Odyssey Of The Mind

Untangling.. (Day 40 - Project 366)

2012-02-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

Today was yet another day full of work, the only good thing being the chocolate cake I had in the evening. I was so busy relishing it that I forgot to capture it. :P

From the events that took place today, I can only say that life is unpredictable and it is useless to keep planning everything. So much needs to be done right now that I'm stressing out over when I'll do what!!

Writing everything down one by one helped me calm myself down..

I managed to untangle some of the things in my head, by making a to-do list in order of what has to be finished off quickest. Right now, I am just confused over whether I am going the right way, doing the right thing. Whether what I am doing now will contribute to the big picture in some way. I don't even know what the big picture is :S and that is very scary! Also thinking about what fits and what doesn't, and what steps to take in either case. Needless to say, I don't even know what steps to take.

On the health front, my cough worsened so I am on medication again. :(

About to hit the bed now while wishing hard that everything will make sense when I open my eyes tomorrow. Night all of you.

Work!! (Day 39 - Project 366)

2012-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today was all about work, work and work. The only time I stepped out of my house was to meet my neighbour and best friend Chinky. And surprisingly, it didn't tire me out at all. I actually had fun working at a stretch and finishing small tasks.

My cold is better but I am beginning to cough a little.

I didn't really capture anything today. :-|

KGAF (Day 38 - Project 366)

2012-02-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Today was a quick and short trip to KGAF..

Just looked around a bit and sat for a Sufi play which bored us.. We got up and left 20 minutes into the play. As I mentioned in my last post, I am sick & my cold medication was already making me sleepy. The slow play was adding to it. Tom Alter was the lead performer. He is a pretty good actor but I didn't like the pace of the play. Or maybe the genre wasn't for me.

The Old Man & The Sea (A Sufi Fable)

So we just looked around at the stalls and the visual art work. Some of them were really interesting:

These were the bins where we could drop our doubts, fears and sadness.. It's called the 'pool of shit'. Pretty good way of dumping all that waste, eh?

Board of compassion by the kids. These are the compassionate acts done by them. :)

This reminded me of the Art Umbrella for obvious reasons! :D

Free hug :P

Portrait painting..

Check this dude making music with his nose:

Isn't he cool?

Bisleri bottles put to use..

Bottles used for decorating the tree.. made for a good Facebook & Google+ profile picture! :P

That's a 3D pyramid made of cutting chai glasses.. tons of pictures clicked here! :)

That is all for now.. it was just a quick trip. I'll be visiting again for a longer time on Saturday. For those interested, the festival is on till the 12th of February i.e. next Sunday and you can view/download the schedule here. :)

No Picture Day :P (Day 37 - Project 366)

2012-02-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot to take a picture on this day, for this day!! It was a plain old day really, except for the fact that it was my last freestyle dancing class.. I was pretty pumped up when Chinky, Gaurang (my neighbour) and I went shopping for Gaurang's slippers after my class. After looking in every one of the brand factory outlets, he finally picked a pair from Nike.

Was feeling tired and uneasy all day. Just as I had thought, I got sick in the night. I soooo hate being sick!!

Anyway, no picture here. I couldn't keep upto the Project 366 vow I guess. But, no worries, I will still continue to post & write about happy moments. :)

So stay tuned.. tada :)

Recycled Crafts Workshop (Day 36 - Project 366)

2012-02-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today was a tiresome yet fulfilling day at the Nature Bazaar by Earthoholics. Detailed info here: http://artsy-me.blogspot.in/2012/02/recycled-paper-craft-workshop.html :)

Had fun taking a 'recycled crafts' workshop with the kids (and a few adults)!

Here's Falak & me making a gift box out of newspapers & magazine papers...

It was real fun teaching the kids to cut, tie knots, fold and collectively make objects out of scrap! :)

Friends, Laugher & Craft (Day 35 - Project 366)

2012-02-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

So today, after our freestyle dancing session, Chinky, Seema & I met up with Nimit and had a fantastic time!!! Laughing hard on silly jokes, revisiting the old memories and roaming the streets of Matunga was fun.. I wish I'd have captured those moments :(

It's always fun with Nimit. I know I'll have a good laugh & a great time! :)

I'm also getting ready for my workshop tomorrow. Click here to know how you can make stuff like this:

Isn't it cool? :)

Yum! (Day 34 - Project 366)

2012-02-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

Today was delicious!! :D

First, Chinky's mom made me some awesome Chinese soup :) That too, just in time! (before dinner)

And then... I was in for another surprise when mom made me Methi Mutter Malai :) I simply love it !!!

"Me" Time (Day 33 - Project 366)

2012-02-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

I am getting a lot of "me" time these days..and I am quite liking it. Today I had a nice long shower before sitting down to work. In between talking to mom, making myself some tea and working, I was also listening to these tracks from Sex & the City (the movie). I can't help but sway to the beats of "Let's hear it for New York!". That track is called "Empire State of Mind" by the way. Who would think, right? I had heard the song but it took Chinky & me about 2 hours yesterday to figure out what the title was..they could have just named it "Let's hear it for New York" than "Empire State of Mind". How silly of them!

I tripped on this number when I was searching for "Let's hear it for New York!". It's quite nice, isn't it?

I got hooked on to this track ever since I heard it at the jam session, and saw guys dancing freestyle & b-boying on it :)

Also painted hearts on my nails a while back :P

That's all for now :) Cya!

Relaxed (Day 32 - Project 366)

2012-02-01T23:35:00.000-08:00

I am sorry about posting this late. My internet was giving me a hard time last night.

Today was a day of relaxation -- after a very long time! It was mostly spent with my childhood bestie- dancing to numbers on YouTube and shopping at Phoenix mills~

I purchased a Lee Cooper top, a kurta and a churidar all under 950INR. Can you beat that? We know how to take advantage of a sale! :P

We grabbed something to eat from Wraps & Rolls on the way back.. I spotted something at the Smoothie counter next to Wraps & Rolls. I wonder why these are called "Blogs" :S

Weird, eh?

Mixed Feelings (Day 31 - Project 366)

2012-01-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

You know that feeling when you feel all guilty about potentially hurting someone, and then that "someone" does or says something that makes you lose all the respect for him/her making that guilt go away? I am feeling exactly that now. I am glad I feel this way- it is better than having to live with the guilt. But I didn't want things to end like this. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's being accused of dishonesty. Anyway, I am glad it's over (after I lost all respect) but sad it had to end like this. I still feel hurt and I do plan to teach further lessons.

Anyway, so as I said, I had a really bad day today and my childhood bestie came to the rescue :) She kept speaking to me all through whatever happened, and in the evening, after I came home from Siddhivinayak (had gone with mom), she had brought me some sookha bhel too. It did cheer me up!

Half-eaten Bhel that Chinky brought home :)

Also wore my new dhoti pants today when I was off to Siddhivinayak with mom. They are cotton, formal, comfortable and smart! A Shoppers Stop purchase:

How do you like them??

I have finished a month with Project 366 now. Did you like it? Do you find it boring or annoying? Do you wait for a new post to come everyday (that would make me so happy! :D :P)? I would love to know what your views are. As for me, it has been good so far but I do feel my quality of writing has deteorated in an effort to post something everyday. Sometimes it comes easy and sometimes it doesn't. Then again, sometimes it's too late to write something (like it is right now.. it's 2 a.m. :P).

I hope to write nice and interesting blog posts (besides the Project 366 that I'm doing) in the coming weeks. So stay tuned! :)

Random (Day 30 - Project 366)

2012-01-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

Today was an eventful day. So much happened! But not everything I can write about...

Having a hard time with one aspect of my life. I don't wish to be rude but getting provoked to do so. Certain issues at work that are making me behave rudely with the person I actually like & respect.

Anyway, this post is about happy moments!!! So here I go..

Today's moments are rather silly. :D I don't know what this fruit is called in English. We call it Zamb in Konkani. As soon as I stepped out of Goregaon station, I couldn't resist myself from buying these:

They aren't usually pink. I don't know why these had that tinge of colour on them. But the taste was just the same!! :)

Also wore the kurta I bought from Shoppers Stop the other day. Wasn't looking as good as it did when I bought it but it fits me well - me is happy!

Seema, Chinky and I have joined some freestyle dancing sessions in Matunga on Mondays & Saturdays. This picture was clicked there. We burn calories there and then go out & hog on food :D

So, the day was pretty okay, but I am just very tired from last night's dancing, and today's whole day of work+dancing. I hope to catch up on some sleep tonight. Tada :)

Clubbing (Day 29 - Project 366)

2012-01-29T12:46:00.000-08:00

It was my first time clubbing (officially) today and never knew it could be soooo much fun!!! :)

The dance class I go to had arranged for a jam session where they'd play all kinds of music - jive, salsa, waltz, hiphop, techno, ballroom etc. We just had to let ourselves loose and dance. It was at Sheesha Sky Lounge, Andheri. And boy, it was fun!

As soon as we entered, our hands were stamped on...

There was slow music and people were doing the waltz.. After settling down a bit, we did some waltz too. Next, there were some hiphop numbers and some of the students & instructors were showing their b-boying moves. I was impressed. You too are going to enjoy these:

You should watch this one carefully from 0:49, you'd be amazed! :

Next was Jive and Salsa music.. After some dancing, I was waiting to jive with one of the instructors and luckily, I got to dance with Hari, one of my fav instructors :) He really knows how to take the lead. It was so much fun dancing with him.

After about an hour or so, we were back to freestyle, b-boying and hip-hop.

Freestyle

B-boying

This one isn't so clear:

And here's my favourite instructor Hari :

Group Techno:

That's Hari on the right (in black) and I don't know this pink shirt's name but he dances well !! :)

It was great fun. The place was a little expensive though. We were made to pay 400rs per head as entry fee and it did not include any drink or food. I was really thirsty and asked for water. They had only mineral water and that was priced at 100rs per bottle!!! Apart from that, it was a great place to dance.

Was so full of energy there, and now I am so tired I just want to hit the bed and not go to work tomorrow.. but that isn't an option :( Goodnight all !!

Mehndi (Day 28 - Project 366)

2012-01-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

So today, someone said I looked like a dancer.. and even though I am not really good at it, I love it when people say so =) That was one happy moment that was not capturable.. other than dancing freestyle, and also finally tasting Samosa Toast Sandwich at the toast place I talked about a few days back. The Sevpuri Toast is much much better than the Samosa Toast.

After I came home, one of our neighbours wanted me to draw a mehndi on her palm as she had a wedding to attend tomorrow. I had never drawn a mehndi before but there was no one else who could even attempt to do it.

I don't know why but I thought of drawing a peacock. I googled for some designs, but finally, after drawing the outline, I let myself loose with the designs inside the outline. I didn't know how to hold the cone properly, my fingers were aching half way into the mehndi and I had to keep inserting a pin through the hole of the cone for the mehndi to flow out easily. Couldn't keep my hand steady as I was too scared I would mess it all up.

Thankfully, the result didn't turn out as messy as I thought it would:

I am pretty proud of my work.. what do you think? ;)

Shoppers Stop! (Day 27 - Project 366)

2012-01-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

A long time back, I had seen a pair of awesome cotton dhoti pants at Shoppers Stop. They looked classy and ethnic at the same time - a combo that is rather rare. I particulary liked a dhoti pant in a military green shade and today, when I was already feeling blue after work, I decided to cheer myself up a bit and got down at Bandra to go grab it!

I ended up buying another tunic as well..

Surprisingly, mom didn't say anything when I came home.. She lets me buy the stuff I like these days :)

So, it was fun shopping as always! Will post pictures of my purchase tomorrow since I am realllllllllllly sleepy right now.

Goodnight everyone and to those on the other side, I hope you have a nice day :) Much love.

The Sapling Project (Day 26 - Project 366)

2012-01-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

Volunteered for the Sapling Project drive today, and I like going all the way (to all the venues). It was so much fun that I felt like going ahead from the Shivaji Park venue this time too but a lot of things had to be worked upon. A couple of shots from today:

Haha.. looks like I am the only one not wearing the tshirt (but it still is green, isn't it? And apt for Republic Day.. it shows secularism :P) This photo was shared by Satish Vijaykumar who is one of the founders of the project.

That's a couple of girl guides carrying saplings on their way home after hoisting the flag & watching the parade at Shivaji Park grounds. This picture was shared by Vishal Gadkari (who I think shot it too).

Day ended well with a get-together on my terrace organised by my childhood bestie Chinky and her extended family. There's always a get-together on Republic Day. Played games like Musical Chairs & Pictionary after really long. Don't have pics of it right now though.

Taking a hard decision tomorrow.. things are difficult when emotions are involved. Let's see how things work out.. till then it's a secret! ;)

P.S: Happy Republic Day! :P

Sleepover (Day 25 - Project 366)

2012-01-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Met one of my best friends Mona after a long time today.. and decided to spend the night here. This was clicked just ten minutes ago..

That's Mona, me and Alisha (L-R) :)

The pillow!! (Day 24 - Project 366)

2012-01-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

I had written about making a pillow recently. I got a pillow made to put inside it, thus using it as a cover. I finally finished it today and I am so happy!

You can find the video and the tutorial on my art blog. :) Also going to put it up on Idea Shack soon.

Conversations! (Day 23 - Project 366)

2012-01-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

So a lot of happy moments happened today.. and I forgot to capture all of them :( I was so lost in those moments that capturing them didn't feel so important at that time..

I realised that much later when the day was ending and I was having a conversation with my neighbour Gaurang, discussing about what to do in life. It's always nice having late night conversations with him. He's much younger but much wiser somehow (sometimes :P) :D

Please excuse the sleepy faces.. it was close to midnight!

Goodnight :)

Painted plate (Day 22 - Project 366)

2012-01-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Plate painting.. The writing part was done by the lady at the stall (I didn't want the "anubha" to be so big). More details of this event in another blog :) )

Weddings! (Day 21 - Project 366)

2012-01-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

Weddings are fun, especially when they involve wine, cake and dancing! :)

Today was one such day I was looking forward to.. it was Neil's sister's wedding. But I totally ruined it by coming home late- thus taking longer to dress up, forgetting the gift at home, buying a new gift from the area around the wedding venue and then realising that I had read the venue wrongly. We went to two weddings (by mistake) before we finally got to the one we were supposed to go to. And that made Chinky upset too.

So, my happy moment was only when we danced around a bit.. Chinky had to leave soon.

Tap tap..

Shall we dance? :D

And that's Chinky shaking a leg..

85 and still swinging

Guess some things don't turn out the way you expect them to, no matter how hard you wish they would.

A lot of things to wind up this weekend.. and decisions to be made!! I hate it when I have to make decisions.. for now, bye all :)

Sevpuri Toast :O (Day 20 - Project 366)

2012-01-20T13:04:00.000-08:00

After the long list of varieties of dosa (pav bhaaji dosa, czechuan dosa, pizza dosa) by Ayyappan (or that's what I think its name is) near Matunga phool galli (Matunga central), Reeti took me to another place in Matunga today that makes awesome Sevpuri Toast.

Now, "Sevpuri toast" doesn't make any sense when you first hear of it.. And frankly, I always imagined how it'd taste and wasn't quite happy the combo. I always wanted to try it though. After a long time, today, I finally got a chance to go there along with her, and I must say, the experience was simply awesome! The toast didn't feel like it didn't belong there at all.. The puris, tamarind chutney, masala being inside the slices of bread, the entire thing was toasted and served to us with sev, chutney and sauce! Everything blended so well that it left me savouring for more. Afraid I might have to skip dinner, I ordered for a jam toast instead of a samosa sandwich - another item that interested us. Maybe next time.

This is just Jam Toast.. Two slices of bread with jam spread on them, toasted together.. and loads of butter on top! Forgot to take a photo of the Sevpuri toast :(

Anyway, so next time you're in Matunga (central), make sure you go to Gupta Chaat Center (more commonly known as the guy who makes sevpuri toast :D). It's near West View (in the same lane). And this is the menu for you-

He has a whole list of such weird combos! Interesting, no?

Also, picked up a beautiful flower (fallen on the pavement) on my way home..

Wish flowers could last forever..

P.S: This isn't any kind of marketing stint. I seriously like the place.

What we want (Day 19 - Project 366)

2012-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Two things I (and most of us) want from life:

Shopping :D (Day 18 - Project 366)

2012-01-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

So today was 'shopping day' again :D I know I have been spending way too much but I can't help but buy a few things I like when I know I can afford to! Have to start saving soon though..

Recently, J had introduced me to this wonderful stationery store near Goregaon Station (East), and I had fallen in love with it the first time I went.. Today, I saw J's notebooks and felt like buying some myself. So I decided to pay a visit and ended up buying 3 notebooks.

One of these is a pack of 2, I really liked the packaging :D

The stationery store

Next, I bought these nail art bottles in 2 different colours- white and red, from the train.. These have a brush and a pin (for drawing), so they can be used for painting as well as for nail art, isn't that great?

Tried them out as soon as I went home:

Tried making tiny hearts with dots on either side of them. I think I need to practise a little more...

I also picked up a tshirt on my way home. I always wanted a top with gathered sleeves (even though it's really common), and I found one with newspaper-like print over it. I have never worn tops with bold prints or even colours.. I always opt for sober coloured clothes, so this is the first time I picked up something like this:

It's jersey material. I like the sleeves..always wanted them. I am not so confident about carrying the print off, but it sure is a change from the usual!

Cutting chai, dabeli & ragda pattice with Reeti over a really good conversation (as usual :)) added to the happiness :)

Couldn't complete my pillow today, as I came home really late and the mattress shop got closed by then (it is close to my house). I will try to finish it tomorrow and post a picture :)

Enough for today.. cya :)

Bangles and Pillow! (Day 17 - Project 366)

2012-01-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

Shopped from the train again today !!! :D

These bangles are all connected to each other, meaning it's just one thing.

Without flash.. (Note: I am not so dark. The light is in the opposite direction :P)

Also tried making a pillow today after watching a video that Sakhi shared on Facebook..

I managed to get so far.. I still have to fill in cotton/sponge/fibre (not sure what exactly they fill, but I'm going to that mattress shop tomorrow)

Thinking of stitching an old button onto it too. :) So far, it required zero sewing. Isn't that amazing? Will put up the video and the entire tutorial on my art blog once this is done!

I'm going to take this to bed every day! :)

StressBuster :P (Day 16 - Project 366)

2012-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Alisha, my stress buster :P

My day full of stress ended a bit peacefully when she walked in.. at 12:45 a.m. !! :)

Curls! (Day 15 - Project 366)

2012-01-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Today I had a dancing class, and since the studio is inside a shopping mall, my friend Seema, who had accompanied me to the class (as she is willing to join too) was looking around the mall a bit. What she discovered was so awesome that I felt like doing it too..

There's a new salon coming up in the mall that I go to for dancing, and they were promoting it by offering FREE hair styles to everyone till 8pm !!! Is that awesome or what? Seema and I got our hair done as soon as we could.. needless to say, we loved the new look ;)

Couldn't get enough of taking pictures..

Seema showing her hair off

My styling in process..

The back's almost done.. he's working on the front part now

Work still in progress.. I'm waiting to see it!!

Saw it and loved it.. now for the pictures! :D

Somehow this reminds me of Goldilocks! :D

Photo session at home begins...

The kitchen is my favourite place (for photographs)

Timepass :P

My hair - back view ;) taken by mom after so much of persuading! No one was interested in my hair but me.. hmph!

Isn't it lovely? These photos are not even half of what I have.. but decided to go easy on the uploading :D Wonderful day it was! :) Now I am going to put off washing my hair as much as I can so that the curls stay for longer :P

P.S: Almost forgot.. Happy Makar Sankranti !!! :) Wanted to go to Ahmedabad and fly kites, as 14th Jan was a Saturday this time.. so there was time too. But couldn't go :(

Jive! (Day 14 - Project 366)

2012-01-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

So, today, Neil came over.. and then there was some jiving, some fun over tea and random photography!

Jiving

Neil with my childhood bestie Chinky

Craft & Colouring! (Day 13 - Project 366)

2012-01-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

So today is Friday the 13th. How was it for you all? How many of you actually believe in the myth at all? My day was pretty okay but last night was scary indeed. I couldn't sleep at all. Every minute I kept hearing strange noises and felt like someone was in the house. I don't recall how or when I actually fell asleep but I am glad I managed to!

Today was craft day again.. After painting my nails (:P) and going for a long walk with my close pal Reeti, I came back home to finish what I had started here.

I did manage to finish it but it looks nothing like it should be :D

It's actually an ancient quiver that you can hang across your body or just on a shoulder, and I am planning to make sapling-arrows tomorrow.. But this looks nothing like a quiver, does it? Hmm I had fun anyway, so it really doesn't matter!

This is the top part of the quiver

The top message

The message at the bottom (in conjunction to the concept of sapling-arrows)

Have hung it around my shoulder. This is a self photograph through a mirror.. so excuse me for the quality.

I know I should be posting this on my art & idea blogs and will be doing so. I myself don't like repetitive content but I had to share the moment on this one.. Will update those blogs once I am done.

The weekend's here and there are going to be a lot of things to blog about over the next couple of days.. stay tuned ;) :P

Random (Day 12 - Project 366)

2012-01-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Really liked these earrings and was thinking of buying them but I really have to watch my shopping these days. Lately, I have been shopping impulsively, for things I won't ever use. I was not sure what I'll wear these with, or how often I'll use them, but I still liked them.. Especially those stones below-

Cute, aren't they?

I bought some kachori chaat on my way home.. :)

It was yum! :)

Next, I met my friend Rinku from Yoga. I have stopped going since a couple of months but we still are very much in touch. We took walks in her building compound, talking about life.. also getting interrupted by children playing there (two of which were her kids). It was fun though!

There is something I cannot make my mind about. Why is it so hard for me to take decisions?

Craft! (Day 11 - Project 366)

2012-01-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

Craft.. One thing that always peps up my mood :

It's such a wonderful feeling to create!

P.S: Doing this for the Sapling Project team that is going to run the Marathon which is on the 15th of Jan ;) And the Sapling Project is on the 26th!! Be there. Will post a picture of this tomorrow if it gets done properly :)

Night walks (Day 10 - Project 366)

2012-01-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

These days, I really enjoy talking long night walks.. Not for the exercise part of it but for the way it makes me feel. Long walks at night with friends especially. The casual conversation, some heated discussions, future plans, present feelings.. I love it when I can share all this with someone at the end of the day, when we're in a much relaxed state of mind. Makes for a hopeful tomorrow!

Just today, I took one with Alisha & Flash (her dog.. he was out for a walk too :P). Alisha and I feel the same way about a lot of things, and that is why I call her my soul sister sometimes. My other one would be Haseena- in the sense that we used to (or still do) think alike over a lot of things. I really feel better when I am going through some thing that no one can relate to and when I share it with Alisha, the exact same thing has happened to her! Today was one of those days. From there, we went on to talk about how we are still not prepared for anything serious out of life and how we still want to do sooooo many different things!!

It was great fun and I wanted to stay more but mom was calling me for dinner (yes, I took a walk before dinner). I could not even capture the moment but I took a few pictures of the view from my balcony! The empty roads, the cold breeze hitting hard on the face, smiles and laughter! :)

Some more dancing... (Day 9 - Project 366)

2012-01-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

I thought there would be no happy moment all day today.. nothing's going right in my life at the moment and it was already 10pm. I thought I'd spend some time with my childhood bestie Chinky so I went to her place. In no time, my happy moment was born!! We started playing some jive numbers on YouTube and began dancing. After a while, I also tried teaching her some waltz and salsa :D

After sweating ourselves out, I had dinner and went back. She then taught me some Indian dance steps that she was learning for someone's wedding sangeet.

It was so much fun I think I'm going to do this everyday :D

Finally cheered up a little..a little worried about being low again. But I don't want to lose this moment...

Some pics for you all courtesy Chinky's mom (they are a little blurry as there wasn't much light in the room and we didn't plan to take pictures or anything then):

And a really crazy video:

Taking each day at a time..

Dance! (Day 8 - Project 366)

2012-01-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

So, I finished one of the things on my list today i.e. rejoining my dance classes! Somehow, I didn't enjoy AS much as I used to last year.. maybe it will take time getting used to the new batch of people. It's all about the music anyway, so it has to be good.

That's my dance studio!

On my way home, I gorged on some panipuri:

Poor fellow was complaining of less customers due to the winter.. Bombay is unusually cold these days!

I spotted a kite shop near Santacruz station, and it struck me that Makar Sankranti is coming closer.. The wonderful display of kites of different sizes & shapes made for some good pictures:

Doesn't it all look colourful?..

The shopkeeper looked pretty pleased too :P

~--X--~--X--~

Praying hard for peace and all that is coming to me is unrest. I really do not mean to hurt people and I do always tell the truth. Everything seems to be falling apart... :(

Orange (Day 7 - Project 366)

2012-01-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

Refreshing orange juice!

I made some today.. in a mixer :P Took some time but it was real tasty!!

Also had a small alumni meet at college. I had gone expecting a party and it turned out to be just a short talk followed by snacks (though there is a party later during the month). Somehow, I noticed, my connection to college has reduced...

P.S: Successfully reached 7th day of the project! Yay! :D

TGIF :D (Day 6 - Project 366)

2012-01-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

Train shopping :D

~--X~--X--~X--~

What made me even more happier today is when, by mid afternoon, I had forgotten that it was a Friday today and my colleague reminded me of it. My immediate reaction was "WOW" :D Couldn't really capture that moment in a picture. It's funny how I never felt that way on a Friday before! Maybe I am turning into those Monday-hating Friday-loving people.

~--X~--X--~X--~

Night walk on our terrace with my childhood bestie was fun & relaxing as always. I don't like the fact that she uses a Blackberry though. All you Blackberry users- turn those BBMs off when you're with someone. Trust me, it is not good etiquette and can get irritating after a point. I had a good time with her anyway! :D

~--X~--X--~X--~

On a totally random & not-so-happy note, I used to like it when Elphinstone Road was a lesser known station. I hate the fact that the trains are crowded when I am about to get down or board sometimes. Train travel is getting difficult day by day.

P.S: Added titles to all my posts.. The title to the last one was suggested by Annkur! :)

And we complain about life? (Day 5 - Project 366)

2012-01-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

She smiles when she sees me walking by, she is ever so cheerful.. She is just as enthusiastic as I am when I show her what I shopped for, tells me what will match and what won't, and takes good care of her hair and body even today.

She has a bent back and yet she manages to sit down holding the walls, draws rangolis, makes sweets during Diwali, cooks something everyday and makes sure the dishes are cleaned. She prays, cleans the little idols & lamps in her altar, reads her holy books, doesn't need glasses (atleast I've never seen her wearing them). She likes to walk around a bit after tea in the evening. Although our neighbours and we fear when she walks, she refuses to hold our hands. She prefers holding the walls instead, when she is afraid she'll lose balance. It hurts her ego.

When asked to take rest, she says it's not meant for her and that if she doesn't continue working, her body might stiffen. At 91 years of age, she is independent- emotionally & physically. She always was.

She still thinks 2000 rupees is a lot of money and thinks girls should get married soon. At the same time, she thinks getting educated & standing on your own feet is very important.

She prepares a lot of delicacies every now & then and sends it to our house.."For Anubha" she says :)

Today, while having dinner, mom offered me a new variety of papad. I loved them and asked her where she got them from.. thought she had got them from the papaddum stores at Matunga! Turns out that the lady had taken the effort of preparing the mixture, kneading the dough, rolling the papads and drying them out on the terrace..

And we complain about life?

Nailed it! ;) (Day 4 - Project 366)

2012-01-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

French manicure by yours truly! It's always difficult with the right hand...

I like the thumb the best. It looked most natural

Nostalgia & Samosas! (Day 3 - Project 366)

2012-01-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

Today, this song took me back to the good old days, the happy times :

The 90s were when albums ruled.. and I still listen to every one of the album songs of the 90s. Takes you back to the secret crushes you had, the dance steps you tried, the fun times when nothing mattered :)

And now for the pic of the day (though this video made me more happier)- I had decided this morning that I'd refrain from having tea/coffee as much as possible and would consume more fibre than fat. Trying to lose weight you see! Even took the stairs to go up five floors instead of using the lift. I had just 1.5 cups of tea all day and managed to stick to my word where the beverages were concerned. But when I came home, tired and hungry, all I wanted was:

I personally think the samosa is incomplete without the meethi (imli/tamarind) chutney. What's your take? Also, just noticed that the newspaper looks to be more interesting :D

I hadn't asked for this, but dad got it anyway. How could I say no? :P

Will walk a little extra tomorrow, and burn those extra calories. Now it's time for dinner! :D Cya!

Day 2 - Project 366

2012-01-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Street purchase

Picked these lovelies off the street for as little as ten rupees. Is that a steal or what? :D The seller was just as surprised as I was when I kept saying, "Seriously?" after hearing the price!

Day 1 - Project 366

2012-01-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

The complimentary "Sookha Puri" :D

"Cutting" Conversations :)

Had a really nice New Years day today.. met one of my soul sisters Haseena, had panipuri, chai and dinner at her place. Long conversations make me happy <3

Day ended well with coffee at Cafe Coffee Day with best friend Mona, another soul sister Alisha followed by meeting with childhood bestie Chinky :D

Looks like it's going to be a 'happy' new year indeed ;)

P.S: I know I said one photo a day, but I think I am going to change the rule to a minimum of 1 ;) my blog, my rules :D

To know what Project 366 is all about, you should read this.

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year all of you !!! :)

I am always happy when a new year begins but frankly 2012 is giving me the creeps. Usually, I live as if there are a lot of years ahead of me but knowing that it's year 2012 and that it might be the end of the world has me kind-of stuck. I am not able to imagine a 2013, get me?

Anyway, I have decided to start everything anew. I want to put a lot of things behind me and start focusing more on myself. My blog has a new look (how do y'all like it?) and I am planning to do a lot of new & interesting things here! For one, I like the idea of posting a photo everyday for a whole year- most people have already done that before. I'm planning to do something similar but it won't be a photo clicked by a professional camera or anything. I am just going to click a picture of something that makes me happy in the day and post it here. It can be clicked by my digital camera or from my phone or from any other camera that I have at that time. I might write something about it or I might not. Then again, I also might write a blog post that isn't related to the photo at all. The idea is, at the end of 2012, I want to see my life in pictures..and capture all the happy moments!! Not sure what to call it yet. #photo365 has already been taken.. and so has #project365. I guess I'll still call it #project365. It is more appropriate.

Edited at 1:02 a.m.: calling it #project366. One of my readers reminded me it's a leap year!! :)

I am just experimenting at the moment. I don't want it to be like a task but at the same time, I want to be able to get something worth capturing everyday and have the time to post it. Let's see how it works out. It sure is exciting!

I want to start dancing again- for the fun that dancing is, and for getting back in shape! :)

I want to travel more this year, and that too out of the country. It is a little difficult but I'm going to give it my best shot..

I want to read more books, watch more plays.

I want to have fun!! :)

What are your plans for this year?

Age - just a number?

2011-12-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

Recently, someone at my workplace asked me how old I was and I told him my real age. He was shocked and after confirming it with me, went on to say I don't look anything more than 20 years of age. That got me thinking.. I never really felt my "age". I never gave it a thought. I mean.. I look 20 (except that I am gaining weight day by day :( ). I *feel* 20. I live my life as if I were 20; meaning as if I have a lot of years ahead of me to settle down in terms of a relationship, a career, in life..

I am so carefree at times and feel like a kid in a lot of ways inside, so to believe or even say how old I really am is kind-of difficult, scary and just plain weird. It feels like I am a few years behind time. I don't know if anyone has felt this way before. It's as if the number doesn't suit who I am inside. :-/

Since that day on, whenever I am completely lost in the moment, playing TT at work or cracking jokes with my colleagues, I suddenly get reminded of my age and start analysing my behaviour !!! :S It has made me a little conscious and has made being myself difficult :S

It made me think whether age is really just a number like most people say it is. And whether there really is an age to do everything.. like they say you should start behaving in a certain way when you're 21+.. or in the way our parents behave when we cross 30, because parents are all grown-up and grown-ups should behave like grown-ups.. I am really afraid I'll continue to behave and feel the way I do inside till I breathe my last.

On my mind..

2011-12-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas. For those who don't know, I recently joined a workplace and it has been keeping me busy and away from posting here. The reason for not putting news up about my workplace anywhere would be I have no clue as to why I am working. As insane as it may sound, I question myself time and again as to why I am working here, what purpose am I serving, is it adding to my happiness, is it making me "feel" good.. and I never get answers. Right now, I am just planning to stick this out and give it my best till I find answers. The place is good, the people are good, but it's been over a month and I still don't feel the connection. Know what I mean?

Sometimes I just get frustrated with myself for being like this but I have decided to try not to be hard on myself anymore. I mean, it's okay to be confused, it's okay to change your mind, it's okay to not know who you are, right?.. Even if it's not okay, I don't think I care anymore. These couple of years, I have just been trying to fix things or change them. It's just that I believe that being confused is wrong/bad, being emotionally weak is wrong, not stepping out of your comfort zone is wrong. I guess I need to rework on these beliefs somehow or I am never going to be happy with who I am :(

People judge me for not having an ambition or a definite goal. I may not have an ambition to get rich or move up the professional ladder but I do have other smaller goals like buying myself a really nice bottle of perfume with my own money, or saving up to travel. And seriously, what's wrong with that?

All through our childhood, we are asked what we would like to become when we grow up.. All through our lives, we are asked what our ambitions are.. All job interviews come with the "Where do you see yourself five years down the line?" question. Everyone tried teaching us to plan ahead, to think big, to behave well. No one taught us to live. If only more focus was placed on "being" than "becoming".

Hair affair..

2011-11-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've been in a rather rocky relationship with my hair ever since I was about 20.. I didn't really care all that much about my hair when I was in school even though I have had really bad experiences with haircuts and had my hair compared to a mop, dish scrubber and everything else you can think of along those lines, by my peers!! My hair looked different at various stages.. I was born with very curly hair. It got real thick & bushy when I was a school kid, it was wavy during my early college days (ages 16-20). It was pretty nice till I was about 20 and a half with lots of waves and volume... until I got introduced to straightening irons!! The temporary straightening made my hair look so awesome that I did it too often. I never realised those temporary straightening sessions would end up making my hair rough and frizzy later. My hair also started getting more curly post that..which is not a very bad thing, but it was also dry.. something I had to take care of.

The curls I was born with!

My lovely locks on my 20th birthday.. isn't my hair looking nice? Sadly, I ruined it by ironing it time & again that year...

Temporary straightening (ironing) that settled my waves.. making my hair look WOW! But ruined my hair later!

I started taking care of it when a lot of damage (owing to prior negligence) had been done already.. and I'm going to share some of those tips with you!!

When you have curly hair, DO NOT comb it unless it's really necessary. I know that not combing your hair is the most clumsiest thing to do but trust me, those curls will survive as long as your comb does not touch them. You may want to just run your fingers through it instead. Also, most people with curly hair have a dry scalp. Don't ask me the logic but that's one thing I've noticed. So it's important that you oil your hair regularly. Heat some coconut/olive oil and massage it deep inside the scalp and the next morning, before washing it off, soak a towel in hot water and tie the towel around your hair. Keep it that way for 20 minutes and then shampoo the hair. This makes the hair soft and prevents dandruff. I generally mix coconut, almond and olive oil together. A conditioner is a MUST for curly hair. Use a leave-in conditioner if you can. On days that you don't wash your hair, use a serum or your hair will start losing its shine.

And when you absolutely HAVE to comb it, use a round brush with soft bristles, somewhat like this one:

The image has been Googled for

It isn't too hard on your hair and settles all the loose strands down. I used this brush even when my hair was wavy. My hair has a lot of volume. For people with less volume, you might want to comb your hair backwards to achieve it:

She's getting her hair blow dried backwards for volume.. This is how you should comb your hair too. It adds a lot of volume to the hair.

And yes, these images were Googled for as well!

I've also recently discovered something called a hair masque which works like a conditioner but provides deep conditioning and nourishment. It has to be applied after you shampoo your hair and has to be left for fifteen to twenty minutes before you can rinse it. Do not use a conditioner when you are using a masque and since applying a masque takes longer, you can keep it to once a week or two. I used the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Hair Masque last week. It made my hair feel a lot softer but a bit oily (probably because I had gone for an oil massage the previous day and the oil had not still left my hair completely even though I shampooed it). I was happy with the product though.

My hair at 21 & a half.. more curlier & frizzier because of the ironing sessions, but still looking good after the oiling, shampooing and conditioning...

So to continue my story, soon, I got tired of my curls and too lazy to follow the regime. I straightened my hair permanently for the first time when I was 21 & a half (just about a month after taking the picture above).. One of the reasons for doing it was also that I secretly hoped the new hair that would grow wouldn't be AS curly. I thought it would be wavy and more easier to manage. I promised myself to take care of my hair once it started growing again so that I wouldn't have to straighten it again, and was in love with my straightened hair..

Permanent straightening

My hair grows real fast and I had not meant to do it again when the new hair started to show..

Curly hair + Straight hair..

But I made another mistake then: I coloured it red!!

It was looking real good the day I coloured it.. after they blow dried my hair (almost ironing it) and everything. I was pretty happy with the new look..

The day I coloured my hair red

But as soon as I washed it, all the blow dry and straight effect was gone.. And within a month or two, my hair got so rough that it looked like hay (considering it started changing colour as well...)

Half curly, half straight, coloured hair after losing its colour...

So I had to break my vow and straighten it again. That was the only solution to making my hair look a bit presentable. Ofcourse, I've been experiencing excessive hairfall but my hair looks okay atleast. I didn't experience hairfall the first time I straightened my hair. I think the hairfall now is due to colouring AND straightening. Not bothered about the hairfall too much as my hair keeps growing real fast & I have a lot of volume anyway.

After straightening it for the second time..

My new hair has started growing already.. My hair grows so fast that it's actually stupid on my part spending so much money on getting it straightened every time. I'd have to do it three times in a year if I want it to look straight all the time! Anyway, so, thanks to the new hair, the coloured (& straight) hair has gone down now and doesn't show itself that much.

The new hair + coloured & straight hair below.. The look that I sport now.

The new hair seems nice.. except that my scalp is getting dry again and I am following the same steps that I listed above (for curly hair). My new hair is sort-of wavy and wavy hair can be given the same treatment, the only difference being- wavy hair or any hair except curly hair must be combed!! The steps above can be followed for straight hair too (not the "not combing" of course), but in case you have an extremely oily scalp instead of a dry one, you might want to follow a completely different regime (one without the oiling and the conditioning). The conditioning should be restricted to only the tips of the hair in case of an oily scalp.

So, you see, I have learnt a lesson from my hair escapades- love your hair the way it is.. and it will love you back! That is exactly what the Dove contest has to say too.. and also the reason why I wrote this piece! :) In one of my earlier posts, I had talked of the new Nourishing Oil Care Range Dove has come up with. With the launch of that range of products, the Dove team, along with Indiblogger, have organised a contest where we have to share small and special things we do to make our hair feel special !! You can take part too but you have to hurry up as it's only till the 10th of November. Check this link for details: http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=45&sort=latest

Natural hair is the best kind of hair.. Love it and take care of it! This is what Dove always aims to tell us by way of its campaigns and advertisements- You are beautiful! <3

And even if you want to ever get straight hair, do it the natural way-

Mix one cup of milk, one spoon of honey and a few strawberries and make a paste. Apply it to your hair and rinse it off in 3 hours with a good shampoo. Follow this for atleast about a month to settle your curls down, and give your hair a smooth look. Alternatively, you can also mix a glass of coconut milk with lemon juice and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours. Apply it to your hair, tie a hot towel (towel soaked in hot water) around your hair for 20 minutes, and then rinse it off with a good shampoo!

These are some natural methods to calm those curls down a bit and make your hair more straighter.. It wouldn't be poky straight though. Natural poky straight hair is possible only if you're Chinese or Japanese :P I know it's wrong of me to generalise but I've seen most Chinese/Japanese women having poky straight hair. Either they are born with it, or they all get their hair straightened (which seems rather ridiculous).

Anyway, so the point is, you really need to love those tresses and it isn't too long before you'll have glamorous hair! ;)

Hello!

2011-11-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Diwali got over really soon this year and somehow it didn't feel like it was Diwali at all. I miss the times when festivals were celebrated in all pomp and glory. Family re-unions, crackers, sweets and so much love! We have lost it all somewhere.. There are still family gatherings but not so much of warmth. There are still sweets & crackers but less enthusiasm. Not sure if it's only me who's feeling so.

I sometimes wish I was part of a huge (joint) family like they show on television. I also used to miss having a grand parent or a senior person in the family who didn't think practically at all, didn't know what kind of work I do or what I study, was ignorant of this world, would love unconditionally and would tell me stories of what happened "in their time". Has anyone ever felt so?

I've not been able to update this blog often. There has been a lot of activity going on, on my art blog though. And now, there is a small give-away contest too! :) My very first one. Do visit http://www.artsy-me.blogspot.com if interested in participating. :)

Later then..

The Dove & IndiBlogger Womens' Blogger Meet

2011-10-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

My hair smells awesome. All thanks to the Dove Nourishing Oil Care range of products that I bagged on Sunday at the Dove Spa & Indiblogger Womens' Blogger Meet at Four Seasons!

It was my first all-womens' blogger meet. Besides the free massage & hair spa sessions mentioned in the email that lured me into going, it was also the fact that IndiBlogger had organised it that made me look forward to the event. I remember having a really good time at the last Indi meet I attended.

The event began at 11:00 a.m. and I walked in at 11:50. Luckily for me, the introductions hadn't started yet. People were seated; some were already getting their hair done and I registered myself for the treatments too! We were told that we'd be called in for the treatments one by one, in order of registration. Soon, I caught up with Idea Smith who was sitting in the first row with Shruti. There was a big screen in front of us that showed live tweets of the event. After exchanging hellos, I helped myself with a glass of lime juice and Sowmya, the brand manager of Dove approached us to have a little chat. She gave a few quick tips on which product to use when, and went on to explain how essential a role a hair mask can play in hair care. Apparently, a hair mask should be used after you shampoo your hair. A conditioner and a mask should never be used together. Shampoo your hair, apply a mask, leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes and rinse. While it is advisable to condition your hair each time you shampoo, you should avoid it when you're applying a mask which you typically should do once a week or two.

The introductions began in a short while with the IndiBlogger guy with the Banglorean accent hosting it(I still don't know his name). You should listen to him speaking. His accent really has you floored :D Gift hampers were given to those with long hair, then to those with short hair .. and then eventually everyone got the hamper for something! :D The hamper included all the products of the Dove Nourishing Oil Care range i.e. a shampoo, a conditioner, a serum and a mask.

My gift hamper!

I have never used a hair mask before. I had heard of it only recently. Waiting to try it out now.. Anyway, so the introductions were in the order of who registered first and the big white screen in front of us showed who would take the mike next. There were a lot of interesting introductions. Everyone told a story of why they started blogging and what it meant to them. There was Laxmi Todiwan, a professor, who started writing hospitality journals before she took to blogging. Then there was Sulekha Rawat who choked while she told her story. Her father always wanted her to write and she started her blog after he passed away. The sweetest intro of them all was undoubtedly that of Anu Goel, who simply said, "Mera arts & crafts ka blog hai. Accha hain, aap dekho."

After the round of introductions, Piyush from the Dove team took stage to tell us about the new range of products. A lot of women refrain from applying oil to their hair for several reasons. They don't like the greasy feel and they also think that it makes them look like a nerd. The Dove Nourishing Oil Care range is supposed to nourish the hair with just the right amount of oil without making it greasy or appear 'nerdy'.

Soon it was time for lunch ..my friends Reeti and Sheetal had arrived in the middle of the introductions and we went for lunch together. The desserts looked so yummy we were tempted to start on them first! The main course was just as delicious. And we later found out that my friend Alisha, who works at Four Seasons, had prepared two of the dishes from the main course! :)

One of the dessert items :D

Right after lunch, it was turn for our foot massage. Although we enjoyed getting massages together, I wasn't very satisfied with the experience. Maybe I was expecting a lot more. It IS fun getting yourself pampered though :D

Foot massage sessions at the Dove Spa meet

Just like in the last Indiblogger meet, after the foot massage session, we were given white cards to hang around our necks so that people could write something on them. Julie called it an opportunity to say something behind people's backs! :D Later, those with something creative written on their cards were awarded gift vouchers worth Rs. 500 by Shoppers Stop. I got one too, thanks to Idea Smith, who did this:

Circled the part which won me a voucher! Thanks Idea!

For those who don't know it yet, teatattler is my Twitter handle, and @ideasmithy is hers.

People who wore white to the event also bagged vouchers and Reeti was one of them :D I think almost everyone won something or the other..

Idea Smith later moderated a small bloggers' session where we discussed several things ranging from how we could optimize our blogs for Google page rankings to what some of our most embarrassing moments on the blog were!! After the bloggers' session, Indiblogger had organised a fun treasure hunt where we were asked to make groups of ten, name our group and have these things ready as soon as we could:

The treasure hunt...

We called our group "The Hunters" and our slogan was "No one hunts better than the hunters" :D Our stolen item was a knife that I had stolen (borrowed) from Four Seasons for our Bollywood fighting scene! :D It served two purposes.. We couldn't find a red rose so someone actually painted a white rose with red lipstick! We got a score for the knife and the red rose. In the end, all groups were winners and each group got a gift voucher worth Rs.1000 from Shoppers Stop.

Sowmya, the brand manager of Dove took the mike later and talked about hair problems, their cause and remedies. She took a lot of questions from the audience as well. She said I had gorgeous hair, and I had simply damaged them by chemically treating them :D I wish I thought I had gorgeous hair myself.. would have never exposed them to chemicals then! Anyway, she recommended using a hair mask which would protect the chemically treated hair as well as ensure that the new hair that was growing was nourished enough. The session went pretty well and she was really patient with all of our hair care questions.

Sowmya on how to take care of our tresses..

We sneaked up behind for a cup of tea/coffee during the session.. and I was amazed to see such a variety in flavours of tea neatly arranged. This deserved to be clicked!

The many flavours of Chai

Sowmya's session got over and we weren't called in for our hair spa yet. The hair styling was taking too long and there were still about 10 more people who were to go in before us. There was no way we could get our hair done then so we were asked to write down our email addresses on a sheet of paper. A hair spa voucher would be mailed to us soon by Dove.. I hope I get it before Diwali !!

After a quick photo session (I don't have the official photos yet :( ), and receiving tshirts from the IndiBlogger team, we made our exit from the Pavilion (where the event was held) and went to San Qi, a restaurant in Four Seasons to meet my friend- the chef, Alisha! San Qi was beautiful, and the music there was completely mesmerising. Alisha was at work in her chef uniform and that's the first time I saw her in one. She looked just so cute!!!

Chef Alisha! :D

After goofing around some more, we finally left Four Seasons to go to goof around someplace else :D

San Qi

It was a lovely Sunday.. thanks to Indiblogger & Dove! Waiting to get my hair treated, and to try the new products out. Psst.. have already tried the shampoo & conditioner. I love the smell (which is very important for me- more than the quality of the product sometimes :D). Anyway, it makes my hair feel soft but appear dry instead of shiny. Maybe the serum will help!! Will post my experience :)

Sunshine

2011-10-10T00:41:00.000-07:00

People keep saying I don't think about what will make me happy in the long run.. And that, if I find an answer to that, I will find what I want to do in life. Well, I do think about what will make me happy later but all that thinking gets me nowhere. And then I start thinking about what I can do to spice up my mood right now. Maybe that is all I want to do in the long run..<3

Book Review: The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi

2011-10-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

So, once you put down "The Immortals of Meluha" it is very hard for you to NOT start on the second book of the trilogy right away, as the second book starts from where the first ends- with Shiva rushing to save his beloved wife Sati.

Shiva now seeks revenge against the Naga warrior who kills his friend- the scientist Brahaspati. We stopped at Swadweep in Book 1. Here we take over from Swadweep, travel to Kashi & Branga before reaching Panchvati and stop in the Dandak forest of the Naga territory. So, in search of the Naga tribe, Shiva travels to the east of India while Sati is in Kashi with her newly born baby boy (Ganesha :)). Little does Shiva know that the sinister Naga warrior is somewhere around Kashi.

Who are the Nagas? Why are they stalking Sati and her family? Where do they stay?

The Nagas are believed to be evil people. They are creatures with deformed faces and belief has it, that this is owing to their sins of the past. They dress themselves with a hooded garment, and cover their faces too.

But have these people been always like this? And are the Chandravanshis evil too, as the Suryavanshis claim they are?

Shiva or the Neelkanth is known to be a "destroyer of evil". He is a human God that became a Mahadeva by virtue of his actions. Mahadevas don't lay down new ways of life like the Vishnus but instead, serve to heal the present one. Only with the removal of evil can a way be paved for the good to come, and Mahadevas do just that. But what exactly is evil? As we read the book, we see that there are no such things as good and evil, but our own perceptions. Both are needed in some amounts to strike a balance.

Throughout the book, Shiva is on a mission to find the true identity of the Nagas, and does so with the help of the Vayuputras who guide him whenever he's in trouble. He has a revelation when he eventually does get to Panchvati, home to the Naga tribe and also discovers the true identity of the Naga. Somewhat predictable but will still keep you hooked.

The language of the book, though much better than the first one, still has a lot of phrases pushed in on purpose and hence do not blend very well with the rest of the book. There are a few things that amuse you- like the way the pandits radio-transmit their thoughts through temples, or the slangs they use in their conversation which cannot be imagined when the story has a backdrop set in that era. The author has beautifully woven facts into the story though, making you ponder over a lot of things in history. I love it when an author does that. I remember spending an entire day on Google looking up things like "The Priory of Sion" and "Mary Magdalene" after finishing with Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code".

Anyway, this book will keep you engrossed and is guaranteed to leave you waiting for the last book of the trilogy! :)

Thanks Blogadda! (And extremely sorry about the delay :( )

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Book Review: The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi

2011-09-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

The Indian mythological character of Shiva has always intrigued me in a completely different way than it does for most people. I used to find the whole "tandav" dance, the leopard skin costume and his "third eye" scary and mysterious, and though I knew he was one of the Gods, I couldn't ever entirely accept it. I still decided to go ahead and request to review the books from the Shiva trilogy, when Blogadda gave me a chance to. So here's what I think of the book so far:

The story is set against the backdrop of Meluha, a place in the Indus Valley. The plot is cleverly written, with Shiva shown as the leader of the Gunas tribe that migrates to Meluha, it being a well planned & safer place. Meluha is the land of Suryavanshis, the descendants of the Hindu Sun God- people with strong principles, morals and who live with honour. So, when Shiva and his tribe migrate to Meluha, they are awestruck by the infrastructure of the city, the efficient management, the people, the law and order. On their first night in Meluha, as Shiva drinks Somras (the immortal drink) given to him along with his tribe, his bruises and aches get cured and he acquires a cold, blue throat while the rest of his tribe falls ill. He doesn't know what he is in for, till the doctors & people around him suddenly put him on a pedestal and start addressing him as 'The Lord'. Legend has it, that the Suryavanshis are going to face a lot of trouble, and it is at that time that the "Neelkanth" would arrive and prove to be a saviour to them. The Neelkanth would be identified by a blue throat. The Chandravanshis from Swadeep, on the other hand, are people with no morals or rules, and are jealous of the progress of the Suryavanshis. Time and again, they plan surprise attacks on the Suryavanshis with the help of the Naga tribe. The Nagas finally discover Mount Mandar, the manufacturing centre of the Somras powder, from which the immortal drink of Somras is prepared. At this Shiva is enraged. Will he be able to ward off evil? Will he be able to save the Meluhans? It is left for you to discover.

Amongst all this, Shiva is shown to be just like any other human. He falls in love with Sati, the daughter of the emperor of the Suryavanshis. Like any love story, this one has complications too with Sati being a vikarma- someone carrying with her sins of the past and hence forbidden to marry or love another person. Inspite of these odds, Shiva gets married to her.

Though the story will keep you hooked, the language of the book is just about okay. The author has acknowledged this in the beginning though, so one must not expect much from the quality of the language. The concept is rather nice and tells how a simple, mortal human being Shiva rose to become a God due to his actions or his karma.

Now waiting to read the second book of this trilogy!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

2011-08-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

It is funny how life takes you by surprise! Things you never thought you would think of, or never thought you would become- you start considering.. The way you perceive things keeps changing as days pass. I had a lot of assumptions attached to everything. I still do. But over time, I realised you cannot keep assuming or judging before knowing.. So get your facts right before you start giving opinions or blindly believe in something. It is a lot easy to say but a lot more difficult to follow..

Also, I've been noticing there are 2 ways to live your life.. you can either live to be good in the eyes of others or live for yourself. The latter is better because, I've realised, if you live for yourself & are okay with it, others are okay with it too. If you're happy internally, nobody can stop you from feeling so. If you feel you're beautiful, you are beautiful in the eyes of everyone!

In other news, today is one of those days I'm glad I am at home with people around who care about me. I am sick today with an upset stomach and an aching head. It's making me stop craving for food and eating only when I'm hungry (which is good if you want to lose weight though). Feeling good emotionally. Maybe because I was up early today. Early mornings give you hope just as late nights bring you peace.

Signing off with this lovely song that I've been listening to..

This isn't the original video.. For some reason, YouTube tells me the original one is not available in my country .. which is weird! Anyway, nice music, lovely lyrics! :) Bye bye!

If life could be a fairy tale...

2011-07-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

TBBT (The Big Bang Theory) seems to be the only good thing that's going on in my life right now.. I figured that out this morning when I woke up depressed only to smile seeing TBBT listed at12pm on Tata Sky! I want to download all the episodes.. and I always keep putting that off. Maybe I like waiting for it to air on Zee Cafe everyday. Gives me something to look forward to. Now I get the point of delayed gratification. But I don't think I have it in me yet, meaning I won't put off watching an episode if I know I have it all on my hard drive. I still have to achieve that kind of self control.

If I had it all, there wouldn't be anything to wish for. That answers the Facebook status update I had for about a week: "If life could be a fairy tale..." - There would be nothing to wait for! After all, isn't it always about waiting? Waiting for a new car, waiting to finish your exams, waiting to start working, waiting to go on vacation.. When your present is screwed up, you wait for a better future! The longer the wait, the more promising your future will be. Pretty convincing considering what my current state of mind is like.

And I gathered all this from watching TBBT? :S

Book Review: The 6pm Slot by Naomi Datta

2011-07-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

At some point in time, after reality shows started airing on television & especially after they took over the "saas-bahu" soaps of late, we have all wondered what they must be actually like, meaning, how much of what we see on television is real and how much is scripted. Even the news for that matter! "The 6pm Slot" by Naomi Datta pretty much answers all our queries through a story of an entertainment channel, and it's goof-ups with a new show that they come up with to raise their ratings in the 6pm slot.

The story begins at an office in YTV (Youth TV), an entertainment channel, with Rahul- the PPT obsessed managing director of YTV breaking his head with Harish- his ass licking deputy, to find a way of increasing viewership on the almost dead 6pm slot. Together, they come up with an idea of starting a Love show at 6pm with a sexy, scantily clad model as the host assuming a lot of Indian men would atleast tune in to lech. Meanwhile, the protagonist Tania Shah is having a tough time taking appointments from pets for her celebrity pet show. She heaves a sigh of relief when she is assigned this new Love show by Rahul instead and is made the supervising producer. This is a big break in her career of two years and she decides to give it her all. A show called Love Calls is finally born with upcoming model Vrushali Salve as the anchor. She's portrayed to be the ideal sex goddess for the Indian males owing to her "thunder thighs". The show is about solving love problems from callers all over India. This actually took me back to those MTV Love-Line days with Malaika Arora as the host. Along with the callers and the advice she would dish out to them, the increased viewership was also largely due to her long legs. Anyway, so, with Vrushali's funny grammar, a Maharashtrian accent and the need to include "yeah" wherever punctuations are required, Tania has a tough time with her on the show.

A few blocks away, Rajneesh Tiwari, managing editor & primetime anchor of YNN, a top English news channel is nervous & all heated up because he can't find an exciting story. He throws paroxysms of rage at his "thinking tank" asking them to come up with something that would drive the ratings of the news channel.

At YTV, the calls start coming in on Love Calls, the TRPs increase and the channel's greed for better ratings leads them to air one call that Tania repeatedly disapproves of. It's that of a dying girl called Jassi, who calls on the show from Chandigarh saying she has cancer & two months to live. So here's Jassi with dead parents, cancer and an ex boyfriend who leaves her to marry her first cousin in a month's time. Vrushali goofs up with this call by handling it in a rather insensitive and dumb manner. Rajneesh Tiwari accidentally views this call and jumps with joy at having found his story! He starts a segment on his show called "Justice for Jassi", which plays at the end of every newscast as a bulletin.

What follows later is a havoc at YTV, a search for Jassi by YNN in all of Chandigarh, verbal blows by YNN at YTV for their "negligence & insensitivity" for Jassi, a candlelight march for Jassi at Delhi and a third magazine "Conscience Calls" intervening to put both the channels to shame!

Naomi Datta has very well portrayed the things entertainment channels do for their ratings, and the things that news channels do for a story!

'Welcome to the world of television, where nothing is ever what it appears.'

For her debut novel, I must say Naomi has aced it! This book is so gripping you will have a hard time laying it down until you've reached the end. It has the right amount of humor, twists and detail. She has etched each character well, and the surprise elements in this book (especially towards the climax) make it all the more interesting to read. The only downside of the book (not sure if I'd call it a downside) is that it contains a lot of "Indianisms" and Hindi words/expletives that restricts it to an Indian readership alone. But considering it has been written against the backdrop of Indian television & viewers, it is a job done very well. It was worth the time and I'd definitely recommend it.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Being Gay in India

2011-06-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

Just the other day, I saw a deal on SoSasta that let you have unlimited scoops of ice-cream at Hokey Pokey (a franchise ice-cream parlour). They have an outlet at Bandra West, and since my friend Alisha & I were there after our self defense class, I suggested we buy the deal and get the vouchers during our next session, so we can have some ice-cream after sweating ourselves out in class. She told me the deal was for a couple and we couldn't avail of it. I said we were a couple already- "Two" of us made a couple. She went on to say it has to be 2 members of the opposite sex. I thought that was pretty biased. What if we were a lesbian couple wanting to avail of the deal? So on our way back, we rehearsed what we would say if we happen to go to Hokey Pokey and claim for our unlimited scoops. We spoke of suing them, fighting for our rights, stressing on section 377 and everything else that could get us those scoops. But I noticed one thing. No matter how educated we are, how much ever modernised or broadminded we call ourselves, we couldn't help but giggle after rehearsing every one of those acts. Like the idea humoured us somehow.

So, when I read about this blogging contest on Gaylaxy Magazine, I was tempted to write about what I thought of homosexuality in India.

When I was a kid, I didn't even know gays exist. I didn't know that it was possible for two members of the same sex to fall in love or engage in sexual intercourse. These things were always kept hidden from us just because the society felt homosexuals weren't normal human beings, and that homosexuality was a taboo. For some, a sin! Frankly, I got exposed to this concept in the sixth grade from watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (when Ross gets divorced for the first time because his wife Carol is a lesbian). I went to an all girls' school and as I grew up, I learnt of bisexuals too. There were girls in my school who other students & teachers said were lesbians, and they were made fun of, or avoided. During our sex education sessions, this area was never touched/discussed. Also, it was embarrassing to stand up and ask a question about homosexuality considering it was looked down upon. And we dare not ask such questions to our parents or other respectable elders of the family due to fear of getting scolded or punished. Even after seven years now, after the High court struck down the Section 377 provision two years back, after homosexuality was portrayed in movies (although after a lot of struggle with the censor board), homosexuality is still not accepted wholly in India.

Parents still expect their kids to find a match for themselves from the opposite sex, so that they can start a family and lead a 'normal' life. We see such an example in the Bollywood movie Fashion where Rahul Arora (played by Samir Soni), a gay fashion designer gets married to his female best friend to keep his mother happy, but continues to date his boyfriend post marriage. A lot of homosexuals are pressurised by their families this way but they don't realise what they are doing to the person and consequently to his/her partner. Of course, reproduction is impossible without two heterosexual individuals of the opposite sex, and that's the only way the blood line can be kept alive, but these people can't change the way they feel. They just aren't built that way.
Trying to change them will destroy them. It already takes a lot of courage for them to admit their sexuality to themselves and to their near ones. Forcing them to change or live differently will hamper their growth, and the depression caused might lead them to even take their lives.

Even as I write this, I admit I feel a little different around gay people. I'd probably be okay with a gay friend but I might tell the world I have a gay friend just to see how they react or just to prove I am okay with having a gay friend even though internally I feel different around him/her. I guess time and experience will help me accept it. The rest of India? That might probably take a century!

This image has been googled for, and the flag is the official flag of the gay community.

The Sapling Project is back!

2011-06-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again when we stop telling the world to "Save water" , "Save trees", "Stop Smoking" to save the environment! We instead do what *we* can do - plant a sapling and contribute to the environment ourselves! What better way to save the planet? The Sapling Project is back for the fourth time in the city.. Be there!

Mumbai
9 AM - Opp Barista, Shivaji Park
11.00 am - Vile Parle (e), Opp Parleshwar Temple
1.30 pm - Near Infinity, Andheri (w)
3.00 pm - Inorbit Mall, Malad (w)
5.00 pm - Near IC church , IC Colony, Borivali(w)
Contact : Ranjeet - 9322131514 , Satish - 9833443545

Pune
7:30 AM - Kalyani Nagar ( Jogger's Park)
8:45 AM - University campus/ University Circle
9:30 AM - F.C Road
10:30 AM - Law college Road
Contact : Libu - 9881460654, Pradaxina - 9881093149

Delhi :
Venue: Rose Garden, (Inside Lodhi Gardens), Delhi
Time: 8:00 AM
Contact : Garima - 9810807082

You can come to any of these locations and : take a sapling for free & plant it or choose to sponsor a sapling for just Rs. 20!

So do come along and spread the word around! :)

:'(

2011-05-29T03:01:00.000-07:00

Not being affected by people or things after a while may not be a sign of lack of self-respect.

Misunderstood. Again.

What hurts more is the loss of your place in someone's life.

Tired, empty, depressed yet hopeful.

Back from God's own country!

2011-05-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Came back from a 7-day stay in Kerala on the 18th of May (and from Goa yesterday :D), and I must say I had an amazing time!! This time I'll try to narrate it a little differently by telling you what I think of the place and the city we stayed in.

We (my parents & myself) had googled for a hotel that was at a small distance from Trivandrum Central station, and as soon as we reached (11th May), we didn't know where to go. After asking around a little bit, this man told us to get out of the station and look for a prepaid auto counter. "Cheappp and besttta" in his words. The people there are very friendly. They may not know your language or may speak with a strong accent but they try very hard to help you & convey their message to you by way of signs or broken English. Hindi is less spoken & understood than English. Anyway, so, as soon as we got out of the station near platform 1, we found the counter and just like he had said, we were charged the minimum auto fare (Rs. 12) as it was very closeby. We also didn't have to wait for an auto at all. "Cheap and best" !!

Trivandrum was a pleasant city. Our hotel (Hotel Prathiba Heritage) was awesome. The rooms and the service was up to the mark. The owner, Mr. Krishnan Nair, helped us with directions to go to all the places we had googled for. He also helped with planning our schedule as to which places we should go to first, and how long it would take us to get there and which next place was closest to the one we had gone to.

Though Kerala is famous for sea food, we being vegetarians, didn't have much of a choice when it came to veg food. Most places usually served only the South Indian cuisine (dosa, idli, vada, sambaar, rice). The subzi would usually be liquid with a lot of coconut & hardly any vegetables. There were restaurants which had North Indian food listed in their menus but when we asked for any of those items, they would plainly say that those were not available at that time. Everything had to be ordered separately. It didn't do well to assume that biryani would come with raita. Sandwiches were not as commonly available as they are available here. This was the case in Trivandrum and a few other places. In Kanyakumari, however, the case was far different. All restaurants there had all types of food and on request, they were also willing to prepare the food without onion or garlic (as dad prefers it). Also, when you ask for water or when the waiter brings glasses of water to your table, it's always hot unless you mention that you want it cold. I didn't get why they serve hot water everywhere, mostly in Trivandrum. Dad said there must have been some epidemic going around and they're being careful now! They also have this peculiar way of serving a vada with every dish you order. Vadas are prepared with onion in them (unlike in Bombay) and dad had a hard time reminding himself to tell the waiter not to get a vada for him. Coffee is more readily available than tea, and most people don't know of or don't prepare masala tea, ginger tea or cardamom tea. The KTDC hotels are still better, and the tea I had at the Floating Hotel, KTDC, Veli lake, was the best tea I ever had. They had prepared it with cloves and dry ginger.

Red Bananas - Kerala speciality

Took some of these yellow bananas at Neyyar to feed the elephants!

Lunch on a banana leaf at Hotel Aryaa, Trivandrum

Mango juice at Kanyakumari

One strange yet common sight was that of a long queue in liquor shops. And this was the case in every part of Kerala we went to. It was funny how the queue bore resemblance to the queue we used to have here in ration or public distribution shops.

The best way to move around the city is through buses. The bus transport system in Kerala can be compared to the local train system here in Bombay. There are buses every two or five minutes going to all parts of the city. There is no fixed bus stop as such. You stand where you see a lot of people waiting for the bus. There are frequent inter-city buses from the central bus stands too. Also, exactly opposite to how it is here, you board from the front door of the bus and alight from the rear. We moved around in KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) buses all through our trip except for the trip to Neyyar Dam where we booked a tour which involved a KTDC (Kerala Tourism Development Corporation) bus.

Spotted a double-decker bus at Trivandrum

I didn't find any nightlife as such in Trivandrum. Shops close down too soon (8:30pm or so). Kanyakumari, being a tourist spot, is still open till about 10 or 11 but Trivandrum shuts too soon.

As for the places we went to, we visited the art & history museums, the zoo, the Padmanabhaswami temple, Veli lake, Kovalam beach, Neyyar Dam at Trivandrum. There is one more beach called the lighthouse beach at Kovalam beach which is very well-known & often mistaken for Kovalam beach itself. We missed it and then wondered why there was so much hype over Kovalam beach when there were hardly any people there, and it was so small in size. We had fun at Veli lake with speed boating, horse riding, having chai at the KTDC floating hotel and spending time on the beach. Neyyar dam was amazing. We saw lions at an arm's distance at the lion safari park, fed the elephants, took blessings from them and rode on them too! The people in our tour bus to Neyyar were very friendly and made the trip all the more enjoyable!

Horse riding at Veli

Neyyar Dam Lion Safari Park

Blessings from the elephant at Neyyar!

We went to Kanyakumari, which takes about 3 hours from Trivandrum. There are no direct buses going to Kanyakumari from Trivandrum. One has to go to Nagercoil from Trivandrum and then change buses to go to Kanyakumari. But as I mentioned before, the buses are very frequent so that is not a problem at all. We reached Kanyakumari at around 2 pm, had lunch, shopped a bit, and reached the boat jetty spot at 4pm to go to the Vivekanada memorial which is in the middle of the sea. Unfortunately, we saw that the boat jetty ticket counter closes at 4pm and the guard wouldn't let anyone in at all. So we had to stay there for one more day to be able to go to the Vivekananda memorial & the 133 feet tall Thiruvalluvar statue. But we made use of our day after 4pm by going to the Gandhi memorial, the sunset point and a wandering monk exhibition (Swami Vivekananda exhibition) that was going on. We also shopped for a lot of silk & cotton sarees at dirt cheap prices. The sunset point is where the three waters meet: the Indian ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Next morning, we went to the sunrise point which is closer to the main junction than the sunset point. Next, we finally made it to the Vivekananda memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue. There are boats going to both the places. We were very tired, wanted to go back to Trivandrum and missed seeing the 16th century Padmanabhapuram wooden palace near Kanyakumari.

Thiruvalluvar statue

Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Sunrise at Kanyakumari

We also visited Kollam (an hour from Trivandrum) and took an 8-hr cruise boat ride to Alleppey. The DTPC office suggested this trip saying it was a very famous tour and would be worthwhile. It took my houseboat and row-boating plans for a toss when we signed up for it. The cruise was enjoyable for the first couple of hours and started to get boring later. I'd suggest anyone to take a 2 hour village canal tour at Kollam, and spend sometime on a houseboat at Kollam instead of the 8-hr cruise boat trip to Alleppey. I wanted to go row-boating at any cost so we decided to spend the night at Alleppey and go row-boating the next morning. We also visited the beach at Alleppey that night but there were no lights on the beach and we had to return soon. Row-boating was fun the next morning. We (my mom and I) were in the boat for a little over an hour and took turns rowing the boat. The row was heavy even though the boat-man exchanged his light row with our heavy one. He was rowing the boat at the rear end and was teaching us how to do it at the front side. We saw a few people getting trained for the Onam boat race and also for the olympics on the way.

Alleppey backwaters

Row boating at Alleppey

We returned to Trivandrum by bus soon after boating. It took almost 5 hours for us to come back and the day was spent resting and exploring the city some more.

Except for the food and the fact that shops close down early in Trivandrum, I found it a lovely city to stay in. I liked it better than the other places we went to, in terms of staying there & not just sight-seeing. It's spacious and has all kinds of stores & other facilities. The city, though very well-developed, has a peaceful aura about it and the people there leave you to yourself unless you want it otherwise. On the day that we were leaving, just after we had packed our bags and ordered some chai, the city bloomed in full glory with the first shower of rain ever since we had set foot in Trivandrum. I ran out of the hotel and looked around. I was already low about leaving the city, and the rains made it all the more difficult!

A lot experienced and a lot missed, despite some of its difficulties, this is one place I want to go back to..!!

Goodbye?

2011-04-15T01:14:00.000-07:00

So, Wednesday was officially the last day of our college life- the last lecture that we had. And oddly, I still feel indifferent. I mean, I would surely miss going to college but a part of me believes I can go whenever I want to, and I'd still always be welcome. More than the lectures or the practicals you attend, it's always the people you hang out with that you miss, but in this case, when I know that they too won't be coming to college anymore, I don't seem to miss them that much. I can always meet them otherwise too.

What I would *really* miss is the routine, the time spent at the chai corner, in and around Iranis, Classic, Family Park, Pritam, juice place, the Don Bosco church etc. I look forward not to attend a lecture or to necessarily enter the campus, but to be at the chai corner or somewhere around college discussing the previous day's events with my friends. I look forward to familiar faces and familiar places that make me feel so safe.

College gives you a place to go to everyday- gives you something to do every morning. When nothing else is going right, it is still there and it has been there for me for seven years now. That's the best part about routine. Amidst all the uncertainty that we live in, routine is the one thing that's stable. As Maithili had very nicely put, "Routine is the only thing that's there for me when nothing else is." So routine is not necessarily always a bad thing. It keeps you sane, keeps you moving, makes you believe that everything is still just the way it was.

More than bidding farewell to college and my friends there, I think it's time to say goodbye to the routine that I have been following for so many years. No more will I HAVE to get up early in the morning for a lecture, or HAVE to come home tired in the afternoon after practicals and go to bed early whining about having to go back the next day. However much boring that it sounds, I shall miss it very much.

...

2011-03-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

One of those days when I want to express.. and I can't do so! Not because I am not capable of expression, I am just afraid of expression. Feels awful.

Still breathing.

New blog, exams and much more..

2011-03-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had talked of creating a new blog for all my handmade crafts and paintings. I'm happy to announce that it's up, and it has a new post already: First post on Artsy Me! Bookmark. :)

About this blog, a reader recently pointed out that I haven't been updating it very often. Well, I have been going in and out of phases for the longest time now. When you have been associated with something for too long, the sudden realization that you can't have it forever leaves you feeling too empty and insecure. I am sort of getting through the feeling. I know I shall pass. Over-attachment and expectations are vices indeed, but take a great deal of strength to control. Let's just say I am getting there.

God, I could really use some love right now and a lot of strength to push me through.

Exams are round the corner too, so my day mostly goes like: wake up, check email, breakfast, study, lunch, study, yoga, snacktime, study some more, dinner, surf online. It's a very boring routine and needless to say, I'm either half asleep buried under my books or my mind is busy creating its own webs as the books continue to stare at me. So, the actual "studying" takes place in between, and for a very less time.

I need to find something very interesting to do after my holidays- something that would grab my attention FULLY. I have planned a holiday till I find out what I want to do next, I'm just hoping nothing screws it up.

I would be updating as and when I feel like. Won't promise. I need your best wishes for my exams..

Take me there..

2011-03-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Something I had written a few days back. Posted it on Facebook, and people seemed to like it. Thought it'd be worth posting it here too. :)

God take me to the land where everything makes sense, where the grass is always green on THIS side of the fence..

Where there exists right or wrong and nothing in between, where all things are ruled by the heart and people say what they mean..

Where there is no such thing as fear and everyone is free, God rush me to that safe little place where I can breathe easily!

Happy Valentine's Day! :)

2011-02-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Love is... setting the heart free!

Happy Valentines Day you all !! :)

I am planning to start another blog for such paintings and other hand-made things, what say?

Growing Up

2011-02-04T00:06:00.000-08:00

Some days are such that things make perfect sense and on some days, nothing does. Getting over stuff is like a breeze sometimes and emotions are secondary. Life opens up a whole box of opportunities just after it feels like it has nothing more to offer. I wonder if this is what growing up is like...

A song that pretty much sums it up:

Miracles? Every day is one!

2011-01-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

Get your story published in The Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – A book of Miracles at BlogAdda

Have you ever experienced Deja Vu? Been in a scenario where you've felt that this has happened before in this exact manner?

Have you ever woken up finding that your dream is exactly in sync with reality in a way that your subconscious already knew what was going to happen?

There was this time when I experienced waking up from a dream where I was falling with a loud thud, and that was the exact time my kitchen ceiling had fallen. It almost felt like something inside me knew that this was going to happen; it just came out differently. Another instance was when I felt someone was going to touch me in my dreams and I woke up when mom touched me to wake me up at the same time!

Many little incidents keep happening everyday that leave us feeling surreal.

For one, it is strange how we, human beings, are guided by our hearts. We are born with a set of basic instincts. Our existence is a miracle in itself! Something within us constantly tells us what is right and wrong. We call it our conscience. It's abstract, but it's continually guiding us and it stops us when we go wrong.

There are certain set of people we can connect with instantly, still some others we take time with, and some we tend to keep away from. There are people with whom you feel you've known them forever too.

Then there are also certain incidents that take place that you can make no head or tail of, but in time, you come to know of the reasons behind them. You get all your answers.

Miracles happen everyday, you just need to keep your minds and hearts open.

They say you can live as though nothing is a miracle and as though everything is one. The latter keeps you happier, makes you hopeful. :)

Narrow Escape

2011-01-31T05:36:00.000-08:00

Get your story published in The Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – A book of Miracles at BlogAdda

Ever since the day my childhood chum got her new bike (Hero Honda Pleasure), I wanted to ride it too! I would ask her to take me for rounds and we'd take it to five gardens (somewhere in Matunga) practically every alternate day just to practise. It had been a month since she got it and she had got a pretty good hold on it by then. She used to ride it to work too so she had more practice. I, however, always took time to get started with it each time. My short height might have something to do with it too. The idea is - if you're able to balance the bike while sitting on it such as both your legs touch the ground, then you're able to balance it while it is in motion too. I used to have a hard time with my legs reaching the ground and thereby, was forced to always sit on the edge of the seat.

On one such day, we decided to take it to five gardens again. She rode it on our way there. After a round of chaat and some chit-chatting, her ex (then boyfriend) gave her a call saying he was at Matunga station and wanted to catch up. We got to Matunga station with me sitting pillion, and there was no sign on him anywhere. She gave him a call and he was waiting for us at a restaurant a little ahead of the station. The restaurant was quite close and I told her I'll ride it till there while she goes walking. I insisted on wearing the helmet for the first time; it looked really cool and I felt more confident with it! I was not used to taking someone with me when I was riding so she walked ahead as I started with the bike.

I was at a really low speed and there was a speed breaker right ahead of me. I was riding so slow that I wouldn't even be able to climb up the speed breaker with that speed. I gave the bike a little acceleration to help it cross the speed breaker, and I lost control of the bike entirely as it went down the small slope i.e. the speed breaker. It took up so much speed that I panicked and forgot about the hand brakes!! There was a motorbike coming in from the right and I banged right into it, falling off my bike and hurting myself badly. The helmet saved my head though it was broken too. People crowded around me offering to help. I couldn't feel anything below the waist and for a minute, I really thought I lost my legs. After about ten minutes, I managed to get up and apologised to the man on the motorbike whose ankle I hurt. The crowd, biased that it usually is towards women, had not cared to see if he'd been hurt and that made it look like it was his fault. He asked me what I had been thinking and I told him it was entirely my fault. Thankfully, he hadn't been all that hurt and was sane enough not to pick up a fight. He just told me to be careful and smiled away.

Now, when I look back on that day, I can't help wondering how much the stars were in my favour. Had I not worn that helmet, my head would have been seriously injured. And to think I wore it to look cool!! Had there been a truck in place of the motorbike, I wouldn't have survived to talk of this. Had that motorbike been a little more faster, I might have survived but what good is life without a limb or two? It would have been very difficult. Ever since that day, I swore to be alert. I am indeed fortunate to have miraculously escaped.

'Wake up' Call.

2011-01-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

Get your story published in The Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – A book of Miracles at BlogAdda

A month before my final year university exams could start, I had not been keeping well and any of us in class was hardly prepared for them. We had tried everything, from sitting in college after class-hours with our books, to going to each others' places (so as to get motivated by each other- which worked but only to motivate each other to spend time on Facebook!), to ask our professors to take tests & preliminary examinations (which they did but we could never get ourselves to study for them!) and to work out a full day schedule for each other (which none of us ever stuck to). It was time to get serious and we all thought we might as well go solo. Surprisingly, it worked. On the first day, I actually sat up late and managed to finish a quarter of my portion. It was just part of a section of a subject but I was proud of myself.

It was 2 am by the time I got to bed and with the schedule that I had worked out for myself, I would only finish the whole section the next day if I manage to be up by 6 am. As with every urban student, I have '3 am friends' too- friends whom I can talk to at anytime of the night and who obviously expect me to speak to them too. I had to be selfish that night though, and put my cellphone on the "Silent" mode so as to avoid those phone calls and get myself some sleep. Now, the alarm doesn't ring on the "Silent" mode and I wanted to be up by 6am. My mother used to always tell me to keep in mind what time I have to get up, and that if we really want to get up, our eyes automatically open at that particular time. I have tried that, like a million times, and trust me, there have been times when I have slept so hard that my dad had to climb into our balcony from the neighbour's balcony because I wouldn't answer the doorbell. So you know how good I am at waking up on my own. I still thought of giving it a shot. As usual, after saying my night prayers, I asked God to wake me up the next morning - anyhow!

Just then, my cellphone vibrated too much near my pillow. It was a call from Saleem, one of my college friends then. I answered the call with a very grumpy "Hello". No one spoke. After a few seconds, I hung up and checked the time. It was 6am! It didn't seem like I had slept at all because I was wide awake. And I couldn't believe I woke up to a vibration! I never do. I was really surprised and got on with the day.

I went to college at 11am that day and bumped into Saleem. I asked him how he was up so early and why he gave me a call. He denied giving me any call. He said he was fast asleep at the time I got the call from him. Only when I showed him my "Received Calls" list did he believe that I had indeed got that call from his number. He went on to tell me that it might have been a mistake since he keeps his cellphone right under his pillow, and some keys might have been pressed!

I couldn't believe it. The time of the call and the fact that it was by mistake was too huge a co-incidence.
I don't know if I can call it a "miracle". It was something too minor to be thought of as one, but it was definitely not just a co-incidence either!

The Sign

2011-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Get your story published in The Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – A book of Miracles at BlogAdda

Sahil and I had been blog friends since a long time and four months back since that day, he had taken it to another level. We had got to know each other pretty well, and he had made it clear that he liked me, in a non-platonic way that is. I had never met him though, since we lived in different cities. I liked him too but I wanted to get to know him in flesh and blood first. He'd always say he was head over heels in love with me and I'd always wonder how someone could love so deeply in so less time! Not one to rush into such affairs so soon, I told him I take a lot of time getting to know someone and he seemed to be in absolutely no hurry. The first month was wonderful, with him sending me lovely songs to listen to, and giving me as much attention as no other! It's a wonderful feeling to be loved, and as I enjoyed it, I was slowly trying to build trust.

I really don't know what went wrong but in the month after that, it seemed like all that love had gone on vacation. I say 'vacation' because it returned a couple of weeks later in full zest. I was told that he had been busy with a lot of other activities and that he was still very serious about what he had proposed. After something like this, who would believe that he really meant it? I told him that it'd take even longer to build my trust in him after this and that it was really difficult to buy his explanation though I was trying hard to. We weren't talking as much as we used to anymore and I used to wonder why.

In the month after that, I finally met him in person along with some other people he knew. After a round of introduction, we went out together and I knew I felt the same for him like I did in the 'virtual' world. I heard him say he loves me when we hugged each other 'goodbyes' after the meet. I felt a strange kind of happiness surge through me that lasted till the next morning but something still told me to wait. I still wouldn't express what I felt for him. He went back to his city, and I got busy building castles in the air thinking of how we'd look like together! My exams were just a month away and I forced myself to concentrate on my books and put those thoughts aside for sometime. Meanwhile, Karthik, one of the people he had introduced me to, and I had begun talking and we seemed to get along pretty well.

I had known Sahil for a whole four months then, and he had been on my mind that whole week. My university exams had begun, and by that time, I had decided I'd give this thing a shot once all my papers were done. Oddly, though he met all that I would want in a partner, something stopped me from going ahead. I thought I was just fearing getting hurt after all that I had gone through with my first love. I quickly made a silent prayer saying that if at all he isn't the right one for me, I want a sign- any sign and it'd be so much better if I got it today itself! That said, I left for my paper in the afternoon.

As usual, there were students shuffling papers to revise whatever they could in the little time that was left for the bell to ring. I was one of them. My cellphone beeped in the middle of all that last-minute revision. It was a text message from an unknown number that said, "I might not tell you I love you but deep down, I still do!" I couldn't help thinking it was Sahil and decided to call him right after my paper that day. As soon as my exam for that day was over, I called on that number and no one would answer. I called him on his own number and he wouldn't answer there too. I thought he was probably busy. Half my mind was wondering why he didn't text me from his own number. I put all that away for a while and went online. Karthik was online too and we got chatting. I typed the number I had got the message from, and asked him to confirm whether it was from Sahil's city. He said it was from there indeed but he couldn't see why Sahil would send me such a text when he was already in a relationship with someone for three months! I couldn't help but confront Sahil immediately and he admitted to being interested in someone but not being sure if she was the right one. The little 'vacation' that his 'love' took was three months back too.

I didn't know what to do. Three months back also meant that he was thinking of her while he said he was in love with me! I didn't even know whether to blame him, not having expressed any of what I felt for him in those few months. Clearly, he had lied but blaming him wasn't going to change anything.

I was disheartened and was going over the series of events in bed that night. Just then, I remembered something. The sign! The message had saved me from making a mistake. I was so glad at having listened to my voice and having got an assurance that I had been right all along in not rushing into something that my heart didn't completely agree with. That sign was just what I wanted and I got it just when I had asked for it. It was a miracle indeed. After a long time I slept well that night, disappointed, but feeling a sudden sense of strength from within.

It's a miracle!

2011-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

We come across so many miracles each day. I don't know whether they can even be called miracles but some experiences really make you feel like there is some thing powerful that is guiding you.

BlogAdda has come up with yet another contest giving us bloggers a chance to share such experiences. And if any of our stories get selected, it'll be published in "The Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul - a book of miracles". Additionally, we'll also win a cash prize of Rs. 1000. Isn't that lovely? :)

Anyway, I needn't mention that I am participating too :D So watch out for some 'miraculous' posts by yours truly this coming week! :)

Also, I need your best wishes for the contest. So wish me luck!!

For more details on this contest or to participate, click here. :)

I ♥ Mumbai, Bus Kya? ;)

2011-01-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

What better way than to spend an otherwise boring weekday afternoon having lunch with a few of your favorite people? :) So, the other day, Mona, Aunty (Mona's mom) and I caught up with Neil after a long time. I was sporting my "Bus Kya?" tote bag, one of Neil's designs and he was wearing his "I ♥ Mumbai" bag. After some authentic Chinese food at Fu-Yong (Matunga), and some ice-cream at Gelato (ice cream sponsored by Mona- thank you! :P), an impromptu photo session followed!

Photo courtesy: Neil Dantas

Aren't these jholas gorgeous? And I love the way he has captured every photograph too! :) :)

For more of Neil's designs, or to buy some of his stuff, you can visit his Facebook album-
Bags: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=841500528&aid=354644
Tshirts: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=841500528&aid=201413
Or his website: http://www.neildantas.com

You could also drop him a mail at: neildantas-at-the usual !! ;)

Thanks Neil .. loved the pictures!! :)

Swept away... with the wind!

2011-01-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hello! I have been unwell for quite some time now and it's "Gone with the Wind" that has been keeping me company under the covers! I used to read the book only on trips but I've come to such a point that I find it hard stopping myself from reading further. I must say it's a very well written book. The story makes you feel like you're such a part of it! I have come to the end of the book now (I still don't know what happens at the end so no spoilers please!!). It's so captivating it made me read all about the American Civil War on Wikipedia. The story's set against the backdrop of the war between the Yankees and the Southerners, at a time when the blacks served the whites and actually took pride in it. It made me want to google up on all costumes of "Gone with the Wind" (the movie) and even watch small clips of it on You Tube. I don't like watching the movie before finishing the book but I couldn't resist watching a few scenes. The costumes are so extravagantly beautiful I wish I could wear them in today's time!

The book, written by Margaret Mitchell, tells a story of the beautiful Scarlett O' Hara, who is in love with the handsome and honorable Ashley Wilkes. Ashley, however, is going to get married to the sweet and delicate Melanie Hamilton. When Scarlett knows of this, she confesses her love to Ashley. This is the famous library scene where Ashley tells Scarlett he loves her too but that Melanie would make a much better wife. The headstrong Scarlett is furious at this and slaps him. After Ashley takes leave, she even throws a vase in fury. This is considered to be very "un-ladylike" in those times and the infamous Rhett Butler is head over heels in love with Scarlett when he secretly witnesses this scene. He likes the fact that Scarlett is so different from the rest of the ladies in that time who suppress what they actually want to do just so that they'll be accepted as being "ladylike". The story continues from hereon.

At many times in the book, Scarlett is portrayed to be very selfish but as you read on, you realise WHY she does the things she does and that everyone eventually do what they want to do. It's only human. It made me wonder whether I am Scarlett or I am Melanie. First I wanted to be Melanie- the ever sweet, loving, calm and caring human being with no hard feelings for anyone. I was scared of being Scarlett but I saw some qualities of Scarlett in myself too. I have been in a scenario where I was told that I wasn't "wife" material and I know how angry one can feel at something like that. I have been rebellious too at times when I was held from doing something I strongly believed wasn't wrong. I am attached to where I live (Bombay) and defend when someone speaks ill of it the way Scarlett defends Tara (the plantation on which she lives). At the same time, I am a bit like Melanie too. I can't easily hate someone no matter what they do. I usually surprise myself when I find that I still end up caring and helping people who are not usually received well or have cause some hurt to me sometime. I think one should be strong-willed like Scarlett and sensitive like Melanie.

As for the rest of the book, I'm in love with everything about that time. The simple mindedness of the people (excluding the hypocrisy and gossip), their luxurious lifestyles, their gowns and barbecue parties, the bazaar in Atlanta.. and so much more!! I'd love to have someone to dress me up in rich gowns and to be all decked up all the time. It gives you such a princess-like feeling :D The hat, the gloves, the bonnet, the shoes, the coats, voluminous gowns and ruffle & taffeta dresses! If you think I'm exaggerating, go ahead and tell me if you wouldn't like to be dressed up like this:

These images have been googled for.

Didn't I tell you these were awesome?

I've even read about someone who got a bungalow built that looked just like the one on Tara plantation, where Scarlett lived. I'd love to visit the places mentioned I've read so much about them already!

I'll go on to finish reading that book now. There's a sequel to this book too. It's titled "Scarlett" and it's by another author. I've heard people say it's not a very good book but I think I'll read it anyway.

I really recommend "Gone with the Wind" to anyone who enjoys reading classics or romance novels! You'd rather read the book before seeing the movie. The movie HAS to be seen to appreciate the costumes and the places that have been so well described in the book. Margaret Mitchell was indeed gifted! :)

:)

2010-12-26T00:27:00.000-08:00

Hola !! I know I'm back after yet another long break .. don't ask me where I was! I was right here, figuring some things out :) Logged in today to see a few drafts- posts that I had written long back but never got published. I'm going to be posting them now.. Sorry about the delay - the break was much needed though; I didn't miss being away.

So, Sakhi gave me two surprises a couple of months back. Firstly, when I went to Bangalore to visit her, she surprised me with this wonderful gift that she made herself:

Looks pretty, doesn't it? Believe it or not- the kurti was cream (off white) in colour before it was worked on by her, and the dangles are her work too! :)
You can follow her blog to get such lovely presents :P

She then told me of a letter she wrote to me three months ago; I had not received it for some reason and we were both pretty upset about it. After I came back to Bombay though, within a week's time, I got it! :D It had been very long since someone wrote to me and I was overjoyed! She has written it in calligraphy:

I smiled at the part where she mentioned she was waiting for me to come there- the letter had reached me too late! The trip was done and I was even back home by then :D

Along with the letter, there was a friendship band that she made herself too! :)

There's something different about receiving a letter just like there's something special about getting a handmade present. A letter says so much more than an email would even when it just says 'Hello'. No one waits for a letter anymore though, and the personal touch is slowly fading away.

Thanks Sakhi !! :)

Diwali with Candles! :)

2010-11-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

First of all, wish y'all a Happy Diwali !! It's a belated wish but I really hope and pray your wishes come true. :)

I know I've been away for too long and you know, honestly, it's not like I didn't want to come in here. I just prefer living the offline life these days for some reason I don't know of! Maybe it's a phase, or maybe I am changing for good. Am I growing up to become one of those aunties who scowl at their children wasting their time online? :S I sincerely hope not !!

So, anyway, Diwali was crazy this time. I did so much I didn't realise how the time flew and before I knew it, the festivities were over! On the first day, we decked up in sarees and went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. It was fun dressing up like that and going out somewhere.

I prepared chocolates, candles, drew rangolis, celebrated Bhaubeej and even saw Golmaal 3 which I ended up liking, to my surprise! Golmaal 1 was okay-ish and I wasn't really keen on watching this one but I must say it's far better. I didn't laugh as much as the people around me did but I did manage to enjoy a few good one-liners in the movie.

As I said, this Diwali, it was candles in place of diyas- scented, decorated gel candles made by me! :) The process is pretty easy but I'd still like to share it with y'all. :)

All I needed is some assorted glasses, gel wax, wax dyes, wicks, aromatic oil, opaque acrylic all-surface paints and embeds (beads, magic balls etc.). I got all of this from a shop in Crawford Market, Bombay.

You need to coat the wicks with wax first so you heat a little wax just enough for the wicks. I didn't have a microwave then, so I used the double boiling technique.

Double boiling technique: I filled an aluminium vessel with some water and kept it on the burner, then placed a steel container inside it which had the wax. You have to make sure the water doesn't enter the steel container though i.e. the water shouldn't mix with the wax.

I wish I had taken pictures while I was making the candles so you could have had a better idea of all of this. :(

Keep stirring the wax till the bubbles reduce and till the wax melts. You can now put in the wicks at once but don't let them stay in for too long. The wax solidifies in seconds so you can take the wicks out in less than a minute to get fully coated wax wicks.

You can now proceed to making the candles. You will need to heat some more wax (as per the size and quantity of your containers). Gel wax is reusable so it's okay to overestimate. Once the wax melts, you can add a couple of drops of the dye you want and keep stirring. The quantity of dye you add depends on how dark or light you want the colour to be but to be safe, add a little of it first because the wax catches colour quickly.

You can now start pouring the wax in the container while keeping the wick inside. You can use a setup like this so that the wick stays in the center:

This image has been Googled for.

If you don't want the wick in the center, then you can just leave it leaning against the container. Don't pour the wax all at once. For scented candles, the aromatic oil has to be added just before adding the last layer of wax. This is so that the scent does not evaporate. So you can fill 3/4th of the container with wax, then add a couple of drops of the oil and pour in some more wax again.

Also, this is the part where you can get creative by adding embeds. I used magic balls and beads. You can add shells too- they give it a whole different look!

Magic balls are balls which grow in size when you soak them in water. I added some of these magic balls while pouring in the wax i.e. I added them in between layers of hot wax. Some I added after pouring all the wax, but I later noticed that these balls were shrinking back to their original size when exposed to air so it's better that if you're planning to use these, you put them in between layers of wax.

Beads can be added after pouring in all the wax just when the wax is still in the liquid form. They'll automatically stick to the hot wax. You can also add beads in between layers of wax- it's all upto you.

Lastly, you can paint these glasses/containers using acrylic all-surface paints or stick some stickers on them to make them look attractive. I used paints, star and heart shaped stickers, satin ribbons etc.

And this is how it all looked like in the end:

You can notice the size of the magic balls in the first container here. Some of these balls are slowly shrinking to their original size due to exposure to air. So it's advisable to add them in between the wax if you're planning to use them, to retain their enlarged size. The white and some coloured beads have been added at the end when the wax was still hot.

Cheers!

You don't feel like lighting these after making them though because you don't want them to melt after you've decorated them so well :D It's fun nevertheless!

The flower rangoli and the chocolates :

More pictures here.

I'll try to keep coming in here as and when I get time. Till then, take care! :)

Travelogue Part 5: Delhi

2010-10-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hola! It seems funny to write this now that I've returned from Bangalore and Goa as well :D Might as well finish it though!

Continued from here.

So, on the 1st of August, we boarded a train to Delhi from Haridwar at 6:30 am and we were there within 5 hours. Delhi was just a halting point- we had a train to Bombay on the same evening and hardly had any time with us to roam around.

After a quick lunch, we hired a private tourist vehicle with a guide who'd drive us to a few places he knew. I always wanted to see the India Gate, and it was the first place he took us to. We spent some time clicking pictures here; there was some renovation going on over it. I feel the Gateway of India is prettier though I shouldn't be comparing :D

Next, we went to this temple called the "Lotus Temple". It has a different structure from all the other temples you usually see and it's unique in a way that the temple does not represent any religion, sect or caste. It's for one and all- goes to show all Gods are 'ONE', rather God is one. :)

We didn't have time to enter but it's definitely on my list on my next trip to Delhi and so is the Akshardham temple:

On the way to Akshardham temple, the guide stopped at a store and asked us to look around a bit to see if we liked anything. It was strange because we had told him we were short of time and least interested in shopping. We then guessed he'd probably get his commission if we ended up buying stuff there! I did buy a few wood pencils that looked like actual twigs- everything else was too common and too expensive.

Oh yes, we spotted a few "Kaavadias" here too!! The sight of them was getting to us now, and Rohini joked about them haunting us in our nightmares!

We boarded a train back to Bombay the same evening, and reached the next day to be welcomed by my friends :) It always feels good to be home no matter how good the trip is!

The Right Time

2010-10-13T00:17:00.000-07:00

It's not only about finding someone who calls you "beautiful" instead of "hot",

or about someone who kisses your forehead and tells you he loves you,

or someone who doesn't mind watching a chic flick just to make you happy,

or someone who'd come shopping with you even if that means waiting indefinitely for you to bid goodbye to those trial rooms once and for all.

It's beyond finding someone whose name you'd look for on your Gtalk list the minute you go online,

or someone you'd think about when you play that favourite love song for the nth time,

or someone you'd picture yourself everyday with and go to sleep thinking about,

or someone who'd make you go weak in your knees the minute you saw him and though you were dying to make conversation, you'd only be able to utter a few words.

Sometimes, more than waiting for the right person or the right feeling, it's all about waiting for the right time.

Travelogue Part 4 - Rishikesh

2010-09-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Continued from here.

Rishikesh is a small city in Dehradun, just 25 kms from Haridwar. On the 30th of July, we set out in the late afternoon to see the famous Lakshman Jhula there. Ram Jhula and Lakshman Jhula are two major attractions at Rishikesh.

As soon as we reached there, we had to walk our way to the Lakshman Jhula; the Ram Jhula was closed for some reason. There are small shops along the way that sell gemstones and other small artefacts. There are also food and tea joints that are located in a way that they give you a good view of the Ganga. Spotted some of these monkeys too :D

After a good 10-minute walk, we finally reached.

They say that Lord Rama penanced here after killing Ravana, the king of Lanka. His younger brother Lakshman crossed the river using a jute rope bridge which then became the Lakshman Jhula :) Ram Jhula was built much later.

We spotted a lot of "Kaavadias" here too.

We then headed to German Bakery and Restaurant for some evening snacks and chai. The place is thronged by foreigners, and looked to be hygienic as compared to other small food joints there. Also, it provided a beautiful view of the Lakshman Jhula. Their menu interested me; so many different varieties of tea:

So after the tea session here, we headed on our way back to Haridwar. :)

Travelogue Part 3 : Mussoorie

2010-09-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I haven't been writing lately. I've been busy with a lot of things. I better finish this travelogue before it's too late and I get too lazy!

Continued from here.

So, on the 28th of July, we left for Mussoorie from Haridwar on the tour bus we had booked a day before. The entire bus ride from Haridwar to Mussoorie and back plus the tour fee cost us only INR 150! We were supposed to come back the same day. We left at around 8:45 am and our bus was packed with tourists. We got the front seats though! :) Reason being there were a lot of honeymoon couples who obviously preferred being at the back! ;)

Our first halt was at this amusement park called Fun Valley just outside Haridwar which was like a small version of Esselworld. We had to pay 70 INR for a ticket which was actually worth 280 INR. Some discount for the tour bus people! My cousin told me the people (tour organisers) who take us there are paid a commission for every ticket we buy. The rides were all the same and we sat in every one of them- except the water rides of course since we just had one hour there and we hadn't carried any costumes for it. It was enjoyable nonetheless.We befriended a sweet Delhi family there who was also on the bus with us. They spoke with a strong accent and you could easily tell where they've come from.

My all-time favourite ride

From there, we carried on our way to Mussoorie. It was all getting beautiful as our bus climbed up the ghats. It was getting cooler too. Our next halt was at this Shiva temple on the hill- the only temple where you couldn't donate money. You got plenty of grams and tea as prasad! There were shops outside the temple though where one could buy gemstones and there was a great variety of them! Also, I figured that's where they must be getting the funds from considering the temple is so well maintained, and the idols are adorned beautifully! There were also two shiva-lings made of a special stone called sphatik which looks like a mixture of marble and plastic.

The temple

Shiva-lings made of sphatik

The beautifully adorned idol

Next was Mussoorie city. As we climbed higher, it felt as if we were going to touch the clouds any moment now but the higher we went, we felt the same. The clouds never seemed to come. And before we knew it, we were going THROUGH the clouds!!! That's when I tweeted about literally being on cloud 9 :D A board that read "Pahado ki rani Mussoorie mein aapka swagat hai" welcomed us soon after. As soon as we reached the city, it was a whole different world out there. On our way there, we hardly saw any people and here, there was an entire township! We saw school going children wearing sweaters and going back home. It was a whole different world out there- people, climate everything!

The welcome board. It looked more beautiful from the front angle- amidst the clouds and all that. Captured it a bit late :(

And through the clouds!

We even saw the Himalayas from there and our tour guide told us that China was on the other side. Then the part that I was waiting for finally arrived. I had been tweeting about wearing the Garhwali dress ever since I planned this trip and I got to wear it here:

Me in the Garhwali dress

And that's my cousin Rohini! The dress suits her more, no? :)

The Himalayas - China on the other side! :)

After goofing around some more in the dress, we went exploring the city. White roads, cute chinese-eyed locals and beautiful wooden articles kept for sale everywhere is how I'd sum up those twenty minutes. We then stopped at a dhaba for lunch and got back into the bus soon after.

Our next destination was Kempty falls on our way down the hill between the Dehradun-Mussoorie path.

Me at Kempty Falls

It was originally called "Camp-Tea"; they say the Britishers used to organise tea parties here. Over the years, it became "Kempty" :D (I just noticed, this is the second place that I visited in the same day that was associated with tea and a tea addict like me should be able to connect with this place soooo well :D). The place was peaceful, there were different levels to the falls and we could use steps to climb higher. They had built a small pond at each level.

As we went up though, there were people using the ponds like a swimming pool with floating tubes and the like. It looked almost like a mini water park. Thank God they didn't build any water rides there!

We bought two bhuttas (maize) and searched for a quiet pond. We finally found one and munched on the bhuttas whilst dipping our bare feet in cold water. After a while though, I spotted a black faced monkey there who was running away after having *just* snatched someone's bhutta and right then, I threw my own bhutta into the pond out of fear! My cousin had finished hers. I really need to learn to start eating early. So anyway, we fled from there and found a safe little corner to video-shoot that naughty bhutta thief:

The video shows the falls and the surrounding area too.

We then hopped into our bus again and resumed our journey. The tour guy asked us if we wanted to stop at this small pond where you could paddle boats. All of us were tired though and just wanted to return to Haridwar. We finally returned to our room at 9:30 pm. A day fruitfully spent!

Frames of Freedom

2010-08-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

Blogadda has announced yet another contest for us bloggers called the "Frames of Freedom" contest where we are supposed to post photos that depict freedom in some way. Here are my entries for the contest:

Freedom from responsibility:

The good old college days: A period when we really "live" our life without worries. :)

Freedom of expression:

At the "Wall Project": One wall to freely express your thoughts and creativity!

Also the freedom to paint whatever you want:

Or whoever you want! :D

And dress up however you like:

Freedom of being happy:

Yes, even to the point of looking retarded! :P

Freedom of celebration:

Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, festivals and the like!

Freedom of flight:

Birds flying homewards during sunset at Kankaria Lake, Ahmedabad.

Freedom to smile:

"I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful." ~Author Unknown

The freedom to choose your friends:

and counting on them to stick with you.. always. :)

The freedom of being one with nature:

Nothing like an evening by the sea...

The freedom to act crazy:

...just to spoil a good picture! :P

Freedom is just a state of the mind just like happiness is! Freedom and happiness both go hand in hand. :)

P.S: Wish me luck for the contest!!