Just because

"Don't tell me I'm burning the candle at both ends, tell me where to get more wax." Anonymous Ah thought I would start the day with this quote !! December is a month which I think is very romantic.. For me it always meant time for long holidays... walking down pine forests and raiting for school to open.. Many a times it would mean travel.. many a times it would mean studies.. but all in all it is always a month where I would end up taking stock of what passed by and what I needed to do... The present holds the same meaning but in a different way.. another year gone by... another feeling to push forward to complete the To Do's on my lists. Plan ahead though I am not one for planning...

On a more somber note today is World Aids Day. So heres hoping that the public is more aware of AIDs and how it is affecting people. Just knowledge is not enough.. tolerance and care is what we need to cultivate...

Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS is the theme of the 2004 World AIDS day. Around the world there are many different ways in which HIV and AIDS affect women . Read More... Do you have questions about HIV or AIDS? Click here to know more... Click here to make a note of the helplines in India..

What is India doing for AIDs Awareness... Click here to know more

And on a lighter note today is salary day ... yehawwwwww !!! Got to buy this .. got to buy that.. Got to do this.. got to do that.... ahh so many things and so little time !! SIGH.. Had lunch in Pizza Hut.. was nice to meet up with Aqua.. and here is the recipe ,Aqua that you requested... hope you like making it.. as much as I do...

Eagle when I fly

I was going through heylady's blog about a poem that she had written and instantly I was reminded of this song .. one of my favorite country numbers by Dolly Parton.. Eagle When She Flies (Dolly Parton) She's been there, God knows, she's been there She has seen and done it all She's a woman, she know how to Dish it out or take it all Her heart's as soft as feathers Still she weathers stormy skies And she's a sparrow when she's broken But she's an eagle when she flies A kaleidoscope of colors You can toss her around and round You can keep her in you vision But you'll never keep her down She's a lover, she's a mother She's a friend and she's a wife And she's a sparrow when she's broken But she's an eagle when she flies Gentle as the sweet magnolia Strong as steel, her faith and pride She's an everlasting shoulder She's the leaning post of life She hurts deep and when she weeps She's just as fragile as a child And she's a sparrow when she's broken But she's an eagle when she flies She's a sparrow when she's broken But she's an eagle when she flies Oh, bless her, Lord She's an eagle when she flies Woman ... the very essence of which is described so beautifully by this song.. I find that I can relate to this song and can almost picture myself there ... as if the song is about me... how easy it is to just give up and be a woman.. how easy it is to not give up just because you are a woman... Culture tradition all nonwithstanding... each time a sparrow never fails to change to an eagle when she flies.... Whether it is the housewife who manages the house and family or the high profile corporate ... the strengths and the weaknesses are interchanged but the common aspect that makes up the personality of a woman remains the same and today it seems that a woman can handle either of the extremes... but she also would like to live in the grayer aspect of life ... strike a balance... find that spirit which complements her weakness and enhances her strength... Today I might be a sparrow when I am broken but I know that I am an eagle when I fly...

This and That

Partied at Karnataka Sports Association Club in Chinmaya Stadium. Got to watch Ranjhi Trophy between MP and Karnataka. Thought that Chinnaswamy Stadium was much bigger than what was there. HUH !! Cricketers look better in white than in their colored uniforms... PVR multiplex that opened in FORUM, Koramangala rocks. Watched Choker Bali there and was stumped by the quality of the theatre and the service. Its like a multinational operation. User friendly ticketing centre. Good display of movies running there. You can also sit in the lounge and have some good eats while waiting for the movie. Review of the bengali movie Choker Bali can be read here. I love Rituporno Ghosh. He is an awesome director... His treatment of each story is so unique.

Rituporno Ghosh Rituporno Ghosh. This is the name, which is drawing the urban sensible Bengali audiences to the hall after a really long long time. To know more click here...

Screens are much bigger than the Marathahalli multiplex which is like watching a larger version of a TV. Seats are comfortable and though the eateries are a wee bit expensive.. its okay I guess.. Never seen so many people as I saw in Forum. If they were not walking around that area, they were hanging out sitting outside the mall... Good lord seemed that the whole of Bangalore was there.. Now all we need is an IMAX. Bangalore is happening. Tried a new place called Hungry Buddha... if you are planning to have a quick dinner.. this is a good place to be... read the review here. I liked the name and found it quite cool. Watched Khushi... found this movie better than Veer Zaara. SIGH. For review click here. Watched Laws of Attraction.. great romantic comedy... you should watch this. You can read the review here. If you are interested you can view some of the shots that I have updated.. on my visit to Nagarhole here are some more shots ... A view from my Office Balcony... ( this was just experimenting with my Canon Powershot S 400 Digital Elph). Digital cameras are kinda fussy... I prefer the normal camera anyday.. have to get used to a lot of buttons.. SIGH. I hate anything which has lots of buttons.. Now its a Monday all over again !!

Confused

Between deciding between a Training guide and a CBT. Both will take huge amount of time and both are painful.. SIGH Why the Kannada filmstars are bent on doing what they are doing ? Now they are asking for 100 percent entertainment taxes on non Kannada movies... Sheesh !! and Mr Rajkumar is in the thick of it all ? I am smelling dirty politics again... no issues to confuse the state Government so lets do a la Rajkumar episode again !!! Office Humor A case of blind leading the blind .. one unmarried professional forcing her opinion on the other... "men have lot of hormones... when they bald they lose hormones... when they grey they lose hormones..with each hair fall they become weak... (DUH )!! !!! women do not have to worry since they dont have hormones... !!!! " there was more thinking of which I am rolling in the floor with laughter and unfortunately I cannot put it in writing .... Sheesh !!! I am definitely enlightened.... this morning the other unmarried professional comes to me with great concern and I am left speechless... I am like GAWK... and then I go HAR HAR HAR .... Methinks after having a hearty laugh... Indian schools need to be more serious about teaching the basics of anatomy ( also the birds and bees) when required to avoid risking spreading of misinformation ... when they reach their 30s. Me no judging the person concerned... just amazed at the fact that an educated professional.. can actually mull and brood for hours and hours over this ... Pet Peeve... The office loo being totally wet ... specially after this person comes out of the loo... either she does not know how to use the spray or she believes in washing the spraying the seat as well as the floor.. and then making sure that the lights and the doors are closed giving the impression that the loo is being used... .. By the way this is the same person who has spouted the hormone philosophy.. and this is the same dame who spouted the fact that Virgos are virgins... and I had thought it cant get any worse... LOL So have a nice weekend all of you.. and hope to have more tolerance for the lady.. god bless.. her !! Restaurant review on Bombay Blues up ...

lights up my soul !!

conversations over mirinda and french fries.... with a friend cooking up an age old dish which I had never cooked but which was a favorite of my ma's and getting it just right... SIGH... I miss my ma's food ... seeing a furry black and white dog cross the road and making it just at the nick of time... overtaking ..... ok I am not naming the cars here... but yessss it does thrill me to go past the very cars who would be looking at a woman driver with disdain... beating the traffic getting a green signal all the way from home to work... thats a 30 to 40 min drive without traffic... yehawwwwwwwww the diamond ad in the TV which has two old people and the gentleman says to his old wife.. how will the diamond know your age... priceless... thinking up a birthday gift that will light up my friend's soul... And I have a new template.... hurrayyyyyyyyy !!!

Yet another day

Mid week is here !! and hope is alive !! the day will bring forth lot of surprises !! Bangalore Times is bent on portraying Bangalore as a party animal of some sorts.. competing with Mumbai ( where partying is as natural as drinking water) I guess.. but all of us know the reality... no matter how many skimpy shots you lay in the paper... Bangalore definitely is not the partying kind of town... unless its limited to small get togethers... get real people !! Just partying does not make a city hep ... or does it ?? Birdie communication... when he needs food... this little sparrow by my window makes a show of flying around zipping to my living room to let me know that they are there and food needs to be laid.. how demanding can one get ... but I love it... who said silence and words were the only ways to communicate... I have a pet and I like the fact that its a free bird .. Come winter all the wooden doors and windows have started to shrink ... and it is easier to close them doors.. or we would have to force the bloated doors close... In Shillong we could actually hear them shrink.. it was so eerie.. yet fun ... Winter and tea always is another fatal combination of procrastination and laziness... ah good old winter... how I love it ... Someone is the family is going through a serious operation tomorrow.. so hope and pray that everything goes well... amen !! Now for a hot hot cup of tea !!!! ..........

Winds of Change...

Sometimes one just feels that one is stuck in the wheel of time and everyone else is moving around but oneself... I am having this feeling right now where I am seeing a lot of movement all around me.. Friends coming and going ... people shifting houses... people changing jobs... five houses springing up out of the beautiful land mass which used to be my haven to see everytime I woke up... instead of the loud thuds of constructions... people getting married.. people having babies... people having birthdays... oh and here I am standing still just like an observer.. loath to move... loath to change the situation... but yet wanting to go somewhere somehow faster than anyone could ... but where is the big question... from here to where ?? .... a new profession... a new role... a new personality... a new skin... a new vice... a new character in the stage of the world.... a change of phase.. know not what is coming.. but feel the winds of change... here and now... waiting to be wrapped in it .. since in change is renewal.. in change is rebirth... in change is a new phase waiting to begin... maybe I thrive on change... or is it that I have become plain bored of routine ??? or is it just a quarter life crisis as a dear friend's mail pointed out to me !!!

A whiff of brandy and wheeeee...................

Thats what happened this week end ... or rather end of the week... Madhu Menon's cocktail of brandy + hot water + lemon + cinnamon + cloves + a dash of pepper + honey... just did the trick of pick me up... after a sniffling bout... I reccomend it to everybody having the sniffles.... Bangalore winter is getting pleasantly chill... Faced disaster when my favorite white cargo came out of the machine.. carrying blotches of pink and red.... WAAAHHHHHH !!!! and ironically none of the other clothes were coloured since they were not cotton and my poor cargos were cotton... beat that .. how unfair can a washing sequence be ?? Rocks just says that he did not know about it.... GRRRR.... AAAAA>>> OOOWWLLLL.... Watched VEER ZAARA !!! ok guys if you liked Baghban and teary movies... you can watch this... but not me... Preity Zinta was ok ... SRK was pathetic... not a movie for me... Watched Shark Tale ... liked it... but it was a little flat.... Finding Nemo is and was much better... movie.. technically and scriptwise... Pixar excels in whatever it does... Dreamworks needs to better itself instead of just following Pixar's successful movies... SIGH !! Batata vada and home made besan ka ladoos are the best things that I had this weekend !!! besides the brandy thing of course !! Finally finished ... Dr Brian Weiss' Many Lives, Many Masters... a good book ... Other Lives and Other Masters was a better bet... which provided Carl Jung's theory along with the the science of reincarnation and superconsciousness... but Weiss is also good... Learnt the art of perspectives... :) while drawing.. thanks to Vikram and a friend who have been teaching me the art of twiddling with pencils...

In the news : Lost World of Atlantis may have been discovered after all... and well I am not surprised.. what was till now a figment of Plato's imagination is slowly taking shape in the form of an underground city miles deep within the sea between Cyprus and Syria... according to the scientists... lets hope that this is not another hoax...

Am searching for for this book Ridin' High, Livin' Free : Hell-Raising Motorcycle Storiesby Ralph "Sonny" Barger (Author) .. if anybody can get me even a used book would gladly buy it... E-BOOK will also do ... SIGH !!

Friday Fumblings

• Did you know that there is a show which is called the Naked news Edition where girls and guys strip to their barest and show all ... all while reading the news... GAWK.. I could not believe my eyes until I saw it.
• Responsibilties does make one responsible...
• Sharukh Khan is going gaga with his releases.. Veer Zaara and Swades have put him in the news again.
• What is the use of being a seer if you are involved in murdering innocent people for your gain ? This totally defies the deinition and faith in saints and do gooders...
• Thank god the theatres are airing good movies .. finally... dont know what it took for them to rebel so late... SIGH !!
• Waiting to watch Shark Tale, Morning Raga, Garfield...
• Got me some nice books to read... yehawww...
• Sketching is so beautiful ... nothing beats shades... of the pencils...
• Past Life readings can be very difficult but interesting...
• You will not know about something that you are dying to know unless it the right time for you to have that knowledge and then utilise it the right way.
• I think I like to watch Kareena Kareena in Zee TV. The story is quite funny and unpredictable... if you can do away with the extra make up... ( BRRR) ... reminds me of Ally Mc Beal.
• Wisdom and understanding go hand in hand and cannot exist without each other...
• Doing unto others and others do unto you bounces quite badly if the doing is just gossiping personality disorders... the gossip can reach you back in a circle...
• Just because someone is really a pain in the butt does not mean that you have to tolerate that pain... avoidance and ignorance is bliss... if it is in your control

Updates my blogs here !!

An opinion in Random - on Time Management

Product Review - Clairol Herbal Shampoo

Now that I have jotted down my thoughts , I can rest in peace... meanwhile hope you all have a great weekend !!

Tired but Replete....

Thoughts crossing my mind... It does not take an American Indian or an Indian to have basic human characteristics. Do we really need to take tablets for everything ?? DUH !! or is India so wierd that anything you come in contact with will make you an alien... please forgive me for being an Indian...

All Bangladeshis maybe Bengalis but all Bengalis are not Bangladeshis... excuse me... where is GK when it is needed... just like all Madrasis may be South Indians but All South Indians are not Madrasis. God show them a little light and give me some patience....

Temples in South India ... are a definitely NO NO if there is a special occasion and you suddenly feel like offering puja unless you are from here . Takes more than an hour to stand in the sun... then reach the temple...

On a wild life safari, it is best if you are the first to drive through the jungles... it is a pleasure to watch wild animals roaming the wild freely... Never saw so many wild animals as we did this time in Nagarhole.. we even met fresh tiger pug marks.. If you are planning to go to Mysore this time... please make sure that you have hotel bookings.. hotel accomodations are rare now... if you are stuck The International Youth Hostel is your best bet... you will be surprised by their service and their surroundings.... Mountains bring out the best in me... It is not so easy to sit some thousands of miles away and judge how things should be done and how it should not be done... everyone's life is different and only the individual living it knows what he or she is going through.... Just because one travels does not mean that one who does not travel does not know about the rest of the world.. . Home stays are the best anywhere you are traveling ... I highly recommend High Falls Holiday Homes in Coorg. Excellent place, excellent view and excellent food... I would like to spend some time in one of the tent accomodations in Orange County ... my dream which is going to be fulfilled if the time and the money are in place.... he ahahaha !! it is sinful !!!

Ducklings are very very adorable unless the mother duck decides to hiss her displeasure.... yeah ducks HISSSS... when they feel cornered... ( I did not know that)

Turkeys may look very beautiful from afar but they are a menace if you go near them.... :)

Just when you thought that humanity was dead and gone.. something just reinforces my faith in it... incident with Jeep having one of its clamps broken down. We spied a shop after much searching in Hassan... somewhere in the outskirts... only to find that it was closed... but the good people came by and when they knew that we were traveling ... they quickly took us backside and fixed the problem... in spite of that day being a holiday for them.. and they refused to take money.... HUH.. how nice can you get... ?? May god bless them ...

Holiday....

Everyone is talking about Diwali and ID. The festive spirit just gets to oneself...... . but frankly for me what matters is I am having a HOLIDAYYYYYY .. yayyyyyyyyy .the best part about this month is the holidays that it has offered us ..will be missing home as I usually do during big festivals... nothing like spending it with folks... next year this time .. I am definitely with my folks... Commercial Street in Bangalore is a street of many colors and lights... and so is MG Road... I love it when the city is alive with lights... The company is planning a Paint to Win contest for kids... and I am glad to be involved in it... got to think of a nice subject !! Any ideas... what is buzzing in my head is this topic.. Computers versus Man ... have the week to churn out ideas.... Am gearing up for guests and then travel... guests from the inlaws side are always viewed with trepidation... specially when its for the first time.. one feels like being under a well wishing microscope.. where one is observed how you cook, how you dress, how clean you keep your kitchen, :) LOLOL , well as you can see I am having butterflies in the stomach ... and I am crossing my fingers that their visit goes without any hassles.... I can thank god for small mercies that we are taking them traveling and well my part is eased out... Nature I can handle anytime... he he !!! easy to distract the mind you see... So ready with my baggage again and raring to go... this time hopefully we will see some tigers... Next destination... dreaming about it... Uttranchal or maybe Andhra Pradesh.. would definitely like to explore these places... the latter sounds plausible... than the former... have posted my write up on Hogenakkal Falls in Royal Enfield Website... will post the link when it gets published... Meanwhile... you can check out the snaps here.... This place is a beautiful place to just drive down and come back and the falls are great at this time.. when its been raining.. on and off... ghat section is a beautiful ride/drive. And a very happy Diwali to everyone of you !!! Hope you have a great time !!

Winter Song by Wilfred Owen

The browns, the olives, and the yellows died, And were swept up to heaven; where they glowed Each dawn and set of sun till Christmastide, And when the land lay pale for them, pale-snowed, Fell back, and down the snow-drifts flamed and flowed. From off your face, into the winds of winter, The sun-brown and the summer-gold are blowing; But they shall gleam with spiritual glinter, When paler beauty on your brows falls snowing, And through those snows my looks shall be soft-going. And here comes another week. Bangalore is totally heralding a wet and chilly winter and it is a welcome change from the hot unsweatable days... I always like the winter the best... having been born in a chilly mountains of the east. This whole year has been full with rains and the wintry chill has come back after a long time and it reminds me of the Bangalore that I had come to the first time... only this time it has been spattered with rains... which make it hard work to wake up and go to office but here I am .... Its time to snuggle, time to cuddle, time when you put on the warm colors... yes it is that time of the year when we are getting ready to flag another year by and yes how time flies... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting Lucky Whats luck got to do with having a jolly good weekend ?? Well I must say a lot since Rocks has been lucky to win a Canon Digital Camera from GK Vale, Bangalore... he hahahaha !!! and I am thrilled to bits since I never won anything like this... and well Rocks magnanimously says like the typical Leonine fella... I always knew I would win... BAAAH !!!! But heck... that was the highlight of the weekend !! I am heppy heppy heppy... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connection What is it that makes one want to know another person... ? the air of mystery or the fact that you would like to know that person... and how can you judge the level of friendship ... by the fact that you meet very often and share secrets and no envy or by the fact that you dont meet often but yet think warmly of that person... you connect at some level.. that was how I connected with a friend this weekend and it was good to feel again that like minded people do exist and they strengthen the faith of what is the basis of a good relationship between two human beings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cat out of the bag..... Sometimes when you want to keep a secret, I learned that you should not really ask questions... to help you out... :) had this funny experience where my friend wanted to know about a situation with the help of my tarots... here I was going about my readings... and there he was trying to be as vague as possible... and the fun part was that his mom and his siblings were also there... the result was that the cat was out of the bag in front of everyone... and he must have been ruing the moment he asked me to read his cards... poor thing... the good part was that everybody in his family took it sportingly.. and thus me and my cards were saved from damnation... and truth prevailed again ... LOOLOLOLOL... so beware my friends,... before you ask a question to the universe... it has the capacity to open up doors which you dont want to open.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pet Peeve Men and women driving and smoking and throwing ash outside their window... .... definitley not cool !!! grrrr !! PS: For your viewing pleasure some photographs from the temples of Halebid -Belur which was done in the same day when we drove down to Sravanabelagola .... Hogenakkal write up is coming up soon !!!

A question mark on the concept of humanity

A question mark on the concept of humanity

Yesterday I came across an incident that disturbed me a lot. This has happened to a student who also rides with us. His name is Amit and is from the Bike Nomads club. This guy was riding through Yelahanka to Nandi Hills when he saw a villager lying on the road bleeding ... and injured. Concerned he stopped and took him to the hospital. It was a hit and run case and he needed attention. Amit thought that he would be able to help this poor guy out. He paid his hospital bills since the patient did not have money on him. And left his phone number with the hospital.. in case they needed him to help this guy out.

The next day he was summonded by the police. When he went to the police, he was surprised to find that the relatives and so called well wishers of the patient mobbing him and demanding money and then more money.. and it went on till they threatened him with the fact that if he did not pay up they would put the whole blame on him and make it a police case saying that they were eyewitness to him hitting this man.

As if this was not enough, when he pleaded with the police to help him out, they also refused and questioned him as to why he brought the man in the first place.. and he had to pay the guys since there was nothing they could do if a report was written against him, inspite of the fact that there was no evidence that he was involved in any way with the case except for the fact that he lent a helping hand in saving one's life.

After giving a hefty amount of 7000/- to the police, hospital, and the crowd, he managed to somehow get out of the mess after making a call to his place in Delhi and talking with the police there....

Good Lord !!! where has sense and sensibility disappeared ?

Have people come down to the fact that they will do anything for money ? Even risk a man's life ?

How will this effect the young boy whose only intention was to help ?

We as bikers have gone through this situation at one point or the other and the person who takes us to the right place is an angel we will always be indebted too. I have been on both sides many a times.. sometimes the victim and sometimes the helper.. but maybe I was saved because I was a woman... HUH.. but that did not stop the crowd from asking money in those scenarios... I just had to pay less.... and making a pitiful helpless face does help... :)

This is a disgusting picture of the city that I live in and I am ashamed to say that there is no sense in doing the right deed. The very people like the police who should help citizens out in times like this back away and plot out a way to get more money. It does not matter that he is a student and does not have that much money to shell out... It is a different story that the patient who was actually hit has no say in this. How sadistic and desperate can one get ?

I also remember an incident when there was heavy riot going on during the kidnapping of Rajkumar by Veerapan, I along with a couple of my friends had to walk more than 30 kms to reach home from office since vehicles were being burnt in the road... I somehow reached the intersection where i had to cross and walk some more yards home... right in front of my eyes... two cars were attacked and beaten down by a mob... I was shaking... and asked one of the Hoyasala guys to help.. they looked at me and disinterestedly... told me to carry on. how could one carry on through a violent mob ??? .. you see the police was busy having some snacks instead of controlling the mob,.... they were safer inside the Jeep.... I can still feel the helplessness of standing there alone trying to be discreet and not get attention to myself... fear was in my soul.. fear with disgust and anger that the very people who are entrusted with the responsibility to protect the citizens have nothing in them..... I still remember that a traffic police helped me to cross the road... sheltering me from the stones and the mob... may god bless him...

I can still remember another incident ... when I had gone under a bus... one of the passengers who helped me... took that opportunity to sell me insurance in the pretext of calling me and asking me how I was doing... ???

My only question to myself is what is the concept of a helping hand of humanity ?? of selfless service ?? of faith in humanity ???

Well the only lesson learnt here is that we have to build loopholes even when we are helping out which is sad... but true..and if you are really stuck... only your good fortune can take you out of that mess.

Wednesday wonderings

I am feeling totally thrilled... because I started work on Wednesday !! yehawwww. Monday was a holiday.. and took leave on Tuesday thus making it a looooong weekend !! Got my insurance done for my Kinetic Marvel.. which is up for sale now... would like to sell it to someone who will keep the vehicle as nicely as I have done.. .. any takers ?? ....this baby has served me through thick and thin and now when it is time to give it away... its breaking my heart but I also know that if i do not sell it, it will rot... The past weekend found us riding to the beautiful Hogenakkal Falls in Tamil Nadu... camping party was cancelled since we did not have enough time to go camp and come back... but this ride was worth it ....Patches of bombed roads did not deter us in finding our way there... People in Bangalore must make a trip there... you can go and come back in a day... and have a great ride in the coracles too.... the nice boatman will spin it round and round the rapids... and its a treat for the photographers.. its a mini Niagra falls .. I must say .... Photos and write up to be up yet... Watched another... long named movie... WHATCHAMACALLIT... whatever... $%##$@@ starring Salman Khan and Priety Zinta and that female who starred in the movie which also had Salman Khan in unbelievable horrendous long hair... ( I liked that movie inspite of the long hair.. he he ) ... you can easily give this movie a miss... Diwali is round the corner... and that should find us in Thekaddy.... deep inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve if all goes well... or maybe in the forests of Nagerhole.. And a big round of applause for my friend, Abhishek whose film Darkness has been appreciated in the press.... way to go buddy..