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30/08/09

A Tea-Time-Tale by Mayuri

I bet we all remember our first times--- first cycle ride, first prize, first drink, first salary, first kiss, first lie... first this & that...
But I also remember my first cuppa tea! :) :)
Because it occured to me after a long wait and lots of anticipation!!! And it happened in too special a way to forget!!!

Okay now, lets begin from the beginning.
For me, tea meant......
...a fancy drink
...a childhood tabooo
...an elders delight
...an enigma
Yes, I was not allowed to have tea. This rule courtesy my grandma; she did not like her children to have tea- and I a kid to her ever. So I never ever had a sip of tea for 27 odd years of my life! (Wonder if that's some sort of a record)


Anyways, I know I was always drawn to this mysterious drink, its woody color and the-then indefinable aroma. Tea was like an enigma for me, something I'd always associate with adulthood (!), choice (!!) andmaturity (!!!) Weird? But that's what it was for me. Those delicate tea sets were equally fascinating, uhhhh, forbidden too! I had watched my elders and cousins sipping their tea and wondered how it tasted. Imagined if it tasted anything like horlicks and decided that it certainly tasted better. Assumed if tea tasted like hot-chocolate and conclued that being the elder's drink it was, it was bound to have a better (read: less sweetened) flavor. The days passed by and I simply belived that I wasn't cut out fora cuppa tea (ironic, haa)... But I'm proven wrong. :)

Animesh (my husband), an avid tea lover himself, never liked the idea of us having different beverages.(Him: Tea; Me: All except tea) So early one morning, he handed me a tea mug and asked me to taste it. ("your introduction to tea", he quipped) He was kind enough to say that I could leave drinking if I did not like it!
So I sipped.
Relished.
Loved it.
And thanked Animesh for my first cuppa ever!! I love him so for this special cuppa and for this perfect moment. :)

Three weeks down, I have travelled across six states, eleven cities and stopped at a number of tea stalls. Needless to say, I enjoyed every single cupppa tea I had.
Proud to be the new kid on the tea block, though still experimenting with tea types and snacks to go with chaii. I liked samosa n plain marie biscuits so far...
Here, may I ask the readers of this post: would you tell me whats your favourite cup of tea & snacks? I'd love to try it out :)

I want to thank Om for letting me tell my tea-story @ chai-ki-dukaan. For letting me be a fellow chai-wali on your blogspace. This whole experience is awesome. Thanks buddy! :)

P.S. Two days back, I asked amma (my grandma) as why she kept me away from this wonderful cuppa. She chuckled and said "Some things are worth the wait"
I agree, amma!!

Some tea-pics now:



My first tea-mug @ Home, Hyderabad :)
Chai at a dhaba on way to Patni-Top (Jammu)


Bollywood Masala Mix & Truck-Driver Especial Chaii @ Cha Bar, New Delhi.
Chai ke Glass @ Cha Bar

* Posted by Mayuri


26/08/09

The (blogging) side effect

One thing that I realize is really bad about blogging is its capability of floating negative energies...

You start a day with RSS feeds of a few blogs that you are regular on and you see complaints, cribs, sadness on them! no points for guessing what happens next!!!

I usually avoid reading anything that has the potential of making me feel low and I deliberately avoid writing things that would have that effect on anyone who visits my blog!

Last few days some of the blogs that I read have this overdose of negativity and sadness and confusion and what not!!! Not good! I don't think I'd like to visit such pages!

How about holding on to the happy nothings in life and writing about them... atleast when you come back to your archives after a while you are reminded of the happy memories and not about how sad you were! I had a few very sad posts on Chai ki Dukaan too, which I had written while going through a not so good phase in my life... I think I should remove them from here!






23/08/09

First of the amazing weekends - Minneapolis this time!

I had this amazing weekend, but before I write about it, I am going to put up things from the last amazing weekend I had... I am going to make a record of sorts of living up weekends as the fall is coming to town this year... so here we go about the last one...

This current weekend, it will be up here soon!!!

It was a new weekend !!!

and full of new experiences... from the 1409 apartment overlooking a beautiful Minnesota Sunset which I went to first in July'08 to the same apartment in August'09, its been quite a journey...

The first time I was quiet, in a new place, new city, with new people... and this time around as well
It seemed like a new place, with some new people, and new vibes in the environment...

From a close knit group of friends, to couple, and husbands and wives, and girlfriend and boyfriend, I guess this has been a nice ride for the entire gang... Lakhan and Sapna are seeing each other and spend a lot of time together over weekends... Deepak's wife Prakati is finally in town, and he has shifted out of 1409 and now is in his own apartment, Pritam has a lovely firang girlfriend Tracy and she has moved in to 1409 temporarily as well... all in all, this was like a set of threads which were overlapped with each other, drifting apart with distinct points which connect each other...

or lets put it this way, its something like big bang theory... forces internal and external make you move away, but still not loose the contact, an invisible force, like gravity keeps you around each other, moving around in your own orbits but with paths crossing time and again!!!

Its a nice journey :) What has not changed in this year is my status though :D we were watching a movie yesterday, Enemy at the Gates, and it was kind of funny to see Deepak and his wife on the sofa, Pritam and Tracy on my left, and Lakhan and Sapna on my right... I had to say this loud that the couples had taken all the corner seats, and were not really there in the theatre to watch the movie :P it was fun! It was a rather serious scene on the screen but we all laughed out at this!

Now that this transformation study and analysis is done, I can move to my regular way of narrating the sequence of events as it happened!

Greyhound is a bus service that is more expensive than the much cheaper Megabus, and provides a few attractions over it too... better leg room, a big waiting area/bus station, attendants to manage everything and so on and so forth, but Megabus is a low cost, no overheads model and it works very well for a lot of people... For some reason, the Greyhound here on the Milwaukee/Chicago/GreenBay/Minneapolis route has a high percentage of African-Americans (no offence to anyone, just an observation)... the attendants at the counters, the bus drivers, and MOST of the travellers! vs. Megabus where its completely the opposite!

Left Milwaukee Friday evening and reached Minneapolis around 1 in the night! I love seeing the Minneapolis downtown approaching for some reason! The lights at the downtown, my femiliarity with the place and having some friends there makes it feel like home!

Met Tracy and Pritam, went home... had some food and chatting the rest of the night away before sleeping around 4 in the morning... The original plan was to go for a shoot, but we went to Deepak's place instead! Beautiful apartment, and looked so much like home! This is where "women" are way way way ahead of men! keeping a house like home! Tracy has cleaned up 1409 beautifully, and Deepak's place also looks like a home! He has recently bought a Epson Movie Mate Projector and we watched "School of Rock"... i love the movie anyway, and watching it on a projected screen was a lovely experience! Lakhan and Sapna reached later in the day and we spent the rest of evening talking... Everyone now seems to have an iphone in the US and this gang is not far away... Pritam had one 2G (which I have now because he got the 3Gs), Sapna and Deepak also got a 3Gs! I tried confusing Sapna's iPhone's compass and succeeded in about 15 minutes... rotated it so many times that it forgot which direction north was in! funny fone!

We finally got ready to get out the apartment around 8ish, went back to downtown and then took cabs to one of our favorite bars in uptown called the Chino Latino... it has the best Cocktails that I know of, some of them being Vodktajito (this is served with a sugarcane slice), X-rated, Mango Martini, Kamasutra Mama, Mexican three-way, and some Brazilian crap (that Pritam likes). And yes, all of these are cocktails, before you let your imaginative horses run wild!!!

Back to the apartment and talking and more till 3 again before we went off to sleep...

Sunday was another lazy day... Tracy made some mouthwatering Pancakes and French Toast for brunch (well, if you wake up at 9 and stay in bed till 12, you get only brunch)... we then went to get some Veg Biryani from Kabobs, and then to return a few DVDs to Blockbuster, where I went crazy buying a few that I wanted to have, and then to Deepak's place and finally to Sapna's apartment... it was around 4 that we reached there, had food! Lakhan makes amazing food! and started watching Enemy at the Gates, only this time, it was the projector, and some bose speakers to provide the much needed clarity to the war movie!

It was a hard stop for me and Pritam at 1945 hours for me to catch the bus, which I did only to say bye bye to the city that welcomed me to USA, and makes it feel much better than it really is!

Too much of text eh !!! If you managed to read it this far, kudos !!!! Time for the photographs now....



The movie mate result !!!!




Tracy, Myself and Pritam went down to the play area and took some pictures !



Deepak and Prakati...


French toast, Pancakes and syrup... Tracy ROCKS!!!!


Just a li'il bit of reaching out :)



It cannot get better than ThumsUp!!! Ever!



Lakhan, Sapna and view from Sapna's apartment's patio!


Tracy!


And me! Aro says I am fat !!!Thanks Pritam for taking this one!

22/08/09

...

The best is yet to come!
Have fun while its on its way !

21/08/09

Got Film?

Got the first results of my film camera today...

First reaction, what the fkk!!! I suck!
Second reaction, ok let's see where did I screw up!
Third reaction, well! not so bad, but there is a hell lot of things to learn! Do film well and digital is going to amazingly easy!

Here is a preview of some of the photographs... do click on the image to see it large!

19/08/09

Who should it be?

Pick one and tell me why...

1. Calvin as the President and Hobbes as the Prime Minister

2. Calvin as the Prime Minister and Hobbes as the President

I really think these two need to take the top two positions in India now !!!

18/08/09

You are invited!

Some of my photographs are being displayed as a part of the photo exhibition jointly organized by Institute of Indian Interior Designers and Munish Khanna Academy.

If you are in Delhi, please do try to visit IHC between 17th and 21st of August and enjoy a real good collection of photographs by some brilliant photographers.

14/08/09

Pandit Om Vyas Om

Beta bata Madras ka naam chennai kyon pada?
Uncle, Madras ke log lungi pehente hain... aur lungi mein "chain"-"nai" hoti :D

Another amazing poet who writes in Hindi... Subbu this should make you happy :) there is some Hindi around !!!

Thank you Vaishali for posting the link in her comment...



Om Vyas Om is not there in this world anymore, I am very sad to know this! :(

13/08/09

Romance and Comedy together...

I had this bookmarked post by burf... went back to it yesterday and did some youtubing to get these two gems out!

Enjoy Dr. Kumar Vishwas's amazing poetry in these two videos from Moksha'04... I am in love with the poem he recites, and I just can't stop laughing at his kick-ass witty comments ! Enjoy!



12/08/09

कभी हंसे कभी रोए (kabhi hanse kabhi roye)

खुद ही रोये
और फिर खुद पर रोए
खुद हंसे
फिर खुद पर हंसे


कभी रोने पर हंसी आई
कभी हंसी पर रोना आया
थोड़ा हंसते रहे थोड़ा रोते रहे
न कुछ खोया न कुछ पाया

Pretty Woman

Isn't Julia Roberts one of the most beautiful things that happened to Hollywood !!!!

11/08/09

Black Yellow Pink and Blue... oh and some green too!

This weekend was fun!!! Saw some really good movies..

Transformers (must be the 5th time I saw it)
Pineapple Express, and
Groundhog Day (loved it)

and spent a lot of time watching clips from old Hindi comedies and Amir's Coke Ads kyonki kurta to shareer ke upraard ki lajjanivaran ke liye hota hai na sir !!!


Also finally gave two B/W rolls for developing and scanning... they should be back in a week's time... really looking forward to the results!

Got two more rolls...

My Canon AE-1 Program Manual SLR!!! love this camera...


I love this picture... very happy feeling for some reason!


I wish I was carrying the Macro lens with me when I saw these flowers... but I was not... never mind... some other time!


And my new new watch!!! I love how simple and yet classy it looks! One of the few times when I see something and I take it without second thoughts... This just took a second visit!

10/08/09

for the lack of a better word, lets be friends!

I find it hard to digest that some people have "good friends" too many too soon... you know someone for a month and (s)he is a good friend, and then there is one more and one more... I mean how many good friends can one have?

I think this word is being used a lot and without much meaning to it these days... too bad!

I can count my good friends on my fingers, and my friends, well, maybe twice on my fingers... anyone else, and no offence please, is someone that I know or someone who knows me through Chai ki Dukaan, or my flickr page, or through someone I know through chai ki dukaan or my flickr page, or through someone who I know through someone... but com'on!!! friends? its takes something to be called a friend or to be a friend! is it not? or I am just plain stupid?

For me 1 incident, or a couple of them between two people do not make or break friends... its takes time! and something more than the verbal or written or visual to be a friend of someone... a connection that makes you open up and share, and it HAS to be two way!

and I see on blogs and comments and other places, sentences like I love you all, thank you friends, and all that... I find it crazy!

On second thoughts, what is a different word for friend? Are there more words like it which can be used? Is it offensive to admit that you do not treat someone as a friend, but just as someone you know? I personally feel its ok, I would know my place and space and if I don't I should...

Maybe I am just going crazy! well! never mind!

09/08/09

A tag for a tag!

Its been a while I have been tagged or I did one... here is one, that Wishes Galore tagged me for!

Justify FullLets talk about the rules first :
Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real .... nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

And now the tag:
1. What is your name: Prashant
2. A four Letter Word: Pure
3. A boy's Name: Prem Pratap Patiyale Wala
4. A girl's Name: Premvati
5. An occupation: Priest
6. A colour: Purple
7. Something you wear: Pajama
8. A food: PaniPuri
9. Something found in the bathroom: Paste
10. A place: Pangong Tso
11. A reason for being late: Phone call
12. Something you shout: Pencho
13. A movie title: Pran Jaye par Shaan na Jaye
14. Something you drink: Passion Fruit Iced Tea
15. A musical group: PINK Floyd
16. An animal: Puma
17. A street name: Pappu Singh Marg
18. A type of car: PALIO
19. Something scary: Poisonous Snakes :P
20. Ice cream flavour: Pink wali icecream


Enjoy a bit of yesteryears with this ad...





There is something about this simplicity that is getting lost slowly.... thank God for Youtube that it can be revisited at times :)

07/08/09

Make Easy Choices...

Get the best you can!

Give the best you can!

Live the best you can!

Speak the best you can!

Be the best you can!

05/08/09

...

Keep the room cool, and the bed warm
Keep the head cool, and the heart warm

03/08/09

ugh!

If I hear Rakhi Sawant continuously for more than 3 minutes, I might just puke!!! thank God I can always switch channels!!!

make it 2 actually!

Do these right, and not much will go wrong!

1. Listen
2. Speak
3. Respect
4. Give
5. Express
6. Un-clutter
7. Smile
8. Hug
9. Kiss
10. Enjoy

02/08/09

A guy, some girls and two break ups

Its just the right title... Love Aaj Kal... It could also have been Movie Aaj Kal...
Why?

Because this kind of a movie has been made aaj(today) and it has been made Kal (yesterday) and will be made Kal (Tomorrow)

The love that you see in movies Aaj (today), and you must have seen it kal (yesterday) and you will see it kal (tomorrow) too

So in a nutshell, this is a movie you have seen before, with different characters, different situations, different actors, different locations, different trains, different stations, different camera angles, but trust me you have seen it all before... So there is something similar, yet different about this movie....

Some of the reasons why you would like to see Love Aaj Kal

1. Rishi Kapoor stays a fine actor... very natural, very elegant, very easy
2. Saif Ali Khan's suits... I personally think he dresses very well
3. Deepika's Gorgeous Legs...Just can't get enough of them ever!
4. The music... Pritam has done a brilliant job... Neeraj Sridhar, Mohit Chauhan, Sunidhi Chauhaan, Raahat Fateh Ali Khan, KK, all of them are worth listening to... I have been listening to the music of Love Aaj Kal all this week, and I am still not over Twist and Chor Bazaari... Chor Basaari specially...
5. It reminds of some parts of a Delhi... Don't know of many movies which have been shot in Purana Quila...
6. Giselle Monteiro has looked so convincing as a sardarni... infact adorable
7. Saif's Mustang !!! nothing major, I love a mustang so its important!
8. The movies reiterates a couple of facts... Men are mostly slow and stupid when it comes to relationships, Women are simple plain scared when it comes to relationships...and most couples get entangled into the "what if" and "what if not" modes...
9. Some good lights and photography at places...
10. Chor Bazaari is an amazing song! I love the music... Did I say that already? I think I did!


and reasons why you might not want to watch
1. 2 hours and 40 minutes.. umm...
2. Saif has produced the movie, and that means that he speaks atleast 50% of the time, maybe more during the movie... uff! someone has to ask him to shut up...
3. Under-utilization of Rahul Khanna..,he is such a fine artist... and Veer Das I wonder why this guy was in the movie.. he is a fine comic guy! and very smooth at times... what a waste...
4. Useless dance routines! such amazing music wasted... I have been imaging much better stuff in my mind in the last few days... now you know why I need a mind printer!

It was nice to be able to see a Hindi movie in a cinema in Milwaukee... liked it :)

and today I made the best DAL EVER... someone needs to give me a "you can finally cook" certificate!