Magical Spell

Memorial day weekend was a much awaited holiday. Excited planning for this long weekend started almost a month back.After going through many options of places to visit, we decided to treat the "child" in us with a Disney Vacation.The Road trip to Orlando, Florida was long winding, entering the state we noticed the landscape was sparsely green, the roads were smoother and when we halted to take a break in a small town, we met a Tamil speaking guy!.

In the two days that followed, it felt like we were transported to dream world by a time machine. When entered the "Magic Kingdom", the whole place was alive and buzzing with fanfare, kids spinning the hoops, vibrant balloons, quaint looking shops selling pastries and ice creams, people of diverse origin engaging in loud chit- chat,on the whole presenting a picture perfect Fairytale World , where nothing could go wrong. Standing tall and dominant, the castle was a cynosure of all eyes, it seemed to further endorse the happy, cheerful mood of the Magical World. The parades and shows beckoned every kid and adult alike to follow our dreams and to fulfill our rightful desires. Fire works were a big feast to our eyes. Technology is put to use, in unimaginable ways in the rides and the experience is truly out of the world. Every nook and corner of the Park is developed with careful attention to detail and every place was worth watching. Encouraging us to be imaginative and to think out of the box, Walt Disney's World enthralls everyone regardless of the age, leaving pleasant memories to cherish for ages

Celebrating "May"- Nostalgic Rewind

Holidays,sweltering summer,ice creams,curd rice-pickles and visiting grandparents, all best portray the month of May for me. As a kid my summer holidays were never complete, without visiting my patti and thatha's place. Growing up as a single kid, the prospect of seeing my uncles,aunts and cousins kept me eager and excited. Days were packed with lot of indoor and outdoor activities. TV watching was sporadic and internet was unheard of in those days. Grandpa encouraged us to play carom and chess, grandma had her own tricks to keep us occupied.She ensured we recited our daily prayers, taught us to draw kolams and always kept our tummies happy, with her delicious cooking.The sounds of banter, sharp hum of the carom striker,trying to keep up with my grandpa's passion to "clear" the board , recurrent creaking of the gate signalling the arrival of a visitor, lingering aroma of the day's lunch, humid afternoons had a remarkable way a of working its magic and often lulled me to sleep.However long i spent my holidays here, it was never enough. The longer i stayed, the more difficult it was for me to return home and my parents had a tough time with that. I was so smitten with the place and people, i literally had to be dragged out of the house.

Though there is a lot that has changed, the charm and appeal of this place has never faded, it has lived with me while i traversed various stages of my life and now into my adulthood. Reminiscing my past, i cant help feel a bit of nostalgia and also wonder what makes this place so special until this day..Is it the people, the house itself or simply the memories..Well, whatever it is, it has never failed to make the month of "May" memorable.

Eureka!!

It's become impractical to spend some time "thinking" on your own. The tv, internet and the cell phones are full time companions, constantly bombarding us with tons of information and ideas. We compulsively seek out to them, quite often when we are alone. I cant think of any part of my day spent quietly, without these distractions. Learning to live with invasive power of technology has become an ordeal. They cloud your mind with sometimes useful, but invariably useless thoughts, that we struggle to come out of this net to engage in some "active thinking". Completely shunning them, is not a feasible way out. But we can consider, cutting off some time away.

It's difficult to make a conscious decision to choose a place to isolate ourselves, but one ideal place i can think of seclusion from the triplets ( tv, internet and cell phone) is the bath room ( well, i'm not talking about people who carry their phones with them when taking a shower)..As ridiculous as it may sound, it's with fresh burst of water from the shower, i do my planning for the day, uninterrupted. The thoughts flow seamlessly, sans intrusions and when you step out, you realize that the entire day's work can be smoothly planned out. Working out a routine day's work at home, preparing a mental task schedule for your work place, or simply indulging in some creative thinking can all be done in the serene confines of the bathroom. It could well be a hub for origin of brilliant ideas and discoveries. So, next time you take a bath, put on your thinking cap and watch out for the "Eureka" moment.:)

What's next?

These days i find myself writing out a big list of "Things to do" in an effort to getting my life organized.When i look at it i can't help, but feel a sense of pride and naivety that it's all done.While i make one list, my mind wanders off to "more things to do", i reserve that for my "Tomorrow's to do list". By the end of the week, with lots of stationery, wasted i realize i still have past week's work to do gaping at me..Weekend goes by and Monday morning it's time for review, so i sit comfortably in the couch with a hope of clearing out the entire pending work. I work my brain to prioritize but in vain, my thoughts scatter and i'm browsing the net to find places to visit for the next weekend. And so, the list remains unattended, as i make "weekend plans" not to mention the vigorous planning for this month's long weekend. My afternoons go by contemplating about dinner plans and when i'm cooking dinner, i strongly resolve to do something about my career and so i jump to browsing the net again for courses i can study.

Juggling browsing and cooking, i'm exhausted, i grab a packet of chips as i munch and revel in the soothing effect of the fried potatoes in my tummy, a wave of guilt hits me as i look at my walking shoes unused for a long time. I convince myself, that i will go for a walk in the weekend. But now, i'm forced to to think of cooking a nutritious meal and i make up mind to introduce salads and sprouts and to give up the fat loaded food..So its recipe hunting time and this goes on not for long, my eyes stray around my neighborhood and what now, i see the rose beds in their full bloom and i dream of making my porch colorful with plants and flowers..I'm back to my good old list of things to do and i put down the plants I need to buy, the fruits , veggies for the nutritious meal that i will be cooking soon and so on..With a fresh list in my hand, i parade around the house beaming with a smile and in the belief "Tomorrow never dies", only to find the "To Dos" growing exponentially.

Hi there!

So here i'm after months of procrastination and telling everyone around me that i'm planning on writing a blog( more precisely, boasting)..i pick myself up to actually get into the act..as i type out these lines, i sit clueless on what i should be blogging about, i decide i should be talking about my new life, in the land of opportunities, i would like to call it land of plenty, far far away from my homeland, India. For those who haven't guessed,( may be i'm poor at giving clues), its Ammeriika( thats how we call it back home)..Well, i got here with a brand new dimension and a tag that says "no longer single"..Of course i'm happy about that..:) and i like the new place too..

As i go-about my days here handling responsibilities as a home maker( which includes lazing in the couch) , listening to numerous tips from my people here on how to be a "smart shopper", cashing in on the discount sale, what to buy and stuff to avoid, its like my daily cup of coffee,i don't know if any of it has sunk in, but i listen ( which is lot different from hearing") , i cant help, but notice quite a few things that are sooo different from India, no i'm not keen on making a list of it, i have heard them all myself from visiting relatives and acquaintances..But i really love to talk about a subtler and profound aspect of this place/people that impressed me.. the way people greet and acknowledge your presence, when you see them or just pass by.

When i visited the mammoth super market here for the first time, the girl at the billing counter, posing a bright smile, asked how my day had been and topped it with "Have a great weekend"..unsure of what to say, i mumbled a good day in return, which she would have barely heard..i say to myself may be she is trained for that, its part of dealing with customers thing...well, it turned out i was wrong, even a random person on the street would wave at you and smile..i have learnt now to at least manage a smile in return. It feels good in a weird sort of way. On a mild introspection i realize we never do such a thing back home ( at least i haven't :()..greeting a total stranger would look outrightly stupid , even dangerous sometimes and more likely a look from the other that clearly spells out "Are you mad"..not to mention that we would even prefer to avoid people whom we know when we bump into them and act as though they are invisible..Well, thats how we are and will be..I'm not ranting about all this, to say nothing is good about India and we need to look to the West and learn blah blah blah...but this is something we could try and imbibe..Let me see if i can do it myself..and i'm starting right way by wishing all those people reading my blog, a great day and a rocking weekend..

Yipee!!..here goes my first blog..eager to read your comments

Until next time