Sunday, October 31, 2010

Some updates

1) The enthu cutlet husband of mine has documented our Saturday getaway with a video of sorts. See it here.

2) The food blog is up again. Yes, I mean again!. Check it out here.

3) Igloo is growing on me. So I guess its safe to say that the husbands attempts to slowly expose me to cats first and then puppies and finally a puppy of our own might just be working. Still need to overcome the last bit of those commitment issues. (Having a pet is a huge commitment, no? Teehee!)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

off-a-roadtrippin

i know, i still havent given you the scoop on where we went last weekend. but a whole week has passed and it was time to decide what to do.

the husband has some sort of a personal mission going now. to visit a place we've never seen before, every weekend. todays destination: soul souffle. which is a really chic restaurant, with a lovely outdoorsy ambience, by this random spring which appears sort of out of nowhere. this made for yet another interesting non-beachy side of goa for us to see.

so off we went in a van, all 6 of us. 5 hormonal, client servicing boys. and then there was me. no music, but lots of banter.

once there, we lounged around by the spring. of course there were plenty of photographs to be taken. and i slipped into a bit of a day dream watching the local boys tossing themselves into the spring -- uninhibited, innocent and just so free.
dipping out feet into the spring offered a free fish spa treatment, kenko style! no kidding!






pretty soon it was lunch time. and of course there was plenty food and drink. we discovered that soul souffle concocted some pretty yummy mojitos. so we went for it. one. then two. then three. and vc decided i should have the 4th one too. which was pushing it a bit for me. but i obliged :P

with all those mojitos, assorted seafood, chicken, grilled fish, fancy looking and deserts inside me, i was ready for a freshwater dip. inspired by the boys, it wasnt long before i found myself standing directly under the mini waterfall, which by the way is one of the most awesome feelings iv experienced in a while.



after a saturday like that, who wouldnt be blissed?

Friday, October 29, 2010

disoriented. just a tad.

yesterday, i thought we were on friday, going head on into the weekend. but i realized, i was wrong.

for some reason, this morning too, i woke up thinking saturday was here and that the weekend had begun. but i realized, i was wrong.

dammit! i hate it when that happens.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

a new discovery



recently re-discovered the script. and for some reason the second coming seems to have a better impact on me these days. this has happened with too many things. and now with this band..

the script has a style similar to the fray and snow patrol. music i listened to in mid 2007 or so. a definitive time in my life. so the script is taking me back in time. to my room. lying in my bed, staring into the darkness, watching the shadows playing on my ceiling and feeling intensely emotional about every goddamn thing in life.

its good to go back in time, now that im here. in this place in life. as long as i can race back to this reality, its all good. thats the beauty of music for me. it takes me to a time and a place, knowing well that i can always come back to the safety of my here and now.

another food crush on a food man

"Life's too short to eat crap!" ~Jamie Oliver

That statement pretty much clearly epitomizes the man’s love for food, his cooking style and philosophy. And Iv discovered jus how passionate he is in recent times. Apart from downloading a bunch of his TV shows and having my eyes peeled for weeks together, my interest in Jamie Oliver was recently revived when I saw his 10 minute appearance on Masterchef Australia. And in those 10 minutes he made every other Chef and Culinary Master I have seen on the show seem like limp vegetables soaked in tepid water.

The man is just SO FULL of energy and enthusiasm for what he cooks that its bursting from every pore! With fresh un-fancy (yes, I just made that up because it sounds so much more meaningful than “simple”) ingredients and techniques, Jamie Oliver can whip up things you want to eat through the screen of your laptop. His desserts, pastas, pies, bakes, crumbles, toasts, prettymuchanythinghesevercookeds have made me drool just watching him. He has a way, he really does. I dunno if it’s the flourish in his actions, or the flamboyance in his being, or the excited manner in which he speaks with a lisp, or his joy in growing the freshest produce and cooking the nicest family meals, but I so love the man.

Only Jamie Oliver can pull off a combination of mozzarella drizzled with honey and sprinkled with coffee, call it a dish, make you go whaaaa?? and still make you want to taste it! Only Jamie oliver can say “these flavours are slapping you in the face, but it aint good yet!” and then add “it needs some funky ass citrus!”

I love the guy. And for me, nobody else comes close to his culinary genius. *drool*

the world has gone crazy

it seems that DSLRs are the hottest, trendiest accessories in town.
and owning one, without knowing how to use it, is a fashion statement.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

take a peek

at a glimpse of where we went this weekend:

..and thats all im going to say until my next post!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

thanksgiving

today, i felt grateful that im in a place where i just have to drive out 20 minutes from home to see this:

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

all things yummy

so i have recently been addicted to masterchef australia. i actually downloaded all 84 episodes, and watched them one by one, putting virtually my whole life on hold. i brushed aside work, almost missed deadlines, ignored tv altogether, altered my routine to fit in optimal masterchef watching time, planned meals in such a way that it ensures least amount of time spent in the kitchen, fought to get my internet back up so i could have full speed downloads, oh and also didnt turn my laptop off forever to maximize downloads.

i did it all for the love of all things yummy things. the pursuit of passion, the contestants' love to create gorgeous food, yummy looking dishes, and also some yummy cute baldies.

this show has brought back my fetish for bald men. and i am now positive that theres nothing better than a hot bald man who can cook yummy things. a cute bald man who can cook will do too. its like the perfect amalgamation of all things yummy.

presenting the top 3 baldies from the show:

george calombaris: the cute baldie


matt moran: the suave baldie


adriano zumbo: the naughty baldie

happY

25 minutes of jillian michaels' shred + 30 minutes of cathy smiths pilates = 100% endorphin high + happy reva.

what can i say?
i think im a workout video slut.

but i feel good. so i cant complain.
excuse me now, so i can go back to ODing on the endorphins and feeling happy and energetic, totally pumped.

death and grief

iv said this before, and im going to say it again: there is something deafeningly final about the way death hits those who are left behind. the irreversible truth of it all, however, sometimes takes time to sink in.

i lost a dear uncle last week. and yes, i was shocked. yes, i was sad. yes, a part of me grieved, shed tears and really felt for my aunt and cousin sisters. but the bitter truth of this fact, that he is indeed no more, has only hit me today. now. as i read a chain of emails exchanged by the family through his state of illness. and the sorrow and grief i feel now is deeper than when i first heard the news.

i will miss his smiling face at every family get together. his ability to make a joke out of everything. his quirky sense of humor. his amazing ability to break into song and render the nicest mohd rafi and burman numbers.

murli mama, you will be missed.

death is part of life. its supposedly the most natural part of life. yet, we're almost always taken by surprise, and nothing and nobody can every "prepare" us for this eventuality. 2010 has been a devastating year for me, in this regard. 2010 began with my first upclose encounter with death. when my grand dad passed away, it was like my life forced me to face it and deal with it. and i dont think i have still internalized and accepted it. iv lost an unusually high number of family members through the year, and heard and been a part of the news of a lot more people dying, of strange and natural causes.

and yet, nothing ever makes it normal or bearable.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

meet ugly and igloo



this is the office dog. i dont quite know who named her ugly, but i think shes adorable. hyper, loving and a tad scary when shes expressing her excitement.
ugly recently had puppies. one of which survived, me thinks. while ugly is gray and mottled, her sole-surviving puppy is pristine and white. with a pink button nose. he is called igloo. heehee!


we went to the office on a sunday morning to try and get some pictures of both. but ugly is highly possessive of her new-born igloo. and the experiment wasnt very successful. the only thing that became really evident is vcs need to get himself a puppy, pronto.

oh dear.
(damn you fb! youre making the world smaller than it already is!)

What our weekends are all about

The weekend is here. I love weekends. Weekends are just awesome.
Technically my weekends aren’t entirely different from weekdays. But there is an inexplicable joy about waking up on a Saturday and knowing theres 2 whole days of freedom stretched before you.

I try not to leave my work to be done on the weekends. Its part of my meagre attempt to get myself into a routine, so that I make time for everything, and yet get my work done. I try and keep weekends free to laze about, spend time with VC, socialize a little, and get pending things done.

But I love weekends mostly because:
I don’t have to wake up at a fixed time.
I don’t have to rush through the morning chai-breakfast-work-clean up-cook routine.
There is no urgency to get lunch done by a certain time.
Most times I skip cooking lunch/dinner altogether.
We drive out.
We eat out.
Sometimes when I do cook, I can cook at leisure and experiment with new things.
The husband and I get so much more time together.
So much more time to catch up on movies, tv shows and lazing around together, going out etc.

Thats what weekends are about. Weekends pretty much make getting through the week worthwhile, for the both of us. Weekends are what make being here fun. And I wouldn’t trade them for anything! Our weekends are precious!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The intelligent want self-control; children want candy. ~Rumi

Friday, October 15, 2010

life at f1.8

The best way to sum up the past weekend would be: Confusion. Realization and discovery. And ultimately, peace.

That apart, one of the biggest things that happened this weekend, was that VC decided we have gone long enough without a camera. So he has finally bought himself a Nikon D5000. Not what he really wanted, but just what he decided to settle for, given budgetary and lifestyle constraints at the moment. But I can already see how much excitement it has brought. He is like a little boy with a new precious toy. The camera has been everywhere he has been, since he bought it. He’s been living life looking through his viewfinder, pretty much as f1.8, non stop. And that has resulted in rekindling of a long-dormant love for photography.

Here are some snapshots from the weekend:





Im REALLY happy for you, VC!

Thursday, October 07, 2010

some navel-gazing

Recent events in my life have made me realize that Im lucky to have had parents, and a family that indulges in, and has taught us to inculcate, a life outside of life. By that, I mean a family that spends time and energy in enriching life with things outside of the mundane everyday occurrences. That believes in the arts and books and solitude as ways to tune in once in a while and feel a true sense of satisfaction like no other superficial entertainer can provide.

This is perhaps why I can spend days on end within the 4 walls of my house, and only sometimes miss friends, the world outside and restaurants and movies; while the husband sometimes cannot bear to get thru a Saturday spent wholly at home. He has been brought up to believe that “having fun” almost always means indulging in some momentary entertainment or happiness fix. Namely, good food and drink at a restaurant or a 3 hour movie that transports you to a world so far from your own that you actually begin to love how unreal and stupid it is. Its probably why at the end of a hard day he needs a couple of beers, and I can cool off with a nice work out. Its probably also why after 1.5 years of living the married rat race in the cushioned environment of a joint family, I really craved a life of my own. One where I could spread my wings and fly, so to speak. One that allowed me to indulge myself, my senses and my sensibilities, and grow into my own person, rather than someone in the shadow of an existing framework.

Its probably the reason why after spending a serious amount of time in activities that don’t enrich my soul, I crave that something more. I wish to spend time with myself, read, write or listen to music. Im okay with that sometimes. Im okay with not having a plan, with having empty time, with not being entertained 24/7. Im okay being with myself. This is something that has been dinned and taught to me all through my life. While we were growing up, we weren’t encouraged to go out and splurge a good load of money just to feel good or chase the blues away. We weren’t told that we would get gifts and goodies if we did well at school. We weren’t always instantly given things we desired. Yet, I think we turned out quite okay. We’ve learned to take the good and the bad, not seeking superficial placebos to make the lows go away. Yes, this attitude and upbringing has also taught us to deal with problems in a more rational, non-hysteric manner, as opposed to brushing things under the carpet and satisfying ourselves with an external stimulant.

I know Im probably rambling now, but this morning, after exchanging a few smses with the mother, I realized that what sometimes seemed as a hard-on-us-children kind of life while we were growing up, is definitely going to pay off. Growing up in a world where everything is increasingly short lived, everything is “instant”, everything is zipping by, Im glad my sister and I have been taught well, to slow down, to enjoy the moment even if it seems “empty”, to live like there’s no tomorrow, not to depend on external pleasures, and to make do an be happy with ourselves and what we have. And I know that many years from now when I look back on life, I’m probably not going to remember how many movies I watched, how many fancy restaurants Iv been to, how many parties I went to or how much jewellery I owned. But I will certainly remember my childhood and how enriching it was, my parents, my grandparents and people who have touched my life, my time in Goa and what a time of self-discovery it has been. And I will remember the moments in life that have taken my breath away: beautiful silence in a forest, an exquisite sunrise, the whitest sea sand, the hugest wild elephant, the peace of solitude, the calm and happiness of euphoria, and the satisfaction of a job well done. And for this, Im glad I the universe chose to give me to my parents, and vice versa.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

its official. BSNL sucks.

number of days since i started facing internet problems: 24
number of calls made to 198 to lodge a complaint: 9
number of calls returned: 8
number of times the linesman told me he would come by and check it: 8
number of times he didnt show up: 8
number of times i tried calling the broadband help desk: 27836928364256 (iv lost count)
number of responses i got: 3
number of visits to the exchange: 1
number of helpful people there: 0
number of hairs i have lost by now: 2390849263

this situation is a perfect congruence of a BSNL monopoly(because no other service provides broadband internet) + government employee mentality + the laid back i-dont-really-care-if-youre-having-internet-trouble goan mentality.

today, i still await the elusive linesman.
and i continue to pay 827 bucks a month for an internet connection with a moody mind of its own.
its far from "broadband" speeds.
its far from 24/7 connectivity.
and it most certainly doesnt make my life easy.

its confirmed. i live in a village.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

haircut woes

One of the things that kept me from cutting my hair short is the fact that my hair grows at abnormal speeds, and it takes way too much effort to keep a short haircut, short. So a low-maintenance haircut, ends up needing a trim every 1.5-2 months to ensure that it stays the way it’s meant to, and I don’t end up looking like a gollywog. Not so low maintenance, if you ask me!

Anyhoo, the point I am getting to is a new haircut that happened more because I didn’t have a choice, than because I wanted a new haircut. While the new look has grown on me and I like it now, my immediate feelings towards it were disastrous. The haircut was a product of what happens when hairdressers don’t listen, don’t bother to understand their clients hair, and basically don’t do their job.

The last time I chopped off my hair and went really short, I had the very understanding, creative and good-with-his-scissors Nadeem give me a really nice look. This was in Bombay. I loved it. It took zero maintenance, was a wash-and-wear look, and I felt it knocked a few years off my face. Maybe I just felt that way because Iv had the same old boring length of hair for over a decade, and I did nothing else with it, but tie it in a ponytail, only leaving it loose when I was feeling brave.

Like I said: my hair. Growth. Abnormal speeds. Which means 2 months later (which was already too late); I really felt I needed a trim to get the original look back. The one Nadeem gave me. Ideally I would have waited to make a trip to Bombay again, and pay him a visit and get the job done. Totally dependable. No hassles. No tension. But given the rate at which my hair continued to grow and with no Bombay trips in the foreseeable future, and also because it seemed insane to go to Bombay for a haircut, I decided to go get it trimmed at the neighbourhood parlour. All I wanted was a trim…not too much to ask for, you’d think right? I thought so too, but evidently I was very wrong.

The very gay looking “senior stylist” at Neomi’s who claimed he was a visiting consultant and had his own salon in Bandra in Bombay, offered his services, when I was patiently waiting for the person assigned to me. He confidently flourished a few compliments my way and told me I needed a haircut that would show off my face, a radical look that would make me look younger. While I didn’t fall for it immediately, and told him my haircut was radical enough for me and all I needed was a trim, I was getting impatient at being made to wait so long despite having taken an appointment. So I agreed to let him trim my hair, since he seemed so eager, looked confident and seemed like he knew what I wanted.

Ten minutes later, when he said he was done, I found myself looking like an oversized mushroom. The layers were gone. The curls were gone. The look was gone. He had failed to merely just follow the instructions I had given him. I know my hair, I have dealt with it for all my life. I know that without layers, my hair looks horribly oversized. I know that blow drying my hair is probably the worst way to deal with it. I know that I needed to just keep the look Nadeem had so carefully given me. Yet, this foolish man didn’t do anything that I had asked for. He did his own thing, made me look like an oversized mushroom, and indignantly sat there telling me Nadeem had given me a bad hair cut.

This is what happens when hairdressers try and outsmart their clients, when all they are required to do is listen, and do as theyre told to.

To avoid walking out of there looking like an overgrown mushroom, I did the only thing I could do. I had him chop it all off. And luckily for him, I could make peace with the end result. If not, I would have punched his sorry face in, tied his skinny arms and legs in knots and walked out of there in a huff. So the next time you want to mess with my hair, think twice.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

swooning on sunday

Im back from a sudden unplanned trip to Bangalore. There’s very little that can compare with the feeling of coming back home. As I drove back from the airport, winding through the coconut tree lined highway and made my way across the many bridges over the vast expanse of waterways, I felt at peace again.

I came home to a pleasant surprise. The house wasn’t as wrecked as it usually is when the husband is left alone here ;) I was even more surprised to see that he had tried his hand at making himself dinner in my absence, instead of just eating out all the time. His bath towel was even hung out to dry! The dried laundry was taken down! The kitchen platform was wiped clean! All this was enough for me to ignore the messy stove and the unfolded sheets. As pleased as I was with the hint of domestic inclination in the husband, I didn’t really feel settled until I got down to some serious heartfelt cleaning this morning :)

There’s really no better way to spend a Sunday that stretches out ahead of you, but with some overdue cleaning, cooking, catching up on our weekly quota of downloaded TV shows and chit-chatting about the events of the past week we spent apart as we eat chocolate chip ice cream.

So here I lie lazing around in bed, while I listen to my latest discovery – Nikhil D Souza. Who I think I have a crush on, from just listening to his voice. Im OD-ing on some ultra cheesy (I’m talking Anjaana-Anjaani and Emraan Hashmi..eek!) hindi movie music, after a realllllly long time, mostly because I discovered it’s the same dreamy voice across so many movies: Udaan, Aisha, Anjaana Anjaani, and (yuck, gasp!) Crook)..but the voice! Sigh.. take a listen for yourself: