Shattered Mumbai

Feeling very emotional and helpless as I type this out. The terrorist attacks that have been gripping Mumbai seem to be endless as the ordeal drags onto third day. More than the media journalism, it's the public journalism that has been quite active, genuine and extending possible help. I'm posting few of the links below that are carrying up-to-date information while the crisis continues.

http://mumbaihelp.blogspot.com/

http://mumbai.metblogs.com/

http://helpmumbai.pinstorm.com/

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23mumbai

Twitter link is believed to be followed by terrorists as well!

http://flickr.com/photos/vinu/

http://arunshanbhag.com/

http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/real-time-citizen-journalism-in-mumbai-terrorist-attacks/

Hats off to Mumbai Police, Fire Fighters, Army, Navy and the NSG Commandos who have been working non-stop since over 48 hours.

We have already lost many high ranked officials and more than 155 reported civilians. The weak infrastructure of Indian Government is to be blamed for the on-goings. A crisis-management team is lacking and we are totally unprepared when such attacks happen.

My deepest condolensces to the families who have lost their loved ones.

Salute to the Officers for their valor and sacrifice. May their soul rest in peace..




Peace ever !!!

Dasvidaniya

Dasvidaniya is a sweet and simple movie that touches your heart. Brilliant work by first time director, Shashant Shah. Also, Vinay Pathak's first movie as a producer. We have seen Vinay Pathak in Bheja Fry, Khosla ka Ghosla, Aaja Nachle etc. With his strong theatrics background, this guy has only the best to offer. Vinay Pathak has done complete justice to his role as 'Amar Kaul' in Dasvidaniya.

The story is about a common man, who leads a very normal life. Due to unexpected turn of events, he takes a jolly ride with life. As the movie proceeds, you'll fall in love with this common man.

The comedy in Dasvidaniya is light hearted. Ranvir Shorey did his bit marvelously, in a cameo role. Saritha Joshi in the mother's role, slightly over did her acting in certain scenes but she managed to portray delicate emotions in the scene when Amar sings for her. Neha Dhupia comes as a pleasant surprise. Never knew that she could act. I am not sure who played the role as the salesgirl. But she was so very natural. Rajat Kapoor and Suchitra are just adequate. The entire casting has taken the movie to a different level.

Music by Kailash, Paresh and Naresh is good. Alvida song is melodious. The mamma song is simply cute.

The movie does have some loop holes here and there. There have been mixed reviews too. But overall, it's a winner.

I'm sure you will walk out of the theatre with your eyes moist.

HBO Rating: BSI

BSI : I Bet you can't Skip this Item!

Dostana..jaldi se bhagonaa...varna tumhe hain pachthaana

I am deeply inconsolable for having to inaugurate my HBO with such a pathetic movie..tut tut!

My profound insight tells me that Karan Johar wants to familiarize our society with the so called gay concept. Things were fine up till Kanta ben. We didn't need a whole movie concentrating only on this!

I think Karan had to spend money only for Kirron Kher and Sushmita Mukherjee's wardrobe. Others really haven't worn much. Effect of global recession, I suppose. Thanks to our Bollywood Babes for the bikini marathon, we are now comfortable watching them in the tiniest of dresses. With dostana, the trend slowly moves on to the guys. We have seen Salman, Shahrukh etc flaunt their six-pack, but this movie has more to offer. Sadly, it leaves us all the more embarassed.

As the movie progresses, you just realise that every other person in the movie is gay. Your roommate is gay. Your boss is gay. The guy you bump into is gay. Your visa officer is also gay!!???!! ,it just gets into a wild slapstick comedy.

With such hot and happening bunch of actors, it's really disappointing to see the ultimate outcome.

AB junior is just wasting away his talent. There are better things that he can opt for. Not movies like Drona, Dostana! Wait a minute, I see a connection here, D and D. AB, I think you need a numerologist. Make hay while the sun shines, Honey.

Priyanka is good. For girls who love John, you might enjoy watching him in Dostana. He's much much much better than what he did in Paap. Bobby Deol...do I need to say anything at all! Oh, you didn't know that he was there in Dostana? Don't worry, you'll not know it even after watching the movie.

If Karan Johar wanted to portray a message of social responsibility towards the gay community, Dostana certainly does not make it any better. Madhur Bhandarkar, is the right person who can elegantly deal with such subjects.

HBO RATING: RAQ

RAQ: Run Away Quickly

The child in you

I totally believe the saying that there is a child within all of us, irrespective of the age. While I ponder over to re-discover the child in me, I just realized that I have never grown – up! Really, I feel haplessly childish when:

• I am Eveready to watch re-runs of Tom and Jerry/ Popeye / PoGo, basically anything that appears colorful

• I run to the swing in a park, just at the sight of it

• Quite often, I oblige for gifts such as chocolates, cakes, muffins, brownies, donuts, Danishes and what not

• I am habitually seen in the Children’s section of the Library, trying to grab a sneak peek of fairy tale books

• I pride about the collection of DVDs on the likes of Cinderella, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and many more.

• I can never share my 3D Fairy tale book containing beautiful castles, horses, chariot, parties, princess in her huge dress etc. I am completely possessive of it. Remember, it’s 3D!

• Water colors, crayons, color pencils, sketch pens….these have been my fantasies and are always on my wish list.

• I effortlessly walk into any Toy stores and treat myself with the sights of Barbie or Dora or the soft toys.

• I feed my nose while I eat an ice cream and it feels utterly incomplete if I don’t drop it on my dress.

• I believe that every toy deserves a name. I call my dog Snoopy.

• You have to agree that Angel is my Best Friend and it can listen to all the crap that I say (btw, Angel is my huge white adorable teddy!)

• I don’t know what table manners are!

• I make my way in a crowd shoving, without even saying ‘excuse me’! Honestly, who cares?

• I drop and break things with ease. I master in making a puppy dog face and getting away with it.

• It takes forever for S to feed me everyday with all the pampering and bullying.

• I assume that I deserve a treat everyday, just for nothing

By the way, I should treat myself today because it’s children’s day! What say?

I am sure you are all sailing in the same boat as me. Go get yourself, a heavily layered double chocolate cherry sundae with nuts and get blessed…A veRy HaPpY ChiLDrEn'S DaY!


Image Courtesy: Flickr

Yeh hain Big Boss ka Ghar!

Somebody's watching you..it's the BIG BOSS!

If you haven't been watching this, good for you! You remind me of myself, when I was very new to this reality show concept.

14 celebrities...24/7 on camera...no contact with outside world...nominations and evictions...plotting...the GAME! All this sounded too tempting for me and I gave in. Little did I know, that it would turn out to be this ugly and disgusting! Of course, I did enjoy watching the dirty game in the beginning, I confess :P

But now it is getting on my nerves. You might say, stop watching it! haha....I am addicted. Now, I pity myself!

The show seems to be highly biased. Big Boss has favorable rules for his favorite players. When Raja was supposed to be evicted, he was sent to the secret room. Again when Rahul, Raja, Monica were nominated, they were saved from eviction as a Diwali gift. Sambhavana and Payal are back inside the house to create more havoc. Gimme a break!

The characters in the show are really larger than life and they prove to be so. What kind of person is this Rahul Mahajan? He flirted openly with Payal and now he is repeating the same with Monica! Dude....is this the kind of image you want to project, especially when you have opted for a political career?

And what's wrong with Monica? She has been outside and witnessed the drama between Rahul and Payal. And now she is back to herself.."raaahuullll, tum kab sudhroge?" is that enough to keep him away? Strange!

Fayal...oops, Payal! The most camera-conscious, image-conscious girl. She was cornered big time in Pooja Bedi's Aakhri Salaam. She is unable to defend herself sadly. She has become quite popular with the masses for her "special" acts. Farah Khan was right when she said that Payal's name should be Khaitan. She always goes "mere producers, mere directors, mere fans"..Girl, we didn't even know you before Big Boss. Come out of your dream land.

Sambhavana...should I even mention? She is the only one who is having fun at the cost of others' weaknesses. Miss big mouth is always bent on irking either Raja or Payal or Rahul! Whenever she speaks, we get to hear only beep...beep...beep! She is solely responsible for the show TRPs.

Raja...with his massive anger is driving everybody crazy. He ain't better than Sambhavana in his language. We get to hear quite a lot of beeps from him too. The other day, to my horror, he kicked a flower vase. Isn't that cranky? We don't do that at our homes! Being a celebrity comes with it's own package to deal with, I guess.

Zulfi...this guy makes me laugh. He is always seen lazing around in the house, on a bean bag. Zero Energy. I haven't seen him doing anything extravagant to add to the spice of the show except when he sang 'ye mere pyaare watan'. But still he is managing to hang around. This guy over analyses the game strategy. Who knows, he might walk away with the 75 L prize money!

If you see any shirtless man walking around with goggles ON in the BB house, it's none other than Ashutosh. He really entertains with his language and Akshay Kumarish mannerisms. It was quite hilarious to see him act as the school principal and as a servant in the drama. I was literally rolling on the floor when he brought water for the guest in 'asthik kalash'. S didn't find it that funny though :| Hema's astrological predictions say that this guy might end up in our own Bollywood, as yet another Rajpal Yadav.

Diana Hayden, I wish she weren't in this show. She is too good to be in Big Boss. I really love it, when she shows her attitude to Rahul. oh btw, she got evicted today! She was the most sane person among the insane bunch. But that made her very boring to watch on the show.

ehsaanji ehsaanjiiiii....jab aap gaye baaahar,
tho BB house mein aa gayi bahaaar!
My silly poetic tribute to the comedian who used to come up with such funny rhyming lines every now and then. Mind you, nobody enjoyed it except him.

Ketki ji sabse pehle chai banathi hain..I can't remember anything significant from her other than that. She did ruffle a few feathers when she criticised Raja and eviction was the price she had to pay.

'Pehli nazar mein aisa jaadu kar diya...' Debojit used to always sing this song. Poor thing, he sang through his way out of the house. He remained aloof without involving in any planning nor did he serve any masala. No wonder, he's gone.

Rakhi Vijan was way better in Hum Paanch. and what's with her blush? She had simply overdone it.

Alina...the cry baby of the show! Her twin sister seems to have got the most footage from Big Boss.

Sanjay Nirupam, What was he doing in Big Boss?

It would be wrong if I don't mention Shilpa, the heart of the show. But her laugh is wild, strangely. I heard someone say, that it takes a while to get her lips back together. Isn't that funny!

Pooja Bedi, grills the contestants once they are out. But she seems to be biased too. She is planning to compete with Oprah Winfrey. Is that true? how is that possible?

I think, by now you must have already figured out as to how much I am addicted to Big Boss. I have even picked up few words from the show like, 'footage', 'TRP' , 'tilli lagaana' etc etc...

I will be really happy to enlighten you, if you are interested to watch Big Boss :D Any takers?

Popcorn and Coke

Well, what else could popcorn and coke mean? Yeah...am talking about movies, movies and movies! On any day, I just love to munch on butter popcorn (I know, butter!!!), slurp a strawful of coke and get lost in the magic spinning onscreen. A magic that can cast spell at times, but most of the times it doesn't! Sadly, our hollywood, bollywood, tollywood, kollywood...whateverwood have been churning out thousands of movies that are "leave-your-brain-at-home-while-you-watch" types.

Cutting out the crap, now what I want to say is that I might be of some help to you. How?.. In here,I'll rate the movies in my Blogsville section "HBO" nah...it's not the Hollywood BO, you got it wrong! It's "Hema's Box Office" silly!

No..I'm not Raja Sen's sister or Jeevi's cousin but just for the heck of it! Oh come'on now, when Himesh can become Monty, I can become pretty...I mean, pretty critical!

So, here I define my scale.

STAR : Sizzler Treat to All, for Real

BSI : I Bet you can't Skip this Item!

TGW : Thank God, it's Watchable!

YEM : You'll Enjoy it, Moron!

SNH : Strictly Not recommended for Humans

RAQ : Run Away Quickly, or you shall repent, GUINEA PIG!

Now that the groundwork is done, HBO is soon to get into showbiz..watch out!

Note: Let me make it clear to all Producers/ Directors/ Actors, HBO doesn't accept gifts/bribes. Strictly no biasing, not even to Aamir khan or Farhan Akhtar or Siddharth, for that matter even Madhavan(sigh)!

Me and my S - Part 2

February 2007:

In the Karnataka weddings that I used to attend, I was always fascinated by the colorful decoratives displayed. A coconut wrapped and designed to make a peacock, a colorful handfan. There are gifted to the groom during the kashi – yatra ceremony. I wanted to make them myself with a unique design.

Mom, me and my sis paid a visit to the famous “raja market”, where we bought a wide variety of crystals, zardosi, stones, kundan etc for saree work. I used the same decoratives for the peacock and handfan. Of course, mom and sis helped me in getting a proper framework. Well, the final product was something like this..not very clear though.



Not to forget the bride and groom dolls made of wood. I dressed them up in rich wedding dresses and jewellery. Will try to get a picture of it, if possible.

It had been really a long time since I had met my college friends. I took some time off on one of the weekends and visited my friends. It was just so delightful. Probably, that was the last time when we got to spend some quality time. It really surprises me that all of us are in different countries now, as if thrown away across the globe. Wonder when we would really meet again…!

Most of my evenings went in decorating my wedding sarees. I had fallen in love with the rich colors and intricate designs on my sarees.

During lunch breaks at office, I had also started taking ‘car’ driving classes. My teacher was Waseem. He used to concentrate more on his girl friend and less on the teaching part. All the while, he kept handling the gears and clutches and I was under the illusion that I was a very good learner. I still remember his dialogue….. :D

“dheere se..dheere se…..varna gear haath mein aa jaayega”

My experiments with car driving are worth a post….will soon share them here!

In the last week of February, I and my Sis went to Hyderabad for some more shopping for S’s dresses. Believe me, we spent about 5 hrs in a mall to finalize his dresses. With so many brands around, S drove us nuts trying to make all possible combinations. My sister was on the verge of fainting by the time we completed the tedious shopping process. We also went to Charminar to purchase a ghagra for me. I had never seen such pretty ones in my entire life! It was so difficult to pick just one…but I had to!

S had bought a gift for me for V Day. A pair of cute earrings. I was pleasantly surprised as I hadn’t expected it. I saved it up for wedding :)

Me and my S - PART 1

I think, it's appropriate to fill in my blog from where I left it.
So here goes my Saga to reach my "S"weetheart!

Things had started rolling between me and S, when we had first met in November, 2005. But we chose the Wedding to be after atleast 2 years as we had other important things in our priority list. Our families were more than glad to accept our decision.

On December 17, 2006, I moved back to India from Seoul (after a stay of 2 years). Enjoyed a complete full fledged vacation with my family until my birthday on 1st of January . S turns up all the way from hyderabad with an unexpected gift on my birthday. I was meeting him after three months. Celebrations and celebrations! The year ended on a good note. We knew when we were getting married. We had something to tell our friends and the ever inquisitive relatives.

January 2007:
A month in which everything got back from fresh to normal. I was driving to office on my bike as I used to before. I had new challenges at my workplace, but was not a herculean task as all my colleagues were there to help me out. Of course, they were also my friends. Apart from the oldies, there were quite a number of new faces. They all thought that I was new to the company! I started mingling with the newbies as well. Best part was my lunch breaks with Sum and Suma. We would chat about all the things on Earth. Take a nice long walk in the office premises and get back to work.

Meanwhile, I had chalked out plans for the wedding preparations. It was about 12 weeks time. And I had plans for every weekend from then!

First thing that we did was buy sarees for the wedding. We had to do a lot of stone work on those in the coming months. We had bought almost 6-7 beautiful silk sarees. I had started my facial beauty cycle too. A woman is said to be most beautiful on her wedding day. Hence my attempts to make it true!

I had started missing S terribly. We used to talk over the phone during nights. But the time spent for each other in a day had gone down miserably due to the new changes. Which was not the case in phone bills. I had a pre-paid plan and had to rush to the recharge center very often.

Valentine's day was coming up and I had to make some plans to surprise S. It's not that V day is any special, just another reason for us to celebrate :D There is this new plaster of paris idol trend in Bangalore these days. They have a huge variety of boy and girl figures with really cute expressions. I bought an idol which had a girl and boy looking into each other's eyes sitting on a tree branch with a heart shape. Got it packed neatly and couriered it to Hyderabad along with a beautiful card. I just love those greeting cards. Wonder how they make such pretty ones with such hearty messages! Given a chance, I would want to meet the people who design greeting cards :)

To Be Continued..

A fresh start

My dear friend,

After many many many many days, I am back to rekindle my passion to love you, to adore you, play with you, to decorate you and feel proud of you.

The time spent away from you has been so full of colors and wonderful memories, which I do not regret.

I did miss you. At times, I stumbled over the guilt of not updating you about the happenings in my life, friend.

I always knew that it's a small world and we would definitely meet again. I am here to ask you a favor which I know you won't deny. Please allow me into your world and give me a chance to pamper you and fall in love with you yet again.

Love you dear blog,
Yours Truly

Autumn updates

They called it “The survival”. It was a fun-game planned by my team. I had no clue what it was all about even when all of us in my team reached the picnic spot. Obviously because I was the only Indian girl apart from 2 other Indian guys in a group of 22.
The Korean instructor received us and made us do exercises for warming up. Then he started explaining the game. All three of us (Indians) would just blankly look at each other and burst into giggles while others laughed at the instructor’s jokes.
I wonder why the Koreans assumed that we understood all of what the instructor had told us. This went on for about 30 min. Later on, the instructor gave us T-shirts and jackets to wear. And of course, plastic helmets. It was all very funny for me actually. Little did I realize that the gun would weigh over 2 KGS! Yeah….it was like a military game where two teams would spread over in a forest set up and shoot at each other. What was even more interesting were the bullets. They were made of paint! The moment it hits you the ball bursts and the watery paint would splash over and you are considered dead. The forest set up was way too cool, spread over a hilly region and realistic with tyres , drums and stuff behind which we could hide.
Since I never understood the instructor, the first round went in vain. I hardly shot a bullet or two as I didn’t know how to operate the gun :D Later on a Korean girl in my team told me how to use it. Yet again in the second round even before I could aim, I was shot right on forehead :( and my helmet was splashed with blob of green. OK…then I was not gonna let go off the last and final round. I entered the battle field and shot continuously for about 10 minutes with great enthusiasm (Dunno how many were hit !!). See what happened….I ran out of bullets! All my teammates were presumably dead and I was left alone on my side. Now without bullets I was just hiding behind a faint sheet and everyone were trying to shoot me. I couldn’t escape for long and surrendered pretty early :P
On whole, it was so amusing and was quite difficult running through woods with that heavy gun. Soldiers’ life seems like a nightmare….alas.

More updates from my side:
Missed Sum’s big day….waiting for ma’am to get back! So much to gossip and ponder over :P

Trying to come out of ‘DOR’ hangover. What a movie! Feel like watching it yet again….atleast for the photography and for Ayesha with her innocent little face.

Yuppie! 5 more weeks to reach home. Enjoying my last few autumn filled days at Seoul….

Last but not the least Happy Children's day!

Good times

I very well remember the way me and Sum were having a ball around the same time last year at Seoul. Things have changed drastically in the past one year. After all that’s what is life all about :) I really wonder how it would be the next year and the next and the next…….! Am really looking forward for that…..
Now coming out of the nostalgic mood, it was a really pleasant week for me. Especially when the thought of visiting home tingles my mind and soul, it’s an awesome feeling. I just can’t wait to meet my loved ones. It’s the countdown time!

Things that made my week cherishing:

One of my dear friends took pain to post his wedding card all the way to Seoul. I hadn’t received any posts since a year or so. This one made me happy!

My close friend revealed that she is going to have a baby soon. Just couldn’t resist having a small party at home with my roomies! Isn’t that a cute moment?

And I was not ready to let go off the opportunity to celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi this time as it fell on a weekend especially. I am totally surprised the way things fall into place when we want to celebrate this festival. On Saturday evening I just remembered that I had some clay with me. And that triggered the idea of making the Ganesh idol. We weren’t sure as to how it would turn up. But definitely wanted to give it a try. As we proceeded making it, it slowly started shaping up in a lovely way. Then, I got more eager to apply colors to the idol. Finally we had spent a good 6 hrs to make it and it indeed was nice! The next day morning we set off on the flowers and leaves hunt just as we had done the previous time. Later on, we performed the puja in a truly traditional manner with all mantras and songs.
After the puja it was the food preparation. We managed to cook quite a few dishes. In the evening few of our colleagues joined us and we had a small tea-party at home. Haldiram’s Bhujia Pav, Pudina Tea and a bunch of mouth-watering hot mirchi bujjies added to the fun of the party. The most interesting part was the Ganesh Nimarjan. We performed it in cooker as that was the biggest vessel we had at home and that too with lid! Check out the snaps below to find out more….. :)

Peek-a-boo !

The tricolor tends to rejuvenate the spirit of patriotism no matter where we are. I was mesmerized by the same feeling when I recently paid a visit to our Indian embassy on the occasion of Independence day. I had a great time there as I watched many Indians flock to the embassy as a small tribute to their passion for nationalism. I was much more surprised when a middle aged woman beside me was asking her 10 yr old son if he remembered the national anthem. Well, no comments about that :) People did make mistakes when they sang “Jana Gana Mana” but the sense of devotion towards India that persisted in the Hall was strong enough to overcome all such minor flaws. I was keenly attracted by a few Indo-Korean couples…it’s cute to watch the way they gelled amazingly. The Korean ladies were seen in Indian outfits which added to the cuteness!

The Indian Ambassador addressed the gathering and read out a few excerpts from President Mr. Abdul Kalam’s speech to the nation. Our president has framed a seven point Oath for the youth of India in a beautiful way. We took the Oath as the Ambassador read out to us. Here I am quoting the points again which are definitely worth a glance.

1. I realize, I have to set a goal in my life. To achieve the goal, I will acquire the knowledge, I will work hard, and when the problem occurs, I have to defeat the problem and succeed.

2. As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others.

3. I shall always keep myself, my home, my surroundings, neighborhood and environment clean and tidy.

4. I realize righteousness in the heart leads to beauty in the character, beauty in the character brings harmony in the home, harmony in the home leads to order in the nation and order in the nation leads to peace in the world.

5. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life.

6. I will light the lamp of knowledge in the nation and ensure that it remains lit for ever.

7. I realize, whatever work I do if I do the best, I am contributing towards realizing the vision of developed India 2020.

These points do sound simple but have much greater impact when put to use by each one of us. An excellent proposition from our President.

Ok…coming back to the my sweet little world, there haven’t been many adventures of late...I wonder why! Oh yeah…we are on an experimenting spree in the culinary section these days at our apartment. I should tell you about our Gulab Jamoon Saga (why a Saga…you will know now). It was the first time we were actually making it. And obviously the output…:P. Particularly, it was the sugar syrup that created the trouble. We started making the sugar syrup with some water and considerable amount of sugar. The sugar melted away easily, but we couldn’t figure the thickness in the liquid. So, we went on and on adding the sugar. It was too late before we realized that we had emptied about a KG of sugar in the process of preparing the syrup. Ahem….well, after that we fried the jamoons and put them in the semi-solid sugar paste which became hard (as hard as a rock) after cooling down. I must mention that the jamoons tasted real good except for the digging part to bring them out.
As part of fixing-the-bug procedure, we diluted the syrup again and shared the jamoons with our fellow Indians (yes….they are pretty much alive :D). The remaining syrup lasted till yesterday and was used to prepare coffee/tea/juice and yet jamoons again every weekend. Thanks to the microwave for helping us melt the rock down everytime!

To be precise, we elevated from the “how not to make jamoons” stage to “how to make mouth melting delicious jamoons” stage over a period of 2-3 weeks. Isn’t that a smart way of learning?

Bangkok yet again

She bought me some delicious thai food (I forgot the name) and an ice cream candy on our way back to the Airport. She even had a raincoat for me just in case it rained. She kept apologising for the untimely traffic jams at that hour. Finally, she gave me some discount coupons for shopping inside the airport and bid goodbye to me. A sweet lady in her mid-forties. Ms.Rada was my tourist guide at Bangkok. Well...the story goes like this.
I had about 8 hours of transit at Bangkok this time. I had planned way before hand that I would go out and get a glimpse of the city. I had collected information from the internet regarding this and was all prepared to freak out. As always, I was travelling alone this time too. Once I reached Bangkok, I got in touch with the Transit Tour desk and discussed the tour details. In no time, I was taken for transit visa stamping by this gentleman who was assisting me with the tour plan. Soon, we cleared the immigration and were outside the airport. He introduced me to Rada and left me with her from there onwards. Rada took me to a huge car and we set off. From the airport, into the city it was all highways and I was already cherishing the conversation that we struck upon. Once we were in the city, I found it so much like India with colorful Auto-Rickshaws and Taxis. She took me to a couple of Buddha temples which were magnificent. Will post a few pictures in here. The amazing part was these huge idols of Buddha that I saw were made of gold. The best one was the sleeping buddha which I loved a lot. Adding to these, the Pagodas that the kings constructed were artistic and exceptional. The river seperating 2 cities was a beautiful sight to watch. The width of the river was hardly few meters. By the time we covered these places we had spent about 3 hrs. Later on she took me to the world's largest jewellery store. I could see the workshop and the adjacent store. I only bought a diamond studded silver ring for Him(*blush*). It was getting dark and we quickly moved on to the highway leading to airport. On the way back, I saw the huge King's palace and also the men's university spread over acres of land.
A very short trip indeed, but a pleasant memory:)

Check out a few snaps!

The gaint leap!

On a cold sunday morning, me and sum set off to the Seoul grand park. We had no clue about this place. It was supposedly very huge with lot of entertainment locations including theme parks, lakes, zoo and many more. Now that we had already reached the place late, we had to make the most of our limited time outdoors. It was pretty cold and windy too. Finally we chose to spend our day in the amusement park.
This place was really cool with tulips theme that day. Colorful, bright and lovely. No wonder both our digicams were in fulltime use, without a break. I must mention that the new tripod stand that Sum had bought occupied our special interest. What a thing it is....just gets the snaps close to perfect! We have been really nurturing our passion for photography in a handsome way.
Apart from the click sessions, the other things to watch out for were the scary rides! Sum was a bit apprehensive in the beginning though she paced up her enthusiasm after a couple of rides. Very soon, both of us were enjoying our day to the core. The sad part was food. Being hard-core vegetarians we had to stick to veg burgers the whole day.(Of course, we did hog the veg salad and yummy sesame topped potato pizza like hungry wolves once we got back to our place :D...Mind you! we weren't even talking to each other that time)
Okay, now you must be wondering about this 'giant leap' thing, by now. There was this really big 'Sky-X drop' which could be seen from any corner of the park. We terribly wanted to go for it...but kept postponing it till about 4 in the evening. We really needed that much time to make up our minds to go for it, you know! Oh yeah, because it was more or less like bunjee jumping! We could do it either single or double. You should have seen the way I encouraged Sum for this sky-drop..."Our kids would feel proud one day that their moms were dare-devils! come'on Sum...let's go for it!" :D Ain't I smart?
Finally, we took individual tickets for the drop and moved in for the slots. The guy at the entrance gave us a slot at 7.40 PM to our surprise. it would be dark by then and we wanted to do it while it was bright. Requesting...begging.. didn't work. So, we thought since it's going to be dark, we might as well do it in a double and booked the slot at 7.40. But the shivering began way too early:D....partly because of the to-be-done leap and partly because of the chilling weather.
At about 7.20 we got inside and we were dressed in those special jumping costumes or whatever. With our digicams in hand, we were still searching for people who could shoot the glorious moments! As it was already dark..the head count around had gone low. We still didn't give up. We caught hold of the couple who were just done with the drop before us. We clearly gave them the instructions and in no time we were hanging in air!
I was assigned the task of pulling the tug (my right hand side..beneath my waist) while they say..'1..2..3..GO!' Pulling the tug would release the rope and we would fall down and swing..that was the arrangement. Me and Sum held each other hand in hand and we were slowly moved up. I cannot really define this 'up'. We kept going higher and higher and higher. It was pitch dark below and terribly silent above. We didn't speak to each other either. Tensed about the leap.
A very funny thing happened when the lady shouted '1..2..3..GO!' from below. I tried hard to release the rope and it just wouldn't give in. So, we were hanging around there for about 4-5 seconds:)) The rope got loosened somehow and we did fall.
Oh my God! It was a terrific experience. Though initially it was scary, we were enjoying it in a great deal. I felt like I was flying like a bird high in the air. The whole thing was awesome. After getting down, we got to see our video and the korean couple had done an excellent job! They had made our day:) We had a lifetime memory to cherish and of course, to show our kids too :P
Hey...next time if you happen to speak to either of us, just don't forget that we are 'SKY-X-DROP' certified!

Here's the Video!


In long Shot..

Touch the sky!

How does it feel being a celebrity? Especially when a fan comes over and expresses his/her love for their work! Yeah...I did that.
In the wee hours of a sunday morning, I was waiting at Mumbai domestic airport to catch my next flight to Bangalore which was scheduled at 6.40 AM. It was still about 4 AM. I sat there in the waiting lounge and was carelessly dozing off. Inbetween I would snap up, just to make sure that my cabin bag was safe. A muslim family had sat next to me with two cute kids. They must have had fun looking at me taking a nap in a weird way. Oh god! I was really tired because of my previous flight. Somehow I mustered enough strength to walk up till the rest room to freshen up. I asked the kids' mom to take care of my luggage and I left with my back pack. It was a 5 minute walk to the extreme end of the newly renovated Mumbai Airport. I was already amused of the interiors. Slowly I made my way to the restroom. Brushed my teeth, combed my hair and there I was all fresh!
On my way back, I started gazing at the airport crowd and moved like a snail, trying to while away time. And one face attracted me unusually. She was cute and moreover familiar. Do i know her? Then suddenly as if a bulb flashed in my sleeping head, I realised who she was. I turned around to spot more familiar faces..and there were the remaining three in the baggage screening counter waiting in queue. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Am i dreaming or are they really there? Why is it that nobody is noticing them? The rest of the crowd were normal as usual to my surprise. But I couldn't control my adrenaline rush! There stood the Aasma band with their musical instruments. It was more than an extravagant sight for me to see the stars live in front of me.
My liking for the band dates back to the channel V pop stars show. I used to devotedly follow all the episodes starting from the initial auditions, followed by screening and finally the selection. After which this band was given training in all aspects. The entire thing was being aired on TV. I hadn't missed a single episode. Vasudha, Neeti, Jimmy and Sangeet...the awesome four!
I approached Vasudha first. Wished her and introduced myself. I told her how much i loved their songs. This would have been a normal thing for her. But not for me! Then came Jimmy...beaming a radiant smile. He shook hands with me and I was already flying in air. Slowly, Neeti and Sangeet joined in. I was just so happy to talk to them. You won't believe my hands and feet were shivering in excitement. They were very friendly and I had a great time speaking to them. As usual, expect a camera with me irrespective of any occasion. It's a mandatory gadget for me, whenever I am out. So, we did have a brief photo session. Hurray! What a great way to start my day.
That was it...my excitement didn't come down for a few more days and I was busy spreading it across over to my family and friends!
Listen to my favorite number in my blog played by the Aasma band. My best wishes and good luck to the band. May they reach greater heights just as they call themselves "AASMA".

Bangkok Blues

Incheon is the name of the airport at Seoul. It is about one hour drive from the city. I was all excited as I took the airport limousine to reach Incheon. I have always loved the ambience in Airports, especially Incheon which is huge and convenient and of course for the reason that I get a "go-home" feeling. I quickly moved on to the check in counter and waited there in the queue. This time I had too many transits. Incheon-Hongkong-Bangkok-Bangalore. At least I had thought so, until the lady in the counter told me that my ticket destination is to Chennai. And she had not got any intimation regarding the re-routing to Bangalore (This is supposed to be handled by the travel agency).
Actually the problem had occured because the travel tickets are booked to and fro in the very beginning and given to us. I had traveled to Chennai to take the Bangkok flight due to unavailability of seats in Bangalore-Bangkok flight. So, naturally the return tickets showed Chennai as the final destination. Now..isn't that confusing?
So, the lady in the counter told me that she would check-in my luggage only till Bangkok. And I was asked to sort out the confusion there itself. What else could I do apart from just saying okay! From the airport I called up my colleague to inform him what had happened. He promised to take care of it by getting in touch with the travel agency.
So, back to the excitement mode, I enjoyed my travel. HongKong was a beautiful airport and i had a great time shopping there. After reaching Bangkok airport, I coolly walked on to one of the ladies who was in uniform.

Me: Excuse me..Could you please tell me where I can collect my luggage? I am arriving from Seoul.
The lady: You need to pass the immigration check before you collect your luggage. I hope you have the Visa stamped to enter this country.
Me:(Head reeling) What? I don't have a Visa.
The lady: Oh..that's easy. You just have to fill out this form and get your visa stamped at that counter.
Me:(totally perplexed) This is only a transit for me. I am traveling to India. My next flight is about 2 hrs from now.

Till then, I hadn't even thought that to collect my luggage I have to pass the immigration check (Did I drop my brain back at Seoul???) Immediately, the lady took me to the airlines private office and I explained them my problem. Ok...now what? They checked and rechecked if they had got any fax regarding my re-routing to Bangalore instead of Chennai. But no intimation at all.

Lady in the counter: I'm sorry madam...but this ticket cannot be used to travel to Bangalore. The air fares are different.
Me: Ok...can i travel to Chennai atleast? When is the next flight to Chennai?
Lady in the counter: The next flight is at tomorrow evening.
Me(to myself): What??? What am i going to do till tomorrow evening at Bangkok! And i don't know how to make calls from here...Mummmyyyyyyy (almost in tears)
Me to the lady: Ok...can i just pay the difference amount and travel to Bangalore?
Lady: I'm afraid..that's not possible. You may have to buy a new ticket.
Me: And that costs me?
Lady: 14,000 THB (that's approximately 14K INR). Let me check if there are any vacant seats in the flight.
Me(to myself): My God! Now please let there be some seat in the flight...plz plz plzzzz( praying hard)
Lady(smiling): You are lucky..There is a seat. Please pay the amount in the counter and I'll recheckin your luggage. You don't have to collect it here now.
Me: Are you Sure???

Fortunately, I had my international card and there was some amount in that to buy the ticket( for a change..:D). By the time, all this got over there were just 30 minutes to catch the flight. I ran to the security check and then to the waiting lounge. I was relieved from all this tension only when I got my luggage at Bangalore.
My parents did not have the slightest clue as to what had happened when they received me(Well, i had expected unusually tensed faces..:D) Thanks to my residence phone which had gone dead. My colleague could not convey any information. And a special thanks to the travel desk incharge who was supposed to take care of the fax. She was as cool as ice the other day at office only to tell me "I was on Leave!"

Wallet ballet!

On my birthday, me and my roommates went out in the evening. We went to a restaurant and had pizza. We had a hearty meal and great time gossiping away for a couple of hours. We took a bus back home. We had to change buses inbetween. Just when I was about to get into the second bus, I realised that my wallet was not seen! I remembered that I had the wallet with me when I was in the bus. So, I was sure that it might have slipped out of my jacket in the bus itself.
Time for some tension. We began the search way back to the first bus stop. But all in vain. It was already 9 in the night by then. And i was not ready to give up. I had more important things in my wallet other than some money and bank cards. First thing that struck us was to tell the driver that my wallet was lost in the bus. That itself was a huge task. There were about 12 buses with the same number in that route. We managed to cover 8 buses trying to identify the driver and also telling each one of them that we lost a purse. The biggest problem when it comes to this place is the language. Very few people are well verse with English. Out of all the drivers whom i met, none of them knew english. I had to bring in my drama skills to let them know what had happened. We were three of us. One would stop the bus, the other one would check the bus in the last seat(That was where we were sitting!) and my crazy action would begin in front of the driver. I still remember the puzzled look on the drivers' faces...what a bad actor I must be!
What a sad thing to happen...and that too on my birthday! I was feeling awful and helpless. Finally one of the drivers understood our problem and he gave us his contact number. He asked us to call him up the next day. We walked back home feeling bad about the incident. I was disappointed but couldn't do anything else at that moment. It was almost 11 PM.
One of the roommates couldn't accompany us for the treat and was at home. The moment we reached home, we saw the panic on her face. She said that police had called for me!!! Though she hadn't got the scenario, she managed to convey that my credit cards were with them. Now isn't that surprising???? May be this is what is called LUCK. They had left a contact number and I made a call. Then I realised whom I had called!
A few months back, I had met an indian family at a shopping mall here and had exchanged business cards with them. They had given me their phone number along with other details and also invited me to their home. I had called them a couple of times later on and still had their card in my wallet. Some divine personality had handed over my wallet to the police and the police had called this family to confirm my identity. The next day, one of our korean colleagues accompanied us to the police station and helped us with the formalities there. Oh boy! I got my life back or what:)
I don't know the anonymous character who handed over my wallet to the police. Whoever it is, I am very much grateful to that person and owe a lot to him/her. The presence of such human beings makes the world a better place to live. Isn't it?
So, time and again I proved that I am known for such adventures.

Seasons

Dear Friends,

I am back here at a new spot. If i could explain why I was away for so long, well 'change' would be the word. Sometimes so many things happen in your life that you would just want to lie back and enjoy every moment of it, as if it would never occur again. I bet, it's worth it:)
Am here to update you on the happenings in my little world.
Hope to be more regular from now onwards...:D

Cheers,
Hema