Waiting for the rain, all for me and company for dinner

1. As I walk in Magarpatta late in the evening, there's a smell of rain on the wind. The wind comes in gentle gusts, but there's an urgency about it which makes you want to walk briskly, though not necessarily to get to a shelter.
2. The gym is quite empty, so I don't have to wait for my turn.
3. Its too late to cook and I'm wondering what to do for dinner when I find out that Sriharsha and Tejas are going out. I join them and find that Vishal and Sachin are joining too. What might've been a hasty, lonely dinner turns into a fun meal with good food (except the paneer... that was horrid!) and much laughter.

Special occassion, healthy food and Sit

1. Natasha has stayed over, so the special occassion is celebrated by having chai and some biscuits in the morning. What's the big deal, you ask? Well, just come and see what a rush work mornings are! There's no time for anything more than a glass of water.
2. I resist having those rich, fatty, fried (and sumptuous) samosas for breakfast and eat fruits instead.
3. Kris clears his desk, points at it and says 'Sit.'... However many times a day I drop by to waste time, his as well as mine...

It's saturday, not needed and girl time

1. I wake up in the morning with a start, look at the watch, wonder why the alarm didn't go off like everyday and then remember its saturday and settle down once again to drift off to sleep with a thankful heart.
2. Both Jui and Pallu have no time to chat with me - instead they're both busy chatting with Tanmoy, planning their sightseeing while they're in the US... Tanmoy is also taking great pains to help them out...
3. Three giggly girls out on a saturday night. There's much truth when they say that all girls need some girl-bonding time, where no guys are allowed and we can let our hair down...

Done in time, cool elegance and burrrrrp

1. Finishing work in time for the evening party, so that I neither have to skip it, nor do I have to feel guilty about being at a party when there's work waiting to be done...
2. The party, or the Passover Toast, as it has been officially christened, is at a delightful venue, surrounded by lush green fields on all sides... there are manicured lawns there, with a variety of flowering trees in full spring bloom... a wooden arched bridge stands over a sparkling lake, in which there are swans. There are wicker couches (huuuuuuuge ones!) with the most inviting looking white pillows... and there are plenty more pillows lying scattered around... while there are chirs too, people prefer to use the pillows and lounge on the grass... and the menu - dessert and drinks! This has to be the the most chilled out, yet elegant place I've been to!
3. We walk into an Indian restaurant, and are trying to decide what to order, when the owner, seeing that some Indians have arrived, comes to talk to us... he suggests that we share a thali (a full course Indian meal) - "trust me, you both won't be able to finish it"... and he's right. And do I even need to mention how supremely satisfying it is for me to eat a full desi meal after a whole month?

Market mania, sab kuchh milega, spring and buddy

1. Hitting Tel Aviv's streets on bicycles! Natasha and I pedal off to explore the markets... Its my first expedition to Carmel market here, nd its quite a revelation. Tel Aviv's shopping is not all about malls and boutiques and quaint little shops. There's this huge, bustling open market, where vendors display their wares on stalls, and there's plenty of yelling, and bargaining, not to mention, plenty of inexpensive stuff available... My yearning for shopping and that too with another shopping freak is quite satisfied.
2. Spring is in the air and the weather is just simply perfect. One can wear something light and roam around - tis neither too hot nor too cold. The gentle sun just offsets the cool breeze, and there's so much colour around - people have gotten out their summer clothes after a long and cold winter, and there are myriad varieties of flowers sitting in colourful buckets around every other corner. There are musicians on the streets displaying their talents as people lounge about. Every now and then, you come across an impromptu party that has broken out around one of these informal bands, and people have started dancing, carried away by the lively music. For the first time I fully understand why spring is so celebrated in books!
3. After a long and tedious hunt, we finally find 'Sab Kuchh Milega' - a hippie Indian restaurant which gives delicious Indian food quite cheap. Its as if my prayers have been answered... And finally after so many days, I get to eat rotis... sighhh... us desis will remain desis! Indian food rocks!
4. After a chilly walk on the beach after sunset, Natasha and I sit down at a road side cafe for a hot cup of cappuccino and apple pie. We've only met yesterday, but we're already getting along quite well. Its good to know that she's going to be here for the next two weeks as well... so I'll never be starved for company - this especially when the people I hd become friends with here over the last 3 weeks are all slated to leave before I do!

Short n sweet, things to do and party

1. My calendar looks scary for the day - meetings continuously from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m with just one half hour break in between... now, meetings scare me! They make my eyes glaze over, a fog envelopes my mind, and I feel paralyzed in the brain... and then, mirculously, two of these meeting which have been scheduled for an hour each are done within half an hour each, and I suddenly have an extra hour in hand.
2. When it has begun to look like this weekend is going to be wasted doing nothing much other than sitting in the room watching movies and perhaps strolling on Dizengoff street or to the nearby beach (all of which are otherwise fine things to do on a weekend, but not when you have just two weekends left to explore a new country!), a plan for Saturday unfolds, and Friday starts to look good too, with shopping in the morning and the beach in the afternoon...
3. An impromptu party at my room. The menu is funny - maggi, rice, sabzi and ready to eat sambhar... but there's plenty of fun and spirits are high. Adding spice to the party is Russel Peters' stand up comedy. His timing for quips is perfect!

Chat, plush wheels and laughter

1. A looooong chat.
2. Checking out the new Hyundai i10. It's plush!
3. A very merry dinner party at Basho. There's plenty of leg pulling and laughter.

False impressions, ice cake and film stars

1. Starting the day thinking that there is a lot of work, and as the day progresses, realizing that it only looks like that...
2. A birthday is celebrated at work. Because the birthday girl is fasting for some reason, she can't eat cake, but she is allowed vanilla ice cream... so a slab of ice cream replaces the birthday cake and everyone enjoys the birthday party with a difference
3. They're shooting a promotional video about the company in the office premises. The film crew is all over the place, with their huge lighting equipment, cameras, rollers and thingamajigs. When they shoot in the cafetaria at lunch time, the excitement among all present is palpable. They even film us eating (and Gauri is upto a lot of buffoonery)... which is the whole point of this BT anyway..

Treasured gift, vacation and sarcasm

New pictures on Trigger Happy.

1. Treasure hunt! It's Gauri's birthday and a treasure hunt has been organized for him. Each little treasure is a birthday card with a message for him, along with a clue for who to find the next one with. He's hyper-excited about it and is running around hunting for his treasure. And of course, everyone else wants to play too, so all are chipping in with suggestions and hints to solve the riddles...
2. All of a sudden, we're planning a vacation. And to Goa! 10 days later, we'll be there... Go Goa!
3. The Renegade of Junk. Sarcasm the way I like it...

Click away, unnecessary celebration and healing

1. We go on a looooong drive. There are plenty of opportunities to do some photograpy and I get some awesome frames. The light is perfect and its good to be outdoors.
2. Champagne! There's something very sexy about champagne...
3. At the end of the day, I feel tired, but healed... as if something inside that had been ailing for long, has finally found something that can cure it and nurture it back to health.

Multi tasking, bride and photography

Checkout my new blog Trigger Happy. I'm going to upload my attempts at photography here. No blah blah. Will let the pictures speak for themselves.

1. Gulmohur. Everywhere I go, I see the flaming red of the gulmohur. The entire city seems to have donned a bridal veil.
2. A weekend spent with friends talking, laughing, eating, partying, drinking, teasing, and generally having fun. This is the kind of multi tasking I like!
3. Manjiri's photograpy. Again and again, I look at the pictures she has taken, and her eye for detail, symmetry and lighting, and her talent for creating frames continue to amaze me.

Roads, snake dances and a merry band

1. Freshly made, black tar roads... they just look so inviting, I always want to drive on them right away.
2. Pai does a 'naagin' dance. Man! He's a riot... (and no, he was not under any chemical influence...) For the uninitiated, a 'naagin' dance is dancing while impersonating a snake. Anyone who has the patience, can watch Bollywood's favourite 'naagin' dance...
3. Watching the antics of all those who've had just one drink more than they they should've... The mood is merry and I get to really laugh my guts out at the party.

Chic, a bouquet and Sons of Fortune

1. Wearing the new dress mum got for me from Cochin. The pattern I chose for it has turned out pretty and the dress makes me feel very chic... oh! and I get a lot of compliments on it too...
2. Flowers! I take the girls from office out to dinner - my birthday treat has been pending for too long.... and along with a book, I get a beautiful little bouquet of yellow roses and velvety red Zerberas... This is the first time flowers have been brought into this house since I moved in.
3. I start on Jeffrey Archer's 'Sons of Fortune', and before I know it, it's already 2 a.m. I simply love his racy style of writing...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S, canine lover and happppppy...

1. Watching five episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. back to back.
2. A lady, out for a walk, brings a bag ful of bread with her and feeds all the stray dogs in the lane. She doesn't seem scared of them..
3. Screw Driver: Getting sloshed and Happppppy

School girls, protection and celebratory dinner

1. A couple of school girls in their smart uniforms and ribbons in their plaited hair are giggling and whispering by the roadside. Exchanging notes on a new crush or discussing some school gossip, maybe?
2. Sun-gloves, glory be to them! After having given up my hunt for them, they turn up while I'm looking for something else. What a blessing they are - they keep my hands safe from the sun and the dust while I'm driving, so that when I come to office, I don't have to rush to the washroom to wash off the grime my hands have collected on the way.
3. Dinner at Burger Barn: I have a Funghi Trifoliate - a preparation of mushrooms with oregano, served with garlic bread... ummmmm... This, by the way, is the celebration I promised myself yesterday, and there's one more cause to it - I've lost another kg! :-) So, as an added treat, there's ice cream after dinner too...

Scramble, make-up and evening breeze

1. I bring sweets from Nagpur and as soon as I reach office, there's a mad scramble for them.


2. Birthday celebration at work! Its an awesome surprise, 'coz I had assumed that since I was out of office on my birthday, this celebration would be skipped. Finally I get a yummy chocolate cake. Thankfully, the icing is neither too soft nor too thick, and when everyone tries to smear it on my face, they only manage this.
3. As I walk out of office in the evening, I am embraced by a warm evening breeze... and all my muscles which have been feeling cramped in the cold office, relax.
   

Welcome back, dressed up and digging convenience...

1. Aparna calls up and we have a long chat. I'm glad she's started contributing to this blog again...
2. The way the house looks just before a party, when everything's in place, spic and span, the table is laid and everyone is dressed. After quite a few days, even I get to dress up.
3. Ajju's look of absolute glee when he reads what his new keychain says - "Why do Gorrilla's have big nostrils? - Because they have thick fingers."

Aumkara, arti and get-together...

1. The sound of 'Aum'... Mum takes me to her daily Pranayam class. One of the Pranayams involves sitting straight with your eyes closed, taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly while pronouncing the 'Aum'... The Aumkara fills up the surroundings and its a different feeling altogether.
2. A new temple has been built very near to home for Ramakrishna Paramhansa by the Ramakrishna Mission. Walking back home from the Pranayam class, Mum and I visit the temple. The architecture is beautiful and the temple pristine... and we are just in time for the evening arti. Amidst the reverberating sounds of the dholki, the gongs, the bells and the harmonium, the priests chant the hymns.
3. There's a small birthday party for Prashant Mama at granny's place, and its good to see everyone after so many days. We have a pleasant evening and dinner. There's a yummy mutton biryani, so pretty much everything else is ignored!

Party goes on, camera shy and 1000 oaks

Flashback: Sunday, December 17th

1. George is in no mood to end the party (and neither is anyone else...), so even though he has to go to office on Sunday and has initially planned to leave for Mumbai by saturday evening, he rearranges plans, and stays back on saturday too, albeit with the condition that the party doesn't stop! And it doesn't..!
2. We spend a quiet evening getting acquainted with my new camera - a Nikon D40 that Shreerang got for me. And we plan what accessories need to be bought for the camera...
3. Come night, and we head to 1000 Oaks... the music there is awesome and spirits are high. Pallavi has joined us, and is in such high spirits, that she's singing loudly throughout! And Gullu has stayed back too, and when the clock strikes 12, we celebrate his birthday... Its a happy night for all of us!

Planning the party, birthday gift and birthday bumps...

Flashback: Saturday, December 16th

1. Chain mails keep going back and forth between all of us, trying to plan for the night's reunion... as is to be expected, there's plenty of confusion, suppressed excitement and wise-cracks. None of us can wait for the day to end, so that we'll all meet up in the evening. We're all meeting Shreerang after a gap of a year and a half, and its also his birthday. Lots of reasons to celebrate!
2. I finally get a long overdue birthday gift, exactly 9 months late, one that I've been behaving like a baby about! I've shamelessly hankered after it through the months, and I must admit I've quite enjoyed doing that! :-P Its a very nice white and red full sleeved TShirt, and I can't wait to get into it! And I also feel a little sad, because now I have to stop making a fuss about it :-D !!
3. Its almost 10 p.m. by the time we all finally meet up, and yet everyone's in a jolly mood. Shreerang is 'critically examined' with plenty of "oh my god! how could you have become so fat!" and "why didn't you get the liquor chocolates?" and "Where's my camera?"... and then he gets birthday bumps - there's lots of running around the house and covering the butt from certain-to-land kicks involved for the guys, and everyone's laughing!