Its midnight here, Im working on my assignments, all due within a span of 10 days! and look whats running in my head.
It all started with Bala asking me to play the classic "Adha hai chandrama" ; he dozed off (no surprise here) midway and I had a reason to go on working with beautiful melodies in the background ( Rafi & Kishore can keep me smiling w/o coffee for hours)
As the night grew, the songs came to a point where Silsila hit the Que and I curiously googled Rekha.
Heres where I share my secret, my ever alive desire to look like Rekha or atleast be mistaken for her ;-).
The infamous affair between big B and Rekha was obviously everywhere, with this fresh in mind, I watched the video on You Tube and could not help but grin at the sizzling chemistry they potray so naturally on screen.
It permeates so much that I had to stop myself from feeling so bad that a couple that incinerating could never be together!
I solemnly confess that I would not, absolutely not have felt bad if B had dissolved his marriage to be with you know who!

Babies galore

Such a beautiful time for so many of my friends! Ive had this nice chain of mails with healthy babies, beautiful names and happy moms and all my very good friends.
So far Ive had 2 nephews and 5 nieces!
I guess its like 3 or 4 years ago, when the same bunch of girls announced their engagement and I got to attend some of their weddings too!
I wish the very best for them, wish them many happy, gurgle filled, stinky diaper days ahead!

Names so far Ive remembered and loved;
Neil, Nishka, Vibhavari
More being added...Pranet, Ojas, Manasvi.
A whole new generation...

" Solitude "

There's something about Salt Lake downtown that makes me smile even on a cold day!
Today evening, I got off one stop behind and decided to walk the last 2 blocks to our apartment.
There is this beautiful cathedral on the way which has always beckoned me but Id never had this urge to get in though! Today, I decided would be the day to explore this. I walked in with a little ambiguity as I didn't know if they allowed everybody!
Two doors later, just as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I found myself in absolute solitude.
Ive always had this complaint that my mind has a hard time to get clear and no matter how peaceful the surrounding, it has some damn thought lurking in the background.
Well, this evening I had no difficulty in achieving that. This cathedral was so captivating with its ambiance and this strange quality that is totally unexplainable that I found myself lost in some spell!
Now on, every time I hear the church bells ring, I'll get to picture that moment of solitude.
This case, its going to be every 15 mins, when in my apartment!

( Will post a picture sometime soon )

Its snowing here...and about time too,
Last few days were nothing but a bad dry spell with yellow haze and dark mist masking the mountains and the valley. This got young moms worried that they would have to bring up their precious lil ones in this grey city!
I was once in B'lore, worried about the same thing; was worried how worse my beautiful city could get before being labeled unfit for living? I now am convinced its the same thing everywhere, as long as there are Hummers and no one pooling their SUVs.
Having taken 2 courses on sustainibility, I have become a little more than conscious about our environment.
I hope everyone makes one effort every single day say, use Public transport or bike to work....public transport is fun, trust me I do it most of my days and it gives me time to think, read my books and observe people!
Id love it if anyone who reads this ( please read me ) drops in a comment on how they, in their own special way help our Earth!

I just have to talk about Vals....
It was one of the best experience I had, ever!
This is a place I definitely want to take Balu to amidst all the other places I visited w/o him this October.
Picture this scene from your patio - morning mist clearing just enough to give a peek of the absolute GREEN mountains!


Well, things were not this simple...it so happened that my room mate Jenna,( I got along so well with her) and me decided to get up at about 7 ish to hit the "Therme"
http://www.therme-vals.ch/bad/index_en.html
we didnt have an alarm so we decided to rely on my instinct/built in alarm that had been working like...what do I say? CLOCK WORK!
So, the morning came and my alarm went off! I checked my watch and I saw 8:30! wow, so my alarm didnt go off right after all! anyway, I woke up Jenna and we were a little sad about the time as at 10:30, the therme opened to public and the ambience wasnt just the same!

It was only after long long soaks in the waters and then some more after that and then some more, did we realize that it was 8:30?? so what time did we get in? and what time did we get up? how we laughed after that, anyway we having had an advantage of an early start and extra time at the spa, felt so rejuvenated ( I finally know what it feels like)

The spa itself can bring you back to life; grey walls of stone, naturally varied temperatures of spring water; all the way from HOT to pretty HOT to WARM to COLD!
Personal favorite being the hot water which opened to nature, a large pool of hot water that had openings framing the mystical green mountains of Switzerland.
The skies, the air, the views almost everything about the place screamed of purity.
This pool was shallow enough for non-swimmers like me to wade in and rest my back on the walls and stare eternally at the beauty around.
Everybody in the Therme respected silence voluntarily, somehow as if noise would disrupt the beauty we were a part of. I now knew what "Tranquility" meant.

A hearty breakfast at the spa, then I set off on my own, I walked along the river, stopped so very often to sigh at whatever I saw.


I walked through the village, catching my breath now and then, reminding myself to write about everything I saw. The fact is no matter what I say, what adjectives I use, I just cant even get close to describe what I felt or what I saw.

I knew that Switzerland is beautiful, thanks to the umpteen Bollywood songs and movies showing it, but nothing, absolutely nothing can do justice to the beauty you can feel there. It hits you like a sledge hammer, makes you want to just keep going on. The beauty pulls the ground beneath your feet, and yes you do fall, fall into some abyss that is still breathtakingly beautiful.

I kind of feel like Ive eaten too many sweets after reading the above said...so now I stop and let the photographs do some talking, lest I make the whole experience overwhelming for everyone!

Break time!

Technically, this was my first semester as a full time student!
and boy, was I a full timer or what! the schedule I had was tight and the subjects in hand were phew, tiring...but worth every sweat and tear ( many of the latter)

I kept complaining to Balu how I wanted to quit, how I missed the Law & order marathons, the re-runs of all my favorite sitcoms I had watched a zillion times already! and the non-stop snacking at whatever I laid eyes on!
Well his reaction, as you can imagine was "whats wrong with her?"

But now, having done with them all, and when I get my marathons and reruns for as long as I want....all I can say is "I am loving it"
I love getting up as late as I want, eat anything for breakfast, for as long as I want, not having to cook lunch, eat leftovers ( Oh that's another long topic to discuss) junk, junk and more junk...and hot tea on a snowy afternoon with Parle-G. I hope I dont get used to this for long for my next semester starts in 2 weeks!

Diamonds are not always girls best friends!

Just so that my clothes fit me when Im back from a 2 month vacation to India, I decided firmly to forgo the most important element of my meal......BREAD.
A huge (understatement) fan/devout/consumer of this simple thing, a fetish of mine for ages, and I stopped having bread for about a month just to help my so called diet go full swing.
The results, yes it did help but that is not the point!
Today, on his way back from work, Balu stopped by the bank for some official work and my fav Great harvest bakery is right beside. He got a whiff of freshly baked bread and without thinking twice, paid a prompt visit that was due for so long!
He surprised me with 2 loaves of bread!!!!
To me its like getting home a hand crafted Birkin bag or a pair of red hot Jimmy Choos.....well, Id like the latter too, but this gesture gave me such joy that I had to be extra sweet to him.

ps;People who find this silly have NO idea how much I like bread........and I'll finally get to see my niece come Wednesday!