since... hence... :p

Since i don't exercise culinary skills often.
Since my latest guinea pigs survived my experiments.

Hence... ;-)

Chicken. Paneer. Aaloo subzi. And some colours! Pics taken by turquoisebleu.

Have a good week ahead you all. :)

WTF!!!!

Arrrrrrrrrrggghhhh!!

Am in for some password trouble. Have been trying to log onto my Flickr account... it wouldn't let me!! Wrong ID or Password it says... how so?? I have been logging in with this password forever. And i tried all the passwords that i use and i have a set of passwords that i use, its not as if this one is out of the ordinary or some godforsaken word/number combo that i wouldn't remember otherwise!!

Am so effing pissed off, the 'forgot password' help is no help either... it asks me for my b'day information AND Postal code!!! What if i DON'T remember the postal code i fed in... what if i fed-in the postal code when i was in Timbuktu and not there anymore and hence dont remember it. Isn't technology supposed to make our life easier??? Why the eff retrieving my password so effing difficult!!!

All i wanted to do was upload some pics on Flickr... sigh...

Oh the other day i realised my Haloscan account for the poetry blog has vanished. Just like that!! :O

Damn!!

knock. knock!

Daman. Sunset. Dec 2006.

It's a new beginning; quite literally for me. This year the sun finally sets on things i have left behind... shores left long past, that dim in the distance as i watch the faint lines blur and disappear into the blushing horizon. And somehow, the sunset brings a sense of relief and an urgency to move forward, move on and let go of anything that wasn't mine. Indeed there is an immense sense of relief. Perhaps because i am watching the sunset from a distance, on this gold sprinkled sandy beach of new beginnings, new associations, hope and love... And as i sit amidst the wind; the salt in the wind that has dried the salt that welled in my eyes in not such a distant past, a distant shore though, i feel it even more... that nothing is ever the end until you are dead.


The New Year was ushered-in amongst new friendships; some wonderful people who welcomed me with warmth. Hyderabad, Mumbai and Daman. Bottles & Chimney; getting drunk, driving (not me!), Mocha; some more drinking (coffee this time), Biryani, some more driving on Hyderabad roads (not me again), Go Karting (that's the only 'driving' that i managed. Baah!).

Much has changed in Hyderabad in the 7yrs since my last visit. The part of the city that was still at a nascent stage wore a crowded look. Unfortunately i couldn't visit the old city; the plate was full. On our way to Mumbai from Hyderabad, I was surprised at the number of Budget Airlines that have cropped up - Go Air, Spice Air, Kingfisher to name a few. The best part, no auntijis as airhostesses. Sometimes while traveling on Air India, one feels like a school kid what with air-hostess auntijis ordering you around like school teachers. Almost makes me nostalgic. :p

It was amchi Mumbai after Hyderabad. After about 20yrs! A night drive on empty Mumbai roads and a tete-a-tete with Mumbai Police as we parked at Nariman Point in the dead of the night. It didn't help that we drove through and parked on the wrong side of the road. Well, they didn't know that we were all high on beer as well! Not much was seen of Mumbai, but what made an impression on me was the sense-of-humour Mumbai autowallahs possess, something that their brethrens in Delhi are in severe need of. While we were driving through Mumbai roads at night, a friend noticed one of those 'drunk driving messages' only much more inspiring this time. It said, 'Jeeyoge nahi toh peeyoge kaise?' Translated it means, how will you drink if you don't live? See! Not preachy at all, lots of sense... and humour. Damn good life-funda i thought.

After our one-night-stand with Mumbai, a stopover at a dhaba for aaloo-parantha and some yummy creamy dahi later, we were driving through the Western Express Highway to Daman (again moi driving. Not!). I love endless roads and endless drives with the window open. I like the wind on my face. Something that i don't get to do in the AC cabs here. Someday i would like to stand and smoke at the train door, while villages and green fields rush past me, you know like they show in the movies? :)

Daman was a different experience. A sleepy town that was a Portuguese colony not so long back. Unlike other beaches that i have seen till now, the sand here was dark grey. I thought dirt at first, but was told it's because of the rocks they are coloured so. We walked through the slush and mud of the sea in an attempt to see how far the water had receded during the day and we sat on the rocks in the evening only to realise that the water had filled in and surrounded us. We spent time sitting on the beach, gulping down beer, munching on fried pomfret and prawns - fresh catch we were told, playing dumb-charades. Evenings were spent watching enthusiastic junta dancing to latest Bollywood chart-busters and even more enthusiastic Gujjus dancing to Gujju tunes that seemed to go on and on and on. All courtesy the local 'Power DJ'. :) And amidst these moments, 2007 came knocking at our door. We welcomed it with a bottle of Champagne. (Pronounced cham-paag-ne. Yes i used to do that as well; helped my English. My spellings were almost always correct ;D)

It's back to the grind, back to same old same old new.

Moral of the story/life lesson learnt:
Jeeyoge nahi toh peeyoge kaise?
*And i sit with my glass of Johnnie Walker Black Label as i write this* ;-)

Wish you all a very Happy New Year. Hope that all you wished for, craved for, prayed for comes true this year. :)

rain rain pour again!

It rained cats and dogs and rhinos and some more almost all of yesterday. Well, one of the worst ever in 75 yrs as the newspapers reported. And I loved it! Even though getting up in the morning and dragging yourself to work while its pours outside is a task in itself. It rained and thundered and rained and poured and rained and thundered on and on and on and... and of course I loved it! :p

I have always loved the rain. Especially when it rains at night while I comfortably snuggle up in my bed, look out of the window at the downpour. I feel very content for some reason then, as if the downpour washes away all the worries along with it.

Anyway, not enough time to write a longish post. Will come back later and add-in something. But before I go, the holidays will be spent in Hyderabad and Daman mostly. So hopefully will have some pictures in the new year. Which is a good thing, since I haven't been a shutter happy for sometime now.

Ciao all! Be good. :)

P.S: In case I don't come back to add anything else before the end of the year, Merry Christmas and a very very Happy New Year to all! :)

mmmmm...

It has been a while since I have mused or thought of anything else apart from the delicious whirlwind that life has come to be. Do I want to wake up from this dream? Perhaps not, or perhaps calling this 'state' a dream would be unfair, it is as real as it gets. Right?

Often times a particular state we are in becomes the world for us. And everything else that surrounds takes on a hazy garb. You know, like when you focus while shooting photographs? The backgrounds are hazy. So certain things in life, take on center stage. And you let them, because they mean the world to you. If the state is delicious then it can take you to places you have never been before. Do I want to be taken to such places? Yes, I do, as earnestly as there can be a wish... So as I embark on this journey, I am a bit hesitant. No... wait, hesitant would be the wrong word, not hesitant anymore because the first trepid steps have already been taken. There is however, this strange alchemy of apprehension and excitement. That at times makes me take one step back and re-assess my steps only to lurch full force and run, because I don't want to miss that train. It's a brand new joyride and I don't care where it takes me, perhaps because I like the journey so much and I want it to last forever... Despite that irritating voice in my head that connives and cautions me at times and sows seeds of doubt... how can good things happen to me? Am I not given to soaking my soul in the dark, alone? So is this 'dream' an accident? Is this how it should be, exactly how it should be... And yet again, I snap at that voice and shut it up and continue on my journey that takes me through lands lush and green, basking in sunshine, drenched in rain, rainbow crowned; where fluffy clouds strut across vast blues and I can lie down and gaze at the vast black decked with sprinklings of twinkling stars...

Okay, enough already! Need to get back to work and resume the joyride ;-)

Have a lovely weekend you all!

when all i want is you...

what if you get off at the next stop
would you just wave as I'm drifting off
if I never saw you again
could I
keep all of this
inside...

Natalie Imbruglia. Shiver.

Funny how good things at times seem too good for oneself and you keep them at bay as long as you can and then you can't anymore.

And then... you hope to hold onto them as long as you can...

yes I have to have to have to
change the rules
i'm with you


All i want is you. U2. Me2. :p

:)

and orange? :)

a

A glimpse of oranges and yellows on canvas. Not earthshattering, not too bad an attempt either. Hopefully this indicates a begining of something... more colours perhaps? Life mirrors canvas perhaps? For now, i am hooked onto pink ;-)

Pink. Aerosmith.


A bit of splurging on oneself feels good. Two black dresses and one pretty and all lace. Naah, not pink. Cream...

In other news, watched Don and Jaan-e-man. Hmmm... i liked Don. There, i said it. No, i am not comparing, either the two Dons (the previous one, i havent watched... duh!) or Amitabh and Shahrukh. But then there can be no comparison, there can never be another Amitabh, right? Having said that, SRK looks sinister enough. I always thought he could look sinister and kind, ruthless and compassionate. He has those eyes. Comparisons are inevitable, however to Farhan's credit, i thought he made the movie well. It is glam, and it looks good like that.... who cares about the skeptics! I love the style, the sheen, the shine, the polish. What soul are we talking about here? And I love the twist in the end, i like loose ends. Leaves enough room for more... greedy we all are, aren't we? Besides, i love the movies. So my votes on the new Don. Skeptics can go take a walk...

Hmmm... What else, lots to write coupled with lots of inertia to write is not good for the blog. Meanwhile you all have a good life... i sure have one for now, for a change. Touch wood! :)