Happy Diwali !!

Though diwali is over, its never too late to pass on good wishes! :) Hope you all had a great diwali ...


Here are some of my clicks from that day !

Made Gulab Jamuns for the first time in my whole life!! :) Feels like an achievement

Windows decorated with lights

I love Shakkar Pare ! (Its the name of the delicacy :P)

A smiley puja thali decorated by Abhay

Abhay and I had a gala time while preparing for the festival :) A glimpse of it is here :D

Artwork while cooking ;)

You say it !

I had been showing all my favorite movies to Abhay lately and confidently denying the ones suggested by him :D Finally he had enough! and forced me to watch this cute movie called 'Spanglish'. Honestly, I really enjoyed watching it!
There was this one particular dialogue that I absolutely loved.
The lead character says some praiseworthy words to Adam Sandler for his daughter and he replies :

It's great to hear someone else say that out loud..

So true!! Strangely that's how it works! Even if one is absolutely assured about something ... It always feels more confident when its heard from someone else out loud!

You know you will win a match , but if feels so good when you are about to step out of the home and Mom says 'I know you will win!'
You know its a logical decision, but you finalise the decision when you hear the same logic from someone else! Isn't it ?


The magic of positive words....

Life is a box of Chocolates ....


It really surprises me how my reaction to certain things vary so much at different times.
For example :


It has happened to me often. My sister introduces me to a certain song and I just don't like it. Then years later, I go to a coffee shop with my friends/family and I listen to the exact same song (trust me, not even remixed!) and I come back to my sister to ask for the song and its singer/album etc. and she recalls the past :P


I think this is the reason why she has simply stopped telling about new good tracks these days. She just awaits till I listen it on streets, at airports, on radio and other weird places :P I think my likes/dislikes for things depend a lot on my current state of mind.



Ok! So! Well, No! This post is not about songs or music or anything related to Do-Re-Me :D Trust me , I am trying really hard to come back to my point here :D (Did I hear 'Chocolates' from somewhere there? Umm , yes you are close :) )



I really love chocolates especially the one full of dry fruits and nuts. There were times when I used to demand for Kgs and Kgs of chocolates whenever someone used to step out of India. I am so over it now! I hardly eat chocolates anymore for no particular reason (No , I am not dieting :P). May be its just because of the human tendency. 'One loses interest when anything comes in abundance'.
But something different happened today morning. When I opened my inbox@office , there was this mail :


" All
Treat from Asda ...
In the usual place in office.
For no particular reason.… :)"

(Note : ASDA is a local store closest to my office)


How sweet! Absolutely loved the thought of buying sweets for your office mates for no particular reason. I immediately went to check what's in there and I found a box of Celebrations Chocolates. I grabbed 2 and honestly , I absolutely relished it even though it was just another regular chocolate. But I think its the thought behind it that matters :) I never enjoy getting treats if I've to ask for it. One should throw a party if there is a reason for celebrations and one would like to share with friends. The idea of compelling someone to throw a party really irks me. So, if you are my friend, don't worry! I would never force you to throw a party in an expensive restaurant or pester you for a treat. Yes! You are safe :) It is the thought that matters to me! It can be as simple as bringing a box of chocolate! It is not about the bill , its the smiles that count!


I am fully flaunting the features of my new mobile :D



Have a sweet day everybody :)

Halloween is here!

I won't be home this diwali :( I will miss India tremendously! I just love the glitter , the sparkle all over the city around this time of the year. How can I miss - 'Diwali shopping' (as if I didn't shop for the rest of the year :P) ..... Diwali is one of the best time of the year and I have some of my best memories attached with it. Last year, I was at Chennai with my tiny little 5 months old neice .... Last year's diwali will always remain special. On the contrary, UK has turned dark and creepy.... Aferall , Its halloween :)

I was inseparable with my mobile phone in the evening today :D You obviously know why! :) (Read my last post if you aren't :P) And I took some shots of the crazy decoration across the city center just to give you a feel of it !

                        Will keep updating this space with more pictures as and when I click it!

'Kaash hota'

Its surprising that even in today's age , we still have moments like these :'Oh, I wish I had my camera' like I had mine today morning on my way to office. So all we are left with now is my words and your imagination skills! Lets give it a try...Just picture this .... We are driving to office. On the way , there comes a strip of land on my right hand side filled with hay, far away I can see few houses and further away its all covered with trees. And then there I can see the perfect big orange sun on the tinted blue sky (Yes! I get up and start really early these days :( But I get to see sunrise!) Everyday the shades on the sky are different and everytime its breath-taking...But there was this perfect view today I hope I get a chance to see again! There was a huge amount of smoke coming out from one of the houses (I am not surprised! It was freezing cold ! Somebody must have tried to warm up the house.... Arghhh .... there I talked about the weather again x-( ) ..... The view of the sun through the layers of smoke made the dawn look so ethereal! And right at this moment , when I thought of taking a picture , I realized I have forgotten my mobile phone at home... Sad! But no matter how many pictures one takes in life , I am sure we all have our moments when we say 'I wish I had my camera with me' .... 'Kaash hota'!

May there someday be Sunshine , happiness, love and peace ...

I found this poem somewhere on the internet. The Words scratched on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany by a Jew hiding from Nazi persecution.

I believe in the sun

even when it is not shining

And I believe in love,

even when there's no one there.

And I believe in God,

even when he is silent.

I believe through any trial,

there is always a way

But sometimes in this suffering

and hopeless despair

My heart cries for shelter,

to know someone's there

But a voice rises within me,

saying hold on my child,

I'll give you strength,

I'll give you hope.

Just stay a little while.

May there someday be sunshine

May there someday be happiness

May there someday be love

May there someday be peace...."


Ah , so touching! I really have no right to complaint EVER!


If you have not watched the movie 'Life Is Beautiful' then I would highly recommend it to you. It is an Italian film about a Jewish Italian and his family's life in a Nazi concentration camp and his impeccable efforts to make his family's life beautiful despite all the hardships they all had to go through. I can bet on this one ! You cannot finish the movie without some wet eyes. It is such a touching story.

A lazy sunday afternoon with friends ....

A sunday afternoon cannot be spent better than this : Chatting with your friends, sitting on the green grass on the river side filled with ducks , swans and birds and having some sandwiches in the afternoon winter sun ....


Our friends from London visited us this weekend and weather was just perfect ! We did our best to make the most out of it. Yes! We had a picnic in the riverside :) I just love picnics. It is a great way to get away from it all and just give your body and brain some rest. Abhay made his patented 'BlueBird' Sandwich for all of us and despite his disappointment for not being able to make it perfect, it was just perfect for me :) It was far better than going to a restaurant and sitting in uncomfortable chairs and having that perfect dish in a boring room surrounded with dozens of people. Visiting a resturant used to be a treat for me and my sister when we were kids. It used to be a very special occassion and my parents used to make sure to take us for a dine-out on our birthdays and after the annual exams :) Now it is just a routine to get away from the daily cooking and it has definitely lost its charm. A touch of nature makes anything so beautiful. I remember the days in Dehradun. My mom and I used to sit at the backyard of our house till we bid farewell to the last ray of sun and used to eat groundnuts and jaggery! Have you ever tried this combination?? Its really yummy. There is something about winter sun. It makes you feel so cozy and relaxed. Talking about that! The capricious british weather realized that the weekends are over and with the wake of Monday's sun , we are back to where we had left on friday! Cold winds....quivering bodies!
(My dad used to say : If somebody writes about weather in a letter , it simply means he/she has nothing else to talk about :D haha! So it is high time I should stop mentioning the winters of UK in my blog :P) ....We walked in the grass with bare foot and ended up our picnic by feeding the swans and ducks with the bread crumbs.

Riverside @ Worcester

Stole bunch of flowers while coming home ;)

When did you last have a picnic?

P.S - I will add some pictures as soon as I receive it :)

I won't change

I see lot of new features appearing in blogspot website but I never bothered to try out anything. For no reason , I happened to click on the Statistics link and found out that it provides information of the number of users who visited the blog and to my surprise I found that there were close to 241 views yesterday. Really? I would like to know each one of you and would like to hear your thoughts too! Thank you all for visiting my blog and sparing some moments of your life and being part of my journey through the words :)

Coming back to the point (I am brilliant at diverting the topic!) : NEW FEATURES IN BLOGPSOT. Even if the new template designer is very tempting and new GUI always attracts me, I somehow never like to change the GUI of my much loved blog. I am nostalgic and recalling the day when my blog was born. '28th May 2006'. I remember it was a sunday(and just to confirm my memory, I looked at the Calendar ! Bullseye!! Indeed it was a sunday) , I was in my room in the hot sultry Delhi summer all day long sipping watermelon/mango smoothies and trying to design the look and feel of my blog (Btw, did I ever tell you how yummy smoothies my mom prepares?). Mom and Papa were in the bedroom watching TV and chatting and I didn't even meet them for almost 3/4th of the day ! My sis was engaged to my Bro in law (ready to marry coming Jan) and I used to bug him all the time with emails about my blog and force him to read it :D If he would have broken up with my sis, I would have been the sole reason for it :P Ritish bhai, I salute you! Your are strong enough to bear the madness that entered your life in the form of a Sister-in-law :) :D Love you loads!! :)

My life has changed so much since then ! It was lot more easier :) This blog has a touch of myself as a 3rd year engineering student , it reminds of the crazy summer and scary winters nights of New Delhi, It reminds me of my room and my Compac computer in the house we used to live in and it reminds me of myself as a student living with my parents and having thousands of dreams and millions of aspirations. Thanks for letting me grow and for letting me be 'Just Me' :) I won't ever let you change dear blog.....

I love birthdays !!!!

I love birthdays for one good reason :) GIFTS!!! :) :D That's the same reason why I love Christmas too!Alas, in India , nobody gives gifts for christmas:( Even SantaClaus in Shopping malls just give chocolates and balloons to only kids :-/ I don't understand why does SantaClause(s) has to be so biased on the basis of Age!! x-(


Anyway,I finally received my this year's birthday gift :

SAMSUNG GALAXY S2 Mobile phone


Thank you Abhayyyyyy !!!!!!! :) :)

 I am not a gadget person and don't know If I will do justice to it but I loved it and its really cool. My next few days are just going to be busy tinkering with it. I can't wait to reach home! It is sitting right next to me on my office desk right now :)


I had my share of embarrassing moment today though! We were all set to buy this product when I asked the lady at the counter if I would get a case for the mobile phone! Abhay told me that we will have to pay for it and unlike India , you don't get free stuff when you buy something expensive ( I remembered my Mom. My mom never leaves a showroom without getting a free gift back home. And may its charm that works for her , she always gets one unlike me :( ) haha. I found a real cute pink (Please ignore the colour if you are a guy or if its my Sister :P) case for the mobile and it was worth 25 pounds. So I decided to look around a little more before buying this one. Before we were leaving , the Lady attendant asked me if I want to take a case and I told her on face that I didn't like any of them and I would like to look at other places before I decide. She immediately prompted -


"Ah! Actually I could give it to you for free"


And I didn't know how to react :


"Are you serious??For free???? I am gonna Kill Abhay. How can I take it when I have already happily and rudely rejected them. Why did I have to say 'I didn't like them?!?!' :("


With heavy heart , I denied to take any but may be its my heart's outcry which was loud enough that she insisted to keep the pink one anyway :) God bless her :) She made my day!! New Galaxy S2 with Pink case is like cherry on the cake :D haha

Here it is!!!! :)

Will update this post with pictures as soon as I reach home :)

Have a gadgety day y'all!! :)

Serendipity!

I just found these lines while searching something else. I think there is a word for it. Coincidence? No , there is a word for a situation when you try to find something and you get something worthy yet unexpected result.(Time to google may be:)) However, here it is !

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus

Absolutely loved it. It is so true. One should cherish tiny little things in life and try to find beauty in everything.

P.S : I did google to find that word (yes ! I hate to keep my mind in curious state for long;) and I found 'Serendipity'. Its my favourite movie and I just love John Cusack ;) and so I have titled this post as that :))

As a tourist ...

Being a tourist is fun ! Seeing new places and hearing about its exsitence from a guide Or even reading about it in travel books makes it more fun! While we were touring around Europe , We were being showered on with plethora of information. Though I don't remember most of them :P there were few interesting facts that caught my attention and I gave a spontaneous 'Oh really!!!???' expression to the tour guide and the tourists. I would rate myself as one of the best tourists for the following reasons :

1)my reaction time becomes very short and my exclamations very loud !
2)I give good laughs for even the stupidest jokes the tour guides crack ...
3)I ask no questions and I buy any nonsense story that the guides throw at us !!

In short I am a Tour Guides' dream tourist :D

Ok !! OK !! Recalling the phrase "Self praise is no praise" and moving on ....

Fun fact 1

In Paris we got a chance to go on a bike tour around the city and we had a blast! Abhay and I were always loosing track of the group because abhay was too busy taking pictures while riding a bicycle and I always get lost in my own thoughst when I am on a two wheeler :D The tour guide had a hard time keeping all of us together.

So , here I present fun fact 1 : We went to the house where Jim Morrison died and our guide told us lot of things about his death which ofcourse even you all must be knowing. She revealed that all the Jim Morrison Fans consider this as the Makka Madeena and definitely visit once in their lifetime. After his death, lots of tourists used to come and ring the bell to get a glimpse of the place where he died and the occupants of the house got so frustrated that they removed the bell from the building :D ... She also showed us a poster opposite to the house which said this ....

:D hehe ...so its upto you to choose what to believe :)



Fun fact 2


This one is for all the Coffee lovers :)

Do you know why cappuccino is called cappuccino ?

The Capuchin order of friars were pivotal in bringing Catholicism back to Reformation Europe.The Cappuchin Monks used to wear a long pointed cowl known as cappuccino,derived from cappuccio, "hood". It is believed that the creator of this special beverage liked to name it 'Cappuccino' because a properly prepared cappuccino of espresso and steamed milk leaves a brown ring along the rim of the cup much like the edge of the monk's cowl. Interesting !!! And yeah , that reminds me of the amazing cappuccino I had in Italy. If you ever get a chance, please DO NOT miss to taste this amazingly tasty Italian cappuccino!! :)





Fun fact 3(not bad ! I never thought I will make it till here :D )


Well this one gives me a goosebump literally as it involves Rats and Ewwww , I just dont like rats !! I have no reason to give in particular .... I just for no reason get a chill in my body when I see them alive or even worse DEAD ! :( Anyway , gotta tell u this one... again in our bike ride @Paris , we were being taken to this street in Central Paris where there was a lovely restaurant at the corner and a Pest Control shop named 'Julien Aurouze and Co.' right next to it which has an attention-grabbing display festooned with dead rats. yes , you heard me right !! Btw ,Did it ring a bell in your head ? Remember Remy , an ordinary rat with extra-ordinary cooking skills ;) and his dad who shows him a pest-control shop exemplifying how humans treat rodents. huh? Did I hear 'Ratatouille' from the right corner!! You get the points... The creators of the movie 'Ratatouille' got the inspiration for this movie while sitting at this spot and even featured the shop in the movie. I witnessed Abhay and other tourists taking pictures of the shop from different angles while I stood stiff trying to hold myself altogther until the guide moved in the other direction. But if you are brave enough , it is a shop worth seeing. My notes tell me that it is situated somewhere between 'the Rue de Rivoli' and 'the Forum des Halles'(please dont ask me to prounounce it :D) but it will be nice if you do a google map search instead of trusting my navigational skills.


Fun Fact 4


Why do we call those crazy freenlancing photographers Paparazzi?

I don't know how much of it is true but here it is anyway ! We went to a place called Bernini in Rome where the roads were filled with Coffee shops and restaurants. Yeah , even we ate it over there and sadly parted away with 100 euros :( We later on came to know that lots of Hollywood stars used to come here often and an Italian Photographer with a surname Paparazzo used to hide behind the trees and take shots of the famous stars. Soon after, all the freelance photographers were being nicknamed as Paparazzi (plural of Paparazzo) and still being used even today ! :) Now If you google it , you will find a completely different story but since I found this one more interesting , I would like to stick to this one :D


Fun fact 5
If you will ever visit Rome , Monument of Victor Emmanuel is something hard to miss. It is a huge monument on the Capitoline Hill and what can't really go unnoticed are the two statues of the goddess of Victoria (Nike according to Greek Mythology) or Goddess of Victory riding on quadrigas. According to the Greek Mythology , Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer in the Titan War. You know where am I heading to, don't you? :) Yes , the famous sports brand 'Nike' name means 'Goddess of victory' and the logo represents the wing of the Greek Goddess in an abstract form :)



Fun fact 6
Ever wondered how creative and imaginative Walt Disney and co are? They are absolutely brilliant,Aren't they ! but a little tiny share of success must go on to King Ludwig's pocket as well :) Yes ! The famous Sleeping Beauty Castle or Cinderella's magical castle in Disneyland was modeled after the castle built by the King Ludwig in Germany. When I saw the castle with my eyes, I really felt that a Disney movie has come alive. It is very interesting to note though that we often think of animation as a world of imagination but in fact most of them have actually come into existence from the real world which means every imagination has a possibility of being real.


Fun fact 7

Did you know that Julius Caesar gave us the modern Calendar with 12 months? Originally there were only 10 months, running from March to December. The winter time didn't have any months. He added two more but one can figure out that there were just 10. how ? September is the 9th month but the word Septem means 7 in Latin and was the 7th month. Octo means 8 in Latin and was the 8th month. Novem means 9 and was 9th month and Decem means 10 in Latin and was the 10th month. The month July has been named after himself and thus July means Julius Caesar's month :)


Fun fact 8 :


"All roads lead to Rome"

The phrase means that irrespective of which path you choose to go, you will reach the same destination or the outcome would be the same. Then why this phrase specifically mentioned Rome? This is because of the exceptional construction skills of Romans.Their network of roads ,all of them headed to Rome, the Capital City.


I hope you had a good dosage of knowledge and enjoyed the 'did you know' post of mine

Well before we end this , please pay attention to this short disclaimer :)

"VISITORS WHO READ OR ARE GOING TO READ THIS BLOG ENTRY AND RELY ON THIS INFORMATION DO SO AT THEIR OWN RISK. THE AUTHOR MAKES NO WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND RELIABILITY OF THE CONTENTS. IF THE READER HAPPENS TO FIND ERRORS IN THE FACTS , PLEASE BLAME THE TOUR GUIDES ACROSS EUROPE ;)"


Ciao