What I love about living in Cambridge is the cheerfulness in everything. People smile at you, most of them greet you, men graciously step aside if you are waiting to cross on your bike, ladies always end their sentences with 'dear', and men with 'love', and there's the awesome weather thats such a mood perker! The last few days have been all sunny and bright and its a great pleasure to wear something cute/sexy/nice, aka not too many layers of wool/sweater/coats, outfits. What I don't like, (you saw that coming didn't you) however, is the attitude of desis here. By desis I don't mean just Indians, it includes Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis - simply because you cannot differenciate one from another unless you see their passport or ask where they are from. So, the thing that annoys me about them is their smugness. Being sumg in a rude way. When you come across a desi, he/she never smiles at you. Instead, you get a look that says 'Oh you must be from a small town in India... what do you know', usually accompanied by a head to toe eyeing of you. Isn't that nasty?! I mean come on people, you are not the first one to land here, and certainly I'm not the last. Its no big deal that you came to UK on a work permit/student visa/married a British/what have you, cuz again, you are not the only one. And being here for more than 1/2/n number of years doesn't make you a Britisher; hell it wouldn't make you one even if you got your PR. You are still a desi at heart. Admit it. Its not nice to pretend to be someone you're not. Maybe you do know the good places around, where to shop, etc but that kinda homework can be done by even a tourist visiting for sometime. Doesn't mean you are any notch higher than me. I have lived all over India (almost) and I certainly have not had any diffculties in getting groceries, good bargains or making friends here in UK. And I'm not saying this based just on the looks they give me, some desis actually behave like this. Ah get over it and grow up. You're fooling no one.
When I came here, I had a million things I wanted to try. One of them was a brand of shampoo other than Sunsilk. Whilst in India, Head and Shoulders, Pantene (the name is revolting), Garnier - all made my hair really rough and left them with no shine even with conditioners. So I'd always been a fan of the black Sunsilk, super mild shampoo which even my dermatologist recommended. So here in UK, I wanted to try some new brands (not the above mentioned ones). In pursuit of that I recently bought the V02 2 in 1 shampoo+conditioner. And man, was that a bad idea. My hair looks so so dull. No shine, so it seems rough and pointy at the ends too. When you touch it, its not. But I don't like looking at my hair in the mirror. And 2-in-1 shampoo+conditioner is a no-no, because the conditioner doesn't seem to work at all. My hair's all tangled and no shine either. I'm buying Sunsilk again or a new brand pronto.
Note to self: Buy the smallest bottle if its the latter - I'd like to test first.
I hear so many of my colleagues speaking in Spanish, Italian, French etc., that it has re-aroused my interest in learning more languages. But first, I'd like to brush up and master my German first. At linch one day, I told my GM that I speak German (he's one too) and he was so happy to know that. He rattled off few sentences in German and I sheepishly replied, 'Actually, I remember just a little.' Man was that embarassing. And not just that, I'd really like to know some basic (at least) of Spanish, Italian and French lest I'm sent to one of those countries. Yippie just that thought makes me all excited!
Tech update: I upgraded my iPhone 3G with the latest software update from Apple. So now, I have 3.0 which means I can send MMS, record voice, enjoy faster Internet and generally flaunt my iPhone. Which I do anyway ;-)
I love cooking and though I'm not able to experiment as much I'd like - I still enjoy it. I made yummy aloo parathas for dinner last night. And when my Sikh hubby licks his fingers and can't stop waxing eloquent about my cooking, I know I've done it ;) Afterall, whats the point of making aloo parathas if they taste like some South Indian aloo parathas? Authentic is more like it ;-) And if the aloo filling is leftover, I stock it in the fridge and make aloo tikkis for tea next day :D Yummy yummy in my tummy!
When I came here, I had a million things I wanted to try. One of them was a brand of shampoo other than Sunsilk. Whilst in India, Head and Shoulders, Pantene (the name is revolting), Garnier - all made my hair really rough and left them with no shine even with conditioners. So I'd always been a fan of the black Sunsilk, super mild shampoo which even my dermatologist recommended. So here in UK, I wanted to try some new brands (not the above mentioned ones). In pursuit of that I recently bought the V02 2 in 1 shampoo+conditioner. And man, was that a bad idea. My hair looks so so dull. No shine, so it seems rough and pointy at the ends too. When you touch it, its not. But I don't like looking at my hair in the mirror. And 2-in-1 shampoo+conditioner is a no-no, because the conditioner doesn't seem to work at all. My hair's all tangled and no shine either. I'm buying Sunsilk again or a new brand pronto.
Note to self: Buy the smallest bottle if its the latter - I'd like to test first.
I hear so many of my colleagues speaking in Spanish, Italian, French etc., that it has re-aroused my interest in learning more languages. But first, I'd like to brush up and master my German first. At linch one day, I told my GM that I speak German (he's one too) and he was so happy to know that. He rattled off few sentences in German and I sheepishly replied, 'Actually, I remember just a little.' Man was that embarassing. And not just that, I'd really like to know some basic (at least) of Spanish, Italian and French lest I'm sent to one of those countries. Yippie just that thought makes me all excited!
Tech update: I upgraded my iPhone 3G with the latest software update from Apple. So now, I have 3.0 which means I can send MMS, record voice, enjoy faster Internet and generally flaunt my iPhone. Which I do anyway ;-)
I love cooking and though I'm not able to experiment as much I'd like - I still enjoy it. I made yummy aloo parathas for dinner last night. And when my Sikh hubby licks his fingers and can't stop waxing eloquent about my cooking, I know I've done it ;) Afterall, whats the point of making aloo parathas if they taste like some South Indian aloo parathas? Authentic is more like it ;-) And if the aloo filling is leftover, I stock it in the fridge and make aloo tikkis for tea next day :D Yummy yummy in my tummy!
I am so jealous of all you indian women who can cook! I've yet to learn to cook. I think I'm the kind of indian girl mothers would keep their sons away from..saying, "She doesn't even know how to cook. What will she feed you?!" Hehe.
First time here! HI. :)
BTW, your makke ki roti and sarson ka saag looks so damn delicious on your other blog! :)