Travelogue-Spring 2007

get·a·way (gt-w)
n.
1. The act or an instance of escaping: made a quick getaway.
2. A place appropriate for a vacation.

getaway(in altoid's dictionary) =
one part cool blue waves of the ocean +
one part sea gulls +
one part pristine clear sands +
one part clear sunny skies +
one part good book +
one part comfy lounge chair/beach towel/beach umbrella +
one part cool refreshing drink(optional)


To get some zing in the taste and feel, indulge in a soothing massage.
For that adrenalish rush, add a dash of hang gliding lessons.

And for that out-of-the-world experience, get an aerial tour of the islands along the coast.

Sigh, Mondays have a tendency to show up at the wrong time, all the time!!!

Fixated over lighthouses

After benches, its lighthouses that I find visually appealing. There is a strange tingle of excitement when I see lighthouses and they remind me of Famous Five mysteries. I havent been able to decipher the connection, all that the mind conjures up are wild stories about pirates and shipwrecks. Yes, call me an incurable romantic or hopeless sentimentalist, but there are some associations for me that transport me to another time. Maybe its the books that I used to read and the fact that I have been a voracious reader.

Regardless, if any trip includes a lighthouse sighting, I am up for it. I will even drive miles so as to be able to catch a glimpse. Lighthouses in recent times and since the time electricity has been invented have become more sophisticated. But imagine the time when fire was used to send warning signals. All said and done, I am sure lighthouses have saved many a shipwreck. So here's presenting a small collection of lighthouse sightings....which I hope grows to many more.

Out and away-TGIF!

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

A curiously strong gift

...........for a curiously strong mint!












Footnote :
It takes a long time to grow an old friend. ~John Leonard

Movie recall

For some years now I have maintained an offline list of the movies that would eventually go into a "collection" of sorts. See, with books, I have a variety. There are those "perennials"(I guess this word's stuck in my mind from the previous post) which are books that will stay with me all my life, those great books that I could and would read and re-read any time. Then there are the "flight" books that I buy on impulse for want of "some" book to read on a flight. And then there are the books I buy on my shoppers pass at a book store chain regularly, read and review if they need to go in the "collection" pile. If not these and the "flight" books eventually get donated to the library.

Now with movies, I never buy DVD's unless its a "collection" movie which would then exist in the "must-have" list. So I've been maintaining this list and just last week I decided to invest in growing the "collection". Now the other problem is I never watch any movies on DVD, especially the "collection" ones. They just sit cutely behind the glass doors of the entertainment set, get dusted regularly and never fail to produce oohs and aahs from visitors who gleam with the "we are impressed" look in their eyes.

I will stop the rambling here and get on with the actual story. So I managed to glue myself to the chair and watch two oldies "Kora Kagaz" and "Piya ka Ghar". For those that jumped in the seats and proclaimed "She is a Jaya Bhaduri fan" victoriously, you'd be partly right. I also have Guddi and Abhimaan and enjoy and her movies immensely. The other commonality in the two movies is the simplistic sets and the "girl-next-door" vibe that they emanate. The costumes of the characters are very believable, the dialogues and storyline chant the "this could happen to anybody, anywhere" mantra all throughout. And an additional point to note is that the characters in both are never painted stark black and white. At an age(70s) when mils were always as depicted by the Bindus and Lalitha Pawars, villains wore garish costumes and sounded menacing like Prem Chhopra and Pran, these movies managed to hold their forte, convey powerful social messages and still was never typecast as artsy. Kudos for all that and more.

Now to the specifics. "Kora Kagaz" is about an educated and literate Archana Gupta, a professor's daughter who happens to choose another professor as her soulmate and gets married to him much against her mother's wishes. Her mother continues to drive a wedge between the couple in a myriad ways predominantly by establishing monetary supremacy. This continues to make dents to the professor's ego and after many such instances, he decides to walk out of the relationship. One of the very good scenes in the movie is when her dad explains to her why her marriage fell apart and why she should not have let her mother ru(i)n her life. Her mother and brother pursue to get her divorced and remarried. She grants the divorce but continues to study and obtain a lecturer position in another town and leave. I will refrain from rattling the ending, but all in all I felt the movie had a very powerful storyline. Granted the setting is quite outdated for today's scenario, but for that time and age, I am sure it conveyed a relevant and powerful message. Also at the end of it, it is still very hard to conclude whose fault it was, all it conveys is its unfortunate and one needs to find strength to let bygones be bygones. Most memorable song is of course "Mera Jeevan kora kaagaz, kora hi reh gaya".

Now coming to "Piya ka Ghar", the movie features the wonderful song "yeh jeevan hai, is jeevan ka, yahi hai yahi hai yahi hai rang roop". This movie of Basu Chaterji is all about Malthi, brought up with great love and affection by her doting parents and uncle and gets married into a family settled in Bombay. After moving to "Amchi Mumbai" she is shocked to face the bitter truth of having to live in a one-bedroom chawl with her inlaws, her older bil and his wife and a younger bil. Their bed is set up in the kitchen where the whole family congregates at odd hours in the am to gather water whenever the water supply dept deigns to release. Again the simple love and camarederie amongst the family members despite the hurdles and chaos is touching and superbly portrayed. Another masterpiece by Basu Chaterji, something one can never tire of.

Footnote : Love Jaya Bhaduri's simple style. Again, forever the "girl-next-door" feel.

Rule of thumb

For a long time, my only association with plants was while hauling potted ones on my two-wheeler along with my mother precariously perched in the rear and having assorted leaves and flowers swaying in the cool Lalbagh breeze while this entourage made the life-threatening ride home. This symbiosis worked well though, my mother with her luscious green thumb would lovingly plant and nurture them until they bloomed and budded to her joy and to my grim satisfaction. A little trick was that I would always pick the plants that were near bloom since I never had the patience to wait till next year or a decade for blooms to appear.

When I moved out I made a startling discovery. On an impulse and extreme ambition(maybe I was drunk!) I decided to launch my own indoor plant collection with a pot of the jasmine creeper and curry leaves. You guessed it, I picked it up on my first trip to the local temple. It was probably nostalgia or homesickness, I wanted to recreate some part of the homeliness of a foliage. And the discovery I made was twofold. That I had a black thumb and secondly just cooing sweet words and watering on a regular basis werent enough for delicate and sensitive plants like the ones I had lovingly paid a fortune upon. The plants died sooner than expected at the shock treatment of my black thumb and not because of the ice and snow of the east coast winter.

As is customary, all of us are fed from a very young age, on a regular dose of the proverb "If at first you dont succeed, try, try again!". So I forged on- I experimented with geraniums, mums(which we used to call chrysanthemums), potted lilies and daisies all seemed to end in doom and no bloom in sight. (Did anyone catch the pattern there? It was all about colorful blooms, none of the green indoor plant variety for me!). Believe it or not, in a frenzy, once I harboured hopeful thoughts of investing a fortune in a potted orchid. Yes, you said it. It never struck me to not set my sights on creating a botanical garden but to start humbly with one indoor plant that would just inhale/exhale and grow.

Much to my chagrin, when I visited a close friend of mine, I found out she had a much greener thumb than my mother's and had already successfully planted seven rose shrubs with outstanding results. Yes, her backyard was a mini rose garden enveloped in color. On a road trip that visit, we both invested in bamboo shoots. I brought it back home and fed it with water, which was all the Asian store owner that sold the shoot told us needed to be done. What do you think happened? Well 3 months later the trash bin found a very dried and shrivelled bamboo shoot in it and the cute container that came with it was reused to hold pens!

The next trip , a year later, to the same friend's place found me staring into a 3-foot high bamboo shoot in a gigantic pot at the doorstep. Yes, the same sister bamboo plant!

"Thats it" I said to myself. The same friend had a kitchen counter top filled with a money plant seeping and creeping all over. She generously offered to donate the original pot since she had grafted enough. I checked in the pot and brought it home victoriously. I concluded I'd solved the problem.

I fed it with regular doses of water and MiracleGro(the guy at the Walmart gardening section sold it to me with great gusto promising outstanding results). Till today, I am never sure if my thumb dyed green, or if it was because I brought my friend's plant or good fortune, but this plant survived. And survived long enough to tell this tale. The creeper now extends from my living room to the kitchen for me to flaunt. In addition I bought a couple of indoor perennials and have never again attempted flowering plants. I even have a cactus at work which seems to be doing fine, but then I do realise cactii are survivors- they'd grow with a green or black thumb, color or no color.

There is one lesson learnt from this experience- Think big, start small. But there is nothing to beat the serenity and calm that greenery exhudes. Be it the majestic trees or the juicy green shrubs or the flowering seasonals or the freshly mowed lawns, they manage to delight and excite each of the senses in a myriad different ways.
Hence this would be my humble submission to go green for Earth Day(April 22nd)!

Thoda hai, thode ki.....

............zaroorat hai.
Zindagi phir bhi yahan khoobsurat hai!

The mint and her photography skills are in need of these wonderful macro lenses to be able to peer into the eyes of flowers and capture the pollen(and thereafter to wheeze merrily away, as well).

So now, you dear reader, understand what the mint wants. Btw, did anyone look at the price tag? *Shocked* No one did? Well then you dont get to read any further. Go back, click on the link, DIGEST the price and get right back .................











...........here.

So while the mint was lamenting to her good friend about the misfortune(yes misfortune because the mint doesnt have a fortune to spend on the said lens), her dear friend(God bless her soul, and long live old friends!) quietly quips "The site www.helpamintbuyafilter.com is available, you know!"

And that got the mint thinking- well if a girl could set up a website to get her credit card bills paid off, why not this? *Hugs to dear friend*. So all the mint needs to do is set up a website and let the money trickle in. Yes, dear contributor, pennies, cents, nickels, dimes, annas, kareninas(oops, there's no such monetary term!)- well you get the drift. No denomination is too small. Birthdays are good reasons to make wishes(hint, hint ;).

As an aside, you know its said women are like fine wine, they only get better with age. Imagine the wisdom of an aged woman who has had an aged wine! (No no, I am not alluding to my dear friend here, pliss to not get offended!).

Everything else aside, on a serious note, this post really is meant for all those innocent lives lost in the VA tech shooting this week. May the souls RIP and wishing peace and strength to the families to deal with the losses. There is a lot of outrage and outcry and outpouring - about gun control, about the injustice and shock over so many lives that were lost for no cause.

I will say less and pray more, pray for those souls, pray for peace on earth. Join me if you wish!


Peace!

Wear comfort?

All of us in many different ways indulge in "comfort food"- which the dictionary says is any food that provides psychological comfort, respite and/or security. Its also referred to as soul food- it could vary from cuisine to cuisine, person to person, culture to culture and age to age. But it exists regardless of any prejudices.

And we also know of "comfort objects" like Linus' security blanket, objects that provide psychological comfort. Its said that this too varies from anything like stuffed toys to precious paintings.

Well I have now concluded there is this concept called "comfort wear". What the hell am I thinking? I refer to that one piece or set of clothing I have to wear every once in a while and potter around my home. The one clothing whose feel against my skin gives me emotional comfort and calm. In my case, its a salwar from many years ago(I am not even sure when or how I acquired it). The material isnt the best, long since out of fashion, but comfortable it is. The print is simple ,cute and pretty(or so I think) and the color scheme is soothing to the eye. And so once in a while, over a lazy weekend, I slip into this wonderful apparel and drift into private heaven. I go about doing my chores-cleaning, laundry, ironing, putting clothes away and all and sundry and while I am at it, this comfort wear infuses peace and calm and serenity in abundance to last till the next time I need to be recharged. And by then its gone through a round of laundry and ironing so its all ready for another refill session.

Its so old, some times the stitches come apart and I have to employ the only needle and thread kit that I possess(for the only reason that it ever gets used) to patch the miracle garment. But dispose it, I never will. What is a few stitches coming undone compared to the priceless service it provides? And so I include a glimpse into this special piece of comfort wear so that if ever there is a question on what to bury/cremate me in, the world would already have the answer..........


So ...........what is YOUR comfort wear?

Lighthouse reproduced

Photo(left) and Painting(right)

The day the mind took a hike!

Its that time of the year in the east coast of April showers, wet spells, windy days and of course cherry blossoms and daffodils galore. The much touted Cherry Blossom festival and parade brings throngs of visitors to the National Mall area both local and out-of-towners eager to soak in the higher temperatures compared to the snow and ice storms of March. The Northern VA area's proximity to the Capital city is indeed a major plus point. "Virginia is for lovers" is the state caption and whats not to love with the Capital city bordering on one side and the lovely Shenandoah valley on the other which delivers the seasons and nature's many wonders without fail every year, year after year.


















With allergies and pollen infested air it is also time for Spring break and Easter. As warm weather is engaged in a major battle to emerge from hibernation, it is not unnatural for one to yearn to break free from the monotony and weather swings. And so I did break free this weekend. I picked a nice juicy Friday when I saw that the weekend and following week were going to be wet and cold. After a filling brunch, I packed my camera, a book, some music and off I went.

















A perfectly sunny day is a boon for the month of April and the afternoon was just right. Not too hot or humid to perspire, yet not cold and chilly to force one to stay indoors. And the cherry blossoms and daffodils and tulips were having a field day basking in the sunlight. As I entered the botanical gardens I could sense all my allergies and stresses getting sucked out of me. Thats when I unlocked the mind and set it free. Its strange the things the mind can do when its let loose.

Many times I wasnt sure if I should capture the moment and the beauty in my mind and commit to memory or use my camera and capture for posterity.

This is the place to go to view the entire album.
Yes, there are many many many pictures cos the shutterbug in me went into overdrive. A lot of time and keen interest are key ingredients to browse this album. And if anyone is curious to know which lunatic would be taking this many pictures of empty benches- pliss to take some time and catch up on this post for justification.

Mind games

Out of sight, out of mind

Meaning
The idea that something is easily forgotten or dismissed as unimportant if it is not in our direct view.

Yes, a very common phrase and a very common phenomenon, me thinks. But recently an event occurred that showed me just how badly entrenched I have become in this process.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A dear friend of mine that lives many miles away in Singapore. A dear friend who always has the time to lend a sympathetic ear to my woes and rants. A dear friend who makes time despite her busy schedule, a day job and a baby. Ok ok, I will get on with this tale.

I heard the shrill jangling of the phone at midnight just as I'd sunk into blissful slumber. I scramble about ready to pounce on the said caller and give the person a piece of my angry mind. As soon as my angry mind recognizes the voice on the other end, the anger drains and a wintry mix of embarassment, guilt and shame sets in. Its dear friend, having finished her chores she absent mindedly decided to call and find out how I was doing and totally forgot about this very important factor called time difference.

When she hears my groggy voice, she apologizes and persists in telling me to go right back to bed. But my guilt has woken my senses and I am all set to have a long chat. And the reason for this guilt was because I realised I had "literally" forgotten about her for god-knows-how-long (probably after her last call, which again happened "god-knows-when"). Yes, I had managed to totally wipe out all thoughts and memories- I had sent no emails asking about her well-being, no calls to find out how her baby was doing. Worse yet, I'd forgotten to send wishes to the beautiful baby that had turned one. And so I had a long chat and caught up on all the news. As she talked and I listened I realised how important it is to have familiar voices and faces around us to feel safe and wanted(for lack of a better word). A voice from faraway land definitely makes one feel at home in one's mind despite the distance that separates the bodies.

Hence I vow to do a better job next time. A belated baby gift hamper is on its way and certainly, "out of sight, out of mind" is all in the mind.

The sense of scents

Make-up has never featured big in my daily routine. For many years I deluded myself into believing there could be nothing out there that could transform me into a beauty queen and if that was the absolute truth, there was just no need to venture into that territory. And thus I shielded myself from the foundations and concealers and what not(I got to know these terms during recent trips to the mall!). And lip treatment to me just always reminded me of the notorious phrase "putting lipstick on a pig". Now that says a lot about my non-existent make-up routine. But not to worry, I always use a basic cleanser and moisturizer and a decent enough smile to look presentable(for those that are conjuring up unreasonable projections of how I might look!).

But no this post wasnt to dwell on my daily facial routine. Its about the next best thing to looking good, which is smelling good. Yes I am a big proponent of minty fresh breath and sweet body odour. I honestly believe it makes a statement. Hence I always have a good collection of fragrances and lotions to keep the "smelling good in the neighbourhood" phrase alive. While I tend to try a variety of perfumes, I shun some strong ones like jasmine or most fruit based scents like cherry and raspberry(reminds me of jams and jellies) except citrus based ones.

My favorite natural smells would be :

1. Lavendar : I love lavendar for sleep aromatherapy, pleasant, soothing and relaxing. Perfect to snooze in.

2. Musk : I love all variations of musk.

3. Sandalwood : Probably cos I am from Karnataka, sandalwood always reminds me of home and peace, carefree life and serenity.

4. Vanilla : Fresh ground vanilla has a wonderful aroma. One bean that is equally good edible or as a fragrance.

5. Lemon/Lime/Citrus based fragrances are very refreshing as air freshners and detergents :).

Current collection of aromas :

Latest - Cashmere Mist by DKNY
Favorite - Black by Kenneth Cole
Funtime - Heavenly by VS
To feel top of the world - Gucci Envy me

All day lotions/body wash : Cherry Blossom and Moonlight path from Bath and Body works

Lavendar and Vanilla aromatherapy for sleep mist.


Footnote :

Your Fragrance Profile

The best calming fragrance: basil The best fragrance for everyday wear: cinnamon The best fragrance to boost your sex appeal: musk The best fragrance for energy: eucalyptus

What's Your Fragrance Profile?

Panoramic pleasures

Wheeze-along

The air is full of pollen
My eyes are swollen
One day its hot, one day its cold
If people were to be polled
They'd swear that spring should arrive
With a bang, with a bow and an overdrive.

Life takes vegging

Reading cart : empty
Movie queue : empty
Music queue : empty
Artwork box : empty
Craftwork basket : empty
Kitchen and pantry : empty
Being affected by pollen and allergies : Sucks

Spending an entire weekend doing nothing in bed : Priceless