Just About Everything

Wishing all a very very Happy, peaceful and prosperous new 2009!

There are friends of mine who need someone...even if they need to go to the bank.They find it very odd to be doing things like shopping, eating in a restaurant or any other errands on their own. While I prefer to do most things on my own. Especially shopping, unless i am with a person who is very like-minded. That's because If I have ten things to buy and I have someone with me who just needs to buy a couple of things...it would really be insensitive of me drag that person along for everything. Unless of course that person really enjoys it...for most people it becomes boring. And I would not be able to shop at ease either...'cause I would be thinking if the other perosn is comfortable giving so much time to me. It is indeed a pleasure to get company whenever you need depending upon the situation...eating out...watching a film together...but if one can't function without company..life can be tough. What do you think?

Afternoons have always been very blue for me:( Since I was a child...the thought of afternoon would depress me...i guess it dates back to the days when I would come back from school and have my lunch and then do my homework or get some sleep. (Not necessarily in that order) But both the tasks were not my favourites of course. Play was certainly not allowed:( I remember looking out of the window and waiting for evening to set in...when everything would feel good...there would be activity (I guess for me activity translated to play) ...and the crows would stop their "caws""caws" at least for a while (the sound would depress me always!) After so many years, afternoons still has the same effect on me. At work I barely realize the onset of afternoons so it does not matter. But when I am at home and if I am alone with no books to read or any good films to watch...I again get into afternoon depression:( I like mornings, evenings and nights a lot but afternoons...i don'...

Bandhavgarh National Park is situated in Umaria, Katni districts of Madhya Pradesh.It is around 164 kms from Jabalpur (rail head) . The national park is beautiful....There is a fort up the Bandhavgarh hill. The fort is said to have built about 2000 years ago.We could not trek it:( We barely had time but maybe next time... It has been a while since I went for a trip to a national park, the last one was early 2007 and this trip was a year before that...but what a trip and a half that was! We stayed at the White tiger forest lodge of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation forest.Great accomodation and good food. It was a very short trip. Just about 2 days ...and guess what? We sighted the Tiger on the 2nd day. Infact there were two tigers... I still remember the moment...we were sitting on an elephant and we had to go off the main road and inside the jungle.... I still get goose bumps just thinking about that moment...what magnificant creatures!

Last weekend we had a wonderful time dining out at Kewpies. we were celebrating a special event and my eldest brother in law decided to take us out for dinner. It was pretty late almost 9 pm...we decided to take a chance and drop in to Kewpies. We were extremely lucky, we found a table for 6 without booking in advance! Kewpies offers traditional Bengali delicacies. We ordered non-veg thalis and since two of us were vegetarians we ordered some yummy vegeration preparations as well. The non-veg thali included-Luchi, rice, kasa mutton, dab chingri, aloo dum, pappad, chatni, fish fry. For desert we opted for -nalen gurer rossogolla, mishti doi and misthi paan. Vegetarian dishes were great too - yummy mochhar dalna and delicious cholar dal. The food was simply delicious... It was served on earthern ware...very ethnic...the ambience was great...lovely paintings...beautiful furnishings..very warm and homely. We had a great time. And most of all the price is very reasonable for the quality of ...

I love this poem - The Life That I Have The life that I have Is all that I have And the life that I have Is yours The love that I have Of the life that I have Is yours and yours and yours. A sleep I shall have A rest I shall have Yet death will be but a pause For the peace of my years In the long green grass Will be yours and yours and yours. --Leo Marks

It is with great pleasure that I host the carnival of Healing #163. The Carnival is a weekly round-up of personal blog posts on the topics of holistic health, wellness, spirituality, and self-empowerment.It is managed by About.com's Guide to Holistic Healing, Phylameana Iila Desy. Whenever I feel negative or depressed, I get a lot of inspiration from the affirmations, articles, and valuable advice posted at the Holistic Healing of About.com by Phylameana lila Desy. I feel there are a lot of people like me who could benefit from the information and advice present there. I begin the Carnival with a poem that has inspired me always.This poem is by Rabindranath Tagore who was a Bengali poet.He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.This poem is from Gitanjali (Offering of Songs, published in English in (1910) Where The Mind is Without Fear Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narro...

On the 8th of this month, I will be hosting the Carnival of Healing . Carnival of Healing is a weekly round-up of personal blog posts on the topics of holistic health, wellness, spirituality, and self empowerment.

May the festival of lights bring joy, happiness and prosperity to you and your loved ones. A very-very happy Diwali.

Some more beautiful Durga idols from Kolkata.

Some absolutely awesome Durga puja pandals in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Posting some lovely durga idols clicked by my cousin Soma.

Durga Puja is an auspicious occasion which is celebrated in various parts of India, and predominantly in West Bengal. Basically the festival celebrates the victory of good over evil. Durga Puja is just around the corner. And Kolkata is buzzing with activity. People are completing their shopping and they have just two more days to go before sasthi (05.10.2008). The face of the goddess remains covered until the unveiling ritual is performed on Sasthi - the sixth day of the moon. That's the day when the puja festivities begin in full swing! The puja will continue till Dashami...that is thursday (09.10.2008) Everything is so lively and colourful! It is also the time when families visit each other and most of their time is spent in the pandals...every day begins with Anjali (offering prayer flowers to Ma Durga) followed by bhog. Bhog is a sacred food offering to Ma Durga. It is known as Khichri, made out of rice and pulses, a mixed vegetable preparation that is equally delicious, pappad...

I noticed something about myself today...It has been ages since i wrote...i mean wrote and not typed... Even if it is a few lines, I type it out or copy- paste and the take a print out... Today I needed to write a few addresses and my printer was not working... I took out the pen...and started writing.Gosh! I was most uncomfortable...I somehow managed to form words...My once upon a time okay handwriting looked like as if an insect had been dipped in ink and made to crawl the page! I was most alarmed! I have decided to write something everyday using my pen and not the keyboard. Lets hope I can stick to that!It is amazing how lazy my muscles have become...they refuse to cooperate...and I am to blame:(Between the computer and the mobile, I have not needed to pen down anything in ages! Are any of you noticing this too?

I had clicked a snap of the sunset from my mobile on the 31st of December 2007. This is how it looked from my office. Had completely forgotten about this. Chanced upon it today.

My trip to Sikkim was one of the best trips that i have had since a long time. Me and my husband went to west Sikkim and were really mesmerized by the beauty of Sikkim. Serene, peaceful, green...I got a generous doze of fresh unadulterated oxygen:) Time stops and one can't have enough of Sikkim. We felt rejuvenated after the trip. Sharing some snaps from the trip. Have a wonderful weekend.

I love fridays....always... The days ahead will be lazy, hazy a little crazy but a weekend nonetheless. I have loads of shopping to do....we have a festive month ahead in Kolkata Though it gets difficult to navigate with people everywhere...but there is so much of energy and I don't mind being part of it sometimes at least. Where I live is a real busy place and well one just can't stay depressed for long. You just have to come out of your home and there is so much of activity...hot street food...like samosas, jalebis, rolls...sweets and loads of stuff! Its fun. Everything feels festive.

Sometimes... well all the time...I feel time is flying and I have so much to do..... Places to see....things to do.When will I do all those? I want to visit Europe...especially Uk countryside, Paris, Venice,Nice... the list goes on. Want to visit some places in USA as well. New York definitely... I want to own a BMW. A red one! Wow! Gotta Run...too many things to do...

We had a long weekend ...3 days off ! Me, my husband and my cousin took off for Vedic village,35 kms from Kolkata. My cousin, Soma is an avid bird watcher and well we went equipped with our binocs and camera etc etc.. Though I am not a birder myself...it is rather difficult not to participateand i guess one gets into the mode...I realized i quite enjoy it actually:) Vedic village is a spa resort with the Indian countryside flavour. The route to Vedic village was lovely. We crossed nice little villages...lots of green, nice ponds...the monsoon magic was at its fullest! The whole effect was magical. The greens were visual treat for us. We are quite starved for greens and water bodies and... Vedic village itself was a wondeful treat. the resort is very nicely done...with a village theme, thatched roofs,earthy tones. Was really impressed with the whole set up. After a look around and a sumptuous breakfast buffet we set off for home. We were feeling very happy...it was wonderful to have spe...

I am just about to celebrate another birthday and it struck me that i won't be celebrating it at my parent's place:( There was just another time when i was away from home on my birthday:( Am i feeling sad? Yes, maybe , don't know... No big deal I guess... I am just cribbing. I think I have been very lucky to have my family around always. I have had a very protected upbringing. With lots and lots of love and pampering. My parents have been really great to me. This birthday I want to thank them for giving me this life and for loving me so much.

There are some people who can be compared to houseflies...they are not wanted... they make your life miserable and yet they thrive...and how well...

There are some very special sweets that are made at almost every home in Bengal. It is so special 'cause it gets prepared only in winters. Winters are so far away:( And I am yearning for those. They are knowns as peetha. Gokul peetha, patishapta, pische pooli etc etc. Actually I am missing my Grand ma:( Missing those Summer holdays...grandma's love & indulgence and lots of fun with my cousins My Grand ma used to make delicious peetha. I wishI had learnt from her. Now she is really old and barely manages to move around because of her arthritis. I really miss her:( I remember in my childhood days...she used to smuggle some extra for me always...I did get a bit spoilt...Whenever my favourite sweets were made, I always got preference! Wow! I just simply love dreaming of those days... She lives in another town with her Son and his family and well...i think it's time to visit her. Maybe it is time for me to indulge her! That would make me very happy.

Our office Air Conditioners are very special... Half of us get frozen to death and the other half get fried to death!!! So you can see two kinds of us.... One lot wears wollens and the other lot would be happy to strip:)

Last weekend was the "Holi" weekend and we had a three days off.What fun! Had a great time playing holi, having plateful of absolutely delicious food, especially home made sweets!Yummy. What a nice weekend it has been. It is wednesday and I still have a hangover! Oh! would love to have wonderful things to celebrate about every weekend.

Today on my way to work, I saw a cart puller.Nothing unusual about it...till I noticed something else... He was pulling his cart and talking on the mobile...quite possible... And he was telling someone that he has sent me the information over email and he should check it and get back to him. Picture this... a very busy market place with vegetable vendors pulling their carts and then this conversation... I was awestruck!

This morning my mobile started misbehaving.I could receive calls and make calls but The problem was ...I could hear the person i called ...but no one could hear me:( I tried calling different people from different rooms, inside the house,outside the house but nothing changed. There was full network but I was unable to talk to anyone. I decided to do the obvious. Log in my problem with the mobile operator.I called their helpline and patiently went through some of the automated recorded messages and then I was connect to the live operator who said hello and asked me for my details. I reciprocated and started giving my mobile no etc...but there was silence. There was a pause and the guy repeated his greeting again and I started trying my level best to reach him in my loudest and clearest voice possible... Very politely while trying to control his anger, he said that since no one is bothering to speak up, he was ending the call. He thought it was a crank call!!! I felt stupid, frustrated, ...

My very first post.... Today I could not remember the name of the manager who used to manage a Paying Guest house in B'lore , where i stayed for a couple of months.The obvious thing for me these days is to quickly search in google:) I usually find almost "Anything under the Sun" out there. I realized for some things we still have to depend on our good old memory or at least one real person to find this kind of info:(