Ofcourse I can never rediscover or recreate India abroad, not through Durga pujas or Dandiya festival celebrations or selected hindi film screenings. But imagine my joy when I discovered Ndtv.com and live screening of the news as seen back home. :) I have been skipping about in glee, and clapping my hands once I realized I will get to see all my favorite ads (call it ridiculous if you must!!)
Not that I have ever been a stickler for news (starting today I will be: my horoscope says that the more constructive feedback I take in today the better for me in the long run ;) ) ...... I must have been the worst at quiz (except literature) and gk in my school...... and throughout college life - all the hindu and times of india newspapers that I got would end up in the waste paper basket. It's never late to recover though. So after reading all about Indira Gandhi's 25th death anniversary and about state politics in my home state, I googled out two of our bollywood heroes blogs.
The first: Aamir Khan
The second: Amitabh Bachan
That's old news for many. I myself have happened on them before and forgotten them. But then since today I am supposed to work on improving myself (again by my horoscope :)) so I'll make new beginnings. I tweeted for the first time in my life, worked out on Wii fit plus ... let's see what else can I break my head on..... ( but you know these signs, it's the over-enthusiastic beginner trying to rediscover him/herself.... very quick downhill slope trend :)).
Bruno still fighting...... Baba is home so Bruno is spending as much time idolizing Baba now.
I am on the verge of giving up on something but with this new found joy of self discovery I might just have to brave it out and stick on, let's see.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Losing a dog....losing my dog .....losing Bruno
How many of us, when frustrated with life simply wish that we were dead ! Sometimes life shows you the true meaning of your words. My little dog of 12 years is suffering from cancer, now quite rapidly and steadily plummeting towards his death.
We had hardly believed he would survive so long - the mass of cancerous cells swelling into a tumor, ebbing away on excision, and reappearing with mightier force the next time around. I had not dared to hope of seeing him alive when I arrived home. And yet there he was, to welcome me, possibly for the last time. Remarkably thinner, with a white bandage masking the left foreleg, where he had undergone repeated excisions to keep the cancerous mass under control.
As I said life shows you - even though I argued with Maa, that Bruno was so alive because he didn't know what was plaguing him, that he was dying, I or for that matter everyone of us everyday would bow to the spirit of life in him...... whether slobbering over chicken rolls and forcing us to give him two thirds of what we ate, or shaking his head with his favorite moo pillow tight in his teeth in that "bullish" way to play with us or refusing to come home when we was taken out for his walk or sniffing out a cat and chasing it till it had run out of the neighborhood..... it seemed all he wanted to do was live...... for the simplest pleasures of life as he knew them.
It's hard to accept death, even when day in and day out you see someone waning in front of your eyes. And that is when it hits you with its solemnity. Something beyond your control and fighting, something that is really not jokeworthy at all, the gap which death creates can never be filled up. Ofcourse these are all known and morose thoughts and that is why it is best left unsaid, best not dwelt upon, but "accepted".
Let's leave it at that though and move on to more cheerful thoughts and memories....... here is a video link to Bruno's forays into the Bay of Bengal, last month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V5rZuUq7CM
Bruno is one of the most avid fans of road trips, and that's what we did. We took him to Mandarmoni by car. He loved the trip (in his own excited way of barking continuously at everything in sight) and he loved the ocean even more. We love you Bruno and will always miss you. You became so much a part of our lives that we dread how life will be without you and dread the gap that your going away will create.
Bruno and I parted proximity when I boarded my flight back here, but he is still fighting out his last few days back home. The malignancy has attacked his lungs and is manifesting as respiratory distress. I don't know how many days he has left ... but I pray that the ones he has left are to some extent painless.
We had hardly believed he would survive so long - the mass of cancerous cells swelling into a tumor, ebbing away on excision, and reappearing with mightier force the next time around. I had not dared to hope of seeing him alive when I arrived home. And yet there he was, to welcome me, possibly for the last time. Remarkably thinner, with a white bandage masking the left foreleg, where he had undergone repeated excisions to keep the cancerous mass under control.
As I said life shows you - even though I argued with Maa, that Bruno was so alive because he didn't know what was plaguing him, that he was dying, I or for that matter everyone of us everyday would bow to the spirit of life in him...... whether slobbering over chicken rolls and forcing us to give him two thirds of what we ate, or shaking his head with his favorite moo pillow tight in his teeth in that "bullish" way to play with us or refusing to come home when we was taken out for his walk or sniffing out a cat and chasing it till it had run out of the neighborhood..... it seemed all he wanted to do was live...... for the simplest pleasures of life as he knew them.
It's hard to accept death, even when day in and day out you see someone waning in front of your eyes. And that is when it hits you with its solemnity. Something beyond your control and fighting, something that is really not jokeworthy at all, the gap which death creates can never be filled up. Ofcourse these are all known and morose thoughts and that is why it is best left unsaid, best not dwelt upon, but "accepted".
Let's leave it at that though and move on to more cheerful thoughts and memories....... here is a video link to Bruno's forays into the Bay of Bengal, last month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V5rZuUq7CM
Bruno is one of the most avid fans of road trips, and that's what we did. We took him to Mandarmoni by car. He loved the trip (in his own excited way of barking continuously at everything in sight) and he loved the ocean even more. We love you Bruno and will always miss you. You became so much a part of our lives that we dread how life will be without you and dread the gap that your going away will create.
Bruno and I parted proximity when I boarded my flight back here, but he is still fighting out his last few days back home. The malignancy has attacked his lungs and is manifesting as respiratory distress. I don't know how many days he has left ... but I pray that the ones he has left are to some extent painless.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Diwali from the skies , home, Bruno and more
I had the misfortune of having to leave home on diwali. Even after a decade, I wasn't able to burst crackers on the festival of lights. However I did get to light red, gold and green sparklers or 'fhul-jhuris' the day before, and also try my hand at lighting flower pots better known as 'tubris'.... only the 'tubris' true to careless workmanship, ended up bursting at times at the end of the shower of golden light (that's the closest I can get to being technical about fireworks.)
On the other hand, I am sure few have had the fortune of viewing Indian cities from the sky when they are alit and celebrating diwali. Believe me, Kolkata was glowing with the light from small diyas arranged on balconies of flats and houses, buildings with electric lights and rockets bursting into red and blue glitters and garlands above them. Delhi had five times the fireworks and beautiful silhouettes of parliament buildings. I couldn't help but feel lucky that I knew how it felt to set one of these alight myself, instead of sitting on the bank of a water-body and watching the display of fireworks stranded on a barge.
To be contd..
On the other hand, I am sure few have had the fortune of viewing Indian cities from the sky when they are alit and celebrating diwali. Believe me, Kolkata was glowing with the light from small diyas arranged on balconies of flats and houses, buildings with electric lights and rockets bursting into red and blue glitters and garlands above them. Delhi had five times the fireworks and beautiful silhouettes of parliament buildings. I couldn't help but feel lucky that I knew how it felt to set one of these alight myself, instead of sitting on the bank of a water-body and watching the display of fireworks stranded on a barge.
To be contd..
Saturday, August 08, 2009
A short "continued"
I haven't written in so long a time , that I was almost on the brink of forgetting this part of my existence. But hopefully I am back in time to save me. It won't be a long one this time around, but I am sure they will get longer, as I get into my habit of rambling.
I was missing my mom immensely and more than that was missing her simply fussing over me... about the oh so little things that only mothers can make a huge deal about. I guess its another bout of homesickness, but I wish I was back home right now, to be in that cocoon of mom' s protection, to share with my brother the joys of starting out on his own, to help my little old dog of 12 years battle cancer and still live like he so much likes to, maybe just be back in Jamshedpur for a spell of vacation with baba, maa and Tukan..... something that would bring those faded kodak photos back to life again. Sigh ..... I wish ....
I was missing my mom immensely and more than that was missing her simply fussing over me... about the oh so little things that only mothers can make a huge deal about. I guess its another bout of homesickness, but I wish I was back home right now, to be in that cocoon of mom' s protection, to share with my brother the joys of starting out on his own, to help my little old dog of 12 years battle cancer and still live like he so much likes to, maybe just be back in Jamshedpur for a spell of vacation with baba, maa and Tukan..... something that would bring those faded kodak photos back to life again. Sigh ..... I wish ....
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I had thought....
I watched some 3 movies over the weekend and Monday... starting with Sense and Sensibility, A Wednesday, The Last Lear and ending with The Lives of Others. Each of them was very much a revelation and a thought-provoker in their own way. I am very happy by the evolution of the storyline in hindi cinema. Each one comes out better than the previous.... very different.... very down to earth and realistic. Ofcourse this is all minus the constant commentary of my brother that there are infinite loopholes and how could I have EVER overlooked them.
But each is an interesting viewpoint nevertheless. An interesting viewpoint of the director, the story-teller....... more so the story-teller and that is the point of my whole blabbering actually. I don't know how I become indoctrinated to stories... I remember somebody, Maa, Baba reading out to me. As it is, it seems I was this talkative little brat who would never stop talking. I remember vaguely ... like those one or two childhood memories which become embedded forever and are the only ones you can recapitulate..... sitting in my little frock with my legs outstretched and hands holding on to the balcony railings....
there was a wide expanse in between me, the balcony and the next building..... the wide expanse of the park where I spent my every childhood evening.. playing and swinging ... boy did I love to swing.
But I am digressing ..... as I said, it seems I was this talkative brat ... maa says my talking would fill tapes and tapes... funny all those words somehow disappeared as I grew up. :) Well anyway.... that one childhood memory that I guess I will never forget is how I would spin up stories about actually belonging to that house across in that other building.
I had this entourage of dolls whom I loved. They would be set up in a line and be scolded and fed and made to sleep and then told stories. They would also have birthday parties with doll size luchis my "mashi" would especially make for them. How well they played along... dressing up everyone in their most pretty dresses and having a doll birthday party.
I also had this lovely kitten book. Each page had the most adoring kittens staring out at you. I can still recall each picture and how much of Johnson's baby powder I would have spent on each of them, just prettying them up. I don't know which story-world I used to live in. But I don't think I ever grew out of it. Even now ... I can fall back on a story anytime. No wonder I get mesmerized by movies... because it communicates the thoughts of someone who thought about the story ... how the characters would act, what they would say, how the relations between them would interwine and disentangle and join together again.
Relationships, that's one topic I'll never grow bored of. Even when I think I have deciphered how and why people act the way they do, I still let myself be surprised or hurt. Funny huh!! Not to say that I am not always to blame... as it is every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Every person builds up the world around them as best as they know how. They adapt to it as best as they think they can. And then they spend their entire life living it .... I guess my point is that that's how I arranged my life. Some things happened, the rest I arranged and here I am. But if I did look in the mirror today and ask myself (blatantly copied from Steve Job's commencement speech at Stanford) "If I were to die today, is this the way I would like to spend it ? " ... I think my answer would be yes. I wouldn't want to change a thing, (except maybe being in India at home :) ).. there was a time when I used to detest working. Believe me, the very thought of having to go to work from 8-5 was distasteful to me. But then something happened, that it became my escape and my existence. So much so, I really don't mind it anymore because it defines a part of who I am. Ok, either the philosophy or I have become a workaholic. .....
In any case, I think somewhere in the mush above, I made my point... a little bit of trying to define who I am and a little bit of who I have become.
But each is an interesting viewpoint nevertheless. An interesting viewpoint of the director, the story-teller....... more so the story-teller and that is the point of my whole blabbering actually. I don't know how I become indoctrinated to stories... I remember somebody, Maa, Baba reading out to me. As it is, it seems I was this talkative little brat who would never stop talking. I remember vaguely ... like those one or two childhood memories which become embedded forever and are the only ones you can recapitulate..... sitting in my little frock with my legs outstretched and hands holding on to the balcony railings....
there was a wide expanse in between me, the balcony and the next building..... the wide expanse of the park where I spent my every childhood evening.. playing and swinging ... boy did I love to swing.
But I am digressing ..... as I said, it seems I was this talkative brat ... maa says my talking would fill tapes and tapes... funny all those words somehow disappeared as I grew up. :) Well anyway.... that one childhood memory that I guess I will never forget is how I would spin up stories about actually belonging to that house across in that other building.
I had this entourage of dolls whom I loved. They would be set up in a line and be scolded and fed and made to sleep and then told stories. They would also have birthday parties with doll size luchis my "mashi" would especially make for them. How well they played along... dressing up everyone in their most pretty dresses and having a doll birthday party.
I also had this lovely kitten book. Each page had the most adoring kittens staring out at you. I can still recall each picture and how much of Johnson's baby powder I would have spent on each of them, just prettying them up. I don't know which story-world I used to live in. But I don't think I ever grew out of it. Even now ... I can fall back on a story anytime. No wonder I get mesmerized by movies... because it communicates the thoughts of someone who thought about the story ... how the characters would act, what they would say, how the relations between them would interwine and disentangle and join together again.
Relationships, that's one topic I'll never grow bored of. Even when I think I have deciphered how and why people act the way they do, I still let myself be surprised or hurt. Funny huh!! Not to say that I am not always to blame... as it is every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Every person builds up the world around them as best as they know how. They adapt to it as best as they think they can. And then they spend their entire life living it .... I guess my point is that that's how I arranged my life. Some things happened, the rest I arranged and here I am. But if I did look in the mirror today and ask myself (blatantly copied from Steve Job's commencement speech at Stanford) "If I were to die today, is this the way I would like to spend it ? " ... I think my answer would be yes. I wouldn't want to change a thing, (except maybe being in India at home :) ).. there was a time when I used to detest working. Believe me, the very thought of having to go to work from 8-5 was distasteful to me. But then something happened, that it became my escape and my existence. So much so, I really don't mind it anymore because it defines a part of who I am. Ok, either the philosophy or I have become a workaholic. .....
In any case, I think somewhere in the mush above, I made my point... a little bit of trying to define who I am and a little bit of who I have become.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Me myself and myself - one liners
The following are my rants followed by my rants :). Caution: do not read at risk of losing mental sanity.
I wish I were a positive person - like the one who sees silver linings on every cloud kind of thing.
I have heard somewhere the first step in turning your wishes to reality is turning the word wish in the sentence into do/am.
I wish I was not turning into my worst nightmare - an 8a.m - 5p.m cube monkey who finds solace in work, who finds that work is the only means of shutting out the other pieces of life he/she is not able to tackle..... who doesn't know life without work ...and who would rather work than be anywhere else.
I wish I could still be a child, see the world through rose-tinted glasses. (My post, my space, I can write what I wish .... and heavens knows why I needed to justify that).
I wish I could protect those/that I consider the most pure in my life. But I do a bad job at this, mainly because of the subject line.
Nothing seems to happen the way you thought they would, nothing turns out the way you had EXPECTED them to.
Expectations are the root of every or most problems.
Very nice saying from my friend's status message: he who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. I wish I had the why, then the how's would be easier, but the point is the why is an eternal never-ending search for me. (not to mention use of both never-ending and eternal is redundant).
Elizabeth Taylor had said: nobody can make you feel inferior unless you let them. I do just that.
I don't think I am marriage material yet if anybody knows what that means. maybe I will be by my marriage date.
I consider myself damned lucky in some ways and damned unlucky in others.
There must be at least one person in the world right now who understands why I am saying what I am saying.
You are a lone reed (courtesy You've got mail) even when you think you are not.
"You were born a street rat , you will die a street rat and only your fleas will mourn you"...in the Zafar like snarl courtesy Aladdin.
The solution to half the world's problems is having A sympathetic ear, who is willing to listen and tell you where you are wrong.
The solution to the other half is a warm hug.
goodnight.
I wish I were a positive person - like the one who sees silver linings on every cloud kind of thing.
I have heard somewhere the first step in turning your wishes to reality is turning the word wish in the sentence into do/am.
I wish I was not turning into my worst nightmare - an 8a.m - 5p.m cube monkey who finds solace in work, who finds that work is the only means of shutting out the other pieces of life he/she is not able to tackle..... who doesn't know life without work ...and who would rather work than be anywhere else.
I wish I could still be a child, see the world through rose-tinted glasses. (My post, my space, I can write what I wish .... and heavens knows why I needed to justify that).
I wish I could protect those/that I consider the most pure in my life. But I do a bad job at this, mainly because of the subject line.
Nothing seems to happen the way you thought they would, nothing turns out the way you had EXPECTED them to.
Expectations are the root of every or most problems.
Very nice saying from my friend's status message: he who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. I wish I had the why, then the how's would be easier, but the point is the why is an eternal never-ending search for me. (not to mention use of both never-ending and eternal is redundant).
Elizabeth Taylor had said: nobody can make you feel inferior unless you let them. I do just that.
I don't think I am marriage material yet if anybody knows what that means. maybe I will be by my marriage date.
I consider myself damned lucky in some ways and damned unlucky in others.
There must be at least one person in the world right now who understands why I am saying what I am saying.
You are a lone reed (courtesy You've got mail) even when you think you are not.
"You were born a street rat , you will die a street rat and only your fleas will mourn you"...in the Zafar like snarl courtesy Aladdin.
The solution to half the world's problems is having A sympathetic ear, who is willing to listen and tell you where you are wrong.
The solution to the other half is a warm hug.
goodnight.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Power of Love
I was moved to tears after a long time on watching The Notebook. I have been planning to watch it since I don't know when, and after a bit of ABC , and 2 bits on my laptop I finally watched it in totalum. To me the movie boils down to just three words, the power of love...(that's four words but who's counting). Believe me, I have gone through so many times of believing and non-believing in love...... it's almost come a full circle for me. :) (I'll leave it to you to guess whether the end was as a believer or non-believer.)
I was just talking with a friend and whining to my mom, about how life is without motivation now. I live this day of getting up, going to work, coming back, eating and sleeping..... it seems such a meaningless existence. Once I wake up, all I wait for is to get through the day and come back and then the next day and the next day.....
:) I guess I should get out more. I started this post with something totally different in mind but it's becoming more remorse as I write. I guess the amount of time that I have been out of touch with writing... I have probably ended up sharpening my expertise in short to the point business mails ... no wonder it's difficult just letting a clean flow of thought get on the paper, or rather my monitor.
Soon I would have also lost touch completely with writing with the pen as you would call it, having gained the power of speed on the keyboard.
Ahh ...life... :) it remains so much the same and yet so different.
I was just talking with a friend and whining to my mom, about how life is without motivation now. I live this day of getting up, going to work, coming back, eating and sleeping..... it seems such a meaningless existence. Once I wake up, all I wait for is to get through the day and come back and then the next day and the next day.....
:) I guess I should get out more. I started this post with something totally different in mind but it's becoming more remorse as I write. I guess the amount of time that I have been out of touch with writing... I have probably ended up sharpening my expertise in short to the point business mails ... no wonder it's difficult just letting a clean flow of thought get on the paper, or rather my monitor.
Soon I would have also lost touch completely with writing with the pen as you would call it, having gained the power of speed on the keyboard.
Ahh ...life... :) it remains so much the same and yet so different.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Starry nights....
Just to see you smile....
You always had an eye for things that glittered
But I was far from being made of gold
I don't know how but I scraped up the money
I just never could quite tell you no
Just like when you were leaving Amarillo
Takin' that new job in Tennessee
And I quit mine so we could be together
I can't forget the way you looked at me
Just to see you smile
I'd do anything that you wanted me to
When all is said and done
I'd never count the cost
It's worth all that's lost
Just to see you smile
When you said time was all you really needed
I walked away and let you have your space
'Cause leavin' didn't hurt me near as badly
As the tears I saw rollin' down your face
And yesterday I knew just what you wanted
When you came walkin' up to me with him
So I told you that I was happy for you
And given the chance I'd lie again
You always had an eye for things that glittered
But I was far from being made of gold
I don't know how but I scraped up the money
I just never could quite tell you no
Just like when you were leaving Amarillo
Takin' that new job in Tennessee
And I quit mine so we could be together
I can't forget the way you looked at me
Just to see you smile
I'd do anything that you wanted me to
When all is said and done
I'd never count the cost
It's worth all that's lost
Just to see you smile
When you said time was all you really needed
I walked away and let you have your space
'Cause leavin' didn't hurt me near as badly
As the tears I saw rollin' down your face
And yesterday I knew just what you wanted
When you came walkin' up to me with him
So I told you that I was happy for you
And given the chance I'd lie again
Just to see you smile
I'd do anything that you wanted me to
When all is said and done
I'd never count the cost
It's worth all that's lost
Just to see you smile
Just to see you smile
I'd do anything that you wanted me to
When all is said and done
I'd never count the cost
It's worth all that's lost
Just to see you smile
I'd do anything that you wanted me to
When all is said and done
I'd never count the cost
It's worth all that's lost
Just to see you smile
Just to see you smile
I'd do anything that you wanted me to
When all is said and done
I'd never count the cost
It's worth all that's lost
Just to see you smile
it's a beautiful song... albeit a little sad. Given that it made me cry the first time I ever heard it, I have been playing it in repeat mode for quite sometime now.
And the tunes just had to remind me of something else .... (that and a movie I had seen "A Walk to Remember" - strictly a mushy lovey movie which would totally make it in the the top thirties in my favorites list.)...... had to remind me of starry nights and full moons and terraces and just sitting and chatting while the rest of the world slept.
I am definitely not a night person ... so the number of night outs that I have seen are few and far between , and rarely ever for studying or work ....... no, those that I remember have been on a terrace without walls and pillows tucked against the small mounts, as we lay down on a very uneven granite roof, looked up at a star studded sky and opened our hearts out to the heavens..... from fairy-tales to dreams to life.... there wasn't anything left untouched.... by those who felt like the chosen few to be up and awake at that hour and watching over the rest of the world while it slept. Since this was IST, I am sure we didn't think that there were other worlds alive and starting their work then..... no, that was so far away then .....and so unthinkable.....
Just the blackness which had its own romantic aura about it..... the sounds and shadows of the night just so much amplified because it was dark....
I remember another night, the rest of the group huddled in sleep. A few of us were up all night watching movies ...and then chatting way into the night so that when it finally began to become dusk, sleep had long left our eyes. And I think that was my first full fledged night-out and also the first time a few of us had stayed out of the hostel through the night. Not much in the eyes of passers by (of my blog) but definitely a daring adventure to remain etched in the minds of the partakers.
Apart from that, I have only been way awake into the night when I was engrossed in this book which I couldn't put down... or a movie because it transported me to this oh so fairy-tale world. Just during then , they take me to this different plane, where the real world seems unreal ..... I guess that's why I never gave up on the dream of writing a book or making a movie (and putting all readers or the spectators to sleep :))..... someday :)
And the tunes just had to remind me of something else .... (that and a movie I had seen "A Walk to Remember" - strictly a mushy lovey movie which would totally make it in the the top thirties in my favorites list.)...... had to remind me of starry nights and full moons and terraces and just sitting and chatting while the rest of the world slept.
I am definitely not a night person ... so the number of night outs that I have seen are few and far between , and rarely ever for studying or work ....... no, those that I remember have been on a terrace without walls and pillows tucked against the small mounts, as we lay down on a very uneven granite roof, looked up at a star studded sky and opened our hearts out to the heavens..... from fairy-tales to dreams to life.... there wasn't anything left untouched.... by those who felt like the chosen few to be up and awake at that hour and watching over the rest of the world while it slept. Since this was IST, I am sure we didn't think that there were other worlds alive and starting their work then..... no, that was so far away then .....and so unthinkable.....
Just the blackness which had its own romantic aura about it..... the sounds and shadows of the night just so much amplified because it was dark....
I remember another night, the rest of the group huddled in sleep. A few of us were up all night watching movies ...and then chatting way into the night so that when it finally began to become dusk, sleep had long left our eyes. And I think that was my first full fledged night-out and also the first time a few of us had stayed out of the hostel through the night. Not much in the eyes of passers by (of my blog) but definitely a daring adventure to remain etched in the minds of the partakers.
Apart from that, I have only been way awake into the night when I was engrossed in this book which I couldn't put down... or a movie because it transported me to this oh so fairy-tale world. Just during then , they take me to this different plane, where the real world seems unreal ..... I guess that's why I never gave up on the dream of writing a book or making a movie (and putting all readers or the spectators to sleep :))..... someday :)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Lucky in Love ?
I have been searching for a way to make my blog into a book , and just make it a keep-sake for my reading pleasure. I finally stumbled upon the site I want, and boy! was I ecstatic. I immediately took up a pet-project of creating a book on memories. (After all the hullaboo, the blog is going to be the second project.) Anyway so this is the site: http://www.blurb.com/
And here is the introduction I wrote on my first project: :) No judgments please.
And here is the introduction I wrote on my first project: :) No judgments please.
There is always the dream...the dream of someone ....made just for you. And however harsh reality becomes, or you realize that after all Daniel Craig, Paul Newman, Russell Crowe were not made for you, and that a Mr.Darcy doesn't really exist, you still try to hold on , in your darkest, loneliest times, to the hope that someone is out there, waiting just like you are .....
So what if you never meet that someone, there are what, trillions of people in the world, and if you are in Kolkata and he is in Timbuctoo, leave alone a chance meeting, even a catastrophe like in the movie Day After Tomorrow might not make you both bump into each other. So does it just boil down to chance ? Nope. What it ultimately boils down to , as somebody once explained to me : )
"what is really amazing is the quality to adapt/ajdust between two persons....it's rare to find 'made for each other' couples....no one's perfect."
I don't want to do a postmortem of love. I don't want to say, oh you SHOULD HAVE all these COMMON INTERESTS...else you are doomed, or don't you know OPPOSITES ATTRACT. (Notice my caps lock is for the opposite views existing in the real world :and are opposites in themselves.....what an oxy-moron .... hmm.... there you have it - the definition of love :)).
There will be times when you will feel like storming out of the
room , banging the door on someone's face , never ever seeing him or her again, crying yourself to sleep over what you think your better half does not understand....
and yet ...none of this will be strong enough to break apart what you share. It is what triumphs that is love... it is what makes you want to be together, it is what you want to grow old together that is love.
And I realize that having solemnly stated that I will not define love , that is exactly what I have done.
So I will end here without further ado, and wish you all the best in writing your love story. This is a glimpse into mine and I hope you cherish it as much as I do.
So what if you never meet that someone, there are what, trillions of people in the world, and if you are in Kolkata and he is in Timbuctoo, leave alone a chance meeting, even a catastrophe like in the movie Day After Tomorrow might not make you both bump into each other. So does it just boil down to chance ? Nope. What it ultimately boils down to , as somebody once explained to me : )
"what is really amazing is the quality to adapt/ajdust between two persons....it's rare to find 'made for each other' couples....no one's perfect."
I don't want to do a postmortem of love. I don't want to say, oh you SHOULD HAVE all these COMMON INTERESTS...else you are doomed, or don't you know OPPOSITES ATTRACT. (Notice my caps lock is for the opposite views existing in the real world :and are opposites in themselves.....what an oxy-moron .... hmm.... there you have it - the definition of love :)).
There will be times when you will feel like storming out of the
room , banging the door on someone's face , never ever seeing him or her again, crying yourself to sleep over what you think your better half does not understand....
and yet ...none of this will be strong enough to break apart what you share. It is what triumphs that is love... it is what makes you want to be together, it is what you want to grow old together that is love.
And I realize that having solemnly stated that I will not define love , that is exactly what I have done.
So I will end here without further ado, and wish you all the best in writing your love story. This is a glimpse into mine and I hope you cherish it as much as I do.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
A little bit of .....
Well so I had thought that I would never cry again or feel bad when I watched romantic movies by myself. And guess what!! nothing on that field seems to have changed. I just watched Just like heaven and cried my heart out :). I just wish I wasn't sitting and watching it alone.
And in between the movie, there is a scene where David (Mark Ruffalo) I think starts talking about his wife who died. And he talks about all the things that she would mess up and could never deal with and he is crying when he says all this to Lizzie(Reese Witherspoon). And I just realized that he doesn't talk about the sunshine in her hair or what she did right or great, I realized that its not just the good things about a person that you fall in love with, but also his or her small mistakes, their ways of everyday life, their small.... eccentricities or habits ..... like maybe making coffee without milk or just using a coaster whenever you need to place a wet glass on the table ........ which suddenly become so much a part of your life that you never realized when you gave them this whole space in your life, when you fell in love with them and all that is theirs and when you started missing them when they are not there.
So I also decided never again to have a dog in my life. I have one, his name is Bruno and he is a golden retriever. It is surprising that I am writing about him so late in my blog, when he should have been one of the first entries. He has this chocolatey golden color, and a bright red collar when he goes on his walks. I did this whole tantrum thing just to get him, in my ninth standard. I looked after him for maybe about 3 years before I left for Trichy and left all due responsibilities to my mom.
He is probably the person to whom I have cried to the most, all my homesickness..... all my not-wanting-to-go-back-to Trichy moods....... he has this habit of lying down against you back to back , stretched just like you are as if he is no less human, and sleeping away the glorious afternoon by your side. And he would get all confused when I cried, and try to lick away my tears.......maybe because inspite of telling him, he never understood my words. Or maybe he understood but didn't know how to make me feel better. He always seems to understand what my mom is telling him though, and trusts her the most in translating human to doggy language. My brother and I have lied to him so much to get things done, that I guess he stopped trusting us long back.
He is pretty old now, and I am really thankful to have been able to have spent time with him when I went home last December, just because I never thought he would survive through another winter. I don't know if I will see him again when I go home next time and I know I will miss him and his warmth and the little space that he created for himself. But lets hope for the best till then.
I guess that's how I started writing about him in the first place. It's the most hardest to have to do without the things you most care about, and without knowing have come to love .... and miss...... if that makes sense. :)
And in between the movie, there is a scene where David (Mark Ruffalo) I think starts talking about his wife who died. And he talks about all the things that she would mess up and could never deal with and he is crying when he says all this to Lizzie(Reese Witherspoon). And I just realized that he doesn't talk about the sunshine in her hair or what she did right or great, I realized that its not just the good things about a person that you fall in love with, but also his or her small mistakes, their ways of everyday life, their small.... eccentricities or habits ..... like maybe making coffee without milk or just using a coaster whenever you need to place a wet glass on the table ........ which suddenly become so much a part of your life that you never realized when you gave them this whole space in your life, when you fell in love with them and all that is theirs and when you started missing them when they are not there.
So I also decided never again to have a dog in my life. I have one, his name is Bruno and he is a golden retriever. It is surprising that I am writing about him so late in my blog, when he should have been one of the first entries. He has this chocolatey golden color, and a bright red collar when he goes on his walks. I did this whole tantrum thing just to get him, in my ninth standard. I looked after him for maybe about 3 years before I left for Trichy and left all due responsibilities to my mom.
He is probably the person to whom I have cried to the most, all my homesickness..... all my not-wanting-to-go-back-to Trichy moods....... he has this habit of lying down against you back to back , stretched just like you are as if he is no less human, and sleeping away the glorious afternoon by your side. And he would get all confused when I cried, and try to lick away my tears.......maybe because inspite of telling him, he never understood my words. Or maybe he understood but didn't know how to make me feel better. He always seems to understand what my mom is telling him though, and trusts her the most in translating human to doggy language. My brother and I have lied to him so much to get things done, that I guess he stopped trusting us long back.
He is pretty old now, and I am really thankful to have been able to have spent time with him when I went home last December, just because I never thought he would survive through another winter. I don't know if I will see him again when I go home next time and I know I will miss him and his warmth and the little space that he created for himself. But lets hope for the best till then.
I guess that's how I started writing about him in the first place. It's the most hardest to have to do without the things you most care about, and without knowing have come to love .... and miss...... if that makes sense. :)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Fairytale
I didn't really quite imagine it this way.... forget imagine, I never thought fairy-tales happen in real life.... I was almost giving up on love itself and then I found it.... :) somehow .... maybe out of wishing fountains and what-nots or maybe wished something to life out of a Monet painting.
And yet, I was the one who resisted it, from the beginning..... wished to be blind ...can you imagine, after reading all my posts, I thought I would know better to recognize love when it walked in. :) But I didn't.
I haven't been writing for a long time for this very reason... my mind is never so coherent now that I can get all my thoughts out and make sense.
They seem to be understood by only someone, and I would not have it any other way.......... :)
Once I share my life as it happens with him, I really can wish for nothing else to make me feel as good about having shared it as he did. At one time, this blog was my way of reaching out..... of feeling understood.... :) and I am putting it in second place henceforth and forever.
Even when I write today, or maybe its becoz I am out of practise..... I am getting stuck or tears seem to be welling up inside me. :) I don't know if thats what happens when you are very emotional, or when something so beautiful walks into your life that you cannot imagine its true, when you feel so small in front of a bigger universe and at the same time...... wish and hope that what you feel inside, what can hardly be contained in that small throbbing heart of yours is visible to everyone..........when you can't stop smiling for no apparent reason.........when you see people smile back at you as if they know and understand what you are going through..... when all you see or think when you try to concentrate is someone or hear his words echo in your head.........when you hear your thoughts reflected,when things that you may have imagined or thought of or dreamt of as in a fairy-tale but never voiced to anyone ......is reflected in the actions of someone else, and you think how did he know :) , when what you want to speak next and the expression you want to use is spoken out before you voiced them and you wonder if he is reading your mind..... is that what this is all about :) ?
I had to get back to writing, and even if its a small start , its a start..... If it wasn't for the glitter of a ring on my left hand, I would still probably think I am dreaming this all up. :)
And yet, I was the one who resisted it, from the beginning..... wished to be blind ...can you imagine, after reading all my posts, I thought I would know better to recognize love when it walked in. :) But I didn't.
I haven't been writing for a long time for this very reason... my mind is never so coherent now that I can get all my thoughts out and make sense.
They seem to be understood by only someone, and I would not have it any other way.......... :)
Once I share my life as it happens with him, I really can wish for nothing else to make me feel as good about having shared it as he did. At one time, this blog was my way of reaching out..... of feeling understood.... :) and I am putting it in second place henceforth and forever.
Even when I write today, or maybe its becoz I am out of practise..... I am getting stuck or tears seem to be welling up inside me. :) I don't know if thats what happens when you are very emotional, or when something so beautiful walks into your life that you cannot imagine its true, when you feel so small in front of a bigger universe and at the same time...... wish and hope that what you feel inside, what can hardly be contained in that small throbbing heart of yours is visible to everyone..........when you can't stop smiling for no apparent reason.........when you see people smile back at you as if they know and understand what you are going through..... when all you see or think when you try to concentrate is someone or hear his words echo in your head.........when you hear your thoughts reflected,when things that you may have imagined or thought of or dreamt of as in a fairy-tale but never voiced to anyone ......is reflected in the actions of someone else, and you think how did he know :) , when what you want to speak next and the expression you want to use is spoken out before you voiced them and you wonder if he is reading your mind..... is that what this is all about :) ?
I had to get back to writing, and even if its a small start , its a start..... If it wasn't for the glitter of a ring on my left hand, I would still probably think I am dreaming this all up. :)
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Gone in 20 minutes
Thats how fast I lost my wisdom tooth today. I have had tooth problems since forever. Sometimes I marvel that they all just didn't fall out when I became 20. But they are hanging in there and so was one of my wisdom teeth, which was the only one which had fully surfaced. But with the kind of tear and wear that good food, non-vegetarianism, chicken brings in its wake, the tooth had lost half of itself. And believe me, I really didn't care, even though the tooth had come out facing the cheek.
I would have let it hang in there for eternity come, despite innumerable requests from maa and all my well-wishers to set up a dentist appointment. But just that, it kept me awake for the most part of the night , two nights ago, I just couldn't let sleeping teeth be.
So when today, during what I thought would be a routine advisory type of dentist checkup, he told me that the tooth had to go and if he could remove it, all I did was just nod my head. I was scared, I even asked him whether it was not necessary that someone else be present after the extraction and he nodded a no through all my queries.
And they went ahead with local anaesthesia, and then struggling with forceps to get the tooth pulled out. So as I sit writing, minus one wisdom tooth, I am mighty proud of myself for having had a tooth extracted, gone in that partially anaethesized state to the local pharmacy and bought pain-killers, gone back to work and sat through the day biting a gauze strip to stop the bleeding.
Not the end of it, I even went over to Saumitrada and Maitreyeedi (my family friend's in Redmond) place for dinner and ended up hogging on Mutton Rezala and semi-solid rice, and rice pudding or payesh. Very eventful day.... infact the funniest thing was that since past 2 days, I had been totally down with cold and fever. After the tooth extraction and the adrenalin jump because of the whole episode, my cold did an entire disappearing act. I can't believe colds can get scared ... but I have no other reasonable, logical, rational explanation. :)
Anyway, I am not in any hurry for the effect of pain-killers to wear off....... but tomorrow is another day ... and for all reality, I am on a semi-solid diet, which..... includes ice-cream ...and hence I could wish for nothing more :)
I would have let it hang in there for eternity come, despite innumerable requests from maa and all my well-wishers to set up a dentist appointment. But just that, it kept me awake for the most part of the night , two nights ago, I just couldn't let sleeping teeth be.
So when today, during what I thought would be a routine advisory type of dentist checkup, he told me that the tooth had to go and if he could remove it, all I did was just nod my head. I was scared, I even asked him whether it was not necessary that someone else be present after the extraction and he nodded a no through all my queries.
And they went ahead with local anaesthesia, and then struggling with forceps to get the tooth pulled out. So as I sit writing, minus one wisdom tooth, I am mighty proud of myself for having had a tooth extracted, gone in that partially anaethesized state to the local pharmacy and bought pain-killers, gone back to work and sat through the day biting a gauze strip to stop the bleeding.
Not the end of it, I even went over to Saumitrada and Maitreyeedi (my family friend's in Redmond) place for dinner and ended up hogging on Mutton Rezala and semi-solid rice, and rice pudding or payesh. Very eventful day.... infact the funniest thing was that since past 2 days, I had been totally down with cold and fever. After the tooth extraction and the adrenalin jump because of the whole episode, my cold did an entire disappearing act. I can't believe colds can get scared ... but I have no other reasonable, logical, rational explanation. :)
Anyway, I am not in any hurry for the effect of pain-killers to wear off....... but tomorrow is another day ... and for all reality, I am on a semi-solid diet, which..... includes ice-cream ...and hence I could wish for nothing more :)
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
An 8 on 10
Who would have thought that at the end of the trip, our respective ratings would be 7.5 , 8 , 9 and 17. (respective being Milind, me, Vidya and Srini) ..... where we had probably started from 4, 5 ,6 or close. As to what changed our minds.... thats a longer story :).
We started out with a breakfast on the house from Best Western (or our beloved B-Dub as we now call it (....synonymous to U-W(Dub) or University of Washington.) ....... and B-Dub is going to be our yardstick for measuring all possible future Motel-6s or better abodes :) ). I enjoyed the breakfast, and took the liberty of forgetting my diet for one meal.
Around 10:30- 11:00, we set off for our wildlife safari. The wildlife safari at Roseburg, has a good variety of animals ranging from cheetahs to llamas, to tigers, lions and bears. Best of all, as you drive around the park, they are all around you .... without a cage. But the animals seemed so bored of us and our cameras ....... with their lack of enthu to entertain us, the trip really seemed a bit tame. We kept talking about Kazhiranga and how maybe we should do that some day ......
After the safari and a whole lot of pics , and a little satisfaction and a lot of ooh-aah at the freely roaming camels and bears, we headed off ....... on what was a last minute change of plans..... to catch the 101 highway which ran along the entire stretch of the West coast. Believe me, when I say that we had not in the least expected what was coming.
We took the Scenic byway along the Umpqua river which was pretty picturesque. This joined the Oregon Sand dunes national park. As an on the spot decision, (adding hours to our estimated time of travel back to Seattle) we decided to take the sand dunes tour.
So, there was this truck with huge wheels and about a group of 20....... the truck rolled through a forest into an opening which , for as far as you could see was yellow sand. Hills and hills of them , ........ sand dunes. In the far distance the light blue of the cloudless horizon, merged into a darker blue...... the Pacific. But ... whoa ! was it fun. The driver took us on the peaks of those dunes and rolled us down like a tora-tora ride. Its been a long time since I have heard grown-ups shout with glee. :)
From there, with already having ratings climb higher, :) we left for 101. The route is indeed beautiful with the Pacific ocean, calm in the distance ....... but near the shores shows these white laces or furls moving towards the beaches.
We stopped at the South Beach..... the water was freezing cold, the sun happened to be playing hide and seek all the time ........and the waves kept tossing up a wind-surfer in the distance.... and we kept racing with the waves and leaving footprints in the sand.
When we finally headed back, we were tired ....I am sure, but I guess satisfied too. When you go on a trip ...any trip, there is always a bit of the trip that becomes a part of you forever. Its like a book that you read or the movie that you laughed at ...... it becomes an inseparable part of you and goes into making you what you are. Well , thats what happened on those two and a half days of our trip.
But its usually not the experience of a road-trip alone. There are also the characters of the play or the people whom you share this with. And in some small way, I guess you always rub off a little bit of you on each other.
At the end of the day, when we had to travel along boring I-5, Srini's idea was to come up with the best and worst qualities of each other .... as had come across in the trip. None of us really knew anyone else more than as an acquaintance, (I was probably the best common thread among all of them, having known everyone in the group)...... and the things we came up with were frank and honest opinions. Opinions maybe a relationship of 50 years would not have revealed ....but nevertheless, in themselves each opinion was a discovery :).... of yourself...... as you come across to others.
I don't know if we were/are the proverbial ships passing in the night..... but apart from a word game that kept us busy all through and landed up with me arguing that bashful means arrogant .... (:) I can not be more ashamed.) , we threw all kinds of questions across the floor and the answers that kept flying across made the 12 hours (with delays) of a journey back seem non-existent. The questions ??? :) what was the luckiest moment in your life ? What would you have loved spending your life doing .... or if you were given a choice to choose what you love to do as your career what would it be ?
I recommend all this for the next road-trip that you take. As I said, you will be amazed at what unfurls. :)
God did not leave me with much to crib about :) .... the state of Oregon which I kept thinking of never going back to warrants another visit. .... maybe exploring the Hood river and the Columbian gorge...... or following the 101 further up till Astoria. Next time ....
We started out with a breakfast on the house from Best Western (or our beloved B-Dub as we now call it (....synonymous to U-W(Dub) or University of Washington.) ....... and B-Dub is going to be our yardstick for measuring all possible future Motel-6s or better abodes :) ). I enjoyed the breakfast, and took the liberty of forgetting my diet for one meal.
Around 10:30- 11:00, we set off for our wildlife safari. The wildlife safari at Roseburg, has a good variety of animals ranging from cheetahs to llamas, to tigers, lions and bears. Best of all, as you drive around the park, they are all around you .... without a cage. But the animals seemed so bored of us and our cameras ....... with their lack of enthu to entertain us, the trip really seemed a bit tame. We kept talking about Kazhiranga and how maybe we should do that some day ......
After the safari and a whole lot of pics , and a little satisfaction and a lot of ooh-aah at the freely roaming camels and bears, we headed off ....... on what was a last minute change of plans..... to catch the 101 highway which ran along the entire stretch of the West coast. Believe me, when I say that we had not in the least expected what was coming.
We took the Scenic byway along the Umpqua river which was pretty picturesque. This joined the Oregon Sand dunes national park. As an on the spot decision, (adding hours to our estimated time of travel back to Seattle) we decided to take the sand dunes tour.
So, there was this truck with huge wheels and about a group of 20....... the truck rolled through a forest into an opening which , for as far as you could see was yellow sand. Hills and hills of them , ........ sand dunes. In the far distance the light blue of the cloudless horizon, merged into a darker blue...... the Pacific. But ... whoa ! was it fun. The driver took us on the peaks of those dunes and rolled us down like a tora-tora ride. Its been a long time since I have heard grown-ups shout with glee. :)
From there, with already having ratings climb higher, :) we left for 101. The route is indeed beautiful with the Pacific ocean, calm in the distance ....... but near the shores shows these white laces or furls moving towards the beaches.
We stopped at the South Beach..... the water was freezing cold, the sun happened to be playing hide and seek all the time ........and the waves kept tossing up a wind-surfer in the distance.... and we kept racing with the waves and leaving footprints in the sand.
When we finally headed back, we were tired ....I am sure, but I guess satisfied too. When you go on a trip ...any trip, there is always a bit of the trip that becomes a part of you forever. Its like a book that you read or the movie that you laughed at ...... it becomes an inseparable part of you and goes into making you what you are. Well , thats what happened on those two and a half days of our trip.
But its usually not the experience of a road-trip alone. There are also the characters of the play or the people whom you share this with. And in some small way, I guess you always rub off a little bit of you on each other.
At the end of the day, when we had to travel along boring I-5, Srini's idea was to come up with the best and worst qualities of each other .... as had come across in the trip. None of us really knew anyone else more than as an acquaintance, (I was probably the best common thread among all of them, having known everyone in the group)...... and the things we came up with were frank and honest opinions. Opinions maybe a relationship of 50 years would not have revealed ....but nevertheless, in themselves each opinion was a discovery :).... of yourself...... as you come across to others.
I don't know if we were/are the proverbial ships passing in the night..... but apart from a word game that kept us busy all through and landed up with me arguing that bashful means arrogant .... (:) I can not be more ashamed.) , we threw all kinds of questions across the floor and the answers that kept flying across made the 12 hours (with delays) of a journey back seem non-existent. The questions ??? :) what was the luckiest moment in your life ? What would you have loved spending your life doing .... or if you were given a choice to choose what you love to do as your career what would it be ?
I recommend all this for the next road-trip that you take. As I said, you will be amazed at what unfurls. :)
God did not leave me with much to crib about :) .... the state of Oregon which I kept thinking of never going back to warrants another visit. .... maybe exploring the Hood river and the Columbian gorge...... or following the 101 further up till Astoria. Next time ....
Monday, September 03, 2007
Travelogue on Crater Lake
Well not all road trips turn out as planned. Not all holidays are really the best of holidays. I am sitting in Roseburg right now, in a Best Western hotel room and blogging.... after quite sometime of a period when I had nothing to write about.
We set off around 9 on Saturday, Sept 1st... almost 3 hours later than what we had thought. A dinner at the Indian restaurant Pabla which turned out to be quite good, and then we headed off to Portland. I am still pretty dis-oriented, so my sentences might not make sense, ...... bear with me. If I don't write this now, I probably never will.
The plan, was to see Crater Lake, maybe do the scenic route through the Columbia gorge, and then do a wildlife safari at Roseburg. Well, with the delay and last minute continuous change of plans, we arrived around 2 in the night at Portland, and spent the night at a very decrepit (not sure of the word) motel 6 room which (due to a mistake while reserving) turned out to be a smoking room. I promise (for lack of a better word) that I will never enter a Motel 6 again.
Its not that I have not been used to the smell of cigarette smoke before, but the dilapidated room and the strong stench of cigarettes would really be enough to turn a holiday mood sour.
With getting accustomed to that, and early morning plans, it wasn't surprising that we sleepy-heads could not make it out of there before 9-10. A hurried breakfast at Starbucks on coffee and cake, a long 3 hour drive playing word games, and we were all in quite a good mood once again. Lunch was at a quaint little place called Eugene which I quite liked..... it had overhanging flowers and a beautifully homely looking mall/downtown. When I say flowers, imagine small pink blue yellow flowers on branches falling out of overhanging pots and you will have got the picture.
We arrived at Crater Lake around 3:30. Its beautiful...... no doubt !!
When you first arrive at the lookout point, and look down into a gorge of pure, pristine, clear blue water with a tinge of sea-green, there is nothing you can do but hold your breath for a second.
So imagine a blue stretch of rippleless water , a small island called the Wizard island nestled in between (so named maybe becoz it resembles a wizard's hat), and surrounded on all sides by the grey dust of steep gorge edges and coniferous trees..... and thats Crater Lake for you. Apparently, there is a boat ride to the island, but becoz of so many others who had decided to make the same plans on the same day and stood in line since 7 in the morning, we had no chance of taking the boat tour. We took the Cleetwood trail , which led us right down to the water. There we sat for quite sometime, dangling bare legs like children in the freezing ice-water, posing for snaps and sitting just quietly or pulling each other's legs. The hike down had been an easy downhill. The hike up.... was a laborious steep climb. :) Needless to say I am sure it was a very good exercise for an otherwise out-of-shape hiker like me.
After that, we took the rim drive around the lake. As one of us remarked, we probably saw the lake from all possible angles. And yet somehow I never felt that this was what we had come for.
On the way back, we stopped at Sun-notch point for pictures. That was a quarter of a mile hike.
Do you know the poem,
"To hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour......."
Out of the entire trip, this was probably the quietest and most silent place that I had been to. It was so quiet infact, you could hear yourself think apart from the calls of birds in the distant trees. Out of the entire trip, it was only there that I felt at peace with myself and with nature. Out of the entire trip, it was only here that I connected... with myself, my thoughts and probably nature. Out of the entire trip this is the part I will remember the most. People talk about why do we go to temples to pray, is it that God is present only there ? Well of all places, it was here that I would have just knelt down and prayed. :) Obtuse , yes but sometimes I can't help myself.
Anyway, at the end of it a drive for 8 hours to see the lake hardly seemed a justification to me. And given a chance, I would probably never do this trip again. Leave alone this trip, I may probably never do a road trip again .....except with special someones. We might end up doing the safari tomorrow, or not. I am really not sure of my thoughts at this point except that it would be good to just get back to Seattle and home, as I know it. :)
We set off around 9 on Saturday, Sept 1st... almost 3 hours later than what we had thought. A dinner at the Indian restaurant Pabla which turned out to be quite good, and then we headed off to Portland. I am still pretty dis-oriented, so my sentences might not make sense, ...... bear with me. If I don't write this now, I probably never will.
The plan, was to see Crater Lake, maybe do the scenic route through the Columbia gorge, and then do a wildlife safari at Roseburg. Well, with the delay and last minute continuous change of plans, we arrived around 2 in the night at Portland, and spent the night at a very decrepit (not sure of the word) motel 6 room which (due to a mistake while reserving) turned out to be a smoking room. I promise (for lack of a better word) that I will never enter a Motel 6 again.
Its not that I have not been used to the smell of cigarette smoke before, but the dilapidated room and the strong stench of cigarettes would really be enough to turn a holiday mood sour.
With getting accustomed to that, and early morning plans, it wasn't surprising that we sleepy-heads could not make it out of there before 9-10. A hurried breakfast at Starbucks on coffee and cake, a long 3 hour drive playing word games, and we were all in quite a good mood once again. Lunch was at a quaint little place called Eugene which I quite liked..... it had overhanging flowers and a beautifully homely looking mall/downtown. When I say flowers, imagine small pink blue yellow flowers on branches falling out of overhanging pots and you will have got the picture.
We arrived at Crater Lake around 3:30. Its beautiful...... no doubt !!
When you first arrive at the lookout point, and look down into a gorge of pure, pristine, clear blue water with a tinge of sea-green, there is nothing you can do but hold your breath for a second.
So imagine a blue stretch of rippleless water , a small island called the Wizard island nestled in between (so named maybe becoz it resembles a wizard's hat), and surrounded on all sides by the grey dust of steep gorge edges and coniferous trees..... and thats Crater Lake for you. Apparently, there is a boat ride to the island, but becoz of so many others who had decided to make the same plans on the same day and stood in line since 7 in the morning, we had no chance of taking the boat tour. We took the Cleetwood trail , which led us right down to the water. There we sat for quite sometime, dangling bare legs like children in the freezing ice-water, posing for snaps and sitting just quietly or pulling each other's legs. The hike down had been an easy downhill. The hike up.... was a laborious steep climb. :) Needless to say I am sure it was a very good exercise for an otherwise out-of-shape hiker like me.
After that, we took the rim drive around the lake. As one of us remarked, we probably saw the lake from all possible angles. And yet somehow I never felt that this was what we had come for.
On the way back, we stopped at Sun-notch point for pictures. That was a quarter of a mile hike.
Do you know the poem,
"To hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour......."
Out of the entire trip, this was probably the quietest and most silent place that I had been to. It was so quiet infact, you could hear yourself think apart from the calls of birds in the distant trees. Out of the entire trip, it was only there that I felt at peace with myself and with nature. Out of the entire trip, it was only here that I connected... with myself, my thoughts and probably nature. Out of the entire trip this is the part I will remember the most. People talk about why do we go to temples to pray, is it that God is present only there ? Well of all places, it was here that I would have just knelt down and prayed. :) Obtuse , yes but sometimes I can't help myself.
Anyway, at the end of it a drive for 8 hours to see the lake hardly seemed a justification to me. And given a chance, I would probably never do this trip again. Leave alone this trip, I may probably never do a road trip again .....except with special someones. We might end up doing the safari tomorrow, or not. I am really not sure of my thoughts at this point except that it would be good to just get back to Seattle and home, as I know it. :)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Independence Day
Well I have quite a lot to write today, but I am sure that in the flow of writing .... half of them will slip out of my mind, the other half will become muddled, so the end-product will be very interesting .... :) atleast for me.
Happy Independence Day !! And this I say between an ongoing mailing list brawl, over how the national anthem was written to glorify the rulers of our country rather than our nation and hence we should stop singing it ..... etc etc. :) Amusing , yes!! Not only because I have read this forwarded email and all the arguments for and against it..... also because every Independence Day, there is somebody who happens to dig it up again and remind us of the grave mistake that we are making. Please don't get me wrong..... or attribute this to patriotic bengalism ( any comment about Saurabh Ganguly inevitably always puts me in this category) because the national anthem was written by Rabindranath Tagore, .... but honestly, what is the logic behind fighting over singing or not singing a song which we have accepted as our country's anthem, as a means of showing our respect and love and patriotism for our nation. It is the means only and not the end. (Ah !! Me and philosophy as usual do not mix. :) ) But everyone is welcome to his/her own opinion. And if you really hold on to this anti-jana-gana-mana idea dogmatically, don't sing it. Celebrate Independence Day by singing anything you wish, whatever makes you happy ... what do you want to do , translate another country's national anthem and call it our own ??? :) (I am sorry for this tirade, it should probably have been directed at the person I was angry on.)
As far as I am concerned, and I am sure it is not an effect of being in a far away country, Jana Gana Mana is what makes me feel proud. When I hear the song and stand , (when I was a kid it was more because my parents scolded me into standing than any patriotism) and when I see so many Indians stand along with me, I feel proud to be an Indian. But more than that, there is this unexplainable feeling of belonging..... and home ...... and roots. How much ever I blame it, curse its bad practices, I am still very much an Indian at heart.
But with a host of other people, I am following the so-called Indian dream !! :) Of living the Indian dream of being in a foreign country and earning big bucks to support a future life of comfort and ease. I don't know why I do it.... but it goes to say something that I still don't leave.
Today, I met up with an interesting group at lunch. One person, Jim was admonishing my friend, Prashant on having gone to India and come back without even going through the process of meeting girls. Another of my friends had told me about this a couple of days back, of how parents sort out the guys/girls and keep, and all you have to do in the 3 weeks or so of holidays that you get off..... is meet all of them, select one person and get married. Believe me, nobody has ever painted such a comical picture of our current marital situation to me. I finally was able to see a very light side of things :) and laugh whole-heartedly.
The situation is laudable, whether you agree or not, and I am just happy I am not in that exact situation right now. :)
All in all, I did do my part for Independence day, I wore a salwar kameez to work today - to everyone's amusement. :) And there was this brief nostalgic moment when I missed Oracle a lot. Maybe it was the effect of having finished reading One night @ the call center yesterday night, ( enjoyable, there are some parts you might identify with if you have worked at a software job in India, but on the whole really not that great.)
So I end the post on a lighter note than in quite some time. Hope you all celebrated being Indians.
Happy Independence Day !! And this I say between an ongoing mailing list brawl, over how the national anthem was written to glorify the rulers of our country rather than our nation and hence we should stop singing it ..... etc etc. :) Amusing , yes!! Not only because I have read this forwarded email and all the arguments for and against it..... also because every Independence Day, there is somebody who happens to dig it up again and remind us of the grave mistake that we are making. Please don't get me wrong..... or attribute this to patriotic bengalism ( any comment about Saurabh Ganguly inevitably always puts me in this category) because the national anthem was written by Rabindranath Tagore, .... but honestly, what is the logic behind fighting over singing or not singing a song which we have accepted as our country's anthem, as a means of showing our respect and love and patriotism for our nation. It is the means only and not the end. (Ah !! Me and philosophy as usual do not mix. :) ) But everyone is welcome to his/her own opinion. And if you really hold on to this anti-jana-gana-mana idea dogmatically, don't sing it. Celebrate Independence Day by singing anything you wish, whatever makes you happy ... what do you want to do , translate another country's national anthem and call it our own ??? :) (I am sorry for this tirade, it should probably have been directed at the person I was angry on.)
As far as I am concerned, and I am sure it is not an effect of being in a far away country, Jana Gana Mana is what makes me feel proud. When I hear the song and stand , (when I was a kid it was more because my parents scolded me into standing than any patriotism) and when I see so many Indians stand along with me, I feel proud to be an Indian. But more than that, there is this unexplainable feeling of belonging..... and home ...... and roots. How much ever I blame it, curse its bad practices, I am still very much an Indian at heart.
But with a host of other people, I am following the so-called Indian dream !! :) Of living the Indian dream of being in a foreign country and earning big bucks to support a future life of comfort and ease. I don't know why I do it.... but it goes to say something that I still don't leave.
Today, I met up with an interesting group at lunch. One person, Jim was admonishing my friend, Prashant on having gone to India and come back without even going through the process of meeting girls. Another of my friends had told me about this a couple of days back, of how parents sort out the guys/girls and keep, and all you have to do in the 3 weeks or so of holidays that you get off..... is meet all of them, select one person and get married. Believe me, nobody has ever painted such a comical picture of our current marital situation to me. I finally was able to see a very light side of things :) and laugh whole-heartedly.
The situation is laudable, whether you agree or not, and I am just happy I am not in that exact situation right now. :)
All in all, I did do my part for Independence day, I wore a salwar kameez to work today - to everyone's amusement. :) And there was this brief nostalgic moment when I missed Oracle a lot. Maybe it was the effect of having finished reading One night @ the call center yesterday night, ( enjoyable, there are some parts you might identify with if you have worked at a software job in India, but on the whole really not that great.)
So I end the post on a lighter note than in quite some time. Hope you all celebrated being Indians.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
You've got mail ...again
I watched You've got mail for the umpteenth time on a Sunday afternoon. And I ended up falling in love with it and its soundtrack all over again. Infact I am listening to it right now....and I am so in love with the quaint little shop around the corner. (This movie by the way, has been taken from an older movie of the name "The shop around the corner". :) ) Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are probably all that I could advise on a sultry afternoon. I don't know, either there is something about the characters or the story or just the idea of the books and bookstore..... that gets me.
But thats ofcourse, not all that I did. I cooked Tandoori chicken (in which the seasoning hadn't really soaked all through bcoz of not long enough marination) but it still tasted good. And I made brownies and had it with ice-cream...... I wish I had had somebody to invite over ....... no not for company sakes alone ..........also for compliments , even false ones would do. :)
Contd on Monday:
My friend(Shriram) has been pulling my leg lately about how my accent has changed. I guess thats not all thats changing, outlooks, perspectives and acceptance of a lot of things and ways of life....... Ahh , can anybody be more obtuse. :)
Its become a difficult thing of late for me, to explain what exactly is an arranged marriage. More horrifying (for me), is the apalling stares I get at the end of it...... and seeing the idea sink in, that it may be possible to get married and then fall in love. Don't get me wrong, I am not a proponent or opponent of either arranged or love marriage. We'll talk about my views on love some other day , if I ever talk about it that is. :)
Anyway, so where was I...... at this luncheon, with a bunch of girls from all over the world probably, Russia , Ghana, China, India, USA. Somehow (I gloss over details here), the question of arranged marriage and parents asking us to get married came up. My vague attempt at trying to explain arranged marriage as a means by which your parents or others set you up to meet somebody and then see if things work out, did not exactly get notes of applause. :). I also did say its an alternative for us as opposed to falling in love and getting married. To this, Rachael, the intern in our team, asked: "Wait ! Isn't that how its supposed to happen." (as in, aren't you supposed to fall in love and then get married.) My other explanations: :) (pardon my chauvinism (if I can call it that) )....... women have become very career minded and hence do not have time for relationships, hence the advent of matrimonial sites and the whole saga of express interest, accept interest and other matrimonial site jargon I am sure many people out there , (even those who ultimately went for love marriages after all ) will identify with.
From my side, I can't really see much difference. So in love, you choose someone. In arranged, you choose someone too. You did not actually blindly go for the guy or girl, you did see whether you were compatible. Well yes, so it did not actually happen to be a coincidence, he or she didn't just cross your path and you didn't exactly meet him/her and think "This is my soul-mate". Lets be real, how many people actually do fall in love? (This brilliant piece of advice is thanks to a friend :)).
I probably sound quite the cynic here, and I had thought I would omit any explanation/justifications about that. But I just couldn't brutally murder the romantic in me, just like that. :) So, just a year or so ago , I would probably have lectured you on how there is this unexplainable thing called love, how there is this one person you would want to grow old with, this one person whom you would like to share the sunsets and sunrises with, to enjoy walks on the beach, to wade into the water and leave footprints in the sand, to read books together and argue about your different views, to quarrel and make up, to tease and to love, to never look at the time when you are together, to chat about nothing and everything, about how in that one person's eyes you would feel loved and just by that, to feel on top of the world........about how in someone's eyes you would find yourself to be the most beautiful, and just by that you would be...... becoz as they say, you fall in love to rise again..... a whole new person, and its then that everything seems such a beautiful place..... about this one person with whom you would want to spend the rest of your life with. :) Sigh !! Well in my heart of hearts I still hope all this is true, but there is a lot of difference with being on the right side of 25 and the wrong side of 25. And though I have been bashed up by friends for saying this, I don't want to sound like a grandma, but yes ... there is some point where you have to look at the real side of things too. I end my soliloquy here.
So somebody please give me a good enough definition of arranged marriage which will not make it seem like some deathly evil. Its amazing how arranged marriages are looked upon here, and how love marriages are looked upon back home. :) I wonder which is more ironic !!
But thats ofcourse, not all that I did. I cooked Tandoori chicken (in which the seasoning hadn't really soaked all through bcoz of not long enough marination) but it still tasted good. And I made brownies and had it with ice-cream...... I wish I had had somebody to invite over ....... no not for company sakes alone ..........also for compliments , even false ones would do. :)
Contd on Monday:
My friend(Shriram) has been pulling my leg lately about how my accent has changed. I guess thats not all thats changing, outlooks, perspectives and acceptance of a lot of things and ways of life....... Ahh , can anybody be more obtuse. :)
Its become a difficult thing of late for me, to explain what exactly is an arranged marriage. More horrifying (for me), is the apalling stares I get at the end of it...... and seeing the idea sink in, that it may be possible to get married and then fall in love. Don't get me wrong, I am not a proponent or opponent of either arranged or love marriage. We'll talk about my views on love some other day , if I ever talk about it that is. :)
Anyway, so where was I...... at this luncheon, with a bunch of girls from all over the world probably, Russia , Ghana, China, India, USA. Somehow (I gloss over details here), the question of arranged marriage and parents asking us to get married came up. My vague attempt at trying to explain arranged marriage as a means by which your parents or others set you up to meet somebody and then see if things work out, did not exactly get notes of applause. :). I also did say its an alternative for us as opposed to falling in love and getting married. To this, Rachael, the intern in our team, asked: "Wait ! Isn't that how its supposed to happen." (as in, aren't you supposed to fall in love and then get married.) My other explanations: :) (pardon my chauvinism (if I can call it that) )....... women have become very career minded and hence do not have time for relationships, hence the advent of matrimonial sites and the whole saga of express interest, accept interest and other matrimonial site jargon I am sure many people out there , (even those who ultimately went for love marriages after all ) will identify with.
From my side, I can't really see much difference. So in love, you choose someone. In arranged, you choose someone too. You did not actually blindly go for the guy or girl, you did see whether you were compatible. Well yes, so it did not actually happen to be a coincidence, he or she didn't just cross your path and you didn't exactly meet him/her and think "This is my soul-mate". Lets be real, how many people actually do fall in love? (This brilliant piece of advice is thanks to a friend :)).
I probably sound quite the cynic here, and I had thought I would omit any explanation/justifications about that. But I just couldn't brutally murder the romantic in me, just like that. :) So, just a year or so ago , I would probably have lectured you on how there is this unexplainable thing called love, how there is this one person you would want to grow old with, this one person whom you would like to share the sunsets and sunrises with, to enjoy walks on the beach, to wade into the water and leave footprints in the sand, to read books together and argue about your different views, to quarrel and make up, to tease and to love, to never look at the time when you are together, to chat about nothing and everything, about how in that one person's eyes you would feel loved and just by that, to feel on top of the world........about how in someone's eyes you would find yourself to be the most beautiful, and just by that you would be...... becoz as they say, you fall in love to rise again..... a whole new person, and its then that everything seems such a beautiful place..... about this one person with whom you would want to spend the rest of your life with. :) Sigh !! Well in my heart of hearts I still hope all this is true, but there is a lot of difference with being on the right side of 25 and the wrong side of 25. And though I have been bashed up by friends for saying this, I don't want to sound like a grandma, but yes ... there is some point where you have to look at the real side of things too. I end my soliloquy here.
So somebody please give me a good enough definition of arranged marriage which will not make it seem like some deathly evil. Its amazing how arranged marriages are looked upon here, and how love marriages are looked upon back home. :) I wonder which is more ironic !!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
One fine day ....
Well this post doesn't exactly go the way the movie does. (though :) I wish it did!!).
I always wanted to build a "home"..... one which I would love to come back to and call home and one which would have that cozy comfort about it that you call indulgence. Well I am glad that today, after coming back, I could call it exactly that.
I had been to the company picnic. After a lot of thinking of not going just becoz people left and right were talking about how once was enough. And I was ready to believe that. Plus it didn't help that the bengali association of Washington, was also holding their picnic today. Well I did end up at the company picnic at North Bend.
I had been there last time and from the stalls to the games , most of everything was the same. But only that last time I did not know so many people. And this time it was fun just bumping into people, hogging on gyros, bourbon chicken, strawberry shortcakes with whipped cream..... wow . We also ended up mountain climbing and going on a hay ride. It was fun.
But the best thing was finding so many known faces around, and that within 2 months of being here. :) And the second best thing was mountain climbing , it rocks ...literally !! :) (I forget to mention that I did the easiest side.)
And then I ended up watching Bourne Ultimatum and liking the movie immensely. Long time since I watched a thriller and enjoyed it.
Anyway, a fine day as I said before and too tired to write more.
I always wanted to build a "home"..... one which I would love to come back to and call home and one which would have that cozy comfort about it that you call indulgence. Well I am glad that today, after coming back, I could call it exactly that.
I had been to the company picnic. After a lot of thinking of not going just becoz people left and right were talking about how once was enough. And I was ready to believe that. Plus it didn't help that the bengali association of Washington, was also holding their picnic today. Well I did end up at the company picnic at North Bend.
I had been there last time and from the stalls to the games , most of everything was the same. But only that last time I did not know so many people. And this time it was fun just bumping into people, hogging on gyros, bourbon chicken, strawberry shortcakes with whipped cream..... wow . We also ended up mountain climbing and going on a hay ride. It was fun.
But the best thing was finding so many known faces around, and that within 2 months of being here. :) And the second best thing was mountain climbing , it rocks ...literally !! :) (I forget to mention that I did the easiest side.)
And then I ended up watching Bourne Ultimatum and liking the movie immensely. Long time since I watched a thriller and enjoyed it.
Anyway, a fine day as I said before and too tired to write more.
Monday, July 30, 2007
You're beautiful ..it's true - James Blunt
This weekend took me by surprise in more ways than one. I haven't entertained friends in ages.... the prehistoric era was in Hyderabad where we had established almost this steady transit system between Bangalore and Hyderabad. Is it something that has to do with your professional life ? :) Well Mincy came over last weekend all the way from California.
The two days seem so short a time to have fit in all that we did fit in. After picking her up from the airport, we managed to get back around 10:30 in the night. Then we made a quick tour of the rooftop view but there was hardly a night view to discern things. The next day we had plans to go hiking on Mt.Rainier with Nancy and Bob. You can see how beautiful Mt.Rainier is and how bad a computer person I am from the orientation of the pictures. But no picture could do justice to the colors of a snow capped dormant volcano, majestically towering and dominating the countryside. It is the home to many glaciers and almost each of them becomes a trail. The names are pretty and fittingly beatiful, Paradise trail, Wonderland...... we went on the Sunrise trail. And even though it was an easy hike, there was an elevation gain of some 1500 feet maybe, and as soon as that started, I started panting. I would have to stop every couple of steps. The trail curved through a green meadow and over gravelly rocks with a steep fall one side. But we made it to the Freemont lookout without incident. The lookout point commands a view of the Olympics, the steep green valleys and Mt.Rainier. However when we reached, the white whisks of clouds were just starting to become comfortable on the peaks of Mt.Rainier and hiding the view. The Olympics are an amazing mountain range and I am all eager to travel there soon.
We hiked around 8 miles on Saturday, and we covered some of the most picturesque lakes and views. Lake Tipsoo near Chinook pass, Frozen lake and Shadow lake..... I am holding my breath even while I am writing, just thinking about them. The lakes were an emerald green, and it was only later that you would realize that it was the color of the pines and conifers that it was actually reflecting. But that greenish blue mystical lake, hidden among tall christmas trees, and a white mountain were exactly what you would imagine to have just conjured up out of an Enid Blyton book. :)
Sunday we went adventure seeking... from para-sailing over Elliot Bay to kayaking in Lake Union, then shopping and hanging around in Pike place market, eating cheesecakes while sitting by the side of the bay in the olympic sculpture park and walking a little to the sweet rose-garden, and ending it with the Space Needle, a full moon which we first thought was the sun and dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a breathtaking weekend, if we had got time to catch out breaths that is. I had never imagined I would end up doing and enjoying so much.
I have so long seen Seattle through my eyes. Last weekend when I saw it through Mincy's eyes, and her joy and enthusiasm and spirit in wanting to settle in this city, I realized how lucky I was. Sometimes, it takes another pair of eyes to make you realize how lucky you are. And yes, I am in a little bit of heaven on earth , and in a little bit of corner on the face of th earth which I have made up to be home. And among all the colors and wonders of nature, these are the moments which take my breath away. I just wish I appreciated them more.
By the way the title of the post !!! is a song dedication to Seattle. :)))
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunshine on my shoulders ...
Sunshine on my shoulders ..... makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes ....... can make me cry
Sunshine .... on the water ...looks so lovely
Sunshine ..... almost always makes me high
If I had a day I could give you ....
I'd give to you a day ...just like today
If I had a song I could sing for you
I'd sing a song to make you feel this way.
- John Denver
There was an ad in India in which this song played in the background. Just the words and the tune are so heart-rendering, you cannot help but be touched. Well Seattle somehow warrants this song...... :) more than anywhere else. You should see the change from a cloudy day to a day when the sun is out. It is visible in people, in the water, in the colors and smiles all around.
The park which is unnaturally empty and drab on an otherwise normal Seattle day , ( read overcast) fills with humans and pets alike on a day like today. The water reflecting the sunlight is brilliantly blue. And nature is vibrantly green, everything as if in competition to outshine each other.
There's been so much happening and so much cramped into so few days ...... even then I got time to wonder , wow is this me !! It so happened that there was a day when there wasn't a friend with whom I would have missed out talking to or getting in touch with. And all I could think of was, where were you all some months back. :)
I also went on a trip to the company fulfillment center and got to see the entire process of what exactly happens after an order comes in. How that order is translated from an online mouse click to a package that actually greets you at your doorstep. Believe me , I was floored. The nitty gritty details are so amazing to watch and see how it all fits in like clockwork.
I will abruptly end this post today. I am bursting to write but what I have to write would make a good diary entry and not a blog post :).
Sunshine in my eyes ....... can make me cry
Sunshine .... on the water ...looks so lovely
Sunshine ..... almost always makes me high
If I had a day I could give you ....
I'd give to you a day ...just like today
If I had a song I could sing for you
I'd sing a song to make you feel this way.
- John Denver
There was an ad in India in which this song played in the background. Just the words and the tune are so heart-rendering, you cannot help but be touched. Well Seattle somehow warrants this song...... :) more than anywhere else. You should see the change from a cloudy day to a day when the sun is out. It is visible in people, in the water, in the colors and smiles all around.
The park which is unnaturally empty and drab on an otherwise normal Seattle day , ( read overcast) fills with humans and pets alike on a day like today. The water reflecting the sunlight is brilliantly blue. And nature is vibrantly green, everything as if in competition to outshine each other.
There's been so much happening and so much cramped into so few days ...... even then I got time to wonder , wow is this me !! It so happened that there was a day when there wasn't a friend with whom I would have missed out talking to or getting in touch with. And all I could think of was, where were you all some months back. :)
I also went on a trip to the company fulfillment center and got to see the entire process of what exactly happens after an order comes in. How that order is translated from an online mouse click to a package that actually greets you at your doorstep. Believe me , I was floored. The nitty gritty details are so amazing to watch and see how it all fits in like clockwork.
I will abruptly end this post today. I am bursting to write but what I have to write would make a good diary entry and not a blog post :).
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Walk in the clouds
I usually can never write when I am down in the dumps. But today I will make an exception, just bcoz I want to share it.
After all these days of musing and thinking of doing it, I did finally make it out of the door and all the way to the park by myself. If anything, I was able to lose my way on an almost perfectly straight road. But I made it in time for sunset. There are a lot of people there on any evening, old and young couples alike, a lot of pet-lovers walking their dogs - golden retrievers, pooches, and I wouldn't even recognize the rest of the breeds, a lot of joggers, a lot of walkers, and some strollers like me.
Its a curving road, sometimes taking you very near to the rocks and the water beyond it (I will from now on refer to the "water" as the "sea"), and sometimes totally hiding it from view. But its more or less open with few trees strewn about. I can tell you the time when I reached there and the time that I found my way back, but time loses its meaning sometimes and let this be one of those.
The sun was just starting to move closer to the distant hills from the sky, and the sparkling golden rays made an amazing spread over the sea waves. The water was lashing on the rocks, it must have been high tide because the some-feet-wide beach I had seen some days back had disappeared. I followed the road till all that lay between me and the sunset was the blue sea. And then I followed a small rock strewn trail, which took you off the path but kept you just above the rocks....... made probably by lots of feet....... which had felt that walking so near to the sea was so much more inviting.
There I sat down on this wooden, falling-apart bench. The sun had almost begun to hide behind the hills. Behind me was the space needle, and far to the left was Mt.Rainier ..... imagine a sole snow covered ice-peak pink in the hues of the evening sun. Right in front of me was the water lapping up the rocks, now a shade a dark blue, and then a shade of dark green. My companions were a lady-bird, the sound of water hitting the rocks and a bird crying in the distance. Ofcourse there were people crossing behind me, talking, ..... but for those few moments that the sun actually bade goodbye to the daisies all around me, everything was muffled.
It is one of those moments that are best enjoyed alone or in silence because any sound would have spoiled the effect. And it is one of those moments that make you feel blessed.
I felt, understood and loved the calming effect of the water, ...... nature........ and all in only one deep breath.
After all these days of musing and thinking of doing it, I did finally make it out of the door and all the way to the park by myself. If anything, I was able to lose my way on an almost perfectly straight road. But I made it in time for sunset. There are a lot of people there on any evening, old and young couples alike, a lot of pet-lovers walking their dogs - golden retrievers, pooches, and I wouldn't even recognize the rest of the breeds, a lot of joggers, a lot of walkers, and some strollers like me.
Its a curving road, sometimes taking you very near to the rocks and the water beyond it (I will from now on refer to the "water" as the "sea"), and sometimes totally hiding it from view. But its more or less open with few trees strewn about. I can tell you the time when I reached there and the time that I found my way back, but time loses its meaning sometimes and let this be one of those.
The sun was just starting to move closer to the distant hills from the sky, and the sparkling golden rays made an amazing spread over the sea waves. The water was lashing on the rocks, it must have been high tide because the some-feet-wide beach I had seen some days back had disappeared. I followed the road till all that lay between me and the sunset was the blue sea. And then I followed a small rock strewn trail, which took you off the path but kept you just above the rocks....... made probably by lots of feet....... which had felt that walking so near to the sea was so much more inviting.
There I sat down on this wooden, falling-apart bench. The sun had almost begun to hide behind the hills. Behind me was the space needle, and far to the left was Mt.Rainier ..... imagine a sole snow covered ice-peak pink in the hues of the evening sun. Right in front of me was the water lapping up the rocks, now a shade a dark blue, and then a shade of dark green. My companions were a lady-bird, the sound of water hitting the rocks and a bird crying in the distance. Ofcourse there were people crossing behind me, talking, ..... but for those few moments that the sun actually bade goodbye to the daisies all around me, everything was muffled.
It is one of those moments that are best enjoyed alone or in silence because any sound would have spoiled the effect. And it is one of those moments that make you feel blessed.
I felt, understood and loved the calming effect of the water, ...... nature........ and all in only one deep breath.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)