hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.. back after a long time.. i guess even the few readers i had would have disappeared by now.. hehe. shameless i am.

hopefully there will be a little more activity on my blog now... following up on the post i did about the proposal and the ring.. obviously there is gonna be a wedding.. pretty soon.. probably sooner than i expected. probably not. so much speculation and discussion..

its exciting and scary at the same time.. wow!! am i rushing into marriage.. am i doing the right thing?!! life is going to change forever.. Everything's gonna change.. wow.. WOW!!! wow.. its just so overwhelming i dunno what to say.. or what to write. i just hope i have enough wisdom and maturity and grace to handle everything well.

planning a wedding is going to be real fun. hopefully i'll post most of it here. even more fun is going to be planning the honeymoon!! :D

another exciting event of the recent past is me turning 25. so i have 2 reasons to be called aunty now. sumitra aunty. yyew. haha. hmm.. time's just flyin by like that. kinda sad about all the good times that have passed.. excited about the good times to come... hopefully there will be many in store for me!!

hi peoples.

im trying to keep up with my resolution to blog every sunday. so far so good.

hmm.. what should i ramble on about this week??? hmmmm...

prolly something i've been thinking about for a while now.. just something that's been toying around in my mind for a few months.. all the stuff about global warming and stuff..

im not sure how to write about this topic.. coz usually my topics are all stuff that originate in my head. or during the course of my life.

i dont want to pretend that im a big environment enthusiast or power saver or anything like that. i know for sure that im a definite polluter of the earth and i probably shamelessly will be for the rest of my life. sad, not funny. i know that too.

sometimes i feel guilty. sometimes i feel i just cant help it. my lifestyle just demands i do a few things that are not friendly to the environment in any way at all. but sometimes i look at the people around me. and i realise im not so bad. i see people who will never turn off lights in any room at all. who will insist on using a/c in cabs inspite of the lovely weather outside. who will spend thousands of rupees on electric bills just because they can afford to. and be proud of it as well. who have not powered off their PCs in months and have no plans to do so. who will use a car to travel short distances that could easily be covered on foot or public transport. then i dont feel im so bad.

but that doesnt stop me from feeling bad. i feel bad at how oblivious we have become. how less we care about what happens around us. how self-absorbed we have become that we have no time to spare to think about the world around us. we spend so much on escaping to beautiful locales and getting rid of stress but we never realise that we have to play a part in preserving all the beauty. true, resorts can replicate a bit of nature, but nothing can replicate what is natrual and god-made.

i dont mean to get preachy. something else in me tells me that all this has happened sometime, a long time before. and all this has to happen again. history repeats itself. we humans do not learn from our mistakes.

something destroyed the world before and something will again. perhaps the end really is near. perhaps this is how things have to be. perhaps the levels of selfishness, evil and terrorism will reach such levels that living here will be not be possible anymore. perhaps the earth will explode or implode, unable to bear the burden of the parasite that is the human race. or it may just break down and cease to function like an old, used, abused car.

okay, so now i sound freaky. and some people refuse to believe that global warming even exists. changing perceptions is indeed something unbelieavably difficult. even if perceptions change, old-habits die hard.

what's my point, u ask? what am i trying to get at? honestly i dont know. im pretty confused about it myself. but in the meantime, i do try my best. here's some of the things i do on my part, whenever i can:

• i always always switch off my monitor/pc/laptop if im not going to come back to it for more than an hour.
• i dont let water simply run down when im brushing or washing my face.
• i dont use a shower, i use a bucket and a mug.
• i make sure that taps dont leak and are properly closed.
• i use CFL lamps at home.
• i dont use the a/c when i know i can live without it.
  
• i dont use any vehicles when i know i can walk.
• sometimes i walk a short distance before i take an auto to go somewhere far.
• i dont leave appliances plugged in when they are not in use.
• i always switch off lights, fans and all electrical appliances when they are not in use.
• i try to use cooking water to water plants instead of throwing it down the drain (eg. water used for washing vegetables, rice, etc.)
• i avoid using plastic bags, bottles and paper cups as much as possible. where ever possible i carry a cloth-bag and water-bottle from home. i use washable spoons instead of plastic, disposable ones.
• i dont use chop-sticks. ( i cant even if i wanted to :-))
• i try to research and find out what other small, easy things i can do on my part.
  

it's nothing so great. but i know im trying to do my part. atleast i make an effort to. another part of my part would be to try and create an awareness. but im skeptical about how many people would be willing to follow these. or if they would even be interested. i know people who are extremely lavish when it comes to polluting the environment.

im not perfect. and i know that very well. i dont like creating a hype or an image of a very environment-friendly person. that would make me a hypocrite.

i just try my best to be a responsible citizen of this world. its not too hard. and it doesnt take too much of my time. just a bit of concious effort.

if all the educated people of the world tried to do this, probably we could make a small difference. probably preserve the earth and its natural resources for a few more generations to enjoy.

or we could just be this way and see the world deteriorate under our excesses and exploits. it wouldnt really affect us in any way, just the next generations to come. we would be dead and long gone by then anyway. why bother.

its just a choice really. we could preserve the beauties of this planet for centuries to come, or save a lot of money for our decendants with no world to enjoy it in. incidentally, saving power, gas and pertol also saves money.

its just a choice, really.

delicious hobby

i'm taking cooking lessons. from my mom and my grandmom.. its been my sunday ritual for the past month or so.. and im learning some nice south-indian dishes, esp. from my granma...

its really fun to cook actually, but my mom says i feel that way only coz its the beginning.. after a few years i'll get bored of it. that's probably true. but for now, it is a nice feeling to cook something different every week, and my family is waiting for what im going to make the next sunday, there's a discussion around it, there are some requests, frantic searching for ingredients, old notebooks with recipies scribbled in some unfathomable language.. its a fun event.. i get to take a break from the week-long regimen of "healthy-food".. and i can make out the family really enjoys it and looks forward to it as well. it kind of makes sundays into fun, family days.

i guess its true that the happiness of a home largely depends on the woman of the home. how well she maintains it and provides for the family. i mean, men can be responsible in terms of earning money and stuff, but when it comes to a happy, homely home.. its totally in the woman's hand. no offense to feminists, but im kind of proud of this talent that we women have.. and i think that we should really rejoice it. i know its hard for working women, to juggle everything, but i'd certainly like to give it my best shot.. until i get bored of it like my mom says.. haha!

another great thing about cooking is that its fun to cook for people who really enjoy eating. its like, if u try 10 different varieties, but the response is the same everytime (no response), you really dont feel like it. but for people who love food and appreciate a variety of flavours, its really worth the effort. cooking is a kind of service.. u dont cook for yourself, you never really cook for yourself. or even if u do, ur heart isnt in it. when its for someone else its always more fun.

so far i've learnt the following dishes:

• bagara baingan - this is a nice brinjal gravy dish i learnt from my grandma. but its a little tedious.
• china rice - again from my granny. sounds unusual i know, it think its her own invention. everyone in my family absolutely adores this dish. really yummy.
• sodhi - this is a typical south indian dish, its a kind of stew with vegetables cooked in coconut milk.. absolutely awesome. learnt it from my mom.
• vangi bath - or that's what i think its called. rice with brinjals mixed into it. i think its a kannada dish but im not sure. i love it.

going forth, i'll try to post recipies of some of the nice dishes i learn along with pics. hope it would be useful to somebody..

Long time no blog.. i've gotten unbelievably lazy.. well not anymore. I'm going to make it a point to blog atleast once a week.. i think.. hehe..

i think i've got writer's block again.. plus im not well today.. i think i slept for the longest time ever.. lets see.. i went to bet at 11.30 last night and woke up at 2pm this afternoon.. that's 14.5 hrs. well, no i haven't broken my record which is 16 hours of non-stop sleep.. mmm.. i'll never forget that.. it was the best sleep ever..

i dont feel like i sound like myself for some reason.. i think its the writer's block.. no inspiration and no ideas flowing..

i think i'll try again some other time..

It was a saturday evening and they were bored. Bored of the usual routines of weekdays and weekends. She wanted to try out something new.. do something that they didn't do often.. something outdoor-sy. He wanted to do something spontaneous.

They decided to meet the following morning. He was to pick her up from her place. They had no idea what they were going to do.

He picked her up as decided and stopped the bike a few miles away while they thought about where to go. The weather was amazing and too good to waste indoors. They were all in for some physical activity, and also something not too fancy. Exploring the city and visiting old monuments had always been a long-postponed-thing they wanted to do together. After five minutes and some quick decisions, they found themselves heading towards Golconda fort.. he hadn't been there since he was a kid and she always had an interest for places of historical importance..

A long, lovely drive later.. they reached their destination. The lovely aroma of corn-cobs roasted on coal (or charcoal.. whatever) greeted them and they had to have some to complement the weather. It felt simply amazing. As they entered the fort along with the other average sunday sight-seers, they could almost sense the long lost grandeur and magical old times associated with the fort's boundary walls.

They decided on not engaging a guide, but exploring the fort themselves. They bought a small book about the place that was also a map which told them that the place was almost a 1000 years old.. They were amazed at the architecture and the sheer intelligence and craftsmanship of the people those days. They talked about how it was a shame that all that wisdom was never passed down to future generations.

As they steadily climbed up the hill through the fort, they marveled at almost everything that met their sight. She was lost imagining how the kings and queens of yore would have lived.. and who might have walked those very pathways just a several hundred years ago. He was busy figuring out how the fort must have been planned, where the secret passageways could have been and how the water storage and circulation system was planned. They shared their thoughts and had a great time reaching the very top of the fort where there was a small temple.. and then a biradari where the king would come up for a view of the country side. They climbed to the top of the biradari and stood at a window looking down on the entire city.. and how beautiful it was from up there, with the cool breeze blowing.. they could almost here the king's musicians playing old sufi music on a lazy sunday afternoon....

They started their walk down-hill in high spirits.. She made up a story about their unrequited-love of a thousand years ago.. how she was a beautiful arabian princess who visited this fort with her father, and he was a tax-minister at the fort and the only person who did not look up to admire her beauty.. eventually they fell in love and were imprisoned for life, as the world did not understand their love. He looked at her seriously and said that to him she is an arabian princess right now. It was cheesy, but it made her feel good. They held hands and went skipping down the stone steps. She slipped once and sat hard on her bottom and they had a good laugh.

They were now entering the area where the king and queen's bedrooms were built and on the way they found a place that looked like an ancient courtyard.. rectangular, with beautiful arches in the walls and stone steps along the sides. It was empty and she suggested they rest there for a while to get away from the crowd and catch their breath as well. He agreed.

They went in and sat on the steps, drank some water and talked about the fort for a while. He asked her if she liked this place, and she said that she did, very much. Then from nowhere, he whipped out a pen and a notepad and said that he wanted help in putting on paper all the things that he felt for her, all the stuff that he had difficulty, or did not know how to express. She said that she would be glad to help him and suggested that he could start of by listing some of her qualities that he liked a lot. He went on to list a page full of nice words like caring, loving, understanding.. and so on. She stopped him and asked what all these words meant as they were general words used on any person. He then took the time to explain how he saw each of those qualities in her and how he felt that he was incredibly lucky to have her in his life. He went on speaking until she realised how well he understood her and there were tears in her eyes. There were some people coming and going in to the courtyard, but time seemed to have stood still as they were lost in their own happy world.

He said that having said all this, he had something to give her. He took out a small green box from his pocket, held it before her and asked her to open it. She felt excited as she opened the box. To her surprise, she found a long red string in there. It was confusing.. what was he trying to give her? He smiled, tied the string around her left ring finger, and held the other end in his hand. He asked her to close her eyes and try to feel through the string what he felt for her. She did feel an incredible bond and a close connection between them. Then he asked her to open her eyes and look up at the pretty clouds.. as she was doing that, she felt something slide through the string and onto her finger. She looked down and saw a diamond ring glittering on her finger. She looked at him in shock and surprise and he asked her if she would marry him. She was speechless for a minute and then she said yes. It was the happiest moment of their lives. They were so happy that they dint even think to hug each other. It was just so happy.

She had realized that the one person who understood her better than anyone else was asking her to be his wife. What more could she ever ever want. He was saying something about the significance of the ring and the diamonds and what he would like her to think every time she looked at the ring.. but she wasn't listening too well. She was so overwhelmingly happy.

After a while and some more talking, they decided it was time to leave. As they got up, she asked him why he chose this place. He said it was so full of rich stories and he wanted their own story to be linked with something that was etched in history and time. She asked him where he got the idea of the string and all. He said he saw it in a movie and liked it a lot.

She thought it was cheesy.. But it made her feel awesome. :-)