Being in UK for a month already..!.. n I dont know how to feel about it.. n I am happy to get a chance to see some really beautiful places around ... meet some lovely people already... courteous people everywhere.. The calm and not-so rushed up life...

Its a month already..n I dont know how to feel about it...I am happy cuz a month is up.. n i am one month closer to going home..... . I know deep down m too desi to be around somewhere else too long.. but life has its ways and we choose some of them... I am missing the lovely weather of namma bengaluru.. the daily hustle bustle .. going down my house with mum n eating paani puri... seeing lots of people on streets.. noise..hindi music playing on radio..the noise.... people just pausing for a casual chat.. It all felt so good.... I am just Listening to "Rehna tu" from Delhi 6.. It so beautifully describes how I feel right now.. about India.. about Bangalore..

Was watching Friends on TV today.. and it reminded me of all the old serials we watched.. Vyomkesh bakshi.. Mrignaini.. Talaash.. Circus.. Nukkad.. Karamchand.. and everyones fav chitrahaar.. dekh bhai dekh.. tehekikaat...Just the thought of it makes me smile...

Somehow everything about India is so perfect.. or atleast thats how I feel... Rehna Tu, Hai Jaisa Tu Thoda sa dard tu, Thoda Sukun

Bath Spa, Wiltshire

I've always wanted an authentic roman experience, and the city of Bath, Wiltshire was a good

one to begin with. We left from our cozy little serviced apartments in Swindon at 8 in the

morning, a little let down by the really windy and cold weather...but happy about the clear

skies.... We hit the train station by about 8:15, and took the 8:30 train to Penzance with

Bath enroute.. I love train journeys and was delighted even while we were boarding the

train.. I chose the window seat and the scene was beautiful with landscapes sprawling

endlessly and farms with really healthy looking (read fat..hehe) cows and sheep.. the houses

in all those little villages were all of the same size and shape and made of a typical red

stone... Arrived at Bath at about 9, and with the help of a tourist guide centre, we planned

our day. As soon as we stepped into the city the georgian architecture of all those

buildings seemed as if the city hasn't changed much from a long time... limestone houses

with really small windows...lots of crescents... abbeys..made me feel like i've gone back in

time.. the most obvious thing a tourist does in an unknown city is take the city tour..

which we did.. The city is known for a lot of little things.. Apparently earlier people

built very small windows in the houses so that only a small portion of daylight gets into

the house. Now people wanted it that way so that they didn't have to pay a lot of tax,

because they were taxed for the amount of daylight getting into the house! (thats where the

saying "daylight robbery" came into picture..)..

The highlights of the city include the Roman bath, which are actually natural mineral hot

water springs from the River Avon (Avon means just river, so "River Avon" is really

just"River River"...) where the romans had a worship place for their goddess "sulis" and so

the place is aptly called "Aquae Sulis"... An interesting place with all the walkie-talkie

assisted self guided toursin and aroud the bath.. The ancient temple relics were also a good

sight to see..

The city is also known for its famous resident.. Jane Austen..and tea.Here tea was regarded as the drink for the upper class and so was made much more expensive than wine or any of the other intoxicating drinks.!

Next we took a ride to take to the stonehenge (meaning the hanging stones).. one of the

wonders of the medival world... the winds at stonehenge almost blew us off.. it was cold as

hell and the so windy.... the wind actually moved us ahead.. so we didn't even need to

walk..:D.. Again, the stonehenge tour was with a self guided walkie-talkie... Now apparently

the stonehenge was built about 3 times and then apparently people just gave up..!..:D.. Each

stone had a reason and history behind it.. Interesting to listen while you stroll around the

structure..

Off from stonehenge we headed to this beautiful little village called the 'lacock village'.

Known for the shooting of 'Pride and Prejudice' on one of the streets and also for

HarryPotter's home.. the house where Voldemort kills Harry's parents James and Lilly

Potter...After seeing these places, We had a nice cup of tea in a Roman Bakery and were off

back to Bath.. On the way back, was Solsbury hill.. atop which Peter Gabriel (of Genesis

fame) had a spiritual change of heard experience and he decided to quit the English band to

start off on his own.... This is where he wrote the song Solsbury hill..(his first solo) The tour guide was nice enough to play the song for us as we went past the scenic hill... 'Had to listen.. had no

choice'..:D :D

Kamath Loka Ruchi

My visit to mysore and other places nearby there, is incomplete without my visit to 'Kamath Loka Ruchi' enroute. The eat-out comes on the Bangalore - Mysore expressway. Recently, I visited the place to have a nice south indian meal with my family. Eating a meal there was a joyful experience as always. I had gone there with a fixed meal in mind - the popular north Karnataka 'jowar roti meals' ( or the jawar bhaakri like they call it)... We were given a multitude of meal-options by the staff there. I chose what I came for. My parents, not knowing better, followed suite. Di ( my sis ) opted for the Karavalli ( costal Karnataka ) meals. For some quaint
reason, my sis and me take unusual delight in having south indian meals...So this was her chance of experimenting. While the meal hadn't arrived, me n sis kept asking one of the waiters about the meal contents.. Gauging our less than perfect kannada, he was nice enough to give us a description of the meal in Hindi. My mouth grew increasingly watery as the minutes snailed by... Finally, they got us plantain leaves and served the first dish - the 'payasam' - a sweet
made out of mung dal and jaggery. I usually avoid sweets. They make me sick. But this payasam was steaming hot... and tempting. So i abandoned my no-sweets diktat for the moment and gulped down the entire cup of it. I din't realise m eating too fast until I saw my parents relish every whit of it. I looked into their plates hoping to get some of their's, but quit the idea soon. They din't look too keen on sharing it either.. :)
Next there was a little salad made out of channa - dal n cucumber, with a glass of machige ( butter milk). A vegetable curry made out of horse gram, followed by some stuffed brinjal...The waiter, dressed in a typically north-karnataka attire, served the garam garam Jowar Rotis topped with a generous helping of butter ( I quickly brushed
aside the calorie-clock ticking in my head...).. I don know how many of the rotis I gorged down ( it was being served continuously ). After having a good share of the rotis, there was rice and drumstick sambar ( a typical south indian lentil dish )... Everybody finished up the meal with a nice helping of fruit salad with icecream ( i dint eat that.. :)..).. Sis meanwhile was enjoying her Karavali meal which had a lot of coconut stew with rice noodles... Had some of that too. Yummy.

Carpe Diem

The last week saw the poet in me squirming for justice..:P
the end result follows

my mind so stuck in vortices...myself I somtimes forget..
memories pull me behind... while something ushers ahead....
it is restful, displeasing to hold on...
while the soul wants to let go..
the past is past...its burried n gone....
n the future comes all too slow...
no more does my heart yearn..
for the events that have gone..
no more does my mind long..
for moments that might not come...
my hopes no longer now hook on
to the hour that'll come n go...
the power of 'here' and the power of 'now'
is all I want to know..

Ramadan

Come Ramadan, and I am drifted back to the evening Iftar parties we used to go for...We had Muslim family friends who invited us for it...It was at their home. As people entered the house, there were cordial 'Ramadan Mubarak' greeting exchanges with the host. We could see people doing rounds serving Rooh Afzah and dates. During a day in Ramadan, people eat once before the sunrise. The meal is called 'seheri' and it is generally had at home with family. After the seheri, people fast the entire day and the idea is that the fast should be broken by eating dates during Iftar (the evening meal that is). After the dates, there used to be an elaborate buffet meal laid out. It usually consisted of a variety of non vegetarian dishes like chicken kababs, gosht biriyanis, haleem and chicken curries. The smile on everyone's famished faces even as the food was being spread out was worth the watch. While the non-vegetarians used to binge on their meal, we were happy scarfing out on the yummy jalebis, samosas, veg biriyani, paneer delicacies and raita.

The delectable 'sevai ki kheer' with lots of dryfruits and nuts was my all time favourite. Once the meal was done, people left after a final round of leave-taking pleasantries...

As a kid, I waited for Iftar just for the kheer. But on second thoughts, it serves as a perfect example of communal harmony and a reminder that any religion is a code of conduct, which eventually terminates at the same place.

Phelps

Got this as a fwd recently...Couldn't just help posting it...!!..lolzz

...a glint across the road.....eyes gleam.....he runs and crosses the road, mother runs behind, ...smack and holler.....his face fell...dampened spirit...moist eyes...lids down with guilt..

new color pencil....his eyes full of mischief....doodles over the wall...dad returns from office....ears nipped...sobs under the pillow cover...

study holiday...his maths book in front....rock dove on windowsill...his thoughts flying high out of the window....startled by a shout...

report card day....singing A+....maths - Fail.....rebuked at home....getting ready for school next day...no bathroom singing......tear drops flow down the sink with shower water..

scrabbles on the classroom desk...muffled yawn....droopy eyes....sent out of class and made to kneel down...

monsoon rains....paper boats...chided for getting wet....

..............................years pass........sparks dwindle down.....

Like a shayari by Nida faizal goes....

bachchon ke chhote haathon ko chaand sitare chhoone do....
chaar kitaben padh kar vo bhii ham jaise ho jaayenge...