Guides, cool and ghar ka khana...

1. Natalie and Galit keep trying to help me find out places that I can visit on my own during the week.
2. The temperature that had soared in the past few days comes down a bit and in the late evening, the breeze is actually quite cold... pleasant days are back again :-)
3. I make khichdi in the little microwave in the hotel room. Somehow, it feels so good to eat Indian food after so many days! There's no doubt that the food here is very tasty, but I guess one craves for the food one has grown up on, and however simple it might be, there's a certain contentment in it...

Shalom!

Shalom Everyone! Its been long break from blogging for me, but not one that I've regretted. I have been very busy travelling - first I travelled to Karnataka for Shenoy's wedding and after a whirlwind of a week, I set foot in Israel. The whole experience has been quite a rich one.

Israel is one wonderful country and I think I fell in love with it on my way to the hotel from the airport! I'm staying in a very busy part of Tel Aviv called as Dizengoff and the Dizengoff circle is such a happy and cheerful place that one instantly feels relaxed and cheerful there!

The people, the food, Tel Aviv, the magnificent roads, the rich culture that you can feel in the air, all of it forms such a heady cocktail, that I was quite intoxicated for my first few days here. Then of course we went sight seeing to Jaffa, Masada and then to the Dead Sea over the weekend. All this activity has kept me so busy and so much has been happening in life that blogging had to take a slight back-seat... Only now has some normalcy been restored after the initial excitement of being in a new country has lessened somewhat and something of routine has been created for the weekday (the weekends will, without exception, rock!). I hope to get back to 3BTing from tomorrow, though really, right now, life ain't 'ain't that bad'... its great!

End of the week, fruit and the uber cool surprise

1. Kabballah Sabbath today turns out to be one joyous occassion. For some reason, everyone is in a boistrous mood, and there's plenty of laughter and leg pulling. And as I come back to my desk, I find that my step is jaunty and I'm laughing easily. The friday mood has caught on with me, or perhaps the realization, that the week's over, and that I'm going to be on leave on Monday and Tuesday!
2. Talking to mum n dad on gtalk - the fruit of a lengthy and tedious phonecall in which I explain in excruciating detail every step that must be followed to download gtalk, install it and get it running on their PC. The fruit is, of course, very sweet!
3. Because Aparna can't keep a secret, she lets on that I have a super duper uber cool birthday gift waiting to reach me. And while I'm still recovering from an amazement-induced speech disorder, she mentions that her hubby might travel to Israel and she might tag along. I do so pray that their trip may materialize and that our visits to Israel coincide.

Extra time, that's done and f(e)ast

1. Getting up just half an hour earlier makes such a difference to my day. I get the time to take a bath and get ready for office before the driving class. So I'm ready really early, and even though I take the time out to visit Kaka and drop a package at his place, I'm still earlier than I usually am in office...
2. Getting 90% ticks on my To Do list :-)
3. The cook has washed the sabudana (sago) for making khichdi tomorrow. I think nothing of it till mum mentions that its MahaShivratri tomorrow and asks me if I'm going to observe a fast (for the uninitiated, our fasts are not really fasts. Far from it! We're allowed certain foods, and we turn them into feasts!). That's when the sabudana khichdi suddenly clicks!

I was there too, panacea and the promise of youth

1. Finding some nice pics of me in Dipti's album.... I'd forgotten she'd taken pics at the Ganpatipule outing too... All my folks, especially grandma, who saw the pictures I had taken, complained that there were too few pics of me (since I was the one manning the camera, of course!). They'll be happy now.
2. I've felt low and restless and not altogether chipper all day. But when I get into the car and drive it to the showroom to get the registration papers and number and then back, I'm somehow cured. And this inspite of having to drive in the heavy peak-hour traffic. (And btw, the number's familiar too - 8428. But I dunno why!)
3. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee Marathi started with their latest season last week, so my Monday and Tuesday nights are spoken for, for the nest few months. This season, all the contestants are aged 40 and above. And while I had my doubts about how good they'd be (forgive me!) when this was announced, my doubts have not only been laid to rest, but my expectations have also been surpassed. Much unlinke the youngsters who had participated in the earlier seasons, these artists have a certain maturity to their voices and their much superior and detailed riyaaz shows through... And they all are so genuinely happy to have been given such a platform at a stage in their life when they have almost given up hope of ever singing for such a large audience...

Sweet temptation, highway glory and Filmfare

1. Giving in to the temptation of an afternoon nap... sweet...
2. Driving my baby on the highway... its a smooth drive, and such a pleasure. I gain more confidence in today's drive that I've done in any of the previous drives. Its good to have no one instructing me on what to do, and I can take my own decisions. Admittedly, I make a few mistakes, but I know what they are, and I'll know to avoid them in the future...
3. Watching the Filmfare Awards on TV. Saif and Shahrukh are a riot... and all my yearnings for bollywood masala are fulfilled - for the time being.

Two minds, proud, babe and giddy

1. Being in an overdrive all day, in anticipation for the evening. My mind works on two levels - on one, I'm working fast, getting things done and on the other, I'm going giddy waiting for the evening. And finally, as evening draws near, the second mind takes over, and I can barely be still...
2. Mom calls to say that though they couldn't be here with me today to share my very special moment, but I was to remember that they're with me, and are so so proud! I could've jumped with joy then... and I think I did...
3. The first glimpse of my car, sparkling in all its splendour... and running my hand along it for the first time. And then getting behind the wheel and bringing the baby home...
4. Feeling giddy once I sit down to think and the feeling of finally having my car - my first car, starts to sink in...