Lifes Little Pleasures- Hampi

Camera timer Zindabad!!

Two friends who are as different as night and day , who have stuck by each other through thick and thin for over a decade now, who share a great love for Bollywood and a bond that proves the statement 'opposites attract'. Take these two friends and send them on a super spontaneous trip to Hampi and what you get is an experience of a lifetime.

• Sticking our noses on the window glass and peering out at 5am to see if Hospet had arrived. Getting completely distracted in the process and starting to talk instead about how cool it would be to own a coal mine.
• Arriving in Hospet and inaugurating the trip with a picture of a three legged doggie and two vadas.
• Trying to get information from our auto driver about Hampi in between all his marketing strategies.
• Finding the most peaceful place to stay in.Mowgli Guest House. When we crashed at our breakfast table, saw the view of the paddy fields and the river and felt the cool breeze on our faces, our trip was already made.

View from our room!

• Our super cute waiter Roshan, who forgot our orders a lot, but flashed his smile at us and we were OK.
• Realising that a TVS 50 is the most popular means of transport in Hampi.
• Marvelling at the ruins, imagining how life would have been when people had a bath tub bigger than my entire house.
• The cute little battery powered vehicles which took us around, all driven by women.
• Having the freedom and the time to not care about what time it was.
• The pleasant hike up to the monkey temple, and the little monkey tugging at my pretty pink water bottle.
• The family that sang Hanuman songs all the way down from the top of the hill. Making us wonder if the children would still do it after they were older.

•  Being shocked by the blind faith of our people as i watched them drink water from a dirty mossy pond with plastic rubbish floating in it, just because it was in front of a temple. Sigh!
• The Mango tree cafe, best watermelon juice ever, killer view, delicious momos and endless conversation.
• Not having train tickets to return and having to take a bus( my worst nightmare).
• Watching Cocktail in Hospet to kill time (Bollywood love, remember?). It was like being in a time machine, where tickets are sold from inside a tiny box, the refreshments counter(they had onion rings) opens only in the interval and you can sit anywhere in the theater.
•  Listening to the crowd whistle non stop through the trailer of Ek tha Tiger. Amazing the appeal Salman Khan still has.
• Coming out after the movie and finding Shikhas worst nightmare come true. Rain. Torrential rain.
• Barely making it to our bus on time but squeezing in the time to buy Peda that is being made in a particular store since 1933. ( We are Bollywood loving foodies actually)

It was such a lovely trip, as the monsoon infused new life into everything around us, Hampi renewed our friendship and made us realise how much the friendship means to us.

Tamil Glorious Tamil!!

English is the language Im most comfortable with, people tell me I look Punjabi, but im a Tamilian and my recent trip to Sri Lanka and hearing the lovely Lankans speak Tamil reignited my love for the language.

Today, in the quest for some music to my ears I searched the title track from Kannathil Muttamittal, with beautiful lyrics, each word tugging at your heart strings, an outstanding song sung by the lovely Yesudas starring my favourite actor in Tamil cinema, Madhavan! Its everything I could ask for.


 As soon as I think Tamil songs i think of the glorious voice of Vedanth Bharadwaj, I had the good fortune of hearing him sing live! I had goose bumps through out!! Time and again I go to his site and listen to him sing Ennama thozhi, a lovely song about a lost little doll!

Any one have any other recommendations for me?

Tagged

I have always loved to read crisp, witty, fun prose and I started blogging simply to hone my skill at the same. This tag by P has helped me go back to my very first post and find out how far along the road I have come in 3 years. This tag comes with some rules, which are given below and further down is my attempt at this lovely tag

The Rules are:

1) Blogger is nominated to take part

2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category. The links are:

– Your most beautiful post

– Your most popular post

– Your most controversial post

– Your most helpful post

– A post whose success surprised you

– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

– The post that you are most proud of

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 or more bloggers to take part.

4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers.

My most beautiful post: Hard to say for me, but  there are two posts which still give me the warm fuzzies when i read them. They are The Queen of my life and Truly Madly Deeply. Two posts full of love dedicated to two very precious parts of my life.

My most popular post:  Based on the information I with great difficulty found on my blog (Technologically challenged creature that I am) Good Old Days was the most read post on my blog. Lovely to know that the thought resonates with many.

My most controversial post:  Well I dont write about current affairs and mostly try to keep my posts breezy so I guess the only one I can put into this category is For Gods Sake. Unleashed in me the grime witnessing Chartered Accountant.

My most helpful post: I have absolutely no idea, though I hope it was Penny Wise Pound Wiser or Go Planet

A post whose success surprised me: Musings of an aspiring Yogi surprised me in the number of readers it attracted. Didn't expect too many people to be interested in my yogic journey so to speak.

A post which didn't get the attention it deserved:  What a way to wanna be , my very first post. I would have loved more women to read and share their opinions on the subject.

The post that I am most proud of: Namaste Nepal. I love this one because it just effortlessly sprung out me! So moved I was by the experience that was Nepal.

Now the more fun part, my nominations

Aishuwarya Sudarshan: A blogger I admire. Love her style in writing and in fashion. Would love to know what she feels about her blogography.

Parth Jhala: Blogger, Photogrpaher and Cricketer all rolled into one. His blog has been silent for a while. Looking forward to read more.

Vishnu:  Havent read many of her blogposts but would love to know what she would like us to read and share.

Pee Vee: I read her blog posts quietly without commenting. Love her ease with humour.  Looking forward to her blog highlights.

Finally a word of thanks to my dear P for sending me on this nostalgia trip!!

Sri Lanka.. A land like no other!!

For a country ravaged by strife and natural calamities, the lovely Sri Lankans are the warmest, most genuine people I have ever come across, and despite the immense beauty of nature that my senses feasted on, the people are what I hold closest to my heart.

Seven women, ages 55 to 20 embarked on an adventure to this spectacular country and heres what we encountered:

• Colombo Fort station:- Beautiful, colonial, mostly wooden construction. As we sat outside the station, after unsuccessfully trying to book tickets to Kandy, contemplating taking a cab, a stranger told us of another train that we can take that would cost us a fifth of the taxi fare. A person who loved his country, eager that visitors feel the same way as him.
• Arrival in Kandy : Sevana Guest House is run buy a fabulous woman Shakuntala. She opened her doors and her heart to us.
• Looking around Kandy : The winding roads of a quaint little hill town,the women police officers in skirts, the glimmering Kandy lake and a million bakeries. Believe me when I say my nose was leading the way.
• Nuwara Eliya:  Astounding natural beauty. Tea estates as far as the eye can see, incredibly pretty flowers growing by the side of the road, luscious fresh veggies and fruits stacked for sale at street corners. This was the Europe of my dreams.
• Horton Plains National Park: A nine km hike through vast stretches of wilderness. Three fiesty women in sarees, refusing to listen to people who said you need pants and shoes to complete the walk. Found peace and tranquility as we challenged our bodies and endless laughs as we pulled each others legs.

•        Worlds End: A view to die for. Not a building or a bus in sight. Pure untouched nature; hills, trees,rivers all the way upto the ocean.

Fiesty mum!

• Galle: A settlement within the walls of a fort. A throwback into the days when you were happy as a pedestrian and were more likely to get hit by a stray cricket ball than a garbage truck. Sitting on the fort walls, watching the waves crash into them; no better way to spend an evening.
• Unawatuna: Just saying the word takes  me into a reverie of blue skies, golden sand and the vivacious Indian ocean. Sprawled out on a beach chair, guzzling the local arrack and having the waves kiss my feet. I may have never been at more peace with myself.

Perfect!

• Colombo: Fiesty and friendly at the same time. A city that lets you revel in yourself, that is eager to see you smile so it can smile back at you. 

  

  Posing by Kandy Lake

New year New me!!!

 I do this every year..try to think up the wonderful things I will do/become in the brand New Year that is unfolding in front of me. And every year..life(laziness) comes in the way of me becoming this glowing virtuous person I envision in my mind. So this year I'm wiser (reason to be revealed soon). Check out my list of things to do before 2012 kicks the bucket in the order that they popped into my head.

1. *Drumroll* Stop being lazy and watching endless re-runs of Gilmore girls/ House/Lord of the rings/Marley and me. (See how I 'wisely' put it on my list there?)
2. Compile at least a 100 recipes under the title "Long Hard Day- From one working woman's stomach to another" (I already have 3! Yay me!!)
3. Take a course that I love. (Le Cordon Bleu in Madrid/London..applications in progress)
4. Update this blog bi- monthly and my other blog  http://cookiesandquiche.blogspot.in/ weekly!
5. Take a quarterly vacation! (Q1...exceeds expectations. Srilanka rocks baby!!)
6. Read two books (at least) every month.
7. Learn a new skill.
8. Stop biting my nails and grow them long and paint them red! (Repeat from 2011 having failed successfully multiple times last year)  Maybe 2012 is the year I grow up! Sigh!!
9. Let go!...Of the past and old wounds. Allow them to heal without scratching off the scab every so often!
10. Make one organic life change. Perhaps give up plastic completely or buy an eco friendly mode of transport!!

Well! I have crossed that hurdle.. :D