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.

Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee

Very rarely have I read a book at the end of which I've remained undecided about it being a good/bad read. 'Disgrace' by J.M Coetzee is one of them.
I picked up this book yesterday and there's only one word to describe it - D.A.R.K.

Set in post-apartheid times in South Africa, it's a very powerful book ... well-written, subtle at times and excrutiatingly menacing on occasions. It's a very honest potrayal of life in the real world and I admire the way the author has brilliantly presented the lead character with all his complexities. But it's the overall cheerlessness in the tone of this book that has left me feeling disturbed. And confused.

Cheap Air Tickets

Shelling out on air-tickets pinches me real bad. It kills the joy, and even chances, of impulsive travel. And looking for good deals is such a chore esp when you have a busy schedule at work. Plus, I can think of hundred different ways of spending that money otherwise !

If you feel the same as I do then here are some sites where you have maximum chances of getting tickets at a reasonable rate :

www.momondo.com

www.kayak.com
www.cheaptickets.com
www.expedia.com
www.travelocity.com
www.orbitz.com
www.priceline.com, allows you to bid for your price.
www.hotwire.com
www.cheapair.com
www.bookingbuddy.com
http://travel.ultimatefares.com
www.cheapflights.com
htp://travel.yahoo.com

www.lastminute.com
www.air-gorilla.com
www.lowestfare.com
www.airticketsdirect.com
www.lastminutedeals.com
www.sidestep.com
www.tripstalker.com - an application that you can download for free. Also allows you to set a "notify" price. When your airfare stalk drops below your "notify" price, TripStalker will automatically alert you that the price you are looking for is available.
www.onetravel.com
www.itn.net
www.previewtravel.com
www.americanexpress.com/travel
www.travelweb.com
www.mobissimo.com
www.cheapoair.com

www.site59.com/index.html

www.bestfares.com/home.asp

Some pointers :

1) Avoid weekend travel. Look for tickets 1 day before or after
2) Tickets for red-eye flights are a lot cheaper, but it costs you a good night's sleep.
3) Traveling on long weekends is expensive. Again, look for tickets 1 day before or after.
4) Check for rates to nearby airports as well.
5) Some of the sites mentioned above do not list all airlines / sometimes the airline website offers cheaper rates. So check their website as well.
6) I have heard that airlines regularly release new fares on Wed mornings. I haven't tried it yet, but if you try before me, let me know if it's true!

That's all I can think of for now ... will keep adding more sites and pointers as and when I discover them.

Chronicles of a traveler

Back when I used to be mole-less, I would enviously watch others show-off their black dots and listen to stories of what that mole 'meant'. Yeah, each mole came with a story - like if you had a mole somewhere around your mouth , then you were beautiful. And having one in your palm meant you would be rich.

So imagine my joy when I discovered this teeny-tiny black dot on the sole of my feet! I remember running to Grandma ('Naani-Ammi' as I fondly call her) and asking her if this mole meant anything as well. She looked at it and told me very matter-of-factly that this mole would take me places, in the literal sense. That people with moles on their feet were born to travel.

Looking back, I feel proud that my dear old naani-ammi was right after all!

I started traveling very early, accompanying papa on some of his work tours whenever I could get away from school. With him I saw steel plants in different cities, a coal mine, naval bases, the inside of a submarine, ships, toffee factories, a milk-bottling plant, handloom houses and a tour of few other small cottage industries which I can't recall now. We even stayed among the tribals of rural Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. We'd almost always travel by train and on occasions that we didn't, we'd travel by road in a good old ambassador or a Willys Jeep. Bringing me up true Railway ishtyle, he even took me to the inside of a rail engine and the driver was kind enough to let me stand there between two stops. I've seen how food is cooked in a Pantry car, and have even traveled for a short distance in the guards van! Since papa's work required him to relocate frequently, we would see ourselves in a new city every three years or less. So there were always new places to explore, new forts to conquer, new rivers to cross, and new rail-lines to chug on.

My grandparents had complete monopoly over my summer and winter vacations and I spent it with them in either Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh ever year. There we'd often travel to rural interiors and stay in small villages, sleep on 'charpoys', milk goats, pluck henna leaves, eat fresh corn - right off the farm, bathe in the cool well-water which some good-hearted villager would draw for us and listen to stories of ghosts who lived on Pipal trees!

Growing up brought with it the advantages of traveling unaccompanied by parents for the first time. College excursions, traveling with friends, and sometimes alone or with just my bro was a whole new experience. In some thankless way it meant I had more freedom to do whatever I wanted to do minus the watchful eyes of papa-mummy. Actually, traveling alone is actually a misnomer. I could never really do that back then - papa always had someone look over me, sometimes even have them escort me and the destination was more or less restricted to places where there were family friends or some family member, however distant. Much as I hated that I accepted it as some kind of breakthrough.

Moving to Bangalore was another feather to my already established travel record. There I met friends and colleagues who shared the same passion for travel and together we hiked our way through some lush green valleys and mountains and rowed a few boats every now and then . Every other weekend was a getaway weekend with a long trip added now and then. By the time I left Bangalore there was not a place within 400 - 500 kms of that city that I hadn't seen ! This was when my love affair with road-travel matured. Of all forms of travel that I've used, this is my top favorite. To discuss why I love this form of travel the most, I shall print another blog.

And then US happened. In my first 4 months of stay here I had already traveled across 9 states. A feat I am quite proud of. And had it not been for frequent travels to Ohio and Michigan, my average would been a lot higher by now! I still have 39 stars to reach now. My dream travel right now is to do a road-trip across the country. Sounds a little daunting at the moment but I am damned if I leave this country without doing this!

My worst nightmare is to wake up one day and find out that that teeny-tiny black dot has vanished! Every now and then, the superstitious me checks if that mole is still in place and feels comforted seeing it right where it was first spotted.

I seek boredom

Yes I seek boredom.

I've heard, it's when people start getting bored that their creativity kicks in propelling them to act and produce something miraculous. I am certain this is that one thing in my way of coming up with something big.

So mankind, if I haven't 'arrived', it's only because I am yet to get bored!