A picture is worth...

..... A thousand Words! Heres ma this weeks pick from hubbs pic collection!
 

This beauty decided to land on ma breakfast counter n was possibly hurt, so parked itself there for sometime! The photographer in ma hubbs coudnt hv asked for more.... N there he we nt berserk clicking pics in every possible angle! Heres another shot...

Linking this upto Color Deckors "Thousand Words"... Indeed this pic does talk a "Thousand Words" (N more) of beauty dissent it!!!

To New Beginings.....

Today is the day I bid one of ma work buddy cum close frnd goodbye as she leaves the place to explore Betta options.....A singer(opera), a dancer, the strangest combi of tomboy -n- girl-next-door -n- A diva, A gr8 cook (n a a betta bartender), Personal chauffeur(lol).......All term that describes her to Tee!

The last few years for her hv been anything but tough.... The biggest lesson one could probably learn from her is how not to an adversity take over ur entire life; How you can still smile at the face of never ending problems; How you need not be projected as sad-soul in front of all not-so-well-meaning acquaintances .....N just for records, forget being called a 'Sad-Soul' she was regarded as one of the 'Non-Accessible-Hot-Chicks' on floor!! Haa the look on the faces of men nee boys(well even ladies too... But yea so tht u get it rt the intonations there are diff :-D) as she pulls of with aplomb the dresses which would jus border on 'bOLD' ......

N look at the game of fate, Shes staring off this new journey not jus @ work but well after hving thrown outta the window a few personal baggaes thts been bogging her down....... Heres hoping that this step leads her to a new tomorrow full of happiness, promises, hope, joy and  a Complete 'Home'.... Go ahead sweetheart, You are done with all the troubles in life... Now let the celebrations Begin!

Back to Basics...

... @ Basic Halli!

Lets get the facts rt at the outset.. Shall we? When they say 'Basic' they mean 'Basic'(V Basic).. So if u head there expecting a village experience while still being lapped in all luxuries of the day then sorry this is the wrong place! Sample this to know what am talking... A tent with a mat, bed sheet, air pillow comprises ur living quarters, When darkness sets in the only source of light would be the camp fire or one of those strong torch lights (Keeps the insects - flies away ~~ Makes sense in a village!) n of course no Fan(Can get pretty ho in the afternoons!)

Now tht u got these 'basics' rt lets head to the more-than-basic fun u could hv....  A huge hammock(actually a strong net over a water tank) that can easily accommodate 4-5 people ~~ The best place to lull around in morning n evenings with a book in hand n let the gentle breeze from the water n the canopy of trees to put you to sleep(Bliss!)

Take a long 2 km walk (with a few Shepard's n lotta cattle for company) till u reach the pleasantest n most peaceful lake(I tell yea it redefines peace!) ~~ U can go boating on bamboo rafts or still betta take a quick dip in the clean natural waters(will beat any swimming pool1)

Take along lotta marinated meat (or veggies if u prepare) ~~ N toss up the yummiest barbecue dinner!!!!! (Well something to keep u occupied during the dark hours of evening ~~ Scroll up to top to know why its dark; Of course u always hv the backup option of huddling around the campfire n yapping away to glory!)

Pick a few 'Organic' Veggies from their backyard!

N best of all feast on the yummy yummy yummy Ragi Mudde - Upu Saaru (Trust me it will leave u licking for more!)

Of course not to forget the warm company tht only a pet can guarantee!

All this at a mere 70 kms from Blore ... A nice weekend getaway huh :-D

All pics courtesy hubbs :) (ofcourse except the ones where hes the subject)

The Depth at which a seed should be buried....

.. Should be less than the diameter of the seed!

Howwzzaat for a freebie gyan! Thou the sherlock-Holmey me does wonder what should be the depth if the seed is like oval in shape???

N na before u wonder if I hv taken to gardening.. well well you couldnt hv been wronger!I got this piece of gyaan courtesy Mr. Anand of Basic Halli! Yea yea thts where I was headed to this weekend :-D. Promise to review that soon.. In the meantime hv a glimpse of the sunset clicked there... pic courtesy hubbs ofcourse!

Linking this upto Color Deckors Weekend Wrapup ~~ Go on look at what others were upto this weekend!

wHAT qUALIFUES FOr ExcLuSIVE sCreeNing?

... Does a movie screening for jus two of us qualify under "Exclusive Movie Screening" ?? Don believe me? Read on...

Hubbs happened to get a voucher courtesy a frnd for free movie screening of "Men Will Be Men" @ PVR. - With it being ages we landed in a cinema hall we jumped at the chance(c'mon! its freee n  with a added bonus of Pepsi-popcorn too) and landed up all excited there afraid if we were a little too late! N as we enter what do we see?? Jus another couple in the entire movie Hall(!!!! N I hv ma doubts as to their intent behind landing there.. If u still dint get it lemme give u a few liberal hints - "Privacy", "AC Hall", "Darkness" are all the key words :-D .)

So how was the movie? Well well this huge turnout is a yardstick in itself aint it :-D. Haa by the time the movie ended only we two yea jus we two braved it thru!! Exclusive aint it :-D

Weekends!

A quick hop-n-stop visit to cheenai, Eating Out(Emu meat anybody), site seeing(even thou the scorching sun makes u curse urself for coming up with the damn idea!) n the best of all to discover the story teller in your FIL ~~ To see him literally do a ROFL as he entertained us with stories from his youth ~~ Priceless Memory!

BTW Does cooking up delicacies for u qualify under 'Pampering' (Me the Foodie ofcourse!)... Well well it does for me esp when the 85 year old grandma of hubbs wakes up at an unearthly hour jus to ensure that ypou don miss packing it up((even thou the practical-me says the reason behind the delicacy was to ensure no food is wasted)

N before I forget the magic of long drives ~~ the drive between banglooru n chennai is about 4 -5 hrs... Jus long enuf without sapping u out ~~ By end of the drive u r relaxed n somehow all problems in world seem surmountable!

So heres to a happy week ahead!  Leaving u with a pic of the place we hopped by around cheenai ~~ Mahabalipuram.... To imagine all this been etched on a rock years ago!!

Linking this up to Colordeckors weekend wrapup!

Stories oF Life - I

Once upon a time long long ago... almost a 100 years ago in a small village in Kerala lived a young girl ..... She was  bought up v lovingly by her uncles as her mother had bid goodbye to this world and they(uncles) decided to take upon themselves the bringing up of this girl(Also something to do with the maternal system of Nairs in Kerala). It was one of those families on whom the fortune was then smiling bright... So the little princess would be carted on palnquins\horse carriages to the scholl everyday... But to her credit she didn't let all this pampering get into her head. Instead she went onto become one of the first graduates of her village (n possibly one of the first ladies of her generation?)!

Now soon the princess grew upto be a young lady of marriageable age.... Imagine the hue-n-cry the uncles would have raised before finding a suitable suitor for her... afterall she was their only Apple-of-the-eye! The search went on far n wide n soon they found somebody who they thot were equal to her on all respects.... a postgraduate a good century ago was a rarity and he was thus deemed the lucky one! So started the new dawn....

The prince charming was indeed Mr. Charming... A well read scholar who went onto become a financial advisor to many known personalities of Indian govt\politics, A sutradhaar of Indias Five-Year-plans... But basically a dreamer, an idealist... A dreamer for whom the daily living was immaterial.. Who deemed running the country's financial wheels more important than teaching his son to fly a kite or to bother abt his childrens schooling(It was rumooured that he dint even know which scool his chikdren went to?) ; A dreamer of a new dawn, a idealist n a staunch communist who wrote off his(n wife's) entire ancestral property to the communist party!

The  princess(remember the story is abt her?) thou had little to complain abt... she was still leading quite a comfy life resting on what was then a plush, vast bungalow (Rented thou it was).....

Before I proceed further, take a min n think of what kind of lady u think she is...... A brave lady who thou has seen the best of life is now ready to fight it out for a husband n his idealism's? Or a born-with-silver-spoon(which somehow generally translates to being spoilt) and so cant-be-bothered about the economics of daily life... Somebody who  is  happy letting the hubbs do what he wants as long as she gets her bread-butter, a big house n all luxuries?????

Hmmm give it a thot until I come back with more on this.....

The Tuck Shop.....

Imagine in a far off countryside(ok now now tht was too wide a stretch of imagination) tucked into a hole in the wall is this warm, bright, lively place..... A place where as soon as you step in you are more often than not offered tea\coffe\water.... Where the walls are painted with cheery lines, flowers, slokas.....A place where you will see a group of ladies guffawing over much cheer n banter on clothes....  Where you are encouraged to try on different clothes n are gently guided to discard the fashion disasters(Me me me!) .....A place where you can exchange you can walk in with ur dabba(filled with rice n fish curry?) n walk out with a 'fav dress' that you been eyeing for sometime..... 

So go ahead guess what am I talking of? Did I hear you saying possibly a frnds place? Hmmm now what do i say? Tht you are right n wrong at the same time?

Ha cause am talking of  'The Tuck Shop'(Yea thats the name) tucked into a bylane near Varathur Lake! N nea nea theres no element of exaggeration involved in my above description! Sadly I don hv any pics to show off(except for the one from thier site)... Butt hop onto their site to hv a glimpse of the place(Thou gota say the site doesnt doesnt do any justice to the place!). Are u still wondering abt the 'dabba' part.... Ha thts the bartering system(yes yes the same one we read in our history books!), go on visit the site to know more....

Pic coutesy Tucksop.in

I will leave u with a line that greets you as soon as you step in...."Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture your heart"

:-/

What do u tell a frnd who seem to be going thru a bad patch in her marriage as well as career(The bad times don knock... they just barge in dont they) ........ when her confidence, her outlook on life is all changed! While she was somebody whos was never confident of her looks but hearing her say that only if men gawk at somebody is the lady considered "Pretty" is an all tme low :-/ Mind u am not talking of a twenties something whos overwhelmed by a thousand changes in life... A lady whos already had her fair bit of struggles in life, whos fought against it all to emerge a winner ~~ A person many look upto who was going great guns in her career ~~ She was a counsellor, a friend, a mother-hen all rolled into one!

While I still think the fighter in her will see her thru, I hope she doesnt end up tattered, bruised and Scarred!

Behind Every Smiling Face....

Every happy face fight a problem of their own

There was something abt the pic n its caption that captured my attention and sunk in deep into my heart! Ha couldnt be a betta parody to the challenges in life than a beautiful flower which makes people go awww in its beauty  while in reality its fighting a battle of its own against those insects eating it away......
 
Ofcourse its a direct lift from ma hubs blog ~~ Things of beauty need to be shared ~~ Don ya agree :-D
 
Linking this to the Thursday Challenge!

The Tharvaadu Memories!

A blink-n-u-miss it hop n stop visit to ma home in Gvr @ Kerala! But the one thing tht won go off ma memory for sometime is the soul-satisfying trip to ma tharavadu(ancestral home) there... A place I got to linger around after almost a deacde... A home tht is almost dilapidated but still holds  my  happiest-n-most-precious childhood memories! Ha the joy of relieving them with ma hubbs, sis n little niece.........

The Memories  of stepping into the dark-n-dingy rooms that still holds the aromas of fav foods, Of long corridors where we cousins would huddle around my grandma as a Jackfruit was cut open (N the fight tht followed to get the bigger share), Of the ammi-kall(Grinding Stone) where the yummiest of the masalas were hand Pounded, Of the afternoons spent in picking the Mailanji( mehendi leaves) from your own backyard and making a paste n the best part of it all ~~ having ur cousin come up with magical designs that adorn ur hands, Of the Thulasi-Thara where the lamp was lit every eve as the holder chants 'Deepam Deepam', of the eve prayers tht were recited at break-neck speed to catch the next game of whatever, of the monsoon rains(rain in kerala hv a charm of their own), Of the  sooty kitchen where the food was prep over the firewood-coconut husks, of the afternoons spent in splitting open the cotton husks which made the fluffiest of pillows n beds........ Of knowing that you are loved ..... Haaa How I miss those days!



My Tharavade ~~  A place that holds  my  happiest-n-most-precious childhood memories