Insanity on the way.....

Now a days when I type http://360.yahoo.com what do I get?

Access Denied (content_filter_denied)

Access denied to "360.yahoo.com" according to:
- Code of Business and Ethics and Conduct and
- Monitoring the usage of systems and services

This page is categorized as: "Adult/Mature Content;Social Networking"

If you wish to question or dispute this result, click here

“Adult Content?”- huh???? so, 360.com is equivalent to porn sites? Didnt know that!

…But I didn’t wish to question or dispute “that” result and I didn’t click “there”…

So, living with all such disputes, I am still logging onto y360… for how long, is the question. I don’t have internet at home, because after spending 10 hrs in front of computer my conscience didn’t want to spend another 6 hrs again in front of it. Some how, I am popping thru a dummy URL, now.

I think soon that too will be categorized as “Adult URL?”

Anyway, life is buzzing around me that mostly I have no idea about days and nights. Sun sets here at 3:30pm, now. And my poor Indian logic hasn’t grasped Daylight Saving Time concept yet! I look at sky, it is dark and I think “oh, it’s already night”. Then I look at my watch only to find that it is only 4:30 pm! It is baffling. You have to be born and brought up in sunny India to understand that contradiction! However hard I try to find logic in it, I CANT accept that.

Another winter problem is that mostly I lose sensation in my face. I can protect every other part of my body in layers and layers of winter clothes. But hello, what about face? Especially my nose. As it is the first thing protruding in my face, it receives all the cold wind first! And most of the time it turns blue and starts bleeding and I don’t even “feel” it!

Another thing I can’t bear now is the stormy nights! At night, all I can hear is the wind howling thru the double-glazed windows. It very much scares me. If we are in a car, then I can feel, the car swaying in wind.

How many times I say “ I hate winter” , I don’t know.. but when my friends say “ the worse is coming up in January”, I dread winter more…

The one good thing happened this winter is I FINALLY learned swimming. I had to have one-to-one sessions with my instructor, along with comments from him like “don’t do ballet dancing in water, Swathi”, (which I didn’t appreciate much, as he doesn't know that my "whatever" dancing skills are well below level zero!) . Still it was worthwhile. I don’t know if ‘swim’ is the right word for what I do in water, because it more or less looks like “dog-paddling”. [Again, he told me that!] Still, on a positive note, I can move forward in water. And that itself makes me feel good! However hard he tries to say that I am not swimming properly, I know I am moving forward! He cant break my spirit, and it definitely has got nothing to do with his looks!

Work? I better not mention about it, because one day I even lost my way to my seat. I walked around for a while, before I could figure out where I was sitting for the past 2 yrs!

….and yesterday I told my manager that I think I am losing my mind. And he looked at me for a second, paused, smiled and said “I think, so too…”

How about that?

Still... no complaints....

"tujhse naaraz nahin zindagi
hairaan hoon mein..."

This thing and that thing...

Life can be pretty boring, eventful or as it happens to be in my case nowadays- very close to disastrous. I bungee-jump into every new venture with the hope of it becoming exciting, but some how mysteriously ends up with terrible results. I don’t remember exactly when this kind of things started happening, but I can guarantee it used to be very normal before my 30^th birthday.

The earliest I can remember started with the new, much hyped shopping centre in our town centre. With over 50 shops (most of them, branded designer ones) in four levels, it was supposed to be the heaven for women shoppers in Midlands. Or so I thought. The first week, I was awe-stricken when I couldn’t move through the shopping centre without pushing (and being pushed by) others. The second week came and things were not so good. I had to wait at each traffic-light for 25 minutes, before I could move an inch to the next one. And this happened for four consecutive lights, when I found myself nearing snapping point. But things had just started to begin. After spending more than one hr waiting at four junctions (25 mts at each), I reached the parking lot that boasted to have 1000 slots. And what do I see? All the 1000 slots are occupied. Not even that, even the spaces reserved for TESCO delivery vans, which are in prohibited area are full with private cars. I can’t even see the footpath because of the cars parked in it whose two wheels are on it and the other two on the road. I was shocked and started sweating profusely. I didn’t know what to do. It is not like in India. You can’t park anywhere you like. I am already driving alone with my provisional license, and if I violate one more rule, my full Irish license will be just a distant dream!

I can’t do anything but go round and round the parking lot, till I get a space. I went to the extreme end of the lot and started hunting for space, only to realise that I am not rude or fast enough to compete with other space-hunters like me. One second I saw the space and the next second I didn’t. After spending another 15 minutes burning another litre of petrol to find a parking space, I thought of the possibility of finding a slot, 2 kms away. I went there parked and then walked 2 kms through the bone-chilling wind. The usual 10-minute drive to town has now turned into a gruelling one-hour pain-staking journey. Thanks to the new shopping centre! They say it is bringing a lot of business to Athlone, but did anyone think about the normal people who are already living in Athlone?
*********************************************************************
According to me, I was/am leading a life over-working, under-nourished and under-privileged. I remembered waking up, dressing, working and nothing else. Gone were the days of reading books. Some days I didn’t even wash my face or brush my hair. I didn’t give it a thought till I saw something different in my friend’s hair. The previous day when I last saw her, her hair was blonde. The next morning, she was a brunette! My first thought was I might be going bonkers with over-working. But then, I went to her, touched her hair and made myself sure that I was not dreaming. No, I was not nuts. She did colour her hair burgundy, had a nice cut and was looking fabulous! I touched my greasy hair and tried to remember the last time, it saw the comb.

Only after confirming the appointment for my hair, the next day did I touch my hair again.
Mary Shine usually has very busy days and usually I may have to wait minimum 1 hour to get my haircut. May be due to the cold grey morning, this Saturday she had only me as the client. I was happy because she took longer time with my hair. For me, that meant perfection, again, so I thought. I am usually cool with haircuts. After all, it is hair and it always grows back. But this time, due to my lucky stars, I am always for a surprise.
After 20 minutes, what do I see? A very unattractive, extremely repelling and freaky version of Demi Moore, in the film ‘Ghost’!. No offence, I have always admired her hair-cut in it. Because of her sharp features, it suited her a lot . But that was Demi and this was me. There are only just a handful of women who can carry a very short haircut with grace. Demi Moore, Princess Diana and Priyanka Gandhi. There may be more, but these are all I know. And everyone had the most elegant facial features – sharp nose, long elegant neck and prominent cheek bones, that make them look so feminine even with the boyish cut. And what do I see in the mirror now!

A blunt piggy nose, stubby neck and no cheeks trying to give company to a “Demi Moor-ish haircut”. And one more thing. A double-chin-in-progress is also smiling back at me.

“How is it?”, Mary Shine seems happy with her work.

“Great” – calm down! Remember? Hair always grows back. Its just hair. She didn’t operate your face or anything! On a positive note, now the hair will look the same whether I run a brush through it or not.

My husband didn’t tell that he was shocked. He took one loooong and silent look at me and thought for a while before telling,
“hmm… the only difference is that now you are handsome, instead of beautiful”.
Huh…What does that mean?
“When we go to India with this look, your parents will be happy that finally they have a son. And now, I am happy that I have a male-friend instead of a wife. Oh, it is so good to live with a man now, for a change!”

So what… I don’t look feminine any more. My husband thinks he is now living with a man. Somehow or other he always ends up addressing me as “he”- which he says is completely unintentional! And my sanity-restoring-mantra is “Its just hair. Hair always grows back”!

A song worthy of all the tears.....

The one that made me cry all day......

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Song Name: Maa - Taare Zameen Par

Album Name: Taare Zameen Par

Singer Names: Shankar Mahadevan,

Lyricist Name: Prasoon Joshi

Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa Bhej Na Itna Door Mujkko Tu Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa Kya Itna Bura Meri Maa Jab Bhi Kabhi Papa Mujhe Jo Zor Se Jhoola Jhulate Hain Maa Meri Nazar Dhoondhe Tujhe Sochu Yahi Tu Aa Ke Thaamegi Maa Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Meri Maa Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa

There is a first time for....

So, what is the big deal? It will be just like your first day in school. You don’t have to worry. You will be fine.

But what if I couldn’t learn it like others. What if the instructor asks me to quit and go home? What if I can never learn it in my life? What if I fail?

But you learned driving and cycling. This will be just like that. You just keep calm.

Ok. I am keeping my calm. O God! Please help me conquer this fear. This is very important for me, please help me learn it. I am desperate to learn this.

Remember, keep your calm. Breathe.. ok. Breathe. Hooooooo…..

I am not scared. There is nothing to worry. Everything will be fine.

Jacuzzi relaxes me. Gushing hot water massages every tired joint in my body. Wow! I think I will sleep in the Jacuzzi. Its 7:55 pm. Only 5 more minutes. Will I be the only person who doesn’t know anything? Will there be others like me who are totally scared?

Ok, instructor came. No, I don’t want to get out of Jacuzzi. I don’t want to go to the pool. I don’t want to drown myself. But then how will I overcome this fear? I have to do this.

I walk out of Jacuzzi, shower and go to him.

“Are you the one going to take swimming class?”

“Yes.”

“But, I am so scared of water. I am absolutely terrified”

“Don’t worry, you will be fine”

“Will I be?”

“Yes. Trust me”. He smiles. He is handsome.

God, first I need to learn to trust this “Handsome Hal”. I can’t even trust him.

Learn to trust him, Swathi. Learn to trust him. Your life is in his hands for one hour.

“Do, you want to hop into the water or do you want to walk through the steps”

Hop into the pool? No way!! Thanks, I will walk.

Water is really cold. It is 2 deg C outside. Usually the water is much more warm. I am shivering. I just have to get used to the temperature of water. Breathe… swathi.. breathe…take long breaths.

We all have this blue floating-aids. Its just a small square piece of sponge. That’s all. Will that really hold my weight?

“Now, among you guys, who are all absolutely scared of water?”

My hand shoots up. May be he will give me a life jacket, now. (!)

No. He didn’t. ‘Handsome Hal’(aka HH) just smiles. Why is he smiling always, when I am terrified?

“Now, the first lesson - be comfortable in putting your face under water. Open your eyes while doing that”

What! Putting my face under water? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I can’t do it. I will die.

HH, asks everybody to do it. Everybody is doing it fine. HH is looking at me.

“Now you, Swathi”. I cant. I will die, if I do it.

“It will be fine. Trust me Swathi”

Trust you? How I can I trust you. I don’t even know you.

“Now, try it, Swathi”

Blank your mind. Let it go. Even if you die, HH will be arrested. It will be his entire fault.

There is nothing in my mind for one second. I take my breath, put my face down, inside the water and push myself into it. No. No. This is not what I expected it to be. I am drowning. Where is he? I grab HH’s arm, as hard as I could. I lose my balance and can’t feel my feet on the floor, anymore. I am hanging on to him. I cant breathe. I gasp harder and grab on to him, more. My life depends on him now. He is dear to me than anything else in the world at that moment(!). I open my mouth for breath and drink pool water instead of air. Water goes inside my mouth, nose and my ears go pop, as they fill with water. Great! Now I cant even hear what he is telling me to do. I am going to die.

“Its OK. You can hold on to me. I am here for you, swathi. I am here”

Seconds pass. I cant breathe. I cough and gasp hard.

“I wont leave you. You can hold on to me”

No, still I cant breathe. I gasp harder. The entire pool is echoing with my gasp.

“Its ok. Take it slowly. Slowly. Don’t be nervous, You can hold on to me. I am not leaving you”

Great! I am creating a big drama here. Every body is looking at me. I am kicking and gasping while holding on to him.

“Are you ok?”

What do you think? Can’t you see? Didn’t I tell you, that I would die.

After one minute or so, I can breathe again. I leave my hold on him.

Came back sheepishly to poolside. As expected, made a big fool of myself. Great! Now everyone knows that I am truly a big loser in swimming .

Next it is trying to float. I copy HH when he shows me how to float. Surprisingly I am floating effortlessly with my face under water. How can it be? Last time I was gasping for air. I come back to the lady near me and ask her “How did I float? Did he hold me?” She smiles. “Yes, he held you. But its OK, you did well”. Yea, I did well(!). Along with floating aid, if ‘Handsome Hal’ holds me, I can float anyway. God! Will I ever do this thing myself?

Next it is pushing in to the water and kicking. No, I can’t kick inside water. I am going down. I am kicking vertically where I have to kick horizontally. But I am not going horizontally at all. Again, HH comes to help. He holds my floating aid and guides me.

“Excellent. See it’s not as bad as it seems to be”

I know I am pathetic. Don’t try to make me feel good. Without holding on to you, I can’t even float!

The lady near me says, ”You are doing great! By the end of six classes you will be swimming”

I ask her “How do you do the pushing into water, so elegantly, not even without a splash!”

“Don’t compare with me. I already know swimming. I joined the class to swim properly” she winks!

Great! Now, I know why I am kicking and gasping and holding on to ‘Handsome Hal’ for dear life, while all others are so smooth!

Now HH wants to throw the floating aid away and go into water. OK
, This time, I really am going to die. He says, “Trust me. I will hold you”. I try. But, I go down. He makes me try again. He is asking me to look into his knees to have my chin position correct. I am frantically searching for his knees underwater. Where are his goddamn knees! Using one of my legs, I push the wall and use that force to move half way through water. In that force, I push HH away who was ready to hold me and he gets hit hard by me.

“whoooooaaa!” I can hear him, yell. I knocked him down!

Great! There is a saying in Malayalam * “onnukil aasaante nechanthu, allengil kalarikku purathu”. I think that saying is written clearly for me. If I am not drowning and gasping, I will be knocking down my instructor!

Some how, one hour is over. Finally I can breathe air instead of water now. HH says, “Practice with floating aids, till next Monday. Be in the pool as long as you can. You were all excellent”. Yea, if I wasn’t there, everyone was excellent!

NOTE: If any body has kids who haven’t learnt swimming yet, please, please, I beg you to teach them. If not, as an adult, they are prone to make a big fool of themselves by trying to learn.

* Its about the martial art , Kalari. The literal meaning is [as a worst student of Kalari ] you will perform Kalari either on your teacher’s chest, or outside the place where it is supposed to be done”. (I am not very good in translation. so, please bear with me)

Latest update: I went for aqua aerobics(yes, the same old one!), yesterday . HH was the instructor for that too. Susannah told me that she and HH were discussing about me all the while before I came. I didn't dare to ask her what they discussed. (can imagine!). When I saw the raised eyebrows of HH, I told him why I was terrified of water ( a very frightening experience in a 6 ft deep pool, 5-6 yrs back, in India). He told me "You were the only true beginner, in yesterday's class. Rest of the guys knew swimming"... Phewww!




Hubby's comment(he came yesterday): When I started learning swimming, I drank so much of water that my friends had to make me lie on my stomach and squeeze all the water out. And it happened a lot of times. You are much better Swathi, that you didn't stoop into that level.

***Now, I know why I love this man. He has a knack of making me feel better out of any embarrassing situation***




My conclusion: I am not that bad. I really AM not!

Diary of a perturbed woman!

Diary of a perturbed woman, living alone in Ireland [husband is in India]!

Day1 : The morning when I opened the tap, it was like a deja vu of my age-old experiences with The Kerala Water Works! Not a drop of water. That was Kerala. This is Ireland .We dont panic in Kerala, we are so used to it. No water? Fine, there is a well at home or may be in any of the neighboring houses. But wells in Ireland??? No way!

I ran to our neighbors. No one has a drop of water. Fine, so it’s not due to our tank problems. Ran to ‘Super valu’ and bought two 10 litre cans of water.

NOTE: In Ireland, we don’t have to pay for tap water. It is a free commodity, as long as it is available. So, for the first time in Ireland I had to spent money for water! Great!

Water came late in the evening. Now, I always have an emergency water storage kept.

Day2: Gardai (Irish police) issued a new rule for prosecuting provisional license holders driving without a full license holder. It was to be implemented overnight. (In Ireland public transport is almost zero. If you don’t have a car, you are absolutely stuck. Buses are very rare, and trains rarer! ) And I am a provisional license holder. What luck! When my husband will be back, I will be in Gardai Station waiting for bail!

NOTE: On extreme public protest they took back the rule after one day!

Day3: In office, things were getting entirely out of control. I was being pulled by three different managers as I was covering for my colleagues who were on holidays. After getting so pissed off being ‘the doormat’ that I made this photo to make my point. While I was working on it, Mr. E happened to see and he dared me to make that picture my desktop or to take a print out of it and stick it on my cubicle front. I almost did! Well, I didn’t.

Day 4: Once I started living alone, I stopped cooking at home. Suddenly I found that I could live with just 2 slices of brown bread a day! And I don’t have to wash the plates. Wonderful! Result: dropped 2 kilos.

Day 5: My migraine got worse, and I had to take an overdose of Solpadeine. And then I found that more than 6 Solpadine a day can make you high! WOW! I was floating. I still don’t know how I didn’t crash my car into anything that evening.

Day6: Midlands’ biggest shopping centre opened. I am planning to spend my whole weekend there. One advantage of being alone here, you are not nagged by your husband to finish shopping within 15 minutes.

Day7: Tried to put my little finger into the big round plug point behind the coffee machine. Ms A yelled at me just like she yells at her own 2 yr old toddler. She was fuming at me for my stupidity! Still don’t know why I did that.

Day 8: Lying awake at 3 am, listening to radio. When did I last have lunch?. Is it just me or is the whole world going nuts?

Day 9: Husband phones and asks “Did Gardai catch you?”. Me: “not yet”. He: “When they catch you, talk to them in Malayalam”. He is so sure that I am going to get caught!

Day 10: Me phones and tell husband:

“My swimming classes will start on this Monday. If you find me missing when you return, first search Gardai Station, then swimming pool and then in the new shopping centre. If I am not found dead in any of those, I will be alive under my office desk.”

Day 11: the story continues…..

Showing off.....my canon

I am taking baby steps of Digital Photography with my new Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR Camera. So, showing off what I studied from its User Manual. All photos are taken using the pre-programmed modes in it...

Till now I haven't graduated into manual mode... like pros do...

May be these will increase my confidence to move on to that level....
































































Subjects: My home, Our fireplace, Our housing complex landscapes , and me....

photography:
landscapes(subject): me
me(subject):- my husband.

Being aquaphobic!

I have a very dangerous habit of assuming lots of things. It had landed me into lots of trouble in the past. But as the Swathi, I am, I never learn. This time, what I assumed, very nearly cost my life, hmm… not exactly but nearly. I could have been dead!

I don’t know swimming. And so, I am scared of even attempting to float in water. As our gym membership also provides pool, Jacuzzi and sauna, I asked my husband once to teach me swimming. And the self-taught swimmer he was, he readily agreed to be my coach. But it turned out that neither did he have the patience to teach me nor did I have the courage to trust him. I didn’t leave my hold on the railing, for even a second, that within 10 minutes of coaxing me; he quit his role as my swimming coach. Finally he swam and I watched him swim, still holding on to the railing. There ended my dream to conquer water, with his help. (I have joined the proper swimming class anyway which starts next month, where I expect to have more patient coaches than my husband!)

My encounter with water didn’t end there. Some weeks back I found a new word (according to my limited vocabulary) in our gym timetable for autumn. It was ‘aqua aerobics’. It didn’t make any sense to me at all. I knew what ‘aqua’ was and what ‘aerobics’ was. But I really couldn’t think of anything that related the two. Then one day my instructor told me to join that class. She described it as doing some ‘light’ aerobics while standing in water. What I failed to understand was how much deep the water would be while doing those exercises and her meaning of the word ‘light aerobics’. I don’t know why, but I assumed that it would be in kids’ pool, where there is water only just above the ankle.

To double-check I asked my dear hubby whether he has seen ‘aqua aerobics’ class. [We can see pool from the gym above]. And he re-assured me that the water will be very much below knee and that I just may have to wear shorts. But he didn’t tell me that he had seen the class. Again, I assumed that he might have seen it. So, when I went to my first ‘aqua aerobics’ class yesterday, I took my swimwear with me in case they were particular about it. I told my instructor again and again that I don’t know swimming and that I may die in water if I tried and she told me that I don’t have to swim to do ‘aqua aerobics’. I trusted her.

To my utter horror, the class was in the big pool and not in the kids’ one. And we were supposed to do ‘aerobics’ in chin-level water! And then it hit me; my husband was lying. He knew it was not going to be in kids’ pool and wanted me to get over my fear of water. Forget ankle deep, in that depth I could be drowned. I was too scared to cross the pool that one lady literally carried me to the place where I could hold on to the railing. She told me that I was very brave to join the class though I was completely scared to move in water. What she didn’t know that my hubby and my instructor tricked me into it. My instructor allowed me to hold on to the edge of the pool while others were in the centre of the pool, when she could see that I was totally terrified.

And then it started. With boom box blasting, she began to do the normal aerobics outside the pool and we had to copy her, but standing in chin-level water. First, I couldn’t move my arms and legs, at all. I needed one arm to hold on to railing desperately and one arm to keep my balance. But with her aerobics combined with the high resistance of water, it was impossible. Now, I couldn’t quit also. Finally after 10 minutes of drinking that yucky pool water while managing to raise my arms and legs, I some how managed to keep my balance without holding on to the edge, for 2 minutes. Again I would lose balance, do the same charade of ‘aerobics’ and drink another gallon of water. Anyway this cycle repeated for one hr and by the time I got out of pool, I had a full bladder and was panting like a dog. And the best was still waiting for me. To add insult to injury or rather like sprinkling salt to my wound; there my colleague was watching me struggle all this time, from the Jacuzzi!

Can any day be BETTER than this?

Circulating Clooney..

Ok.. That’s it. I am back. Today Shail aunty was asking me when I am going to be back from hibernation and I was replying “hmmm… don’t know.. may be after some more time. “. And only yesterday I got a mail from Mina telling me that she is impressed that I have kept myself away from y360! Retracting everything I had decided, look at me, I am back again, like the black sheep who went in search of greener pastures and came back home only to find the relation between grass and green…(ohh.. its that same old story!)

Now what triggered me to come back was a celebrity. [God… I still haven’t gotten over the “thing” for celebrities!] But it’s not me, this time, who is salivating over celebrities- at least not at this particular time. One of my female colleagues (let us call her ‘A’), adores George Clooney. She is a very sporty girl, not a girlie-girlie type, but more of a tomboyish. When other girlie-girlies, like me of course, go on raving non-stop about the new shopping centre about to open in our town, she will be sitting quietly. [‘R’ was even thinking of telling my manager to give us all womenfolk, paid-leave on that day when Ireland’s biggest shopping centre opens in our town, next month].

Once ‘R’ and I even asked ‘A’ why doesn’t shopping makes her high. And I will never forget the ‘look’ she gave me! The next thing I remember is ‘R’ running away from her for her dear life. I couldn’t run because I am sitting next to her. She is one hell of a girl. So when she started sighing on Clooney, I was thinking… so she is like us… [except for the shopping addiction, of course!]

So, for the past 2 weeks my inbox is being bombarded by her, with George Clooney’s pictures. The subject varying from “Embodiment of Perfection” (he sure was, in that photo), “To Brighten your day” (and it brightened my day!), even to “The Real Man” (which I forwarded to my hubby, hoping he wouldn’t forward Jordan’s picture to me..LOL..) and “ONLY screen savers to have” (I wanted to, but on second thoughts, dropped the idea for obvious reasons!). I wouldn’t lie. I am sure an ardent admirer of beauty in all forms. That includes everything that can make a feast to my eyes – nature, food, clothes, human beings everything… Clooney comes in that scale of course, but still there are some other celebrities I really admire, for beauty.

So, last day I went to her desk to have a peek at her collection of Clooney photos. He is gorgeous, of course. And we were discussing about his divorce, bachelorhood, and latest girlfriend when she showed me some pictures of players in Spanish league. And I was bowled over. I asked her “Are Spanish men always so gorgeous?” (Of course I didn’t have any idea about it!). It was almost like watching “Miss World” pageant, but with male contestants!!! And she was smiling at me with that “all-knowing” look.

Now it has become a joke among us girls here - circulating Clooney pictures. Honestly, I love it. Now, I want to find some one on my own, so that I can circulate his pictures to them, in return. [Does any body else's heart skip a beat on Lorenzo Lamas... ?? or is that just mine?]

After all we are all girlie-girlie types… and now I know for sure that we are from Venus..

Adiós

I am going into hibernation...just for a while...
Is it cos of the autumn and the shortening days that i dont get enough time now a days?
There is so much to concentrate now, on my life... so much so that... some days i even forget to wash my face... :-) [Blame it on shorter days!]

If this is the case then I may forget to wake up in winter!

So, till I get used to the decreased daylight and the sun going off at 3pm...[which hasnt happened,yet!]... i am going into hibernation from y360..

Now, I know why they wanted Halloween on autumn!

..till then....

Adiós

London Photoblog- 2

London Bridge and Tower Bridge
---------------------------------------------
I thought that these two bridges are same. In fact I had never heard of Tower Bridge. Only when I saw them, I found that they were different. Both are across River Thames and are parallel to each other. The Tower Bridge seems to be the old London Bridge , which is the one in the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is falling down". (Please correct me, if I am wrong!)


This is the London Bridge, which looks very ordinary to me....




Some views of London from the London Eye(Millenium Wheel)..
Here,on the right hand side, you can see Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.






This is the Tower Bridge , may be named after the London Tower..



With HMS Belfast , in the back ground..

...and if you are not convinced that it is called Tower Bridge....


Windsor Castle near the London Tower, across R.Thames.


Waterloo Station

Note: Sony DSC SR-32 resolution is 640 x 480 . Hence the grains...
We have given back the camera, anyway.

More next time.....

A belated entry for our Irish Onam '07

Onam is over and I just had a very heavy sigh of relief. Till then it was like Ayyo! Onam is coming, I should do this... I should do that..- a number of planning, schedules and what not. Though honestly I don’t like cooking, I like feeding people with whatever I make. No it’s not that kind of ‘sadistic feeling’ some people may already be thinking. I really don’t want to poison them or make their stomach upset for ever, by making them the dump yard of my experiments. I truly, love the ‘idea’ of cooking on my own and giving dinners to friends. Anyone can dream, right?


So, this year, as Onam fell on a weekend, I was happy. I could cook and I could take one day leave after that to give my body the well-earned rest. On Friday I gave a crash course to both my Irish colleagues here on Onam. I could see their imagination go wild (and their pupils getting dilated) on the idea of ‘eating on a plantain leaf’. One of them even asked me about the size of the leaf. God, did he really think that we were originally some tribesmen from the darkest forests in Kerala! Anyway I told my female colleague that I am going to cook, yes cook, and that I am taking a precautionary leave on Monday in case anything goes wrong with my back or stomach! She was more supportive, may be because she compared it with the huge turkey roast they did for Christmas. But my male friend was still apprehensive. And I think that’s because he is a bachelor!


I shopped alone for the feast because my hubby and shopping never ever go together. If we wanted peace in the house, I have to do shopping on my own. Though he just did ‘pushing-the-trolley’ maneuver, he complained as though he did the whole task of making list, finding the items, comparing prices and checking them. So, I was better off without him in that task. That meant pushing the full packed trolley for some 2.5 km on my own (which was terrible, in an uneven pathway!) and then driving alone after that. Anyway I went to some African store and even bought plantain, which was not available in Pakistani store. I decided to do everything the hard way using coconut oil (which will be as hard as frozen butter in Irish climate) and using boiled rice, which took ages in getting cooked!


Anyway I woke up Saturday with a migraine which made me go panic. But after taking painkillers it went down and I started preparing for Sundays lunch menu. I usually work in kitchen with Malayalam CDs blasting in high volume - to boost my mood. It lessens the actual burden of cooking, for me. So with that, I started. My menu was:
Parippu curry, sambar, rasam, beans mezhukku puratty, carrot thoran, tuna vattichathu(non-veg), pavakkai fry. Pappadam and rice was meant for next day. Payasam (dessert), aviyal, pachadi was planned to be brought by our guests. I knew how to make aviyal. But ‘pachadi’ and ‘paayasam’ looked like “Mt.Everest” to me!



Anyway, I am not self-praising anymore… I finally did it and my back is still intact after that, along with my guests’ stomachs. Also none of us didn’t contract diarrhea. And in fact I got compliments, too! So, I think, apart from pookkalam, we irish-mallus celebrated Onam with ishtyle, in Ireland too!


Fiction: My guests (and may be the readers) thought my husband helped me.
Fact: He did, grate 5 carrots, in the whole process!

Photo blog- London - part 1

the metro-which scared me...


60th Royal Wedding annvrsy Special ad, inside Green Park metro.



the famous red telephone box - so London-ish



the famous black London cab



confused inside metro..



change of guards in Buckingham Palace...



Royal Police screaming at me...he..he..not me....




Buckingham Palace (just a portion of it... its spread on 3 photos..)



A 'live' Royal guard - poor man , he is not even allowed to sneeze or even bat an eyelid !!.



Madame Tussads- entrance




In Madame Tussads, with Amitabh!!



A chit-chat with Einstein...




Darwin and myself, together....



..with future Prince of Wales!!



..with King of Bollywood!



..almost hugging Lincoln!




..so, why should i leave Timberlake???? He loves Ireland,too....



...and back to my OWN husband... and to reality-land!! **winks***