When we were deciding on which restaurant to go to yesterday evening for dinner, my mom suggested we go to this place in Kammanahalli. I was just not ready to go to any place in Kammanahalli, no matter how big that restaurant was or how good it was.
I had been to Kammanahalli about 10years ago to visit a friend of mine, and didnt quite like that area. It was too dusty, and crowded and just didnt appeal to me. So, when my mom said 'Kammanahalli', immediately those scenes came rushing to my mind and I outrightly told a big 'NO'. It took a while for her to convince me that this place had some really good food, and that I could give it a shot. She even said if I didn't like the area, we would then go to some place in Indiranagar. But when I went there I was in for a pleasant surprise. Bright lights,branded shops,restaurants and chat houses were what I saw. Kammanahalli was now where people love to hang out in the evenings. After dinner, even I took a stroll on the road and felt how wrong I was about it.Since I now belong to this part of Bangalore, I sure know where I'm going to spend some of my evenings.

Am deeply hurt by what just happened in Mumbai, and am sure there are millions others who feel helpless with such an audacious terrorist attack in the heart of Mumbai.
I am definitely not going to talk about the apathy shown by our politicians,because there is no point.
But this is a time I think we should be proud by the way our armed forces have shown grit and courage to end the senseless killing spree by the terrorists.
Hats off to the men in uniform. The commandoes and the police personnel who lost their lives will be remembered for a long long time.Atleast,we have somebody we can turn to at a time of crisis.
I have immense pride in being an army officer's wife.
We need to act tough, be strong and determined to face any kind of challenge that comes our way.

Back in Bangalore
Feels nice to be back in Bangalore,although it has changed quite a lot.
The best part is meeting and catching up with friends, get togethers at home, relatives and cousins visiting,attending family functions and eating mom's food.
This is definitely something I look forward to when I'm away.
But,when I see outside, it has definitely made me realise that Bangalore has changed multifold in a few years.What surprises me is that it has become all the more chaotic with major traffic jams, pathetic roads and frequent power cuts.
I just hope it all improves bringing back the old charm that it had.

I do miss Bangalore sometimes,especially during festivals and most importantly during the time of Ganesh Chathurthi.
Maybe its not anywhere close to the grandness of Mumbai's much talked about celebrations, but we do have our own sweet way of celebrating our favourite festival'Ganesha Habba'.


Although we have our festivities at home,starting from bringing the Idol home,decorating It, mom spending hours in the kitchen preparing a feast fit for a King( who else but Ganesha),then the long and detailed pooja,and finally eating all the different sweets prepared. But after all this comes the heavy feeling with which we would have to take the idol for immersion. After getting back we would feel like a member of our family is missing. Thats the kind of presence Ganesh can bring to our homes.

And more than all this, the festivities and the celebrations by our residential flat association would add to all the excitement. A huge Idol of Ganesha would be kept in the Pandal for 3 days and the entire residents,of all religions would participate, and distribute the yummy Prasad, which all the different blocks would take turns in preparing. There would be a feeling of oneness and joy at the pandal, bringing all the residents closer on those 3 days.
Now, I'm missing Bangalore all the more.

Let Peace be the first option.

For the past few weeks,the issue that has been spiralling out of control has been the issue of Kashmir. What started as a small land problem turned out real ugly,now leading to the question of 'Azaadi'.
Having been a subscriber of the magazine 'The Outlook', it was saddening to read the views of a renowned writer about the issue and about Azaadi. Arundhati Roy has written an elaborate piece,expressing her opinion, but I wondered why I couldn't agree at all with her and I feel many Indians would not, considering the fact that we feel Kashmir is part of India as much as any other state in the country.
Arundhati's article from the Outlook Magazine.

And today,while browsing,I found another article which has a different view.
A point of view from an Army man.

After the army being in Kashmir for so many years, losing thousands of soldiers safe guarding the borders and fighting insurgency, its so blatant and tragic to blame the army for all its problems.

Whats more tragic is the fact that many of the leaders there have ulterior motives, and selfish benefits,gaining political mileage out of such a serious issue.
Why cant a few rational thinkers sit down, discuss and resolve?
Why should there be blame games and passing the buck on to the other?
Why cant PEACE ever be an option?
Why should we constantly lose so many innocent people in this?

All I pray for and wish for is for some peace for the people in Jammu and Kashmir and a speedy reolution to the problems there.

For my dear Mother-in-law on her Birthday.

Today is my Mother-in law,Smt.Annapurna's birthday. And whats so special about it is that she turns 70 today.
Being her daughter-in-law, I feel absolutely lucky. But what I did today was that I wished her in the evening, which was a very mean thing to do.
Although my husband and I have been thinking for a couple of days about her birthday, when it came to wishing her, we both just didn't. We were even planning a nice gift for her, but we felt since we would be going to Hyderabad in a few weeks,we'd give it to her personally.
But today, was really embarrassing,especially because shes such a simple person, and shes more a mother to me than a mother-in-law. In case I have to discuss something, sometimes, I take her advice even before going to my mother. she has always treated me like her daughter. She is one of the most kindest souls I've ever seen, never ever have I heard a harsh word or a rude comment from her.
In times when girls these days have so many problems with their in-laws, I feel absolutely blessed in her presence. She having retired as an Asst Director of Child and women welfare dept from AP state Govt, she has herself seen scores of women in trouble and has gone out of her way to solve their problems.
She has seen a lot in her life and has a very strong personality, raising her 2 children all alone since she lost her husband just after 2 and a half yrs of her marriage.
Hats off to her for being such a brave person during troubled times, and being a person of great integrity,filled with only love,passion and kindness for others and for being such an inspiration for all the youngsters in the family.

Thank u Amma for being with me always, for being so sweet and caring towards me.
When I become a mother and if I am even half the kind of mother u have been, I'll consider it my victory.
Thanks for always being there.
Wish u a very happy birthday,Amma. I want you to be healthy and happy and smiling like this always.Love you.

Yesterday was Mother Teresa's Birth anniversary. And that reminded me of the time I went to visit the Mother's house.
When my parents visited me in Kolkata, we decided we should go to the 'Mother's house'.
It has been more than a year, but I just can't forget the feeling I had on that day,which remains with me to this moment...a sense of calm and peace.

That evening,after a very chaotic traffic, we reached the street where Mother Teresa had lived. There were a few people sitting on the pavement, speaking in English and willing to take you the house where she stayed. There was nothing exorbitant, nor any huge sign, but a simple nameplate with Mother's name saying 'she' was 'IN'.

Once we entered inside, we saw that the Sisters were busy with their daily chores, some were cleaning the place where Mother rests today,her Tomb, and some were busy carrying water,washing,claning and doing other things. One Sister came up to us and said she would show us the place. There was complete silence inside, with everyone doing their work with utmost dedication. She took us up a flight of stairs, and showed us where Mother stayed and it was a tiny little room, with basic furniture and is kept the same way as it was when Mother was alive. Simplicity reflects from every part of the House. There is another room, where Mother's things and notes are displayed and later the Sister took us to the Tomb,where one felt a strong sense of peace. We were all standing in silence and and there was no way anyone was going to break it, because one just couldn't. Thats what amazed me that day, silence was so powerful.
Even after we came out of the 'House', we were all silent for the rest of the journey back home. The sense of calm,silence and peace prevailed for a long time and we defnitely felt her simplicity.
A person like Mother Teresa had come all the way from her country to help the poor and the dying in our country. Shes a great lady and the work started by her is being followed and carried out by her missionary. But, what one needs to learn is the selfless personality she had and the care and love she had for total strangers.
Do the people today have time to stop and think of a poor man or an old lady on the street?

Last week, we decided to go out, and since there were quite a mumber of new malls in the town, we thought we'd visit one such mall.
Being a Saturday,we did expect a few traffic problems,parking problems and ofcourse a huge crowd at the mall.With the heavy rains, it has become a nightmarish experience to travel on the roads of Kolkata. And moreover with the tram lines being repaired and relaid in most places of the city,it has only added to the woes.
My husband had a wonderful time driving, trying dodge the water-filled potholes, trying hard to avoid the eccentricities of our favourite, reckless taxi drivers(who by the way consider they own the roads and all the other vehicles on the road, since they dont care if they brush against a few while they drive hysterically),and at the same time the tram lines which are in the middle of the roads,all this while its raining outside.
One might wonder why we chose such a day to go out,but the point is any day at any time this is the situaution in Kolkata,especially during monsoons(and yeah, we have rains here even in winters sometimes).
After about one hour on the road,for a 10km stretch, we were still about a few 100 yards from the mall and then there was this huge traffic jam completely halting all the vehicles. A few cars,including us were lined up for a U-turn,some had to take a right turn, some had to go straight and a few had to take a left turn. But the traffic constable chose to consider the traffic on the opposite side, completely ignoring this side bringing all the vehicles to a grinding halt for more than 40 minutes.
After all this chaos, we finally made it to the mall's parking lot and managed a spot faster than we expected. The moment we entered the mall,for a minute I felt I was in 'Kumbh mela' with people everywhere.The main motivation for us to go there was the huge book store we had heard about, but everything else was dampener.Every corner of the mall was occupied including the food court with each counter having serpentine queues and thats when we decided we should head back home where one can breathe and eat in peace.
What had to be a nice outing ,left us frustrated.

Congratulations to Abhinav Bindra!!!
He has indeed made us all very proud!! Incredible!!
This win at the Olympics will help us shift our focus to more deserving sports and athletes who can be big achievers if they have the right training and encouragement.

It has been 9 years since the Kargil war, which was in 1999.
Every year Vijay Divas is celebrated to commemorate our victory and to salute our brave soldiers who were wounded and have lost their lives for their country.
But for the families of those soldiers who have lost their dear ones is an everyday battle since theirs is a personal loss.

My husband was injured in the war, and even today the scars of the injuries remain.

I am posting an article from Hindu,which was published in 2000, with the interview of my husband, Major Shyam vijay Simha, who was then Captain.

Click here to read the article

I guess, we as a nation must be proud that we have soldiers who risk their everything for our country.

Khel Ratna for Dhoni??

Today's news headlines screamed about Dhoni being honoured with the Khel Ratna Award.
He is the second cricketer in our country to be awarded after Sachin Tendulkar.

What makes one wonder is, if he really deserves it more than others.....when some legendary bowlers and batsmen (who have contributed in many more wonderful ways making us a proud cricketing nation) ,were either not even nominated or were simply denied.

Dhoni might have won us the first T-20 World cup (It was a trial version,u rememeber,whereas Kapil Dev won us the Prudential World cup in the approved format) ,he might have appealed to the masses because of his attitude, and might have been in every possible advertisement that can afford his huge price tag, and he might have even denied going on tour to Sri Lanka because hes simply tired.
Probably Dhoni has all the stars in his favour. Good for him.

Finally, the IPL is over. People were really consumed by it, even if the purists argue about the nature of the T-20 format, it sure proved to be a big hit. Not that the restarting of my writing in the blog had something to do with the end of the 1st season of IPL, looks like they have coincided quite well. It has been a season of comebacks...with Madhuri Dixit-Nene recently making hers( n ofcourse, not a very successful one)...n so have I(I'm sure its gonna be more successful than hers ;))
Anyways, feels like fun, writing after a really long time.

A game of Polo in the cozy winters of Kolkata

Every year, just before Christmas is the time for the Kolkata Polo Season. This time in December 2007, it was jointly organised by the Fort William Polo Club and the 144 year old Calcutta Polo Club at the very famous Pat Williamson Grounds,which is at the centre of the Race course.

It was my first time to a Polo match and that itself was thrilling.

We went on 3 different days and watched 5 games.

It was definitely a great experience. The mid afternoon during winter seemed like we were transported to a different land, with the hazy light, clouds tryin hard to block the sunlight and especially with the Victoria memorial as a distant backdrop was truly enchanting.

The horses looked amazingly ready for the game with the Polo players and their mallets(the stick used to hit the ball).

The language of Polo includes Chukkas (the basic period of play... each chukka is seven and a half minutes long and there are four chukkas in each match), Handicap(comparative rating of polo players awarded by the Polo Association), Throw-in(The game is started with a throw-in where the ball is literally thrown in between the line-up teams by the umpires), and the usual penalties, fouls and goals....and it took me one whole game to understand it fully.

The R-Day Effect.

The 59th Republic Day of our country was celebrated yesterday.
With each passing year, the debate whether we should really have a parade showcasing our military might and power has only become larger.
But the point here, I think is that the R-Day parade is much more than just this.
Every year, the parade is one thing I've been watching regularly on the television since I was little, along with my grandfather explaining about it. It brings back old memories each time I watch it. I only wished the kids of today had the same kind of feeling towards our nation's pride. But unfortunately, it seems to be withering away.
The other thing the I felt was that this was one such days in a year that our nation and more importantly,our news channels remember the unsung heroes of our armed forces. There is a huge coverage on the heroes and martyrs who have given their lives fighting terrorism and insurgency. But unfortunately it is restricted to only a select few days in a year that they are remembered, whereas there are officers and jawans living in unimaginable conditions, away from their families fighting each day against the weather and the enemy, laying down lives every other day. But how much of it is covered and shown to the public is anybody's guess.
The media is not to be blamed wholly because they show what the people want to see.
The basic problem lies in the very attitude of our people. We'd rather see an interesting story about our favourite Bollywood star or discuss about the strategy of the next day's game of cricket or the mindgames of a certain cricketer.
Like my best friend often says... "Weird are the ways of the world".

Happy Republic Day to everyone.

Super Confident Novak

This match was definitely something I've been waiting for, like many have.
But the great tennis which we wished to see eventualy knocked out Federer.
The world number 1 surely had an opponent who came to the courts to execute the game plan he had.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic defeated the Swiss in straight sets 5-7, 3-6, 6-7, leaving the crowd shocked.
Yesterday, world no.2 and today, world no.1 were sent home,by the new kids on the block.
The confidence that Djokovic had and being able to convert the tie breaker in his favour in a pressure situation says a lot about our new champion in the making.
The finals on Sunday will see the unseeded Tsonga and the 3rd seeded Djokovic fighting it out for the title.
Looks like one interesting contest.

The Tsonga Song

The Nadal and Tsonga semi-finals in Australian Open was the highlight of today's games. World No.2 Rafael Nadal must have felt it would be an easy match against the unseeded French opponent. But little did he know, that Tsonga would defeat him in straight sets to clinch his place in the finals.
What a match that was!
The Spaniard played very well but Tsonga looked like he was there on a mission. It was breathtaking, with the game of tennis emerging as the clear winner.
Looking forward to the finals where he will have to face either World No.1 Roger Federer or Serbian 3rd seed Novak Djokovic.
Today's afternoon was very well spent. :)

Just finished reading the book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.
I think I must be one of the last persons to have read it, because almost everyone I met in the last couple of days have read it and enjoyed it. Better late than never. :)
When my close friend recommended this book, I didn't expect it to be this good...honestly.
The compelling way of his narration and the story itself is so gripping. I just couldn't put the book down. One feels for every character in the book...makes for a wonderful read.

Mayapur, Perth and Vintage cars!!

On Saturday morning, we decided we would go to Mayapur, about 110km from Kolkata. Mayapur is the place where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,who was part of the very famous Bhakti Movement,was born and is also where the world headquarters of ISKCON is situated.

The 110km distance took us about 4 hours to drive...the roads were pathetic, considering it is such an important destination for people around the world. The place there was packed to the last inch of available space, and pretty understandable because weekends here are like that and one better get used to it. It becomes very difficult to maintain a place that huge when the crowds swell in number, and all it requires is that the devotees are more conscious of the place they are in and realise its sanctity.

The Sanctum Sanctorum was the best part with the deities dressed in bright pink and looked splendid. It was definitely an experience to be rememebered for a long time in every sense.

Go here and here to find out more about Mayapur.

And then, the best thing that happened that day was the superb win against the Aussies at Perth, wrapping up the test in 4 days. Cheers to our Team India and especially the ever-so humble Anil Kumble.

Sunday, the day we usually wake up late and laze around. But this Sunday was different.

The annual Vintage car rally in association with 'The Statesman' was organised at the Eastern Command stadium.

Hardly a few mins away from our home, we went there with a lot of eagerness.

More Information here.

The cars definitely stole the limelight with each one rich with its past, gleaming in the sun. One had to look at it over and over again to get the sense of how it must have in those days. Loved every minute of that experience. We spotted Cadillacs, Ford, Jaguars, Austins...and even a few bikes from the past.The proud owners of these beauties were more than delighted to show-off their cars. The stadium was full of car enthusiasts and people who just wanted a slice of history.

What a lovely way to spend a beautiful Sunday morning!!

Not so 'Welcome'!!

I wonder why the movie 'Welcome' was even made in the first place.
After having had a treat yesterday, watching the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", I don't even know why we ended up watching this movie. Since this movie was shown in our Campus Auditorium, we decided to go, expecting a light hearted comedy, of course not expecting any logic. But it was even worse giving me a severe headache. The plot being dragged on and on for no reason. One of the worst movies I've seen in the recent past.

A Dream No Less!!

It was a completely different experience that I had yesterday when I went to watch the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream"by Tim Supple presented by The British Council at the Kala Mandir in Kolkata.

When I had told a few friends of mine in Bangalore,that I was going to watch this play, they had mixed reactions...warning me of boredom. But I was determined to go ahead with my plans.
The magic of it, the energy and the sheer canvas blew me away.
Firstly the play being multi-lingual,we took some time to adjust to their way of story telling, but in a few minutes one is totally glued to the performances with traditional Indian dances, Indian music and beats and even incorporating martial arts. Their agile and athlete bodies helped them perform superb acrobatics which leaves one wanting for more.
With a couple of international actors, the rest of the cast were Indians and Sri Lankans speaking Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali, Sinhala,Hindi, English and a little bit of Sanskrit.
The live orchestra with three musicians added that perfect touch.

My personal favourite was Mr. Joy Fernandes playing the character Nick Bottom with his humour and Mr. Ajay Kumar playing Puck who was at his wicked best.

The creativity and the performances,the set, the music...just about everything makes this play very special. Its definitely enchanting whether one can understand or not, mainly the play being multi-lingual.
Cheers to Mr. Tim Supple for giving us such a colourful, interesting and beautiful play!!

'Dreamz Unlimited'

I'm not sure how many of us remember dreams...but I'm one of those who remembers it very rarely. But I have realised that in the past couple of weeks I have been able to remember one particular kind of dream.
Since 25th December, I've been getting frequent dreams about my grandfather,who passed away in 2004. I am more than glad that he keeps visiting me in my dreams, but what I dont understand is those are the only ones I remember quite well, sometimes, even the conversations we have.
Infact, I've always been extremely close to him throughout, and when he passed away, it was very difficult for me to come to terms with it, and I know, I haven't still.
My husband says dreams have a deeper meaning and have to be interpreted properly.
I dont know how and I dont know what my dreams mean, but one thing is for sure, I feel happier that atleast I get to see him in my dreams and remember it.

'Growth'

An article in one of the most respected National dailies has made us think about the way we perceive 'Economic Growth' (Click here to read ). Every nation and just about everyone thinks of growth, and we have always felt that 'Growth' can do wonders to a country and to a person. But, had we thought about it the way the writer does, for sure it would do us good in many ways.

'Left' stranded!!

Being in Kolkata would mean getting used to rallies...be it political, apolitical, for Rizwanur, for Taslima, or against Taslima, artisic freedom,by intellectuals or non-intellectuals, for Nandigram, for singur, against Nano, against a flyover, for water...just about anything and everything...
But, what happened yesterday was the mother of all rallies.

We had a hunch we would have a few traffic jams, but since we had to buy the 'all-so-impt' tickets for a play which was supposed to be real good, we thought we should be booking it in advance. We left our home in our car,just reached the main gate of our campus, only to see a sea of people walking with red flags and bus loads of people just about everywhere. Returning back definitely crossed our minds, but we decided against it and felt it would clear in a few minutes since we sighted a few policeman trying to help our car pass through the chaos. But, little did we know that that would be the last glimpse of a cop.

We managed a few feet, and then we were caught amidst haphazardly driven vans and buses. Thats when we decided we should indeed get back to our home...but it was too late. We were stuck. A few 100 metres away was another gate to our campus, so we thought we should be heading towards it and go home. But in vain, the few 100 metres looked like a mammoth task to tread...Not a single policeman in sight...no one to clear the chaotic traffic, no one to ask the buses to move which were parked along the road...and we had to just silently watch as the people were walking around with flags like there was no tomorrow. And all this in Kolkata's best 'Red Road'.
The taxis had a field day with their great manouvering,squeezing their yellow ambassadors into teeny weeny gaps between the vehicles, and each time they did, simply left us praying that nothing happens to our car.
The few hundred metres I was mentioning took us 'just' 2hrs to cover, and the very glimpse of our gate made us feel as if we had achieved something.

But this definitely made us wonder what would have happened to those who were very sick and needed immediate help, what about the ambulances that were stuck in the traffic...I'm talking about being stranded for 2 hrs to cover a distance of a couple of 100metres. Pathetic.

And, yeah, the rally was organised by the ruling party in the Maidan, with the CM being part of it, with a few lakhs attending from all over West Bengal,using buses meant for public transport for their own purposes, bringing the whole city to a grinding halt...
If the rulers of the state can be so indifferent to the common man's woes, who should we be complaining to?

NANO

Kudos to the TATAS!!

This is definitely a defining moment.
A 'Folks wagon' finally!!

Ever since, Mr. Tata had announced his ambitious plans for a one lakh car, there has been a spate of criticisms about how bad looking or how feasible the car would be...or even if its really going to be priced at just one lakh. And ever since its launch, people have been blaming it to be the one to create pollution and add to the traffic chaos on the existing 'pathetic' roads we have.

Cars have always been one big barrier between the haves and the havenots.I'm not saying that every Indian is going to buy this car, but atleast a long cherished dream for many Indians is going to come true.
Lets face the fact, that we Indians are basically emotional people...be it cricket or politics, we take decisions from the heart. This is one such thing.

How long do u expect a mediocre family to just travel on a scooter? Be it rain or the scorching heat,we have to make do with a raincoat n a helmet.
This is revolutionary by every which way.

Pollution and bad roads shouldn't stop one dreaming...lets look at how they can be overcome.

Aeroplanes have been contributing to enough pollution, but we cheer when one super rich businessman gifts his spouse a Jet to celebrate 'whatever occasion'. Celebrities take pride in owning a private jet, what are they doing about environment pollution? One eminent director simply burns his lavish set down,contributing enough CO to the atmosphere,so that he can claim insurance.

Whats the Government doing to improve our country's infrastructure?

Instead of tackling these issues,we are targetting the Tatas 'Nano' which is for sure fulfilling some man's dream in some remote town.

Why do we have double standards in every single thing and every single issue in this country?
Why should people jump the gun and criticise something when they dont have full knowledge about the product. The car is going to roll out by the year end, and we will know exactly what the Tatas have to offer.
Until then, I think we have a winner here.

I salute Mr.Ratan Tata for dreaming and dreaming big!!