Squeaky Corner

Welcoming 2014

2014-01-03T04:37:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again, when we do what we do every New Year!

1) SAME New Year Resolutions or NEW New year resolutions!
Whatever it is, at least you are part of the bandwagon. After 4 months, its the same story, Resolution, what resolution!!? Forbes says " Two out of three of us make New Year’s resolutions. Only 8% keep them." I have never tried making a Resolution because I am sure I would fall in the rest 92% category. I can never stick to them. I would prefer doing it first rather than making promises and then not being able to stand true to those promises.
A very good example is this blog. December 2012 I said i won't disappear again, but I did for one entire year until my previous post. I better keep mum!

2) Reflecting on the year gone by and plan for the New one.
It was not a great year for us but taking on the positive avatar (which I am usually not) I would say it could have been worse but it was not, so it was very very good!
This year did make me realise one thing, Being Thankful. I admit, I am not the appreciative and grateful types in general for everything and everybody around me in my life. It's just about stopping for a moment, analysing and being grateful of the fact that we are blessed with the people around us. Work, deadlines, targets, health, food, family, friends etc...we get so busy and lost in them that we forget to thank and be happy about having them in our lives.The few followers I have here, those generous comments I get from people who I don't even know does make a lot of difference. I am really really thankful to everyone who visits my blog. You keep me moving and striving for more. :)

Robert Brault said 'Enjoy the little things in life for one day you will look back and realise they were the big things' I am trying to do that and if I can add to it, Be thankful about them as well ;)

On this note, Wishing you all a very HAPPY 2014!!
If you are making those resolutions and struggling to keep them, you might like to refer to Forbes article I found '4 Simple Ways To Have A Better Shot At Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions' for some tips! Good luck :)

And yes, I am sharing few of my first attempt pictures of the New Year Fireworks that happened at the world's tallest building Burj Khalfia on the New Year's Eve. Not to forget we did break another world record with the fireworks too....

Reminiscing over that getaway weekend!

2013-12-30T02:46:00.001-08:00

There are moments when you are going through your old albums and the places you have visited and realise,
'Ohh when was this taken?'
'I have gained/lost weight after that' ( surprisingly this time i felt i have lost compared to last time!)
'We had so much fun that day'
so on and so forth!....' Happens to me all the time.
Well i came across a few of such albums which i had thought of sharing it here but eventually it never happened, (me being typically me!) until today when i saw that my last post was an year ago! So without any excuses i better come straight to the point... ;)

November last year on one of the Eid breaks we drove down to Barr Al Jissah resort Muscat in Oman. Oman is known as the hidden gem of Middle East. It's not a known tourist destination on the world map as many outsiders are not aware about it. If you read or see the pictures of Oman, it can easily give you a European tourist destination experience. Middle East is not just about deserts or glitzy high rise buildings, there is more to it. Oman is an untouched beauty. Read it somewhere that it lies on the crossroads of three continents and four seas. As you scroll down to the pictures, I am sure you would feel, its just Sea and only Sea everywhere! No wonder it's the perfect weekend getaway for the expat community like us in this part of the world. Not to forget the friendly and patriotic Omanis you come across!

Sharing some pictures I clicked of the beautiful landscape and the resort...

Barr Al Jissah Resort is 3 hotels combined into one! A huge property...
Copyright Prachee Kapoor

Does this remind you of something, the typical old hindi movie shots!
Copyright Prachee Kapoor

Started walking from one end of the resort to see how far it stretches to and have just reached half way!
Copyright Prachee Kapoor

I don't know how many kms it stretches to, but believe me its massive!
Copyright Prachee Kapoor

I did tell you, its sea sea and sea everywhere! Copyright Prachee Kapoor

Photo Challenge Part 3

2012-12-04T07:27:00.004-08:00

With this post the Photography challenge comes to an end. (I hope I did justice to it!!) It at least pushed me to take out some time to click these pictures. I did feel pressured sometimes but I am happy I did manage to complete it as well as share it here. Thanks to each one of you who visit, like and even take the effort to write those generous comments. Believe me, it does turn my regular day into a special one :)
Click here to check Part 1 and Part 2.

But now there's something else that is already bothering me, what's next on my blog? I don't know yet but one thing is for sure, that I am not going to disappear again! :)

Day 20: Work/Play

These are the softwares I play in with designs and layouts everyday to not only make them look good but sell at the as well. It's work and play both for me! Can't think of anything else for Play....

Day 21: What you wore

Early morning capture just before leaving for work

Day 22: Grateful

that I have enough food to eat everyday

Day 23: Black

A Mynah who was not scared to fly away from me!

Day 24: A sound you heard

The unexpected rains which we anxiously wait for in this part of the world!

Day 25: Sky

Did you spot the tiny helicopter?

Day 26: In the cupboard

My wardrobe is a mess I better not put that here! a showcase is better, thats also a form of cupboard....

Day 27: Tree

Day 28: Vehicle

The water bus that runs on water as well as land. I haven't been on it yet though!

Day 29: Big

We drove all the way to Muscat (Oman) for the long weekend and its just beautiful surrounded with these huge mountains

Day 30: On the wall

A board I spotted on the wall at the resort in Muscat. Just loved the tagline, Imagine how happy would kids be!

Photo Challenge Part 2

2012-11-24T05:59:00.001-08:00

In continuation to the last post

Day 8: Something you do everyday

Day 9: Small

Just a pair of tiny clothes hanging in the balcony looked cute and grabbed my attention

Day 10: Can't (won't) live without

Day 11: Night

Our balcony all lit up for Diwali

Day 12: Drink

Traditionally boiled and made Tea with ginger/cardamom

Day 13: Where you slept

Day 14: Man-made

Gandhiji's spinning wheel I got from the Gandhi ashram in Ahmedabad (India)

Day 15: In your bag

is a mess of everything I need

Day 16: The view from your window

Day 17: The last thing you bought

Day 18: Happened this weekend

Watched Jab tak hai jaan (Bollywood movie), and the movie was so long and boring that felt like I just did that the entire weekend!!

Day 19: Something awesome

Photo Challenge Part 1

2012-11-18T08:56:00.001-08:00

I am sure I have got wiped off the memories of the treasured few who follow my blog :(
Squeaky Corner - My corner to squeak, scream and share but 'silently' went completely silent for 5 months!! yes 5 months that's like half a year and around 155 days. (The number 5 makes me feel more worse, damn!!) OK. I am guilty as charged. Don't ask me the reason of disappearance, its the same obvious reason!
Lets talk about the big comeback.... ;-)

Well its called the 'Photo A DAY Challenge'. But firstly I am too late to take part in it and secondly I can't manage clicking and uploading a photo daily on a working day. To top it I have challenged myself to click the picture only from my SLR camera!! Basically just to get my hands off the phone and the addictive Instagram. Maybe another photo challenge just for phone/instagram pictures ;)

So the November photo challenge list is here on Fat mum slim. Well more than half month is already gone so instead of putting one picture each day I will start with putting first weeks photo now and the later next week...

Day 1: Something beginning with 'C'

Day 2: Colour

Day 3: Breakfast

This is the expression I had when i read breakfast, because I did not have one! :-/

Day 4: TV

A TV is nothing without a remote, just thought of giving him his fair share of credit ;)

Day 5: 5 o'clock

It starts getting dark at around 5:30 these days and clouds in Dubai is a rarity,

so capture it when you can!

Day 6: A favorite thing

Simply addicted to this, Samsung galaxy S3!

Day 7: Reflection

The light from the bedroom

Postcard moments!

2012-06-22T10:56:00.001-07:00

A 9 day holiday packed with delayed/missing flights, lost luggage (yes! I tell you, we had enough for 9 days), wedding, birthday, dancing barefoot, getting drunk, getting lost, knocking on wrong door, dragged into situations where you know you will get fooled and still afford to get cheated, taking the wrong train, tongue twister names, cathedrals, church bells, random yet perfectly aligned trees, Tulips just out of the desktop wallpaper, walking in rain, cycling, boat rides, long coats, Street art, Graffiti, critiquing Indian food in a European country, every other person licking an ice-cream in 10 degrees of temperature! and lots more. I can go on and on, but I will let the pictures do the talking now! Everything, everywhere around was a postcard moment!

Hamburg is like watching an Enid Blyton story live in motion! Berlin, a true example of triumph over an agitated historic past. Lively, full of art and dynamic, difficult to have enough of both in just 9 days. These are just some selected Hamburg pictures :)

It's weekend, lets go on our own boat ride! Wow, what fun....

I wonder, who punished you??

I can picture myself sitting there sipping my morning cup of tea among the tulips....

Can't stop clickting trees, can have an entire album of them! Beautiful.....

I don't know what kind of trees were these but who cares, they are pretty!

By somebody like me, who loved Tea :)

A pretty little harbor city

I just could not get over with clicking trees...

A rainbow in a waterfall, unusual!

World Wide Famous

2012-04-23T09:14:00.002-07:00

Well I know I am blogging like after a month and I am really guilty about it, but I am too delighted and excited about sharing something else right now that being guilty can wait for sometime!

Well the story goes like this, I got a mail from Dinah - Editor of 72M magazine few months back saying that she came across my blog and would like my interview to be published in their magazine's 'World Wise Women' section. For a minute I thought somebody is playing a prank, Me and World Wise Women!! Still makes me giggle.
Reading the title itself and thinking I am going to be feature in it suddenly made me wise enough to grab the opportunity, anyways a fool would question it! Thanks once again 72M and its your anniversary issue, makes me feel even more special :)
Click on the image below to read the interview. Turn to Page no 40 if it doesn't open the particular page.

The Act of Staring

2012-03-17T11:08:00.003-07:00

STARING - Wikipedia defines it as 'A prolonged gaze or fixed look.' But how prolonged is prolonged? Who decides? Obviously the person who is staring, the person who is stared upon has no control on it other than ignoring him/her or going up to that person and creating a scene (which can't be done with every 3rd person). The problem is the people who stare neither know the meaning of Prolonged nor Staring.

I think there can be 5 reasons to it,
1) It's their favorite pastime
2) Staring is the only thing worth looking forward to in a day
3) Every person they see walking past them is an alien coming from a different planet
4) I who is stared upon is the most weird looking person around (which I don't think I am)
5) I am a look alike of Aishwarya Rai (Indian film actress) which again I am not!
Unfortunately there are no rules or fines attached to the Act of Staring. The way free advice is an uninvited guest same is the case with Staring.

Everybody faces this and we take the safe way out of Ignoring, but sometimes it gets so annoying that it makes me wonder if there's any solution to it! I remember an incident where I and my friend were at a railway station to book tickets and as usual some random guy was staring us. My friend got annoyed and started staring back at him, after a minute or two the guy got uncomfortable and left. I can never do that, wish I could but I don't think it would work with everybody, you never know they might take the staring back as a sign of approval considering there are all kinds of people in this world!

I will still follow the rule of Ignoring till one day I really end up going to the person and asking 'Hello, what's wrong? never seen a Women before?'

The Editor picked Me!

2012-03-14T23:01:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was a day of Surprises! It was a friends birthday so we planned a surprise to surprise her by getting a cake and hiding ourseleves in her balcony before she comes home!

I got a gift, which was on the list from a long time but surprisingly Raghu got it for me yesterday :) and last but not the least, I know thats the most lame way of saying something that made me so happy but who said I am a good writer, I never claimed it! :P So coming back to the point...

I got featured on bloggers.com as the Editor's Pick of The Day! and obviously I am overwhelmed!!

Thank you Bloggers, Editor of Bloggers and all of them who have been commenting, voting and reviewing my blog there! :)

Best things come unexpectedly

2012-02-25T13:40:00.003-08:00

Somebody rightly said it “The Best things in life are unexpected, because there are no expectations."
I know, even the worst things in life come unexpected, but better to talk about the best than the worst.

I had this 'Eureka' moment when I was cooking dinner today (pasta) :)
From 2 days I have been struggling with what's my next post going to be about. Writing, re-writing, deleting and ultimately concluding that there's no point sitting in front of my laptop and re-reading the same half written draft over and over again. The solution obviously was getting away from this damn laptop. But there's a reason why I was stressing myself out in writing something, because weekends are the days I get to update and read blogs. I can't do it on the week days, its just not possible after work.
So unexpectedly while cooking I got an idea of why not a post about Best things that come unexpectedly, like this post! Have you guys experienced when certain things just happen in that nick of time when either you have lost hope or you least expect it. Well in my case its always delayed but again, better late than never.

7 unexpected moments I can remember of right now

Cutting a family pack ice cream on my birthday on not finding a cake
Coming to Dubai
Meeting Raghu (my husband)
My sister happened to see my blog without me telling her and loved it (she is my biggest critic)
Winning random contests after trying several other innumerable times
A different kind of interview, shhhhh!! (details later)
And this post!

Did you just say 'Miss Versatile'?

2012-02-04T06:58:00.000-08:00

My first award here! Remember in my last post I mentioned I like participating in random contests and winning. But this was even without participating. WOW! I was given this by Sangry Words. Thanks Sangeeta, I m really touched! :)

Well the Versatile Blogger award rules are simple.

- Add a picture of the award in your post.

- Share seven things about yourself.

- Thank the award giver & link it back to him/her.
- Select 15 other bloggers that you want to share the” The Versatile Blogger” award to.

Seven things about me!
1) I totally hate being late, I prefer being 15 mins early but not late.
2) I think a lot. It has reduced considerably, but I think (again!) I must have belonged to the Pluto or Socrates family in my past birth
3) I often forget what I am talking about in the middle of conversation
4) I hate sleeping during the day unless somebody puts a gun to my head, I feel its waste of time
5) I learnt playing Tabla for around a year when I was in 2nd std, but was not really interested in it.
6) I love eating fresh peas, raw & uncooked. Infact many other vegetables too
7) I always give benefit of doubt, better than presuming things

Blogosphere is full of talented and passionate bloggers. Coming across a new one everyday is not rare. But these are just a few I have discovered so far and are on my favourites list. I share my award with them :)

All mix fruit juice

The wanderer

Joo Joo

A cozy kitchen
Arnab Maity Travel and Photography

A cup of chai

of travels & travails

Heels on wheels
SensitiveCreations

Sentimientos

Pure Vegetarian

My 'WIN'some Weekend

2012-02-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

I have been missing from my SqueakyCorner from quite sometime. Reason being the new job but I am not complaining at all because its been good so far. Some random clicks from my last weekend lunch which I won in our office's internal staff photo competition, in the first week of my joining itself! WIN is a WIN, small or big! Right! ;)

And by the way i enjoy participating in those random contests! Its like my favorite pastime.

The weather was perfect

Butternut Squash soup

Seafood! Raghu's favorite

Above pic was clicked by Raghu

A buffet dessert, so you eat to your heart's content..

Exactly what Raghu did, all 3 for him!

This was something Mango, dont remember the name

Sajja - A reformed Labor Camp

2012-01-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

Would you be interested in going for a photography exhibition where the pictures are clicked not by eminent famous Photographers but by the workers from a certain labour camp? I had been looking forward to this exhibition from the time I heard about it. The owner of Sajja labour camp went absconding from the country due to the economic downturn. Result being, the employees (the laborers) were left stranded on their own without their passport, and a camp to stay in with no basic amenities like water & electricity. The National newspaper mentioned, they were staying without pay for 18 months!

'Adopt a camp' - (an organization that has been working with laborers in labor camp since few years) discovered about them and adopted them. A Documentary photographer Karen Dias taught them basic photography skills through donated cameras. They had never held a camera in their hand but gradually through constant encouragement, the laborers progressed from clicking posed snapshots to everyday life images which narrated a story behind them. Karen's aim behind these photographs was to share it with the public and generate income for the laborers. The National newspaper said, few of them have already managed getting jobs with the help of Adopt-a-camp. The exhibition is organized by Gulf Photo Plus and each photograph is available in two sizes for the public to buy. For the complete story and details you can check the Gulf Photo Plus here.

I have captured a few pics from my visit to the Gallery, the exhibition started on January 18th and is on till February 16th. I read the workers were so excited for their opening night, that they left their camps in Sharjah at 10:30 in the morning for a 7:30 show! Obviously it meant a lot to them. I saw them enjoying getting photographs clicked, giving interviews and being the center of attraction. The joy and happiness they felt was evident on their faces. Everybody had a picture clicked with them, even me!

Its these laborers who built our cities so convenient and beautiful for us to stay comfortably. This was such a heart warming, inspiring & brilliant act put together that I could not stop myself from sharing it here.

The Photographers :)

Busy being the center of attraction!

The entire team who made this possible

The pictures you see behind are the individual photoshoot done for each of them,

and they get these pictures as gifts

Small is Big

2012-01-11T03:21:00.000-08:00

Robert Brault said "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." But the problem is I took this advice too literally!

Not that I don't value what this sentence is supposed to mean in fact if you know me, I do that more than anything else, but here we are talking about tiny little things literally. Small toys, cars, animated movie characters, puppies, birds. I even had a tiny turtle as pet, the size of my palm, Yes I said I had. Not anymore! We better not get there. Little things fascinate me. It wont be surprising if you see me talking to a toy character, I know it shounds really silly but I guess I have not grown up yet!! And did i mention toy cars, Raghu once bought a remote controlled toy car for his nephew and the poor boy just had to play assistant to Raghu which meant stopping the car from banging in the wall, bringing it back from under the table/sofa and so on....he never got a chance to play with it. And why do you think I mention about Raghu here, because why should I alone sound silly, Its not just me who is a kid in the house ;)

Anyways, remember I mentioned about bringing Mr.Clumpsy home in one of my Dec post. So why not a photo shoot for him!

Ever so animated Mr.Clumpsy from the movie Smurfs!

We picked up this car in India, it was supposed to sit on our car (the real car) dashboard, but now as Mr.Clumpsy owns it, we dare not touch it..

Ready to take on the world..

And Mr.Clumpsy obviously prefers the car over the scooter, after all there are less chances of falling down a car than a scooter. Don't forget he is clumsy and accident prone..

My in-laws thought there was only 1 kid in the family - my nephew. But their thoughts have changed after they saw these. :)

A Sweet Start

2011-12-31T05:11:00.000-08:00

Homemade Pumpkin Walnut muffins! Perfect to begin 2012 with :) My first attempt, so its not perfect but it tastes yummy! Wishing you all a super sweet & Delicious New Year once again...

R.I.P. 2011.

2011-12-29T02:23:00.001-08:00

Its fresh, its brand-new, waiting to pop out of the box! How would it be? Bitter, sweet, sour, or a mix of all? Yes, 2012 is just round the corner. So what do you think is going to be New in the New Year?

The speed with which the world is moving its easy to see some certain changes if not this year atleast in the coming few years. Below are some on top of my mind.

- " i is all that matters and not We." iphone, ipad, ipod itouch and many more soon to be launched

- Kids wonder What does natural color of hair mean? Once a hairstylist surprisingly asked me " You have never colored your hair!?? " his question made me feel 50 years old!

- The new mantra " If you have it, flaunt it." And how do you do that? "Upload it. share it. tag it. like it" and this applies to every damn thing, from your doormat to your Sports Car!

- 3D is outdated, 5D technology it is. You never know! anything can happen

- If you like a girl whats so special about it? Go that extra mile. Liking is what you do everyday on Facebook!

- Indians have become NRI's and Europeans/Westerners have shifted to India

- World is surely not going to end in 2012. Which means one more reason to welcome 2013 " We are still alive & kicking "

So lets bring in the New! Its New Job for me which leads to many more new stuff. New beginning. New office. New role. New challenges. New friends and an excuse to shop for New clothes, right? ;) But this would also mean New stories & New experiences to share! Lets see how busy I get.

Wishing everybody a joyous 2012 filled with love and laughter. See you all in the brand-New year! :)

The Winged Beauties

2011-12-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Winter is the perfect time to pass by the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary and have a look at the long legged pink & white beauties in the middle of the hustle & bustle of Dubai. Its not just the flamingos but the sanctuary acts as a stopover for around 67 species of migrating birds of the East African–West Asian Flyway. More than 500 species of flora and fauna and is one of the best-managed arid zone wetlands in the region.

I have come here thrice in last 2 years, and finally managed some shots of few birds pretty close. There are two Ramsar sites (wetland reserves) properly fenced and monitored by cameras with birding hides open for the public viewing. Hides are equipped with binoculars & telescopes for better viewing as the hides are quite far from the birds. If you are lucky enough and the water is closer to your hide, the birds would be closer too, making it easier to capture them. Secondly, clicking the perfect shot would mean having huge cameras like the ones the National Geographic or Discovery guys carry! Twice I have returned unhappy, wondering whats the point if you can see the beautiful birds through the binoculars but can not capture them in your camera just because they are too far. Luckily this time on this particular hide water was closer and it was their feeding time. Fishes were left in the water for them. So we spent some time trying to capture the best I could. I would not mind going there again, for more and better shots now :)

The Great Egret flapping hard

Eyeing the fishes

Catwalking!

Get,

Set,

& off I go!

Catwalking again!

1, 2 & 3.

Got it, finally!

Punished are you?

A call to the rest

A Reef Haron

All take a bow..

What makes a perfect weekend?

2011-12-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

- Waking up to a pleasant unexpected call followed by a talk with both the parents

- Shopped for myself in 1/2 an hour flat (that's rare, if you know me)

- Ate till hearts contenct, so much so that we skipped the dinner

- A husband who is having laughing fits out of nowhere for silly things, which was beyond my understanding (wonder if there was something mixed in his food)

- An entertaining light movie, with an extremely chilly theatre. Felt like I was carrying a personal Air conditioner!

- Evening Masala chai (works wonders specially after a cold movie experience)

- A visit to a friend's new house. Sitting in the balcony chatting & gossiping on a cool cosy evening with a view of the glittering Burj Khalifa

- I love small little things, specially animation movie character toys. Got a Clumpsy toy (If you have seen Smurfs, you would know what that is). But how funny, this character in the movie keeps falling, dropping and breaking things....do you guys see some similarity here! ;)

- And yes, the above list also included Grocery shopping (its not boring for me)

- It makes the weekend all the more special when its only 1 day, got to make the most of it.
For me, my perfect weekend! :)

An unplanned evening

2011-12-12T01:18:00.001-08:00

Saturday Story

2011-12-10T03:23:00.001-08:00

While I was reading Paulo Coelho's blog, I came across this story which in today's times of Nuclear War and Terrorism should be definitely shared and understood. Kids knowingly or unknowingly give such profound messages in the most simplistic yet unexpected ways which leave you reflecting upon yourself.

Below is the story as read in Rebuilding the world.

A father was trying to read the newspaper, but his little son kept pestering him.

Finally, the father grew tired of this and, tearing a page from the newspaper – one that bore a map of the world – he cut it into several pieces and handed them to his son.
‘Right, now you’ve got something to do. I’ve given you a map of the world and I want to see if you can put it back together correctly.’
He resumed his reading, knowing that the task would keep the child occupied for the rest of the day.
However, a quarter of an hour later, the boy returned with the map.
‘Has your mother been teaching you geography?’ asked his father in astonishment.
‘I don’t even know what that is,’ replied the boy. ‘But there was a photo of a man on the other side of the page, so I put the man back together and found I’d put the world back together too.’

Chocolate Cake :)

2011-11-30T04:34:00.001-08:00

Baked a basic chocolate cake!! This is my 2nd attempt, last time it turned out like a rubber. But this time I am pretty happy with the result.... used small square glass pans, did not have the right baking pan. And I actually like the shape & size of them, who said cakes can't be square... ;) Does this look yummy enough?

Delightfully Delicious December!

2011-11-29T04:10:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken from Hatta Fort Hotel.

December is here, I am a day early but it already feels like December, so why not!! The month which everybody especially in Dubai looks forward too. A token of appreciation we get at the end, for bearing the heat throughout the year.

The time when the air conditioners can take a break & breathe a sigh of relief.

For a change we don't mind walking instead of taking a cab for the shortest distance.

The time when everybody drags themselves to the office just to finish off the week and enjoy the weekend.

Long drives are fun and not tiring. Above picture was clicked on our way to Hatta (UAE).

The perfect time for a stroll along the beach. A week back we had this strong urge to have vada pav, that too at midnight! So we drove to Karama (I call it the food capital of Dubai, especially Indian) picked up vada pav (12 o clock in the night) and headed towards Jumeirah Beach for a walk. And this is when I actually don't miss being in India.

The best month to be here & at the same time to go on a holiday too. Luckily the UAE National day also comes in December along with Christmas & New Year.

How can I forget DIFF (Dubai International Film Festival), which showcases and honours some of the best international films for a week every December. Looking forward to it.

There are many more good things about Decembers in Dubai. These are only a few which i could think of at this moment.

"A soul never thinks without a picture"

2011-11-21T06:50:00.001-08:00

Aristotle rightly said it. Found the quote in the flight magazine on my way to India. Pictures & images always on my mind and what a perfect thought to begin the trip with! Some captures I managed in the midst of eating, shopping, celebrating and lazing around in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
Back home (Dubai), back to my blog and back to squeaking! :)

Rangoli being made for Diwali. Infact in Bangalore what i noticed was that making Rangoli was not just part of a festival or occasion, a small simple one is made everyday and you will find it outside every house in Bangalore. It is thought to bring good luck.

Tulsi,(holy basil) is a sacred plant common to every Hindu house in India which is worshiped everyday.

The making of Gajra by my mother in law :)

Loved the Bangalore weather, a welcome break from the Dubai heat!!

clicked on the airport while leaving the city :)

Milk kept for the cat and look whose relishing it!

Having chai in glass at the roadside ketli :)

It's that time of the year again!

2011-10-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

As I have already mentioned in my previous post, about going home for Diwali (the festival of lights as its aptly called) and 2 homes this time making it double fun. Its a month long stay in India!! so it got to be fun and nothing else, apart from me putting on few more kilos of weight. ;) I am not sure whether I would gather anytime to blog in the middle of all the enjoyment & fun with family, friends and food not to forget. But I wish to bring back lots of memories and experiences with pics to share. Till then wishing you all a super Diwali filled with love, happiness, lots of family time and obviously prosperity - thats what the festival is all about, remember Goddess Lakshmi! :)

These are some pictures from last years diwali at my home in Dubai.

Thoughtful Tuesday!

2011-10-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

Via Pinterest

And then

Via Pinterest