Reflections...

A Day in Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Watching a match in a stadium is addictive. No screen, regardless of its size, can give you the satisfaction, thrill and excitement of watching a match in a stadium. It is a sin if you are in the same city where an amazing match is scheduled and you are not a part of the real audience. On January 3, 2012, we were in Sydney, and yes, you got me right. There was no excuse good enough to not witness the cricket match between Australia and India where Sachin Tendulkar was playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground or SCG.

On that day, we went to SCG to watch Sachin play. Immediately after getting down from the cab in front of the Gate A of SCG, we saw Brat Lee and Ricky Ponting. Handsome Lee was inside the gate to our left giving an interview shoot. I immediately wanted to take a pic but by the time I take out the camera, he had left to talk to a group of people standing right behind. Anyway, we walked towards gate E to enter the pavilion. The moment we entered, it was like a trance. I was super thrilled to see the Indian flag all around, Indian people with Indian jerseys and dholak and drums and all kinds of ‘bajaas’ shouting with that typical stadium tone — Indiaaaaa...India! Oh what an overwhelming feeling it was! There were few boys from the Swami Army holding a banner which had Sachin Cricket Ground written on it instead of Sydney Cricket Ground and that immediately got thumbs up from me. I couldn’t help taking a picture of that and with them; I started cheering for India much before reaching Bay 12 where we had our seats. After a few overs and three wickets, the little master entered the ground.

Even though, generally I would sum up Australia as a non-racist country, but I did feel a wee bit of racism in some places during my 20 days trip to this country. What fascinated me here in the Sydney Cricket Ground was that the racism was nowhere to be seen. How sports bind people! So many whites were supporting the Indian team cheering for India with the Indians. There were Indians who were supporting Aussies too.

Here, I saw how Sachin Tendulkar is beyond religion, country and race. The respect and love he commands is unimaginable. The entire cricket ground stood up to welcome him to the ground. My heart was filled with pride. Still Sachin is such a humble person. A true sportsman!

The Indian pavilion (because there were mostly Indians in this pavilion) was an experience in itself. The NRIs, despite living in one of the most liveable cities in the world, Sydney, shouted Indian slogans like Bharat mata ki jai, hum hongey kaamyaab, Indiaaaaaaa India and so on. Songs like “Baar baar haan bolo yaar haan, apni jeet ho, unki haar haan,” “oye oye, oye oho-a”, “jhumma chumma de de” made the entire atmosphere so much fun! I couldn’t stop laughing listening to those oldies and the passion the boys were singing it with. Whenever there was a close escape of an Indian batsman, the audience at our pavilion would sing “all is well”...and that was really reassuring in the game or so did I think. When Virat Kohli was batting, every few minutes, someone was shouting “Kohli ke peeche kya hai, Kohli ke peeche”.... and then, when it was Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s turn to bat, there they go again singing a dedicated song for Dhoni, a.k.a. Mahi. It was predictably the song called “mahi ve”. Lol! It was funny and very very sweet at the same time!

One more thing I have noticed is that people here enjoy the match whole heartedly. They come prepared with food, drinks, clappers, sun screens, sun hats, shades, placards for every situation and everything you can think of. All these are available inside the stadium campus as well. When Sachin got out without making his 100^th 100, we were a little disappointed and hence, decided to leave. But the time we spent in the Sydney Cricket Ground will always be a special experience in my life - forever.

The cuckoos are here

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:04:00 +0000

Kopou (in Assamese)
or Foxtail Orchid

Today, I heard the first cuckoo song of the year. Yes, the coo of a cuckoo is like a melodious song to me, filled with deep emotions! I can feel it inside me whenever I hear a cuckoo sing.

Every year, the day I first hear a cuckoo sing, my mind registers it - immediately. I feel a restlessness to go home, no matter where I am. Home means Assam. Yes, my Assam- the Assam that is so beautiful with mountains filled with blooming Indian laburnum and gulmohar trees, vibrant coloured flowers and the smell of freshness in the air... Oh, how I long to be in the middle of all that!

This cuckoo craze is not really a new phenomenon for me. I have been experiencing it ever since I learnt to recognise the call of birds. While thinking of the beauty of how nature follows its course despite the mankind’s ruthless and seemingly tireless effort to ruin it, I truly appreciate the fact that there are people who still relate to nature and its happenings.

A Cuckoo

It is said that birds of same feather flock together and it is true! I have some childhood friends who also get thrilled listening to the cuckoo sing or seeing the kopou (foxtail orchid) flowering. Every time they experience the season's first song or the first bloom, they call me, we con-call each other in different locations and argue on who heard it or saw it first. It is such a "feel good" for all of us. It keeps us connected, not only with each other, but also with Mother Nature, the way we grew up in her lap.

Today, when I see small children captivated in apartments, happy with their Barbie dolls or x-box, I feel sad. They are missing that touch with Mother Nature. I wish I could help!

January

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:44:00 +0000

This is not the continuation of my Australia travelogue. This I am writing just as a reflection on the month that is passing by. Today is the last day of January and 2012 has already unfolded in a pretty new way for me. Here's what I've learnt this month:

1. I must get my priorities right. I did already.
2. Celebrate being alive.
3. Health is the only wealth we need.
4. You are as important for me as I am for you. No less, no more.
5. Work is a part of my life, it is not life itself.

It always feels great to grow up a little more. Thank you Jan! :)

Love at first sight - Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:31:00 +0000

Sydney Opera House

Yes, I know it’s been a few days already and it’s high time I wrote about my trip to Down Under. Many of my blog readers, who are also some of my great friends, are shouting at me for not writing about my trip to Australia yet.

The road in Kangaroo Island

The reason I wasn't posting anything was just one - my confusion on where to start! When the heart is full words are few and my trip of 20 days in OZ has definitely filled my heart. More so, because we went on a well-researched trip (by my partner) minus any annoying tour agent who treats you like a herd of animals.

There cannot be a better teacher than travel itself. Traveling has enriched my life in many ways. However, this 20 days’ vacation trip to Australia has changed me as a person. In many ways, my priorities have changed. Australia has taught me how to celebrate life and celebrate being alive.

Somewhere with the guiding light

This trip to Down Under will always remain as one of my most cherished trips - also because, I have done some of the things for the first time in my life here. This has helped me tick off a few of the “to dos” from my “must do before I die” list. These include celebrating New Year Eve at Sydney Harbour, seeing Uluru, helicopter ride, taking a cruise in the Pacific Ocean and snorkelling.

Our journey started on December 31, 2011 in Sydney. New Year Eves have always been very important for me. Call me “typical” but I do believe that if you start the year well, it will go well. I was getting tired of the usual good food for dinner, some TV and bursting of crackers at midnight routine for last few years. 2012 had to be different. We wanted to go somewhere. After considering a few options, we decided to welcome the New Year by going to the New Year (read: to welcome it before it actually reaches our country) in Sydney.

The crowd at Sydney Harbour

Australia was always a mystery for me, a country that is so far away from the rest of the world and we knew so little about it, except the unbelievably strong cricket team, Uluru and kangaroos! The moment I landed in Sydney, it was a series of surprises for me. Being a country in the Southern Hemisphere, it was to be hot as hell there in December and we were prepared for the summer in OZ. But to our surprise, it was cooler than the winter in Mumbai. Thankfully we had “just in case” jackets with us and we were saved. Even though we took a thirteen hours halt in Singapore, the eight hours flight to Sydney took a toll on us. We wanted to go to the hotel and take a nap so that the body clock gets confused (or cheated) to adjust to the new time zone we were in. Moreover, we had a ballroom cruise to take on the Sydney Harbour that evening to celebrate the New Year Eve.

Happy New Year! ;)

We had reservation at Hotel Radisson Blu in Sydney. So from the airport, we headed to the hotel and slept for some time. As the suggested cruise boarding time approached, we got ready for the evening and went to the Kingston Wharf to board the Majestic Cruise Line. The crowd, the atmosphere at the wharf and the enthusiasm of the people, especially those who were reserving seats at the bank since 12 noon were absolutely overwhelming. A little effort later, we found our ship and boarded the cruise of a lifetime!

What a great way to start the 2012! I couldn’t have asked for more!

(Click here for the next Sydney story…)

Lunar Eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:22:00 +0000

Following are some of the pictures I shot today (Dec 10, 2011), during the awesome Lunar Eclipse. The view was phenomenal!

Half covered

Almost fully covered

Clearing up

What's trending?

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:08:00 +0000

In an ‘aha moment’, during my evening walk yesterday, I realized how we all have something trending in a particular period of our life. Yes, just like the trending feature of twitter. I know you are smiling after reading this first line. But think about it. It is so true! Just ask yourself, what’s trending in your life now? Unless you are laughing at my thought, I am sure you will come out with some trending topics/hash tags that can be termed as trending in your life at this point of time. It can be anything, absolutely anything; the only criteria being, it has to be something that is occupying your mind space for quite some time now.

Trending on twitter today

I asked the question to myself and guess what, I have figured out my current trending topics/hash tags in life. Those are — deadline, December magazine, the new cook, evening walk etc. I may be sounding crazy for some of you who have no idea about what’s trending on twitter or twitter itself. But I was amazed to find out my trends. Then I flash-backed to the time when we shifted to Mumbai and I realized and recalled that my trending topics were absolutely different at that time. Shifting, movers and packers, SristirRamdhenu, Bohagi Bidai were some of the trending topics of my life during that phase of life and I was completely engrossed in these. Whoa! Life!

So, what did I learn from it? To be honest, it relieved a huge weight off of my shoulder. Why? Because I have realized (again) that life moves on and everything, good or bad, is just a phase, a matter of time. Eventually everything moves on. People do too. It’s a good thing. Relieving because you don’t remain stuck in the same situation for life. It changes. Change is good.

An evening at Orchard Road, Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:09:00 +0000

Mustafa

“This is the first and last time I am here and that is final,” I told myself. Everyone, whoever learnt that I was going to Singapore, asked me to visit Little India, as it is a must visit place in Singapore. Well, I noted the point and decided to visit Little India before I proceeded to Orchard Road. But, the moment I landed my feet on the streets of Little India, I was disappointed. I got down just in front of Mustafa, the so-called biggest shopping centre in Singapore. I never expected it to be so chaotic. Gawd! Little India is crowded, hot and humid with blaring loudspeakers selling almost everything on earth! To the right of Mustafa Mall, (Mall? Huh!) there was an alley filled with tired people sitting with their shopping bags. At a distance of two feet, garbage bins were overflowing with people walking alongside the garbage bins. I walked through the area a little and thought, since I was there already, I could as well check out the store/mall! I entered and suddenly realised that it was nothing but a few ‘Big Bazaars’ put together. I also realised how big a queue I would have to face to pay if I bought something. The thought was creepy and I came out immediately.

Bangladeshi campaign

South Indian restaurants, saloons, temples and hardware stores were all in the same lane just opposite the Mustafa centre. The area felt like any other thickly crowded Indian market. Can we seriously do something about this population explosion in India? Why are there so many of us?! Well, the place also had a large number of Bangladeshis doing their business announcing rebates in Bangla on the now omnipresent loud speakers.

To catch a cab and run away from Little India proved to be an effort in itself. There was a huge queue for taxis, quite predictably, as I realised no taxi was willing to stop there. After waiting for about ten odd minutes in the queue, I realised that there was no point wasting further time in the queue. I walked towards the left of the road where there was a junction and waited there for any car with a "Taxi" sign on top. A taxi came towards me and the old driver asked me if I had called for a taxi. I denied, as I didn't call for any. He nodded, as if he said, “Yes, lets go”. I asked him if he would go to Orchard Road. He nodded again. Without uttering a single word I got into the cab and said ok let's go to Orchard Plaza. I saw him pressing some buttons on his monitor and saw the display saying, "Call fulfilled successfully". Well, I did feel a little guilty for not clearing his confusion, but I had to get out of that place then. I also consoled my guilt, thinking, may be these confusions are not uncommon and they would understand. :)

Orchard Road (available parking lots on display)

On both sides of the Orchard Road, there were several shopping malls and swanky branded outlets making it one of the hottest shopping areas in Singapore's map. The taxi dropped me at the dropping zone of Lucky Plaza.

Well, before I forget, let me share with you, one of the most important reasons of my going to Orchard Road. I had to look for a particular sun screen hat that I saw some girls wearing in the Hippo Bus. The hats were so cool, as they not only protected the entire face from the harsh rays of the sun, but also had UV Protector Film on the shades. I enquired those girls who were wearing those hats, regarding those hats and asked them where I could buy those. They told me to go to OG Departmental Store on Orchard Road.

So, I had to look for the OG DS. First I entered Lucky Plaza and enquired the security personnel if they knew where OG DS was! He told me to walk straight leaving Lucky Plaza on my left. I did just that. Suddenly there were more branded stores and no OG in sight. A few boys were withdrawing money from a cash machine. I went to the ATM and asked the boys if they can guide me the way to OG DS. They told me it was at the end of Centre Point, another multi-storeyed mall. I thanked them and continued my OG DS search. I walk past four malls and finally found OG and said to myself, "There you are!"

(: OG :)

Girls and new shoes have an inexplicable connection. On the ground floor of OG, I saw a variety of shoes apart from cosmetics. “I have already purchased two pairs of shoes at the Peninsula mall and I must not buy more,” I told myself. Focusing on why I was in OG at the first place, I enquired with the cashier about the sunscreen hats. She asked me to go to the second floor. I enquired there again. The second floor sent me to the third floor and I found those hats waiting there for me. I carefully picked-up four. While paying, the cashier asked me if I had membership of their shop! I said, I didn't, as I was a tourist. She suggested, in that case, I must go to the fourth floor to get a slip with which I can get eight per cent refund on my purchases in the airport as a tourist. I ended up visiting all the floors OG had and yes, it was a pleasant experience.

Evening was setting in and the almost deafening commotion of nest bound birds on the Orchard Road was making the atmosphere very appealing. I completed my purchases and wanted to be in the Orchard Road area a little longer. So, I entered a roadside cafeteria called the The Connoisseur Concerto a.k.a. tcc and ordered some iced lemon tea and a chocolate confession. While sitting there enjoying my drink and confection, I observed the happenings around me, on and across the street apart from the cafeteria itself.

tcc

Suddenly there was a big sound. Bang! I looked towards the direction of the sound and saw there was an accident. A biker was hit by a SUV. But, look at the beauty of this chaos. If it was in India, both the men would have shouted at each other trying to blame each other etc. But here, the gentleman in the SUV came out of his vehicle and helped the biker collect his things and helped him settle down by the roadside. Then the gentleman came back to his vehicle, rubbed the dent his car had got and went to the biker again who was taking care of his bike and helmet. The SUV man suggested the biker to squeeze and release his palm just to see if it hurts somewhere. Both waited, talked and cordially said good bye to each other and gone. There were no unnecessary crowd as well. Such civic behaviour!

My fav poison and sin

On the other side of the cafe, I saw people queuing up for taxis. Nobody was showing any restlessness or annoyance. Quietly and decently people were waiting for their turn. No ladies first policy, except a group of five blind old men, who were given the preference to board a taxi out of turn. That was humanity and good citizenship. I asked the waitress a thing about Lucky Plaza. She told me, I will have to take a bus or.... She misunderstood. I clarified to her, “No, I don't need a transport. I know where it is as I came walking from there to the OG behind.” She was surprised and shocked. She asked me, "You walked from lucky plaza to OG?! That's too far". I said, "No it’s not that far. It was an easy walking distance for me." She exclaimed, "That's too far for me!" I realised the reason. I just smiled in reply.

Singapore is a small city. The city can be covered from one end to the other in just 45 minutes by car. For me, it was very small, area-wise. I am used to bigger cities and longer walks. So, for me, walking from Lucky Plaza to OG was no big deal. But for the waitress, it was. Singapore has excellent public transportation facility making every inch easily accessible by the city dwellers. So, they prefer to just hop on and hop off from any of the air-conditioned public transport facility wherever and whenever they want to.

It was getting dark and I had shopping bags in my hand. So, I decided to go back to my hotel and asked for the check. Paid, took my things and headed towards the taxi stand where people were queuing up.

Dr Bhupen Hazarika lives on...

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:30:00 +0000

Dr Bhupen Hazarika

A life, led with the highest degree of simplicity — the pain, ups and downs of personal life, expressed in effortless melodies, the man, the legend who touched everyone's heart with his humane lyrics and melodies — can that great human being be dead and gone forever? No, for me, he is still alive in every one of us, whose heart he has touched with his soulful melodies and personal interaction. For me, only his body has expired, but his soul has moved on to live in each one of us, as our very own Bhupen mama, Bhupen da and Dr Bhupen Hazarika.

The enormity of his funeral procession, the gathering of people of all ages, cast and religion to pay homage to the great legend are the proofs how a single element called soulful music is enough to unite everyone. Bhupen mama's music had that power. An excellent orator, director, brilliant student, a pioneer in making Assamese music global, Bhupen Hazarika lives on. My prayers to the almighty, may his soul rest in peace and guide us to remain united forever.

Companionship

My heartfelt condolences to Ms Kalpana Lajmi, though I know, no word can be enough to condole her on her loss. The emptiness she is going to face is unimaginable. My sincere gratitude to her for her unconditional love for Bhupen Hazarika. I thank her for taking care of the legend in his time of need, for being there for him – always, for having the courage to face the ridicule she had to face for her nameless relationship with Dr Bhupen Hazarika. She is not great for these reasons alone, my respect for her has grown manifold for (also) establishing the fact that love doesn’t have to have a name or a relationship tag to it. Love is just love. Ms Lajmi has proved it loud and clear. My heartfelt gratitude to her – for everything.

Know more about:

Dr Bhupen Hazarika

Ms. Kalpana Lajmi

The relationship

Solo Singapore - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:35:00 +0000

The three days of the rigorous ITB Asia Convention left me tired and exhausted. The massive exhibitions in the three large halls of the Suntec Convention Center concluded successfully and I came back to my hotel room with considerable feet pain. All thanks to the continuous meetings, visits to each and every booth, multiple press conferences and the need for a lot of networking. But, at the end of the event I felt satisfied at a job good done. While I enjoyed the opportunity of interacting with the top notch travel professionals around the world, the high point and undoubtedly the most enriching experience was my meeting the Secretary General of UNWTO Mr Taleb Rifai. The Editor-in-Chief of the Travel and Leisure magazine Chris Kucway inspired me to aim higher in my profession. His poise, skills in anchoring an event, discussion and his thorough knowledge left me spellbound. I was thankful to my employers for giving me the opportunity to attend one of the major events of the world tourism industry.

Mr Taleb Rifai giving his speech in the press conference

At the end of the event, media delegates were given passes to visit Sentosa (Sentosa is an island nearby). With two days of the weekend to explore the city of Singapore, I booked my pass for Sunday. I wanted to see Singapore first and what better way than to take the Hippo Bus City Tour! The Hippo Bus City Tour is a tour of Singapore on a roofless double decker bus and it has four routes. You can pick the one you are most interested in. The main hub of bus tours was just by the side of the main lobby of Suntec Convention Center. I hopped into one of the many double decker roofless busses that waited there. The lady driver asked me if I needed a day pass or just that single tour. I opted for the single tour, as I had no intention of getting down and wasting time. I wanted to see it first and know the routes.

The Hippo Bus I was in.

The moment the bus started the in-bus audio system started and a handsome voice welcomed all the boarders in the bus. One by one the audio system, now to be our virtual guide, began to explain the attractions appearing on our right and left, as we made our way. I was amazed by the seamless synchronisation it had with the stops, traffic signals and sites of tourist importance. Starting from Suntec, we went through the city roads, reached the Formula1 racing ground, the Singapore Flyer and the Skypark on Marina Bay Sands. The skypark has always fascinated me ever since I saw the programme on Discovery Channel. Oh what a feat! A man-made marvel!

Singapore Flyer

The bus, continuing its journey and the synchronised iTour, took us through the financial district of Singapore where I could see all the tall buildings and heritage houses restored and re-used as restaurants and market places. Many such tourist spots later, the bus reached the Singapore Botanical Garden. This is a bigger halt for the Hippo Bus and you are given 20 minutes to get down and have a look around and enjoy the freshness. The entire area was alive with the fragrance of flowers and I couldn’t help taking deep breaths. It was very refreshing and I suddenly discovered I didn’t want to leave anymore! But since the time was up, I had to. On our return from the garden, we passed through the ultimate posh area of Singapore and the houses there looked like dreams on earth! The bus then took us to the Orchard Road, one of the many tourist attractions I wanted to see in Singapore. Orchard road was in a simple word – alluring. After enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful sites, the bus returned to its original hub and I got down to go back to my hotel. However, many of my co-passengers hopped off in different locations of their choice. Now, my visit to Orchard Road remained.

The Marina Bay Sands Sky Park

Solo Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:18:00 +0000

On October 18, this year, I had to go to Singapore to attend the ITB Asia travel conference representing our travel magazine. ITB Asia is the biggest travel trade show in Asia and a must visit for everyone in the travel industry. This is an ideal platform to network, make contacts and do business. I was glad to get this opportunity as I had never been to Singapore and really wanted to attend ITB Asia myself.

The concerned colleagues started to speed up the process of ticketing, hotel booking and visa procedures, as I needed to travel in three days. By evening I gathered all the information on ITB and my tickets were sent to my inbox by our official travel agent. The next three days, media and press meet invitations and conference RSVPs from ITB Asia participants kept flooding my inbox. My list of “to dos” was getting longer.

Indian Passport

My flight was at 11.05 pm on Monday. I cooked, wound up, packed, locked the house and started for Mumbai International Airport. Whisking through all the checks and formalities I sat in the plane. After making myself comfortable, I suddenly started to get a panic attack. I felt a little scared, thinking, in five hours, I will be in a totally unknown place with absolute unknown people and all by myself. God! Butterflies started to flutter inside my stomach. But, yes, I do like this feeling of uncertainty and the thrill of going to an unknown place. Bring it on, I said to myself.

I usually don’t get sleep anywhere other than my bed. An exception is a first class train compartment. Since there was no sign of my getting sleep, I read a bit, watched some TV in the kingfisher in-flight entertainment system and nibbled on the snacks given. When the lights were dimmed, I made another attempt to sleep. But I couldn't. The air hostess gave me an arrival slip which was to be filled in and submitted at the immigration counter on arrival. I filled it up immediately, thinking it would be a good time pass. Well, people around me started to snore. So I switched off my reading light and seriously tried to make myself sleep.

The islands below while I fly the good times

I must have slept for an hour in total, on and off. It was around 5 am (Singapore time) and I could see clouds outside. I was told that you can expect rain anytime of the day in Singapore. I tried to see beyond the clouds and down below. The view of some islands and ships with lights on made me feel good. I am hydrophobic and really get scared if I see a lot of water around. But I was in a place now where there is water everywhere and I was feeling okay. I thanked God for being kind to me.

Lights in the flight were put on. The hostess announced the descend and everyone woke up. A commotion of getting ready, straightening the chair backs and putting the window shades up filled the craft. I was getting ready with my passport and arrival slip on hand. The airhostess announced that transporting drugs is a punishable offence in Singapore and the punishment is death. Dude! I thought what if the paracetamols I was carrying for migraine headaches are called drugs here!

Yes, the lovelies

Everybody deplaned and went through the immigration process. To collect baggage the passengers had to take a sky train to the next level of the airport and I did exactly that. After the baggage collection, I came out of the exit, bought a local SIM card, withdrew some Singapore dollars from an ATM and I was good to go to my hotel at Carpenter Street. There were plenty of candy coloured taxis waiting outside the exit gate. I hired one and I was ready for Singapore!

Now, on my way to the city of Singapore, the first thing I wanted to write home about was — “if you want to know how many colours bougainvillea can have, visit Singapore”. The sinfully neat and perfect to the tee roads; swanky foreign cars, the ships on my left and the possibilities in the horizon; the manicured sidewalks and lush greenery, all these made me feel good instantly.

The Climb

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:06:00 +0000

Today, I suddenly realised how true it is when the wise one said, “Life is a journey”. Yes, I totally agree with that. More so when I realised how we have to move on in the journey, regardless of whether or not you have the same companion you started your journey with or met on the way.

For me, life is an uphill climb. Uphill, not because it is difficult, but because, we are supposed to live up to our full potential. We have to complete the task of being born as human beings; we have to reach our ultimate possibilities. In this climb, we meet many people, some of them boost our morale, some discourage us from looking up ahead, some make us weak and some just waste our time. In my climb in life, I have met all sorts of people and most of them continued to stay on. Some I had to let go, because they were just not worth it. Some came back and stayed even more committed to the journey and we became co-hikers or co-travellers for life. I know most of them will stay on till I reach the peak. I am at that age, where I can see things rationally now. I know what is doable and what is not worth sticking to.

In an “aha-moment” I found out a perfect example to cite here: Say, I am on a mountain hike. Everything around me is beautiful, lush greenery, heart-warming meadows, musical springs and I am hiking with two kinds of drinks on my back pack. One is plain water and the other one is my favourite lemon iced tea. The bottle with lemon iced tea suddenly falls in the gorge below. What do I do? Shall I go down and find it or should I continue my hike with the bottle of water in my hand? I would choose to continue with the bottle of water in my hand. I would definitely continue my hike. :)

See, I told you before; writing makes me think straight and feel good. Thank you for reading!

This is a wallpaper pic from live-positive.blogspot.com :) Nice noh?

PMS

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:44:00 +0000

This post is for my female friends and readers who read my blog. This is about the hormonal havoc that we go through every month with exceptions of a few who are lucky not to have it. During my college days, I didn’t realize the influence of the hormonal changes on me every month. But as I grew and became more and more aware of my being, I realized how things change during those days. It is an amazing discovery and I am sure many readers will agree to this.

The first month when I noticed the change in my attitude towards things, happenings and people, it got me thinking. It was a revelation in itself, how I change as a person! How can I change in just a matter of one week! But it did happen. However, I waited to see if that happens in the following month too. Guess what? It did. OMG!

Even though I realized and found out the reason of my cravings for certain things, tsunami sized mood swings and the sudden rush of depressing and negative thoughts; it kind of made me very sad. I realized I will have to live with this phase during that period of every month, for the rest of my life or until I hit menopause.

Well, I have been living with it for quite some time now and it is getting worse. Yes, this month in particular, has been the worst ever. I have been feeling endlessly hopeless and depressed, more so because the weight gain annoys me to no end during this time of the month. Everything has been affecting me emotionally and mentally. I even fought with a friend of mine. Well, I am happy that my friends do not take it to heart and they know I will be normal soon. But that is not the point.

I know there are so many girls who suffer the same things and go through the same emotional upheaval every month. But I also know that there is hardly anyone in the family who understands this phase in a woman’s life. I just wish they read this post and understand and be patient with their girls during this particular “period” of time every month. I thank my family for being understanding and kind.

To furnish some facts that I am not being verbose and I did my readings, here is a piece of reading material I found during my research that says a lot (note the highlighted area, it is OH SO TRUE!):

PMS Facts and Statistics

As many as 90% of all women will have to deal with the aches, pains and emotional stress of Premenstrual Syndrome or PMS at some time during their reproductive years while 30% to 40% of all women will have symptoms distressing enough to interfere with their everyday lives. Some of the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome include abdominal bloating, acne, anxiety, backache, breast swelling and tenderness, cramps, depression, food cravings, fainting spells, fatigue, headaches, insomnia, altered sex drive, swelling of the fingers and ankles, and personality changes such as drastic mood swings, outbursts of anger, violence and even thoughts of suicide.

The menstrual cycle is regulated by changes in the endometrium or the membrane lining of the uterus and is divided into the follicular and the ovulation and secretory phases.

Follicular (Proliferative) Phase: This phase begins at the end of the menstrual flow and lasts for ten to fourteen days. During this phase the uterine lining grows and thickens, the ovaries produce estrogen, and some of the ovarian follicles are stimulated until their eggs have nearly tripled in size. At the end of this phase ovulation occurs.
Ovulatory Phase: This phase only lasts for 36 hours and involves the release of the egg into one of the fallopian tubes.
Luteal (Secretory) Phase: Once ovulation has occurred this phase begins. During the average fourteen days of the secretory phase progesterone and estrogen stimulate the uterine lining in preparation for implantation by a fertilized egg. If fertilization doesn't occur, the tissue that has been prepared degenerates and estrogen and progesterone levels drop as the tissue sloughs off and is shed during menses.

Premenstrual Syndrome is a reoccurring condition that affects women during the one to two weeks before menstruation begins (the luteal phase) and disappears at the end of a full flow of menses. During the entire menstrual cycle female hormone levels (estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, etc.) are constantly in flux as the body prepares the uterus and the other female organs for a fertilized egg. Abnormalities in any of these areas or in any of the areas that regulate the release of these hormones can cause PMS and/or other menstrual problems.

PMS can also be caused or aggravated by stress, genetics (PMS is more likely in a woman whose mother had PMS), age (women in their thirties and forties are more likely to experience PMS than younger women), the number of children a woman has had (women with more children are more likely to suffer from PMS than women with fewer children), alcohol, sugar and caffeine intake, and hypothyroidism and depression. And, as with most things, PMS can be affected by the amount of exercise you get and by diet. Studies have shown that women who exercise regularly are less susceptible to negative moods and experience fewer and less severe physical PMS symptoms than women who do not exercise or who exercise infrequently.

Proper nutrition also plays a vital part in combating and eliminating premenstrual syndrome. According to Doctor Guy Abraham, "nutrition is the single most important factor in whether or not a woman will have PMS. This is why we see so much PMS among women in their thirties. Most of them have been pregnant, which has depleted their bodies of nutrients, so they're more likely to be deficient in the B vitamins and magnesium." [From: Healing with Vitamins, By the editors of Prevention Health Books, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, Pennsylvania, 1996, "Premenstrual Syndrome," p. 460]

Calcium is also very important for the woman who suffers from PMS. One study in which women took 1200 mg of calcium daily showed a 50% reduction in PMS symptoms after three months. Another study showed that women who are most likely to suffer from PMS consumed 62% more refined carbohydrates, 275% more refined sugar, 79% more dairy products, 78% more sodium, 53% less iron, 77% less manganese, and 53% less zinc than those who practiced the "Standard American Diet," which in and of itself is far from the ideal diet.

PMS Diseases

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS that affects 3% to 8% of all women. To diagnosis this disease a woman must suffer from at least five symptoms of depression listed below:

Feelings of sadness or hopelessness,
Possible suicidal thoughts,
Tension or anxiety,
Mood swings marked by periods of crying,
Persistent irritability or anger that affects other people,
Disinterest in daily activities and relationships,
Trouble concentrating,
Fatigue or low energy,
Food cravings or bingeing,
Sleep disturbances,
Feeling out of control, and
Unordinary physical symptoms during the majority of her periods and must become worse a week or so before the period begins and disappear shortly after the period ends.

To diagnosis Premenstrual Syndrome and to rule out the possibility of a mood disorder or another disease with similar symptoms there must be at least a week during the first part of the menstrual cycle that is symptom free. To determine this, your doctor will probably ask you to keep track of when your symptoms occur.

PMS and PMDD can increase a woman's risk of major and minor depression and other mental problems. Women with migraines will often get them during PMS while women who suffer from asthma have a higher risk of an asthma attack during PMS. The fluctuating estrogen and progesterone levels during PMS can also affect insulin levels which can affect women with diabetes.

I hope this reading will make the family of the girl a little considerate for her and be patient with her and blame it all on the PMS not the person suffering from it. My request to you, please make your family read it and understand what you go through...

Monsoon

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 09:45:00 +0000

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Monsoon is an odd time to travel, especially when you have to travel bag and baggage. In my case, I have to literally shift my base for work almost every three years and the timing invariably coincides with monsoon.

We got transferred to Kolkata in June 2008 when it was peak monsoon time. I had a tough time getting used to the erratic behavior of the rain-fall in Kolkata. When indoors one would not realize when it rained and when it stopped. Happened to me many times! I also suffered because many times as clothes that were hung for drying outside got wet and I had to re-wash the same. Sometimes I was surprised to see that the front balcony, where I was standing taking in the view of the lake, was absolutely dry, while the balcony in the backside of the house was getting drenched by rain. . No, I am NOT exaggerating. Once it so happened that a mad windy storm lashed the trees and houses in the place we stayed, Kalikapur to be precise. At the same time a friend of mine who was on his way to visit me from about 10 kms from my place wished it would rain as it was so hot that day! I thought he was joking and when I told him about the stormy rain that was going on at my place. He couldn’t believe it and assumed I was joking. Only when he reached my place fighting the storm, he agreed that it was a crazy experience.

This monsoon, we have got transferred to Mumbai. Mumbai is a different experience altogether, since the day I came (May 29, 2011 to be more precise). The first few days it was terribly hot, in fact hotter than Kolkata. Yes, I had a concept that Kolkata is the hottest city in India after Chennai. But, I felt there is a city in-between, it’s Mumbai. Thankfully the house we have settled in has air-conditioning in every room. On June 2, monsoon set in, five days earlier than the expected time. I never understood how people can clock these natural phenomenons and most of all, seasons! Anyway, there was respite from the heat. Few heavy showers felt good. Though I was not venturing out much initially, apart from unavoidable work, after a couple of weeks, it got boring. I wanted to go out and find some friends.

The monsoon was getting crazier as it developed momentum. It would rain even when it is absolutely sunny outside. Sometimes, I didn’t realize when dawn broke. It would be so dark, as if there were several hours for dawn to break. The rains are like the waves of the Arabian Sea here. It comes and it goes. Everyone carries an umbrella regardless of what the weather is. You never know when it will start pouring. Learning from others, I carry an umbrella too, all the time, whenever I go out these days.

Let me share an interesting incident that happened with me some days back. That day, I was home alone and I ran out of hard cash. So, I had to go and withdraw some cash from a nearby ATM. The climate was pleasant and I went out on foot. Tried three ATMs, all were either out of service or had some link failure. First I went to the nearby ICICI Bank ATM of Bandra branch. It was out of service. There was another local bank ATM nearby and I went there. A girl was already punching the keys and I waited for her to leave. It was taking way too long than expected and I noticed that the girl was getting restless too. I enquired as she looked worried. I asked, if there was any problem with the machine! Before she replied, I saw the screen and it was showing “Your transaction is being processed”. I said, “Oh, it’s taking too long ha?” She said, “Yes” with a sad smile. I wondered, “What if the money comes out once you leave the machine?” She said, “Exactly! I don’t know what to do now!” While we were talking, the machine screen displayed “Transaction failed”. She thanked God and hinted me if I wanted to try. I said, “No, I don’t want to risk it.” By then, it started drizzling and I went out in search of another ATM nearby. I took out the umbrella and started walking on the pavement. Meanwhile, the girl entered a shop. Instead of walking cluelessly, I decided to ask a security guard sitting by a shop door, if there is any other ATM nearby. Thankfully he knew and guided me the way. reached the Standard Chartered Bank ATM where a girl was already inside while two boys were waiting outside. The rain had meanwhile evolved from a drizzle to a downpour. I joined the queue. The girl inside took longer than required and to everybody’s disappointment, the ATM guard hung a board on the door where it was written “Out of service”. Dang, now what?! I asked the guard if there is any other ATM nearby. He pointed out to the SBI ATM on the opposite side of the road. When I was about to cross the road to go to the SBI ATM, that girl I met in the second ATM said “Hi!” I responded and smiled. She asked, “This one’s not working too?” I sad, “Sadly, yes.” She asked, what are you gonna do?” I pointed out the ATM across the road and said I am going there. She asked, “Can I please borrow your umbrella? I forgot mine in a shop yesterday.” I agreed to share. We both crossed the road and saw a lot of people waiting outside the ATM. Since it was impossible to stand outside with so little space and such heavy rain, we both entered the empty space inside the ATM, where one girl was already trying her luck with the machine. (I wondered why I was seeing girls in every single ATM struggling to withdraw money!) We were wondering if this one’s working. Thankfully, it was. One South Indian guy made some “hu” kind of noise and I realized he was trying to say something to me. I asked, “Is it your turn after her?” He nodded. I said, “No problem, you go, do your thing”. I waited. He called for his friend and both entered the ATM room and kept withdrawing. The door to the room from another side opened. Later we realized it was the bank’s side of the entrance. Two men, seemingly employees of the bank, entered the ATM room and said, “Money is over in the ATM and we need to refill it”. They started closing the road side door of the ATM. We were both inside the ATM already. The girl looked worried. I asked the banker if we can withdraw some money at least, as all the ATMs in the area were out of order. He asked her how much she wanted to withdraw. She said thousand. He asked me, I said I need at least two thousand. Meanwhile, the south Indian men were done with their withdrawal and I saw them taking handful of five hundred rupee notes in their hands. I doubted my luck! Still wanted to try, I asked the girl to withdraw. She could withdraw her thousand. The bankers said, "You won’t get thousand rupee notes and hundred rupee notes". I just needed some money in hand, so I said it wouldn’t matter. While I was withdrawing money, the girl was not leaving even after she was done withdrawing the money. The bankers told her to leave from the other door which was through the bank premises. She was adamant. Her argument was that she didn’t know that exit and she wouldn’t go that way. She wanted to use the door she came in from. The men said one of them will accompany her to the other exit door. She refused. I realized she was scared. So, I said, “I am done, wait. You can go with me.” She readily agreed. We both came out of the ATM through the bank premises and through a dark pathway we reached the main road. The rain stopped by then and she asked me which way I was going. After knowing her destination, we realized we had to go in two opposite directions. So we said bye to each other and left. The strange thing is, I didn’t even ask her name, neither did she!

I found out that there are also a few positive things about monsoon in Mumbai. Apart from many tiny things, the major thrill is a drive in the Bandra Worli Sea Link when it is pouring. Oh what a wonderful experience! It is taking time for me to get used to the place and people. I know it will take some time and monsoon is the best time for me to take time out to contemplate and let the experience sink in. I am still in my buffering time.

Break ke baad (After the break)

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:08:00 +0000

Time flies when you throw clocks ;)

I cannot believe that I let a full month pass by without posting a blog on my site! I feel sad. However, I have my justifications for being absent from here. During my absence, a lot of things happened.

Me and few of my hard working friends organised an event called Bohagi Bidai. This is a festival that denotes the end of spring and beginning of summer in Assam. Our efforts did make the event a grand success. You will be able to read about it here soon.

One major developments was our transfer to Mumbai. Everything happened almost simultaneously, ...and before I realise how all these major changes happened, I am already in Mumbai, writing about it from my study in the new house here.

Well, the household things are still in transit and I am slowly getting back on track, though my work as the Associate Editor continues in the travel magazine I was working for when I was in Kolkata.

Apparently, I have a lot of things to tell you – including a northeast India website, a book on “My friend Maggie”, whom I met in a trip to Shanghai, the umbrella story at Hotel Parkyard, Marathi – the language, monsoon in Mumbai and many more. So, sit back, relax and read on…..

The Kunming connection

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:51:00 +0000

…all the passengers took their respective seats and made themselves comfortable. Since I was asked if I have any seat preference and I did ask for a window seat, I got 6A. Soon after take off, we (passengers) were served meals. The serving started from the front row and when they reached my row, I was asked my preference of food. Fish rice or chicken fried rice? Lo, what do I pick? I am a vegetarian! I asked if they have anything vegetarian. The Chinese air hostess seemed confused. I reframed my question and asked if they have anything with vegetables. She forwarded a box towards me and asked, “How about these ma’am?” I didn’t want to take more of her time in one single row, so I took the box. I opened it while my next seat passenger started digging his fish rice. In the box, I saw a small bowl of some lettuce leaves with two small tomatoes, another bowl of small yellow berry kind of fruits and a bun. This bowl of yellow tiny fruits caught my attention and I opened that bowl first. By that time, my neighbour has also started to open the fruit bowl. We both looked at each other and smiled. He murmured, “Don’t know what it is!” I said, “It smells like mango and the inside of it looks like orange. But it is too small to be orange.” I bit one and thought not to spoil my stomach by eating something unknown. So, that was my meal. Literally nothing eat-worthy for me.

Giving the trash away, I tried to catch some sleep before landing at Kunming, where I’ll have to change my flight to go to Shanghai.

"Holy mother of God!" This was my first reaction when I landed in Kunming. It felt as if nobody speaks English! Kunming is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwestern China. Anyway, I got myself security and immigration checked after arrival. Then it was time to catch the connecting flight to shanghai. So, I proceeded after enquiring a security officer, who fortunately was talking in English. After collecting my bag, I was told to go to the 1st floor. I took the lift to the first floor and asked the liftman to take me to the 1st floor and he presses the no 2 button! I told him to take me to the 1st floor and wanted to press the button 1 myself as I was not sure he understood what I was trying to say to him. The lift stopped on the 1st floor but the lift was showing the number 2. I got out and was absolutely confused on what’s happening and which floor I was in. I did not see a floor pass by when the lift started and landed in this floor. The Two Chinese gentlemen were also in the lift and they told me that this is 1st floor. I said, “But the lift is showing it’s 2nd floor!” The men said it's Chinese! I had no idea what on earth it meant. Since I had some time to catch my next flight, I decided to explore and check this floor first. To my surprise, I really did see that the check in counter for my next flight is in fact in this floor itself! Oh lord!

Well, the check in counter was absolutely crowded. Every counter had group check in written on it. Hence, I decided to enquire with the ticket girl in the counter. She said I’ll get my boarding pass here. Fair enough, I landed at the right place. After waiting in the line for sometimes, I got my boarding pass and given my cabin bag. When asked she showed me the way to gate no 10. I went towards the direction shown. I saw till 9, then, there was check in counters again. I saw the board 10-27>, I followed. But.....every other counter/shop/chamber/signboard looked like Feng Shui symbols!
After walking for around 10 minutes in one direction, I had to take a complete hairpin curve turn to go to the gate number 10. It was a level down from where I was toiling to find it in.
I was the first one to reach the gate. I had my doubt. Asked the second person who came and sat near the gate. I pointed towards my flight no and the gate no on my boarding card, he nodded and signalled that yes I have reached the right gate. After sometimes, the signage displayed my flight no and time. I was relieved. Settling in a chair, I started looking here and there and saw one guy on a corner chair working on his laptop. I assumed that he must be accessing airport's free wi-fi. To kill my idle time I took out the iPad and started searching for free airport wi-fi. There was none. Played solitaire instead. Then all the passengers came in and we were asked to board the flight.
Things I noticed:

They did not give hand bag tag
It was extremely cold at 7 degree
Though it was 7.30 am when I boarded the flight, it was not as sunny as it usually is in our land around that time in the morning
Chinese people are taller than I thought.
Chinese do not count the ground floor as ground floor, their ground floor is 1st floor.

Solo Shanghai

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:18:00 +0000

Looking through the window - China Eastern Airline

It is mandatory for the editors to attend the international fairs that get covered in our magazine. This time it was my turn to visit one such exhibition to be held in Shanghai, China. I had been abroad many times before. But this was to be my first time alone. So, I was having a mixed feeling – a little fear and more of excitement and thrill.

The day, as it approached, my concerned colleagues arranged everything for me. Visa, air tickets and the logistics, everything was ready for me to carry along. The day arrived. It was time for me to leave for Shanghai alone on a midnight flight. I started from home to the airport at around 9.45 pm, taking enough time for me to solve any unforeseen mess-up.

Ummmm....okay.... o_O

Immediately after reaching the Netaji Subhash International Airport in Kolkata, I went through the formalities of departure and immigration check. Everything happened smoothly making me feel good. Before the security check, I had to wait for about 15 minutes as it was yet to start. The moment it started, I completed my check and went to the lobby. I saw many Chinese passengers and as usual, I assumed them to be the local Kolkatan Chinese going to their native place or grandma’s place for the vacations. I also thought of them to be tourists who are on their way back home. I saw many Indians who looked like businessmen on transit. While observing, face-reading and imagining endless things, something irritated my nose. Eew!


The lovely young lady in front of my seat

The male washroom was a few metres away and it smelt really bad! I was once again disgusted, as I was when leaving for Hong Kong late last year. I felt embarrassed too in front of all these people from our neighbouring country. Thought, what they would think of us, the Indians! I wondered why we cannot have as swanky an airport as Hong Kong! What’s lacking in our country?! I found the answer in no time. Resources are not a problem in India, people are. The proof of how ill-mannered majority of the Indians are is available in every government office buildings, on the corners of the staircases and on the corners of the footpaths and pavements. I got disgusted and tried to divert my mind by thinking something pleasant. Thankfully I didn’t have to suffer much here.

Finally the wait was over. The flight MU 556 has announced its boarding. I joined the queue to board…
Click here to continue...

Travelogues - coming up

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:53:00 +0000

I wanna go everywhere :)

I love to travel. The destination does not matter as much as the journey - for me. When I was a small girl, the moment we reach our destination after a long drive, I used tell my father, "Oh no, why did we reach so soon? I wanted the drive to last a little longer!" I have always enjoyed travelling, be it in a car, bus, rail, a ship or an air-plane. Since I love to travel so much and I have in fact travelled quite a lot, it is time for me to start writing my travel experiences here. Agree? So, sit back, relax and enjoy this virtual journey through my travelogues, along with the other things in my blog. Watch this space for some exotic journeys! :)

2012

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:14:00 +0000

Looking forward to a new positive beginning

This thought has been brewing in my mind since the day of the earthquake and the destructive tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011. A few days prior to this, New Zealand suffered a severe earthquake too. Both these events resulted in huge loss of lives and properties. After these two devastating events, I have observed that the only obvious reaction amongst people of different age, size and genre has been “Is this the end” “the end of the world has started”, “2012 predictions are going to be true” and so on and so forth. Till recently, to be precise, till the day of release of the movie 2012 , nobody even thought in these ultimate lines. The movie has had a great impact on peoples’ minds. People are tweeting about these above-mentioned events on twitter and people are expressing their concern/fear/survival strategies on the day when the planet Earth will just crumble and vanish in the vastness of the universe. I could not believe my own eyes when I saw websites dedicated on dreams people dream about 2012 and as how everything is going to end! Are they kidding me? I am disgusted and amused at the same time.
You must have heard of the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I have read the book and have also seen the video made on that book. I totally agree with the formula and I have experienced the effects of visualising in my own life. Hence, my point here is, since many people are actually visualising the end of the world and they believe that it is going to happen in 2012; this way, these people actually want it to happen by asking for it to happen. All the negative and destructive thinking of people around the globe is actually creating the negative event in the same pace it is being imagined, talked about and feared. I believe that if you think of one thing a lot and visualise it in your head/mind repeatedly, you end up having it. My belief is not baseless I know. This belief has been quoted many times in many forms before. Some of these include, “imagination is the life’s coming attractions” and “be careful what you wish for, lest it come true”.

Me at Disneyland Hotel & Resort Hong Kong

Whatever happened in Japan and New Zealand and in India in 2004 were absolute natural phenomena. If you think rationally, it does not predict the end of the world or the beginning of the end of world as well. I really pity those who are so petrified anticipating, contemplating the end of the world or are scared to die. Death is also an absolute natural phenomenon. People will die and that is the only truth, regardless of the 2012 predictions coming to reality or not. So, my point here is, why panic so much and waste our time over something so unimportant? Yes, “unimportant” because even if it was to be true, we, mere human beings cannot do anything about it. So, instead, we can resolve to live a happy and healthy life and think of wonderful things that can happen in the future. Instead of worrying on “can-happen-negatives” we all can dream/visualise about what we wish to happen and want to happen. You would love to know that when right-minded and well-balanced people together in communion and consensus think good and positive, the extremes warned about can be warded off making good things to happen instead.

51 more reasons...... why it's great to be a woman

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:28:00 +0000

While thinking of it......I realised, everyday is a Women's Day! It's a fact. .....and to add weight to my this statement, I have some more reasons (apart from the obvious ones): :)

Working / Earning is not mandatory.
We always get place to sit when using public transport.
We don't have to stand on the queue to get tickets.
We don't have to worry about the purse when we shop with men
We can marry rich and then not have to work
Men take us on all expense paid trips
Easy to get a ride
Men hold the door open for us
Jewels look good on us
We're better manipulators
We always end up sleeping in the bed when we fight with our other halves - you guys get the couch
We don't worry about receding hairline.
We can easily show our disappointments or disapprovals (sometimes without even saying a word!)
Even strangers show care if we are in trouble. Men have to manage themselves
We can cry in public. Men can’t
We don't have to worry if we lose the fight
Sweat is sexy on us
We get candies, flowers and jewellery all the time because men screw up so often
Women are cleaner
We're more flexible - physically
When women get upset, we don't destroy property or hurt people - we just take it out on the world in general because we can
It’s easy for us to make friends
We can do makeup anywhere
If we do heavy purchase we don't have to carry those things. Men are there
We have a higher tolerance to pain
Most women actually look good in short shorts – men DON'T.
Women who don't wear underwear are considered sexy and wild, when men do it, it's rather disgusting
We have mastered civilized eating - we don't embarrass our friends or make loud bodily noises in public
We don't have excessive amounts of body hair
We don't spend 45 minutes in the toilet
We are always smart
We can throw a punch at a man and not get hit in return.
We don't have to lie to boast ourselves better
Women sweat less
Women smell better
We can be late to office
We don't get embarrassed when buying tampons
We have better fashion sense
We're better shoppers
We don't have to make fools of ourselves to impress a man
Men don't know what our 'girl talk' is all about (and I'm not gonna tell you)
We don't have to drive when on a date
An ugly woman can use makeup and get a new hairdo to become presentable - ugly men are just ugly
Women look better naked
We know that rhythm doesn't only pertain to dancing
When women are short, we're petite. When men are short, they're just short
There are many hands to lift us when we slip on the ground. Poor men they have to get up on their own
And we don't have to feel shy about falling down
Women's conversations generally consist of more than just "uh huh, yep, ok, then – bye"
Women don't need an excuse to be in a bad mood
The remote control is not an extension of ourselves

To my male readers: No hard feelings guys! Just having fun with this one! :)

International Women's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Today, on International Women's Day, I felt like uploading one of my articles that I wrote during my tenure in The Asian Age as a Sub-Editor. I am yet to find the article on my laptop. So, here's sharing the scanned copy of the newspaper publication. :) I sincerely hope you'd like it.

An article on International Women's Day (Click to see it large)

The Story of Seven Brothers

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:17:00 +0000

FYI, it's just a pic, don't use as reference :)

Have you ever felt lost and undecided while deciding on what to wear to work? The mornings on weekdays for me are like clockwork. The clock decides what I do next and when I get out of the house. So, most of the time, I do not have time to think anything. I run on auto-pilot and do my morning rituals like, brushing, bathing, eating, packing tiffin and getting ready. Now, comes the difficult part – the getting ready part! Deciding on what to wear, used to take me almost 5 to 10 minutes every day. I used to open my closet and go through the shirts/tops and trousers and stare at those getting confused on what to wear for that day. Well, one day I decided to save this clothes-browsing time and started thinking of a solution.

I have an aunt (she used to be my neighbor in Delhi and used to feed me delicious South Indian fare) who now lives in Chennai. She used to tell me that every day of the week has a colour code. According to her, on a particular day, we must wear a particular colour. I remember her saying that astrologically, it helps to have a good day as well. Complicated? Not really. Since I remembered the colours and their respective days, I decided to find my solution of clothes-browsing here. I thought and came up with this poem. I have taken a print out of this poem and stuck it on the inside of the closet door. Here I am, sharing the poem with all of you:

The Story of Seven Brothers

Here is a story of seven brothers,
Six of them were crazy about colours.
Monday is the eldest, who loves to wear white,
As, white seems to make him feel alright.
Wearing the colour red to enjoy,
Tuesday wishes all happiness and joy.
Wednesday is the most productive teen,
Who loves it if you give him the colour green.
Being in the middle of the brothers’ row,
Thursday prefers primary yellow.
Friday is cool and loves the grey,
Blue in any shade means Saturday.
Sunday is the laid-back lazy son,
He seems to be happy with anything on.
Remembering their unique colour choices,
Respectively wear them for sure success!!!

Medica Superspeciality Hospital

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:36:00 +0000

It can never be a good feeling if you or anyone of your family has to go to a hospital, particularly in an emergency. However, sometimes, you just cannot avoid it. I generally don’t like hospitals. I am sure I share this feeling with many of you reading this blog. Recently, I had to take my partner to a hospital in an emergency. I had to call for an ambulance for that and I don’t remember experiencing anything like this ever. Whenever I think of that day, I don’t know how I faced the situation and came out of it so coolly.

At the moment of my despair, I was undecided on which hospital to go to. A friend of ours suggested us to go to Medica Superspeciality Hospital which is the nearest hospital we have. So, the friend called up the emergency number and an ambulance was arranged and which reached our residence within 10 minutes. We reached the hospital and admitted my partner in the emergency room. We were made to wait outside while the doctors attended to the patient urgently.

While waiting outside, I realized one thing that the hospital didn’t feel like a hospital at all. The usual smell of disinfectant mopping solution, smell of medicine etc, none of it was there in the atmosphere. It suddenly made me feel positive and less depressed. The waiting room of the emergency unit was well organized with clean and colourful seating arrangements and a television in front of the seating area.

A nurse called me from the emergency room as the doctor wanted to talk to me. My heart skipped a beat. Well, I didn’t know what on earth….the doctor had to say! He said nothing is wrong with my partner, except that he had an acute attack of spondylosis. The doctor said that we would have to keep him in the hospital for a day or two so that they can do some tests to be sure that there was nothing wrong otherwise. I agreed.

We were transferred to a single occupancy cabin on the 6th floor that evening. Keeping him in the hospital cabin with a friend, I went home to get some clothes to change at night and some other necessary things for the night stay. Since there was no one at home, I parked the car in the hospital parking area and went upstairs to attendant to my partner.

When you enter the lobby area from the car dropping area, it is difficult to accept that it is not the lobby of a five star hotel but a lobby area of a hospital. The lobby has relaxing sofas, coffee shops and a huge reception area with artificial and real greenery landscaping the place beautifully. Here, any patient will feel at home, leave alone the feelings of the attendants. The lifts of the hospital were very clean, smooth, spacious and well maintained with a lift-man or lift-woman attending to it 24x7.

Reaching the 6th floor, I entered the cabin after crossing a long spacious corridor donned with beautiful paintings on the wall. The cabin was spacious with a beautiful large glass window overlooking the front garden of the hospital. The furnishings were in whites and off-whites with little furniture inside the cabin. There were two beds, one for the patient and one for the attendant. The bathroom was sparkling clean with large white fresh towels and a pack of toiletries for the patient. The hand shower was of a handy length and there were enough handles for the patient to hold on to.

The maintenance is very meticulous and strictly supervised. However, the frequent visits to the cabin by the housekeeping became annoying especially during the afternoons.

The friendly nurses, dutiful doctors, attendants and the well stocked quick servicing canteen really made our stay in the hospital less painful and more satisfying. We were released after 2 days of our stay there. I thank God for the quick recovery of my partner. While thinking of the hospital, I sincerely hope that Medica Superspeciality Hospital maintains the quality of its services and maintenance forever with no compromise whatsoever.

For more information on the hospital, click here: http://www.medicahospitals.in/index.html

The eyes are the jewels of the body

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:57:00 +0000

It is said that the eyes are the jewels of the body and rightfully so. Of late, I have been thinking about my own eyes a lot. Yes, I know you must be raising your eyebrows thinking – now what’s with the eye thing?! Well, there is nothing wrong really.

Recently I bought an iPad, 64 GB with 3G. Yes, feels great and I am hopelessly falling in love with it. However, this has made me think about the increase in the usage of the eyes for electronics and things/gadgets with a screen.

When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me that if I watch too much of television, my eyes will go bad. When I was in standard 8, I was prescribed spectacles for myopia. I still wear glasses and thankfully the power has not increased over the years. Television, according to my mother, is in a way, a source of light and the way our eyes hurt when we keep staring at a light bulb, our eyes actually get hurt when we stare at a screen for long hours too. I don’t know if she is right or wrong. But I agree to the logic here. While using the iPad I realised how much I stare on an electronic gadget’s screen and how much it must be hurting my eyes.

I work for a travel magazine now. Apart from editing articles and making the magazine using the computer, I also keep in touch with my friends through a computer. A screen again! During the day, I spend eight full hours staring at the screen with very few small breaks in between. When I come home, I either watch TV or I am with my iPad. If I am not doing these, I am either using my mobile phone to text/call friends or using an iPod, music player to listen to music and all these come with a display screen. Coming to think of it, I stare at a screen most of the waking hours of my day!

Now, the question is, how much can our eyes take? Today, I realised that eyes are the greatest gifts of God and if we are running out of reason, as respect for Him, we must take care of our eyes. Like I mentioned before, the eyes are the jewels of the body and we must take special care of our eyes as we do to the precious jewels we possess.

Magh Bihu Bhogali

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 05:38:00 +0000

I am writing this blog with a smile on my face. I hope everyone who reads this blog feels the same joy while reliving the moments I am going to share here. I felt happiness and a great sense of belonging while celebrating Magh Bihu in Kolkata this year. Till the morning of Uruka day, the members of Sristir Ramdhenu (SR) had no plan of celebrating Magh Bihu. There were many hurdles to cross in the form of finding a place in Kolkata for bonfire, contacting all the members which meant uncountable phone calls, collecting money and so on. Since everyone is having full time jobs to attend to, it leaves them with very little time to think of anything else. However, on the evening of Uruka the Assamese spirit emerged with full vigour and the boys a.k.a. the most active members of the group decided to make Bhogali Bihu happen – no matter what.

Unlike other past events, where I participated actively, I couldn’t do the same this time, as I had to attend to some medical issue at home. However, when the boys (Bhaskar, Uddipta, Hemanta and of course Proloy) contacted me, I was free enough to take part in it. Hence, I hopped on, in the organisation of the celebration too. We were in it together and we wanted to make the best out of this team of organisers. All the social networking groups/community sites were updated, members contacted and informed. The spirit of Magh Bihu was poking the members to do something about it and everyone said YES to the proposition. We all had smiles on our faces. :) We will have Magh Bihu feast on the day of Magh Bihu (the day after Uruka). But we all know that a few hours delay hardly matters when there is so much of positivity involved.

Now, Proloy took the highest initiative by arranging for a place for bonfire and feast. It was a walled open space in the front yard of a school. Till late night of the Uruka day, we were on conference calls discussing, making lists of to dos and how to dos and so on.
Next day, the day of Bihu, Uddipta called and asked “Who would cook?” Bhaskar said (on con call) the boys can do it themselves. But I knew nobody had the experience of cooking for so many people at one go. We were 35 people and there were several items on the menu. Hence Uddipta and I decided to hire a cook. I started calling my contacts in Kolkata and luckily found a cook in such a short notice! Another hurdle crossed. Bhaskar and Uddipta went veggie shopping after consulting the cook. I offered to sponsor one of the must-haves/must eats of Magh Bihu, the Kaath alu. I also informed the boys that I would be bringing the sweets and it will be on me. I attended to home chores. Apart from phone calls, guests at home kept me busy.

Evening approached…umm…let me call it late afternoon. Proloy called me and asked if I am ready and going to the venue. He reached there before time to arrange the seating and bonfire etc. I said I’ll be there in 30 minutes. Hiranya called (he was given the charge of arranging firewood) and asked me if I can go to Panchanantala and bring the firewood in my car. Ahem, well, I know I am very accommodating, but firewood in my delicate Ford Fiesta? I suggested him to hire a cab instead. He got the point. I reached the venue and saw Proloy bickering with the cook and his helper. The cook was of the opinion that it was getting too late for the things to get ready and that might result in a very late dinner. We both made the cook understand that it wouldn’t matter and he can take his own sweet time to finish the dishes.
Uddipta and Bhaskar entered with a rickshaw-full of things. Madhurjya, a member of SR came in with his sister who was visiting Kolkata and missing home on Bihu. One by one, people started getting together and the chairs got all filled. Uddipta suddenly looked anxious and I enquired why. He asked what to do about drinking water! Hemanta suggested we buy mineral water bottles for all. But that would be expensive. I suggested we get those big 20 litre gallons of mineral water. Since I take those at home, I called up the water supplier and he said he kept two with the security guard of my apartment and I can take those. Problem solved. I went home and dumped the two 20 litre bottles of Bisleri water in the car dickey, collected the sweets and kaath alu and I was good to go for the night again.
Since many members and wanna be members knew my numbers, they started calling me to enquire about the direction of the venue. One of those calls was from Firoze Maran. The conversation went like this:

FM: Hello, are you organizing the Magh Bihu under Sristir Ramdhenu group?

Me: Yes we are and may I know who is speaking please?

FM: I am Firoze Maran and I am at Assam House now. Me and my friend thought we would celebrate Magh Bihu at the Assam House’s Magh Bihu celebration. But we are bored to death here. Can we come over to your celebration please?

Me: Of course you can. Just come over. We are at …..

FM: Okay we’ll be there.

Another call vibrated my mobile phone. Here’s the conversation:

Me: Hello, Pranjal, tell me.

P: Are you guys not celebrating Bihu at the Assam House?

Me: No, that celebration is by ASL. We are celebrating elsewhere.

P: Oh! Assuming that you are celebrating here, I reached Assam House and it is really getting lousy here. Is it too late for me to join you guys now?

Me: Nope, come over. We are celebrating at….. (I gave him the direction and the address of the venue).

I reached the venue. The bonfire was lit and that excited everyone with the real spirit of Magh Bihu bonfire. The kaath alu was put in the pile of burning wood for roasting. Now came the part when everyone had to introduce oneself to the others, so that if someone is new in the SR community, they would know who is who. This part was interesting for me too as I got to know a few new faces and their professions. Sristir Ramdhenu was getting richer with such valued new members. Once the introduction session was over, it was time for some real thing – Bihu songs and Bihu dance. Bhaskar, our community singer started singing some soulful yet melodious and peppy Bihu songs. The rest of the members got into the groove and all got up to shake that thing … you know what I mean. :)
Hiranya took charge of the kaath alu roast and served the same after peeling and cleaning those. Those were yum!

I must mention that Firoze Maran was one of the best Bihu dancers in the group of more than 35 people. Rituraj sang his favourite Bihu songs and Uddipta was encouraging him as well as Bhaskar. We all did not realize when the clock struck 11 pm. The food was ready by then and some of the children started yawning and pulling their mother’s clothes for want of some cozy place to sleep. So, we decided to serve food to the children first. Families who had to travel back far were served dinner next. The feedback on the food was absolutely positive. I was happy with the cook. All the members finished having food batch by batch. Sweets were served and during the entire time photographs were shot and video cameras were rolling. After food and a group photo session, members were leaving with a full stomach and a satisfied heart. It was past midnight and I was worrying how the girls will reach their respective homes. After arranging for car pools for some, I offered a home drops to six of them and they all hopped on my car. It was cramped with limbs going here and there to make space for everyone. I couldn’t stop laughing! Once the vehicle started to move, everyone settled down. Dropping them at their respective residences, I went home and reached home at around 1.30 am.

I was all smiles with a satisfied mind and soul. I sms-ed the boys congratulating them on the successful event. We all slept off wearing a smile on our faces.

First One of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Manashree) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:57:00 +0000

Today, while reading the newspaper, I suddenly realised that we have already spent more than 50% of the first month of the new year! .....And I am yet to find time to write! I remember a Sunday morning serial I used to watch when I was a small girl (TV in the morning was allowed only on Sundays. Yes, I have a strict Moma :)). I forgot the name, but in that serial, Nutan, the mother of all the children in the serial, was having a conversation with her eldest daughter (played by Bhagyashree of "Maine Pyar Kiya" fame). In the conversation, Bhagyashree asked her mother, how she gets time to knit lovely sweaters even though she was a full time working mother. Nutan's reply to that was, "You don't get time baby girl, you make time." So, the moral of this mention is, it's time I make time to write on my blog. I have so many things/topics to write on!

Life is moving at a rocket speed and I am losing myself in the speed. So, here I am, writing the first blog of the year 2011. It's not that I have not written anything in the new year, it's just that I am yet to complete those. So, reader of my blog, I am going to give you the list of what is coming up in this blog this month. Here's the list:

A blog on how we celebrated Magh Bihu in Kolkata, despite all odds
A first hand feedback on Medica Superspeciality Hospital
My love affair with the music of Shayan Chowdhury a.k.a. Arnob/Ornob
Rise and rise of Joi Barua, the singer, the human being behind the singer

To dos like, a release of a travel magazine, slogging on the pre-production work of an upcoming Assamese magazine, attending to an unwell partner at home, doing my own fitness regimen and meeting the demands of friends, parents and siblings do keep me busy. But, I have to write the things I want to write, because, I know that's therapeutic for me. It makes me feel good. So, dear reader of my blog, keep visiting this link for the new additions! :)