The Best Christmas EVER !!!

I wanted to go to Rome... see a bit of Italy... bit I guess I was too lazy plus it was Christmas and I was told that getting around on the 25th would be an issue... nothing would be open, nothing would be moving so it might not be a good idea to be outside... Plus the costs of traveling around this time were kinda high so I dropped the idea... and waited for something to happen...

The Plan B was take the road to Paris... Neha is there... she could have helped plan it, and the move on to Brussels, where Ravi is... and come back... but again... Visa required me to go to London and get the visa... did not have the time to do that... plus for some reason, Paris did not really sound like the most exciting thing I could do... had reasons... anyway...

So Abhishek calls one day and says that he has the week of Christmas off, and what could we do? I said... lets go to Glasgow or did he say that? Don't remember exactly, but the plan was made and he took care of the coach bookings from London to Glasgow and back... We were not sure of where we could stay rather would stay, because staying with James' (Abhishek's boss) parents was an option, but we were not sure... about a week before we were to travel.. he talked to James and we knew that we were staying at his parents' place on the 24th...

So the plan was now... Reach Glasgow on the 24th morning... rent a car, roam around... see places... stay over in Balloch with James's parents and move up north on 25th morning to come back to Glasgow by 26th evening and take the coach back to London that night... perrfect... it took some effort to find a place to stay on the 25th night, but I managed to find a decent place called the Hotel Ballachulish near Fort William towards the west coast of Scotland...

The Saturday before I was leaving I asked Soumitro if he wanted to join too, he and his wife were keen on joining and got their bookings done too, and were to join us in Glasgow on the 25th morning...

Reaching Glasgow was ok... we took the Megabus, which is really mega... a double decker bus packed to capacity... I think there were many people going to Glasgow and thats why there were two double deckers going to Glasgow that night...

Slept most of the my way through.. woke up in Glasgow around 0730 hrs... finding a bus to the airport was a no brainer, bus number 500 from the Buchanan Bus stand will take you to the Glasgow airport in about 20 minutes and its a 10 minute service... so we reach the airport, collect the papers of the car from the airport, freshen up and take the car :) this is where the NICE part starts... it was a nice navy blue VolksWagon Polo... I think a 1600 cc some 100 odd bhp car which it felt like by the sound of it, and I just got too happy when I heard the music system.. it was bloody goooood... I knew it would have a CD player and had cut a cd for the trip like always, and it turned out to be the best thing...

James had given us his SATNAV, which made driving around very very very easy... so I knew in how many yards I had to take a turn and Julie, or Chammo like we called her kept speaking all the time about which roundabout, which exit, when is the left turn, when is the right etc etc all the time... It was a li'il strange to start with, but I got used to her speaking alright in a while...

Reached Mr. and Mrs. Campbell's house in about 30 minutes only to meet two of the most loving and charming people I have met in the UK so far rather why only UK, in a very long time... I guess parents are always nice and warm EVERYWHERE in the world...

It was nice house, with a breathtaking view in the front..

The lights far away are from Glasgow... this is the view from the front of the house :)

The Garam Masala finds its way to a Scottish Kitchen... nice :)

We had breakfast and then after a while we left to explore the area on our own... Abhishek had been to Lomond Shores, and thats where we went too... walking around the area and kept clicking... Sun Uncle seemed to be having a good mood and came out of hiding too for a couple of hours before it got dark around 1500 hrs or so...

A lovely couple at Lomond Shores.. very gentle very kind :)

That ship is the largest paddle boat in the UK, now used as a restaurant...Lomond Shores

Flying around Lomond Shores :)

Abhishek, the guy to make most of our trip happen... Thanks Bro :)

There is no fun growing up, if I cannot be a kid at times...

and I cannot make my friends act like kids too :)

Pictures, walking and talking, and we were back home by 1630 odd hours after a small drive up into the country on roads away from the main roads... it was nice... worth every second we spent... and having the car seemed like the best thing we did on this trip...

The evening greeting through my rear view mirror... a shot thats a must on every drive that I go on :)

The evening was spent at home, talking to them, hearing them tell stories, and more talking followed by some dinner and more talking... Finally call it a day around 2300 hrs... Oh and I had asked them to get us Santa Caps... they could not find them in the market but got us some very very nice Christmas Hats instead :)

Pictures at home :) My Best Christmas Eve... It was nice to really be with a family on the most important day of the year... something I will not forget ever...

Also had some white wine, and could not help but remember the new year's eve at Deepak's place in Chennai two years ago when I just took a sip from the glass and could not take another... this Christmas eve, however I had to finish that glass of wine... Did not want to do anything that would look rude... Afterall they had been so very nice to me and Abhishek... so managed it somehow :)

This decorative piece is over 30 years old... and stills finds a place on the Christmas tree every year, like many old pieces :) lovely...

Soumitro called me @ 0630 hrs in the morning the next day and told me that he had reached Glasgow and there was NOTHING open.. no buses, no shops... this was expected, however I was hoping that the bus service to the airport would be on...nope it was not.. so as planned I was to pick them up and then drive up north... Got up, got ready... had some amazing breakfast and rushed to the airport to pick them up.. they had managed to take a taxi and reach the airport...

Picked them up from a near empty airport.. could not believe that International Airports could look like that.. I did not see more than 30 people at the entire airport that morning.. including the four of us...

And our drive to Fort William started... I decided to go via OBAN to Fort William instead of the direct way and enjoy the drive... so we kept stopping where we felt like and parking was allowed and kept breathing in the place...

I see this in the night, and I might not just sleep... It was spooky enough to be around something like that in the middle of nowhere :)

I could not have asked for more... A lovely car to drive, just the right kind of music with amazing quality, wonderful roads and breathtaking views... Just how I like it... this is what takes me away from everything and I reach my Solace.. the state which I love and a lot of other things stop mattering or bothering me...

This is a Pier at Loch Lomond... a place called Luss...

Below is the Route that I took... Oban was our first major pit stop, needless to say everything except one pub was closed here too... and we had not managed any food or coffee in the entire day so far... however there was food in the car and we did have some food in the car.. it was like Picnic... total funn...


View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Chicks always have attitude, be in India or UK... a Sea Gull at Oban...

So from Oban we moved to Ballachulish and reached there in about an hour only to reach the BEST hotel that I have stayed so far... beautiful place, very well kept and had that typical Age to it... loved it...

Hotel Ballachulish for your viewing pleasure :) and thats Loch Lenhe in the front...

Had tea, just relaxed, went out for a walk, came back when it started raining... Abhishek's hat was stolen by wind and he had run a good 100 mtrs before he could manage his hands back on it :D that episode was fun for sure...

The bridge between Loch Lenhe and Loch Leven... Saw the water flowing towards Loch Leven and then back in a matter of hours while at the hotel... I guess high tides and low tides doing it.. Loch Lenhe is connected to the sea..

The evening was spend in the lounge over a few drinks, dinner followed by some live music... Live music is always nice, irrespective of you understanding the lyrics or not...

An Old Piano at the hotel... Missed my keyboard and did try to remember a few tunes... managed to play some too :) not too well though :)

The hotel decided for some reason to not charge us for the dinner, call it a Christmas Gift from them, and that saved us about 40 pounds each... that was a lovely gesture from the Manager on duty there... Thank you Ma'am !!!

Stills from the Hotel

Went off to sleep only at 0100 hrs and woke up around 0800... got ready and checked out of the hotel around 1100 hrs.. not before taking a walk and a few pictures outside and even managing to slipping on the stairs with wet leaves on them and hurting my back :) I saved the camera though, and I am happy for it :P

Somewhere next to Loch Lomond... I think its the largest lake in Scotland

The Route today was Ballachulish to Fort William to Glasgow... It kept raining the entire day on 26th, though that did not stop me from going inside this place called Inverlochy Castle and take a few pictures.. there were only a few walls standing there now, but it was beautiful nevertheless...

Inverlochy Castle

Drove back to Glasgow via a different route that day..

View Larger Map

Stopped at a few places and reached well in time for the bus...

Somewhere on our way towards Glasgow...

Decided to kill some time and saw "I am Legend" in Cineworld in Glasgow.., don't ask me about the movie.. its ridiculous... waste of time !!! this is when I was not well and started feeling the fever...

Abhishek managed to find a vending machine and got us some hot chocolate when most of the shops around we already closed for the day and that really helped beat the cold before we took the bus and got back to London...


I drove for about 300 miles in these two days and I could not have asked for more... Loved every second of it, rather should say every mile of it... Its pretty obvious from the picture isn't it?

:)

Insecure somewhere...

So the Devil Wears Prada... well thats what I just learnt in the last hour and a half...

I start in a job...

I like it..

I work hard...

Did I mention I had people I loved and People who loved me?

So back to working hard...

and very hard...

And one day I tell someone that my personal life is hanging by the thread, and what I am told is, "Congratulations, you are doing great at work!!!"

And what next?

Well... the day you think you have lost your personal life, congratulations, its time for a promotion...
So I keep doing great at work...

Oh, yes and there are people I love and people who love me... but then what do I do... work needs attention... I just CAN'T do anything about it... doesn't matter if that attention to work means no attention to the people who now are not getting any time... but I just CAN't Do anything...

so I move on.. they move on...

and one harsh reality and I am back to normal... back to the people I love and people who love are back...

But then, that was the movie... It was a movie that was supposed to end with happiness all around...

I guess I am just insecure about myself, that because I treat work as something that pays my rent and is a necessary evil and having said that I still manage to do pretty well there (God Bless) and put in a lot of soul in it... but at the same time have something else that I have a larger part of my heart in... I might grow up to be an insignificant person for people who today love me and want to stand by me, but will probably move too ahead and away from me while they were working their way higher up the ladder...

I don't want a day in my life when the trade-offs become too big to handle....

Or maybe I should not be watching movies alone :) they make me think..

or maybe I should take a nap... its been almost 24 hours that I have not slept...

Good Morning Life... Good to know you more !!!

Happy SWEET New Year....

Whats the best way to start a new year in firang land?

Well... don't think about it much...

the best way to start a new year in Firang Land is to have देसी घी के मोतीचूर के लड्डू from कन्वार्जी in चांदनी चौक, पुरानी दिल्ली

Yes..I just had two from the kg pack that I have to enjoy in the coming days...

Thank you Amit for this... The new year could not get better than this... thanks bro...

One Flew...

"I don't know what freedom is about..."

I kept repeating this line to myself for atleast 5 minutes before I started writing this...

Is freedom, the freedom to speak?
or to act?
or to think?

or to think and speak?

or to think and act?

or to have the liberty to speak and act the way we want?

or to just be calm about whats happening?


Or is it about getting away from everything once in a while, spend a couple of days in silence with yourself and then get back to this noisy world where freedom is just a word...

Wondering what triggered this thought? I am wondering too !!!

Was Randle McMurphy ( Jack Nicolson as we know him) wrong in doing what he did?

Should the Chief have left him like he was after the lobotomy operations?

Or did the chief do the right thing before he escaped?

It takes guts to make a movie like "One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest" and I must admit that it did bring me closer to a lot of questions I would like to get answers for sometime in my life...

If you have not seen the movie yet, see it... Don't read about it on IMDB or Wiki... you would know what happened in the end... Get a CD or a DVD... watch this movie... its brilliant... I should use a better word, but I can't think of any right now...

If you have read this post, do make an honest attempt to watch the movie... and tell me what you think !!!

One of the nicest things that has happened to me on this UK trip is movies like Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump etc... thanks Lalit for the lovely idea... I owe you one...

CTRL Zee

Do heartburns make you sweat?

Why the hell and I sweating like I am in hell tonight?

Will try to sleep with some fever, a fukked up throat, and some shattered dreams tonight, if at all I can manage some sleep...

I thought its the quilt... its away...

The room heating... its off...

and I am still like I am in hell... I think I should open the damn window !!!

Do I sound angry? Yes I am!!! On/With/For/Because of Does not matter... it never did !!! To feel better, all it takes is a good sleep, the alarm with one of your favorite songs (which I changed to, a while back) and hoping that tomorrow there is some sunshine!!!

God Uncle, you better be on my side, for I need you !!!

Amen !!!

p.s. Sorry if you feel like something to say about this and find the comments disabled... I had to write this and this page is all I got...

On second thoughts... I don't want to stop anyone from saying what they want... This is a public page... I gotta write about what I feel... Anyone can write about what they feel about what I feel :) I think I am feeling better after I wrote all that random stuff above... nice !!!

Fever and Happy

Had to finish my drink quickly and I did... the ice cold drink immediately tore the throat apart and I knew it was not a good idea... However managed for another day and a half before fever took over and I was completely out of energy, with a bad throat and red eyes... Good, I carried a few tablets with me and that I managed some brandy to help myself... slept and sweat well in the overnight bus journey... and managed to reach Horley with a not that bad a throat, and some fever...

Crashed and got up now...

So that was THE only not so good part about the road trip... I am yet to mention about
~ Spending Christmas eve with Scottish family and staying overnight in their house.
~ Having the best Christmas ever.
~ The VW Polo that I drove for about 300 miles in two days and the amazing music system that car had.
~ The views that I got throughout the drive
~ All weather conditions from sunny to rains to bad rains to winds that will take you with them to frosty... almost everything.. did manage to spot some snow up on the mountains too.
~ and a lot more...

I should be fitter in a day or two, and thats when I would write in great detail about my best christmas EVER... till then here is a Photographic preview into the trip...

Loch ( pronounced Lokh) Lomond Shores

Loch ( pronounced Lokh) Lomond Shores

Loch ( pronounced Lokh) Lomond Shores

Somewhere in the Country...

A lounge in the Hotel

Fort William

Somewhere on the Scottish Highlands

This was just a trailer if I can put it that way... Will write more later... God bless...

Notes of Happy-ness

Notes of Happy-ness, originally uploaded by ~OM~ ॐ "FoTo-SoFiCaL" Bhardwaj.

Hope there is loads of happy music flowing in your life in the years to come...

Merry Christmas everyone...

I am off to Glasgow for three days, road trip!! Really looking forward to it..

See you soon....God bless !!!

What Completes?

A friend asked me a while ago, Prashant what completes you? and I could not answer that.. there is so much... too much of space around that needs to be filled !!!

Small question, big answer...

It however helped a few words come out and fill some empty space.. here they are.. enjoy :) and feel free to add...

पहाड़ की चोटी

नदी का किनारा

चुप चुप बैठा था

तभी साला किसी ने पत्थर मारा

देखा तो मेरा बॉस था

न मुझे कुछ होश था

याद आया ईमेल नहीं करी ...

ख़ुशी की मछली तभी उस नदी मे मरी

मैं वापस काम पर

आगे बदने के नाम पर

अभी तक काम कर रह हूँ

एक एक दिन करके जीवन से गुज़र रहा हूँ

और ख़ुशी की मछली वही किनारे पर रह गई

जितनी तस्सली दिल मे थी वो कहीं उस गहरे पानी की धारा मे बह गयी

I Make Time!!!

Its been a nice weekend this one... I am at Anil's place and having food which is home food... Chawal dal dahi !!! its nice... and Soumitro invited us (Well a forced invitation it was) and treated us to some amazing roasted potatoes, bell peppers, some nice music followed by Naan, Spicey Potatoes, Lovely Baingan, and Egg Curry !!! I am stuff like anything right now, and a 30 minute walk in the nice cold weather was just worth it after a nice tummy and heart filling dinner... God Bless Soumitro and his wife who did a great job with the dinner !!!

While walking towards Soumitro's place, Anil and me got into an interesting discussion, well all the discussions were interesting but I particularly remember this one because I have been hearing something around it for a while now from a few people I know...

Anil said that he wants to play cricket or be associated with any club/team that places and get an opportunity to bowl or bat or just be there on the field sometime... My question, and a very prompt one, bringing him back from that lush green field that he had mentally wandered to was, "Do You have time for all that?"

His simple answer was, "I would make time for it."

I was forced to think when we say we have been too busy or we just did not make time for what we wanted to or we just did not want to make time or we did not find a reason why we could make time...

I somehow don't really believe when someone tells me that they could not take time out.. I guess its not about taking time out, its either making it or stealing it from the world for things that are yours...

I make time for my blog and my stills... and a few people who are in my thoughts, ma pa a few friends...
I am fortunate to know a few friends who work for at least 12 hours a day in and out, and still make time for things they want, people they want...
People find me crazy, and will probably think that I am simple plain lucky when I tell them that starting september'05, I have traveled out of Delhi every single month, the fototrip links on my page show that just right... Except March'07 when I shifted bases to Chandigarh for work... EVERY OTHER month I could find time to travel and take pictures... and I am bloddy well proud of it for myself !!!

And I know of a lot of people who love to say that they did not get time or a chance to do something...

I feel that its not really about how much time we got, its about how much WE wanted time for it... Wanting or not wanting to do something comes first, and then time for it or excuses for "not it".

When Eye Speak

the mouth can stay shut...

Thanks Abhishek for the picture...

Jahan Chaar Yaar...

I have been searching for this song for about an hour on the net and have not been able to find it so far...

If you have this song from Sharabi, please send it to me @ prashantbhardwaj(at)----(dot)com


Post purpose over :)

Post Closed !!!

The Coin'd Me...

I am listening to Madhushala right now and every single time I hear it, I like it more... not sure if its the music that calms me down, or its one of my favorite singers Manna Dey's voice or its the words... I guess this poem is much more than I hear !!!

This is how even people are, much more than we can hear or see... notice closely and you might just find something new about someone who know, and ditto is with me... I have been noticing myself for a while and needless to say I have realized more about myself in the last few years than the rest of them and I can only surprise myself over how I am and what I am...

I have been good, I have been bad... People have been with me for a long time, and people have written me off completely... People have loved me and then hated me to the core, people have not liked me and then liked me too... All of this happening when I was trying to know myself more, and liking it or not liking it depending on the discovery.

I am the coin, with both its sides together... and I am flipping, at times just enjoying the flip and hoping for myself to fall in safe hands at others !!!

End of the Week'end

Fukk'ed up noodles, going down the drain...

Some rice with curd, helped ease the pain...

The Shawshank Redemption and Ned Kelly on the screen...

Friday's over and Saturday comes clean...

A lazy day on the couch, a call home, no bath and internet...

Saturday is when I get my food and keep it where it should be kept...

Finished the dinner and about to rest...

Abhi calls and asks me to come over, the sub-zero temprature outside is ON for a test...

I miss a train, and the next one's late...

Cold winds, empty platform, nothing to do for 40 minutes... oh c'mon thats not fate !

OK !!! enough!!! That's IT for the poetic dude !!!

This is till Saturday night... Sunday... NOTHING done... too good... waking up at 1100 hrs, saw three episodes of The Great Indian Laughter Challange back to back and laughed my ass out a number of times in a long time... loved watching it...


Evening just walked around, went to a nice restaurant in Kensington, owned by Abhishek's friend Shahid, had amazing masala tea after a nice dinner... and took the last train home...

Walking back home at midnight on a footpath which is slippery because of frost on it was fun... even jumped and hopped around on my way... it was fun being with myself...

I think I saw a FOX as well on my way near my house... it was not a DOG, it was not a cat... I don't know of any other animals around...

Should go off to sleep now.. have a long week ahead and a nice break next week when I go snow hunting up north in this island...

Hope the coming week is blessed !!! Happy English Diwali :)

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Overall something worth have a look at, and helps you get things with are worth some $$$$$s :)

A Date with Friday Evening...

~Come back home early... Ok atleast try to... 30 minutes early is good enough...

~Don't change...

~Sleep in what you were wearing...

~Wake up whenever...

~Find out what time it is... (No Idea why this is important, but I tried to find the time as soon as I woke up)

~Think of something different to eat...

~Think of a nice movie to watch... now that you have slept for a while, you can stay awake longer...

I am kinda stuck at the last step now..

I have

• The Shawshank Redemption
  
• Silence of the Lambs
• The American Gangster
• Goodfellas
• Momento
• One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Pulp Fiction
• Ned Kelly
  

I have never been an english movie buff, and I never cared to make an attempt to watch the classics so far. Thanks to Lalit, who helped with finding out what all I can watch, I made a move in that direction. Let me do an Inky Pinky Ponky and choose my movie for the night...

Oh, I think I have Manorama - Six Feet Under too...

So here is the plan...

Lemonade and Pineapple Juice, some noodles, Doritos and one or two of these movies... You are welcome to join in !!!

Song in the background :
धम धम धडाम धढैय्या रे , सबसे बडे लढैय्या रे ... ओमकारा ....

I love the way this song has been sung... Infact the rest of the songs in this movie also have the folk touch that I love to love like in Beedi and Namak...

Can't Forget how Saif Ali Khan did Langda Tyagi to perfection... Amazing stuff... Another movie where he impressed me a lot was Ek Haseena Thi...

anyway... I should get back to the angrezi movies and go to the kitchen to make my dinner...

Adios... May God be with us...

Looking in the Mirror...

I am wondering how easy is it for someone to

Set an expectation
Forget all about it at his/her own convenience
Get Angry when someone reminds him/her of it
Making sure that the other person feels like (s)he has done a mistake by speaking his/her mind
Coming back and almost laughing at him/her, while justifying what was done with proper and valid artifacts

______________________


I don't call a lot of people friends... I don't like to... because I know I cannot do justice to that term... its an underrated word, for all I know... So I have a few friends, and a lot of people I know, and some are somewhere between the I know and are friends area...

When I call someone a friend, it basically adds a whole lot of responsibility on me to ensure that I intentionally or otherwise don't do things which would hurt them...

Not that I can always prevent myself from doing such things, but I, from my past, know that I would be genuinely sorry for hurting anyone of the people I call friends...
And I do make it a point to make it up to them either by saying sorry and meaning it, or by doing something that would help me make it up to them...

I would not like to first hurt a friend, and then at the next opportunity go back and justify what i did... If I ever did that, I shouldn't have done that... I know it feels bad when first you are hurt and then made fun of...

I am sorry...

Seeing with my eyes closed !!!

Have some nice lyrics that make sense, add a nice folk flow with music in it, garnish it with a dhol, dholak, tabla, harmonium, a few more simple instruments.. and what you have is the song that I mention below...

I had heard it sometime back on TV and then forgot about it completely before a friend mentioned it to me generally today and i downloaded it....

Now these are my options:

1. Close my eyes, listen to this song and think about the amazing street plays that I used to be a part of in one for or the other, scripting, direction or just acting... this has so much of that sing together feeling with a message...

2. Close my eyes, listen to this song, and think about how it would be dance to this number... what free flow of music this song is.. and I can effortlessly think of enjoying my dance on it...

3. Close my eyes, and just listen to this song... like I have been doing for a while now...

4. Keep my eyes open for a change, and read the lyrics while the song is playing...

Ever wondered why we usually like to close our eyes when we are really enjoying something... is it a way to disconnect from the actual visuals and have a visual that we want to see in our brain? How do we see what are we thinking of? Is this the eyes that see it? Does a movie play on the eye lids?

Its strange how my eyes can see whats running up in the brain !!! God Uncle, you are great !!!

Enjoy the lyrics below... and if possible do listen to this song... and sing along too... if possible write the lyrics down... and sing-a-long loud together with friends... I can assure this is an awesome song to enjoy with friends !!!

क्यूँ खोये खोये चाँद की फिराक मे तलाश मे उदास है दिल
क्यूँ अपने आप से खफा खफा ज़रा ज़रा सा नाराज़ है दिल

यह मंजिली भी खुद ही तै करें
यह फासले भी खुद ही तै करें
क्यूँ तो रास्तों पे फिर सेहेम सेहेम संभल संभल के चलता है यह दिल

क्यूँ खोये खोये चंद की फिराक मे तलाश मे उदास है दिल

ज़िंदगी सवालो के जवाब ढूँढने चली
जवाब मे सवालों की एक लंबी सी लड़ी मिली
सावल ही सावल है सूझती नही गली
की आज हाथ थाम लो एक हाथ की कमी खली

Radhe Radhe...

Arobindo called me and this is how the conversation went

Aro: I have something very serious to talk about!!

Me : Kya ho gaya?

Aro : I am thinking, what happened to Radha?

(What the fkk, what happened to my car)

Aro continues : Not your car idiot...(No points for guessing that the first thing I think about when I hear the word Radha is my car) the Radha Radha... the Krishna Radha, Radha...

Me : What about her?

Aro : What happened to her?

Me : What do you mean what happened to her?

Aro : Where did she go after Gokul? Do you know?

Me : She never told me where she was going ! How the hell am I supposed to know?

Aro : But there has to be a mention somewhere? She was with Krishna, and we all know what he was upto throughout his life... what happened to her?

Me : Oh I remember, she got married to someone else.. and used to stay away from her husband and all...

Aro : Really?

Me : Nope.. I think that was Meera.. I don't know.. maybe she transmorgified or something herself into my car and is with me now....

Aro : Right, but what happened she broke up or whatever with Krishna...

Me : I don't know.. maybe she left or something... maybe she was a potential threat to Krishna and he hid her somewhere to save the world... but this needs an investigation... call Papa, he would know for sure...

Aro : Krishna would not do anything for the world and not speak about it... everything that he has done was properly broadcasted... any act done to do good to the world cannot be hidden.. there has to be something else..

Me : I guess so.. find out... call home.. and its their marriage anniversary today..

(Laughter from the other side)

Me : Not Radha Krishna's idiot, mom dad's... make sure you call them and wish them too...

Aro : Ya i know :D hehehe... i will call.. send me the numbers again will you?

Me : Roger that...

Aro: Chal tata..

Me : Ok Bye...

This is exactly how the conversation would have went if I was in India or on Mars for that matter... its amazing how a few things don't change... I am blessed !!!

Happy Marriage Anniversary !

Happy Marriage Anniversary Mummy...

Happy Marriage Anniversary Papa...

It was such a joy to hear papa laugh when I called home a couple of minutes ago to wish them !!!


I know for sure they must have become very sad after I kept the phone down... I can feel it here :(

I love you two... more than ANYTHING else in this world... May God be with us !!!

feel it say it... hear it cherish it...

It feels so bloddy nice when I get to hear nice things about myself !!! God bless those who feel good about me and make it a point to say them too !!!

One of my dear friends did and I feel too bad that I did not really know how to react to it :) but I know i felt real good...

Looks like I am not that bad afterall ;)


That brings me to a question : How good are you with taking compliments?

Ban Diesel

Delhi's environment Secretary says

"We will come down with a strong hand and ban registration of diesel vehicles in Delhi if everything else fails."

Its easier this way for everyone isn't it? Because cleaning up the already created mess is something that we see as impossible!!!

Has anyone in these departments heard of out-of-box thinking, innovating ideas etc... I think the government work also needs to be outsourced to a few corporates !!!

He carried on by saying :
"Delhi can ban the use of any fuel it wants. We have the legal powers under the Air Pollution (Prevention and Control) Act, 1981, to ban the use of any fuel in the capital."

Does anyone have legal powers to stop them?

Read more here...

These days, the minimum temperature in Delhi is about 2 degs more than the maximum of where I am living... I say too hot !!! :D

And I read another piece of news a while back about a 8th standard student shooting one of his classmates dead... I am wondering if this is just a start of many more such incidents to happen... I hope not... God please :(

Walking Around Shooting Things...

I have been walking around photographing the Brit Capital these days...

Must have walked atleast 30 odd kms in the last two weekends... I end up very tired when I call it a day, however there are some reasons to smile about everytime...

I should mention that I have been going to the British Museum every weekend for the last three of them, and I think will go there again atleast 2 more times...I am in love with what all that place has to offer, its like the entire world under one roof...

As of now enjoy the pictures below, I shall have a dedicated picture post about the British Museum sometime later....

And this is Abhishek... Thanks Bro... London is no less than home because of you !!!

And whoever thought of having the TAJ with the Bombay Mix ...

Hope you enjoyed watching the pictures as much as I enjoyed clicking them...

God Bless...

the interface to emotions

No software is complete without a decent interface... I know of so many applications that failed miserably because the users did not see the interface that would have helped them get the feeling of what the application was capable of... 

As people, as consumers the interface is very important for all of us... 

I remember in one of the workshops I had attended a few years back, we talked about how every interaction that we have with any one is like a transaction... where someone is the customer and the other one is a provider... and that did make sense to me then and it does make sense to me today as well... 

Ok, coming back to the initial point... the interface.. so in every transaction I feel that an interface plays and important role... 

So does how and what we express... our emotions, our mind, our heart is the application running at the background and our expression of those emotions and thoughts is the interface... 

having emotions, having feelings, having thoughts is a complete waste if we don't express... 

a lot of times our eyes speak... 

a lot of times our actions speak...

and at times we do...

and if nothing of the above happens, I think we only increase distances... which at times become so large that it becomes impossible to bridge them.. no matter how hard we try !!!

Let the HEAD be where it should be...

We have a total of X minutes with us to live, out of which we all would like to give Y minutes to work... which is very very important because
work gives us money,
work helps us sustain the standard of living that we like to live or to reach closer to the one we might want to, and
a lot of other reasons like
work helps us reach closer to that stage where we reach a certain level of maturity and see things in the right perspective most of the time, or that
work helps us unwind...

we all have different reasons to work and spend those Y minutes...

and in and for those Y minutes,
~ We plan everything just right or would atleast like to strategize it right, after all our companies earn money if we do things right...
~ We ensure that we have a certain level to meet everytime we do something... we cannot mess up, can we? we would be thrown out of work or someone else who can do things better would get this profile or the next one we are aiming for...
~ We give it our heart and soul to ensure that everyone who is looking at our work or is getting effected leaves with a good impression of our effort...
~ We look forward to things happening and reaching next levels at work, in maturity, in hierarchy, in composure, in sense and all that...
~ even if cannot handle it anymore, we live those Y minutes and manage somehow... so what we have to skip our lunches, and we don't have time to even drink water the entire day... work comes first...
~ Even if getting up is the last thing we want to do, we do and log on to the conference call in the middle of the night...
~ So what there is a backache, we still manage to get up and get going...

and then there is a X-Y amount of minutes, which we label as personal life...
~ We tend to ignore the planning part
~ We can do a lousy job of it because there are no standards to meet, there is no competition, there is no annual appraisal after all... there is no one who will throw us out.. and even if things get bad, we assume that we can take care of that, WHeN THE BLODDY TIME COMES... as of now we don't have time to deal with it...
~ We are too tired to give our heart or soul to it... and have no option but to defer things that might be important... oh com'on there is that important meeting at work... I think about that or this issue?
~ We look forward to things, but have that amazing capability of keeping them at the back seat or tuck them away under the blankets because there is a business suit that is waiting for us that moment...
~ We get angry with our loved ones !!! why the fkk can't she understand that I have a headache !!! God, I had such a hard day at work, and he has to pick up this topic right now !!!
~ Ignore ourselves... Let me just take a painkiller right now for the backache... will see if I can see the doctor over the weekend.. and that weekend never comes because we were too lazy to get up on the only day we get an off...


What are we trying to do? Could I please know it one more time? I lost myself somewhere back there !


I realised that I did not even hear my thoughts because I was listening to music a li'il too loud... I don't even know what I have written up here...
but let me tell you these sony headphones(MDR G42) I got are worth dying for... amazing bass I get in them... nicey nice...

and its too funny trying to rub your own back and put some balm on it... How come the hands don't reach exactly that place where the pain is? anyway... I shall try putting some balm again and sleep before this backache kills me and stops me from getting up in the morning...

And here is All Star singing...

Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Back to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

p.s. The picture was taken on a recent visit to the British Museum in London.. amazing place

Just felt like bringing all the smiles together :)

Just felt like bringing all the smiles together :), originally uploaded by ~OM~ ॐ "FoTo-SoFiCaL" Bhardwaj.

Review : Dyson Website

Keeping places clean is an important thing, both at work at homes for obvious reasons... One we don't like walking around on carpets which have dust in them, neither would people who work with us for us or the customer's who visit our shops or stores or the people who work in that corporate building that we are the service providers for...

What comes in handy is Vacuum Cleaners... and let me introduce you to one of the most beautiful Vacuum Cleaner brand I have seen so far, Dyson... The best looking designs, which look good even if they are kept right out instead of tucked away in the closets, and work like magic too and that too at very competitive prices for the quality they offer.

When you visit the Dyson website you would now be greeted with a brand new website, with ease of browsing and loads of important information. Go, wander around the site, read about what you want and what you need, pick a nice vacuum cleaner for yourself and order it online if you'd like to be delivered to your doorsteps...

The range of vacuum cleaners includes the Upright range, the cylinder range, the handhelds in addition to the parts and Dyson Genuine Accessories, not to forget the amazing Airblades which dry your hands in half the time as compared to the rest of the hand dryers.

The website also offers assistance on searching for the right Dyson for yourself in case you have some allergies, if you are a pet owner or you are concerned about the weight of the equipment or its storage.

Once you have bought the product, you would also be able to register it online and get support in case you have been facing any issues, chances of which are not too high though :)

All in all, a great product with the right support right from selection to use to maintenance... worth it !!!

small words big message

Mom sent me this poem today in email... :)

एक चिडिया के बच्चे चार ,
घर से निकले पंख पसार ,
पूरब से पश्चिम हो आये ,
उत्तर से दक्षिण हो आये ,
बोले देख लिया हमने जग सारा ,
अपना घर है सबसे प्यारा

:) :) :))