Love the rains...

And the first thing that comes to mind each time I'm getting soaked is -



The number of times I went through this exercise as a teenager... Heh! A splendid way to enjoy the rains, no?!

Update: (6:45 PM) Another favorite during rains -

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In the last few hours

Scene 1 -
Baba: "Mazha dokka dukh-tay"...
Me: "Kashaani?"...
Baba: "Maahit naahi"...
Me: "Goli ghetli?"...
Baba: "Naahi... nantar gheyil"...
Me: "Hmm"...

Scene 2 - (Two hours later)
Baba: "Me challo zhopaayla"...
Me: "Huh?" (had headphones on)
Baba: (lip-syncing) "Me zhopaayla challo"...
Me: "Oh... Ok"...
Me: "Tumcha dokka banda zhalaka?"...
Baba: (just stares, trying hard not to laugh)...

A second later... all 3 of us are quacking bigtime!

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They can use your help

As usual, I get this from my brother, in my email -

| View | Upload your own

I've done my bit of search and found The International Federation for Red Cross, an easy way to donate online. They're even Verified by Visa, so you can safely use your State Bank, HDFC or other cards to give as much as your heart (and bank account) will allow. Make your donations... without a hiccup!

Have a good day y'all!

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Kudos...

...to this album, to this acoustic-guitar singer-songwriter. Like Heather rightly puts it -

"If you're looking for something to help you heal, no matter what went wrong, go buy this album."

I am my mother's only one
It's enough

I wear my garment so it shows
Now you know

Only love is all maroon
Gluey feathers on a flume
Sky is womb and she's the moon

I am my mother on the wall, with us all
I move in water, shore to shore;
Nothing's more

Only love is all maroon
Lapping lakes like leary loons
Leaving rope burns --
Reddish ruse

Only love is all maroon
Gluey feathers on a flume
Sky is womb and she's the moon

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Finally moved

Drove down airport road for an ice-cream. Passed the last stretch of the airport. Witnessed a quite skyline, a barren flying strip and no improvement in traffic :).

15 long years in this part of town; I miss the sound of planes taking-off and landing. I miss being 'close-to-the-airport' *sigh*.


* Photo courtesy Rajesh Dangi

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Hmm...

I was looking up the meaning for -

"Mangalyam tantuna nena
Mama jeevana hetuna
Kanthe bhadhrani shubhage
Twam dheeya sharadam shubam"

...and I was directed to this page :)!

P.S: Meaning -

"By tying the 'mangalyam' (sacred thread) around her neck, the husband entwines his life with his wife's"

...phew!

Also, I just tried making some Babycorn Masala... YUCK! I'm so sorry, but it really wasn't upto my taste :\.

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Lists

Here's Deepti's post and here's my list -

1. Addendum
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
3. Anna Karenina
4. Crime and Punishment
5. Catch-22
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude
7. Wuthering Heights <--
8. The Silmarillion
9. Life of Pi : a novel <--
10. The Name of the Rose
11. Don Quixote
12. Moby Dick
13. Ulysses
14. Madame Bovary
15. The Odyssey
16. Pride and Prejudice
17. Jane Eyre
18. ATale of Two Cities
19. The Brothers Karamazov
20. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
21. War and Peace
22. Vanity Fair
23. The Time Traveler’s Wife
24. The Iliad
25. Emma
26. The Blind Assassin
27. The Kite Runner *
28. Mrs. Dalloway
29. Great Expectations
30. American Gods
31. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
32. Atlas Shrugged
33. Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
34. Memoirs of a Geisha <--
35. Middlesex <--
36. Quicksilver
    
37. Wicked : the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
    
38. Frankenstein
39. The Count of Monte Cristo
40. Dracula
41. A Clockwork Orange
42. Anansi Boys
43. The Once and Future King
44. The Grapes of Wrath
45. The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
46. 1984
47. Angels & Demons
48. The Inferno
49. The Satanic Verses
50. Sense and Sensibility
51. The Picture of Dorian Gray
52. Mansfield Park
53. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest <--
54. To the Lighthouse
    
55. Tess of the D’Urbervilles
56. OliverTwist
57. Gulliver’s Travels
58. Les Misérables <--
59. The Corrections
60. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
61. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
62. Dune
63. The Prince
64. The Sound and the Fury
65. Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
66. The God of Small Things
67. A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
68. Cryptonomicon
69. Neverwhere
70. A Confederacy of Dunces
71. A Short History of Nearly Everything - SorryMr. Bryson <--
72. Dubliners
73. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
74. Beloved
75. Slaghterhouse-five
76. The Scarlet Letter
77. Eats, Shoots & Leaves
    
78. The Mists of Avalon
    
79. Oryx and Crake : a novel
    
80. Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
    
81. Cloud Atlas
    
82. The Confusion
    
83. Lolita
84. Persuasion
85. Northanger Abbey
86. The Catcher in the Rye
87. On the Road
88. The Hunchback of Notre Dame <--
89. Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
    
90. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values *
91. The Aeneid
92. Watership Down
93. Gravity’s Rainbow
94. The Hobbit
95. In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
96. White Teeth
97. Treasure Island
98. David Copperfield

• Bold - ones I've read
• Underlined - ones I read for school
• Italicized - ones I started but didn't finish

P.S
(*) - ones I liked and would (or did) read again or recommend
(<--) - books on my wishlist

Thanks Deepti!

Here are a few other's I'd recommend personally -

1. Jonathan Livingston Seagull *
   
2. The Day of the Jackal *
   
3. Roots *
   
4. Mister God, This is Anna *
   
5. Marley and Me :) *
   

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Of people & vibes

Baba's enjoying IPL whole-heartedly. He's even got Aai hooked to it. Come 9pm and you can hear him go, "Ahh... this team's out..." or "That's a stupid shot bugger...". Aai chips in with comments too, which is fun to hear!

So a couple of days ago, Ujji asked me why I wasn't interested in cricket and that got me thinking - why? I've never been a cricket 'fan'. Then again, I've been a 'fan' of no game really; definitely not the kinds to sit in front of a screen either booing or cheering a team or person. I guess I'm not a TV person. I'm not even fond of any particular movie personality, now that I think of it. As far as sports go, I've always enjoyed participating in person. I enjoy my time at basketball courts, badminton courts, race-courses, etc. Basically, I like being there, doing it myself. It gives me a 'kick' of sorts; one that seeing someone perform or do the same, doesn't.

I have to agree though, when I do watch some people on screen, they leave behind a 'good' feeling. Ofcourse, not one to make me go buy their posters or watch their every game or movie. It's a few seconds feeling - like sparing them a few thoughts and that's about it. Stefanie was is one of them. More recently (blame this on IPL), Glenn McGrath has been added to this list. Again, he's an old-timer, but it's not his game or his performance that earned him his spot in my list. It's a feeling - a vibe :)!

So there, I've just explained the title for this post.

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Lucky me

I had an episode with my bike some time ago. I parked it on a quite road in Indiranagar, spent sometime on CMH and got back to find it lying flat on the same spot. Not much damage... just the front left hand portion had a major dent. So when I left it at the service center, the guy asked me if I'd like to get that portion fixed. He said I could claim insurance for the damage and I'd get back 80% of whatever I spend on it. I agreed.

I just received my insurance cheque today - a 110% refund... Heh!

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Road Trips

Lack of posts?... Blame it on the roadtrips. First to Pune, then to Munnar. And it's been fabulous indeed! They're doing a splendid job with the Golden Quadrilateral. It makes road journeys all the more agreeable. While Pune trip included visits to relatives, Munnar was altogether a 'break-from-the-mundane'. And what a refreshing break... phew! Here's a glimpse of this beautiful place -

Between these 2 trips we've had a brief stay in Bangalore and Aai was busy tending to her garden. She's got her Ashoka trees trimmed and the place looks barren without them *sigh*. On the other hand, she's had some wonderful blooms too - 

All-in-all it's been a busy yet happy time :)! Now... back to work. Heh!

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