So there was a time when I woke in the morning to the sweet nature calls and went to sleep with blissful darkness without any murmur of anything around us except the silent breeze which would blow through the doors and windows.

Well, now with the advent of civilization, the area which was green and lush is covered with fast growing buildings and people. My god I see people everywhere. Its ok, since I am a part of the mango people too. But sometimes, it just makes me wish for my room back in Shillong where nightfall meant silence.

Now I wake up with pressure cooker whistles. As one of my friend tells me that with the onset of kids, the pressure cooker has an inevitable role in their growing up. Till I get there, I will be kept awake by it, I guess.  So well Pressure cooker whistles, someone chanting some mantras after showering early and chanting it loud, the incessant barking of dogs which some of my neighbors have left behind in the care of another neighbor. There is this dog of the Pomeranian breed who has this tendency to keep barking forever and ever till even a dog lover like me really feels like running away.

Then there is this the dog Ramu who jumps over our wall and has a nightly agenda of looking through the garbage bin. As if its not enough, he actually visits all the floors to check if there is garbage kept outside the door, in which case, he gladly rips the packet apart and rummages through it leaving behind a smelly mess. GAH.

Then as I am still wonked out trying to open my eyes, there is this irritating beep of some car as it reverses and that sets off the cacophony of my birds loudly responding to that beep EVERYDAY at the SAME TIME… jarring me awake..even if I want to burrow my head down some soundproof rabbit hole.

And then comes one of the Bong neighbor, who has his parents at home. The mother is one of the loudest I have heard. She starts by scolding her son, then argues with her husband ( a silent one) on how to close and open windows and why they should be closed, etc and then keeps scolding the maid.. As if thats not enough, she goes on and on over the phone so loudly that I think all the neighbors can hear. This drowns out the kids noises, the car noises, etc..

So well, I am loath to add but I play the music on loud for sometime,  to silence her chatter and then it gives me some peace.. Ok I am adding to the noise pollution.. but it is eating me out.. and this happens almost every morning..

I am meditating.. and there is this incessant chatter and whining and scolding.. and it gets to me…. till I realise that this is an excellent opportunity to practice Dharma, developing tolerance and still accessing your stillness and yes being oblivious to it all.. it works while I meditate but then again when I am doing my chores, it keeps echoing and she can go on and on and on till I decide that I need to do something.

Seriously, I have found that noise is noise and can be canceled if I do not understand it but if I understand that noise, it adds to the disturbance outside which is reaching inside, or lets say, I am allowing it to reach inside and watching me getting irritated to such an extent that I want to stuff her mouth with cotton.. LOL

So I need to translate the noise to a garble of unintelligible mumbles till it fades out..

BREATHE ……………..

Ok I am not a morning person…

I need to develop more tolerance and patience

I need to wake up early and be a morning person

I need to find more ways of switching off other than loud music..

I need to get out of this rant.. ( I am hoping by writing it, I will be out of it)

And thus I see myself settling down into a much more comfortable self..  LOL..

I was going to spend time with a soul friend…

Everything was ready, my backpack was ready, my book and music added, my checklist ticked, alarm set and ticket “assumed”.

Typically before any journey, I have this muted excitement which sends thrills of anticipation of discovering new bits and pieces or revisiting old bits and pieces when one travels..

Being up early in the morning, I was ready an hour early. My train to Coimbatore was at 8:00 AM. With lot of love and kindness, my mother-in-law and Rocks decided to drop me off.

We reached the railway station and I was in the frame of mind to hop on and get into my drifting space of travelopia.

I took out the ticket to check the train number and GUESS WHAT !! my train had already left for Coimbatore at 6:15. All the while I was referring to the return ticket.. GAH !! I was ashamed when the enquiry guy looked at me as if I was stupid to enquire about a train which already left..

For the first time in my life I MISSED MY TRAIN. Rocks was boiling and slowly fuming.. I did not know what to say… Well what do you say ?

Its no use bemoaning the fact that you have missed the train. I just smiled and laughed it away. When I called my friend, she also laughed out loud.. and well I was happier to hear her laugh and my world was better again..

By now Rocky also swallowed his ire and patiently started driving back murmuring under his breath that I could cancel my ticket..

I was keeping my pleasant attitude about this and did not point out until later that one cannot cancel the ticket once the train has left. Ha ha !! But he was only trying to be a man and help me out so I smiled again.

Its no use cursing yourself.. well then I thought to myself… I think I will end up chilling at home which was also fine.

Then suddenly I thought of trying the bus and fortunately, there was only one counter open and Rocks patiently waited till I found one lone old man chewing on tobacco half asleep.. blearily asking me where I wanted to go..

I said Coimbatore and he did say that there was a bus at 12:30 PM. I was thrilled. He suddenly woke up and skipped and crossed the road. I skipped behind him to go to another counter which was also the only one open and got myself a ticket to Coimbatore.

Rocky drove us back home and on the way back we had some freshly made dosas under a huge tree.. and generally enjoyed ourselves… mother in law was very encouraging about the situation and though I was embarrassed… I was feeling better that I would be going on that trip anyway.. and it was about a few hours late.. well all was well.

Rocky kindly dropped me and saw me off from the bus station at 1:00 PM, this time making sure that I left with the bus and not without. Typically IST wise, the said time and the actual time differed. No surprise there..

The bus was comfortable and since I had Seat no 1, I was pretty glad that I could have a wide view of the drive and what was in front of me..

Well the bus started with some nice Tamizh songs. Which was fine. They are pretty cool with fancy DVD with some MP3 CDs ready to be played for the traveler’s hearing pleasure.

Suddenly I was jerked by a song which sound like TITANIC many a times in the lyrics.. It was funny to say the least but I was bright and happy.. so it did not matter.

We stopped at the Bharat Petroleum Eating joint after Krishnagiri. And it was late afternoon. After a quick bite and an empty bladder, the bus started onwards. The handyman very enthusiastically, took out a 5 in 1 DVD and switched on the DVD.

And on came RAJANIKANT with his different expressions and that sultry look of his chewing on his trademark ciggie.

There were some mythological characters, Rajani in modern clothes and role and Rajani in a villager role. As the movie unfolded, I was zapped, sitting in silence, trying to focus on the nature passing by but forced to watch the movie and got caught up in the story which was totally ludicrous to say the least but totally entertaining..

I watched disbelievingly at Rajani making an entrance on a motorcycle with smoke billowing behind him chewing on his ciggie trying to block a truck on the highway at night.

Then he starts beating up people right and left and the fight scenes goes on and on.. Rajani with his white shirt and pant and him beating up some 10 -20 people without his white shirt getting dirty. WoW !!

Then while Rajani is fighting for his life.. in the fight scenes, we have Sheeba ( the somewhat known and forgotten Bollywood heroine) shouting.. “ippdi” !!! ” Sooper ” Soober man” And mimicking her arms boxing the air.. “adi adi ” “Sooper.. ” Then she throws him a flying kiss and Rajni in the middle of the fight, has the time to look sexily at her and take out his distinctively pink tongue and looking at the camera and lapping the flying kiss up like a puppy.. and then goes back to beating up the goons… I was like GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH and that was supposed to be a hot moment…. GROSSSS !!!! I was having a quiet stomach ache laughing my head off. Oh and lets not forget some 2-3 song and dance routine with him in his white dress and shoes and lots of extras jiggling around with Sheeba and then some more fight scenes.. which made no sense…

To continue and make this short, Rajani gets killed and he floats around in heaven with three guys, one of whom is Chitragupt the divine bookkeeper of karmic accounts or whatever.

Cut to Rajani doing his role as a village bumpkin and prancing around with a village belle. They sing and dance and Rajani gets beaten up by his uncle by a whip and gets poisoned for his property. Then we see the floating Rajani with his heavenly companions waiting for the village bumpkin counterpart to die. Once he dies, this modern Rajani gets transferred to the village bumkin’s body and then he proceeds to do some impossible things like beating up his uncle and aunty with whips, wearing modern dresses and still romancing the village belle. Then he comes to town and somehow gets found by Sheeba and he romances her too.. at the same time.. with the village belle.

And I am not saying anything about the 10 odd songs in the movies which sometimes is close to pornography by their very movements.. and no I am not shocked.. just an observation. At one time, I noticed Rajani just stiffly moving his body while the females falling and touching him all over… to make a dance… GAH !!!

I was also somewhat disturbed by the scene where Rajani does not only beat up his evil uncle with a whip but also his aunt. So well as per the movies, its ok to beat up a woman with a whip and so what.. if she was evil.. That is good punishment..

Well anyway, I will not be surprised if the public ( the mango people) believe this to be true and had a justification in beating the women up in the household..

My head was not making sense at all.. yet I was forced to watch it.. I tried and close my eyes but it did no good.. The driver had pulled a screen down half of the front window so that the passengers do not have a view of the outside and can ONLY watch the movie and clap their hands when Rajani does the beating up or cheer when something happens.. which makes them happy.

Anyway, the movie goes on and on… and many impossible feats later which defy science and gravity, he is left with the two heroines. Then one of the heavenly companions whisper in his ear. He whispers back in two of the heroine’s ears and they both get to maul Rajani at the end and he has a satisfied smile on his face.. This Chinese Whisper session is the climax of the film and I get to see the credits..

I sigh in relief.. but no my pain knew no end… my torture was beginning.

DVD 2 – The tamizh version of our bollywood remake Ghar Jamai. – suffice it to say that it did its work on having my ears and hair stand at my end.. the script defies everything in the name of films..

By the time this movie ended, I am going bonkers.. and just when I think I can breathe, Than tha naaaaaann !!! up comes yet another movie..

And to top it all, everytime some dialouge comes up, the driver repeats the dialogue along with Rajani.. I did not know what to do.. I was I think ready to puke on the drivers head.. or whack him with something.. I had SOOSOOSOSO lost it..

I had to vent it out. I called Rocks up and swore and cursed about the torture and after seeing my wild and mad behavior and hearing the words torture couple of times.. the driver instructs the handyman to switch off the movie.. ( Rocks on the other side was laughing his head off)

BLISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!

But the next hour is full of loud radio music.. which I was ok with and also sang along with some popular Tamil songs.

I am also embarrassed by losing my temper.. and cursing so badly.. which I usually refrain.. but the human mind can only take so much..

By the end of it all, I was zonked out.. and eagerly counting kms on the board till I reached Coimbatore.. 140, 67, 35, 28, … it blurred and I started staring into space and just thinking nothing.. so much was I lost that I did not realize, we had come to my stop… if my friend would not have seen me, or I would not have spied her, I would have moved on to god knows which destination.. and ended up screwing my day royally.

But thanks to all good things that make life easy, my friend called me down and we finally reached her place..

It took me a cup of tea and a good bath to wind down.. and start my weekend…

GAHHH GAAHHH and double GAHHHHHHH !!!!! to crazy movies !!!

I must say that we have to upgrade to headphones connected to the bus TV which allows us to watch or ignore a movie and journey in peace..

Or maybe I should invest in some noise reduction headphones.. the next time I take a bus..

So well, I am fresh and rejuvenated to start another week and looking forward to the usual stuff that happens in a week and another travel.. coming up this time some family time in the forest..

So hopefully you had a lovely weekend.. Have a great week ahead.. It’s a wonderful Tuesday today..

Ode to the man himself.. :

Once in a while we had the neighborhood insane boy shout but that was just once in a while. He was the one who would love to hear his voice. He is kind of mentally retarded and would scream and then be quiet and then play loudly. It was tolerable since it was not happening at odd hours..

And now after civilization has decided to spread its roots, the only thing I hear is either someone renting those huge trucks to dig borewells for water.. forget sleep or rest, you will breathe in smoke and dust, you will be beset with the incessant droning of that machine for 48 hours or more till they get water which is depleting at an alarming rate.

When that is not the case there is this neighborhood, dog who when his owner is out of town keeps on with an incessant barking in the same tone day and night.. day and night .. day and night… so much so that many neighbors have actually thought of something drastic, which thankfully they did not implement… to ensure some peace and quiet

When that is taken care of, I would pick up my book to read before I go to sleep and just when sleep is flirting with me, I am jerked awake by this fish market type of fight where the new neighbors are at their throats with each other for some house dispute or the other..

If that is not the case then I am awakened by a drunk beating up his wife and the wife beating him back… LOL…

Today early morning… I was dreaming I was browsing the Mysore Palace.. Why ? ? for no reason.. well the dream got unpleasantly crashed by the loud scream of our neighbor’s hen who was either being chased by the pet dog of the same house or was being chased to be stolen by some other neighbor…  I wish I could define the croaks.. It was heart rending, irritated, angry and then amused….

CROAK CROAKCROAKCROAKCROAKCROAKCROAKCROAK……………..

CROAK….

CROAKCROAKCROAKCROAK…CROAKCROAKCROAK

CROAK CROAK CROAK  ( it went on for some half an hour)

And imagine, me.. My hair standing at ends … and my eyes bleary… wishing for some divine providence to step in and let me get back to my dream… Sigh.. but my peace was already stolen.. albeit unknowingly by that hen..

And there was a time… when I would really enjoy the mornings.. Today I dread it… its like an inner alarm to be broken by some civilization predicament or the other…

***********************************************************

Worst experience in good company .. ACK !!!

Yesterday I had the worst food possible in a very long time. I greatly hoped for Italian cuisine and invited this long time pal to join me for lunch for some bonding time..  I entered and then we got the information that Portabella did not exist and it has turned to “The Herb”.

The place was empty and I should have taken my friend out to another place but thought well so what if it has changed. Maybe the food would be worth tasting..

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH !! It was horrible..

My poor friend was very sporting and tolerated the place…

I was served Ice tea which seemed like normal milk tea dumped with ice.

The pasta my friend ordered was terrible to say the least. ( my friend’s lid was about to blow every time they brought in something which looked like we would not serve at home as well  GAHHHH )

The chicken steak that I ordered was overdone with salt to such an extent that it burnt my taste buds… BRRR…

The only thing decent was lime juice, the tea ( I think) and the French Fries..

I must say that when really bad stuff is shared with a good pal, it does not leave that bad a memory..

Now that is the positive lesson I learnt…  all things good in good company…

Currently there has been a lot migration of bong geeks from Kolkatta.

Which is all good. More power to the Bongs and for a change it is nice to hear a language which I love to speak and I love to be.  In all its glory of food, human discomforts and general bong advice.

So it was all nice to here a familiar tone talking familiar subjects.  But slowly it started to really get on to my nerves.

I like to think I am a ok kind of tolerant soul unless my trigger is set off right from the start. At least as I am growing in years the tolerant quota is slowly but surely increasing.

I repeat. I like to think that about myself.  It could totally be an illusion.

I think its been about 3 odd months or less and my level of patience is in the process of drying up.

I tried venting it out by posting in Facebook and Twitter thinking that my frustration would get over.

Phone call 1 : ( assuming he is talking to his wife)

Almost everyday as we start work.. this has got to be a trend…

hello : ki korcho. Pujo shesh. Appel ta kheye niyo. ( what are you doing ? Puja over ?? Have that apple)

This continues to when he will have lunch and when he will be back.

Phone call 2 : ( Tata Sky )

Getting all excited, his house got a tata sky, he calls his wife and tells her over the phone what to say to the Tata sky guy.

Amake khali Bangla channel lage. oke bolo this and that and this.. ( I want only Bangla channel and tell him this and that)

and the conversation goes on loudly for some time.

Phone call to his friends : This individual has got decent amount of friends who he regularly calls. Methinks that his group are all migrating from Kolkatta.

So he calls and talks to one of his friend. Telling him about himself and how he is settling down. Then he asks, where he got the job. The friend answers. And then he does not stop at that.

Accha bol to, tor salary koto. ( tell me how much salary are you getting ?? )

The friends hmms and hawwwss.. ( I am assuming)

Now our pal is not satisfied. He goes on asking about his salary.. I think he asks about 4 to 5 times.  Till he gets an answer and typically says..

Eito !! if you would have asked me before negotiating, I would have given you a higher figure. You have to bargain for it.

And on and on and on..

Recently, one of his friend is leaving his job I think… and our pal goes on and on convincing him why he should not leave and since he is married, he should think about both of them..

Blah blah blah !!!!!

Phone call on Vomit : ( yes that is there too)

One morning he picks up the phone and tells in a weak voice that he cannot go to lunch with him that day since he has vomitted some number of times. Goes on to relay when he puked.. and how many times.

And how he had some food over the weekend and it went haywire..

and thats why he says he will have to be careful

Phone call on ticket cancellation : ( this is a funny one)

Now this is what happens when we do too much of “Jugad”. Dont know the word in Bengali. This bugger calls up a friend to cancel  one of his tickets or some of his tickets via train to Kolkatta.  He sits in a no worry mode where things will be taken care of.

Then he gets a call that  the job is done and ALL the tickets have been canceled.

He is shocked and does not know what to say. Keeps soclding the fellow and immediately calls his wife to relay this new turn of events. And he keeps bemoaning this fact on and on.

Finally he decides to book plane ticket..

I could not help but giggle silently while on the other hand being frustrated at yet again having been privy to this conversation.

Phone call on his breakfast : ( “deem shidho” – boiled eggs)

One day he went on and on about his food and boiled eggs and fish and boiled eggs and fish and boiled eggs and fish

I was like hungry just listening to him talk so much and me is not very happy when hungry and there is no food.

Buhahahah !!! :):)

When does this bugger work ?? If he talks from morning to afternoon to evening..

So after listening to his private ins and out and his so called meanderings between friends, family and his food habits.. and his loving concern for the “aappel” that his wife has to have everyday..I talked to another Bong Manager who is a good pal as well and sits on the other side of the cube and told him to help me out.. by telling him to keep it down and to take a conference room…

Seriously I really dont need to hear or form an opinion about someone’s personal life and their doings..

I am ok with bits and pieces of phone conversation which we all have during the day. It does not invade..

But to go on and on and on and on .. after a while, it takes me away from my work and the mind gets stuck into that which is no business of mine..

FINALLY today !!! there is quiet and limited quiet conversation.

Thank you Bangali Babu.. !!

Appreciate it  !! I can work in peace..

Man ( with an American accent)

- Yes, I am shopping.

- I had a hectic day. Too hectic.. cant think straight.

( me patiently waiting for my turn to pay for my groceries while MIL is searching for some new kinda biscuits. I know she has a weakness for different ones)

-  What ? oh yes, I am buying some bread and eggs and juice.

- Brown bread ?? Oh no. ..!! here you dont get brown bread.  ALL BROWN BREADS ARE COLORED BROWN.. !!!!

(me :  HUH DUH HUH, did I  hear right ??: my ears are pointed and tuned to this “interesting” conversation)

- ( man giving up the American accent and switching to Hindi)  yes didnt you know..  all brown breads are slashed with colors and then we poor folks think its brown bread and eat it..

- Juice ??? you think.. Here all juices are colored even the REAL ones which say sugar free and they all have preservatives.. NAH.. we cannot get anything pure here..

- no I tell you.. its all like this here.. its terrible.. and so I got the normal bread..

By that time I was affronted.. and felt like knocking this bugger on his head and saying that for his information, we do get good BROWN BREAD well baked and well done..

God !! he is not only a confused DESI but stupid as well.. it seems that living in Uncle Sam’s land has layered his brain with a blindfold where he sees only artificiality here in his native country and all health in other countries..

BAH !!!! of course, I did not say anything.. I was dying to… but I did not.. and I quitely smirked, paid my dues for my items and walked out with MIL..

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!

The amazing idiocy and stupidity of people who come back from stints abroad..  !!!

We are not that stupid as to not know how to make brown bread…

Either he is the dumbest character I found or I am blind…

The mind per say is a funny tool.. when one least expects it, there are some ping pong which plays up BANG comes up the impulses..

So well I acted on it and I am happy.. he he.. I love listening to my impulses..

The serious part encouraged me to try Ayurveda so went and enrolled myself for a treatment..

Methinks that its always good to take care of oneself.. and since I have not tried Ayurveda.. well lets do it.. and I did it..

And now I have some weird tasting medicines to take in the morning and the doc has promised me of some deep rooted recovery.. or whatever.

Now I am not a fan of medicines specially of the Allopathy nature.. but yes.. natural remedies always is good. .

The doc was good and the treatment sounds encouraging..

It did burn a hole in the already holed pocket.. ( lets not ponder there)

But health is wealth so here I am.. the paper kind comes  and goes..

Grocery Shopping has now become complicated.

I think I have not reached that mindset where I do a detailed research on what I buy.. Nope I buy by instinct and of course the date on the packet.

Now when I go browse the rice, lentil, grains, pulses and beans, section , I am flummoxed by the local variety, the organic variety and the normal variety.. WAHHHHH !!

Now this purchase which used to take me seconds..  now takes me couple of valuable minutes.. Why why why… I am like what do I take.. organic – well that seems to be the fad.. and healthy as well and expensive.. – local – hmm could be good.. – normal – whats the diff.. I usually take that..

Now you can see me with my tiny hands on my chin… pondering upon this rack with the concentration of deliberating over a critical life and death decision..

I caught myself at it and could not help berate myself for being so fussy.. Gosh !! and POP I go and choose an organic packet of Black Channa and normal Dal and another local Dal..

Well !!! ,  me says to myself,  that should do it !! I have the best of all the three.

Result : When I come home..

• local – is ok..
• Normal is normal..
• Organic is interesting – the channas look good but inside its full of insects which has eaten it hollow..

Well there goes my choices.. I will stick to the NORMAL.. for now..

I think this organic concept has not been understood well or the product was bad.. whatever.. !!! OR my vision is also going bonkers. The packet looked just fine when I picked it up..

Anyway..Now I am back to seconds.. in shopping..

Medians on the road are made for a purpose..

Bikers of the generic kind.. the commuter variety and not the passionate variety… Why do you think your 100- 150 cc bike can go over a well placed median just to avoid riding normally and taking a U turn..

We are all doing that.. Heck my baby can cross the median well but we have rules and its logical why they have been put there..

But no.. we have bikers who painfully cross the medians sweating, gyrating and then BANG the bike does not start.. and I go SCREEEEEECCCHHHHH to save from plowing onto him..

It is madness and I felt like getting out of the car and giving him a punch on his face.. for giving me such a heart attack.. GRRRRRR

Next time I will blow my already loud horn and give him a piece of the heart stop that I get..

And they say that women drivers are a menace..

I think we women can teach them men something.. buhahahah !!!

So all well you have  a good weekend..

I am doing some movies, friends, dentist.. and all that blah…  he he

So as usual, its a ritual to go pay my respects to the dieties every year I begin a new age. Usually I go to the old Ramaswamy Temple which has mostly all the Gods and Godesses at one place and there is a beautiful feeling of divinity in that surrounding and the rites are traditional as well.  I always leave with a very good feeling inside me everytime I visit with this temple.

Now, this year, for some reason, the vision of Shiva’s eyes of the Shive mandir of erstwhile Kemp Fort just kept coming to my mind. And I thought well this would be a good time to visit with this temple. I had been there couple of times and have taken my relatives there too. It was quite a pleasant experience.

So off I went with my friend to pay our respects. And my oh my, I was unpleasantly surprised.

1. Enter the temple. Buy Pooja packets. Which cost us 25/- per packet.
2. Then go and take a ticket for Archana. 10/-
3. After we enter, Ganesha Archana goes well. ( no money for that)
4. Then we thought we will go through the cave and pay our respects to the different Shiv Lings.  Well, pay 10/- again.
5. Inside it was like one of the theme parks or scary house with the life like models  moving up and down and sideways. Ok it was scary for me to see a stone or a snake model jerk up.
6. Out we went and queued in for the Archana. The pandit took our puja packet even before we reached the front and by the time we did, he had broken the coconuts and the rest and gave back our stuff. I was like what about the mantras. He said : We do not do Mantras. Aarti is in a different place. We could do abhishekam ( which according to them is take milk ( which you have to pay another 10/-) and say what we want in our minds with Om Namah Shiva and pour it over the Lingam)
7. Then we went to the Aarti section. The pandit standing there did not even bother to perform an Aarti. On asking, he griped : Madam, I stand here for 12 hours a day. Dont expect me to say mantras. I am not doing it.
8. Well I thought it was their job description to do this and well I have never come across temples who refuse to do the Aarti.
9. So much for divinity.  From what I have learnt and seen in this part of the country, Abhishekam, Archana and Aarti requires some time from the pandit and the devotee.  It does not happen just like that.
10. The best option was to just sit and pray your own thing and come back. So well in future, I would do just that.  Was not unhappy about the money but the attitude of the temple guys who could do better. It feels like I was going to a museum and not a temple.
11. Sigh.. so much for religion and rituals. I would prefer to go to the old traditional temples anyday.

I thought Isckon was commercial. I think this one beats all.

Spice Garden Resorts

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

Here is my collection of Photos from our Munnar trip. Finally uploaded it.

You can read the Travellog here.

It was a while since I have been trying to get to Munnar. Also had it booked in the New Year but could not make it.

The booking was open and I took advantage of a long weekend and planned a trip with close friends.

This place, on one hand is full of greenery but on the other hand, it was so full of tea, I felt that the whole place was carved out of its natural flora and fanua and replaced with tea plantation. The hills looked like a hand etched landscape but without the natural curves and lines.. that usually can be seen in the mountains.

It reminded me that well Assam is also tea place but well it does not have its mountains and hills shaved like in Munnar.

Well I guess that’s something I felt while coming out of Munnar. Are we not contributing to global imbalance by shaving landscapes and to boost economy.

I understand that its needed but well ALL of the hills.. it was a little too much to take.  After a while, I got tired of acres and acres of tea. Sigh.

Pet Peeve.

I had to put this down while it was still living in my grey cells.
Last couple of days I have been following this seria l “Jyoti” which comes after Kitani Mohabbat Hai.

Now I lazily watch Kitani Mohabbat hai to switch off for the day. Ok I catch this once in a while for 5 minutes before surfing to another channel or taking a call.

And this takes the cake in prolonging a scene. There is this scene where the hero insults the girl misunderstanding her. Well the show must have done real research on how to insult and hit where it supposedly hurts.  So  2 weeks back I thought, well ok he throws all crap at her and now what she will do.. ???

Well surprise surprise !! she does nothing. Well thats still OK.

Then I tune in the next day and the day after since I am home, sick.. And the episodes show the hero insulting the heroine in ALL ways possible, in all aspects..

Well what does the writer want to show ? that the hero is so hurt that he calls her only to throw insults at her.

THIS GOES ON FOR 2 WEEKS

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ( yeah and I just tune in to find out if the insulting session is over but NO)

And finally when teh session is over, the hero supposedly kills the heroine.. and then Flash Forward to Jail.. ARGHHHHHHHHHH

METHINKS Rakhi Sawant Show is going to be more interesting than this.. Buhahahaha !!!

I am better off with FRIENDS anyday….

WHO writes all this ??? and also gets paid for it. GAAAHHH

On a different Note

So well, I think my next favorite haunt is going to be KYRA theatre. Just saw the promos in my office and went and checked the site.

Location:
2001 Katti-ma Center, 100ft Rd, Indiranagar (Above Adidas Showroom)
Bangalore City, India

• Kyra on Facebook
• Kyra Website
• Kyra on Twitter
• Kyra Blog

Also saw that Raghu Dixit’s band also played here.. Awesome..!!!

Seems there is lot happening there this month.. My kind of scene..

20th : Rajeev and the Rebels Uncovered.

21st : Lound and plugged : India’s hottest alternative rock band THEM CLONES live.

22nd Anjan Dutta : Meet and share moments with him up and close , special screening of his flim Bowbarracks forever.

22nd 9pm For the First time, Them Clones goes unplugged. Watch

23rd Dial M for Macbeth : an amazing play

24th : Watch the IPL finals on a 372 inch screen, with Syed Kirmani , and where for commentary, its over to you. Happy hours got happier

26th-28th : Madras Players present : Midnight hotel ” a comedy thirller , played to packed houses around the country, now in Bangalore for the first time

30th-31st : Punctuate! A dance theatre : definately MUST see.
… more coming up

If you have the time and like the Blues, check out Rudy Wallang and his group. ( clicking on this link will give you a preview to their music as well) I have become a fan of this group.

The group’s vocalist Tipriti croons really well.

They are from Shillong and this group comes out with real cool stuff. They have their shows in Blue Frog, Mumbai. Did ask him if he would pass by Bangalore.. but not yet he says..

So am keeping my fingers crossed that he passes us by and treats us to his rocking music..

Cuisine Cuisine

Check this out, my Assamese  friends.. I long for home