some pics of the place.

Some fruit which grows there. An amazing hue of blue!

The valley is itself huge. Flowers of one kind grow in patches. Cross-pollination has led to the same variety of flowers growing in different hues.Thats what lend the color to the valley.It feels like the valley is one never ending stretch.

After a short walk, we came across yet another brook meandering in the midst of the valley.
This is where we settled down for lunch. It was the best picnic i have ever had. While the rest of the gang wanted to further into the valley and also visit the grave of Margaret Legge , a botanist who died in the valley on her quest for more information on the flowers.
The brook where we had our picnic lunch

Few of us chose to sit by the brook and take in the scenery. L and M, decided to meditate there. It was the ultimate place for them for meditation. K and I sat there savoring the beauty of the valley in quiet companionship. While another couple S and D decide to take a small nap :D

More pictures on the valley of flowers.

Sky through the flowers

Panoramic view of the valley of flowers.

Its easily the most beautiful place on earth!

P.S : All pictures are taken by K. More of his pics here

Ok na?

2008-10-30T11:50:00.007+05:30

A strange thing happened yesterday which suddenly made me realise how much difference it makes being married,in the Indian society. I was out on the porch lighting lamps since it was Diwali.This neighbor of mine spots me and stops his bike and comes up to speak to me.
I am wondering what possibly would make him want to speak to me! We usually just nod and exhange a hi when we see each other.

He starts by saying he needs some information about an "alliance" for his nephew.This particular "alliance" happens to be my cousin's daughter.
The conversation went like this :
Neighbor : Nimm kade ondu hudgi idaaLe.... nimm tande cousin magaLu anthe...
me : err...(racking my brains to figure out whom he is speaking about.After a long explanation realised who he was talking about)
Neighbor : "hudgi hege? ok na? ("Whats your opinion about the girl?")
me : huh? err... yeah very nice girl and good family as well! (duh!!)
Neighbor : hudgi akka divorcee anthe? (Her sister is a divorcee)
Me : Akka divorcee aadre yenu? (How does it matter?)
Neighbor : proceed madbahuda ?("Should we go ahead?")
me : hmm... haan ....proceed maadi....yenu problem illa....(sure why not...go ahead!)
Neighbor : "naavu ade yochne maadtiddvi....sadhya eega ondu reference sikktalla!"(Its a good thing that we found a reference)
I just grin stupidly and nod my head!

I have never been asked such questions before! duh, i didnt know how to react! For God's sake,how does my opinion about a person matter in situations like this!Its upto the two people seeking alliance how they like each other and how much they think they would be compatible.And how does it matter what's the marital status is of the rest of the family?

I then realised that one's status in the Indian society is elevated after marriage.Your opnion matters when it comes hitching up two people!
What if something goes wrong and they blame me later in life?yikes! i want my single status back when faced with such situations! :D

Its a date!

2008-10-24T14:40:00.003+05:30

I did something i have never done before.I went out on a lunch date........with myself! Not that it is something that has never been done before or is unheard of. I am sure people do this regularly but i had never until today fathomed myself eating alone.

Since my usual lunch gang in office was out on vacation owing to Diwali, i thought of giving it a try today.

Now, it is very important to choose the place where you want to enjoy your first solitary meal. It should either be a very crowded place like a fast food joint, where no one notices you or it should be a place where there aren't many people. The popular restaurants are not a good choice. People instantly notice that you are alone and they might end up thinking you are a loser to be dining alone! You will be subjected to pitying glances or stares, making you conscious and that might ruin the whole experience of dining alone.

After deciding between the food court in the nearest mall and a small, quiet cafe in the nearby theater auditorium, off i went to the mall close to my work place. This also gave me a chance to go pick up a few books that i had been wanting to. After almost an hour of browsing through the various sections in the bookstore, i picked up a few books and then headed off to the food court in the mall.

The shortest line was at the subway counter and I decided to head there. After the sub was ready, I found myself a quiet corner and settled down to enjoy the meal with the one of the books that i had bought. Unfortunately it is difficult to read a book when you are attacking a sub whose stuffing threatens to spill out in all directions.

I gave up reading the book and settled down to the next best thing , studying other people. :D
I noticed that there were a few more people enjoying their solitary lunch.One girl looked like she had a lot of experience (nope am not judging her social life :D). She was totally immersed in the novel she was reading. There were others who were not quite comfortable eating alone.All they wanted was to be done with their lunch quickly!There were techies in large groups enjoying their friday lunch, flaunting their company identity cards. Then there were these college kids who looked like they had bunked classes to enjoy with their friends. And all the aunties out for their Diwali shopping getting a respite from slogging in the kitchen. And of course the high-society types. It always makes me wonder why they would want to eat at a food court. I saw Charu Sharma once at the food court in another popular mall in the city.

By this time i had finished eating my sub and i would say it was not a bad experience eating alone. One lesson from this was experience is not to order something messy if you are planning on enjoying your meal with only a book for company!

Valley Of Flowers,Part II,Haridwar and beyond....

2008-10-21T17:51:00.000+05:30

We had to catch the Mussorie express from the old Delhi railway stattion to reach Haridwar . The meeting point for the KMA was the comesum hotel at the railway station(as someone in the group wisecracked, "some come and some dont come "!!).

On reaching Haridwar in the morning,we were stranded there for a couple of hours as it was the concluding day of the Kaavad mela.Hordes of pilgrims had camped all over haridwar and the traffic was at a stand still.

Kaavad Mela in Haridwar

After a long wait, we proceeded towards Rishikesh to the nearest garhwal mandal vikas nigam. There are GVMNs all over the Uttaranchal. These were built mainly for the promotion of tourism. Some of them are maintained well while others are in a decrepit state.

After freshening up and eating a hearty breakfast we started our bus journey towards JoshiMath to reach another GMVN. The journey itself was very pleasant and we spent our time looking at the passing landscape ,getting acquainted with the KMA group. The group was in top spirits as we started gaining altitude leaving behind the sweltering heat of Haridwar.

The next day was when all the hard work started.Our destination was the small hamlet Ghangria which is a 13 kilometres trek from Govindghat,about 30 kms from Joshimat. The distance sounded easy enough but turned out to be a killer as we had discounted the terrain and the heavily laden rucksacks.
The initial part of the trek was exciting as it was an easy walk up the hill with breath taking views of the mountains around and the gushing torrents of Ganga in the gorge beside us. As the initial adrenaline rush wore off,and the landscape remained unchanged, we began to experience fatigue.The 8-kg ruck-sack made things worse. The final descent was almost impossible and i was ready to give up. Only the thought of some hot food and a warm bed kept me going :D .

There are small dhabas all along the way for weary pilgrims and trekkers to rest and restore their energy levels with steaming hot chai,paranthas or maggi. Everything here is twice as expensive as the only means of carrying these goods are using mules.

One of the many dhabas on our way....

Roaring Ganga keeping us company throughout the trek.

We later realised that this was the toughest part of the trek! Some places it was almost a 90 degree incline.Once we reached Ghangaria, we were told to look for Hotel Priya which would be the place where we would be camping for the next three days .I was sure glad when atlast i spotted Hotel Priya!

The next day was the trek to the holy shrine of the Sikhs, Hemkund Sahib.
We started the trek around 6 AM in the morning. The visibility was almost zero. All along the way we heard the pilgrims periodically bursting into "Jo Bole So Nihaal,Satsri akaal".Sounded more like a war cry to me! And then there were others who would chant Ik Onkaar non-stop. It was amazing how these people effortlessly managed the climb, chanting all the while , when most of were focusing our efforts on just walking along the mountain.
We reached the peak after a 3 hour trek and we were in for a disappointment, the Hemkund lake was fully covered in mist. Having seen beautiful pictures of this place on the web, this turned out to be a major dampener.

Trudging along........

We decided to visit the gurudwara first before heading to the langar. Blankets are provided inside the shrine for all pilgrims. After warming ourselves ,we headed to the langar to eat some steaming hot kicchdi and drink some sickly sweet tea. It was manna for us weary trekkers.

Having my hunger pangs satisified, i felt guilty of not doing any Seva(volunteer work) in the langar. So a bunch of us sat down to the task of washing the vessels. It seemed like some people volunteered to this task becuase they got to soak their hands in hot water when it was freezing outside ;)

Inside the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara.......

Having waited for a while for the mist to clear, we set out downhill. This seemed relatively easy and halfway through the mist cleared. That is when we realised how narrow the path was and how steep the precipice was!

We climbed down quickly enough and were delighted to be treated to hot hot Jalebis and chai!

Valley Of Flowers, Part I - Delhi

2008-10-20T14:42:00.000+05:30

Back in college , (boy! that makes me feel old, although i assure you,that was just 4 years back), when there was a mail thread from the gang on what each one of us wanted to do in our lifetime, i too had my own list of things..... what i didn't know then that the top most on the list would come true. Going to the Himalayas once in my lifetime.

K and i being avid travelers, decided to trek to the valley of flowers in Uttaranchal. July and August are the only two months when the flowers are in full bloom through out the valley. The treks are more or less organized around this time of the year.
I was very excited about the trek and apprehensive at the same time as i had never been on a hiking trip ever!
its one thing to walk a few kilometers to the waterfalls or the nearby stream while you are on a vacation but quite another matter when you have to be walking in rugged terrain with a heavily laden back-pack for hours together.
One thing that held me back from going on these hikes or treks is the phobia for answering nature's call ...err...amidst nature...you never know what's lurking out there :P
I was relieved when i heard we would be put up in rooms there rather than pitching tents.i knew things would be alright. :) My experience of trekking being zilch,K was very encouraging and said that it wouldn't be as difficult as i thought. Easy for him, as he has scaled almost all the peaks in Karnataka and done two Himalayan treks.

In spite of having these self-doubts there was not a single time i thought of any kind of preparation for the impending trip.Another couple, Y and K who were to join us on the trek would take one day trips for practice during the weekends.

About a month before the trek i began to panic as i had no idea about my ability to sustain the trek or my stamina levels. We decide to put these to test and set out on a weekend trek to Satyamangala forests in Chamarajanagar,Mysore. Although i couldn't keep pace with the rest of the gang , i completed this trek successfully.... This boosted my confidence levels and i was all set for the Big one!

The day dawned bright and sunny...sounds too cliched isnt it? well, i wish it was like that...instead K and I were slogging on our laptops till about an hour we were to leave for the airport.

Anyway, off we went to the airport and on the way i get a call from a cousin saying that there were serial blasts happening everywhere in Bangalore and she asked me to be careful as i was headed to the airport. It was quite a shock to hear that the blasts were happening quite close to my work-place. I immediately called up colleagues at work not knowing what the intensity of the blasts were. I was relieved to know everyone was safe and much more when i heard they were all low intensity ones. I was still in a state of shock as to how someone could do this to my beloved Bangalore... such things only happen in other cities and you get to see these things on the television!

After an uneventful flight ,we landed in Delhi at around 9:30 pm and immediately set out for the Silk Board guest house near IIT. I had conjured up visions of homely comfort when Y had booked the guest house. Alas, that was not the case to be.On being show into our rooms, my heart sank.The paint was peeling, the furniture looked old and dusty. The bathroom was dingier. We had no intention of hanging out in the guest house except to sleep in the night so we decided to stay put.

The first day in Delhi was spent indulging in one of my favorite activities - shopping!This was mainly because both K and i had visited the usual tourists places in Delhi before,so we decided to skip them.

We still had two days before we would set off to Haridwar where our trek would start. The next day we headed to nearby Mathura and Agra. Here are some pics!

A pic of the Agra Fort. I must say the fort has been very accuratley re-created for the movie Jodha-Akbar.

The famous monument of love, Taj Mahal. We did what most tourists do when visiting the Taj.
Get a pic of the two of us sitting on the stone bench in front of the Taj :D

The last day in Delhi before we took off on the trek, we didnot have anything planned as we had a train to catch to Haridwar in the evening .So decided to watch a movie.The nearest mall had "Singh is Kinng" playing.Oh what a mistake it was ! Most parts of the movie had the rest of the crowd in splits and the few genuine jokes didnt get a reaction from them. It only left us wondering about the intelligence of the Delhi audience!

Small things in life that bring joy....

2008-10-17T15:51:00.000+05:30

Freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning
Long walks at night
Holding hands
Curling up on the couch with a good book
That unexpected sms or phone call
Cooking a good meal
Give in to the urge to eat yummy chaat :)
Watching the rain
Sitting on the sea shore and listening to the sounds of the sea
Sitting by the window and watching the world go by on a lazy Sunday evening
Smell of burning incense at twilight when the lamps are lit
Waking up to Suprabhata by MS/Vedic chants on festive occasions

Finally!!

2008-10-17T14:38:00.000+05:30

I finally gathered the courage to create a blog for myself. I am stumbling upon words as i write my first post. After having read scores of blogs by some of the most eloquent writers and reading about their interesting lives i wonder what i will be blogging about.But lets wait and watch shall we? :)
After all, i have been wanting to put down my thought since aeons.....this is as good a time as any to start.

So here's to me!!

Cheers!