tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8386748565962205492024-03-14T05:04:06.732-07:00A dream life!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-46616221773770642142014-10-18T02:38:00.005-07:002014-10-18T02:38:54.007-07:00Let's not be superwomen. It's highly overrated!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Have been going through a lot of posts on social media about many feminist issues. Be it discussions on how regressive a festival karwa chauth is or if it's only the responsibility of women to take care of children or whether women should make career their first priority or family. And have been wondering why such confusions exist in women's lives only. Is it because society expects so much out of us or have we in our endeavor to be perfect in everything made our lives so confusing.<br />
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I have always voted for "do whatever brings you happiness" school of thought. That doesn't mean I am not guilty of striving for perfection and feeling upset when I haven't been able to achieve it. I haven't attained Nirvana yet and I would be fooling myself if I said not attaining all doesn't bother me.<br />
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However, the underlying issue is that we always want to be the best of employees, best of wives/ lovers, best of cooks, best of hosts, best of mothers, best of daughters, best of friends and often in juggling so many roles, we fail in our own eyes. Let's face it, we are not the best and can't be the best in everything, however hard we tried!!! And I think it's time we stopped trying so hard and just celebrated life as it is. Let's not beat ourselves and choose to do whatever brings us happiness.<br />
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If fasting on Karwa chauth makes us happy, let's do it and not fear if our peers call us regressive but if it doesn't inspire us, let's not do it under the pressure to increase the man's life span. 1 day of fast surely can't make up for 365 days of smoking and every weekend's drinking session.<br />
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It's time to enjoy our decisions, if we like cooking, let's cook, if we don't, let's just order and have fun with friends. Everyone remembers a good time and if you are having a good time, others will have fun too. Nobody likes to see a stressed host, spending all the time in the kitchen. We love good food but we have come to your place to spend time with you and have some fun!!<br />
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We can choose to just concentrate on our career and get adventurous on holidays, splurge on vacations and spend some quality time with the husband/ oneself rather than be stressed about having a baby coz everyone else is having one or we can choose to have a baby and have fun raising it, let the career take a backseat if that makes one happy.<br />
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One can choose to be single or be married. All I am saying is let's just have fun doing whatever we do, take onus of our decisions and stop blaming the societal pressure.<br />
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The whole idea of living in modern times is to be free and liberated in our thoughts ane be happy in our decisions and let others be happy in their decisions too. Let's not impose our thoughts on others and let's not get imposed by other's thoughts too. Everyone has a point of view and with social media on a high, everyone has a platform to express it. Let's respect, take whatever we want and leave aside whatever is beyond us, have faith in ourselves.<br />
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<i>I hope and I promise to try to do it myself. So to all the lovely ladies...please let's just enjoy living!!!!</i>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-38450196190371525892014-03-29T00:49:00.000-07:002014-03-29T01:39:27.810-07:00Festival of lights in the royal land - RajasthanThis post has been a long time due. Finally I get time to jostle down memory lane and pen down the happy memories from my Diwali vacation. We have decided to travel to atleast one new destination every year. This year thankfully we travelled to 2 new states. The blog on Kashmir is already posted, now it's time for the colourful Rajasthan.
We took the flight to Udaipur aka city of lakes via Delhi on 2nd Nov 2013. At 6:30 pm, looking down from the ATR aircraft, Delhi looked like a bejeweled bride, all decked up before Diwali. It seemed like the Almighty had just strewn some stars and it splattered and clustered on the ground. From the aircraft, Delhi looked like several clusters of stars. The sight was amazing.
We landed at Udaipur around 8 PM. The whole market area was decorated with lights and was closed for vehicles.
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We decided to take a detour and go to the Ambrai restaurant for dinner before checking in our hotel. It's a beautiful restaurant situated by the Lake Pichola. The view of the palaces and the fireworks from the restaurant was breathtaking. The food was good too.
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The next day we explored the City Palace museum. It has an awesome collection of the armory of the kings and provides an insight in the lifestyle of the royalty.
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We also visited Fateh Prakash palace and took a boat ride to Jag Mandir, which is another beautiful palace in the middle of the lake turned into a luxury hotel. An old musician was playing "Ajeeb dastan hai ye.." (an old Hindi movie song)on cups and bowls. It was quite peaceful sitting by one of the jharokhas looking at the lake with the soulful music playing in the background. If we didn't have a timeline to take the boat back to the city, I would have loved to spend the entire evening sitting by the jharokha.
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The best part of the day was a surprise visit by my lovely sis and brother in law at Jagat Niwas, where we were having dinner. I still can't believe they drove all the way from Ahmedabad to Udaipur just to surprise us and made Diwali truly memorable for us. The 4 of us went back to the rooftop of our hotel and enjoyed the fireworks till late night. It was a good change to feel the chill in the air for us Mumbaikars.
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The next day we started our drive for Jaisalmer, the golden city. On the way, we visited Saheliyon ki bari, which is a garden made for queens and their maids who accompanied them as part of the dowry. It is full of fountains, though not very well maintained. We also visited Ranakkpur, known for the beautiful Jain temple made of marble. It's a grand temple with beautiful marble pillars.
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We reached Jaisalmer by 7 in the evening. We checked in at Lalgarh hotel in the city. The hotel is coowned by Narpat Singh, aka Naru. We decided to laze around after the long drive and have dinner at their rooftop restaurant. The rooftop provides a great view of the Jaisalmer fort in it's full glory. It was decorated with lights and looked very grand. The evening was full of friendly banter with Naru, stories of friendships, love and loss.
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On 5th Nov, we left for the fort. The street the fort is lined with handicraft shops and loooks very colorful.
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We checked in at Garh Jaisal, a boutique hotel in the Jaisalmer fort. There are only 7 rooms in the hotel and all are unique and beautiful. Ours had a nice window seat, actually more of a window bed with a view of the city. I checked in and dozed off for a few hours at the window seat. We had yummy chicken chowmein for lunch at the hotel's rooftop restaurant. The chowmein was surprisingly good. We decided to explore the place on foot. We went through narrow bylanes, passing by houses, temples, shops.
The top attractions of Jaisalmer are:
1. Gadisar Lake: It's a man made lake, once the only source of water in Jaisalmer, constructed by the first ruler, Raja Rawal Jaisal. It's a picturesque lake. There are sarangi players on the way to the lake who play soulful tunes. There is also a Government emporium, where tourists can buy the traditional lehariyas and bandhni dress materials, quilts and other knick knacks that Rajasthan is famous for.
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We went to a small family run restaurant called Cafe The Kaku which is newly started by this very young and entrepreneurial chap named Sahil. The view of sunset is great from the rooftop restaurant and we enjoyed the converation with the very enthusiastic and hospitable Sahil over the traditional Rajasthani dessert dish "Ker sangari".
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2. Patwaon ki haveli: One of the largest havelis in Jaisalmer and is a cluster of 5 small havelis. It gives an insight in the lifestyle of the wealthy and influential. One can see the entire household from living room, kitchen, kind of utensils used, bedroom, vanity rooms of the lady of the house and the recreation area for the men to entertain guests.
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Apart from this, the Jain temple and the fort are also worth a watch. However, we went during Diwali and it's a popular and closer destination from Gujrat so the place was very crowded and we gave it a skip.
I loved shopping for the silver jewelry there. However, one should be very careful and shop from the known jewelers only.
We stayed in Jaisalmer for 2 days and then left for Sam Sand Dunes. On the way, we visited the abandoned Kuldhera village. There are many stories that go around the abandonment of the village by the Paliwal community, which used to inhabit the village. The version that we were told is that the Paliwals were a very beautiful and talented race. One of the days, a Mughal emperor set his eye on a beautiful Paliwal girl. He wanted to make her his mistress. The headman asked for a time of 3 days and they abandoned the village overnight and went in different directions to save the girl.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4V_GGXvgVMZDRi_oML9fTf-jR5GZCaQ4e2xLKWHFbBSWuHWLMAsBlFf8tjNYH7b_vGgM01uFBD_PRb6pBfKbfCJNaOllDLHBflvPo8L3wiRSmTsmmDYnpcLE4RLViMOZoiT76YMCWxio/s1600/579315_10151814439417807_1654483773_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4V_GGXvgVMZDRi_oML9fTf-jR5GZCaQ4e2xLKWHFbBSWuHWLMAsBlFf8tjNYH7b_vGgM01uFBD_PRb6pBfKbfCJNaOllDLHBflvPo8L3wiRSmTsmmDYnpcLE4RLViMOZoiT76YMCWxio/s320/579315_10151814439417807_1654483773_n.jpg" /></a>
The Sam Dhani Resort is ideally located on a hillock in front of Sam Sand dunes, 42 Kms from Jaisalmer. It has 8 beautiful cottages with attached washrooms. We were given a warm welcome on the beats of dhols and nagaras and welcome drinks served. We checked in one of the very beautiful and comfortable cottages. We took a camel ride to the dunes and enjoyed sunset in the dessert. It was my first experience and I totally loved it. In the evening, the resort had made an arrangement for folk music and dance and outdoor buffet dinner.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUGPuuu50VS_Fn2xPrhd1GwdbRCPV2V_4pEvyoOmAdeb8R5TAfRzutLntUTxFXSmhdOsrH3ajo4qc2LeXyJmI3KTpD7mqoMOyOV6q_OxvonW6fSmQj85MwOkJn6-DDlY4HjTtHTrcqxQ/s1600/969421_10151814457772807_2139999636_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUGPuuu50VS_Fn2xPrhd1GwdbRCPV2V_4pEvyoOmAdeb8R5TAfRzutLntUTxFXSmhdOsrH3ajo4qc2LeXyJmI3KTpD7mqoMOyOV6q_OxvonW6fSmQj85MwOkJn6-DDlY4HjTtHTrcqxQ/s320/969421_10151814457772807_2139999636_n.jpg" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RwajTSiVT3udm9RzfGxCDOnqEmnnqSj6CPVpuEoIgK-FPm9697cUbSiPbZRSEz1kzpSJ4QRLNYfz1uc_ymeyHp8C-2orcbZy8FCYdDDRs04FEiKTGUlKc0iYCZqxBXz8bIbaXOWl_gY/s1600/1482833_10151814456207807_1457727034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RwajTSiVT3udm9RzfGxCDOnqEmnnqSj6CPVpuEoIgK-FPm9697cUbSiPbZRSEz1kzpSJ4QRLNYfz1uc_ymeyHp8C-2orcbZy8FCYdDDRs04FEiKTGUlKc0iYCZqxBXz8bIbaXOWl_gY/s320/1482833_10151814456207807_1457727034_n.jpg" /></a>
It was a fun evening. We checked out in the early morning the very next day. It was a chilly morning and it was very difficult to leave the resort. I just wanted 1 more day in the dessert but so is life, one always wants more of the beautiful things.
It was a dream to visit Rajasthan one day, which was made true by my husband. Special thanks to Nirav Vithlani for all his help with research and introduction to Naru (Narpat Singh), who made the whole stay and travel very easy and comfortable for us. We were given a drop till Jodhpur, where we met our friends and drove back to Mumbai.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-77095732039473159252013-10-14T07:34:00.001-07:002013-10-14T07:34:56.079-07:00Mystical KashmirIt's been a long time since I have been at this space. Actually, it's been so long that I have had any personal space. Ever since, we have moved to Mumbai from Bangalore, life has been crazy. The work pressure, commute and just the challenges of living in a metro. We needed a vacation desperately and we chose Kashmir as our preferred destination for the 15th Aug long weekend holiday. Parents were not very happy about the decision because of the violence in Kishtwar making headlines. We still decided to go ahead with the plan and take it as it comes. We were travelling with another couple and all of us were pretty excited and counting days for this vacation and nothing could stop us.
We took a direct flight from Mumbai to Sri Nagar, where we had arranged for a driver to pick us up from the airport and take us directly to Gulmarg. Though, the loos at the airport are not very clean, it's advisable to use them before embarking on a long journey as you don't get restrooms on the way to Gulmarg. The sight once we were out of Srinagar was very beautiful. The streets were lined with beautiful cottages with red or green roofs. We were enthralled by just the expanse of the houses, the space and the clean air after living in a space crunched city like Mumbai. We made a stopover at a restaurant for lunch. We had heard so much about Kashmiri cuisines from friends and didn't want to lose any opportunity. We ordered for Rista and Yakhni. The food was so yum that we all were grinning from ear to ear like satiated cats and were licking our fingers.
Since it was Aug, we were told the weather would be warm. However, it started pouring that day and the weather got quite chilly nearer to Gulmarg. Thankfully, we had carried warm jackets, just in case. We had to change into jackets at Tangmarg. The drive to Gulmarg was so scenic, majestic hills, beautiful flora, curving roads, clean and sharp air. It was just mesmerising. I have never seen a place as beautiful as Gulmarg. It was really heavenly, beyond description.
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We checked in at Gulmarg resort and just chilled there for the evening. Next day, we had booked gondola rides but because of the weather, the operators said we could ride only upto phase 1. However, we were lucky and by the time we reached phase 1, the weather cleared and we were taken to phase 2 as well. The view from the gondola was awesome. Somehow, it reminded me of the 1st scene of jurassic Park, when the plane lands :)
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It was very cold at phase 2. we had to hire jackets and boots. There was a small patch of snow as well, where the locals were taking people for assisted ski rides. We had the yummiest maggi ever for lunch at phase 2, before we came down. The next day, we got up early in the morning and went for a walk till the temple. After the trek, we had no energy to walk back to the resort so we hired horses. It was my 1st time and I was a little scared. However, it turned out to be a good experience except for the sore back for 2 days.
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we had to return to Sri Nagar that day. On the way back, we went to an apple orchard, though the apples atill had 15 more days to ripen. Sri Nagar traffic was quite difficult to negotiate. After a tedious drive, we reached Gorkha house boat at Naginn Lake. We were taken till the house boat on a shikara. I had just seen shikara rides in movies till now and our energies were restored seeing the shikara. The shikara rower was singing a Kashmiri song and he also gifted me a garland made of lily. It's a tradition as they give the garland to the lady riding in the shikara.
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We didn't like the rooms in the houseboat at first glance as they looked too gaudy, decorated with carpets all over. Also, it was smelling a little musty because of the rains. The guys went out in search of liquor. It's very difficult to find liquor in the state of Kashmir. There are only 1 or 2 stores and is mostly available in army canteens. We girls went for a stroll in the adjacent garden and the store selling carpets, pashminas, etc. It's very important to buy this stuff from the right place as more often than not one tends to get cheated in terms of quality and price. We bought a carpet from a cottage emporium near Nishat garden the next day. The shop owner spent good amount of time explaining the intricacies of carpets and showing us carpets, ranging from INR 4000 to INR 7,00,000/-. The carpets were exotic and felt so soft.
Kashmir is full of gardens. We chose to visit Nishat and Chasm-e-Shahi. Nishat garden oversees Dal lake and has 12 terraces, representing 12 zodiac signs, 11 of which are open to public. The garden is well maintained and looks very beautiful.
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We woke up at 3:30 in the morning to visit the floating market as it opens at 4:30. The shikara ride to Dal lake, where the vendors sell vegetables ans flowers was very beautiful. It's something else to see sunrise Sri Nagar, riding in a shikara. One has to experience it to understand the glory.
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Naginn lake, unlike, dal lake is still very quiet and not too commercial. People are very friendly and hospitable. I just enjoyed sitting in the balcony of the houseboat and gazing at the lake. I just couldn't get enough of seeing the lake and going for shikara rides. The attendant, we called him Chacha (Hindi for uncle) was very hospitable. He served us yummy, home made breakfasts in the morning. The gobhi paratha was to die for. I especially loved the Kashmiri cuisine, Mirchi Korma, Goshtaab, Yakhni, Rogan josh or just sipping Kahwa (kashmiri tea), sitting in the balcony of the houseboat. It was heavenly.
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I would love to go back just to gaze at the lake and enjoy what nature has to offer, away from the madness of the city!!
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-10729483422467876962012-06-10T02:23:00.000-07:002012-06-10T02:23:14.878-07:00Phi-Phi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyOjE8TVTt0mmAJDo_QYTMeU0qB_7rqgwH1mQfpnEiY2ju1EQWt7ssMQCuXFLk9K45M2PgH7YMBCyx4tgTukSylzCep9VXb_UpGmZ7FQF4EHlzdCYaN3YG4Kxfr2tl22c6y5_ae2iILh4/s1600/DSC00871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyOjE8TVTt0mmAJDo_QYTMeU0qB_7rqgwH1mQfpnEiY2ju1EQWt7ssMQCuXFLk9K45M2PgH7YMBCyx4tgTukSylzCep9VXb_UpGmZ7FQF4EHlzdCYaN3YG4Kxfr2tl22c6y5_ae2iILh4/s320/DSC00871.JPG" /></a>
Sitting in mumbai by our balcony in my favourite rocking chair, lucky (our dog) sprawled on my feet,enjoying the rains with steaming, hot cup of lemongrass tea, i can't help but relive the phi-phi memories. Ours was a monsoon wedding and phi-phi was the chosen honeymoon destination. We flew to phuket from bangkok and then took a ferry from the pier in the morning. The timings of the ferries can be confirmed by the tour operators at phuket airport.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoKZPw9EMDBYj24uqLiBdyyr49Ep4ydk9p6gvSe4AALqHc-8YKXITVU3z7g_y5bMfhxpOsA_RciMlBxUR23WWvd81B93Plr_d5U5zAPzvbsK4k6HzeLQAUoiNMuA5AFl04l-ErtujrNs/s1600/DSC00900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoKZPw9EMDBYj24uqLiBdyyr49Ep4ydk9p6gvSe4AALqHc-8YKXITVU3z7g_y5bMfhxpOsA_RciMlBxUR23WWvd81B93Plr_d5U5zAPzvbsK4k6HzeLQAUoiNMuA5AFl04l-ErtujrNs/s320/DSC00900.JPG" /></a>
The view on the way is quite scenic. The beautiful bluish green shade of water, lovely hills is just mesmerising. The island is pollution free as the preferred mode of transport is ferries or bicycles. We chose to walk. We stayed in the beautiful hotel cabana,which is just outside the pier. The hotel has its own swimming pool with a fountain in between and a very good restaurant. After freshening up and having a good lunch of prawns, we headed out to explore the city. Phi-phi is a small island and can be easily covered on foot. Though, the island was badly hit by tsunami, it has managed to rebuild itself and still look so beautiful and serene. We saw some places which were marked as tsunami hit.<br />
The lanes are dotted by spas offering all kind of massages and tour operators offering courses in scuba or taking tourists for deep sea fishing. We were also handed pamphlets of some parties happening that night. At night we chose to go to club hippie's. Hippies is an open air lounge by the sea. We chose a tree house kind of place to sit in. It was cozy and nice. They were serving starters and drinks. There was a competition going on on which couple can finish the assortment of mixed drinks served on a table placed in the centre. There were a few shots and a pitcher of mixed liquour which was supposed to be drank through a straw. An Australian group won the challenge.
Loved the early morning walks, watching the village wake up, fishermen going to work, stores opening up slowly. Then having the most amazing food, going for a swim in the clearest water that I have ever seen, catching that much loved afternoon nap and again going for a walk, exploring new restaurants and eating....Glorious 3 days of my life!!!
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwflRUWADciFySCtOkEFAUVFca9C7pVnoKwL3-qXsT9A9OSKyA1cVRheLKtedWzNrb9K-4KjTsmh5_LobGPLNoLq_jgz2gCEMW-ZsHhmeVVRP26pxM1fFGYbaJquXmAU5PClx6gPCDNg/s1600/DSC00881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwflRUWADciFySCtOkEFAUVFca9C7pVnoKwL3-qXsT9A9OSKyA1cVRheLKtedWzNrb9K-4KjTsmh5_LobGPLNoLq_jgz2gCEMW-ZsHhmeVVRP26pxM1fFGYbaJquXmAU5PClx6gPCDNg/s320/DSC00881.JPG" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-39201963442640094902012-01-19T08:04:00.000-08:002012-01-19T08:04:45.779-08:00get well soon luckyLucky teaches me new things about myself, emotions i didn't know existed. Day before yesterday he had gone for a walk and he returned with a bad limp. The doc sensed a fracture in his paw but gave him injections and asked to observe him for a day. However, as there was no improvement, we got an x ray done and our fears were confirmed. It is a fracture. He has got a plaster on his foot. I have never seen anybody getting a plaster before. It is hard to believe! But i have never dealt with this situation before. I was dealing with all sorts of emotions:<br />
Anger for having to move him from a calmer city like bangalore to this hustle, bustle where my poor lucky can't even walk without falling or getting hit by a vehicle, though it's a residential area and not a main road,<br />
Hurt to see him going through all this when the poor soul doesn't realise what's happening<br />
Amused at how he still tries to jump over us not realising that he will fall<br />
Sad to leave him and go to work tomorrow.<br />
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It's going to take 3 weeks to heal and i wish that i could stay with you for all this time, that i didn't have to tear myself and go to work leaving you behind. I love you,lucky and i pray that u get well soon :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-73336733600736682982011-08-03T22:56:00.000-07:002011-08-04T01:53:59.401-07:00Cuppa JoyI love my tea. It's like a religion for me, just like cricket and bollywood is for people. There is nothing in this world that brings more joy to me than a steaming hot cup of tea. I am the happiest person if I get my tea on time, i.e, just after waking up, around 10 am in office, around 3 pm in office and at whatever pm I reach home (if it's not dinner time) and anytime in between if am getting bored. I am in seventh heaven if I manage to get a cuppa just before sleeping as well.<br />
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I was just wondering if one can determine their tea personality by their general traits and was doing some research on the net, when I stumbled upon this quiz "what tea personality are you?" on the site www.quibblo.com (exactly what I needed). They have some cool quizzes (too good for me as I am quite jobless right now). I won't share the quiz coz of the constraint of space but would definitely share the personality types according to the tea you like. Here it goes:<br />
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<b>1. Green Tea:</b> You are subtle, but you have a very strong presence. Your proponents claim that being around you makes them feel better both spiritually and physically. Your personality is an acquired taste for some, but once someone is your friend, they're with you for life.<br />
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<b>2. Herbal Tea:</b> You are a true original. You are a nonconformist and your moods vary greatly. You can be soothing, energizing, and uplifting, but sometimes you feel a little weak. People have a definite opinion about you, whether positive or negative. Children are particularly drawn to you.<br />
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<b>3. Lemon Tea:</b> You are a peacemaker. You love to be the one who smoothes things over and makes everyone feel good. You don't like to cause a scene, and as a result, you are sometimes taken for granted. People may not often solicit your help, but you are always there when they need you.<br />
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<b>4. Iced Tea:</b> You are very trendy and fashionable. People love your smooth character. You may be a big fan of accessories or embellishments. Sometimes you can come off as a bit reserved, or cold. Women especially enjoy your company.<br />
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<b>5. Black Tea:</b> You are a true classic- strong and dependable. You may not be the most adventurous or quirky person in the room, but you're the one most people turn to in times of trouble or distress. You always have energy, and your moods are generally stable. Just about everyone likes you.<br />
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Well, I don't know why they didn't mention our Indian milky tea, adrak wali chai (ginger tea) or our true Mumbaiya cutting-chai. For me, I don't know what personality type would I be as I like green tea with a dash of lemon/ honey in the morning, ginger tea in office, iced tea in the afternoon, mint tea in the evening and cutting chai for time pass (true Mumbaiya ishtyle). I am also doing some more research on tea types in different countries, more on that in the next post. <br />
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Till then, enjoy your cuppa joy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-84413017930707072962011-07-12T00:42:00.000-07:002011-07-12T02:45:57.546-07:00Childhood fantasies and new recipesSince childhood, I have always fantasized about a man, who could cook and clean. However, love is blind and I am in love with somebody who can do neither. Oh yes, he can make yummy cheese sandwiches and Maggi and he can clean really well, if one is really motivated enough to remind him nth no. of times to get him to do it!!! So, somebody in our family of 2 had to pick up the spatula and you guessed it right, that was me!<br />
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Now, I was never trained or interested in cooking. My mom is an awesome cook and we never had the need to step in the kitchen. The college years were spent in hostels so we got crappy canteen food. Even after marriage, for nearly a year we were in Bombay and it was quite difficult with my work timings to cook so we had hired a cook.<br />
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Once we shifted to Bangalore, with reduced commuting time, I had more time at hand and decided to finally venture into the kitchen. From being an experimental cook, I turned to being a full-time one in a matter of 2 years. Previously, the subject of cooking was like how Mathematics is to a few people. Whenever, people started discussing recipes, I would space out after a few sentences and travel in my own wonderland. However, now I try to learn new recipes through net or through books. The recent one that I experimented with and which turned out to be a great success was Murgh Awadhi Korma (recipe taken from Femina Cookbook). I have tried my hand in cooking chicken several times and every time somehow the gravy becomes watery, But this recipe changed it all. So, here it goes (it's a little improvised from the actual recipe)...<br />
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<b>Murgh Awadhi Korma</b><br />
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(ref image from Google)<br />
Make a paste of 2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera), 1 strip of cinnamon (dalchini), 2 raw onions, some garlic, a little ginger, some black pepper and 1 cardamom(elaichi). Roast 2 chopped onions till they become brown and make a brown onion paste. Heat 3 tbsp of Ghee in a kadhai. Add 1 bay leaf (tej patta) after the ghee is hot and the paste of all the spices. Add the brown onion paste as well. Roast till the onions become translucent. Add turmeric powder, salt to taste, red chilli powder, coriander powder and a bit of garam masala powder. Let the spices simmer for a bit. Add the chicken in the spices and let it cook for 10 minutes. Add some water and cashewnut paste and let it cook for 5 minutes. Transfer the contents of the kadhai to a pressure cooker and cook till one whistle. Garnish with some chopped cashews and you are ready to serve. :)<br />
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So, enjoy the recipe and while you are at it don't forget to share some of the latest recipes that you tried and succeeded with...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-68623359624340739982011-07-06T03:21:00.000-07:002011-07-06T03:21:02.725-07:00Once Overs!!I have always felt that a girl checks out another girl more than a guy does. Have you ever felt being checked out from toe to head before a girl replies to your "HI" or responds to the introduction being made by another friend. The situation is worse if you are introduced by a male friend / colleague to his girl friend :)You hold your breath while the gaze of the girl moves from your sandals to your legs to your dress, hair and then oh-so-finally to your face and then to your extended hand, in case you have extended your hand. The response also depends on if she liked what she checked out or she didn't. Now, this can be a tricky one! There can be the following options:<br />
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1. She responds warmly: <br />
a. She has a good heart and she just likes checking other women (Blah!)<br />
b. She is faking the warmth, she absolutely hates you for looking so gorgeous. The warmth is just a facade and the teeth & nails will come out the moment the guy leaves you both alone.<br />
c. She hates your dressing sense and thinks you no competition.<br />
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2. She is weird in her response:<br />
a. She definitely thinks of you as competition and would do anything to take her guy away<br />
b. She is a B**** and is generally weird with every other girl<br />
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Then there are another variety, who are difficult to decode. They would be all sweetness in your girls - only time but as soon as they have some company, generally your boyfriend or hers, they would start putting you down..."Oh! the color of that watch strap is so bright", "Why did you cut your hair?", "That yellow is so tough on my eye". Now, you would want to instantly throttle this girl but would have to do with a diplomatic answer which you hope doesn't offend your friend and still makes the girl stop passing such rude remarks. These are mostly the intelligent but insecure types. In the insecure type, there is also a dumb variety, who will pass ignorant, illogical comments to put you down, which make for a very fun reading...something that I heard recently was "Your skin glows because you drink so much!"<br />
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Anyway, these once-overs as I call it can have two effects on the checkee(the one who is being checked out, the checker being the one who is checking out):<br />
1. You feel super confident and have an instant glow as you think she loves your outfit and hates it that it's not with her<br />
2. You are a lil shy and you blush<br />
3. You feel rickety thinking is your fly open or your strap showing or something is torn, etc..etc..<br />
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Whatever, the cause and effect might be, the important thing is we have all had our own experiences of once-overs, being the checkee or even the checker. How many times have we not sat with our girl friends and checked out passers by and judged them by their shoes or clothes. Oh no, I am suddenly feeling very nostalgic and missing my besties..<br />
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Well, it will be fun to read some weird insecure lines or your experiences of getting or giving once -overs. I guess it will make a nice book! So, looking forward to hearing from you guys..<br />
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Till then, Happy Once - overs :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-32224523249887099282011-06-14T00:35:00.000-07:002011-06-14T02:13:28.324-07:00My favourite vacation spot - PalolemWe tend to take a vacation almost every 3-4 months to get away from the hustle - bustle of the city, which means we have visited a few places in and around the city. However, my favourite vacation spot, till date, remains Palolem. Palolem is an unspoiled, picturesque beach in South Goa, in the Canacona district. It is approximately equidistant from Margao in Goa and Karwar in Karnataka.<br />
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Palolem is not known by too many tourists so it's still quite uncrowded as compared to the other beaches in goa. The tourists are mostly foreigners and some Indians who know about the beach. Thus, you have less prying eyes and everybody just seems to be having a good time. <br />
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My favourite activity in Palolem is just lazing around. The world seems to have come to a stand still. There is no hurry, no rush, nobody has a long list of things-to-do. Everybody is just sprawled all around. I love this place called Ciarans in Palolem. It looks lovely, has a great restaurant with yummy food, a library and a good sun-deck. I have never stayed there but the bamboo huts sure look inviting, though a little expensive compared to other shacks. <br />
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My first trip to Palolem was on valentine's Day in 2008 with my fiancee and another friend. We had a good time, the majority of which was me sprawled in the hammock with coconut water / breezer (depending on my mood at that time of the day) and a book in hand, while the guys played snookers. I remember taking a ferry and going to a nearby island to watch the sun set. Amazing view, I must say!<br />
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The second trip was made with my husband, sister and brother-in-law in April this year. We had a candle-lit dinner with good music. Most of the shacks put the tables outside on the beach with candles. We hopped a few shacks, had yummy dinner in one and took a leisurely stroll by the beach.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvU35rAxdoqcu1zAxWkxIv-gahT2dUv4wpmBIf_xcqmABJPYO8NG5pB3JH71Hzo7HGJwPI2U_p-11wuIci2uq7eXDJzA0LC5wYul7RONlUPOvTNZmzZY0YmZX1YKcW828LASqCpCwni-I/s1600/DSC_0343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvU35rAxdoqcu1zAxWkxIv-gahT2dUv4wpmBIf_xcqmABJPYO8NG5pB3JH71Hzo7HGJwPI2U_p-11wuIci2uq7eXDJzA0LC5wYul7RONlUPOvTNZmzZY0YmZX1YKcW828LASqCpCwni-I/s320/DSC_0343.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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One of the shacks was closing down and the owner's family had thrown a party for that. They had Karaoke going on. My sis, who is a pretty good singer also sang a song there. We were all in rapture.<br />
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The next day, we had a good filling breakfast in Ciarans and then played in water for some good hours. After freshening up, we again went to Ciarans' sun-deck and had our lazy lunch. When I ordered for a cup of tea, the kitchen was already closed to be open only around 6 pm. We were just hanging around there, chatting, experimenting with my hubby's latest love, the new Nikon SLR. We didn't know how the time flew by and I was served my evening tea. There is no greater joy for me than getting a fresh, steaming cup of tea in the evening and what better than enjoying the lovely view of sunset along with it! I never knew doing nothing could be so wonderful and Palolem is just the place to be doing nothing!<br />
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So, take a break, do nothing and please share your stories of your perfect vacation spot and what made it so memorable.<br />
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Till then,<br />
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Love..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-29711296308084027172011-06-12T01:35:00.000-07:002011-06-12T01:35:30.318-07:00My newest addictionI have always been addicted to shoes and always am on a lookout for a funky pair. However, my latest addiction is for hair accessories. I just got an asymetrical bob cut done and I love dressing it up with colorful clips and hair bands. Here are a few pairs that I bought.<br />
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Hair clip cum brooch - Vero Moda<br />
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I am in love with this clip cum brooch. I think it's very stylish and love the way it shifts from a sober brooch look to a funky party look with the clip.<br />
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I picked this one on my latest trip to Baby Shop. I know it's funny but they seriously have some great girly clips and it's up to us to choose the ones that don't look too kiddish but at the same time are colorful and cute. I found this quite summery. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLbSlYsMnkGTE52eH7Rbw4ayw9_MkZ31vPNBYq2JLIsRMbpO0BwgkJMkeIFRpmaDkMQ8Ln8DSYpMpFcXUnavxEUDtalsBp9LlpfpQII4tSDeSmF4z4PbZecaLN4kAGF2uOAw3trWxYOA/s1600/DSC_0574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="214" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLbSlYsMnkGTE52eH7Rbw4ayw9_MkZ31vPNBYq2JLIsRMbpO0BwgkJMkeIFRpmaDkMQ8Ln8DSYpMpFcXUnavxEUDtalsBp9LlpfpQII4tSDeSmF4z4PbZecaLN4kAGF2uOAw3trWxYOA/s320/DSC_0574.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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There are a few gifted by my Mommy on my birthday. They are pretty colorful and cute and provide cheer to anything I wear. They are also a great option on bad hair days. :)<br />
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These are a few hair bands that I picked up from my latest shopping expedition to Lifestyle and Central.<br />
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I absolutely love the colour and bow detail on this one!<br />
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Love the stone work on this one. Goes with any LBD and party-wear.<br />
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Gifted by my girl-friend from Dubai. I love this star fish and it goes with absolutely anything that I wear :)<br />
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Till my next post on my new addiction, happy accessorizing!<br />
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Love <br />
SUnknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-38082974593458671392011-05-05T05:22:00.000-07:002011-05-05T05:22:29.659-07:00Latest disease in corporate circlesThere is a new disease in the corporate circle and it's contagious!! <br />
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<b>Name of the Disease: Pre Increment Syndrome aka PIS</b><br />
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<b>Symptoms:</b><br />
1. A gnawing feeling in the pit of the stomach like butterflies flying <br />
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2. Constant mood swings - One moment you feel confident, the other down in the dumps and finally, 'I don't give a damn' or the <i>'negative indifferent'</i> attitude as one of my not-so-good friend likes to call it.<br />
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It passes on from one employee to another, so the more you share your usefulness or uselessness with others, the better are the chances of the other being affected by PIS. <br />
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PIS generally starts in the month of March, when the HR mails the appraisal forms to the employees. The discussions begin and every employee starts writing a eulogy of all the work done / not done by him/her in the past year. The D-Day arrives when the meeting is scheduled for appraisal discussion with bosses. Best dressed you with a photocopy of the summary of entire year's work enter the room oozing with confidence and soon issues that you din't know existed start cropping up in the discussion, your explanations are questioned, questions that have no answers..<br />
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Boss: (Avoiding the topic of your achievement of targets, in case you have achieved it)Well, you were hired to come up with new ideas..I don't see anything happening..<br />
You: But, i have over achieved my targets<br />
Boss: Well, that's your KRA, but what about the special project that you were assigned?<br />
You: ahem..there has been no support from other departments, I ran the problem through you, but...<br />
Boss: You are not hired to come up with problems, you should give solutions, instead..<br />
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And, the cliched line makes a kill. The over zealous employee who entered the room oozing confidence comes back confused and depressed. The next few days go in questioning oneself and then blaming the company. Then, in a month's time when all is back to normalcy, there are rumours of increment letters being on the way.<br />
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And, the cycle starts again. The confidence, the self-questioning, the <i>blame-the-company</i>, depression, sharing one's fear with colleagues and transferring PIS. If the colleague, at the end of the discussion, still looks confident and is not empathising with you, don't worry, he is just as scared as you, the chances are he has mastered the art of <i>"showcasing indifference"</i>. <br />
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Wish all the best to all the employees for their increments and may all of us learn to nail PIS... :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-45311154441629233202011-04-25T04:55:00.000-07:002011-05-02T00:12:27.707-07:00A new form of Adventure SportI have discovered a new form of adventure sports lately. It gives me the required adrenalin rush, makes me scream and pray to God for the safe landing as well. No, it isn't scuba diving, bungee jumping, not even zip lining, as I said it's new...<b>it's riding my bike on the Indian bylanes.</b> Now, i know most of the bike riders in India would have enjoyed this sport and would agree with me when I categorise it in the adventure sport section.<br />
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First, you get out of the house with your safety gear; helmet, preferably shoes with good grip (without too much of heels) and dark, easy to wash clothes. Then, you get on to this bylane which is kind of a blind turn which people will knowingly want to take a turn on without honking. Once, you have avoided the collission, you get onto the road; which is not exactly capable of being called a road; try manouvering your vehicle on the various speed bumps, deliberately and sometimes incidentally created. <br />
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Once, the art of braking on the exact bumps and memorising their position is mastered, you move onto Obstacle course 2 - the art of dealing with the deaf and stubborn variety of people. As they say in the famous ad - Roads are full of idiots. This variety is indigenously trained to ignore the honks, forget moving aside they won't even pretend to acknowledge your bike's existence on the road. And, God forbid, if you happen to brush past them, you would be hurled with such a multilingual variety of abuses that your day would be made. So, the only way to master Obstacle 2 is to wait for these people to move on the side or learn the tactics of going past them without brushing them on that narrow 2 -way lane, full of bumps( refer to obstacle 1).<br />
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After we have mastered obstacle 2, we move on to the 3rd and very important obstacle, we categorise them as animals. They can be of any variety, goats, cows or dogs. Sometimes, when the difficulty level of the sport is easy, this obstacle will ignore you and move on to the side once you have honked. In moderate difficulty level, they won't move on to the side but stand right in between and won't budge and the only way out is to get down and find a way past them without irritating them. Under tough conditions, this obstacle will sit on the side making you think that it's an easy day but as soon as you press the accelerator, it will come running in the middle of the road causing you to brake suddenly and lose your balance or knock somebody / vehicle on the lane. The key is to keep the accelerator under control and never to assume that one has mastered Obstacle 3.<br />
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Then, there are the new and unique obstacles per day, which cannot be defined. Some days, it might be - a garbage collector vehicle right ahead of you, spilling all the garbage on the 'just-bathed' you and your 'freshly-washed' vehicle and <br />
- other days, it just might be a construction truck or a water tanker<br />
- or some idiot who gets irritated because you being a girl have overtaken him and he didn't like the whole idea, <br />
- water clogging on the already broken road or <br />
- just a local festivity for which they decide to put a stage in the middle of the road alongwith some speakers and decide to dance<br />
- some confused soul who was going right all the time and suddenly decided to turn left and when you glare at him, he would start his indicator.<br />
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The key is to keep your calm, not underestimate any obstacle and try to be innovative in avoiding these obstacles. Hurling abuses generally don't help, however, can be tried on a case to case basis.<br />
Whatever, the case may be, this sport is sure to give an adrenalin rush and teach you new things every day.<br />
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So, Happy Riding and enjoy the sport!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQzAkJ7s2L4roeNF7tJ1OVuw2qJYAUBpxXqSQlCtwxb2K9j7hbfZOUpWlT3lV5aXJDp5v48OMd7pgSd_emb3Er7B0sbcGZoApD11Nw8KhtvI4z6qaqB75Yya7eo49laUluMDHpRvH_S0/s1600/16529-Happy-Little-Brunette-Girl-Riding-On-A-Kick-Scooter-With-Her-Puppy-And-Purse-Full-Of-Stuffed-Animal-Toys-Poster-Art-Print.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQzAkJ7s2L4roeNF7tJ1OVuw2qJYAUBpxXqSQlCtwxb2K9j7hbfZOUpWlT3lV5aXJDp5v48OMd7pgSd_emb3Er7B0sbcGZoApD11Nw8KhtvI4z6qaqB75Yya7eo49laUluMDHpRvH_S0/s320/16529-Happy-Little-Brunette-Girl-Riding-On-A-Kick-Scooter-With-Her-Puppy-And-Purse-Full-Of-Stuffed-Animal-Toys-Poster-Art-Print.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-77947146729516606612011-03-21T02:29:00.003-07:002011-03-21T03:24:14.468-07:00Loved you - Hated youHi YOU, UP THERE!<br />
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Hope you are well settled and are having a much greater time than you could have down here. I know it's a little too late to write to you but then I have lately been thinking a lot about you and how when you were here, I never wrote to you or gifted you anything.<br />
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I don't know if I was ever too close to you but I always felt that when i would visit the house, I would find you in the kitchen, that once you find me there you will try to extract some gossip from me and would make my favourite dish of dal tadka and parotha. I always thought you were a gossip and was a little wary of you. I also thought you were a little OCD, not touching the telephone, not using the same bathroom as others, not letting us touch any utensils, etc.etc. However, I loved your welcoming nature and warm heartedness. You always treated me as your own and did those little things which young people at my age forget to appreciate. <br />
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I never missed you much while I was away. I guess, I knew that I would find you in that kitchen, no matter what. But now, I don't like visiting the house and I hate entering that kitchen. i still hope that you will be there, waiting for me, cooking that dish. The last person you expected maybe, but I miss you a lot. I can't stop thinking of you. Every time I am alone and can't sleep, I close my eyes and the first person that makes a grand entry is YOU! I still can't figure out why of all people who loved you so much more, have you chosen me. I have stopped crying and now your grand entry in my dreams is more comforting than distraught. <br />
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So, wherever you are, may you be at peace and I hope you are proud of both the kids.<br />
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Love YOU!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-68351629133051584162011-03-14T01:51:00.000-07:002011-03-14T21:48:32.012-07:00Girl's day out and a slice of childhood!Our group of friends have a ritualistic get-together and it has been named as "Talli Day", as people get drunk, pull each other's legs and the idea is to catch up and have loads of fun. Half of the gang is in Bangalore and the other half in Chennai. This time the venue of Talli Day was Chennai. However, with Lent going on, half the population was not drinking or eating non-veg. Also, with the World Cup fever on, we girls knew that most of the time will go in front of the TV. Thus, we decided to let the guys be and we left for Besant Nagar Beach.<br />
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The beach was quite a relief to the stifling weather of Chennai. It was breezy and we could feel the wind in our hair and in our steps. We had Mango dolly and chocolate ice-cream, the moment we reached the beach. We sat on the sand and gossiped. One of us, spotted the balloon vendors and all of us went crazy. I spotted the "<i>chakhri wallah</i>". It reminded me of my childhood days when my grandfather used to take me to the nearby park and buy those <i>chakhris</i> for me. What fun i used to have running in the wind with the <i>chakhri</i> rotating! We also aimed and shot some balloons. My friend M has superior aim, while the 3 of us struggled with the gun, she would shoot any balloon that we chose for her. We then bought a whistle, which we call <i>Pi-Pi</i>, because of the sound it makes. In a state of bliss after the shopping, we attacked a Fruit Junction, where M and V had passion fruits juice and Chikoo milk shake. <br />
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In general banter, we placed a bet on whose husband would be the first one to miss his wife as none of us had still got any calls or messages from our respective husbands. The guys, i guess, were more than happy to get rid of us so that they could watch the match in peace. We were expecting another couple to reach the venue soon. So, I told the girls to wait and watch as we would get a call as soon as the couple arrives as there would be a girl in the house and the guys wouldn't know how to entertain her and would want us back to take care of the situation. V was the first one to get a message from her darling hubby. We started teasing her and came to a conclusion that she owes us all a treat. Soon, M's hubby called me as she was driving and started enquiring about our location. My prediction came true, the couple had arrived and the guys wanted to know when were we coming back.<br />
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We reached home with all our shopping of pi-pi, chakri and the balloon. Soon, there was madness in the house with us blowing pi-pi and waving chakri after every wicket of South Africa that India took. At the end, India lost the match but we still had so much fun cheering. To kill the disappointment, Tunir took to the guitar and V's hubby started singing. We all joined in with our tuneless singing!! We played pictionary and dumb charades afterwards. <br />
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Most of the T-Days follow the same format but this one was more sober with lesser people drinking. However, it was nice and different because of the girls day out and the way we relived our childhood. <b><i>Cheers to many more of such Talli-Days!!</i></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-13265847991139302092011-03-07T01:49:00.000-08:002011-03-07T22:19:48.727-08:00Growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional!!My parents live in Jamshedpur and I have only spent 5 growing up years with them, being raised by my grandparents and then studying and working outside. However, I am a true mamma's girl and my day is not well spent if I don't talk to her for atleast 30 mins daily over the phone. The talk is mostly about random stuff, ranging from what we cooked/ate to whose daughter got married, which relative is so greedy to ask for a dowry, whose son eloped, etc. My papa is most of the time jealous coz me or my sis talk to him only once in a while for very pressing matters. Not that we love our Papa any lesser, it's just that gossiping with Mom is so much of fun!<br />
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My mom got married when she had just finished her 12th, in a conservative, Hindu, joint family. She was a normal 18 year old, who didn't know how to cook or wear a saree. She was taught all this by my grandmother, her mom-in-law. I came in her life within 2 years of marriage and my sis soon followed suit. My mom was always very fond of studying so she continued her education and finished her graduation, while taking care of both of us. She couldn't take up a job as a woman in our family never worked outside and also she had 2 young children and a big family to take care of. She was an extremely busy homemaker with the usual household chores and the gaps being filled by her hobbies of knitting, embroidering and experimentation with new recipes.<br />
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She was the one who always pushed us to study harder and to do something with our lives. Today, if we both are independent, it's all because of my mom. Now, with all of us out of the house, she has lots of time in her hands and she yearns to do more with her life. When she hears about me and my sis chatting on net or me sending mails to my mom-in-law or maintaining accounts on excel sheets, she also feels the urge to be able to use the machine. Once during our random gossiping session, my mom told me she wanted to learn computers. When she expressed her desire, I encouraged her absentmindedly. Little did I know that my mom would actually pester my papa to teach her the basics. She started practising in her free time. Now, she is able to send mails, chat over the internet and share pictures. She can also maintain accounts. <br />
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I feel so proud of her. The zest in her for learning a new thing, even at her age is so inspiring. I always knew that she was industrious and loved doing things around the house. Now, I have learnt a new thing from my Mom that there is never an age limit to learning a new thing. Yesterday, she asked me if she could learn to ride a bike, now, I think that's a little risky coz a fall at this age might not be a good idea. However, I am proud of the spirit and I love you Mom!! Happy Woman's Day!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-13562592960641042162011-02-16T01:14:00.000-08:002011-02-16T01:14:04.080-08:00My three men!Well, let me warn you in the very beginning that this is not going to be some girly, juicy gossip on the no. of men dated/ dumped. <i><b>This is to certify that this is a family blog and doesn't require parental supervision of any kind.</b><b></b></i> I am talking about the 3 men that I live with. Each one is different from another and I love this difference. <br />
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The 1st man in my life is a little whacky and he loves it that way. He is edgy and loves to experiment, be it a new look for himself, his partner or his house. He adores change. The furniture in the house needs to be reset every few months, the paints have to be different, the hair style a little experimental. He loves junk food. While he can gorge on fries and coke, his appetite suddenly goes down, if served rice and dal. Though, he requires a little push to complete tasks at hand, one knows that whenever the work is done, if ever, it will be perfect, no half measures for him. No task is beyond him, he can easily fix the lights, hammer nails as well as blow dry your hair and apply mehendi on your hands. He loves grocery shopping, I have been able to figure out the hidden motivation behind this after 4 years of living with him. He loves chocolates, colas and fries and he can easily stock up on them while doing this chore. He is glad to help in the kitchen and is a pro in making sandwiches, maggi and sunny side ups. He can be a person who is fun to hang out with as well as soon transform into a guy who will give you a patient ear, a shoulder to cry on and wipe your tears.<br />
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The 2nd one is an easy going person. He is very caring, the one who is always ready to have the smaller bite so that you can have the bigger piece. Someone, who from very childhood has saved even the single toffee that he got in school to be able to share it with the family. He is very responsible as well. If you give him a chore and forget about it, the work will be done! I depend on him for so many things. He will check if we have our bottle of water at night by our bed, if the doors are properly locked and the lights off. He is like that silent rock of support, who can always be relied on and who is greatly missed if not around.<br />
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The 3rd man in my life is a favorite amongst everybody. He is extremely playful, hyper, overactive, loyal and the most sensitive person around. He has his rituals set and he is very disciplined about them. He is the one who wakes us all up, reminds us about our breakfast, sees us all to the door and welcomes us all back home. He is very possessive and protective of me and if anyone tries to come near me, they have had it! He loves to sit next to me and gaze at me with his dreamy eyes, wait at the kitchen door while I cook, play with me, follow me around everywhere I go and pull me to bed when it's time to sleep. Everybody loves him.<br />
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By now, you might be able to guess who are these men! The 1st one is my hubby, the 2nd my bro and the 3rd my doggy! :) There is never a dull moment with all the 3 of them around. I love them all and can't be thankful enough to God to bless me with these 3 wonderful men in my life!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-80202795511565287742011-02-14T02:11:00.000-08:002011-02-14T02:11:13.129-08:00Performance feedback form of the shoe GodDear God,<br />
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I know you get a lot of letters from people asking you for favours but this one is an appraisal letter for you, a sort of performance feedback. This is for the good work that you have done by creating shoes or by creating craftsmen who create such beautiful masterpieces.<br />
<b>Name:</b> Shoe God<br />
<b>Job Title:</b> God of shoes<br />
<b>Department:</b> Shoes<br />
<b>Appraiser:</b> Supriya Limaye<br />
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Discussion Form:<br />
I love all things <i>shoes</i>! I just love them. It's this unconditional love which has no explanation. However, my love is not blind. I love only the sexy, beautiful, gorgeous ones. They just call out for me from their shelves in the stores and I just get pulled. It is like love at first sight. Then once I have tried them on and my feet sink in the perfect pair, I just cannot resist the temptation. They just call out "Buy me, take me home, wear me, i am yours!" Those sexy stilletoes, the classic pumps, the hot boots, the comfy wedges, the athletic sneakers, the lovely peep toes, the funky sling backs, I love them all! <br />
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When I meet somebody, I often judge the kind of people they are by the shoes they wear. I have the following classifications of personalities according to the shoe types:<br />
1. Stilettoes denote a person who is sexy, bold and would go to any lengths to achieve her dreams and desires. <br />
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2. Wedges denote a smart, cool and casual personality who can multitask. She is a smart worker and knows the balancing act.<br />
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3. Classic pumps is very feminine, smart and classy. Someone who is always making style statement and is very popular.<br />
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4. Kitten heel girl is fun to be with. She is mysterious, edgy, girly and very low maintenance.<br />
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God, you have created so many options for us, girls! I know you are dedicated towards this category and extremely innovative. You are a classic EE (Exceeds Expectation) according to my appraisal, as far as the ratings on shoes go.<br />
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Your objectives for the next year are:<br />
1. To get more shoe stores to my city <br />
2. To get more international brands to my city<br />
3. To come up with ultra sexy designs in all kinds and colors<br />
<b>4. To give me enough salary hike this year to be able to afford all the above!!! (very important!!)</b> <br />
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So, signing off now! Keep up the good work.<br />
<br />
One of your huge fans! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-44870631156582434912011-02-08T01:51:00.000-08:002011-02-08T21:42:42.114-08:00A day awayWe work in a branch office and like most of the branch office employees, we feel a bit neglected by the head office. We are never invited on any official picnics, off sites or any official celebrations. Most of us have never even been to the head office till now. To add to the misery, the group cos. even got moved from the original building and now all we get is a mail for all the Christmas, Diwali, valentine's celebrations. Nobody bothers to even give us chocolates or decorate our office on such occassions.<br />
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We were feeling so frustated that we decided to just organise a picnic for our team over the weekend in Feb. Most of us are married and since the chosen day for the picnic was a saturday, we decided to make it a family picnic. After much research, we chose Bheemeshwari. Bheemeshwari is a small town that lies between the Shivasamudra falls and Mekedatu falls, on the Cauvery River in the Mandya district of Karnataka. Bheemeshwari is around 100 kms from Bangalore. We all met at Hudson circle on 4th Feb 2011 at 9:00 am and took the Kanakpura road. We were 9 of us with 3 children and took a few stops. We made it to Bheemeshwari by 11:30 am as the traffic on Kanakpura road is horrible with the metro work in progress. However, after Kanakpura road, the hills on the way and the trees provided quite a scenic view.<br />
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On reaching Bheemeshwari, we realised that we need to book jungle Lodges in advance, else they don't even allow one to use the restaurant. They agreed to let us in if we paid Rs.500 extra per person apart from the Rs.1100, which is the actual charge per person. By that time, we were feeling quite adventurous and decided to just explore the area and choose a good spot for picnic. One of our team mates knows Kannada and he spoke to the locals. They arranged for coracle rides for us to the other side of the river. It was the first time most of us were taking a coracle ride and we were quite excited. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJb3JfVUpspFUrpyDjd_Rq4tqMNYc3UIYF3KvlVr_5WkXMRlkZZlwutT-0Pnn3G9eImIv2RF9RUl5k-pp4sFzJskDrkJSb3wM3qwVOj8rc1SrP_HPFw56l7E9aLyBDzBiGAuAAHnMamA/s1600/DSC01341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJb3JfVUpspFUrpyDjd_Rq4tqMNYc3UIYF3KvlVr_5WkXMRlkZZlwutT-0Pnn3G9eImIv2RF9RUl5k-pp4sFzJskDrkJSb3wM3qwVOj8rc1SrP_HPFw56l7E9aLyBDzBiGAuAAHnMamA/s320/DSC01341.JPG" /></a></div>We crossed the river and chose a quiet spot for ourselves. When i saw the water, i couldn't control myself anymore as the whole arrangement had taken quite some time and it was getting very hot, I just jumped in the water and found a nice rock to sit and soak my feet.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ePzVm8mDbJc3rwHgnkrKG3KN168O08Bn3Z1HcmhPp8m4ZCptbOZCHS-_JgrveeFWuVh0esfwBbD0LcnAsr8yXzPGqGzkTrbyTq3PG_CNahBvJQckPDUKtQ1mXNxwUpD_jpZW3J3qk7o/s1600/DSC01352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ePzVm8mDbJc3rwHgnkrKG3KN168O08Bn3Z1HcmhPp8m4ZCptbOZCHS-_JgrveeFWuVh0esfwBbD0LcnAsr8yXzPGqGzkTrbyTq3PG_CNahBvJQckPDUKtQ1mXNxwUpD_jpZW3J3qk7o/s320/DSC01352.JPG" /></a></div><br />
The water was quite clear and we could see small fish. Soon, we all were playing in the water and splashing it at each other. The children were also having a gala time. My husband found a rock where he took me from where the water just got very deep. So we could sit on the rock and enjoy the feeling of hanging one leg in nearly 30 ft deep water. There was a beautiful red color rock on the bed of the river, from which one could see beautiful rays of light scattering around because of the sun hitting the rock. It was a splendid sight! We also spotted some water snakes and a lot of monkeys.<br />
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The locals had also arranged for food for us, some spicy chicken curry, boiled eggs, steamed rice, sambhar and mirchi bhajjis. We took a coracle back to the other side. This time the guy who was riding the coracle was only 12 years old and quite a fun guy. He gave us all a twirl in the coracle. That's the best memory of my trip, we sitting in the coracle and the coracle going round and round like some exciting water park ride :) <br />
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Overall, it was quite a memorable, adventurous, impromptu and economical trip, which the team planned. We decided it's better to enjoy ourselves than to wait for somebody to wake up and grant us an official trip!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-60643862879504732652011-02-02T02:10:00.000-08:002011-02-02T02:10:10.848-08:00Gifts, memories, traits, and the new learnings in the process of growing up ....This is an excerpt from an ad hoc discussion that my husband and me had some nights ago which left me thinking about women and their multi faceted personality. <br />
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As usual, I was in a chatty mood and I started relating to him part of a discussion that my mother in law and me had the same day about gifting. I wanted to send a birthday gift to my mother in law's sister and when I asked her what would be a good gift for Pam(as we call her sister), she said that for them sisters, material gifts didn't matter much. They valued a hand written note, a hand made card or drawing or anything where you had used your creativity or spent some time thinking about the person in question. It sounded really sweet and true. That's why all the mothers still value their kid's random drawing more than any material gift he/she buys later in life. That random drawing on yellowed paper can still be found in your mother's cupboard even if that expensive saree cannot.<br />
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While relating the story, we landed on a discussion about which traits of his parents had my husband imbibed. We started with the creativity that he has got from his mother to the balancing act that he has got from his father to the positive traits that he has yet to imbibe from both. We were having a good time pulling each other's legs when he started relating my traits. He soon was relating the positive and negative traits that I have imbibed from Srivastavas (my parents) and Limayes (my in-laws). Soon, in the middle of the conversation, I discovered that how when we talk about men and their traits, we always discuss the traits imbibed from their parents but when we talk about women, we always talk about traits imbibed from their parents as well as in-laws. It was a sudden discovery and we pondered some more on it.<br />
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I guess, that's why women are the official tradition bearers of the family and are expected to pass on the values of the families to the next generation. We are responsible for the values that our children imbibe because we are the flag holders of two families. That seems like such a responsibility but I guess with time we grow from the little girl with pink ribbons who played with Barbie dolls to fighting with boys to falling in love and looking at the world with rose tinted glasses to helping our mothers in their daily chores while studying hard to stand on our own feet to having a career and then doing the balancing act between the career and the family. I assume we are meant to have multi dimensional roles and learn new things in the process of growing up.<br />
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So, cheers to a new thought, a new learning and many more to come! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-15206947036086556722011-01-22T00:59:00.000-08:002011-04-26T21:55:51.110-07:00My little sister<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">"Sister is probably the most competitive relationship in the family, but once sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship."<br />
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Though me and my sister lived apart, she with my parents and me with my grandparents, through nearly 12 growing up years, we still met on all the possible school vacations. She is just an year and a half younger to me, so needless to say, there was a lot of competition in our childhood years. I still get teased on how once I finished milk from my bottle and then snatched her bottle and drank her share as well. I guess, she has returned the favour more than once over the period but that remains the favourite of my parent's stories of my antics as a kid :) Her pet name is Shilu and she was a little dark when she was young so the mean sister that I was, I used to call her Makalu and would proudly announce to my uncles that I have beaten up Makalu and my loving uncles have even recorded my voice while I was announciong the fact just to torment me throughout my life :)<br />
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Shilu was quite a cute and popular child. Everybody in the locality used to love her and she had all the boys of the colony wrapped around her little finger, as a kid. They all used to wait outside her prep school for her to finish so that they could pick her up and listen to her mad stories. I also remember that all her dolls used to be bald, the effect of excessive combing and hair styling :) Whenever the day for her to visit us came, I would hide my dolls and their box of dresses. However, we had fun time dressing up our dolls, planning their weddings, etc. Once, she got her doll married to the neighbour's male doll and when the time for vidai came, she cried so much and fought with the neighbour that she left even her male doll with Shilu. That's who Shilu was, a big prankster and always the one to get her way.<br />
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When I moved in with my parents and got admitted in the same school as hers, we used to cycle together to school. I was a very shy kid in school, with few friends, while my sister was quite a rockstar, popular with teachers, classmates and of course, boys. While, my parents received reports of me not talking at all in class, they always got reports of my sis being very talkative. She would always fight for her rights in school or home and I would always sit quietly and listen. However different we both were, we still were and are best friends. We would always have loads to talk to each other, lots of gossips to share, lots of secrets to tell, lots of confessions to make. We loved playing Badminton together, while she was a pro singer and was admitted for classes in Classical singing, I used to learn Kathak. <br />
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When I passed my 10th std., Papa gifted me a bike (Bajaj Sunny). Both of us, used to love our rides together around the Link Road in Jamshedpur, singing songs and having fun. After I graduated from school, I moved to Pune to continue with my studies and Papa got a posting to Navamundi mines, Shilu proved to be a big support to my Mum. She excelled in her studies, while helping my mum with chores around the house. After she passed her 12th, she moved to Chennai to do her engineering. We used to write long letters to each other and wait for family gettogethers in Jamshedpur.<br />
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We both are married now and while she is doing her MBA from Bombay, I am settled in Bangalore with my husband. Though, we both have changed quite a lot over the years and we are quite different people from what we were as children; she has sobered down quite a bit (am going to be killed for saying this) and I have become more rebellious than I was; over the years, our bond has just strengthened. We both know, whatever happens, there is somebody out there, with a patient ear and a comforting shoulder and that is quite a help through rough days. <br />
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All the sharing clothes and toys, getting the same dresses in different colors, whispering inside the blanket late at night, waiting for Mummy Papa to go out to be able to play music and dance and to bully Manu, you teaching me how to wear a saree (haha..u know why am laughing!), covering up for each other's mistakes and sometimes not covering up as well ;), I miss all those moments, I miss you!<br />
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Someone has truly said that a sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.<br />
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I love you sis and thanks for always being there :) Muahhhhh<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJUwghYoV0J70Xh9oGiU_iQW4Wqa5EShx83Y0ItlBLBIMx1mC5F5moORi7yXfXAXC74nn1VRwW2RNt3XfTUqrR9JABrDH0lGdbC__nzF2_1j3dnSnW4yUQcIphaxhDReJ6XJ8bJZKB24/s1600/mail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJUwghYoV0J70Xh9oGiU_iQW4Wqa5EShx83Y0ItlBLBIMx1mC5F5moORi7yXfXAXC74nn1VRwW2RNt3XfTUqrR9JABrDH0lGdbC__nzF2_1j3dnSnW4yUQcIphaxhDReJ6XJ8bJZKB24/s1600/mail.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chillo n me!<br />
The times spent with you are the best memories of my childhood! :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-73433837763250576162011-01-18T22:10:00.000-08:002011-01-19T21:21:34.300-08:00Lucky in our lives!!<b>For me a house or an apartment becomes a home when you add one set of four legs, a happy tail, and that indescribable measure of love we call a dog.</b>- Roger Caras<br />
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My husband has always been very fond of dogs and wanted one since his childhood. His mom to avoid the issue told him that he could have one, the day he had his own house. I guess, he took it pretty seriously and got Lucky just the day after we moved in our very own apartment. Lucky is a labrador retriever and true to their traits, a very affectionate dog with a very happy tail, which keeps wagging and hitting everybody around like a whip and knocking things off the floor. Whoever said labs are lazy, should think twice coz here is a hyperactive, very energetic and playful dog, always ready to show his toys to the guests and coaxing them to play with him coz according to him, how can they not play with somebody so cute and adorable!<br />
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With Lucky around, every moment is memorable and every day adventurous! He was just 6 months old when we got him on 18th July 2010. To be frank, I was a little scared because of his size and his hyper energy. The first few months were a challenge with him peeing all around the house. Also, we dreaded coming back home coz we knew that something would be torn or broken. We used to keep him in a room with the balcony door open for him to see out and we had removed all the furnishings from that room. However, at the cost of 3 mattresses, 2 pillows, a few magazines, etc. Lucky grew up and thank God stopped chewing on anything and everything at his hand. <br />
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He wakes us up at 5 am as that is his breakfast and morning walk time. I was glad that my husband will finally get some exercise. However, the great manager that he is, he delegated the job to my bro, who is so much in love with Lucky that whether he himself eats or not, he never forgets to feed Lucky, though he himself used to get up at 9 am, he gets up early at 5 just to take Lucky out for a walk. He is hopelessly in love with Lucky and Lucky knows that. Both of them can't do without each other. The brother can't see Lucky sleeping, he will wake him up just to play with him and Lucky can't see the brother at ease, he will start climbing, jumping, biting, etc. the moment he sees him doing something else. I haven't seen anybody else as happy at the sight of a shirt or jeans torn because of a dog's bite than my brother. He comes beaming to show me his torn shirt and as if showing a report card with 90% marks tells me see what Lucky did..and you can see it in his eyes that he is trying to say "isn't he cute!" That's how blind his love is for Lucky :)<br />
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After his breakfast, Lucky takes it upon himself to wake us up. Thus, my bro decided to keep him in his room till we come looking for him, which is mostly between 8 - 8:30 am. Lucky would be nicely perched on his feet, above his blanket. Well, Lucky doesn't like the blanket on top, he loves sitting on top of the blanket. It is Lucky's ritual to sit and groan near the dining table till we are ready and sit for breakfast. He sits next to my chair and eats bread pieces from my plate. If the gap between 2 pieces is long according to his standard, he starts nudging me with his head, forever drooling on my dress :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6qKrSypEoOBWffiakH-RYQ1y07G03GvMiPRoX55mv8NYTxz-JERrr87KeSPySBrNU45Gl6_XhG2ESSVA9KkI2zHs25E0M-JLeVkkqGlFzU9lR1qIhrAQ4LAa4uykOhIoR5q3KMXejGk/s1600/DSC03238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6qKrSypEoOBWffiakH-RYQ1y07G03GvMiPRoX55mv8NYTxz-JERrr87KeSPySBrNU45Gl6_XhG2ESSVA9KkI2zHs25E0M-JLeVkkqGlFzU9lR1qIhrAQ4LAa4uykOhIoR5q3KMXejGk/s320/DSC03238.JPG" /></a></div><br />
When we leave the house for work, he comes to the balcony as if to say bye and looks at us with those droopy eyes as if saying "why don't you take me along!". Yesterday, while I was packing my bag to go to work, he sensed that I was going to leave and came and sat on my lap, all 30 kgs of him and put his head inside the bag to stop me from packing. If he sees us wearing shoes, he starts jumping on us, pulling the shoes and tries to hide them. He is so adorable. If he knows that he has done something wrong, he goes and sits in his corner with that guilty look and if we scold him, he will give his hand to shake as if trying to make up. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREyKePx4Onkhr_5AFm0CL3FRnVPdkE8SloeWrB668rEWMd1B9B-9nd1fCMRdppMHdqBuTHrbeaCU576i_fqn0WlID-D5umtLehuzUKpNvAT-VSrfOQhMgQXqJBMVVEgyfJn7PFDbF_gQ/s1600/07092010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREyKePx4Onkhr_5AFm0CL3FRnVPdkE8SloeWrB668rEWMd1B9B-9nd1fCMRdppMHdqBuTHrbeaCU576i_fqn0WlID-D5umtLehuzUKpNvAT-VSrfOQhMgQXqJBMVVEgyfJn7PFDbF_gQ/s320/07092010.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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When I come back from work, he welcomes me at the door by jumping on me and then grabs my hand and takes me to the couch. Once I sit down, he sits on my lap and we talk for a few mins. If in those few mins., somebody interrupts our conversation by calling my phone, Lucky gets furious and the possessive soul that he is, starts whining as if he is scolding me for taking the call and interrupting our quality time together :) When I go in the kitchen to make chapatis for him, he sits outside the kitchen, waiting for his food. He keeps making the peculiar sounds till his food is served. Then he goes for his evening walk. After his walk, he is hyper active and wants to play frisbee. He loves playing with me coz I guess that makes him feel superior ;) It's difficult for me to catch him. I chase him and he challenges me by coming near me and then the moment I think I have grabbed him, he manages to wriggle out of my hold.<br />
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At night, if he is sleepy and I am still trying to finish my chores, he again grabs my hand and takes me to bed :P He loves lying on top of my blanket with his weight on my ankles. In between, if he gets a bad dream (that's what I think) he comes and sleeps between both of us with his head hidden around my tummy, he curls up. Also, as I said earlier, Lucky is quite a possessive soul. If he sees me and my husband dancing together or even hugging each other, he tries to hug me and sit on my lap and pushes my husband away..:)<br />
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Lucky is an year old now and for his birthday, we took him to Naturals for an ice cream treat. Though, he is not very used to travelling, he is a little scared while in the car but I guess his love for ice cream is more over powering than his fear of travel!<br />
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<br />
<br />
I thank Lucky for being in our lives, for increasing our patience and tolerance levels, for loving us unconditionally and for making us better human beings!<br />
<br />
Somebody has rightly said.. "To err is human, to forgive is canine!"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOiIsxN6fZIv_U3VOvG5MdqszfxXnNGWjOhQ1cyfDaiW1FNki2ozfqJxhZ3Q-YVPRW-hMB0N1xqKsxENfY5gV9-jsHGo9SGRy3b0ZBdG-iGbXdbk7_qd4ptStw7sfYwtinsARHfb4aCI/s1600/25122010%2528002%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOiIsxN6fZIv_U3VOvG5MdqszfxXnNGWjOhQ1cyfDaiW1FNki2ozfqJxhZ3Q-YVPRW-hMB0N1xqKsxENfY5gV9-jsHGo9SGRy3b0ZBdG-iGbXdbk7_qd4ptStw7sfYwtinsARHfb4aCI/s320/25122010%2528002%2529.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-58452821980679717082011-01-17T04:08:00.001-08:002011-02-01T22:25:12.537-08:00Footprints....<img src="http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=map:fixed=8,65,37,98&chs=400x400&chf=bg,s,336699&chco=d0d0d0,cc0000&chd=s:99999999999999&chld=IN-BR|IN-DD|IN-DL|IN-GA|IN-JK|IN-JH|IN-KA|IN-MP|IN-MH|IN-PY|IN-SK|IN-TN|IN-UP|IN-WB" width="400" height="400" ><br/>visited 14 states (40%)<br/><a href="http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=india">Create your own visited map of India</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-494672201523978472011-01-17T03:12:00.000-08:002011-01-17T04:14:17.046-08:00Sri Lankan Serendipity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKy-BObP3c-f6JgvX86OGc016ZK1vYDR8YEGZrWJFDsoLFyFAv4LpmqC7JgdTwmzku6z01_K8Q2Dk-PRfGJq5ziRueLpcXf4o6BL6N9NPLszi_S9lJ-6XS9f4uEHvPqZaObw4hGmlJu8/s1600/Anchor%252C+Galle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKy-BObP3c-f6JgvX86OGc016ZK1vYDR8YEGZrWJFDsoLFyFAv4LpmqC7JgdTwmzku6z01_K8Q2Dk-PRfGJq5ziRueLpcXf4o6BL6N9NPLszi_S9lJ-6XS9f4uEHvPqZaObw4hGmlJu8/s320/Anchor%252C+Galle.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIA4mSWR4-7hezQelkKY-O7vYSsVRXlptRwAAOSQYHz2No7LiLcQwbj0JpdaM6TQDnl_2s0j6PB6zIYQ_I4UdDJwQ2MbkB-teijTLefRDiru0v0h8rtiomms5VfJorTpxS5Dp-D4pVjI8/s1600/Unawatuna.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIA4mSWR4-7hezQelkKY-O7vYSsVRXlptRwAAOSQYHz2No7LiLcQwbj0JpdaM6TQDnl_2s0j6PB6zIYQ_I4UdDJwQ2MbkB-teijTLefRDiru0v0h8rtiomms5VfJorTpxS5Dp-D4pVjI8/s320/Unawatuna.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Ayubowan!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">That is the 1st word that I noticed when I landed the magnificent and beautifully decorated Bandaranaike International airport in Colombo and I assumed that it meant "Welcome", which is what it means in Sinhalese, the official language of Sri Lanka. I chose to call this article Sri Lankan Serendipity as the Arabs referred to Sri Lanka as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Microsoft Sans Serif', 'Free Sans', 'Gentium Plus', 'Gentium Basic', Gentium, GentiumAlt, 'DejaVu Sans', 'DejaVu Serif', 'Free Serif', 'TITUS Cyberbit Basic', 'Bitstream Cyberbit', 'Bitstream CyberBase', 'Doulos SIL', Code2000, Code2001; font-size: small;">Serendib </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">(origin of the word serendipity). And what a correct name for this exotic country!! </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Our group, which consists of many virgin passport holders was planning an International trip forever and we had decided on Dubai for Feb to witness the Grand Dubai sale and also coz it would have been easy considering many of our friends live there. However, one of us chanced on this website which offered a very lucrative deal for a return fare to Colombo from Chennai. We couldn't help but book our tickets as soon as we heard the news, to celebrate New Year 2011. Also, the fact that for Indians the visa is on arrival, really helped. Soon, the itinerary was fixed and arrangements for stay made.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">We were 4 of us from Bangalore and 4 from Chennai. Our bags packed, on 29th Dec 2010, the Bangloreans boarded the train to Chennai and met up with the Chennaiites at the Chennai International Airport. I am sorry to say but the Chennai airport is quite pathetic, poor amenities, no food stalls and whatever little you get is frightfully overcharged. Thus, with hungry stomachs, we boarded the 00:30 Spice jet flight to Colombo. While some of us chose to catch on the much needed sleep, others were too excited and chit chatted throughout the journey. At 2 am, we were out at Colombo airport. I just remembered, how my poor hubby was questioned during all custom checks as the picture on his passport is of his teenage years :) I went through the custom check with some trepidation of being questioned ina similar fashion, however the custom guy actually smiled and evn tried flirting, which I found quite hilarious at such an hour, when I was sleepwalking and somebody had the energy to actually smile and flirt!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">We had hired a cab in advance, which picked us up and dropped us to Galle, which is 116 kms, south of Colombo. We had made arrangements of stay in Rampart View guesthouse, facing the sea.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rampart is a wall which is built from rocks, constructed by the Portuguese and renovated by the Dutch. This wall surrounds the fort and has two entrances to enter the fort.The Dutch fort in Galle is unique, surrounded by a wall which is 400 years old and one side of the wall is the natural galle harbor, other site is the International Cricket Ground. This fort is a UNESCO world heritage site. A word of caution here, the owner is a Muslim and their religion prohibits drinking, thus, drinking in the guest house is prohibited. They are warm and friendly people and served us huge breakfasts, however due to security issues, they close the guest house at 10:30 p.m. and also have motion sensors, so whenever you try moving in the corridoors, a light switches on.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After a much required sleep in the guest house, we went to Unawatuna, a 20 mins. drive from Galle, which a fishing village but it being a tourist season was quite crowded. My hubby, who is a water baby swam to his heart's content in the Indian Ocean, while me and a friend of mine enjoyed some yummy fruit salad with ice cream. We had a buffet dinner at Unawatuna Beach resort. After dinner, me and my friend went for a walk by the beach. It was blissful.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On 31st morning, we woke up a little early and my hubby and I decided to take advantage of the solitude and explore the Dutch fort. We walked the entire rampart and clicked some amazing pictures. The whole town is so picturesque with beautiful colonial houses. We also visited their maritime museum, which shows how the town was before Tsunami.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After freshening up, we left for Hikkaduwa, 30 mins. drive from Galle, another beach town known for water sports. We went for glass boat rides and spotted some beautiful fish and coral reefs. We also enjoyed swimming and wave riding for non swimmers (as my husband calls it) in the sea. We grabbed a hearty meal of sea food for lunch and went deep sea fishing after that. However, all we could catch were 2 fish and then a few of us got sea sick and had to return to the shore. We went back to the guesthouse, freshened up and came back to Hikkaduwa to call in the new year. We went to a shack called Top Secret, known for it's new year parties. However, we found the music better in one of the shacks, which had an open party. We danced in the new year and watched the fire crackers light up the sky. What a magical night!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On 1st morning, we packed our bags again and left for Colombo, which was the return leg of our journey. We chanced upon this place called Meetiyagoda, known for it's moonstone mine. It is the only place in the world where you get blue moonstones. The Government authority showed us around the moonstone mines and how they are polished and made into jewellery. The place also had a jewellery store, from where we bought a Sri Lankan saphire ring and blue moonstone earrings for my sisters. From Meetiyagoda, we went to Ambalangoda, famous for mask making. We were impressed with the array of colourful masks and a museum which showed the Sinhalese culture through masks. My husband and me are really into masks and have decided to buy masks from all the places we travel, that are known for mask making. We bought a few colorful masks from there.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We then went to a turtle hatchery on the way, where the turtle eggs are buried in the sand till turtles come out of them. The turtle egg shells are really soft unlike the chicken eggs. This place keeps young turtles and takes care of them till they are grown up enough to be left in the sea. They also take care of the turtles which are crippled due to accidents in the sea. We were amazed at the variety of turtles. I remember one called albino turtle, true to it's name, it is white in colour.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We reached Colombo by evening and checked in Global Towers Hotel and Apartments, wher we had booked a service apartment in advance and after resting for a while, we went partying to Rhythms and Blues. Unlike the night clubs in Bangalore, the party in Colombo starts at 12:00 midnight and goes uptil 5 am. The music was awesome and we had good fun drinking Fox Trot and dancing away to the tunes. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On 2nd morning, we packed our bags and went out shopping. The girls were waiting for this part. We went to House of Fashions (no trial rooms and the only loo is in the basement), which the guys loved, and then to Odel, which is awesome. Odel, quite trendy and upmarket, housed everything from casual to designer labels. It also has a good food court. From Odel, we went to a Buddhist monastery, which is huge and were blessed by the head monk. We decided to have roadside dinner at Galle Face road, sat on the steps in the drizzle, with a view of the sea and enjoyed Kothu Parotha. Quite romantic it was!!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Soon, like every good thing, the trip which was planned in such a jiffy and which eveybody was excited about, came to an end. We were back to Colombo airport, doing duty free shopping, waiting for our flight to Chennai. At Chennai airport, we Bangloreans said goodbye to the Chennaiites and returned to Bangalore, back to the mundane routine life, back to office, back to my sweetiepie Lucky, who was so excited to see us that he knocked off a few things with the constant wagging of his tail.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We look forward to another short break in the daily routine and head to another unexplored destination!!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-838674856596220549.post-35748475730626342532011-01-14T09:39:00.000-08:002011-01-15T04:40:22.814-08:00Dream Home<b>My whinstone house my castle is, I have my own four walls. </b><br />
<span class="Red">Thomas Carlyle</span><br />
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<span class="Red">My castle, my own four walls, my dream home! </span><br />
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<span class="Red">A new girl in the city of Mumbai, sat by the only window in her 275 sqft. rented 1 RK (1 room-kitchen, a term very well known to any Mumbaiite) apartment, which she shared with 3 other roommates and dreamed about having a small place to call her own. A place in which she would live by her own terms, a place which she would do up as she likes, a place where she would call her friends over, a place, a small but cozy place...</span><br />
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<span class="Red">After living in shared apartments with some sweet and some not very sweet roomies for 8 years, this dream was on her priority list of dreams. However, her parents were not very comfortable with the idea of their precious little daughter living alone in the "ruthless" city of Mumbai. Thus, all she could do was to sit by that only window and dream..</span><br />
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<span class="Red">Today, that girl is married to a man whom she chose and after quite a battle her parents gave in. They moved to Bangalore soon after marriage and decided to have a nest of their own. The girl couldn't believe her luck, she was going to buy a house, her home, her very own place. The search started in the warm month of April on her 29th birthday and in the wet month of July, they landed in this old house, which had no particular quality to boast about, except for the warmth that just trapped both of them. This big but warm and cozy house had this unique quality of making one feel at home and so they decided to make it their home. On their 2nd anniversary, they signed the deal and over the weekend, shifted in their new home.</span><br />
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<span class="Red">The girl was ecstatic, she had a place to call her own, to do up as she liked, to call her friends over, a warm and cozy home...It is her castle, she has her own four walls!!</span><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7