The Berkshires, MA

One of the most beautiful places I have been to. This place is in Bershires county , MA and the resort where we were put up had such panoramic views of the mountains and fall colors that had it not been so cold, we would have probably stayed out the whole day and night. It was the kind of beauty that you just can't get enough of. Although we had reached a coupla weeks before the fall colors reached their peak, I was absolutely delighted by what we saw. Did the legendary Mohawk Trail as well. And on our way back the Taconic trail was just as spectacular.

Gotta go back again !

Top 25 Travel Web Sites

Handy news item on CNN.

Listen to Balu !

Look for the bare necessities

The simple bare necessities

Forget about your worries and your strife

I mean the bare necessities

Old Mother Nature's recipes

That brings the bare necessities of life

[Step Wiggle Step Wiggle ... Shake Shake ... Scratch Scratch ...]

Was watching Jungle Book last evening ... fell in love with Balu all over again. And, sigh, missed my Ka who is stored away in a box in Blore. But fret I will not ...

So just try and relax, yeah cool it

Fall apart in my backyard

'Cause let me tell you something little britches

If you act like that bee acts,

uh uhYou're working too hard

And don't spend your time lookin' around

For something you want that can't be found

When you find out you can live without it

And go along not thinkin' about it

I'll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you

[Step Wiggle Step Wiggle ... Shake Shake ... Scratch Scratch ... Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle]

Hooooorah! We Won!

Last night Aks and I watched clips of the India-Pakistan 20-20 Finals. Again!

I can actually sit through the entire match all over again and cheer with the same level of enthusiasm, go through the same trepidation in the final over of the match and celebrate it like it's just happened!

The Men in Blue did more than just come back from their shameful exit in the World Cup.

For the first time in ages their body language reflected their confidence. Their aggression on the field was mind blowing! In all their matches. Did you see Sreesanth's reaction when he got Hayden's wicket in the Semis?! I loved it. I loved to see everybody so charged up after they got Afridi and Misbah's wickets in the finals!

Much as I enjoy the game, I love the quirks, squabbles and the banter that comes along with the game. The victory trot, the wild hugging, the screaming and the captain not just leading the team on the field but in these revelries too ... that's passion. That's showing you cared enough to win. That shows how much you put in to get this cup. Damn the 'gentleman's game' that cricket is supposed to be ... if you can win it being the 'boys' that you are - so be it !

Yeeaaaaaaaaaayy!! WE WON !!

This weekend vs. Next weekend

In the group mails we exchange, this bit of conversation between two friends made me stop and wonder that while I might be clear about my fundamentals of the English language (or so I'd like to think :-), could I be crisp in my explanations to a third person of the nuances of certain expressions.

Here is the mail thread that started on, and I stress on the weekday it started for reasons you can read in the link below, Tue, Sep 11th 2007, which triggered off this post :

R : P, aata kya Adirondacks? Next weekend… ( P, coming to Adirondacks? Next weekend...)

P : you mean Sep 15th or Sep 22nd?

R: Next weekend kya hota hain? (What do you think next weekend means? / What do you think I mean by next weekend? / Don't you know what next weekend means? )

Just out of curiosity I googled to see if this confusion prevailed among others too and the search results amazed me!

I also came up with a small list of words/ expressions that I recently started noticing in my emails and which have the potential to become a discussion over a mug of beer. Each expression is a link that tries to explain the difference. You can read if it piques you or, like me, you can come up with your own reasoning and justify them till the other person gives up !

This weekend vs Next weekend

Game vs Sport

Thankyou Vs Thank you

Especially or Specially

Who vs Whom

Fall Colors - 1st cut

Here are snapshots of the first fall colors of the year.

Location : Lapland lakes, Adirondacks, NY

Look what I found !

When was the last time you saw this clip !? YouTube zindabad!

It’s a SIN to :

- Not laugh when someone cracks a joke.
Oh yes, you can beat him/her up because the joke was rotten or abuse him for making you listen to a bad joke but laugh because it’s not easy telling a joke.

- Tell someone that they have put on weight.
‘Different’ is the word to be used. No matter how close you think you are to this person, never ever remark on the weight thing. And delete the word ‘chubby’ from your vocabulary.

- Say ‘you never call me’.
Well, you could have picked up the phone and called up if you wanted to be in touch. And oh, there is no such thing as , ‘I always call’. If you’ve always called then why stop?

- Criticize your friends friends.
It’s bad enough to criticize your friends. Criticizing your friends friends is even worse coz you don’t realize what a spot you are putting your friend into.

- Turn your vices to virtues.
Let me be honest here – most vices are perception based. Here are just some vices which tick me off when people go gloating about :
1) “I am soooooooo lazy”.
2) “I can drink like a fish“.
3) “I can watch TV all day long”.
4) “I love gossips.”
5) “I am brutally honest”.

- Say “why didn’t you tell me about it earlier!”
Hell, because :
1) I didn’t want to.
2) I didn’t think you were important enough.
3) Maybe, I was so damn busy that I freakin’ didn’t have time to put my thoughts together let alone tell you about it you nut !!

- Never pay a compliment.
There HAS to be something nice that one can notice and say to a friend / colleague / acquaintance / family. Why be miserly or be so wrapped up in your own achievements, possessions etc that you can’t find time to recognize goodness in others? I have always believed that a small compliment goes a long way to strengthen bonds.

- Tell someone ‘you’ve changed’ when his/her reaction to something you say is not what you expect it to be.
C’mon, face it … EVERYONE changes. I would be a damn fool to expect a friend to be the same since the last time we met / talked. Hell, I am not even the same person I was yesterday. My views, my attitude, my likings can all change overnight and yet that gives you no authority to judge me or accuse me of ‘changing’.
Brings to mind this quote by Maugham : “We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.”

- To not call or show up if there’s been bereavement or any kind of unfortunate event in the lives of people you know.
I think most of the times people don’t call up / show up because they feel uncomfortable dealing with a situation like this. Not knowing what to say or do can be quite tricky, true, but there is nothing like a call or an arm around your friend’s shoulder in such times of distress. You can say the most clichéd things (“I am there for you”, “don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything”, “be brave” etc ) as awkwardly as you want and it will be appreciated beyond words.

- To forget to congratulate your friend / family for achieving any kind of milestones in life.
Can’t really advocate this one because I have been a sinner myself. But I strongly believe that joys double when shared.

- To be indecisive / keep it hanging.

I hate it when people can't make up their mind about a simple thing like, replying to an invite. Yes / No are perfectly acceptable answers. Save your indecisiveness for other tougher decisions in life that need serious pondering.

To be continued ...

Jaise ret ...

जैसे रेत
मेरे उँगलियों से फिसल रहें है लम्हे कुछ ऐसे
जैसे रेत
मेरे आंखों में चुब्भ राहे हैं हालात कुछ ऐसे
जैसे रेत
हर झोंका बदल रह है आशियाँ मेरा
जैसे रेत
किस्मत से देखता हूँ शाम वहीँ का सवेरा
जैसे रेत
सुनता हूँ बच्चों कि खिल्किलाहत
जैसे रेत
छुपा लेता हूँ सीपियों कि मुस्कराहट
जैसे रेत
दो मनचलों कि आगोश देख खुद को भूल जाता हूँ
जैसे रेत
खाता बक्श, दो मनचलों को जुदा कर जाता हूँ
जैसे रेत
खुद पे महल बन्ने कि इजाज़त देता हूँ
जैसे रेत
लहरों में खो कर भी उठने कि जुर्रत कर्ता हू

[
Jaise ret
Meri ungliyon se fisal rahein hai lamhe kuch aise
Jaise ret
Meri aankhon mein chubbh rahe hain halaat kuch aise
Jaise ret
Har jhonka badal raha hai aashiyaan mera
Jaise ret
Kismat se dekhta hoon shaam wahin ka savera
Jaise ret
Sunta hoon bachchon ki khilkilaahat
Jaise ret
Chupa leta hoon seepiyon ki muskuraahat
Jaise ret
Do manchalon ki aagosh dekh khud ko bhool jaata hoon
Jaise ret
Khata baqsh, do manchalon ko juda kar jaata hoon
Jaise ret
Khud pe mahal banne ki ijazat deta hoon
Jaise ret
Lehron mein kho kar bhi uthne ki jurrat karta hoon
]

A short trip back in time

As a child, if there was something I never failed to read it was a book of quotes.

While picking up one to gift somebody, I made sure I gifted myself one too. Carried a maroon pocket diary with hundreds of them scribbled on it. My room, among posters of sports stars and George Michael (gush ... yeah that was before I found out I could not contend for his affections :-) always found space for yet another quotes poster.

I would always find something that I could totally relate to and, I confess, get inspired by.

Somewhere along these years, owe it to busy work hours or newer interests, I completely lost touch with the quotation world. Occasionally I crossed paths with ones featured in Reader's Digests which, in my opinion, kept growing more and more lame over the years (who wants to hear about what Paris Hilton said on Larry King!) . And about the seeming abundant reserves of quotes on the web, oh well they are sooooo repetitive and the ten thousand sections I need to browse to find one good one ... annoying.com. No time. No patience.

So today while deleting some files, I found some quotes which I must have saved earlier and completely forgotten about. Oh, the wave of nostalgia that hit me of how if I would sit and paint posters with my favorite quotes and put them up on walls or make some for my friends. And it made me wonder if it's just me or does everyone feel the same way about a good quote ... that strong, sometimes powerful, feeling of "WOW".

Here are some quotes from the file I was talking about , not quite the "wow" quotes but just enough to wet the palette :

* In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.

* You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.

* There is only one success--to be able to spend your life in your own way.

And here is my all time favorite :

* Be brave. Even if you are not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.

'Rain or shine, I'll take this'

"Did I just sleep through the summers and wake up in Dec?" I texted my jolly-natured landlord this morning after a crazy party weekend. I was still trying to get my bearings right. Is it still Aug? Was I reading the room thermostat correctly? What happened?! It was a nice and bright 80 F until one day before and whoaaaa ... it's freakin' 53 F today!

I walked down the stairs feeling like Rip Van Winkle to get the post and he greets me with a 'Merry Christmas' ! Thank god he didn't have his Santa costume on . I would have so fallen for it. Geeez.

So here I am in one of the supposedly hottest months of the year, under a warm throw sipping चाय and wondering if I should first delve into RVW's psyche or find out if the current weather condition is because of Hurricane Dean.

Or maybe it would be best to let RIP R.I.P. and let nature takes its own course while I go snooze some more. Rain or shine, I'll take this.

Forget about the Polls.

Little deeds of kindness...

It’s peak-time on an interstate with bumper to bumper traffic, everyone in a race against time wanting to reach their destinations before the clock strikes late. Suddenly you hear sirens wailing from behind and all cars dutifully move to the side of the road to let these emergency vehicles pass before the engines rev up again.

And while it may be the law that requires you to do so, it’s this basic goodness or call it a simple act of obedience that leaves me feeling warm and content knowing that I played my part in doing at least one good deed that day. I’ll never know but I might have just saved a life by sacrificing ten seconds of my time.

While there are countless such things people do in their everyday lives which, I’m positive, add value in one way or the other I find this the most touching. Almost makes me wish that every country had a law like this to make sure timely attention got to the needy.

You can vote now

Don't vote.Yet.

So, I'm trying to figure out how to get the poll working. And it's damn annoying. Firstly it doesn't show all the optional answers that I keyed in and now it is not letting me edit anything. Not even delete.

So until I fix this thing, please do cast your precious votes. Will let you know once it's up and 'polling'.

Shutterbug shuts up

After being scowled at for being such a shutterbug by phriends and phamily, I have become what one would call, shameless. If people don't let me shoot their faces, I post pics of their butts and bulging bellies to get even. This gets them to come around and go 'peeeee' the next time the SD 400 is pointed at them.

In all honesty, I don't really click good pictures. I take 10 shots of the same thing just so that one might turn out good. But the fact is that I love capturing each and every moment. The way I see it, every shot has a story behind it. Even silly stories like , 'Oh how we laughed when X went behind the TV to plug a cord in'. See that's a funny story. And it needs to be captured because the brain will easily discard this moment for something more somber or funnier in a few days from now and no one will remember the hearty laugh when X went behind the TV to plug a cord in.

I still haven't graduated to video recording. I find that a little too pushy - say the right thing, have the right look. Too much pressure. Me no votes for that. Photographs on the other hand are nice and easy. Take your time to make that perfect pout and I'll click it such that it seems natural. Or that picture perfect smile showing one-third of your lower set of teeth or whatever makes you look nicer.

Then why, despite being such a Clickophile, I found myself saying to a good friend this morning, " such priceless moments shud not be wasted on clicking photus " when she told me about the 'happy dance' her husband did on the pavement outside a club!

I guess some moments are just too precious to be forgotten, camera or no camera.

Mush

"A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, patnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year."

It's a nice quote to send to someone.
It's even nicer when someone sends it to you.
It's the nicest when the husband writes this on a Happy Anniversary card for you :-)

Result : Jumbo sized smiles :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Cinemascope

Watched six movies over the weekend.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom : [Grinn]

Cheeni Kum : [Smile]

Bourne Identity (Repeat): [Ooooh]

The Italian Job (Repeat) : [Ooh]

DDLJ (Repeat) : [Sighhh]

The Simpsons : [Guffaw]

Yeah, complete sac out time.

Keep it simple

When I was younger, a good friend gifted me this poster " Life's little Instructions". I loved it then. Hung it on my wall. Read it everyday. Memorised it.

A few years later, started finding all of it very corny. Moved on. Forgot about it.

Today, as I browsed the net, saw the same poster online and couldn't help smiling. True, some 'instructions' are still quite corny, but certain others are nice, practical and ... nice :-) .

Here is what the poster said :

Sing in the shower.
Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
Watch a sunrise at least once a year.
Leave the toilet seat in the down position.
Never refuse homemade brownies.
Strive for excellence, not perfection.
Plant a tree on your birthday.
Learn 3 clean jokes.
Return borrowed vehicles with the gas tank full.
Compliment 3 people every day.
Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
Leave everything a little better than you found it.
Keep it simple.
Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.
Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
Floss your teeth.
Ask for a raise when you think you've earned it.
Overtip breakfast waitresses.
Be forgiving of yourself and others.
Say, "Thank you" a lot.Say, "Please" a lot.
Avoid negative people.
Buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front yards.
Wear polished shoes.
Remember other people's birthdays.
Commit yourself to constant improvement.
Carry jumper cables in your truck.
Have a firm handshake.
Send lots of Valentine cards.
Sign them, "Someone who thinks you're terrific."
Look people in the eye.
Be the first to say hello.
Use the good silver.
Return all things you borrow.
Make new friends, but cherish the old ones.
Keep a few secrets.
Sing in a choir.
Plant flowers every spring.
Have a dog.
Always accept an outstretched hand.
Stop blaming others.
Take responsibility for every area of your life.
Wave at kids on school buses.
Be there when people need you.
Feed a stranger's expired parking meter.
Don't expect life to be fair.
Never underestimate the power of love.
Drink champagne for no reason at all.
Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.
Don't be afraid to say, "I made a mistake."
Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know."
Compliment even small improvements.
Keep your promises no matter what.
Marry for love.
Rekindle old friendships.
Count your blessings.
Call your mother.

My favorite : " Drink champagne for no reason at all." ;-)

Annie Hall

15 minutes into this Woody Allen flick and I was Zzzzzzz ....
It's supposed to be " just about everyone's favorite Woody Allen movie". Ya rrright!

Spoiled a perfect Wednesday evening.

Earlier that evening, watched Tansformers. Now thaaat is a good film.

The Last King of Scotland

A bloody brilliant film.

Powerful, gruesome, nauseating ... it has everything you need to make you sit tight till the end. And then throw up. And even then it's not over. For everything keeps coming back to you.

One friend had to resort to nimbu-namak paani coz she felt so dizzy after it was over.
As for me, I almost threw up, survived cold palms and shudders down my spine while watching this film.

The world inside an i-phone

With all news websites carrying the oohs & aaahs of the i-phone, it was this particular item on Netosphere that had me gawking in disbelief:

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/06/iphone-autopsy-.html

It's not shocking to know that gadgets undergo such autopsy. I have done similar stuff myself with watches, cassette players, computers etc. But this was unbelievable! And within hours of it being launched into the market. It's an *Apple i-phone* for Steve's sake! I am sure they couldn't have done it had they not gulped down a coupla beers :-)

Guess it was i-phone's turn to go oooh & aaah!

[A friend sent me this link : http://www.takeitapart.net/. Visit it to learn more. Yes, there exists a parallel universe :-) ]

Newport, RI

Akshay and I recently went on a weekend getaway to Newport, Rhode Island and we absolutely fell in love with that city. Mansions, beaches, ocean fronts, cruises and not to miss the fantastic food, ample parking space … everything picture perfect and easy on the nerves but what really stood out was the *feel* the place had.

Every part of the city had it’s own story and people were dressed aptly to play their part. For instance, on that street where all the mansions are, you could see the ladies roaming around in pretty dresses arm in arm with their men dressed handsomely ( well, as handsomely dressed as a man can possibly get when he is on a vacation :-) . Also noticed a couple of them wearing those long flowy dresses and looking so regal in them. And just a couple of streets away from these mansions, the contrast was so striking - the rest of the city was dressed in beach wear!

The hostesses at the waterfront restaurants and shopkeepers at the Brick Marketplace , though busy trying to manage large throngs of crowd were always ready with a smile and a joke and you didn’t mind waiting 25-30 mins to get your table. The food rocked. The drinks could have had more alcohol in them for the price at which they came but given the ambiance, it wasn’t difficult to be forgiving.

Everybody looked fresh, relaxed and ‘chilled out’ in the real sense of the word and maybe that’s why I, for once, didn’t feel any depression seeping in as it always does whenever a vacation came to an end.

Our secret Narnias

See that suave man in the lounge, discussing business with another snazzy gentleman ? Or that rustic farmer you met at the harvest festival. Or the Smarty Pants traveler you met on one of your camping trips. And you think there can’t be anything childish about these people.

I'm not sure what your chances are at getting a peek into their bathrooms but if you do, you’ll know how judgmental you have been.

Ducklings, monkeys, Spiderman, Pluto, Shrek, The Simpson’s all come alive on their bathmats, shower curtains and towels ! And tucked somewhere between the Wall Street Journals and Nat Geo’s lie Manga comics and Calvin and Hobbes.

So are bathrooms a man’s Narnia ? The only place he can be the child he has outgrown in public?
Funny or sad, I fail to conclude.

Photons of happiness

Believe it or not , I was cooking the other day. Yes. And my landlord was so impressed to find me in the kitchen that he got me a new apron and a bunch of fresh roses from his garden ! Sweet. And the Biryani turned out fabulous.

A couple of days later when the roses started wilting, I took the petals and put them in the Sangria jug and some in a vase. Not only have those beautiful orange, red, pink and yellow petals brightened up that corner of my house, they work great as pot pouri.

And today when I went to Bed Bath and Beyond, I actually remembered to bring along the discount coupon. This is the first time in all these years when I didn’t walk into a store and slap my head for not carrying a coupon.
(What remains off the record is that I didn’t really need anything but since I was carrying the voucher I ended up making a purchase! )

Not really sure how it works but I somehow feel good about all this. Small nothings, yes that’s what they are but they instill in me a sense of achievement. For now at least :-)

Yes, that explains it all

Trivia

• One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.
• A couple in US is also referred to as an 'item'. In Mumbai, India it refers to a hot girl
• "Restaurant" is the most mis-spelled word in search engines.
• Cyclist Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than the average man's.
• You're 10 times more likely to be bitten by a human than a rat.
• The Pyruvate Scale measures pungency in onions and garlic. It's named after the acid in onions which makes cooks cry when cutting them.
• The hotter it is, the more difficult it is for aeroplanes to take off. Air passengers in Nevada, where temperatures have reached 120F, have been told they can't fly.
• Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex.
• First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.
• Pulling your foot out of quicksand takes a force equivalent to that needed to lift a medium-sized car.
• The city of Rome has more wild cats per square mile than any other city in the world.
• The number of births in India each year is greater than the entire population of Australia.
• There is a city called Rome on every continent of the world.

My bad Vs his good

Nothing sends my mood spiraling down than a bad day at golf. I am no great hitter of the ball but yeah, on a good day I achieve what I set out to and not being able to do it just squishes my spirits


And , the other day, with each shot it got progressively worse. I changed my stance, my swing and tried emulating Aks but it didn't work.

I guess what really got to me was seeing him swing away to glory !

Wicked !

A sign at a winery I visited last week :

“I respect old age. Especially when it’s bottled.”

A scary evolution thought

“ It was the cruel joke of an irreverent God that the merest lizard could re-grow what it lost while supposedly advanced humans were doomed to wear their injuries forever. Perhaps someday, humans would evolve as far as lizards.”

‘GoochBin’

What is it about Midnight Motivations that make me dream BIG and never see them getting realized in the light of the day ?

And creativity? It’s at it’s peak ! For it really takes some high quality imagination to come up with a story about a ‘Cow and a Dog’.
And just to let you in on this, the dog’s name is ‘GoochBin’ (Yes capital G and capital B) because he is round yet quick like the cricketer from down under (hence Gooch) and he can eat *anything* served / thrown his way (that explains the Bin).

So how does the story go ?
Well just wait for the next bestseller hitting your bookstores shortly !


P.S. Have I ever mentioned that it is my dream to live off royalties of my published books. Some day …

I don't pray for lighter burdens, but for a stronger back

Life’s lessons aren’t always learnt the easy way. Had never mulled much over the seriousness of this until I spent 13 weeks in India earlier this year.

And it was there that I learnt that no matter how prepared you might be by the news of your father’s sickness, the sight of a bedridden gaunt old man looking at you helplessly with tears in his eyes, face contorted and an arm outstretched to hug you just freezes you in your tracks. And that picture stays on to haunt you.

I learnt that when you see such a sight, it takes a hell lot of courage to not break down. That it’s show-time and you are supposed to put up your bravest act.

I learnt that my father loves me way too much. When he had mumbled that *I* was the reason behind his stroke, he wasn’t accusing me. It was his way of telling me that I am always on his mind and he worried himself sick over me.

I learnt that there are people who can say the most hurtful and insensitive things to you even in such an hour of distress. And I learnt to cringe at the sight of them for I couldn’t talk back.

I learnt that even as you try to get used to living without your mother (you can never really get used to this, can you? ) these people will point out how unlucky I am to not have her around now. Though I fail to see how any less of a torture it would have been for her.

I learnt the importance of being there for your loved one in an hour of crisis

I learnt that when misfortune falls on you, you just get the strength and wisdom to deal with it. Alone. And I learnt that being strong isn’t necessarily a good thing for it’s often accompanied by loneliness.

I learnt that it’s easier being a daughter to your father than being his guardian.

I learnt that when people say that I have earned a place for myself in Heaven for tending to my parents in their sickness, it makes me throw up. I’d rather go to Hell and have both my parents healthy than see them sick or dead.

I learnt that in some ways I have let go of my father.

And much as I hate, I am learning what it’ll be like to be in this world without the people who brought you into it.