Unloading my think tank...

Its been so long! I haven't had the time to write anything, I have been really busy. There have been people at home, work at well... work :D and loads of other things.

But first, here's the thing. Who watches cookery shows on TV? I count me! I'm a huge fan of Nigella Lawson, and her cookery show on Discovery Travel and Living. Mostly she prepares non-veg, but I try and see if I can substitute that with potatoes. Hahahaha probably someone (or many) reading this will want to wring my neck like a chicken's for even thinking of that! Anyway, today I came home early from work *phew* and turne don the TV. There she was, preparing a dark chocolate icing for a chocolate cake. She cut 75 gm of dark choc, poured it into heated hoeny and water, and melted the whole thing. It looked so yummy! Then she poured it all over the cake she'd prepared and set aside. While at that, she said she'd done this for a friend's daughter's 1st birthday, and now she's doing it again. And she was baby-sitting that very little girl! Then, she, her 2 (or was that 3?) kids and the little tot sat down and enjoyed the cake. So basically, what we have here is a lady who cooks at home for her cookery show, earns for it, and is baby-sitting too! And enjoys the meal with her family! She's having her cake and eating it too! Wow I'd really like to be in her shoes! And you know how much I like cooking!

In other news, my in-laws were here 2 weeks back. Then my mom came too. Phew it was a packed house! 6 of us! I hardly had any time to breathe. My in-laws have left, mom's here. And its still choc-a-bloc. Its nice to have people at home, but sometimes I wish I had some time with me. To do something, to laze around, to read a book, to flip channels randomly, to drink tea and solve Sudoku...

So why does everyone think just because I live here I'm gonna go watch the IPL matches? I've had an overdose of cricket frankly. Now I can't even stand 20 overs of it. Its a spectacle of film stars and loud music everytime a batsman hits a six or the bowler takes a wicket. Such a racket! And not to mention the while-over-is-being-played ads by Godrej and Vodafone. And sometimes they don't even let the commentators finish! And please, cricket is being overfed to viewers. IPL is a good concept brought about at the wrong time, in the wrong country. We have other matters to take care of. IPL? Lalit Modi is dumb. Plain dumb. Not just the concept, even the name is a rip off from Barclays Premier League! Anyway...

Some friend asked me if I'm gonna go watch the matches. I said whenever my hubby talks about it, I manage a "hmm", "mm hmm", "lets see" kinda answer. Now whats wrong with that?! Apparently a lot when it comes to nosey people. So they suggest that I needn't accompany him. Well, we are married, which makes us a couple. Lemme explain to you how that works. We try and most of the times, go out together, do stuff together. Its but natural for us. Of course, there are times when he goes out for an evening with his friends and I meet a friend. But, that doesn't give you a right to actually suggest that, don't you think? I frankly don't understand how some actually have the nerve to do that. Now that I think about it, I see that don't care.

Work's OK. S is always in the dorm, except during lunchtime. M is fine and entertaining. She provides me fodder for my mimicry sessions during lunchtime. P is boring as usual (you'll never believe how dumb she is if I tell you, so I'm just gonna leave it at that). I'm playing Scrabble with hubby tonight! That'll be fun! And yesterday, I made Sol Kadi (my fav!) as after-dinner drink. Everyone loved it! And I made super dahi based tadka for the dal that aunty made. Gone in seconds! Believe it or not, and I'm saying that to myself more than anyone else, I never thought I'd manage a decent meal :-) Guess I changed.

Oh, one thing before I sign off. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you gotta check out this blog - Felix Felicis. The girls have amazing imagination. I'm just done with the HPNS series though, and I'm going back for more! Way to go girls!

Oh how can I forget?! I got my course completion certificate for German! I completed A1/1 level. Only 1 wrong in the final test! The letter that we had to write, the sir gave me a "Sehr Gut" remark in my test! I'm proud of me. I'll take a picture and host it up here. Just to make me happy :D

This, is what my Today's Fortune on O-rk-ut says. Yea yea I know I made a big deal about how useless these social networking sites are, and believe me they are. I was in touch with almost all my college friends and school friends anyway, but on a hi-bye basis. Most of them are married and settled here or abroad, and I hardly see them online (on my gtalk or yahoo messenger), so no marks for guessing how frequently we write to each other on o-rk-ut. They just say oh you finally signed up on o-rk-ut, why no kids yet (mere dost log bache the yeh sawaal poochne!), where you now - thats it. After that no more messages from them. Aur agar main bhejoon, then I get replies after a week or something. Looks like I'm the only one jobless and expecting that at least on this site friends'll respond and keep in touch. Nah. But my close friends (S, A, G and L) from college and me are still in touch over whatever means of communication we find. Rest were only through phone sometime, or through chat sometimes. Now, its become through o-rk-ut sometimes. Bas. Nevertheless, I signed up purely because I now have an option of keeping my profile, photos and videos private, unlike earlier. And if you haven't guessed already, the most interesting part for which I want to login to the site and have a good laugh is the "Today's fortune" part. Now, if o-rk-ut is really a genuine site, it better make all of those prophecies come true ;-)

My mom is still in touch with her 3 friends from school. No, she doesn't use o-rk-ut. Go figure!

Dido, one of my favourite singers. She's got a lovely husky voice, and each time, listening to her is a breath of fresh air :-) Listen to this song "Thank you" by her, and then hum along; it'll lift your spirits up!

My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why
I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
and I can't see at all
And even if I could it'd all be grey,
but your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad

I drank too much last night, got bills to pay,
my head just feels in pain
I missed the bus and there'll be hell today,
I'm late for work again
And even if I'm there, they'll all imply
that I might not last the day
And then you call me and it's not so bad,
it's not so bad

and I want to thank you
for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you
is having the best day of my life

Push the door, I'm home at last
and I'm soaking through and through
Then you hand me a towel and all I see is you
And even if my house falls down,
I wouldn't have a clue
Because you're near me

and I want to thank you
for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life

... but then I thought why not try... try karne mein to koi harj nahi...





and... I think its looks pretty good!

Temple, door se. (notice the greenery behind?)

Glimpse of the garbha gudi.

Misty weather! (Ok am sure you have seen the greenery :D )

Lovely green mountains right behind the temple! (how about in this pic? lovely greenery no? :D)

Now see the photos below. What can you make of the first one?

Looks like some leaf isn't it? But leaf stuck on a wall?! Closer look, and I see this:

It was some insect! My my! Nature never fails to amaze me.

Standing tall and magnificient!

After my wedding, a visit to Kukke Subrahmanya temple, 120 kms from Mangalore, was in the must-do list. The time came more than a year later, when me, mummy and B decided to go there over the weekend and complete the pooja etc.

My last visit to that place, scenic place I must add, was very very memorable. Not only was the purpose fulfilled, but I also got the bestest present life gave me (ah philosophy). I made great friends at a great workplace, did the best job of my life, and did the worst (ok 2nd worst) mistake by quitting it. Knock me down :(

So anyway, we left friday morning and reached Mangalore, and from there took a taxi to Subrahmanya. Karnataka. I love this place. Of all the places I've lived in (the list is sorta big), this state has many places worth visiting. The climate at Subrahmanya was lovely - misty, rainy, cool. The moutain behind the temple was at its lushest green best :) and the mist was always there - it looked like white on green. Beautiful. The abhishek was in the morning, and later in the evening, there was Palki seva and Rath Yatra. Abhishek is usually done by bathing Lord Subrahmanya in milk, panchamruta, and Rath Yatra/Palki Seva is when you place the Lord on a Rath and Palki, and carry it around the temple. We did both the seva and pooja in the morning. Its all really really splendid. If you witness it, you'll know what I'm talking about :) I had a lot of fun and really felt nice being a part of those celebrations.

To pass time between morning pooja and evening seva, while at the hotel room (which was infested with khatmal by the way - GROSS!) we played "pass pass". Hahahahaha mummy is too much. Ok from the start. Rules are pretty simple. You choose a number, and each member says numbers starting from one. The multiples of chosen number, AND that number in tens position, when it comes, the player should say "pass". Eg., if the chosen number is 4, I'll say pass everytime I have to say a number thats a multiple of 4, and 14, 24, 34 etc. Pretty silly, and full timepass. Thrill when the players say the numbers real fast hehehe. So mummy used to cheat like - if chosen number is 4, she'd come to 32 and say 32, not pass.
Me and B: Ok mummy you are out.
Mummy: Oh, 4 was the chosen number???? I thought 3!!
Me and B: Hullo?! Phir aapne 32 tak 4 multiples pe kyu pass bola? Boliye boliye?
Mummy: *full wide grin*

After the evening seva, we went to bed. Early morning, we left Subrahmanya to reach Mangalore jaha se train leni thi to come back to this place (makes a yucky face). Anyways, the drive to Mangalore was so beautiful so beautiful, kehne ki baat nahi! Mast road, aur road ke dono taraf trees hi trees. Pine trees, coconut trees, and thick dense forests beyond them. Only few small buildings of Forest Officer Bungalows did we see. Baaki full greenery :) Badhiya!

On reaching M'lore, we boarded the train and wallah! The train came trough the choicest of scenic places in Kerala, and Mom Nature treated us to beautiful backwaters, never ending rows of mangroves, small islands (full green and lush!), coconut trees, and even beach on one side! Breathtaking! Don't ask me why I didn't take pics; if I think back why, the reason is so dumb I could wince. The train journey was awesome! And you know, whatever we saw of Kerala - be it the small railway stations, houses (people lived right at the backwaters!), small factories - all were super clean. Generally railway tracks are filthy, and used as dump grounds. But no sir, not in Kerala. Bahut achha laga woh sab dekh kar. And oh, also, I've never seen so many coconut trees and lungi-clad people in my life either! Heh Heh.

Next on my list - Coorg, the North-East, Rajasthan. Ah so many of them!

I read this -> India looks to Cuba to revive sports. Prompted me to write this post.

The biggest problem in India is that the parents say:
1. Oye khel kood ke kya hoga? Chalo padhai karo!

2. Tumhaare school mein khelne ko kyu bolte hai? Tum wahan pe khelne jaate ho ki padhaai karne?

3. Bahut ghatiya school hai, sirf khelne ko bolte hai. Kal tumhe naye school mein daakhil karenge.

The parents, since independence haven't asked the kids to play, the kids haven't grown up to be sportsmen and hence there are no good coaches today. If we don't have many kids playing the sport today, we won't have many coaches in the future. Problem - sports in India isn't enough to bring the bread home.

Indians now need to look at other 3rd world countries where, mind you, dictators have been ruling since past 60 years to tell us - BOSS THERE IS A PROBLEM.

As if we didn't know. As if anything is going to change very soon. As if in next 10 years we can get 2 gold medals in Olympics.

Also, the government has its own reason(s) - How can we make 20 hockey stadiums across the country if the farmers are dying of hunger and poverty??