Pitru paksh-To remember the souls of dead

In India, everything seems standstill during 15 days of pitru paksh(nobody buys anything new, or starts something new..everything is just postponed)…if we had to remember some dead THINGS instead of people in the past..i could think of these…

1.      Black and white colour TV- TV must be in its 3^rd generation now(from black and white to LED)..i was fortunate to c coloured one..pics must be so still without the colours.

2.      Orkut- my introduction to social networking(or shall I say networking..).i did nt have net friends..(friends were people I have met) it gave guys a playgroud to hunt for their crush on orkut..send her request..c her pics..(with a click of a mouse.)I was in college by then..and nt having orkut account was being backword..everyone was there..(infact in a race to being popular..the people who will just smile at me in the colony where sending me requests..just hi friends..)..coming back to subject.what do we miss about orkut..was it privacy..u had ur friends and shared ur pics and experiences with them..it was not adductive..we did nt have notification..now we cant live without notification..to find out who is commenting on whom.

3.      Post office- it is not dead yet. But nobody writes letter these days..why to waste time when we can have instant talk or chat..there was charm to letter..sometimes people talk more honestly and logically when they r writing..they can be free about some topics which they would talk abt in person..(on chat people do talk nonsense too..)

4.      Row house(vada,havelli).-I miss my old house..it was built in 1930..it had wooden balcony and flooring…It was connected(I m nt exaggerating..it had 20 rooms..and around 2 doors for every house..and my fav varanda..we had so many childhood memories there..in a building structure, everything is small..u don’t see ur neighbors that often unless u poke ur nose in their house..

5.      Rasna, pepsi cola and pot ice cream- summer drinks..it was hard to imagine summer without rasna..we used to decide what flavor we should buy this year.(I used to vote for orange and kallakatta.)..my mom always used to keep check on me..( I was allowed to drink 2 glasses in one day)..for her it was just sugar, water and flavor( zero score on nutrients value)..

With the introduction of soft ice cream, pot ice cream lost its popularity..i remember my uncle had bought pot ice cream machine..it fun to create ur ice cream(the best part was it was unlimited..) we had great ice cream parties( mango flavor was the favourite)

What r the things u want to remember from the past??

It better to be late than never..

This does not mean that u should be late (nt meant for filmstar.) ..for all my friends be on time.. don’t use this on me..

Wanted to c if I have used this in my life..(ya sirf textbook mein accha hai)

1.      My fear of swimming (nt because of water..but costume..dont have figure like priyanka chopra…lol).i must have applied for swimming class couple of times(always full of excuse..no time.. will get tanned..we live in India where guys want fair, beautiful and good looking girl.. who can ignore fairness creams) with all the distractions how did I end in  swimming pool.. my girls trip to nagaon put me in sea with no swimming skills..pretty bad situation..the next thing was survival instinct..now I just love it.will be doing scuba diving towards end of this year.

2.      Giving my cs exam and law degree- freak..i almost died when I saw my syllabus..could not get the jargons..my friend used to actual do a workout with my heavy books..lol..i though it is not my cup of tea..but still started studying..and it did nt taste bad.

3.      Enjoying time with friends- this might not be expected in the list.. but yes it is..college days were magical, enjoying with friends and studying ofcourse. But things changed after corporate life started. Everyone got busy..more working hours and less friends time. It hit me when best friend got engaged..it was late to spend time together…she was gonna settle abroad..those four months were best..we had n number nightouts..we danced till 3 in morning..had some crazy discussions(we were so loud..thank god nobody complained about us)..most memorable was karoake session..we did not bother about the people in the mall.(I am sure they thought we r crazy..) we were singing songs, dedicating to each other..the whole mall could listen to our singing talent.. (god bless them all..lol)

4.       My first trek was real booster for me..i thought I could do trekking.. the feeling of  on top of mountain with no electricity, tv and books(just your co trekkers. it was great..it was nt like big boss..everyone helped and cooked..with a gud experience I went for night trek from katraj to sinhgad..we climbed almost 10 hills in one night. This was big achievement for someone who has recently climbed one in DAY light. Night trek took my breath away literally..i had bruises..but did nt give up(c I did nt lie abt my fighter spirit.) I must have started trekking late in my life..but I am still continuing with it..one step at a time..

5.      This has to be a life lesson which was taught by a friend(why did i  thought of sharing it..I have thought that someone who reads this might get something out of it)..jealously can ruin everything(even best friends)..i have seen people fight, argue even kill each other but never thought a friends can be so jealous about other..why would a friend send threatening sms to her best friend?  It killed their relationship..very sad and disturbing..

what have u done late??

My bucket list

Things to do before I turn 27

One of the inspiring and thought provoking movie (the Bucket List) is a must watch (before u r 30)..lol.it is never late than never. I have jotted down very simple things, some crazy stuff(adventure for me).to put it simply things which r back of my mind(but it is just that i have not taken efforts towards it) so here it is :

1.      whats is in ur bucket list? do share it.. if u r inerested in doing any of the above things..do get in touch with me..

1.       Climb fresher rock climbing wall

2.       go to garbut point@ Matheran- with BAAN hikers on 31st July 2011..

3.       Get scuba diving certificate(PADI certificatation)

4.       Go for river rafting- done 23rd July 2011.

5.       Participate in swimming competition(should be able to do all the strokes)..yipeee..can do all the strokes now...

6.       Cycle tour

8.       Visit to kas(flower valley)

10.   Climb kalsubai(highest peak in sahyandri)

   go to Everest base camp

11.    Visit Ladakh and spiti valley- http://www.spitiecosphere.com/index.htm

15.   Learn to drive a motorcycle

16.   Donate blood(made an unscuccessful attempt..did nt qualify due to low homoglobin level)

17.   Visit national Park and live in a tent

18.   Visit Golden Temple

19.   visit  Anandvan

20.  do volunteer work(teaching or helping around at school for mentally challenged kids)- -i should not have put this at the end...it has just broaden my perspective and made me appreciate simple things more...
21. to fall in love and get married(to find my best buddy as my partner)

Girls trip to Nagaon(Alibaug)..Part II

After quiet time at the beach, we headed back to our hotel with a smile on our face. It did not last long as dips started to feel unwell. We could see that she had fever. But vanita kept cool and did not panic..We prayed that it will be well in the morning. And it was. We woke up pretty early (considering no one is morning person..that was strange. i guess it is just the charm of the place which keeps u awake to soak in all the beautiful things nature has to offer..).A morning walk was what we needed the most. It gave us fresh start..

We had delicious poha made my owner’s wife(she insisted that we have breakfast…but we getting super late)..After munching on hot poha(made of Rice flakes from local rice mill has different taste to it which we won’t get in the processed food in malls). We took directions from the villagers about the tuk tuk stand(tuk tuk, sitara is a six sitter vehicle used by villagers to reach their fields and markets. It is always packed with people and never under 10 people in it. We got a ride upto revdanda. We could get some nice shots from the tuk tuk of the parallel sea shore and unnamed palace.



Unamed Palace

Murud Janjira Fort

We had to struggle to catch tuk tuk from revdanda to Murud Janjira fort. We convinced one driver and hopped on a tuk tuk.

Murud Janjira is also a sea fort (I did nt pay attention to the guide..so don’t know much about the history..i think the guy was just bluffing..but we still paid coz he was good in selling his tour..tourism helps the villagers to earn their bread and butter. The guided tour was not heavy on our pockets. )

We took a ferry to the Fort (it was sunny and windy.. which helped us to reach faster).

How do start i describing the fort.  We hardly got 1 hour to explore it(tried to c as much possible)..We were told that it had village inside a fort(we can actually see the ruins of the houses). The fort has a  lovely lake too(but it has not been maintained properly..u can’t see the water lying beneath all the weed) the best part was the tunnel from the fort to the shore(it is closed by the Govt now..i can’t blame the govt for it..unless we become responsible to use it properly..it is risky to allow tourists to see it..

One thing I just can’t digest was the display of love everywhere on the stones and gateways, doors.(is this way to show your affection to your loved one..why do they have to write their names??)

After reaching the highest point of the fort, we got awesome view of the fort and village. It was around 12.30 already and we had to get back to our hotel to catch ferry. We grabbed lunch at local restaurant and were ready to go to hotel.. but we could nt get any tuk tuk(had to wonder for 1 hour on full stomach..)

Luckily, one driver agreed on high rate(but we did not mind at all) he dropped us at our hotel(considering the afternoon struggle to catch the tuk tuk..we told him to wait..we ran to our room(packed every damn thing that was lying on the floor and varanda).

Finally we reached Alibaug @5(hush….)but to our surprise all the ferries were booked and we got 7 pm last ferry tkt(I was very happy about this coz the night view of Gateway of India and my Mumbai city).

We roamed in the alibaug market. To kill some time eat our fav south Indian Mysore Masala Dosa…

We got into the connecting bus and reached to the manadava jetty..(it looked charming with all the lights). The ride from Mandava jetty to Mumbai was cool ride( the breeze was cool) the Best part was we were having gud time singing and talking.

We reached Mumbai. We have to go separate ways now..back to home..We all started getting calls from parents(it was 8.30)..We hugged each other with promise for next trip..

Girls trip to Nagaon(Alibaug)..Part I

Some geo facts abt nagaon( it is part of kokan region in India- called as California due to its beaches..i would nt like the comparison though..it is just quiet and beautiful village. One can take bus from Mumbai (3 hours journey) or ferry from Gateway of India(cool.. 45 minutes). Enough of geo facts ,time to start the journey. ).

Me and two colleagues(best friends were in need of a  break).eureka..lets go out(nt the usual movie, coffee and lunch stuff). Then where??? Girls trip..(that’s sounds awesome initially..but starts with grueling questions from over protective family(love them. Can’t live without them). We put our proposal of the trip with parents without any place in mind. Had n number of con calls (love this feature..god bless him ,who invented it).

We were back in office at lunch break(when actual brain storming started). We decided Nagaon is the place to go. Immediately shared our responsibility(I was in charge of hotel booking, dips handled transportation (checked all the ferry timings and all..my other collegue was being supportive(poor girl has work deadline...could nt do much..gonna get killed for this..if she reads this ofcourse)

We all started our journey @6 in morning. Boarded train to reach CST Mumbai. We were supposed to catch 8 am ferry from Gateway of India jetty @8. But we got stuck and it was full. We wanted upper deck tkt to get the picturesque view. We finally got tkt for 8.30 ferry. (which gave us time to click picures at the Gateway)



Gateway of India (taken from ferry)



To my surprise the ferry was full(u could see college kids and local people who r working at Mumbai and were going back to their village). The ferry journey was little shaky and fast.  For Mumbaikar 45 minutes travelling time is a piece of cake. The ferry services are cheap and provide connecting bus to Alibaug. We were in no mood to run and hence,we missed our connecting bus and had to wait for the next one in the scorching sun for half an hour.  We finally got the bus, and we immediately started eating homemade yummy food packed by mom(love our mums).

We had no plan of action, until we reached Alibuag. We headed straight to the Beach(which was like 10 minutes walk from the bus stand, which was nt so)..luckily we had time to see the Alibaug Fort( Alibaug fort is a sea fort. U can actually walk or take horse ride to reach there. Considering the high tide we choose horse cart.coz we had only 20 minutes to reach the fort before the water starts to fill in. )

Alibaug Fort is also called as Colaba Fort. The Fort has beautiful stone carved temple and Tulsivrindavan(it is tulsi plan in pot.can be found in every village in the courtyard.




Tulsivridavan







Hardly got time to see the fort. We rushed to the shore. We took a rick from alibaug beach to our hotel in Nagaon. Our hotel was pretty basic but provided delicious food. The Hotel was owned by a Faily they had house in the courtyard.  People in Kokan region r very friendly . After we checked in the room, we were starving. Hotel owner helped us to find a hotel to have lunch .We munched on some Maharashtrian food and drank kokam kadi(which made us so sleepy) that we spend the whole afternoon chit chatting lying on a swing in the backyard of the hotel.

We headed to the beach in the evening for walk but ended up doing water sports. We did some bargaining (put our bargaining skills to test and we succeeded. We managed to reduce the price by almost 50%.) We decided to go with easy ride first which was banana ride.  He took us in the sea and the turned the Boat upside down(and our adventure started. All of us were going in separate direction.  Sceaming for help..what a site that must have been for the people on the shore. But thanks to our life jackets we survived and tried to get on the boat(the trainer had to literally drag us on the boat..lesson I learnt- have spent so many summer bunking swimming class was nt a cool thing.) After i got from Nagaon, I joined  swimming class, now  my  swimming coach has to keep track of time to remind me that I have to go to office. i just love it.(thinking of scuba diving now with my new swimming skills..lol )we  were super excited after our thrilling boat ride. we hopped on to the  other..now this one was bumpy ride(it did nt disappoint us).  My collegue was lying in the middle of the sofa and me and dips had to struggle on the sides. I have nt hold anything so tightly in my life.(except the rope of the Boat. I was cursing my trainer) drank lot of sea water. But We were  getting  excited after every ride. i guess thats why is called as adventure sport.

in the midst of our thrill rides, the sun was setting and we  just thought to spend some quiet time on the beach.

A Girl meets boys

Hey,

Yes u read it right. It is nt boy meets a girl.(the most talk about topic in the world. Be it movies, K serials). It has always inspired all the best selling authors to write love stories. Recently,  I have been following Bade acche lagte Hai serial on Sony (having highest TRP during 10.30 slot). That makes me think what it is abt the serial which makes all the ladies to wrap up their work and fight with their husband for the remote. We simply love being in Love( no wonder shahrukh khan is the superstar). Nobody wants to get into the post marriage story.(look what is happening in Pavitra rishta.) we all r interested in boy meets a girl. Either they falls in love instantly(love at first sight) or r opposite poles.

Now let me share new angle to it. I am the girl in the picture(lucky to have lead role..no casting couch).ofcourse I have girl next door looks(actually thats a tag line on my T-shirt).lol. I have been on the matrimony site for like 1 year now and have send and received quite interesting requests. U c we girls r nt that shallow(the ofcourse comparison is with boys. Who just go by looks.. I can c boys saying thats nt true and I am generalizing.(blah blah!!!) I am different and all) lets face it(nature laws works ). So when a guys open the site, he goes for so called first impression of the girl(her figure, smile and eyes(that is why we have lot of hindi songs on the eyes..tere mast mast do nain, jabse tere naina ..and the list goes on..the only change has been on the focus to education..some credit to guys for that)..boom .. a guy hits request button(liked ur profile.can I have ur contact number..most of them will send u chat request too).

Now I have  to c the guys pic,his educational and family background. (if u find all the things r fitting the slot) go ahead and accept the interest..now the real deal starts..u actually start talking with the guy. Everyone has standard question to ask(all practical ones..just like a business deal. Everyone trying  to protect their interest.) am I missing love there?(that will be too early.but what abt connection.here I m nt expecting soul mate.) pyar vyar to sab kahahi mein hota hai(so the question remains why people read those stories..if they don’t believe in it).

I have been fortunate of meeting some interesting people on the journey. Since I am lawyer let me put everything in bullet points

Guy no.1- The most hilarious was the confusion between the brothers. i had contacted the younger brother and marked CC to his elder brother( now the thing is both brothers  r searching for a girl..who knew that..lol) and elder brother send me his contact details( Iitna jaldi plastic surgery kar liya..that was faster than K serial..it takes them min 100 episodes). It took us some odd 10 mails to clear the confusion.9to find out which one was my guy..)

Guy No.2- the next number goes to a guy who actually send me wrong mail. He was just trying to save time by sending bulk mails to all the girls.(forgot to change the name though).. Poor guy(he got caught).

Guy No3.- the current situation in marriage market is brothers r getting married at the same time(that may be bcoz of late marriage or further studies) now I got request from younger brother ( handsome guy..i replied ASAP ) but this guy had the guts to refer his bro’s details coz he thought I might be perfect match for his  brother.(rab ne bana di Jodi type)

Guy No. 4- this guy was actually in relationship but was waiting for god know what..lol. he was simply looking for backup. But the gud news is he found the his match.(we have shifted from matrimony to FB now)

Guy No 5- now the classic commitment freak guy ( I know most guys r.. nothing different). the best part was that he liked me but did nt want to marry me.(was he interested in Live in then ). From  the day one we started talking , I liked the guy. It was pretty difficult to match the time zones.(but we tried our best). We must have missed our meals and some work deadlines too. But it was all worth it. We were responsible for contributing some revenue to Vodafone too. So the question was  is he the one? Which was tough one(I could nt copy too.) and time was running out.until it hit me when he came to India(to meet one more girl.) I was trying to keep cool(but jeously is girls best quality) how can I stand him meeting other girls which his parents have selected for him..The first time I met the guy I was talking to for last few months. I was really excited abt it. I bunked my office.. got ready and headed to the meeting point.(for a cup of coffee in CCD.i agree with their tag line a lot can happen over a coffee..)..nothing happened(coffee was gud though)..  

Guy no. 6- my first proposed kande pohe programme...(which i refused). this guy's parents were actually going out of town(for a week...lol..i thought they must going out for month or so)..they proposed to have kande pohe programme on weekday(i dont even get time to meet my friends on weekday..)..i was amused with their proposal, they wanted to come to my house at 8 in the morning and gonna leave by 11..it was perfleclty planned as per their schedule..I was missing from it...

Guy No.7- i have got proposal from guys in US, UK(mostly from engineering field).if i have to tell u there expectations.it goes like this- someone who has these qualifications- BE, CA/CS..someone who is bold and can work in corporate world abroard..these people think CA and CS are same professions..just change of last alphabet..(lol).it is very silly to explain them that legal degree is based on the jusrisdiction of the country.(but somebody has to do it...i am doing my bit)..

P.S. search ends here....but new journey begins...

my first blog

what was my motivation to write a blog?- all my friends who were sure that nobody would be interested in it. forget abt interest, nt sure anyone will read it. so here it is my first  attempt. I believe in beginners luck. so if u  read it. please share ur comment.

so u have read the above attention seeking crap. u r nt gonna regret it.(no guarnatee.terms and conditions apply).

just had an awseome day walking in jungle(nt with wild animal but my buddies). Naneghat trek was my first mansoon trek.( and unforgatable too).the place just looks amazing in mansoon. it has differnt charm to it.( u could get the feeling that someone is stalking u. coz we r nt used to listen our foot steps in all the choes of the city). the time passes by so quickly when u realise that u r walking too slowly and got to catch up with the group. (*** very imp- carry extra pair of shoes with U..trust me.u will thank me for this advice. u can carry less water too.hardly drank any..but added weight to my bag..).the best of the trek is the post trek effect on my super  fit body..lol..all the aching and paining which i had to deal with on so called easy trek..lol..i should better shup up to get response.