Life is beautiful

Location: Tower Bridge - London

Time: 14:08

Don't know this newly wed couple but god bless them with happiness.

A combo gift

It was a long day and just as I entered my house I found this beautiful set of flowers waiting for me. Now, there is a better reason to remember this day...

:)

Meow Meow

This video is for all cat lovers.

:)

UK mein pehli pehli baar

I wrote this one on Word document on 15th November i.e. on the completion of my first month in UK but was waiting for few other things to happen. One of the most important thing has happened today. I have internet connection a home now, which means I can work, chat and blog from home.

So here is a list of first few things, as demanded by an old friend :)

First friend in UK - Harish, he happens to be my classmate too

First buy - Liquid detergent, after a long search for the cheapest one like a house wife

First Gift - Arthurium Plant, its beautiful



First Indian food - arhad dal and rice at Harish’s place. They reminded me of home :)

First grocery shopping - ASDA, it is a big supermarket

First Chocolate - Cadbury dairy milk with whole nuts,yummmmmmmmmmmmy

First cooking – pasta in tomato sauce, but want to remember making rice in microwave.

First picnic- Warwick castle with friends. This was arranged by Students union.


First shopping- Wind cutting jacket with funny hood from Primark. My friends call me Eskimo now. I am glad I bought this.

First Diwali- It was quite painful to be away from home but managed quite well, went to temple and then for fireworks.

First proper dinner- went to an Indian restaurant on Diwali. The food was quite sad.

First outing- went with two friends to Bradford for a weekend. This was also a visit to first Indian family in UK. A perfect example of a nuclear family of three- Husband, wife and a dog.


First Film- Om Shanti Om, it deserves a separate post but that will come some other day. But it was quite a regret.

:)

Friends forever...

All my best relationships have started with fights.

Vidhi, my sister happens to be my first best friend. What is it that we have not done for and against each other in our childhood. But as we grew up I found my best friend in her. As a child I used to fight with her and because of similar age group there used to be comparisons too. We used to even fight over space between our mattresses :). I remember very clearly the first time I missed her was when I went to Kullu Manali trip arranged by school. I was not used to living without her. Sometime in middle school we came friends to discuss our latest crush, shopping, friends, proposals etc. And now we are not used to living without each other. I am away from home and both of us hate this separation.

Then came my second best friend Tarsheen. This was too in middle school. We were in the same section from Junior school but happened to meet on Kullu Manali trip. We did not know anybody on the that trip except for each other. I don't understand why I went since none of my friends did, but I am glad I was their to meet my second best friend. We fought very well on the trip and the fights continued till many years. The best were the ones we used to have at each others house during a stay. In fact I used to be much comfortable fighting in my house as she had five dogs and my movement used to be completely restricted because of the fights. I remember there were days and weeks we did not talk or sit with each other in school. At the same time I used to get worried to know about her higher education plans in UK. We have come a long way since then. Now, I am not there, the meetings have reduced, distance has increased but the feeling of her presence in my life gives me a sense of comfort.

I found a best friend in my sister and sister in my best friend.

Day one in UK

I landed at Heathrow at 7 am on 15th October'07. There was a long que at the immigration and it took about 40 minutes. Had to meet a Jet official which was arranged by my father and my Daddy arranged a meeting with his friend. All if this was to make sure that me ,the sweet little is not lost at the world’s busiest airport.

So, I met Indrajeet from Jet first. As the name suggests, Indrajeet is an Indian Sikh lady. Her presence right on the exit gave me a feeling of great comfort. By the way, at Heathrow one may not realise that it’s not India. About 5 out of 10 people are Indians. Be it support staff or cleaner or passengers. Indrajeet was kind enough to take me to the National Express ticket booth. She took care of my 5 not very big but very very heavy bags. I bought a ticket for £ 32.50 .Yes that's a lot of Indian money for a bus ticket but had no choice.

Then was a meeting with a person I had heard of once or twice but not with much interest. This was through a common friend. This person was friendly and cold (professional) person, he met me at the common meeting area where I was sitting with my baggage. It was quite funny with him. He did not sit. I did not sit coz he was standing. So he asked me about what I do and why UK for MBA and all that stuff. And within few minutes I was comfortable listening to his conversations. I will call him an open guy. He told me about his parents, his work, his attitude at work, his Sweden vacation plan with girl friend. And above all the cost of living in UK specially with a GF. At the same time he did not forget to mention about future uncertainties with the same girl. I am glad he talked about things I agreed upon and so this long and more or less one sided convo was interesting. I also managed to ask his zodiac sign out of curiosity. Then he had to leave for work and thankfully my wait time for the bus was reduced to only 15-20 minutes.

In all this while my papa and my Daddy called and sms’d few times of course. My bus ride started at 9.20 am. The driver helped me keeping my bags in the bus. The bus journey only and only reminded me of Yash Chopra’s films. English country side is extremely beautiful. Its green, empty and fresh. Well managed traffic, no honking and zero pollution.

After 3 hours I reached my destination, Leicester. The tension began to start here when all my bags were dropped out with me from the bus. I was not capable of picking up one bag forget about four. And that made me think, if I cant pick them up who will think of running away with them. I left the bags on bus stop and went across the road to catch a Taxi. The taxi man was old and helped me with my luggage.

He dropped me at the University but every destination looked like the final one. A lady helped me taking my bags to Students Services. After this I went to meet the faculty as well as other students of the program.

I decided to move in temporary accommodation for which my bags were transferred to a taxi, of course with a lady’s help again. The driver kept everything outside the main door of the building. So every time I reached a new place there was a sense of comfort. Then came David. David is also a student but I am not sure about his university. I don't know if I can recognize him today but he picked up all my bags one by one and transferred them to my flat.
Reaching inside the flat with all the stuff was a different feeling after international travelling, studying and meeting new people. Then I received few very important calls from a friend's friends in UK. All of them made me feel very much at home in an unknown country.

This post is dedicated to everyone who made my first day in UK a pleasant one. Thanks :).

Khajuraho

I went to Khajuraho for a small family vacation. It is best known for its temple and sculptures. Khajuraho being a World heritage site attracts a lot of foreign tourists.





Raneh Fall is 20 Km from Khajuraho.

Ghadiyal Point is near Raneh Fall. Spot an alligator and u will win a prize. There are many ghadiyal's here but they don't come out in afternoon said the guide :) I managed to force him to explain the difference between an alligator and crocodile (magarmach).

Night Sky is a must watch in Khajuraho. I had an unforgettable time looking and smiling at the stars. I know of very few constellations and could not see any in two days because the sky was full of stars. This is where I enjoyed the night sky from.

Then there is Panna National Park, it's a tiger reserve which is 48 Km from Khajuraho. Sorry, I have no pictures to support this one. No luck with tigers of course but managed to eat the guide's head very well :) So much so that he asked me to keep quite and look for tigers instead. Most of the guides have similar stories to say about tiger reserves. If you are there in summers they say come in winters as summers is not the best time to spot tiger in its natural habitat and vice-versa.

All in all Khajuraho is a must visit, not because if its temple but for the feel of the place. No people, traffic or pollution. Infact there were not more than ten guests in the hotel, including the four of us. What more can one ask for :)

Dhoniiii Dhoniiii

What a charismatic smile this guy has....His smile makes him look like a positive man. Mahi, hope you achieve new heights as Captain Indian Cricket Team and spread positive vibes in the team.

:)

24th Sept,07

Now, Mahi will always be remebered as the T-20 World Cup Winner :)

It's all in your response

I try to read HT’s Inner Voice column everyday. Many a times I felt the need of keeping some of the cuttings but did not. From now on, I'll put them up on Vibgyor. So here is an interesting one.

A young woman complained to her mother about her hardships. Her mother took her to the kitchen and filled three pots with water, placing each on the stove over a high flame. Soon the water came to boil. In the first pot she had placed carrots, in the second she had placed eggs and in the last she had placed ground coffee beans. In about 20 minutes, she turned off the burners. The mother then took out the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She lifted out the eggs and placed them in another bowl. The she ladled the coffee out and placed that in a bowl, too.

She asked her daughter to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After peeling the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother fixed the coffee and asked the daughter to sip it. The daughter tasted its richness.

She asked," What does it mean, Mother?" Her mother explained that each of these had faced the same adversity, boiling water and each had reacted differently. The carrot went in hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile, after the boiling water, its inside became hardened. But the ground coffee beans were unique-after landing in the boiling water; they 'd changed the water itself. The message? We can change adversity into a whole new world if we use it creatively as the coffee did.

White n Red

I know this doesn't match well with the colour scheme of this blog, but white n red is an amazing combination :)

Tongue Twisters

Some interesting twisterrrrrrrrrrrrs. Learn them all for your dear ones. Enjoy :)

1. If you understand, say "understand" . If you don't understand, say "don't understand". But if you understand and say "don't understand". How do I understand that you understand? Understand!

2.I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

3.Sounding by sound is a sound method of sounding sounds.

4 .A sailor went to sea to see, what he could see. And all he could see was sea, sea, sea.

5.Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People

6 .If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

7 .I thought a thought.But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn't have thought so much.

8 .Once a fellow met a fellow In a field of beans. Said a fellow to a fellow, "If a fellow asks a fellow, Can a fellow tell a fellow What a fellow means?"

9.Mr Inside went over to see Mr Outside. Mr Inside stood outside and called to MrOutside inside. Mr Outside answered Mr Inside from inside and Told Mr Inside to come inside. Mr Inside said "NO", and told Mr Outside to come outside. Mr Outside and Mr Inside argued from inside and outside about going outside or coming inside. Finally, Mr Outside coaxed Mr Inside to come inside, then both Mr Outside and Mr Inside went outside to the riverside.

10.The owner of the inside inn was inside his inside inn with his inside outside his inside inn.

11.If one doctor doctors another doctor does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does the doctor doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors? "When a doctor falls ill another doctor doctor's the doctor. Does the doctor doctoring the doctor doctor the doctor in his own way or does the doctor doctoring the doctor doctors the doctor in the doctor's way"

12.We surely shall see the sun shine shortly. Whether the weather be fine, Or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold Or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather Whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not. watch? Whether the weather is hot. Whether the weather is cold. Whether the weather is either or not. It is whether we like it or not.

13.Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.

14 .A flea and a fly in a flue Said the fly "Oh what should we do" Said the flea" Let us fly Said the fly"Let us flee" So they flew through a flaw in the flue

15.If you tell Tom to tell a tongue-twister his tongue will be twisted as tongue-twister twists tongues.

16.Mr. See owned a saw.And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw Before Soar saw See, Which made Soar sore.Had Soar seen See's saw Before See sawed Soar's seesaw, See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw. So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.But it was sad to see Soar so sore Just because See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.....

Plant or Flower

This pic was taken in office. Don't know the name of this plant, but it looks really beautiful with pink flowers. I was wondering how we get attracted to flowers and forget about the plant. Are plants all about flowers or much more...

Pink roses...

I was trying to find some details about pink roses on the net but could not find anything that i want to put up in this post. So, here is beauty as it is...

Machine with some life and colour

:)

Heart is also a number game

Aur bhi gam hain zamaane mein mohabbat ke siva...

Read an interesting article about healthy heart and jotted down few important facts. It is difficult to stick to these numbers but then health is wealth :)

Blood Pressure

• 115/75 mm Hg is a deal
  
• 120/80 mm Hg is normal


• 140/90 mm Hg or above is high
  
  Check at least once a year
  

Cholesterol

• HDL is good cholesterol- higher the HDL lower the risk of heart disease. HDL should be 60 mg/dL and above


• LDL is bad cholesterol- higher the LDL higher the risk of heart disease.LDL should be less than 60 mg/dL .

Blood Sugar

• Healthy- 100 mg/dL


• Pre diabetes- 100& 126 mg/dL


• Diabetes- 126 mg/dL
  

Screen age for diabetes is 45 yrs

Body Mass Index

• Healthy weight - 18.5 to 24.9


• Over weight - 25 to 29.9


• High/Obese - 30 or higher
  

BMI = ( Weight in Kilograms / ( Height in Meters ) x ( Height in Meters ) )

Waist Circumference

• 35 " and below is good


• 35" and above is risky

This risk increases with a waist measurement of over 40 inches in men and over 35 inches in women.

But more importantly how can we keep our heart happy? Well , all of us have our ways of being happy but doctors advise:

• Eat Healthy
  
• Increase in physical activities
  
• Avoid stress


• Say bye bye to alcohol and cigarettes


• And try Meditation

:)

Colour of the day :)

Can colours bring good luck? I don't know..may be..may be not. There are colours one can wear on specific days to bring good luck.

Monday - White

Tuesday - Orange, Red

Wednesday - Green

Thursday - Yellow

Friday - Pink

Saturday - Black, Dark Blue

Sunday - Red


WARNING: Try this pattern at your own risk :)


Pink as you can see is my favourite colour and by default I wear Pink on most days. So, according to the colour chart I generally make god happy on Friday and I expect god to understand and respect my choice of colour on other days :) Thankyou God

Chak de..ne chak diya

Chak de India= Indian Women Hockey Team= Jharkhand( Jungle), Mizoram,Manipur(Chinese,Chilly sauce)=South India(Tamil, Telugu)=Haryana(Cow,bulls)=Punjab(short tempered)= Senior players(bossy attitude)=Strong script and direction=Good camera work=Decent editing( except for once or twice)= Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah Rukh Khan( Kabir Khan-d coach)= Excellent acting= Great entertainment=Must Watch

This film does everything that Indian cricket team fails to do. Why cant the men in blue forget themselves, seniority, records, endorsements for the game and for the country. Women Hockey is a dying sport in our country and the film does good justice to the issues faced by players on and off the field.

Go to your nearby local theatre and you will get a feel of watching a live match and over excited fans. Multiplexes of course expect people to behave in a particular manner.

Do not miss clapping/whistling or both on those typical Hindi deshbhakti movie dialogues like :

-Peeche se nahi - mard ho to saamne se vaar karo, Hockey me chakke nahi hote

-pehli baar kisi gore ko India ka flag lehrate hue dekh raha hun

-ache player ki hi achi kismat hoti hai

-silver medal ko gold banane ke liye ghis raha hun

-har team mein ek gunda hota hai aur is team ka gunda mai hun

-rotiyan belne wale hathon se hockey khilwaoge

and many more :)

Daag Acche hain

This beautiful advertisement reminds me of my school days, when me and my younger sister V used to fight with the world for each other. Once, I remember in class 2nd while travelling back home we got into a physical fight with a boy in school bus for window seat. Of course I had good fun beating him up and getting hurt. But after reaching home I cried very badly in front of my mom not for getting beaten up or beating but for V not helping me out once I took over :)

Two,three or 23

Few days back a friend mentioned about the expenses involved in bringing up children these days. Pre nursery schools/ good public schools, toys, study material, clothes and a general good living are difficult to provide in a city like Delhi. She also said that the concept of family planning is not Hum do hamare do anymore but Hum do hamara ek. Her husband makes a hefty amount every month but nothing is enough and the case is the same for most couples living in cities.

But is family only about providing material needs or it is about loving, caring, togetherness...

On the other hand I saw a news story, which I will never forget. It was about Bismillah and his wife Noor, they live in a remote village of Haryana. They have 23 children; a double cricket team is what they call it. And obviously they are not even aware of the old family planning concept forget the new one. The eldest child is 24 and the youngest is only few months old. The children never have to go out to look for friends and enemies of course. This family is not blessed with the best of financial resources. Whatever little Bismillah gets home is spent on food and clothes for girls yet they are very happy in there own way. In a one minute interview that I saw of Bismillah and his wife not even once they mentioned about how difficult it is to bring up 23 children. They say they have enough love to give.

Tiramisu-Heaven in mouth

The first time i enjoyed this Italian delicacy i din't know its name. Then months after that I was looking for some Italian recipes for a cookery show shoot and this was one of them. During the shoot we faced hundred technical problems and after going through the long boring process of making it I was quite disgusted and finally after the shoot I was almost forced to try it infront of the show producer and the chef. This time the look was very different and so was the taste i.e. much better than what i tried earlier.

In my research I got to know some interesting facts and was very impressed by its name. What's in a name? lets find out:)

It is an Italian dessert with coffee and liquor-soaked layers of sponge cake alternating with mascarpone cheese and chocolate.

[Italian tira mi sù, pick me up : tira, pick, imperative of tirare, to pick, draw + mi, me + su, up.]

Some claim that it was first created in Greece during the First World War. Women made these desserts for their men to take with them as they were being sent off to war. They might have believed the high caffeine and energy content of these desserts would give their men more energy to fight and help bring them home safely.

A less glamorous theory explains that the dessert was a way of salvaging old cake and coffee that had gone cold by using the leftover coffee and perhaps some liqueur to moisten the dry cake. The dish was greatly improved by layering it with cream or cream cheese.

Now everytime I see it on the menu card I cant resist it. Tiramisu at Big Chill is a must try. And when its infront of you on that plate saying pick me up! there is no reason to not to :)

On Love

The greatest disease is not TB or Leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine,but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love.

Mother Teresa

20072007

I like to believe that all days are auspicious enough to begin new things. But my brother Anuj made me realise something very interesting about today's date i.e. 20.07.2007. I have started writing on the blog today and so for me this day is very special :)

God's child

These are a feet of a pre-mature baby boy who was only 8 inches (pen size) tall at the time of birth and is now healthy like other kids of his age. Thank god