Raw-at

Marakkech part 2

2018-01-02T23:34:00.001-08:00

Before we start our journey hope you have looked through the Day 1 Marakkech blog .If you are still reading then I assume that you are intrigued enough by the Day 1.

Day 2 started with one more day of scrumptious breakfast at Marakkech. One thing that I completely missed mentioning and which I definitely should have had is the orange and the orange juice. I have never ever ever had such a yummy juice before. My very definition of bitter sweet orange juice changed to just sweet natural orange juice in Marakkech. Wherever you go you can easily spot orange trees

We had booked for a personalized trip which included a 4 by 4 along with a driver and of course some scenic mountain and routes on the way. Marakkech has been traditionally inhabited by Berbers and thus all along the way you can see beautiful Berber villages and settlements. Definitely reminded me of Garhwal yet again

The first sight of Snow-capped Atlas Mountain was quite breath-taking. We were looking at the highest peak of Atlas Mountains range which stretches through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia . We weren’t prepared for a complete trekking trip but we decided to spend some time in a hilly village called Imlil which is the starting point for the ascent of Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa. Open roof top restaurants with sunshine was in perfect juxtaposition against the snowy mountains. Former wanted to put you into sleep like a baby and the later rose the excitement levels high like a toddler with a Tobo bike.

One of the most annoying thing throughout Marrakech has been the amount of pestering any tour guide or local shop owner would do. Just because we didn’t trust any guides so we ended up not going all the way to the waterfall. However this was compensated by the next stop which was going through Ourika Valley & the waterfalls. All along the river bank colorful chairs made the route prettier .

After a small trek we finally reached the Ouirika waterfall. It was already getting bit dark so most of the people were already retreating, we thus decided to not trek to the highest point and rather spent some time at the 1^ststop at the waterfall.

On our way back we once again enjoyed a small session of Moroccan tea however by this time we started missing Indian food. After quick search & recommendations online we chose Les Jardins De Bala – Indian restaurant near the square. We loved the food and the hospitality however the attire made me cringe a bit. The staff was almost all set to go for an Indian wedding rather than serving at a 5 star restaurant. Anyhow being tired enough I didn’t bother much and ended the day with little bit of sadness as the feeling had started sinking in that the next day was going to be the last day of vacation.

Day 3. – I was determined to put some henna on my hands and thus we invited a lady as recommended by Hotel . We opted inviting her as compared to doing it at square as there were mixed reviews online about quality of henna being put at the square. Me with my daughter loved the whole process and with green and glittery hands we once gain ventured out for some sight spotting on foot.

We were in for a delight when we reached the gardens of a 5 star hotel called La Mamounia which apparently was now a boutique hotel and had kept its gardens open for public viewing. The opulent Moorish inspired hotel looked every bit Royal . The carefully cultivated gardens and pool views was enchanting enough and I wouldn’t have been surprised to spot one or 2 celebrities. Or maybe there were and I would have recognised for the lack of knowledge is French or Moroccon industry

Since we were to catch a flight in evening so not rushing into things we decided to have our mini lunch ( J ) at the hotel and then headed off to the airport picking bags form our Riad.

I had collected enough memories during this small but much needed relaxing trip to look forward to now my flight back home.

Marakkech – the city of snake charmers ..really ??

2017-12-24T01:08:00.000-08:00

This year has ended on a real high with an exciting travel to yet another continent Africa. I travelled to almost 7countries out of which 4of them have been with family which includes a 5 year old but have to say that the child truly seems to have taken the travelling gene .I don’t think I can still call myself an avid traveler as I still run away from the mundane tasks of booking tickets , planning elaborate itineraries but put me there and I find more than interesting ways to enjoy each and every moment spent during travel.

This trip was no different and even though being the last one where you’d expect to be too tired the few blogs and travel sites I read convinced me that it definitely was warmer & colourful enough to give me the respite from the cold winters of London. Ryanair was quite worthy of its price & there we were at Marrakech by Friday evening. Since I’m quite excited about the whole trip and I have ample time thanks to the X’mas holidays I have decided to split my blog post in 2 parts. The entire trip was only 3 days long and I plan to talk about reaching there and 1 st day in this blog.

The flight was from Luton and quite surprisingly we were very much in time. Making much use of it like a typical girl I ventured out shopping and surprised myself picking up Accessorize Crossbody bag which turned out quite savior at Marrakech . t has been a week and I seem to be thoroughly enjoying my stay with it.

We reached at around 6.30 pm quite comfortably however the experience was marred by the endless queues at Marrakech airport. Being a family we were however given access to a special queue and things from there on went quite fast. A member of hotel staff picked us up from the drop point which looked like middle of nowhere, from where he took us through the serpentine streets of Marrakech. Truly they are big enough for only a single scooter possibly to go through. So if you arriving late at night don’t be alarmed by such experience as all Riad seem to be located at such places.

We had booked ourselves a traditional Riad which is much recommended by any site. The family was supposed to be in family suite but somehow we ended up in a honeymoon suite. This turned out to be one of the highlight of the trip as it meant that we didn’t have a private bath but only a door free open personalised spa in our very bedroom. As much as I found the condition hilarious my 5 year old thoroughly enjoyed it over next 3 days. A quick dinner and there we were tucked in our bed for an exciting day 1

Day 1

We booked for a 3 hour walking tour with intermittent breaks and were accompanied by another French family. The tour guide could speak both French and English quite well.

Trivia: People in morocco are very well trained in French & English at school and the Bollywood teaches them Hindi/Urdu as well quite well, so no messing in these languages for sure. Marrakech is divided in old and new town. We were taking the tour of old town where most of the places are within a comfortable walking distance.

The houses and the streets are brimming with colours everywhere. The souks and the shops had everything right from traditional jewellery to pottery, leather goods, paintings, wooden sculptures and the so very traditional Moroccon lamps.

Our first stop was at Bahia Palace. The name which stands for grand indeed reflected grandeur at all corners .Built for personal use which included 4 wives and 200 courtesans, every room & every Riad was well kept and reflected the Islamic and Moroccon style of architecture.

Next stop was at Saadian tombs- the tombs of a legendary family of Morcco. As with most of Islamic monuments its the house of dead which captivate .

Koutoubiya Mosque

Not very far is also the famous Mosque Koutubiya which is the only square mosque apparently.

Most of the travel sites recommend a ride on Horse rides or Caleches but looking at the condition of animals we decided against it.

After a scrumptious lunch which included the Morcoon Tagine & Couscous we headed to Jardin Majorelle or YSL gardens. As the name suggests this was a designer’s property so the expectations were quite high and I have to say that it completely lived up to it. As the pictures reflect YSL was very much influenced by the African culture and colours and thus he ended up spending a lot of his time in Marrakech, also coming out with African designs once in a while. There are 3 different tickets and 1 combined ticket for gardens, Berber museum and YSL museum. No photographs are allowed within the Berber or YSL museum however I'd highly recommend both cause they not only are curated well but the display is magical which have to see it really to experience it.

YSL Memorial

On the way we were taken through some very interesting stories on Moroccan history, Jewish and Arab quarters, trade and culture which includes the very famous Argan oil and seeing how it’s extracted

The day was closed with another high when we ended up in a restaurant on hotel staff recommendation and were obliged to some brilliant Moroccon music followed by Belly dancing.

With such a fascinating end I looked forward to my Day 2 which was to be away from the hustle and bustle of city.

To be continued …….

Beginners guide to Fawad khan

2017-12-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

It was one of the dull days at office but fortunately a Friday when at least at night I could end up watching something by myself. I had been rejecting all Bollywood movies around that time but the word FAWAD FEVER was somewhere lingering in my mind and I decided to watch Khoobsoorat. As soon as I had finished watching the movie I had built a certain liking for Fawad and wanted to know more about him. That’s when wikepedia opened my doors to a whole new world of The Fawad Khan.

I started with Zindagi Gulzar Hai( Zaroon Junaid) , Humsafar (Asher Hussain) and then Dastaan( hassan ) . Believe me all of these were watched spending days in and nights out. Something in Dastaan hit me very hard when the story of India Pakistan partition was shown from a different perspective. I’m not sure and I wouldn’t like to comment on this forum if I agree or not to all of it but there I was awestruck by not only Fawad Khan but the Pakistani Drama industry. There is no stereotypical Saas-Bahu thing or the multi head-turning shocking moments. These are mostly family dramas revolving around a love story. But WHY should you watch these for Fawad khan

Because he is insanely good looking, hot & you would die a million times for that killer smile
His eyes speak thousand words. Remember the blossoming love of Ashar & Khirat on the Dining table scene.

But wait till he actually starts talking . The romantic dialogues were almost like written for him. Remember the “Chaand nazar aa raha hai” scene from ZGH or the phone conversation when he asks “ Do you love me ?”

Though Sonam may be a fashion icon but one man who easily stood up at par with her was the stylish Fawad , carrying off both western and traditional clothes with suave & panache. He owns a fashion label in Pakistan called SILK – probably run by his Wife.

Speaking of his wife- he fell in love with his wife at 17 in a Tuition class. Finding love in the hopeless place. Can’t get any more romantic than this..

As a well-read guy, in almost every serial that I have seen Fawad plays his characters to utmost sincerity. He oozes the boyish charm of Zaroon, the jealousy of Ashar and the guilt of Hassan .

Being a musical buff myself I wouldn’t say that he is a brilliant singer but he has what it takes to be a rocker, which he was – lead singer for entity paradigm. An ability very well used in ZGH- Be it singing songs at college festival where almost all girls are showing swooning or strumming guitar at leisure in his garden.

Doing charity work for his country , throwing no tantrums as one of the biggest star , modest interviews showcase him as a humble human being

If my blog has still not convinced you then may be you need my second guide to Fawad Khan .

PS: I along with one of my another crazy friend also own the face book page https://www.facebook.com/Zindagi.live.with.fawad/ where we collect stories and pictures from people across the globe and let them display their affection in a way we do .

A Royal day at Ascot

2017-12-04T14:00:00.002-08:00

When your husband gives you only one day a year to make you feel special, no prize for guessing a birthday , my imagination runs really in all possible directions to make the best use of it. Only if there were no price labels attached to it ,cause you know that this one day of luxury will cost you the clothes & bags for rest of the year . I searched through numerous sites and reviews until I finally came across this awesome chance to be at Ascot Racecourse ,minus the royal of course.

The not so Royal day is as exciting perhaps for it was British summers & the ticket priced at just 25 pound per person . But the challenge - to make sure that not only me but even hubby is formally dressed up but remember special day - and so he obliged.

London in summers is completely mesmerizing with colourful flowers, lush green grounds, people out and about in bright clothes , chirpy moods & the air buzzing with endless chit chats .But for me Ascot was much more .

I was once again up and close with Horses, most beautiful animals, staring you with their innocent eyes but then galloping away showing off their muscular chiseled bodies . Such a beautiful contrast is may be perhaps what makes them so enchanting.

Ascot is very well connected by road and Train. A small walk from station and there we were in front of a grand stadium. On the outside is a display ground for the jockeys to display their horses which is probably quite deceiving for novices like us. Inside the stadium is divided into ground entry & grand special seating on the top floors. Since this was my first time at the races I kept wondering for a long time on this typical style of seating arrangement where the more expensive seats were further away from the ground i.e on higher floors. Compare it to a cricket , tennis or football match where the nearest sats are probably more expensive. But I learnt it the hard way with my very first race where the horses literally swoosh passed me in milliseconds. So intelligent wo(man) is the one who learns form his /her mistakes ,so there I went at the very end of ground floor and then on the race was definitely more fun. If you ever go then make sure that you participate at least in 1 betting race. To cheer for the one chosen by you only adds more fun and excitement to the whole thing.The bets start from as low as 2 or 3 pounds so nothing breaking your bank really.

Ascot caters very well to the needs of families with younger kids. Being a race day there was a live band to entertain the crowd who was not perhaps so much into racing & betting or may be after one round wanted to chill out with family and friends. Not a very likely feature but a dance floor was set as well and everyone seem to be making best use of it.

I'd highly recommend Ascot race course for a fun trip out with your friends, family or colleagues. The weather can be a catch if it rains but then so is for rest of Britain as well.

PS:We attended Shergar cup, which is normally in August , one of the best time to be in UK.

Embarrassing Encounters

2017-11-20T13:13:00.002-08:00

When I was denied a Photograph with Hugh Grant - Not by a photographer but Hugh Grant himself

Yes you read that right . A chance encounter and that too with the most handsome, popular oops notorious hunk , omnipresent on every British Tabloid ended up as my one of my most embarrassing moments A regular at Wimbledon queues I would every year content myself with ground tickets but this particular year we were lucky( or unlucky ) enough to get center court tickets to watch very own Roger Federer.

My excitement hadn’t died or rather was still at its peak when I realised that my bladder condition was as well soaring to its own peak. For people who haven’t watched a Tennis match live , the tricky part is that once a point starts then you are not allowed to enter the courts as it may disturb the players concentration and hence my resistance to go out & and hence the peak !!
After much deliberation I rushed to my nearest loo and was prepared to miss at least 1-2 points , but what I wasn’t really prepared for was to see a certain Mr Hugh Grant queuing up like me as well with a glass of beer in his hand. Like a rusty quiz player it took me 5-10 secs to realise that O-my-Gosh it is The Hugh Grant. Just a boy , standing in front of a girl , asking him to let him in :-) but of course the rules being rules, he wasn’t let in .

With every passing glance I’m sure everyone recognised him but only I being me decided to ask him for a Selfie .. and there came my most haunted replies – “sorry No”. Since I wasn’t really prepared for a NO as if I’m the queen of England I almost missed a heartbeat. All I could then do is smile and step back followed by moments of self-questioning , realisations & checks.

Was I rude – No .. check
Do I look ok !!!– yeah, almost – check
Was he in a rush – No , look at him sipping his beer , waiting to get in the match – check
Do you look hot like the girl standing next to him – Of course not , but I’m a true fan , he can see that – check ( well almost)

So what’s the issue.
Let me tell you now where the real issue is . Its this dreaded thing called SELFIE .. If only I had behaved like the younger self i.e politely asking for an autograph I’m pretty sure that he would have had a nice conversation with me before obliging me with his autograph.. Selfies as the name suggests is only for Self and that’s why these Celebs do not endorse the idea of it as most of the time they either end up like buffoons , half cut or fully ignored characters. Autograph sounds so much more personalised memory of writing with their own hands a “Good luck” or “best wishes” to a true fan.

My long distant date with Roger Federer as well was cut short as not only Federer defeated his opponent in straight sets but also cos the last set was entirely missed thinking and rethinking about what possibly crossed his mind when he said "NO" . After every point when people were probably discussing what a brilliant point it was I was determined to explain my story to my cousin sitting next to me - But you see his "No" was very polite. He also smiled at me when he said No .. and yeah may be he didn’t want people to know he was with this girl…. may be it was this Selfie thing … may be the Brits still have something against Indians..

The list continues even till today and thus this incident seems to be gradually climbing up the ladder to my most embarrassing incident of all time.

Have you had such experiences ?I bet I'm not the only one with such long list :-)

Destined for North Cyprus

2017-08-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

One city that I would have never imagined myself booking tickets for was North Cyprus. The reason why !!!! - cos I never knew that there existed any such country i.e it was something different from south Cyprus or what I would call just Cyprus. Reading my blog is perhaps one more feather of intelligence shown as it leads you to next one which is getting to know what is really this divide.Let menot do the honors and give credit to Mr Wiki . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Cyprus

Anyhow as destiny would have it one of my trips to Turkey was diverted to this rather beautiful country ( I know not yet recognized by UN, but for the sake of this blog lets give it an identity for ease of reading and comprehension).Now its only later that I understood that why it was no other European country but this ,cos the North part is apparently occupied by Turks as compared to south which is occupied by Greek Cypriots and remember Turkey is where i was supposed to be originally going.
Not getting too much into the political detail , I just cant hold on anymore to tell you that what a beauty was I discovered .A calm , serene yet urban with enough oomph & drama , this country was much more than I expected.

The normal route to enter North Cyprus is via Istanbul . I learnt it the hard way when I was cajoled by my European colleagues to take the south Cyprus route and being only a Schengen visa holder ended up getting detained at at airport , questioned, warned and then let go as a one off. Heartfelt thanks to the officers-- if you are reading this blog.

Only a 2 hrs distance by road we entered the city of Kyrenia or Girne and made our way to one of the best hotels Cratos Premium Spa and Casino.This was also my first time where I came across the concept of all inclusive hotels which meant the day rate catered to all day food and drinks. Apparently most of the hotels as well always come with a casino in North Cyprus , of course key reason being to promote tourism.
While the mornings were mostly spent at Hotel attending Business workshops , the evenings were spent in various touristy locales which were within a very easy reach by taxi from hotel.
Places visited and recommended.

Cratos Premium-http://www.cratospremium.com/

Even If you aren't staying here ,I would still urge you to arrange a dinner at one of the Turkish Ala ca rte restaurants which opens up to the beautiful sea shore.

The whole hotel is designed & decorated beautifully with large Crystal chandeliers, pianos & grand buffet tables accompanied with wonderful live music at most of the nights.

I should also mention that the Casino was equally impressive ( except for the smoke part ) , with seemingly latest technical gadgets to play digital roulette's or hidden cameras tracking expressions and eye movements to catch deceitful players.

Day 1-Kyrenia bay area,
Crimson sky meeting at horizon with blue sea set against a back drop of setting sun is one of the best calming ingredient that nature provides you.

The small boats with sails give a rustic look to the bay and the many coffee shops just around the corner provide the perfect excuse to relax your legs after a long walk for a tete-a-tete. Kyrenia castle is also one of the local interest however I made peace with only looking at its giant walls from outside

Day 2- Archway hotel

Unfortunately since it was nighttime so I couldn't appreciate the beauty of the hotel itself , which I did later when I checked it out on google next day . It truly seemed a missed opportunity but I would still g on to recommend it for its interiors and the delicious Turkish food.

We opted for a set meal which was a relay of one dish after another. As such I would have like to remember the name of all but one drink which totally blew my mind was called Shalgam (turnip jice). A non alcohol drinks traditionally served with another alcoholic drink raki , is spicy yet sweet & is a perfect accompaniment to some times the compared-to-Indian-food bland egg or chicken .

Day 3 - Bellapais monastery
This monastery is literally ruins , but the beauty of it lies in the way its positioned at Hill top. A view of the cobalt blue sea is magical . The broken Archs, the view of plush bungalows with swimming pools , the green palm trees all over give you a picture perfect setting to keep clicking your pictures like forever.

Once we were done with the monastery, we decided to take round of the city and the twist and turns of it reminded me of my own village. The day ended with another Turkish tea and baklawa at a near by coffee joint.

Leaving the place the only thought in my mind was to return to it some day soon and perhaps soak the sun all day long rather than in bits and pieces that I did during this trip.

ऐसा भी होता है

2013-09-27T15:55:00.003-07:00

फिर उसने भी एक आहट दी , हम ने भी बस यूँह पूछ लिया
क्या तुमको भी वो रात याद आई, जब हम ने पहला smooch किया

हंस के वो बोला ,ओह वो रात ! उस रात की तो बात ही अलग थी
जब दिए जलते थे, तारे टिमटिमाते थे, आसमान सॉफ नज़र आता था,
एक छोटी सी आहट भी शोर समझ पाता था

जल रही थी दो सफेद candles, मैने सोचा मौके का फ़ायदा ही उठा लू
आगे थी तुम तो मैने लेफ्ट से approach किया

जा रहा था मुँह मेरा cake की तरफ , जब बीच मे फिर से आ गयी तुम
अब मेरी तो स्टोरी की यही है सच्चाई
अब बोलो की क्या सच मे तुमने smooch किया

Guest Post by the lil one

2013-08-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all

This is my first post today & I’m very excited to be writing .I’m only 6 months now but already feel quite old. My first & favorite shoes have started bidding me farewell. I wonder how unlike me they are growing smaller cause my mom keeps telling me that I’m getting bigger.

What do I like about them?? Oh! when I’m on my double bed I just lay flat on my back , try and bring my feet closer to my mouth and it’s a eureka moment when I can lick them .One of them tastes so that I sometimes even forget to cry for my milk . The other 2 aren't that good so I start kicking my feet for them to come off. That’s when my mom rushes towards me and either starts putting them back or cribbing that I’m no good for those shoes. Don’t you think it should be rather me yelling for one tasted so bad and the other which wouldn’t come anywhere near my mouth easily.

Anyhow I wonder where mom and her friends get these so called shoes from. What if they can’t find something that fits me, what if they decide not to bring those for me anymore. But again why should I worry or should I be?? Are there any more flavours available which I’m missing??The other day I saw these 2 toddler girls. They seem to be so mesmerized with Auntys shoes that they continuously kept wearing and changing and then wearing them. I just wondered how they could even walk in those long heels when I can’t still walk in my own heels. But wait; if we walk in them then wouldn’t they get dirty? Mine doesnt because most of the time I’m in mommas lap.

I have though started to crawl a bit, but only on my double bed, otherwise still very uncomfortable. How I wish that the entire world was just a double bed .Speaking of double bed im feeling sleepy again , its time to call my mom again.. Arhhhh… Arrrrrhhhhhh, arrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh , ok there she is .. bye bye for now..

Let’s do the Singam dance

2013-07-28T22:56:00.001-07:00

What’s the best way to enjoy a monsoony day rather night in Kerala? It’s by watching some hard core commercial masala mix Tamil padam aka movie in a local single screen cinema. It’s not just the movie but the accompaniments that come along… the loud claps , over the top whistles, maddening crowd, lame comments ,ladies line for tickets and thus your new found privileges, fryums , kappa & banana chips served with some not so hot filter coffee.

Looking forward to all the above thus we ventured 20 mins further south to watch Suryas Singam Part 2 in Shornur. The chaotic scenes outside the theatre upped my spirits as I was really looking forward to a houseful theatre which I have rarely seen in London. Going by the number of cars & bikes parked it was becoming evident that this masala flick had already become a massive hit with masses. Talk about taking pride in being a woman, this is one of the places where the guys literally go on their knees to get them the tickets from the humanly ladies line. You have to watch theatre opening scene from Superman of Malegaonto understand what I mean by humanly.

The theatre surprisingly fared better than my expectations. The seats were torn but at least you could sit comfortably. Fans were working in all senses. Some providing the much required air and others further boosting my anxiety for the movie. The movie as well turned out to be a roller coaster ride. One moment it was an emotional mom trying to path father-son relation & the next cut you were doing the Singam dance. Unable to understand much of the dialogues I still could see the on screen fun translate to madness in the theatre though all it screamed was “please leave your brains at home, they are much needed there “

By half time though the story seem to just go round & round, the songs seem to be forcefully patched in , the villains confusing each other & actresses unable to decide why they decided to act in the movie. The movie had it all - Love triangles, Girl-next-door-look heroine & the voluptuous one, Foreign villain and locations, villain pretending to be good socialite & bad villain picked from bollywood (whose Tamil must be just worse than mine). We decided to alight and go home sweet home, but to dismay the car was stuck in the parking lot amongst the same vehicles whom I was excited to see 2 hrs back. With not many options we decided to return to the theatre. Once breathing normally fresh air outside I didn’t dare to go inside the theatre, however an experience you can get only in India I watched rest of the movie from the Neelkamal plastic chair kept in balcony. Only one thing that gave me respite throughout the movie was Surya.So hail to thalpati again and if u can ,then do the Singam dance

Just an Average

2013-06-21T02:35:00.000-07:00

In academics life is more challenging for the people always in top 10 but not the top 3. Most appreciated by class teachers but not by principal cause he only gives away prizes to top 3. Why so, because you always are fighting to get into a rat race just to be in top 3 without even understanding why or why not that Top 3 matters. If you aren’t the super geek who is always on the lookout for a new invention then I believe that you were probably better off not trying to be in that top 10 as well but rather doing something more relevant or to your liking(*). You know it that you are probably just an Average .

What’s the problem in being average – its expectations? PARENTS expecting that now that child has managed this he/she will make it to some good engineering college which of course will convert to a good job. YOU expect that you will definitely now make it to IIT but end up compromising .And this vicious circle of expectation & compromises goes on & on until one day you realise that actually this expectation had always suppressed your wishes .It never let it run through your mind, rather they don’t let them wander anywhere close by as well. The Wish just remained as a hobby somewhere.

What I have observed is that once there is no expectation the child does stumble but eventually makes it big in the field of his choice. Not that I’m challenging the academics here but that is not everything. Coming from a not so rich country like India I agree that you need to have your secured sources of earning daily bread but I think we have grown so much today that at least the younger generation should be allowed or rather urged to take risks .

By now if you were thinking that I was criticising to be an average just take a moment & realise that it’s the averages that can take these risks, can try various things before finalising on what they actually want to do and even if they don’t end up doing what they like they die with feeling of satisfaction and of course they definitely end up earning the bread (sorry cakes) cause they have always known that they can.

* – This is if you were doing something other important and not just gedi maaroing.

I know !! only you can explain

2013-05-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Indu,

Glad that you got time to read my letter. I hope you are done with your washing, cleaning, dusting, cooking and of course eating and what about the compulsory exercise. Did you skip it today as well? Did I not tell you that you are venturing into the territory of the brave and though I did doubt your bravery initially but looks like you are doing quite well .Uhmm!!Hold on, this is not yet an appreciation but yeah you can treat it as initial moral booster. Motherhood test has lots of rounds mind u.!!l

Before I again start ranting some words of wisdom for you :-)

Today something else urged me to write to you. Yeah I know I could have messaged you but I know you like it this way & anyways it’s about Mr X. How I bored you with his stories on that rotten narrow-enough-to-make-us-cosier hostel bed. Today lying on this mattress by my open window (unlike feat in London), cool breeze has thrown me back in time when Mr X was actually a reality & not just a mere thought. Even though I must have asked you a million times but really was it just me or all girls at that age are really so stupid to believe that a smart guy can fall for a chubby fatty girl, believe that the half an hour in the gym is reducing like at least half kg weight per day or that carrot stick in dinner is good enough to compensate the ice-cream you had post a 3 chapatti and 2 cups rice meal at lunch. My dilemma still remains the same today as I’m still an overweight (let me not quantify over)chubby girl. Only yes with better qualification & mostly a confident person in perspective of many when may be it’s just an image projection. Who knows! Not even me...

Mr X gave me the confidence when he would pull a chair especially for me, courteously bring me a glass of drink or drop me back home post party just to probably take a walk with me .But again raised umpteen doubts, what if he is gentleman enough with all girls anyways, what if he was just sympathising with me for lack of any other gentleman in the group, what if the walk was just an excuse to leave the boring party early. These things have haunted me for long and I’m missing your consoling shoulder to explain me once again WHY I should not feel so..

Looking forward to a response from you soon.

Your best Friend

My 3 Learnings – On my way to Happiness

2013-03-22T06:56:00.004-07:00

Jina was the only child of her parents. As close to them as she was with her husband & her 5 year old kid. Her journey from being a kid herself to a wife & then to a mother demanded at every step to be selfless. She knew at every step that she is letting things go which she always wanted the most. But every step cajoled her that its after all for the betterment of herself & her family..

Today she was disappointed with her life. She wanted to do something different. Well, finally she got this opportunity .

Jina : You know they are coming.

Sheila : Now who ? Please I don’t want you to get busy again entertaining other people.

Jina (interrupting) Weirdo …I am talking about my favourite band Guns and Roses .They are in London and guess what I managed a ticket from Gig.com

Sheila : Kewl.. But how come the ever buzeee Jina has found the time to bloody buy a ticket as well. How about your kid ? How about your husband’s dinner ?

Jina… Well I have thought about it all. I’ m gonna leave Jinny with Chowdhary Aunty ( that’s the only benefit of being a house wife. You can make contacts (well, with your neighbouring Aunties) J and Aamir says he is off for a party ( first time when I don’t feel bad that he is out alone for a so called bachelor party )

This was the first step in Jina’s life & my first learning ….that yes we can really manage things.. I.e. if we really wanted to.

The gig was at O2 , one of my favourite theatres in London. Sweet child o mine, paradise city. and to my surprise show was opened by none other than our very own Indian band Parikrama..oh I just loved “ But it rained…” We both were in full swing..I wanted her to be the same enjoying-with-carefree-attitude Jina everyday as she was today ..I could to see a similar future for myself & not the one which she had showed me till now & probably that was what was keeping me away from getting married till now. I wanted to do something for her. May be to make me see my future even better.

Next day itself we applied to all the job portals in London.. More than that, foremost made arrangements of Crèche for jinny . Aamir of course was quite understanding.. We 3 talked about if a new job would need a house change ? What all Jina needed to brush on before she appears for the interview. Does she need to take any training for stress management.

That was the second learning for me,. In the process of helping her I was helping myself as well. Wasn’t I !!! From dressing to managing people. From organizing sessions to take care of 5 year old kid ( at times :-))

1 month of effort and finally it materialized to our luck very much near the place where they currently stay . She was a happy girl .. And me ..Yes.. I too was ..After all I wasn’t any more afraid of marriages.. and the responsibilities there after..

Jina helped me thoroughly for my marriage preparations.. right from the dress I need to wear for my engagement, to every meeting I had with BF ( come on “Yes you look great “ is required for that confidence)

My third learning …. Not all efforts go waste.. Newton’s third rule definitely applies here as well. I myself found the happiness which I wanted to actually give her.

My Teenage Hiccups- Part 1

2013-01-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

1990's was the time when kids like us were trying to catch up on English music. The number of English songs you knew heightened your status in your own silly kid’s society.I will not lie & accept that I too have been a victim of such rat race. However given that we didn't have any internet in those days, no YouTube to explore or incessant downloading techniques as available to today’s kids this information was solely dependent on exchange of cassettes, exchange of lyrics , which you would write down after listening to the song many many times on your headphones. Not that this was a fool proof solution as it still puts a little smile on my face when this friend noted the lyrics as “Beat my lover” instead of “Be my Lover-La Bouche":-).

Few other techniques my friends used

1) Buy a cassette, which you like, as gift for someone’s birthday & then just queue up shamelessly so that you could record the same

2) Ask your friends to rather gift you directly music cassettes

3) Make friends with a chick girl who has a queue of these rich brat boys ready to do anything for her including buying her songs as & when she would demand

4) If you were lucky to have 1-2 of such brats accepting your requests then make use of the same

5) Keep rewriting your old Hindi cassettes or Moms Bhajan cassettes till they give up

Now that the job of knowing the songs was done the next was to flaunt it. What better than the numerous birthday parties that we had. Looking back I can’t believe that the most crucial year of my academics was spent attending at least one birthday party every month ,added on by regular Saturday Tambola nights, New Years, Christmas. Glad that I passed that phase successfully without falling into a rut.

One of the earliest songs which caught my attention & still remains today one of my favourites is the The look song by Roxette which I instantly caught my fancy when I heard it on the Lakme Advert featuring Aishwarya ( I still remember the Hindi lyrics of the same as well ) . The romantic ballads still give me the hiccups as they did years back. Today this hiccup started when I chanced upon it & hence the blog to let you guys as well have a taste of it. Enjoy the songs till I get back with some more such crazy memories.

I once dreamed about ....

2012-12-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

I once dreamed about

A Family who would believe in me & in whatever I pursued

A carefree childhood free of any responsibilities

A school, teacher & classmates who would nurture me & my skills

A College & a degree which would allow me to make myself useful taking care of people

A job which would allow me to visit new places & earn myself bucks to make me financially independent

A circle of friends who would be part of life in good & bad times

Celebrations, festivities or evenings of fun & frolic with friends

All this and much more was what I had achieved till now but what would follow wasn’t even in my nightmares

An evening turning drastically painful for me &my friend by set of hooligans who called themselves human

A country incapable of punishing those who could perpetrate such heinous crimes

A set of politicians using me as agenda to promote their political careers

Weeping eyes of my parents who not know how to face the world

Me standing next to my dead body only hoping that at least this would bring justice to me and other girls who have had, who are and who could undergo such barbaric situations

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

Awarded Wow Post : http://blog.blogadda.com/2012/12/28/write-over-the-weekend-wow-dec-28-2012

And he started it again....

2012-12-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

More than 5 years had been spent longing for this angelic beauty & finally today there she was in his arms. He breathed an audible sigh of relief. She couldn't recognize him but kept on caressing his face with her hands sometimes gently & at times aggressively as if to remind herself who he was & what was she doing in his arms. He as well just kept looking at her almost with bewilderment not knowing what could perhaps be the right expression to show. He didn't want to mess with her anymore, as much had been spent physically, emotionally & monetarily to bring her to where she was today. Days & night were spent thinking what would he tell her when they meet , what should he buy for her so that she looks even prettier, what would she like to eat or drink & on & on & on.

Tears ran down his cheeks suddenly but this time he was sure that they were tears of joy. He didn't feel like hiding them today as the day was special. Unable to control his feelings anymore he hugged her tight & pressed his cheeks against hers to give her a gentle kiss. But what happened next wasn't something he would have ever expected. She started crying out loud & nothing would stop her. He tried cajoling her, then wooing her with that falsetto voice of his, but it appeared that she had been hurt a lot.

Thats when I came running back & as soon as he told me what triggered her tears I exactly knew what had happened. This was my opportunity to remind him again & make a sarcastic remark

“ All these years of marriage you never bothered to shave but your little newborn is not going to live with your ugly, hurtful stubble & punish you for the same. If you want to kiss her then either SHAVE OR CRAVE "

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

To make it straight

2012-12-12T03:40:00.001-08:00

It feels weird to be born different. A black amongst all whites, short amongst tall, Fat amongst thin and vice versa.I think I was as well suffering from such a feeling-weird syndrome that even after much self explanations throughout my life I always longed to have straight hair since all my aunts & cousins around had so as compared to my wavy ones. In pursuit of realisation of my dreams to have one ,I as greedy human being embarked on the journey where time & again I have come up with crazy ideas.
You might have even observed this obsession in my previous post Mane story

Age 5-10

The story starts right from my childhood days when I had a complete belief that wet hair is what can make my hair straight. I would try & keep my wet hair straight for as long as I could thinking that possibly it’ll remain so even after drying up… Since you are much more optimistic as a child so it must have taken me at least 50 odd attempts to realise that Boss!! It doesn’t work this way (of course these looks were repeated with various brands of shampoos available)

Age 11-15

Come the teenage age (around 1990s) when you start getting the gyaan of applying egg, beer, Gram flour etc, try keeping them straight , again for as long as possible with the same old principle but this time it took me only 10 attempts for above realisation. Being a science student, motivated by your teachers for experimentation your brain tends to think in direction of gravity & that’s when I decided to clip on some heavy stuff as well to already wet hair .Fortunately the eggs & beer had made the hair strong enough to not just break through but wavy they were as they had been :-(

Age 16-20

Next 5-6 years & I had gathered enough pocket money to visit parlours where I realised that perhaps it’s the blower which will do the trick. Since going to parlour everyday isn’t an option so I bought myself a blower & started on a journey of painfully spending many hours everyday on straightening the hair which as you can foresee would fall off as soon as touched upon by another entity like pillow, water or hands .The above experiments were intermittently filled with sometimes waking up with a pain in some part of body as I would have restricted my movements just to keep that hair straight, picking up fights with sibling or friend who would just accidentally touch my hair do , once in a while blaming Mom for possibly not eating well enough during pregnancy to get me straight hair as her or her sisters :-)

Age 21-22

By this time I had started earning and I had my first L’Oreal permanent straightening wish come true. I had straight hair the way I wanted..I loved it & the compliments that came flowing with it. BUT… as the disclaimer was put before the service that it was going to last only a year… was back to wavy hair but this time around with knowledge of some lotions & iron being used to straighten the hair . Did I somewhere mention crazy , well that’s what I did when a friend of mine came up with idea of using the regular iron(clothing one) . A moderate 30-40 % success rate increased our use of same till one day when we eventually realised that we might have lost the sheen of our hair in process.

Thus came the end of my experimentation for straight hair .

Even though I have convinced myself that it’s the wavy hair that suits me , my eyes do twinkle & my ears do become wide open on seeing or hearing the word hair-straighteners. I would pray for all the scientists in the world to get a noble prize who could come up with easy solution of straight hair. Amen !!

Or did Sunsilk just claim to be that one…Lemme just get back after trying this one as well

PS: This post has been submitted as part of IndiBlog Sunsilk straight hair contest

Harsha Bhogle- A picture & the memories

2012-11-30T04:52:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that even though I do follow cricket but it is limited to some big times like a world cup or IPL .Won’t bother much about the 2 nation test series. Having said that even then there are few people who just catch your attention in that limited time. No , I’m not talking about any player cause they are as inconsistent as the sunny weather in London , but about one cricket commentator who has clinged on now for as long as I can remember. Especially considering that he doesn’t even have a cricketing background but very strong academics with engineering & MBA from IIMA to his credits, I applaud the passion this guy might have had to pursue today a full time career as a cricket commentator. Yes , I’m talking about Harsha Bhogle. If my being-a-strong-fan rating for Harsha is 6/10 then I would say that my husband scores a massive 9 (10 saved for Sachin of course) .I would guess it is mostly cause he not only watches cricket but reads, writes & breathes cricket with his expanded knowledge from Indian to world cricket & from street cups to World cup

With the above background given, the twist of the story boils down to this certain erratic day on a weekend in London in 2008 when we 2 decided to take a tube from London bridge to East Ham for enjoying our much favourite Dosa . As soon as we had entered the tube which thankfully runs quite empty on week ends we realised that we were sitting right opposite Mr Harsha Bhogle & one of his frens .For the benefit of those who aren’t very familiar with tubes this picture below would show that the space between the opp seats isn’t much for anyone to not recognize a familiar face sitting right opposite you. 10 more seconds &

* We knew who he was

* Harsha knew that we had recognised who he was and

* We knew that Harsha had recognised that he knew that we knew who he was

Even after so many confirmations but with awkwardness of the situation (possibly since he was chatting with his fren) & also cause we both kept nudging each other to break the ice, we finally reached the station where Harsha was to get down . As soon as he got up the seat I was kicked with a sudden hormonal rush which made me ask him for his photograph & thus we got down with him at the station. I treasure this photograph & the conversation that we had with him at station, after he left and rather have till today

Since he was returning from his oval test commentary my husband initiated a conversation on the same discussing scores, performance & what the future of that test match looked like, but rather to his dismay after few lines Harsha showed much curiosity in rather finding out which Indian city/state I was from. Since I have had this comment innumerable times from people I wasn’t surprised when even he thought that I’m a Bengali. On finding out my real roots he said “Oh No! I would have bet a thousand bucks on that”. Few more lines & mins on the same & the next tube arrived which unfortunately for us meant that we needed to leave & fortunately for them to finally get going for the dinner .

When finally we both got over the excitement of meeting Harsha ,husband gave me a stare arguing how my Psuedo Bengali looks didn’t let him enjoy more time talking to one of his favourite guy on his favourite subject & I keep countering it with as many reasons just for the sake of not letting the ball be in my court . The USP of this photo is such that even today whenever we both look at the snap our discussion or rather happy argument reignites. How wonderful it is to have such happy arguments in times when work & other responsibilities otherwise keep you mentally occupied.

Thanks Harsha for giving us one more reason to keep going with those silly arguments

Je to ab manne bhi pata hai

2012-11-28T22:19:00.001-08:00

The famous though copied line of Son Of Sardar “Teri ma di , teri pen di yeh to duniya ko humne sikhayi, is kolaveri di ki baari to baad mai aayi ‘ might have got some of you roar with laughter or some restraining themselves with a smirk but to a girl who would have spent considerable time in her youth living in North India (especially if hadn’t done so already) the importance of ability to understand these dialogues is what got me pondering over this subject . When I say above then I especially vouch for the south Indian girls who were fortunate enough to study in a north Indian college(pun intended).

What are we talking about here ??? Well I’m talking about the mother and sister gallis (cuss words/abuses)that you hear(and of course other nasty things that come along) with as much ease in north India as a recitation of Twinkle Twinkle by 2 year old toddler Was it a horrendous experience ? Very frankly -YES. Brought up in a clean environment of “Ma’am- after- you” kind of gentleman guys & polished ladies you don’t realize for long what an admission to a North Indian college can bring along. Few days in & the graffiti on the walls taught you things which even a 12^th class biology book was shy to. Growth of the fear while walking alone on any deserted street which heightens especially in winters or while sitting in a 6-seater auto, cramped with local goons, groping you all over where all you could possibly do is just keep shifting around your positions.

While I’m not trying to scare you here cause that has perhaps become the way of life everywhere but I strongly am advising here to accept it & better learn it rather than just shying away from this for the fear of it categorising you as cheap girl. On a lighter side you would understand these stupid SoS dialogues now , Anurag Kashyap movies will appeal much more to you , you’ll enjoy Cricket (if you hadn’t previously) for you can now understand the monkey story of India vs Australia match

But seriously (from my experience of change noticed on petite girls of College) you become stronger when it comes to giving a stare, complaining to near by passengers, raising alarm when one of the same guys from above showed even the slightest nasty intention. If required retaliate with same language if that is all it takes to scare him.

When you walk on those streets now you know how much precautions to take or alertness to show cause “Yeh sab to ab tanne bhi pata hai”

PS: If I could make it "A" certified post I would cause the intention here is not to give gyaan to poor kids but for adults to be aware & self protect rather than flaunt your vocabulory of gaalis to enjoy with or impress your frens( I know for guys jitni gaali utna badhiya fren )

Coming together of FashP & Technobyte

2012-11-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

The great divide of girls & boys gang ( forced though) in REC Kurukshetra meant that the beautiful girls of Fash P & the geeky brains of Technobyte could never come together else even we probably would have witnessed 10 years back a dress which Miss Nicole adorns in the Pic below. The USP of this dress is that it is constructed from 8 meters of the finest French silk chiffon, laden with over 500 Swarovski crystals and over 2,000 LED lights, which lights up to spell out Tweets sent in by fans in real time throughout the evening (via @EE and #tweetthedress).This was during the launch event of 4G by EE in UK.

Few months back we did talk about some fashion accessories which do get popularised with politics (political-fashion) but its quite amazing to see this new creation inspired by technology . Not that I dont remeber Mr Bacchan's costume from my childhood days which many of us would have been in complete awe of.

Do comment on any other such dresses/accessories that you think are Tech inspired.
Till next time ...Byee cheerios

PS: I can though say it with pride that my husband , X-Technobyte member has played quite instrumental(at least thats what he claims :-)) role in 4G implementation in UK.On Look out out for Fash P member.

Bournemouth and the country side.

2012-11-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

Definitely of all the landscapes the one that I enjoy most is a Beach- sandy, sunny with a vast expanded horizon which calms you eliminating all the negativity, the sound of the ocean waves -soothing you from deep inside, lashes of these waves gently massaging you as if to say everything will be alright.Now that I'm In UK, one of such beaches that I particularly enjoy is Bournemouth- a large coastal Resort Town the county of Dorset, England.Being within an easy access from London its no surprise that the town & thus the beach has grown commercially as well but the sheer beauty of the beach & the possibility of finding spots-as-per-your-mood makes it much more special for me.

All the photographs here might not do the justice to the beauty of this place but choose a warm sunny day , hang on to some friends or family and this cant get better..

Entrance to the Commercial side of the Beach

Commercial Coastline

B'mouth Pier has like other UK piers much to often to all ages of tourists.The various kind of boat rides option provided as well is one of the other charms. Of course if you are a millionaire you can have your own speed boats and luxury boats talking away to the shiny waters.

Public tour Boat

Mr Millionaire & his speed Boat

Mr Multi-millionaire with family

Private Bungalows by the Coast

Another popular culture for tourists is to either sit by hotel side & enjoy the gourmet, set up their own tents & soak up the sun, surf on surfing boards or just plain swim . Of course on both the occasions that I have been here I have made sure that I use all available resources.

Hotel Patio

View from Hotel Pool side

Sister city to Bournemouth is Poole which provides country side views , the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site which is England's first natural World Heritage Site - known as The Jurassic Coast.

Not a big fan of visiting castles however the walk in the meadows did lure me to have a look at Corfe Castle ruins. A pleasant sunny day in UK- you cant ask for more. Its not surprising that why Brits are the biggest fans of weather conversations.

On way to Corfe Castle

Lulworth Cove is another attraction for being finest example of Landform. Though it might not give you the serenity of the sea however just observing the movements of small fishermen boat in & out the cove puts you in trance & buries away any unwanted thoughts.

Lulworth Cove

This was certain gentleman who by the side of Cove was busy painting shells with lovely poems and messages for your loved ones. Was worth spending few bucks ..

Another natural beauty is the Durdledoor - started of being a hole in limestone somewhere but today possibly counted as a natural wonder.

Durdle Door

I long to be back to this place again . Let see when..!!!Till then Cheerios...

Bow-wow-wow-bow-wow

2012-05-18T06:44:00.002-07:00

It literally means - A twinkle in my father's eye

I’m quite serious – I’ve heard Jimmy enough & this is what she has to say all the time. I know SHE...When she was brought home back in 2001, her father i.e. my father, well all the same, didn’t realise it was ‘She’ so it was Jimmy.but then that’s the speciality of noun!!Something like story of “Chinti” who was so named cause her family, when she was still in her mother’s womb, instead of calling her by a weird family name like Beti B preferred a nick name Chintu. I’m sure you can make the rest what would have happened post birth. “Laxmi”, “Soumya “, did give high hopes to few of my male friends. One of the BBC article featured a story about list of banned names. Absurd it may sound or whatever be the validity of the claimed reason but every parent should have a right to name their kid whatever they like. Isn’t it???

Jimmy has not only been an obedient daughter but a congenial sister, playful cousin & mysterious foe. She has a method to her display of affection which will enlighten your mornings marred by nightmares .Her wagging tail has become synonymous to love .I wished even I could just wag my tail for its binary i.e. either 0 or 1 . Compare it to the arduous task of decision making & choose amongst so many permutations & combinations of words.

Making sure it is not only pleasing to ears but also just the right amount of love & affection shown, for you don’t want your love to be taken for granted. Making sure that it doesn’t give a feeling of being overdone but also not hurting or giving a chance to be hurt in future in any possible way. See I again started with the possibilities... Irfan kamaal possibly has put it in best words “Jo bhi mai kehna chahoo barbaad kare alfaaz mere”

Has she ever made me feel jealous.. Oh yeah !!! several times. She is the one whom dad thinks about even when he is having dinner in the poshest restaurant making sure that he packs enough bones & left over chicken pieces. For whom my husband buys dog food treats when he is returning from a business trip abroad, my mom decides to cancel her vacation for she can’t bear the thought of leaving jimmy alone with some other family even for 2 days.

But just by being around jimmy has much more endearing effects which just washes away any negativity .

You can talk to her as if there were no secrets,

Cuddle her as if it was your unborn child,

Jump around her as if you were still sweet 16

Fake emotions strong or mild

I had started writing this article quite some time back but it probably was cornered in my laptop somewhere until yesterday when I happened to see Satyamev Jayate( another feat from Aamir Khan) where Jimmy the Dog helped one of the child get through his toughest times during child sex abuse. Even the latest winner of BGT ( Ashley & Pudsey ) set another brilliant example for what this lovely relation can achieve

Cheers

Inds

The Mane Story

2012-04-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Creativity or Inspiration can be found just about everywhere.. I decide to bring all creative stuff to my blog in whichever manner possible.

Never had the privilege to own such long locks but this wouldn’t have crossed my mind. As I long for something which I probably never even would have (thanks to my lazy genes) some lazy thoughts...

The elegance of this tail is worth a tale

Drops of Gold separated by bands

Every strand of hair wishes to reach out till the end

Flit & float with her bottom, waving 2 hands

I entered the cafe & requested my coffee

“Yes Madame!” she said, and took a round turn

That’s when my eyes twinkled with Joy

For this was something I had always yearned

Mustered up the courage for this challenge was new,

Had to speak in soft voice and you know guys

Such moments have been very few

Obliged I was by this pretty girl

She had accepted my request

She turned yet again, but for ME this time

The photograph was taken, smiles exchanged,

My big conquest

Cheers

Inds

Office ki ghadi

2012-03-29T07:43:00.001-07:00

घड़ी घड़ी निगाहे हो घड़ी पे

घड़ी, घड़ी न हुई TIME MACHINE हो गयी

घड़ी बोले,घड़ी घड़ी क्या देखे
में तो वक़्त से ही चलू, जितनी भी तू चाहे देखे घड़ी

Aaj

2012-03-25T15:36:00.001-07:00

वक़्त थम सा जब जाता है

बदलता हुआ यह मौसम भी कुछ कह नहीं पाता है

मन भटकते हुए पूछता है. बस अब आगे क्या ?

हर कोशिश पर नाकामी की एक छाप लग जाती है

हर उम्मीद ना-उम्मीद मे बदल जाती है

दिल भी करहाता है . अब आगे क्या ?

आते आते मुस्कराहट होंटो का एक कोना छु जाती है

गुदगुदी भी चीख चीख के चिल्लाती है

क्या हुआ है तुझे - अब आगे क्या ?

अब आगे क्या ? अब आगे क्या ?

सवाल कम उलझन ज्यादा लगने लगती है

मां के कोख से शुरू हुई यह कहानी

बेहद सी दास्ताँ लगने लगती है

आज मे जीना भी एक कला है

हर एक है इस कला का कलाकार

बस कुरेद रही हूँ खुद को आज

फिर उसकी ही चाह मे !!!!

Lunch with God

2012-03-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

Came across this absurd board at the Luton Mall. Ignore what’s written below on the board(barring the Red line). Will only make you sad.. :-)

But seriously think about it.. What would you do if you really are invited for “Lunch with God”

What would be your first thoughts ??

Would you ponder over what the menu would be like or would you just jump like a child for an opportunity to take his autograph or photograph

Would you thank him for your existence on this earth or curse him for sending you to Mrityulok.

Would you narrate the best possible stories that have happened to you till now or the worst experiences

Would you care if it’s a he or she or what he/she is wearing ? A white n white from Bruce Almighty or a shiny blue sari from Jai Santoshi Maa

Would you try and talk about only you or a bit of world peace & poor people as well

Would you make him listen to your wishes or bother to listen to his as well

Would you ask him what his religion was & which part of the world did he normally stay in ?

Would you be excited to know if all they said about Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bible was really true or just a creativity of some bright mind

Would you want him to change your past or make your future better

I think my list of Would-You’s will go and on…. Perhaps my date with him is going to take some while by when I would have already figured out answers to all these questions ..

Would I ???