A Terrific AD

A great ad - Ironically from a non Indian company!!
And nonetheless this ad won the EPICA awards for best ad..

A tribute to Gandhiji- truely inspiring.. (To view click here)

Adopt a plant

Little Sadhana (my 6 yr old friend*)is very happy.. she is getting a baby sister this Thursday.. She is thrilled at the concept of baby-sitting her sister and so very excited about it..

I have learnt a lot from her.. She has introduced me to her world of Disney, pbskids, nick and more.. I must say these sites r really amusing and the games are quite entertaining... i do have a lot of fun on these sites..

She is a very sweet child and ever willing to help her mom/me with the household chores of cooking and cleaning..Charming n smart, she is my favourite accomplice.One of the recent incidents she handled smartly is, when after dinner she was served dessert n she asked for a second helping. Her mom hinted that she shouldn't waste it.. however half way through little Sadhana got fed up n noticed that her mom was yet to take the dessert.. She quickly commented.. "mom, u needn't trouble urself to fetch the dessert.. i can share mine with u.." how sweet rt?? But the naughty look on her face did give her away.. n we all had a hearty laugh..

i wished i had heard of his line when i was a kid..It wud have saved me so much energy, resisting n pleading to be let without eating the spinach n beets..i wud gladly share them.. :-)

As she is not permitted to keep pets by her dad, Sadhana has very smartly deviated the channel towards having a pet plant.. she has a small pot with white n yellow chrysanthemums and tends n nurtures it lovingly..

I too had been thinking for a while about gardening and my roommate in India also loved the idea n we used to plan to get a plant.. however it never materialised for us..And last Friday, to my ecstasy, the guests who were invited over for dinner at our place landed with a pot of white chrysanthemums :-) I am trying my best to make them feel at home.. Hope the climate too obliges n my flowers keep blooming the way they are now.. (in pic)

* it was amusing to note that some of u thought sadhana is my daughter.. he he!! wud love to mother a kid like her.. :-) but guess its not the right time yet ;-)

Life After Death

One day, after you die, n may be after all the people who knew you die, will there be be even a trace that such a person as you ever walked on this earth?? To think you lived.. may be many years.. without even leaving behind a mark.. The thought doesn't seem very bright right??

what do u think about it??

Stepping stone

Phew.. wat a hectic weekend it has been.. I won't be exaggerating if i said it has been the most hectic weekend in my life... But it was gr8 fun too.. I met my best friend from school who came from Alabama, along with her husband to meet us.. It was some gr8 catching up with old times n a gr8 sadya (traditional feast on plantain leaf) on account of the mallu new year Vishu. But pity she had to leave on the same day, n it all ended soo soon..

The piercing, ear-wrecking beep of the alarm never troubled me too much as i have imbibed in me the talent to swiftly snooze/off it n turn around n get another hour or 2 of sleep.. However today was a very important day in the history of my life..We had to rush n be in line if i were to take my driving test today... i did do some practise the previous week n my parallel parking was surely exemplary..Though i am used to driving coolly on the known roads when it comes to unknown ones some nervous daemon leaps out.. N even though the instructor took me half way through my known road, sum thing didn't impress her.. This is not as an excuse but she too didn't seem very sweet or nice to me, for she didn't even have the politeness to answer back to my good morning greeting..

N the comments after the test on my sheet said i stopped ahead of the stop sign, i needed practise n that i was slow.. well for the stop sign, yes after coming from a college were our motto was"rules r meant to be broken" it will be a little tough for me to stick to all rules here.. As for more practise yes, i am still confused abt which one is the main road n which is the entrance to some building/parking lot.. Guess i will also need time to shift bet the right n left hand driving methods.. My instincts take me to the right hand driving methods back in India..

Well i know its no use feeling frustrated cos i didn't do exceptionally well or anything.. But guess after waiting from 5-8.30 after my most hectic weekend, she cud ve been more considerate n polite at least.. well yes some ppl can make ur day bad for u..N i need to make this the stepping stone towards success..

So not wanting the stone hearted instructor to steal away the niche of this post, let me tell u abt my happy weekend.. the most exciting things of all was the international gem show here in Houston..It was a twinkling experience.. N mere sight made u feel happy..(i dunno if u find it weird..but thats me..) even though i hadn't planned to buy anything it came as a pleasant surprise when my mother in law gifted me a coral necklace.. (in pic)

There were ivory carvings, diamonds,stones, gems, semi-precious stones.. anything which wud delight a woman.. surely an exhibition worth visiting...

To locate the show nearest to ur place click here.

Thats all from me abt stones at the moment..Bbye..

Casablanca..

It has been a long time now since i wanted to c this movie..N at last my desire was fulfilled yesterday when i watched it with my husband..
Though it was not all that magical, i loved the movie.. It is very realistic n the characters r all simply adorable...The surprise twist in the end really reminded me of another Hindi movie..The song "As time goes by" is splendid and Humphrey Bugart as a saloon owner is very charming..
To classic lovers, I wud say a must see.. It makes you think, think about war times, the black and white era, and much more..N more so for the lyrics of the song.. They kept me pondering...



[This day and age we're living in
Gives cause for apprehension
With speed and new invention
And things like fourth dimension.

Yet we get a trifle weary
With Mr. Einstein's theory.
So we must get down to earth at times
Relax relieve the tension

And no matter what the progress
Or what may yet be proved
The simple facts of life are such They cannot be removed.]

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you."
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date.
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate.
Woman needs man
And man must have his mate
That no one can deny.

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.

Oh yes, the world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.



On yet another romantic note, read the article below..It left me bewildered...
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0912761120070409?feedType=RSS

Summer Tag

hey guys,
Forgot 2 put the customary ending lines to my previous post..That is abt the tagging part!!
I'd be glad if all of u who liked it n wud like to write abt their favourites in summer take up the tag.. do let me know n I'll be happy to read.. :) some ppl i wud really like to take up the tag are :-
Miss Muffet
Lotus reads
Teenager
Mr J
Keshi
Harshal
Have a gr8 weekend!! happy Easter...

The Summer Tag!!

When temperatures roared to a scale of 86F, n just as we started mentioning the summer,lo! I get tagged by Priya..I am to write the 8 things i enjoy doing in summer..

Let me start with the summers when I was at school and like any kid, the Summer holidays were much rejoiced!!
In whichever part of the country we were, during summer, we wud be back to our home state kerala entitled "God's own country". It was fun to be at my grandparents place..I am the first born to my mom, she to her dad n he to his parents.. so in this case, i was the only one in my generation for quite a while there.. N that did the wonder.. I cud bask in the warmth of the love n care of my grandparents,my mom's 4 siblings, her uncles, aunts n cousins who were in school or college at the time. They called me "diya kutti"(diya baby :)) and thus pampered me a lot..I know i still hold that special place in their hearts.N later as the family extended, the fun was in the merriness n togetherness..
So my first best thing is goin to native place and being with all cousins and relatives..

My second best thing is also associated with my native place..my granny along with her favourite maid who was also to be addressed as granny by us, and her 2 daughters prepared a horde of sumptuous savouries, desserts n pickles.. Each day was a feast.. My favourites among them were the chips made of jack fruit, plantain, jack fruit halwa(A sweet dish), puzhukku (A south indian dish) ,the tapioca curry, the tender coconuts specially kept aside for me.. ah i cant stand to describe any more..
Also equally joyful was when we went hunting.. Not for any animal but for fruits.. It was real fun to struggle hard to pluck jamuns, peaches,sapota, mangoes etcfrom the tall trees..Whole day long we played in the yard n in the night began the "äntakshari" sessions including all the family members..It was especially fun when there was a power cut for there wudnt be the TV to distract anyone..We also enjoyed putting mehandi on each others palms plucking leaves from the mehandi tree and grinding it into a paste mixed with tea leaves n lemon juice..
And as our school vacation was a little out of sync with the state school where my granny was music teacher, i used to accompany her at times to her school.. Also some days accompany my grandpa to his grocery shop..n each place i was given a red carpet welcome ;-)

The third favourite thing is going for trips to hill stations like ooty, kodai, Gangtok, Kathmandu.. Once in 2-3 years we went for these trips and it was best enjoyed in summer when we cud eat lots of ice creams n drink copious amount of fruit juice..

But as all good things come to an end, soon we grew up n got engrossed in all the monotonous worldly affairs of attaining a degree /career and all the serious things..But even in college i did have my share of fun..
4. water theme parks.. every visit has made my day memorable n though I'm a little scared of water (no sarcasm pls :P) it has been real fun..
5. the holi festival which comes in the outset of summer.. A delightful festival full of colours and water, it is worth waiting for the summer...
6.Ice creams... I can spend an entire day in an ice cream parlour.. N chilling out summer with ice creams is my kinda treat :)
7. the beach.. actually it can be point no 1 too. for i simply love being at the beach...N summer or winter its always an affirmative for a beach trip from me.. However it becomes all the more exciting in summers as it is more active and lively..The best way to beat the heat..just be in the water lol..
8.Sleep during day n party at night.. when i was at Chennai where its almost always summer, every weekend thats how it used to be.. We wud laze in bed or in front of TV hogging till 4-5 pm after which our day wud begin ;-) Gosh i miss those days...
Hope to do many more thrilling activities this summer, my first one here in US.. will keep u posted..(hope my flashback stories didn't bore u..)