Quick Hi

Hey All, I'm missing from the page because I'm busy doing the ONLY thing I like more than travel. Plan, research (to death), imagine, research more, prepare for - the travel ITSELF! :)

One graduation, 10 places, too many people I like, one mega road trip, some re-visits, some new, fabulous company, a very excited me. Sounds like the journey's already begin. :)

Thoughts Back Home

Thank you all, for missing me! S and I came back last night at about 3 am and I'm all cranky with sleep. I will write about my meet-the-people trip later but just a few thoughts before I nap.

• Among those spending the Republic Day Weekend in Dubai, there are some who do not want to be seen doing this (may be they told the friends that they were sailing in South of France). Hence, can typically be heard making such conversations as they deplane, to dissipate their suddenly LS image : Isn't it so artificial ... I just don't feel like going out the airport! Pray tell me, you did not know where it was headed when you got onto this flight? Neena called and said she has rented a villa South of Istanbul or may be it was France, I told her we were very busy or would have joined ... I tell her only this - it's all cool. We understand. You don't want to be seen as a Dubai-going person, but then these are recessionary times - be easy on yourself!
  
• I was pleasantly surprised that the TV had our very own Doordarshan channel! I realized that watching Republic Day parade on Doordarshan and waiting for the Birla Balika Vidyapeeth Band (better known as the Pilani girls band) still gives me the same high. Its my school (one of the many) after all!
  
• Whichever class I travel, I could never cut somebody off and thrust my passport in to tell someone, anyone that they should wait in the line for Economy as this one is for Business/First. Ever. Which is what this evil uncle who was ahead of us in line did this to an unsuspecting foreigner backpacker couple. So much for Athithi Devo Bhav. Seriously, how can you do that?! It would like, take a minute or two for them to get done, why be so rude? When I used to travel to work by local train, I could not even bring myself to walk to the front of the line and buy a first class pass if there wasn't already a separate queue, while an entire serpentine line waited. In fact, that reminds me of how these aunties in the local trains would go up to people who didn't pass their visual examination and ask them to show their first class pass! Imagine that! I'm still infuriated.
• I have opened the registration for people who want to join me in my morcha to get Ikea to India. I am tired of lugging stuff every time!Anyway, half of the stuff me wants is un-luggable :(
  

That Place

I will write about the place and put pictures but here's a look of where I was. I took these pictures from the flight and you can see the seabed in the first one ... can you imagine how clear the water must be!!


I have to do the following things in the coming few days:

• Complete the post I started writing about 'that place'.
  
• Find a software to watermark the images.
  
• I am very proud of my photographic skills and I think even S is damn good. I would like to create a website to sell the million pictures we already have (and the billion we will have in some time) at exorbitant rates some day (in the near future).
  
• Post a picture of the super hot stilettos Ser and I bought for me yesterday.
  
• FYI : They are a pair of peeptoe-slingbacks. Wine color. Patent leather finish. We will not think about what we paid for it.
  
• Ser, I took the advise and I'm breaking them in. Much to my bai's amusement at my current look - worn out shorts, oldest t-shirt, duster in hand, stilettos in place! :D
  
• Finish cleaning my home, make it look super chic!
• Get groceries.
• Have dinner with Abhi. Abhi is my favoritest cousin, in fact 'cousin' is not enough to explain my relationship with him - he's my brother, friend and someone who is a part of countless crazy childhood memories for me. He's just moved to Bombay 4 days back and I haven't met him yet. He's going to be in the same city as me ... yayyyyy!! :) :)
  
• Take care of my guests for the next 5 days.
  
• Go visit my favorite aunt at Pune, which has to be next week.
  
• Not feel overwhelmed and sad by a friend's situation, find ways for her to set it right.
  

Spontaneous Joy

I write to you from Bangalore. A city I love for its sexy weather, quaint cottage houses (of course few left in older localities) and the fact that it houses some of my fav. people. I think I like it so much also because of some very wonderful times I've had here. No, never lived here but have visited numerous times :)

I have mentioned my veryyy close friend Bhavna earlier ... she's my companion from the rainy rickshaw ride . My friendship with her is the kind that makes me feel that I have earned much in this life already. The kind where you don't need to be in touch ever week or even month or whatever but every time you talk you start from where you left off, its always as much fun ... ok, before I go senti lets move on!

SO, Bhavna is expecting a baby and I did not really know that when that happens to someone who is very special to you, it can actually make you go awwww. So it did make me go awww and we talked with more and more frequency the past months and I kept wanting to see her and spend some time with her. In my three years at college while J and I stayed in a rented flat with some friends I spent many a days at Bhavna's place. It was home to me. I would land up at her place or Bhavna would drag me to stay for a few days every time ... I was unwell or I was happy or there was a match we wanted to watch together or it was a tough exam we wanted to prepare for or it was paranthas we wanted to eat or if we wanted to while a night away laughing. So I just wanted to have some of that time with her once again and we discussed many times when and how to do that. But like all great plans it was a spontaneous plan that got me here to be with her.

S was planning to go out of the country for some work and though he's always a sport when I am traveling, on the thought of a week with no S and no work and no all day calls to mom-pa (they are still in Oz) I was freaking a lil and also feeling a little weird about it too (I don't fit well into these distressed damsel roles) SO was not really showing it and being very brave. S asked me if I wanted to go meet Bhavna or Praks or anyone else and if I will be ok and keeping up with the brave front I said I would be and booked tickets for a play on Sunday, a lunch date for Saturday, a movie appointment for Friday, another dinner etc. Even got a membership of bigflicks.com ! I was all set.

And THEN the day S was to leave, Bhavna called me in the morning to chat and I told her about all this and she was like ... What?!! Why aren't you coming?! We have been wanting to meet for so long etc. etc. So I was like that's true and why am I not going and that I must. Booked the tickets, went to see S off, canceled all activity planned for, packed my bags and came to Bangalore!!! :)

Having an awesomely nice time here with Bhavna and some other friends who are dropping in to meet. Re-living some crazy past memories and creating plenty of more to keep us going for a long time. Also, this is the first time I've really met Bhavna's husband who is a lot of fun and I think it helps that we have a shared love (Bhavna of course!!). Every two hours or so Bhavna or I say ... "isn't it great you/I came?!!!!" No wonder that while joys of all kinds and shapes are welcome the spontaneous kind are the ones I am partial to.


P.S. A big thankk youuuu to J, A, Sudip, Sandy and others who are calling up with a frequency far greater than usual to 'generally' chat :) I'm doing good. Love you, guys.

Udta Hi Firun In Hawaon Me Kahin

He He ... the post is neither about the song, nor about the movie, I'm sure there are enough and more bytes lavished on the two. This post is about ... air travel and the funny experiences thereof! Should be fun.

J and I were talking and started discussing the funny and interesting air travel experiences we've had ... she has had many more fun ones! No fair!! Considering that in the job profile I had for the last 3 years, I took no less than 300-350 flights over that period ... what do I have to show for it?

# Stories of me getting stuck with all uncles who want to offer me their raitas and salads when I refuse the stewardess for dinner/lunch?

# Worse still the aunties, who want to know which college I'm in and then they proceed to poke and prod and are finally informed about the going-ons in my life, like ... working?Haaan?!So young. Or, married? Haaan??!!Very good!(plz to note the very good)So young. Lolll.

# Celebrity spottings, most of which excite only the relative's kids who like asking you questions like ... have you seen so and so?I recite the list, the politicians evoke no interest mostly, the rest get - and what was he/she doing/wearing? Wowwwww ... (Grrrrr) Most of them evoked no excitement for me, except of course the time when I saw Javed Jafri, who I think is a dude and I love even more due to his Takeshi's Castle commentary achievements. Now, that impresses me much!:)

(One tiny detour to share one observation, on recent relative visits while the girls tend to stick to the celebrity spotting questions, and the boys have upgraded to car spotting questions! Me being the car enthusiast, is mighty pleased with the boyees progress and la-haul-vila-kuwat much disappointed in the girleez!!)

Ok, moving on to the real interesting ones (most of them are from J's recent trip home)...

• This one time J and mom are travelling from Jaipur to somewhere and on their flight is this old, Rajasthani gentleman who is on his first ever flight. He is just soooo excited! So this person, he's wearing the traditional white kurta pajama and a large colorful turban and his kurta is sprinkled with some pink color. Mum explains saying ... he must be the first one from his village to undertake air travel so there must have been some kind of pooja/celebration! :) And he is looking damn cute sitting there all excited in his bright turban! Food is served and he carefully observes the people around him and goes on to do exactly as they are doing. Some irritating air hostesses are scowling at him because he doesn't know what to do ... get a life women ... as if you were born on an aircraft, wearing your high heels! Ok, so the flight lands and at arrivals, our enthu turbaned old man is very surprised and happy to see the conveyor belt and is not sure what it does ... so he decides to do a lil experiment. He has this potli with him, he looks at the moving belt for a while, then places his potli on it and proceeds to watch what happens. When the potli completes the round and comes back to him ... he breaks into a smile and claps with joy!! :) And its reallly awww cute to see his excitement because you don't see that kind of innocent excitement too often these days ... lesser still in grown ups as most people, including kids, feel they should act cool! But what joy ... being able to experience something for the first time and being able to express it too! :)
• Another funny one ... J is on some flight from somewhere to somewhere and this person starts to yell,"Madam!Madam!Help me!!Help me!!!!" So J is convinced that he's either having a heart attack or has found a bomb on the flight and that she's going to get delayed in reaching wherever it is that she's going. There is sudden interest from all around and the air hostess runs to him to see whats it about and the yelling man says, still yelling,"Madam!He's not moving from my seat!Do something!" Lollll ... the madam helps the yelling man and the yelling subsides, its all good. I can just picture J, sitting there shaking with laughter.

Ok, there are more but now my time has been claimed by that little pestering thing called work. I'll continue on in part 2 ...

P.S. Madam!Madam!Sir,sir!! Can you please help with this spaces not showing problem?!

P.P.S: I solved the spaces problem but don't want to remove the P.S. :D

Madras Musings

If they put you on a flight without telling you where it was headed for and you stepped out into the city, you could tell it was Chennai/ Madras simply because ...

• Its the outdoor advertising capital of the country. It has the most number of hoardings I've seen in any city and its the first thing you would notice. These also could be further categorised basis their size and usage: 1. Mega hoardings, these are the size of 2-3 normal sized hoardings combined and are reserved for the movie posters. 2. The normal hoardings - primarily used by those wanting to advertise any kind of Sarees or Jewelry. 3. Mini-hoardings, these are exclusively used for political advertising, these mini ones are omnipresent, you can't sweep your eyes about and not spot them every single time.
• There are no plain, unadorned walls in Chennai! Every single inch of every wall in every part of the city is covered with large, hand painted figures of their gods - the real gods and then ... Amma, Karunanidhi, other politicians and aah ... Rajni. What catches your eye is not just that these paintings are there everywhere and that they are HUGE but also, how well painted these are - each expression, muscvle and wrinkle in the face visible. Too much!
• How can you talk about Chennai and not mention the auto rickshaw guys. After they have tried to fleece you and after much haggling have settled on a still unreasonably high fare, they will go all sweet on you (or may be its just me!) ... on reaching the city, in my ride from the airport to the hotel I knew all about the Chennai weather, the unexpected rains, bad influence of west on Chennai's youth, benefits of learning Tamil and even some Tam words! In exchange I had also given out a status on Mumbai rains, traffic, my marital status, duration of my stay and my familiarity with the city. All this happened with the help of a strange mix of Hindi, English, frantic gestures and a lil Tamil :)

I'm a lil bored of the theme so I will just go on to something else ... I love South Indian food and in my quest for nice Southy food I went to a local joint suggested by someone at office, called Sangeeta, which is near Landmark. I happily ordered my food, got it from the counter and even managed to find a place to sit! As I started eating I looked around and I suddenly realised that anyone could have said without an effort that I was not a local, and all because ...

• I was the only girl/woman around not wearing a saree/salwar kameez AND/OR Bindi AND/OR flowers in my hair
• I was the only one eating a dosa at lunch time, while everyone else seemed to be having some or the other kind of meal with rice
• I was the only one drinking out of a bottled drink - and who could say that an Innocent Sprite could be incriminating evidence!
• I was the only girl/woman sharing a table with 3 men I didn't know (there weren't any women sharing tables with men, unless of course they came in together)

BTW, these guys I shared the table with were really nice. As one of them sat down with his food, I shamelessly peeked into his plate and saw this really interesting looking dish, so I thought I can ask him what its called and order that for myself. The greedy me asked him what that yummy looking thing was and there ... he insisted and insisted and went on insisting (with some help from the other two) till I took the bowl of yummy tamarind-sambhar rice from him. He even gave me two of his tiny, white papads saying they go well with that rice!! :)

Its surprising, isn't it, how by just being who you are, you can end up sticking out like a sore thumb among people. And then, with only a steaming bowl of tamarind-sambhar-rice, you are a little more closer to them :)