Curtains down on Chanakya :(

Chanakya cinema... a hotspot for many cine goers in South Delhi.. in the heart of Chanakyapuri, has recently been shut down following court orders to convert this location into a multiplex-cum-mall by the NDMC...

Many memories for me are attached to this hall... everything seems to come back in pictures about this hall, the ticket counter, the small momo(Its an awesome tibetan dish.. it quite looks like the very southie Kozhakattai )shop, the countless movies we watched there, the hooting, the whistles we blew, those college days..Nirula's and its world famous HCF( Hot chocolate fudge!!) the worlds yummiest dessert, the numerous birthday treats we had there, never once getting tired of that spot.

College to me one could say translated to Chanakya Theater. :))

I still remember the times when we would rush to the theater by 10ish just to get tickets.
Front stall tickets was what we could afford then because of the number of movies we saw in the month.:)(Our monthly budgets for the pocket money we got ,always had an item for cinema tickets ;)

Maximum number of tickets sold to each person was only two, so we had to make sure if we had a group of 10 ,5 were at the ticket counter and 5 at the entrance line. We always made sure we were the first to buy tickets and the first to enter the hall... and would rush for the best seats... :)
(The thrill of sitting one row in front of the Rs 75 ticket people by just paying 11 bucks.. was beyond words )

Priya cinema..etc came into the picture when we wouldn't get tickets in Chanakya..

Pictures of the bus stop outside chanakya.. planning further for the day after the movie on which dhabha to hit for lunch...aaaww... miss those days :(

Good times i'd call them.... no brilliant times..Haven't been to the theater in nearly 4 years now...
but soon there wont be any theater to go back to. :(

As I listen to Ali Haider's "Purani Jeans" now....am filled with nostalgia ....

Adieus Chanakya hall ..

The Final Countdown

Lot of things I can associate with the final countdown... This post is only for the last leg of my vacation :) its a different altogether that i chose to post this near the end of 2007 and can link countdowns to many other things in life ;)

Coming back to the vacation..my last lap was in St Louis.. was in time to even catch the July 4(US independence day) fireworks.
Now the fireworks is the most beautiful thing to see on July 4th,apart from the throwaway prices on practically anything at the malls ;)
I could have shopped for life in the US.. just that u ought to know when the best sales are on and where ;)

Well the fireworks, beautifully choreographed(who thought u could choreograph only dances!!!!) happen on the river front..
The entire city..gathers around the river front to witness this spectacular event.
We went about an hour and a half before the event and trust me it took us an hour and a half just to find parking and walk upto the place from where we can see the fireworks.
Wish i could put the video of the fireworks and music here.. the pictures are not that spectacular.
Till that show.. i had seen such fireworks only on the new year programmes on TV.. every year..I see Sydney fireworks, London fireworks on TV... but a live fireworks show was OMG!!

Incidentally there was a baseball match on the same day and the entire city was pitching for the Cardinals..so it was double reason for everyone to be out of their homes..:)

The next evening i went to a Casino [Vegas is the place for casinos..on another vacation perhaps (wink)].. the first time i'd ever stepped into a casino.. After a lot of verification for age proof (Legally one has to be 24 to enter a Casino there) , I got a membership card.. Every time i bet i must swipe the card, purpose it theres a limit on each card.. no one can lose more than "n" dollars in a day.SO each time i win or lose, its logged in the card.
I played blackjack and the coin machine game.. Won some lost some... I decided to stop where i lost anything more than $50 :)

The next evening was a round of Mini golf (also called Put-Put golf).. again first time i even held golf clubs...but Mini golf is very interesting..one needn't be a pro or anything.. just time and swing the club with a little practice.

Obviously ur wondering what happens during the day.. Aah, now thats a check i have to see if u've been following all the vacation blogs properly :) kidding...:) remember i have a sweet lil niece to play with all day... so daytime were earmarked for "playtime" :)

A little more shopping.. on the last day (Loved the footwear there and bought..uuuuhhh several pairs of them back home ;)) and ot was time to go back to India...

Finito to the great time I had there..

Sometime s i wish i could rollback into time.. or hope that sometimes last forever...

But then reality stares hard at my face and says... dodo.. vacations are meant to end ;)

Hope to have many more vacations full of exploring new cultures, new terrains, new lands...

Badhen Boston ki taraf????

Hmmm.. so New York and then what... well missed couple of things in NY..one was the Broadway show..(Supposed to be the best) and Ellis island...(think the movie hitch ;))...
anyways it was time to head to Boston now....

aaah.. here comes the most interesting part...i traveled from NY to Boston on something called a LimoLiner.. a bus with comforts of a Limousine .. Check the site http://www.limoliner.com/
A tad bit expensive... but luxury comes at a price don't you agree..??

So I happily traveled the 3 and a half hours to Boston.. with my laptop connected online and chatting and browsing to glory.
We alighted at Framingham...where my cousin came to pick me n mom up...He and his wife live in Boston.. so no hotels for us.. we were headed to home sweet home ;)

And boy oh boy.. was happy even when i stepped into the car.. a "manual gear " car after weeks...Psst most people in the US are used to automatics...but me thinks the joy of driving is in the manual cars ;)

There were three days to spend in Boston.. Lot of relaxation was on the cards cos after the hectic jiffy travel through NY and other places me n mum were a little sapped of energy.

We reached Boston early evening.. so after a little bit of freshening up we decided to meet another relative who is a student at Harvard.. so that we get a personalized tour of the worlds bestest uni...

Tour started with John Harvard' statue.. the statue of three lies ( a separate post on the three lies ;)..More of Harvard was around the square.. a church there.. a performance hall.. and the Law school Library.. one of the biggest libraries i have ever seen ;)

After the tour it was lovely home cooked food for dinner that was like the icing on the trip .

We started day two with what is called the Boston Duck Tours(comes from DUKW the name of the vehicles)...this tour popularly called an Amphibian tour is done in a vehicle from World war two era.. which can go on road as well as water..Touche'

This tour is like a snapshot of Boston... Remember history..Boston tea party.. Boston massacre.. u relive all that over here..

Architecturally I found Boston quite similar to London.. One place where perhaps the English traces are evident..

After the delightful duck tour..being the fan i am of museums.. the next stop was the Art Museum...Spectacular pieces.. not that i understand Picasso..or Michelangelo.. but art is something that one 's mind perceive.. and rightly said.. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder..

Day two was for A walking tour of Boston called the Freedom trail..Now thats the spirit i liked there.. a volunteer took us around some important historic sights of Boston on a walking tour.
India has much more history i wonder why then walking tours are not made popular here too..

Thoroughly enjoyed the walkatour..after which we went to a relatives house(A typical American house with a Yard et all) in the suburbs of Boston.. aaah..what fun.. they had a trampoline in their yard..and I just found a fun way to just well JUMP!!!!

Day three afternoon we had to catch our flight back to St Louis..and kept it rather relaxed.. we only did a round of MIT...(Bro's a student of management there ;)
Yeah am lucky.. i get personal tours of the best schools of the world.. Harvard and MIT..
A round of Boston riverside..some pictures and off to the airport.. so go back to missouri state... eventful week.. fun week.... :)

Taare Zameen Par

Very few movies have brought tears to my eyes..

This movie..was touching..emotions beautifully portrayed on screen..All the characters..roles big or small..showed emotions..in actions , in the eyes.. no dialogues were needed...the movie reached the soul....I couldnt but cry...

Yes ,dyslexia was the subject...and the little boy the hero.. (no glimpses of the movie .. its to be watched , felt, not heard or read abt )but some characters I liked were of the older brother..whose love for the younger brother..inspite of the former being better off in studies and extracurriculars was exemplary..No superiority complex.. just a lot of love..and someone who gave the little boy a lot of joy by appreciating what he did..

The handicapped friend... so simple and sweet and helpful..he handled situations so well..and the joy in his face when he sees his friend victorious.. the tears of joy.. can bring tears in anyones eyes...

The mother..so much emotion locked in her ,yet somewhere she has to concur with the views of the slightly chauvinistic dad..

Beautifully etched characters.. well portrayed..a master piece.

I'd recommend this movie to ever parent and every teacher.. to every individual trying to understand children..

Main chali main chali.... dekho NY aur DC ;)

So here I am after covering Chicago, St Louis and San Diego.... my next stop is a round trip...New York-Washington- Philadelphia-Baltimore- New York..

My sister had done all the ground work and had booked tickets for me and my mom for a trip with a Chinese tour agency.

So we were on a two day trip to cover DC, philly and Baltimore...We went 2 days before our trip date to New Jersey and stayed with a relative.. I had done a bit of homework on the New York city map.., fixed up sightseeing spots, booked tickets for the museum, statue of liberty and the empire state building.
New York maps are simple to understand... city is well planned. streets and avenues are perpendicular to each other and increase in number when u travel to the north... (I love maps.. and New York was very interesting )

And travelling from New Jersey to New york is also very easy..one just has to connect to the net and look at the bus timings between New york and NJ and stand at the bus stop.. sharp at the time mentioned a bus will arrive.. wonder when pallavan transport will become so techie ;)

And so everything moved as per plans.... first stop was statue of Liberty.. its a beautiful statue.. made of copper..and the oxidation gives it the green colour.. read a bit about the place.. enjoyed clicked manny photos and came back to New york... to walk by wall street and visit the site where the famed WTC buildings once stood....

Wall street means a lot to me.. i dint want much.. just to see the Meryll lynch bull by the end of the street and click a pic or two in front of NY stock exchange ;)

And after that.. walked a looong way around NY..Went to the United nations building.. theres a guided tour in that place, where one is taken through how the United nations works.. a must visit..

Evening was for the Empire state building.. since we had booked tickets online our wait was reduced a lil. we waited only for about 1.5 hrs to get to the elevator..(and yes the wait is clearly mentioned on the website)
Wanted to really see Empire state by the night..but couldn't cos we had an early morning bus from new Jersey to start our tour to Washington...the rest of New York we covered after our DC tour.. where we went to the natural history museum... its huge..and i loved it.. New york was fun in a different way.. the rail system in NY is awesome.. u can get something called a fun day pass for 7 $ and go in any train for the whole day.

The DC tour now...like i said we were on a Chinese tour bus.. so maximum people in the bus were chinese.. The tour guide was chinese but he'd tell about the place in English and then Chinese so we were fine ;)
Our first stop was philly.. just about half an hour for the place where we saw the Liberty bell and the capitol building..since its a timed two day tour one has to adhere to the timings the tour guide fixes..
The next stop was Washington where we started with Smithsonian Museums... this was a space museum.. now in general i find museums very intriguing...i could have spent hours there... but we were alloted very lil time :-( so did a quick tour of the air and space museum.
The other places were ofcourse the White house(from outside :)) the natural history museum,Jefferson memorial, the korean war memorial, Abraham Lincoln memorial ..

the night stay was also arranged by the tour company and we stayed in a very comfy hotel..
Day two of the tour was Baltimore.. Baltimore is a sea port.. so we had a boat tour of the place.. saw naval submarines, ships and some lovely buildings by the port side...

After a quick and tiring two day tour we were back to NJ.. we had one more day to cover the remaining portions of NY and then we were headed towards Boston.. my last and final stop.. before I go back to Louis to the fag end of my trip :(

And the Vacation continues....

After 5 fabulous days in San Diego.. i went back a bit sad to St Louis... never expecting St louis to be as much fun too...
My 6 month old niece was a bundle of joy.. i spent most of my time with her..and went shutter crazy trying to capture every move she makes in my camera ;) The weekend I went with my sis and her family to Chicago..Truly the city of Sky scrapers... and to suit the place we did what is called an "architectural" boat trip of Chicago.. where a guide will explain the history and the story behind.. yes your right the buildings around in Chicago downtown..

Its a difficult to get around in the US from the suburban areas to downtown unless one has a vehicle...Of course places like NY thrive on the public transportation system.

visited the Navy pier in Chicago and saw a stained glass exhibition.. Two nice relaxed days and we were off back on the drive to St Louis.

St Louis was a shopping place for me.. i shopped like crazy in the malls there.. there was a shoe factory close by and me being a footwear freak.. bought several pairs of footwear ;)

Theres a stalactite cavern called Meramec a little off st Louis.. Next day went visiting this lovely stalactite structure...Was awestruck with what I had seen... such beauty... and nothing man made about it..

St Louis is famous for an Arch... 630 above ground from where the most enthralling view of the river front can be experienced..
A little motor capsule takes u up the arch.. to an observatory area.. from where one can get a view of the river front.. The arch premises also have an I max theater..where i saw the first ever Imax movie of my life:)

What i missed in st Louis cos i dint have time was the Budweiser beer tour and the vineyard tour..

will cover Washington and the Philly tour in the next post ;)

Adeuis

U. S of A!!

Before the idea of covering my US experience becomes just a thought on the blog... I better get down to putting a post about it ;)

So here I go...

Well the journey started in my mind the minute I got the Visa stamped on my passport... After months of speculation of will I get the visa or not...I moved to how many places can I cover..how long etc...

Since my sister was staying in St Louis, it had to most obviously be my base point..

I sorted my plans into “must visits” and could visit ;)

Must visits were frozen.. did some research and fixed on some tours for the rest of the places

Week one was meant to be at San Diego.... trouble was I was to reach St Louis after a loooooooong journey and leave immediately the evening I reach on another 5 hr flight to San Diego... Now my worry was not the travel.. It was the jet lag... if I was to be jet lagged in San Diego. I can’t enjoy one bit...thankfully I slept through my flights to St Louis and I was not one bit jet lagged... phew... I wanted so to maximize on the San Diego trip ;)

So yippee... San Diego it was.. Rutu had the plan for the 5 days there all figured out.. Such a sweetheart... so except for enjoying moi self, I had nothing more to do ;)

Day 1 was Sea World..., sea world is a huge aquatic park... and the best out here.. is "Shamu" the whale ... Shamu reminded me of the song "Will you be there" by Michael Jackson in Free Willy..

apart from Shamu of course there were many seals, otters, polar bears, dolphins , starfish ...name it and it was there..

After hazaar coaxing from rutu... I touched.. yes.. I did J.. a sting ray (felt yuck!) and a dolphin...(which was ohhhhhh so beautiful:) and ooops I forgot a starfish....(it felt lifeless like a stone..)

And trust me you would never know how a day goes by when ur in Sea world..I could have spent the day just feeding the dolphins... :)

So after a rather tiring and fun day 1.. day two was general relaxing and catching up on the years of gupshup between me n Rutu...(words cant explain how long we can talk to each other ;)

Well we did a little veggie barbecue in the afternoon and then drove to a place called Glider port (its a point from where people do some gliding) . No gliding for me..only glider watching ;)

And then drove to La Jolla Cove (pronounced. .La-Ho-ya) ..rutu if ur reading this I need a pat on my back for pronouncing it correctly :)

San Diego being reeeeealy close to Mexico has that whiff of Mexico in the names :)

Well Day 3 was......Universal studios Los Angeles...
We took a train ride to LA. This was my first public transportation experience in the US..
About half an hour of the 2 hour ride was along the fine beaches and coastline... the place was simply breathtaking... I wish the Konkan coast was made as beautiful in India.

Universal studios, the place which gives us some of the biggest blockbusters.. where the lights camera and action happened...I had never seen a studio before and I had in mind a small set up where I thought I'd see some sets being made and pulled apart...but I was in for a surprise...

Universal studios was more like a city.. with escalators and buses and trams to reach places..They had also taken great effort in seeing that it is a tourist attraction and many things are made for the tours of the studio..the first was of course to do there was to go through the studio experience tour.. (pssst. Sit on the left side of the bus to get the best of the tour)
Well the tour is like a snapshot tour of various key thrills and works of the great studio..One has to experience it to know what it is...

After that tour..using the map and the timings of the various shows...we tried to maximize and do as much.. Trust me.. we did a pretty good job.. I think I almost covered every show in the studio..
A roller coaster ride through the sets of Mummy returns....whoa..was the most scariest for me in the studios.. was shaking for a while even after I was out of the ride ;)

A day well spent..and a wonderful ride back through the evening view of the ocean side ..

Woke up late the next day and went close by to a place called Point Loma. On a clear day one can actually see Mexico from Point Loma. This place has a lighthouse and is famous for a national monument called Cabrillo national monument commemorating Cabrillo’s arrival to San Diego.

Spent some time there and went out for dessert after a nice dinner.. the most amazing ice cream ;) yum… J

Day 5 was fully devoted to the San Diego zoo.. One of my close friends back in India had lent me his book on the San Diego Zoo… The book and the pictures in it brought in this desire to go to the Zoo.. am glad I made it.. the place was amazing.. and the cutest animal there was the orangutan and of course the Giant Panda.. I could have stayed in that enclosure all day seeing the Panda’s.. They look so cute like little(ummm huge actually J )cuddly toys ;)

And thanks to Rutu.. I discovered the best souvenirs to collect in the US… engraved penny’s from the penny machine… J

So that was pretty much week 1 of my 4 week vacation; )

Visit to the Orphanage

Before I write about my Trip to the US, this visit requires special mention here. As a part of my curriculum of CA , I attended a 15 day General management class(its popularly called GMCS). The strength of my class was 52. Most of us had met for the first time. So set of 52 new people came together for this class. Usually every batch of GMCS plans and outing during one of the 15 days to bond better with each other so that at the end of the course we not only pick up some communication skills we also make 50 odd good friends. We decided on one such outing too.

Thought of many places, from the beach to a group dinner until someone suggested that we visit an orphanage, donate a little bit and spend some time with the children there. I think the seed for the idea was planted by one of the participants herself.. when on the second day of our course she mentioned how she celebrated her birthday year after year with lesser privileged children. Her talk touched one and all, and hence the idea sprung in the mind of one amongst us. Almost everybody agreed to the idea and we started the hunt for an orphanage to visit.

We finally zeroed in on one in Anna Nagar, called the Guild of Service, A home for Handicapped Children.

We had bought a lot of goodies for the kids and had collected money and bought other things the home required.

When we reached the place at about 4 pm we were welcomed by little kids at the portico.

The asked our name. asked us whether we were working or studying , same office or not etc…

They were overjoyed and one could see it on their faces.

I was touched. It was my first visit to a handicapped home. The kids there were more loving than anyone. Such innocent kids.. with welcoming smiles. All of us just wanted to play with them and talk to them. Some of the kids were deaf and dumb, some had problems in their limbs. All said and done they made our day.

I sat there trying to mingle with as many as possible, trying to remember as many names as possible. Some kids was brilliant at recitation., some brilliant at dance, some could read Tamil flawlessly. We played , sang and shouted in joy with them.

Each kid was unique and I’d say “gifted” in a different way.

I felt completely at ease, I could forget all my problems, and de-stress by just playing with those kids.

As we were all bidding them farewell, the kids were just asking us one question..”Akka/ Anna thiripi varuvela..’

And that’s where I realized that one visit is not the end.. there must be many more visits like this to keep the flame of togetherness alight.

Thanks to my friend who mentioned a visit to an orphanage in her talk, not only did all of us feel what she wanted to communicate ,we also made a difference to some children and to our lives.

Travel - o - blog

Met my friend yesterday after almost 6 to 7 months..
between general catching up she asked me about my US vacation in the summer... I came back home and was looking at the pictures taken in the trip for a while..and thought.. maybe i should put my trip as a blog post.. so that the memories are saved.. forever.. next few posts are going to be my trip .. with little bit of pictures here and there ;)

Liquor at work

I am not against Social drinking.. but at work... ridiculous.

Yesterday, a very senior person from my client place wanted to discuss something important with my Team Leader... he came with bulging red eyes and a slow tread.. a pretty scary sight.. seconds later I realized he was completely drunk...Me and another girl in my team just heard him and sent him off..

A couple of minutes later we were asked to go to his room and give him a message.. his room smelt of liquor..crazy.. made me think how difficult it must be for the employees there.

Today again the man trotted into out room ... No points for guessing.. yes drunk again.
gosh.. daily drunk after lunch, at work.. unbelievable...
I always thought the corporates had policies against smoking and drinking at work.
Policies i guess exist only on paper.

A train ride to work...

My work place is just about 10 minutes by drive or 5 minutes by a train from home.. I've hardly been taking the local trains and buses after I got my two wheeler.. well this time round my finger was giving me some trouble because of a muscle tear hence a big NO to my two wheeler for some time... So i decided to take the train..

A short but memorable ride..
The metro station on this sector is actually a lil incomplete.. not enough sign boards.. confusing directions etc....
Morning nine ..(usually considered "peak office" hrs.. )only two people on the platform!! I wondered how a train that stops at the station where probably chennai's IT hub is located, has hardly any body on the platform....

Well my doubts were soon cleared.. a train came packed with ppl.. i had space just for me to stand and clutch hard to the bars next to the door...:) (well the Mumbaikars will sure call this an empty train.. cos there u'd probably hanging out clutching the handle bar and to dear life!!)

5 minutes later i reach my destination... Most confusing station..I just decided to follow the crowd to the exit..and reach the foot bridge to go across the road!.. Phew hundreds of people.. i had to wait for a good 5 minutes to just get on to the foot bridge from the station exit...

My ride back to my home was eventful too..missed my train by a sec.. had to wait for almost 30 mins for the next one.. Just 10 mins from home.. waiting for a train for 30 mins is pathetic..

Anyways i reach my station.. only to realise that there are no lights fit in the station.. results Pitch dark.. and to make it worse not a soul on the platform...I slowly found my way through the darkness to the exit.

One eventful ride it was ;)

Random stuff about my exams..

Like I mentioned I finished writing my exams .. 10 days of anxiety..drifting away now..

Some hilarious things that happened during the exam...

While writing the exam there are about 30 students sitting in each room.. I was alloted a seat in the far corner of the room.
Just after our answer books were distributed i felt this tingling sensation in my nose...to sneeze and i just did that....I went Achooooo.... little realizing that looking up..i would be welcomed with angry stares from at least 25 other students writing with me... I almost wanted to hide under the table.. I was like wow..people here are still superstitious about sneezing before an exam.
I just remembered how my "sneeze" was met in the US.. while traveling bu buss from Jersey to new york.. i sneezed and was followed up by a "Bless you" in chorus from everyone else in the bus!!

So some bless some stare!!But I cant help it.. when I have to I'll still go Achooo...

Hmm colds to Calculators!!!

Yeah calculators... there was this guy sitting on the row next to mine.. who habitually hit on the calculator.. no no.. not just touch the buttons... he hit on thm such that it made a loud noise..Very distracting.. but made me wonder.. what was he expecting from his calculator.. to give different answers when he hit it?????
Calculator abuse i'd call this... :)

Best of Luck

Just finished writing my exams ... When ur writing exams every wishes u luck .. usually its Best of Luck or Do well etc...Some special good luck messages i got..Simple yet special...

Well a slightly absent minded friend of mine forgot when my exams are starting.. so after couple of them were over.. she messaged and said Best of luck DJ.. masti mein likhna!

And a couple of days later..again unsure of whether I was done with my exams or not...said.. Best of Luck sweets...Phod daal!!!

Another message my friend sent was simple and sweet... he just said stay calm and composed.. and do well.

Friends messaging is common...but it was touching to have a good friend of one of my close friend to reassure and wish me :)
I have only spoken to her a couple of times over the phone..and once she very sweetly said dont worry I have known people to succeed whenever Diwali has fallen between exams :)
And just a day before exams, she remembered to message me and wish me luck :)

Will treasure these good lucks with many others i received..
Thank you everyone who wished me luck :)

Bye Bye Blog

Bye bye to blogging for sometime. Dont know when i'll be back.

Ashwathama hathah kunjarah

A few minutes back a news channel broad casted "breaking news " as Arundhati dead" below it above 10 seconds later a flash came "Arundhati the elephant is dead"
A simple reading of the breaking news flash..reminded me of this saying I read in Sanskrit when in school.."Aswathama hathah kunjarah." This was a landmark line of the Mahabharata finally leading to Drona's fall.
A misunderstanding , that it was his son who was slain,says the epic, lead the great teacher to put down his arms.
A cry that misled in simple terms..
I just remembered a story my grandfather told me as a kid.
It goes like this. A small boy was sent to his aunts village during his holidays. A couple of days later the boys parents received a telegram that said "Mookendi missing" Now the boys name was Mookandi and the parents were distraught on getting the telegram.They rushed to their relatives house only to discover that what was actually missing was a "mook- kendi"( kendi in Tamil is a vessel which has a spout".. A small spelling mistake changed everything ;)

Makes me think.. positioning of words when giving important news or mere spelling errors may change the meaning.

Anyways after a couple of minutes the news channel promptly changed the flash to "elephant dead" . Maybe someone in the news room remembered Aswathama Hathah kunjarah" too :))

The importance of Understanding.

Just started reading this book by a Chinese author Lin Yutang.It is actually a translation of many of the author's favorite excerpts from Chinese literature. Its a book that translates Chinese writings on human outlook and understanding of life .

Haven't gone past the preface yet, but for the first time I felt even the preface of the book captured my attention ;)

Paragraphs that are stuck in my mind are.."Chinese authors put down thoughts as a relaxation for themselves or for their most intimate friends. The sentiment , the mood ,the thought of the moment is the important thing."This almost explains why I like blogging.. A blog is a space exactly to do this according to me :)I could probably use this as a tag line for my blog:))

He goes on to say.. "I am not sure how , but I know that the enjoyment of reading of such snapshots of truth and life does nourish ones soul" I think reading , be it light fiction or heavy subjects gives a unique form of relaxation to the mind.. It is in the author to keep the attention of the reader captured from cover to cover. A unique gift to very few.

Am looking forward to reading more of the book.. looks like its going to be an interesting read :)

To close or not to close..

For the past couple of days there has been a lot of hullabaloo on the general bandh declared in Chennai on Oct 1..The bandh apparently was to speed up the Sethusamudram project..
Well the minute the bandh was declared opposition parties and public filed Public interest Litigations in the court..Drama took a new turn when the High court did not stay the bandh however ordered that transport and common mans life not be disrupted..

Now what was this.. is it a bandh or not.. businessmen and finance people thrown in a fix.. for the second time this year(March 31 st was also a bandh if i remember correct) , their account closing plans are messed up...
when a couple of days back I told a friend of mine about the Bandh.. without even a breather he said.. "Oh my god whats going to happen to the stock take for the Quarter end!!"
Ask anyone if there is a closure or not..and they'd say "well we are not sure"

And today ..well there was what hindi movies will say"Kahani mein twist"The supreme court in a special sunday hearing, "stayed the bandh"
And promptly the party staging the bandh decided to go on a day long hunger strike, now in protest of the stay order!!!!

And while a new drama unfolds from the dying embers of the bandh, I've decided am safer staying put at home on Oct 1st!!

Surprise..or uh oh.. phuss...

I wonder why sometimes things don't happen like you think they should..How should I react when I plan to surprise a person and the plans go all topsy turvy.How should I feel when I have done something small maybe with an intention to make a friend or a loved one smile and I keep searching for the smile.... Should I be dejected..or should I just shrug it off and say bah.. better luck next time..

Mine is always a mixed bag of emotions.. sometimes I've shrugged it off..sometimes I've just been plain dejected.

I remember the time when when once a bunch of my friends and me..decided to throw a surprise party for another of our friends(lets call him X) at his house in Guduvanchery.We had arranged everything with his mom, and had the timing also executed to the finest detail..his mom had to send him away on some errand, while we wait at his house for him to come back..and go surrrrrprise!!!...
We caught a bus from Chennai and traveled all the way to Guduvancheri just to be able to see the expression on X's face..But our plans were not to be.. X was sent on an errand for sure, but he decided to come to the shop next to the bus stop.. so who spots us searching for the house.. oh yeah X... our expression was worth a picture then !!!

And then there was this time in my sisters wedding.. I had decided to compile an album of photographs and gift it to her as a surprise.. photos since her childhood to marriage..handpicked by me from various collections across the whole set of my relatives...
But bam.. just before i was going to give it.. someone blew the surprise....

There have been wonderful surprises I have been able to pull off too.. which I fondly remember..Like when I visited my closest friend before her wedding when she was least expecting me to come.. Her dad , mom , everyone had help me pull of the surprise..I can never forget the expression she had on her face when she saw me...:) love u R:)

But bah.. whatever.. whether it bombed or not.. lemme keep trying to be more goofy than ever in my surprises ;)

Read Read Read..

How does one best read? what are the minimum things needed to study well..If i were asked that I'd say a Desk a chair and good lighting.. plus of course the books!!!
Is it better to study in the house.. or outside.. in a library.. a reading hall perhaps?

I am a month away from my exams...My institute has a nice reading hall which i like to go to.. I had stopped going there for some months and was sitting at home and studying, but now i have resumed going there... and somehow i like the feeling..

Why the reading hall i keep thinking.. Its not group studies I am looking for..My need is more of "company" to study..I get a lot of confidence when i see more people study around me.. Time and again people have asked me what is that you lack at home? a lovely desk.., a nice room.. peaceful atmosphere. The best one can ask for.. and I'm not denying that.Yes at home I do have the best comforts..Then why the reading hall..

Sometimes I've even been reminded that as an whenI do other courses later in life i cant expect to take a break and study in a reading hall.. Yes i do agree.I cant say I can study only in the reading hall.. that would be incorrect..I can study even at home, as effective as my studies would be at the hall. In the couple of months i kept away from the reading hall..thats exactly what i realized. And thats why I enjoy the place more now..

All through school I had exams, in fact I don't remember being scared of exams.... until I reached the "board" exams.. where the fear crept in slowly.
Then college.. again there were exams.. the commonality was that in both places i knew a bunch of students rather a whole class or more of students giving the exams around the same time as me. That company I was seeking existed around me in my friends circle and in classrooms.

And now that kind of "company"- of many people just studying for the same exam.. no discussions between them, just sitting together in the hall and studying..Thats what my reading hall gives me ;)

Blog the stress away!!

Today's edition of Hindu had an article on stress busters.. Blogging was one method suggested there.(main focus was the IT Co techies)

Being just a few weeks old in the bloggers world, it got me thinking. "Is Blogging a stress buster?"..
Well a part of me would say yes. It gives me an avenue to share my thoughts on practically anything. It makes me widen my thought horizons i'd say.. cos now when i look at something ..even a small picture or a news item, i think.."ooh can i blog on that" "or thats an interesting thing to blog on". In some small way it helps me connect with people as well.. cos in the busy world, in spite of a mobile phone and email being at a snap of a finger reach.. those unending.. sometimes meaningless conversations with friends have got lost somewhere.

But again I think the number of blogs in my case will be inversely proportional to the hours I spend in front of the comp :)I'd probably push blogging to just the weekends ..
Beats me how an IT company person can even suggest spending more hours in front of the computer(for blogging) as a probable "stress buster"

Flip side of blogging that I have experienced..

1)I have become more dependent on the system for silly things like spelling checks. There was a time when I would check and double check for spelling errors in any of my articles for the school magazine etc.. lest my English teacher catches me on errors..

2)Writing on paper has become very very less..those few letters , few greeting cards I got couple of years back have given way to emails and e-cards.I agree they are more convenient but the personal touch gets lost somewhere in the whole deal ;)

3) The few occasions where I do get to write (sometimes forced to !!) like in exams..I have to be doubly cautious not to use "ur" instead of "your" or "gr8" instead of "great".. Aargh the " speed of typing" factor in sms's and chat sessions have really spoilt me ;)

But on the whole..given the flips and the ups.... right now... I simply Looooooooove blogging ;)

Howzzat!!!

Just a few weeks back we finished doing a bit of modification to the interiors at my place.
there was a little bit of sanmica and wood left which tempted me into some craft ideas..

My friend T :) gave me this lovely post card collection. I don't think i can ever send them to anyone as postcards.. (psst..they are too nice to part with ), so I decided i'll display them on my desk.
Pity.. i dint find any photo frame in my house in that size..:( eureka!!! i got it.. took a bit of sanmica and converted the box the postcards are in into a Photo frame ;) howzzat!!!
Now changing the picture daily is so so easy ;)





A photo frame for both portrait and landscape cards!!!! yipppeee

Sheer boredom got me set on the other task.. I found some old invitation cards and pictures which i thought i can convert to bookmarks..dint have any cardboard for the base. No points for guessing what i used as base!!!!!! Bingo!!!sanmica !! so there I have some lovely bookmarks!!

Victory victory to thee

The most brilliant victory for India.

With team India setting a 158 as target for the final match with Pakistan, the Pakistan inning was sure going to be nail biting.

Sadly the requirement of the set top box to view matches made me miss seeing it live by the second ;)

But thanks to all the internet sites like Cricinfo.com and aol.in for giving simulated match views with the transmission delay just being by a ball or two..

I followed every ball on the net with script commentary on the internet

The simulation module reminded me of a cloth cricket game I played as a kid with plastic players ;)

A grand victory :)

A sunday morning drive

Yesterday morning my family decided to visit an ancient temple about 40 kms from Chennai.

We left early in the morning so that we could enjoy the drive and assumed that the traffic would not be too much either, it being a Sunday.

But we were in for a surprise..

There was maddening traffic at 6 AM in fact I’d have needed some re assurance that it was indeed a Sunday. People breaking red signals.. the apparent reasoning always given to me is “duh..its 6 in the morning.. who bothers about traffic light then ;)”

Well well, text book knowledge always taught me what the little red ,green and amber lights meant. ;) but “me” is a minority in this big bad world of driving ;)

The next breaker for our wonderful journey was the flyover construction work that’s happening on one of the busiest junctions in Chennai. Every person is eagerly waiting for the flyover to be constructed. I’ve even drawn lovely images on my mind of how those roads will be once the flyovers are finished.

Some flyovers in Delhi have given me that “lasting impression” feel.. All that have come up in the past 4 or 5 years have completely changed the face of the city. Am hoping Chennai Kathipara flyover is as state of art once its through

Anyways after the bumpy ride through the construction site and more bumpy rides through the “not so much of a city” roads beyond the airport, we finally reached a stretch of nice peaceful drive. So peaceful, that, I managed to doze off for a couple of minutes.

After almost an hour we passed a “suburb” (if I may call it that) of Chennai , Tambaram.

I realized only then that several of my friends travel almost daily to Tambaram through the very same roads I just traveled by and not at an early hour of 6 but at peak “office hours”

In fact one of my colleagues’ has traveled for every day of 3 years of his training from a town further away ,almost near the temple I went to visit , using variety of transport being buses , trains and auto rickshaws.

But on reaching this small village where the temple was, my spirits rose. Old houses, the smell of pure mud, little green hillocks. It was divine. It washed off all the weariness the drive had brought about.

A simple ancient temple. One could feel the ancient history in the walls , the floor, the architecture. Everything about the temple spelt “history” .

Close by was another old temple which was our next stop. Atop a hillock it was beautiful too.

After sitting and enjoying the peace these temples spelt out we got back into the car for out “bumpy” slow ride back home

Back through the same traffic and same thoughts ,with more appreciation to all those who do the journey everyday.

Its playtime folks

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” Indeed it does...

I cant imagine what I would have done if I dint have that 40 minutes of “Games” period in school or the 15 minutes of lunch break where id gobble up the food and rush to the overcrowded ground to play.

Hmm... 15 minutes looks like a really short time for food and play... oh my I think I should have enrolled myself in some game show for “ speed eating “ but I’d have fierce competition from all my schoolmates.. we all managed to eat n play in those 15 precious minutes.

In school I enjoyed the games period a lot. Dressed in a smart white skirt (such a relief from the daily checkered gray), I enjoyed playing Kho Kho and badminton and volleyball.

Id wait for the occasional time when couple of us girls will be allowed to be part of the football team with the guys or play rough dodge ball with participation from the boys too.(the girly version would be slow soft balls and with guys it was all about speed and attack!)

Sometime in high school I enrolled myself to be part of the badminton, Kho kho and athletics teams so that I could find a valid reason to shirk away from the “normal” (read sitting and yapping) period majority of the girls liked in my class.

The 15 minute lunch break would only be for running the length of the ground just searching for friends. And when u found people… trrring the bell would sound. Day after day the same exercise was repeated. J Never once did it strike anyone to just wait at a common point after food gobbling ;)

In the evening, I’d wait for the clock to strike 5 to tell my mom I am going to play in the colony.

Never ending sessions of hide n seek would start in the colony, where the thrill of choosing the “den” (seeker) and the searching and then calling out the name of the person you found. Oh the excitement was unimaginable. Specially when u find someone whose name u cant recallJ... (with me muttering every name that I can think of hoping that I guessed the right name against all odds ;) - I can like make an episode of a tele- serial with just those expressions… J

Or a game of Pitthu(where 7 marble stones are lined up like a pyramid and one team rebuilds it while a chaser stops them from doing it) We were supposed to shout Pitthu after reassembling the whole thing :) and I still remember my neighbor shouting “pencil box” in the nail biting finish it was going to get ;) ((Wonder what Pitthu is called in other languages, coz I see people in Chennai playing it too))

I remember the rainy days when we’d play in each others houses some board games or dining “Table Tennis”.

In high school it was going around in the cycle that took up most of my “playtime”

Holidays in Chennai were fun too.. I’d play with the Frisbee and the “ring” (I don’t what its called) at my grandparents place with my cousin. And holidays in Delhi were cycling, more cycling and walking with friends ;)

Slowly I outgrew the fixed playtime I had. It became more of a sneak playtime between works that happened in later years ;)

Like in college, I remember how me n my friend in the pretext of “joint studies” did sessions of “our own game of squash” with a crazy ball and a plain obstruction free and nail free wall in my drawing room ;)(Till my mom figured out that the wall was all dirty because of tiny dots made by the dirty ball!! And banned the game !) And many sessions of book cricket at her place (we replaced the bat with a book!)

And now I’m confined to desk games between studies.. a round on the Rubik’s cube or a little bit of time with the stress ball to soothe my fingers etc etc…

Anything for playtime now ;)

Ratatouille

Finally I saw the movie yesterday.. One of the cutest movies I have seen in a couple of months. I am like my friend says in a small way “obsessed” with rats... and Remy, was oh so cute…

Yesterday after seeing the movie I was at my peak of obsession.. associating everything with rats. .recalling scenes of movies which had rats/mice…OMG

Even though I admit I find rats as much a pest as anyone else does.. but something makes me find them cute . I’m reminded of “Jerry” every time I see a little brown mouse.

But trust me If I see one suddenly I’ll surely jump and shriek, ;) but once satisfied that it cannot eat me away.. I’ll probably feel safer and peek at where its hiding.

Craziest I think I have done is trying to click a picture of a rat I caught…J Dint know they were camera shy ;)

raindrops..

It is beautiful now. A light shower of rain turned the weather upside down. It is not hot anymore and I can smell wet mud all over. Can see little drops of water on the leaves, from my window. Aah. It is so refreshing.

I still have to experience going to the beach when it’s raining. Yes that’s one thing that I think will be purely divine, to see raindrops merging with the vast ocean…

Hmmmm what else ;)

Phrases I tend to repeat after every three sentences or so in a conversation.. be it telephonic or chat..

Aur Bata -with my Hindi speaking friends
Apparum..Vera enna - For Tam friends
Then... What else.... -for all the English conversations

Sometimes the same sentence in different language combinations, features in the same conversation!!!

Gosh I really need to find interesting fillers for conversations ;) Help me ;)

Strange things that make my heart swing ;)

Ok so all of us have some activities which can help us loosen up.. lift our spirits.. it could be anything.. Listening to nice songs.. or jus thinking about the nice things in the past....
these are some of mine....

1)Washing dishes
The idea of soap and water together is just so relieving.. One "chore" that i can do with joy is dishes.One can become a child while playing with soap water.. and music and Dishes is like icing on the cake.. thanks to MP3 players i don't have to lug a heavy walk man anymore ;)

2) Assembling furniture
Yup..I get a lot of joy in putting pieces of furniture together.Its gives me a feeling as if I made the piece of furniture.. It will take hours and a lot of patience but nothing will stop me from doing the task ;) Knock down furniture rocks!

3) Shifting things around the house
I don't like to keep big things around the house.. I like vast spaces.. and with less things..moving them around changing their positions is easy. Keeping something in a different place gives such a new look to the room ,and change is good too :)

4)Dabbling with old electronic items
Pull out the tool kit and check the stuff.. clean it from inside..see if its working.. It could be anything..an old iron box or an electric kettle anything with screws and complex machinery inside ;) I find that a very interesting job ;) I would have been a mechanic or a handy person in some electricians shop had they not told me I have study Physics to do that ;)

5)Cleaning, De cluttering and organizing.
When I need a change.. i do just that.. clean my cupboard, table , dressing table even the files on my computer..Bring out all the stuff.. and re arrange.. Everything feels fresh after that.I love to arrange old books that I want to keep in nice small bundles. Tie them up and store them away.

6)Moving houses.
To most this is the worst task.. I have quite enjoyed "shifting" in the past.Its like mystery unraveling itself..discovery of articles, old letters or small things from the past that one can live all over again.
Plus shifting lets me do all my favorite things at once ;)

hmm .. so thats my list of things that I can do to de stress... this i apart from the" normal" activities like going for a stroll, listening to music, lazing etc etc (wink)

Co existence..

Almost all the recognized professions have a code of ethics they prescribe. Behavior of the professional is defined in such a code.. Should there be a code of ethics for the society at large. and if there is one..am adding it to my wish list to read ;)

I studied a subject called moral science all through school.. I'm sure all my elders studied it in some form or another. Is moral science just a subject in school? Isn't is supposed to bring in virtues like punctuality, civic sense, concern for others,honesty, cleanliness within a person for life??
Have people really forgotten to co exist and live with other humans?

I remember how in Delhi in my huge "colonies" (as we used to call our apartments) ,of few hundred families, i'd greet everyone with a smile.
Evening walks and games with friends would have fillers in the form of
Namaste aunty/uncle - for my hindi speaking neighbors and
Namaskaram Mama/Mami - for all my Tam neighbors

and here in Chennai..in a flat of just 8 families, I have hardly interacted with anyone. The only time everyone meets is to fight over problems of water in the apartments/ sewage or seepage...
I was in a bit of shock when i moved here..cos for the first time when i greet someone..i get no response...shocking..

Why is a simple gesture lacking..arent we taught to greet everyone with a smile?Is is just for few marks that we study moral science.?

Ouch...

Ouch to me was always a word used to express sudden pain... but I got to know today that as a noun.."ouch" is a clasp, brooch or buckle used as an ornament!!!
:)

Dinner and Dining Tables

Since whenever I can remember back from , dinners for me at home have always been at the dining table.. The one meal that the whole family will sit together and eat.. and unknown to me the dining table probably became the most important piece of furniture at my house..

Only when I ponder do I realize the many houses where dinner time is not exactly family time.. where members of the family eat alone or couple of them eat together with a loud TV screeching in the background .Am happy that what was forced on me as a rule when I was little ,has grown on me such such that I can appreciate how many things that half an hour of dinner time at the table has taught me.

Some very basic things being
To neatly lay a table... Its so important to lay the table nice and proper. And where we learn presentation of reports, assignments and even exam papers.. presentation on a dining table... hmmmm.. seems more an "English" concept ;)

Basic table manners.. not to leave when people are eating. Not to talk with the mouth full..To ask when something needs to be passed across the table..these things grow on one only when one is used to doing it daily..And in some of my official tours I noticed that such simple things lacked in many.

Sense of appreciating and valuing time..until recently it never struck me that all through my training I was prompt at reaching home not because my parents had put some curfew time for me but because as a practice we eat together and I know that there is someone waiting for me for dinner.

The dining table at my house has not only seen dinner times.. its also like our little collection point when we want to have general conversations, little games we play like word building when there is a power cut... evening tea time on Sundays.. and many more activities..

The table is not just a piece of furniture , its like an important link in my life ;)

The Sound of Music

Musique... Its enchanting ..
Music to me is special. its soothing, its rejuvenating.

I have a couple of musical albums.. It plays Lars's theme and Love story as I flip through the pages of the album..
What a wonderful thing to combine.. Photographs and lovely music.. wow. Memories in pictures and music that can help u float back to those days . I wish Picasa would allow me to add music to my albums..(now that most of my pictures are on online albums!)

Everyone associates songs to something particular, some to people , some to a time, some songs to nothing at all.. that is the beauty of music.

Numbers like Favorite things, So long farewell, Isn't it Loverly, Singing in the rain are dear to me cos they are so simple to sing:) I feel melodious when i just hum them..:)

I like to study with music..and some songs I relate to studies..

Some songs I've heard because of other people.. people who kind of understand what kind of songs i like and suggest nice songs..such numbers I relate to the people.

Some I like because it reminds me of my childhood when we used to sing these songs in the family ,sitting together waiting for dinner or when there was a power cut.Songs like Theres a Hole in the Bucket..by Harry Belafonte...

Some songs i like just for the feel...when one puts on ear phones and listen close, u can actually note different beats in each ear...the feel is amazing ;)

That is the Sound of Music to me ;)

Assumptions...

Assumptions ...so easy easy to make.. but can so complicate a simple issue.. It shifts ones focus off the issue sometimes..
Recently a friend of mine(Let me call her X) mailed me after a long time, she had indicated her official mail id for us to keep in touch.Her ID had a "3" just before the dot between her first name and the last name... and there comes "assumption"

Another friend of mine(Let me call him Y) just assumed that she had typed the "3" by mistake since it was just above the dot (look at your desktop keyboard, where the numeral keys are ,it will make sense!!) and concluded that it is a mistake.Y said it is a sign of carelessness on X's part to mis-spell her own email ID.
And now instead of being happy that X mailed us after such a long time, with a wonderful thought of reconnecting with her old friends concentration had moved to the infamous "3" in her ID!!

On one hand I appreciate Y for being so observant and actually being able to relate a dot and the 3 to the keyboard layout.. but then.. isn't this an assumption!! Maybe the ID is like that for no particular reason..(and sure enough that is the correct E-mail ID with an infamous 3 just before the dot!!)
It could have been any number.. but it had to be a 3 :)

Learning for me.. Never assume and form an opinion about someone.

Birthdays

"Happy birthday to you" just four words on that special day can bring a smile and lighten up ones day...!
Happy day indeed :)
Birthdays every year have been remarkable for me.

I remember days in primary school when i would start counting days much before "D day" before I could go to school in a brand new dress.. and have the whole school wish me in the morning assembly, distribute chocolates in the class..

In high school the morning assembly ritual was too embarrassing to accept, but went through it ;). The "colour dress" was too much to give up even in high school.. I mean what other chance will I get to wear a pretty frock when everyone else is in dull gray uniforms.:)

By the time i reached Ninth std.. moved to a phase of strict no to "colour dress" and was happier in my uniform.

Through college it was more a of a "treat" day for friends, Like any other day spent watching a movie [So now u what i mostly did in "college" (wink)] but lunch would be at an "expensive" Pizza Hut or a Nirulas (they have hot chocolate fudge i can give up my life for !!!)...

In Chennai it mostly meant meeting friends , one day when we would all leave office early in the evening just to meet the whole batch on a birthday:)

Birthdays mean growth .. and looking back yes indeed i have grown up. Each year has been special in its own way..

Simple moments I can cherish for life.. a day spent being happy.. I wish every day were a birthday..;)

Welcome me to the bloggers world!!

Long time since i wanted to create a blog.. finally am here ;)
As i was going through the simple steps to create the blog...popped the question...What do i name the blog???
Is the blog supposed to be a mirror of my thoughts .. or is it just a place where I'd probably be writing anything that comes to my mind..maybe my thoughts or something i just read somewhere and am pondering on..

I'd like mine to be more of a jumbled pot of thoughts... and hence the cauldron(at least its sounds better than "A jumbled Pot of thoughts" ).. and the magic.. don't know why;) always associate cauldrons to witches and sorcerers and Magic seemed apt..

So here i am making an attempt at blogging!