What do you think this is? Please give only one choice/name as to what you think this is! The answer will be revealed soon!
The Revelation!
Most of you are right. It is a clothes hanger. A coat rack as the site where I found it called this object and said this -
This whimsical coat rack will delight little ones and encourage tidiness. The colorful peg hooks move around the kitty cat track to adjust to varying heights for hanging clothes and other items.
My first thought was it was a kind of a puzzle where the kids need to take the spokes around the open slots to make it go from the start to end. And I said to myself "Isn't this such a cute idea?" when I found out what it really was!
P.S. Sorry for posting the answer late but couldn't help it as PC was giving trouble.
I really like it! I got a big big compliment on my driving skills by my in-laws yesterday night. :D
They are visiting us and yesterday I took them out to Sadar Bazaar and then Connaught Place. We were on the roads from 9:40 AM till 3:30 PM. They complimented me saying how I drove through thick chaotic traffic with such ease and maneuvered so well as if I've been driving all my life. Me very happy to hear that. Very very happy!
Who doesn't like getting compliments? Right? :D And especially us Daughter-in-laws from our in-laws :)
P.S. I started driving a four wheeler less than 2 years ago.
I really had to pinch myself hard and not once but twice (ouch!) when I saw that I've been awarded the 'Schmooze Award" once by Collection of Stars and again by Just Like that. I had to to make sure what I was seeing is not one of those weird dreams that I get so often. And slowly I realised it certainly was a reality. And I was so ecstatic. As ecstatic as a small child who's just been given a balloon or a chocolate or a new toy! :D
I'm fairly new to this blogging world with my blogging age less than 6 months and not even hundred posts under my belt! And getting this award was something that I never expected. And such sweet unexpected things bring a big big smile on our faces. Don't they?
About the award, "This award is “for blogger who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.” (CollectionOfStars, I picked it as it is from your blog but don't sue me for plagiarism :D )
And yes I agree I'm like that. My Google reader is a standing proof of that with over 100 subscriptions just under the blogs category!
COS awarded me saying "She always leaves very sweet comments on my posts." Thanks COS! You find my comments sweet enough to give me this award made me smile!
JLT awarded me saying "A very easygoing , likable person. Absolutely without any airs, and very down-to-earth, her writings are warm and effervescent. She can paint very well and man! can she take a picture! Her comments are always friendly and tongue-in-cheek and I like her all the more for it." JLT, I'm totally floored with the adjectives that you have showered upon me. I'm still swimming in them and don't wanna come out :D
Thanks so much girls!!
There are so many I can honour with this award as is the tradition with this award "Give it as you get it". However I will restrict myself to a few.
I award Ps, whom I discovered recently and do not like to miss any post of hers. I may not comment but I make sure I don't miss any post of hers.
I award 2B's Mommy. Again a new discovery but what I like about her is the genuineness about what she writes. They come right from her heart.
And last but not the least, I award Cuckoo. Again a recent discovery but I find his posts amusing and interesting at the same time.
But hey, I must admit, it was them who discovered me and I walked back the trail. And I'm glad I did.
Hmm... MNAmma, I really need to dig long way back on the road to get it out! Its just about two months less than 8 years since this major event happened in my life.
Ours was a typical newspaper matrimonial marriage. With us replying to the various ads in the matrimonial columns of HT and TOI and then proceeding further after the screenings of the grooms by first the Bio's, then by phone calls and finally by meeting them in person.
Going by this same process I met DH after such initial screenings and after each of our parents met each of us, we met at a restaurant, Essex Farms in New Delhi, one fine Sunday evening. By the end of the meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half, we both felt pro for this bonding and told our respective parents about our sentiments. I was floored by his smile and he told me later that he had gone head over heels in love with my twinkling happy eyes.
Soon the engagement date were finalised - January 3, 2000. I guess God had plans to make it memorable in some way or the other despite it being a a traditional arranged marriage. :D
The day before the engagement, when all the out of town guests were supposed to arrive, by afternoon a cloud of thick fog started to form. By 7 PM it had become so thick that one couldn't see anything beyond 5 meters and by 9 PM so much so that if you would put your hand 1 feet away from your face you, there was no way you could see it. I still remember so much tension surfaced because of this as lot of people were driving down from Jaipur, Agra, Gwalior and more such nearby places. Hubby's parents were driving down from Jaipur and they took record 9 hours to reach Delhi. The longest time ever taken by anyone I guess :) My BIL can surely give a more detailed and amusing account of how he drive all the way to Delhi and what an experience it was for him. :D
But luckily by the morning next day, the fog cleared up 97% as if miraculously. A miracle that we all hoped for :)
So that's that about my engagement story!
And now I pass on the tag to Bhuwan, Stone and Guruprasad to tell us about their engagement stories!
The new wife was being welcomed at the husband's home in a traditional manner. As expected she gave a speech; "My dear family, I thank you for welcoming me in my new home and family, firstly, my being here does not mean that I would want to change your way of life, your routine ."No, I will never do that, never in a million years."
"What do you mean my child?" asked the father-in-law.
"What I mean dad is (looking at her in-laws);
Those who used to wash the dishes must carry on washing them.
Those who used to do the laundry must carry on doing it.
Those who cooked should not stop at my account, AND Those
who used to clean should continue cleaning!!!
"And what are you here for?" enquired the mother-in-law.
"AS FOR ME, I'M HERE JUST TO ENTERTAIN YOUR SON!!!!!"
Don't you think having solar lanterns to light up the house from outside is such a wonderful idea? But if only I had a garden. If only. Sigh...
Anyways, let me not digress :) I saw a nice little solar lantern that glows in the dark so beautifully! It was shaped like a bucket holding the light! Here's the pic of it
Aren't the colors so beautiful? The moment I saw this picture I started imagining them in all kinds of shape and colors! A butterfly, a kite, a cloud, a flower...there could be so many shapes!
I used to be fond of cricket earlier but somehow in the past 7-8 years the fondness was restricted to only few high paced and exciting matches and probably just the finals of a series. But never fond enough to blog about cricket. In fact I used to tease someone whose every other post was about cricket.
But today looking at how incredibly India won against Australia, I just couldn't resist writing about it. When I mentioned about 'the incredible win' today, one friend said, "Every time India win, its incredible" to my statement. I laughed. He was not wrong in his own stance but today it surely was a incredible win. Miraculous was what Appa called it as. When we were just at 100, Appa had said only a miracle can make India win.
But I guess we can give lot of credit to these tail enders who stuck on and brought the victory in India's basket!
Anirudh also loved watching the match with us and when I was asking him to go to bed around 9:30 PM he said "Cricket achha aa raha hai. Thodi der dekhte hain!" It was such a genuine request which I just couldn't refuse. He sat till the last ball and exclaimed at all the fours and sixes. Truly a cricket fan in the making!
And then I remembered how Anirudh's Mama, one of my cousins - Pankaj, always used to say that soon he will get a real cricket set for Anirudh. This is when Anirudh had not been exposed to any real cricket so far and I used to say we don't even know if it will come to use because we don't know if Anirudh would be fond of cricket or not. But now I can definitely say "Mama, the time will not far when you will REALLY have to buy him one of those cricket sets" :D
Kiran Bedi. In person. Face to face. I was so awed. Before I met her I was awed by her personality as I had seen on TV. And when I met her today I was awed by her simplicity and her genuine endearing smile.
About 2 weeks ago, I saw her by chance when I went to meet someone and they are somehow related. So when I saw her walking in the meeting room I was speechless since I didn't expect to meet her then. My mind was going crazy with so many things to tell her and talk to her about but I just couldn't. That day she was sitting a feet away from me and I just couldn't utter a word. I was so out of words.
And today I actually spoke with her. It was a short meeting of about 8-10 mins. But I know I will never forget this meeting ever. And I told her so too. I told her how awed I was with her. And the fact that how I was kind of dumbfounded when I saw her the other day. And that how glad I am feeling to have been able to meet her in person. She was smiling her big smile all the time when I was saying all this and modestly tried to wave off the compliments I was giving her.
It surely is one of the memorable events in my life. It sure is.
Is it an elephant who has two colors of skin? Or is it the work of some graphic artist who used some imaging tool to create this effect?
Well, its none of that :D This effect was created naturally. "How?" one may ask. In fact you SHOULD ask. The answer is quite simple. Do you see the blue water body behind the elephant? This effect on the elephant was created by the water :)
Amazing. Isn't it? Did you ever think it was a half wet elephant who has just come out of a lake/river after having a nice dip in it? :D
I chanced upon an article which talked about cutlery being made out of potato starch and soy oil making it not only 100% Eco-friendly but also biodegradable. Isn't this something so interesting and awe inspiring? :D Take a look!
When I looked at this picture first it looked too good to be true. In fact I thought its a fake. But I found it interesting enough to share with all. Here's the extract from the article -"Say goodbye to plastic cutlery and hello to SpudWare—cutlery made from 80% potato starch and 20% soy oil that’s just as heat resistant and every bit as strong as plastic cutlery. The kicker? It biodegrades in just 180 days! SpudWare can even be washed and reused, so you can eat your potatoes with potatoes for months to come."
So who ever visits please mark your attendance by writing a word or few lines or maybe just 'P' which our teachers used to mark in the attendance registers! :D
As I was writing the previous post I remembered a song from the serial 'Tanha' which I used to sometimes watch about 6-7 years ago. I used to love the title track of the song. It was a beautiful song. I loved the words and the music too! So as I recalled that song, I couldn't get the words at first but I could hear the song inside my head..the music of the track. And as I started humming that tune, I started getting words after words, sentence after sentence. And once I was sure that the word were right I googled for the lyrics of the song and I found them! And if I'm not wrong these lines were written by Javed Akhtar.dekhiye to lagta hai,
zindagi ki raahon mein,
ek bheed chalti hai.
sochiye to lagta hai,
bheed mein hain sab tanha.
jitne bhi yeh rishte hain,
kaanch ke khilone hain,
pal mein toot sakte hain..
ek pal mein ho jaaye,
koi jaane kab tanha.
dekhiye to lagta hai,
jaise yeh jo duniya hai,
kitni rangeen mehfil hai,
sochiye to lagta hai,
kitna gam hai duniya mein,
kitna zakhmi har dil hai..
woh jo muskuraate the,
jo kisi ko khwaabon mein,
apne pass paate the..
unki neend tooti hai..
aur hain woh ab tanha.
dekhiye toh lagta hai
zindagi ki raahon mein
ek bheed chalti hai
sochiye toh lagta hai
bheed mein hain sab tanha
You have everything to give you a comfortable happy normal life. A loving husband, an adorable child, a nice and warm extended family. A house to live in (although rented), three meals a day (with the possibility of more), nice clothes to wear, a car to drive in. You have everything what any human needs to have. But still you feel this 'shoonya'(zero) inside you sometimes that none of these things or people are able to fill.
What is it that we look for beyond all this? Or is it only us who create this 'shoonya' looking for something beyond all this? Will this 'shoonya' really exist if we are truly happy with what we have?
When I am going through this 'shoonya' phase I like to be all alone. Just ALONE. No child, no husband, no music, and basically just nothing around. A while ago I was feeling this 'shoonyata' inside me. Hubby was busy watching TV and Betu was sleeping. So I just decided to take a stroll outside.
It was 8 PM. The initial signs of the onset of winter have started to show already. And that too quite suddenly. There was this slight mist in the air along with the touch of coldness. I liked it. And as I was walking I was wondering about this 'shoonya' which I believe everyones feels once in a while. I wondered if 'shoonyata' is same as 'tanhayee'. Probably not. 'I felt Tanhayee' is related to people around you. 'Shoonyata' is not. 'Shoonyata' goes beyond people.
Somehow I think I cannot decipher this 'shoonyata' ever and find the means to overcome it. Anyone to do that, needs to rise beyond the life of a normal human being.
P.S. I don't know if I'm making any sense here but I just poured out whatever was going in my mind right now.
I saw these axe print ads and I think they were so funny and so very creative that I had to show it to you all to enjoy them too!
There were a few more that I saw (like a nun with a clothespin on her nose) but I found these two just awesome! Aren't they?
Every time I wish someone to win the contest, the other person wins! It has happened for the 4th time today. So now I don't think I can call it a coincidence anymore. Right?
When Indian Idol -1 came, I wanted Amit Sana to win, but Abhishek Sawant won!. When Indian Idol - 2 happend, I wanted Karunya to win, Sandeep won. When Indian Idol - 3 happened, I wanted Amit Paul to win, Prashant won! And today in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 on Zee TV, Aneek Dhar won when I wanted Raja Hussain to win. Its not that Aneek didn't sing good. He was quite good too but someone I liked Raja's style/voice more than Aneek's.
So now I feel I should stop feeling so strongly towards someone winning because they never win! Do I jinx them? :D
Ewww...this is the first word that came to my mind when I read this news article. Extracting vanilla essence and flavour from cow dung..ugghh....who would even thinking of trying to research on something like this? Oh well someone did and actually won an Ig Nobel award for it too! Geez..don't people have anything interesting to do?
Just an hour ago I read Swati's post on food with lovely picture of an ice cream sundae and was drooling all over it. And now I get to read this article on this stupid, idiotic discovery by some Japanese person..
On 4th October the Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize was awarded to Mayu Yamamoto, a former researcher at the International Medical Centre of Japan. Yamamoto earned herself the prestigious prize by developing a way to extract a vanilla fragrance and flavour from cow dung – a creation she named vanillin. As a bonus to the prize, Toscanini’s Ice Cream, based in Massachusetts, invented a new flavour to honour her – Yum-A-Moto Vanilla Twist.
Yikes! I will definitely never eat an ice cream in Japan. I know there's simply no chance of me ever going but still writing it out will make the ugghness out of my mind go away to some extent. I just hope no one gets adventurous in India and starts making this so called vanilla essence here knowing the free availability of cow dung from our very own "Gau maata!"
First take a look at the picture below and then read on..
Can you even try and imagine what it is and what is it made out of? Besides the fact that it looked like a bunch of roses. Other than that to me it just looked so very beautiful! And it intrigued me so much!
Could you ever imagine that these roses have been crafted from maple leaves? REAL maple leafs from a real Maple tree? Frankly I couldn't.
I'm sure lot of you would go ":O" just like I did. :D
So do you want to know how it was made? I'm sure you all do. Read more about it here.
Addendum: Just now I remembered a paanwaala in Kolkata who used to fold paan (beetel leaf) in different shapes. Although I don't remember where that guy used to sit..I mean which road or location.
Its none other than me who I'm referring here. Yup. Me. I have always been referred by all by this name ever since I can remember. And how I felt proud about it! :D
Remembering birthdays and anniversaries was something that I loved. It gave me a kind of happiness. I used to feel so nice and happy that I had wished someone. I always feel that I feel so nice and special when someone calls me to wish on my birthday and anniversary. So they will also feel the same when I call them to wish them. It feels nice to be remembered by others. Feels nice that they think about you. Doesn't it?
But there are a lot of times when I remember the birthday and intentionally do not wish them or sometimes of my forgetfulness. Ironical..isn't it? What I mean by my forgetfulness is that I remember that its some one's birthday or anniversary but during the day I sometimes get too busy with day to day chores and will forget to mail them or call them.
And intentionally because maybe we are not that pally or friendly anymore. Not because of any misunderstandings but because we may not have interacted with each other for long. And then I kind of just remember the person but never wish them.
So that's that about the walking talking birthday alarm! Something which I feel really proud and happy about!
I know depending on our moods we either like something or not like something. Feel good about something or feel nothing special about it or feel nothing at all.
As I was listening to the song "Zara zara mahkta hai, bahakta hai.." I somehow found it boring yesterday. And this is the same song which I always found so sensuous. ALWAYS! And yesterday it seemed so bland, so slow to me. I was surprised. I thought let me sing along and then maybe I will feel it inside. I tried but it seemed a forced attempt. So I stopped singing and changed the song.
It amazes me that we can feel so different about things at different point of times.
As I was driving back home today morning, a song played on and it seemed like just MY SONG at that moment. It conveyed what my sentiments and feelings have been since yesterday night.
Main Jheel hoon, ukta gayee hoon
Ab chahati hoon bahna, baura gayee hoon.
Jo bhi yahan aata hai, khamoshiyan laata hai
Suljhe huye logon se tang aa gayee hoon.
Main jheel hoon, ukta gayee hoon....
Today I drove on the DND flyway after a long long time. More than a month I guess. If you remember I had written long way back how I love driving and especially on the vast, empty roads of DND flyway.
So today the moment I touched the flyway I broke into a big big smile. And I could feel the smile deep inside me. :) Somehow driving on that road makes me feel like a free bird.
And it made me happy.
The flora and fauna that I saw in my Dehradun trip was just awesome. Its not that we don't get to see these flowers or plants that I saw there in Delhi. We do. But somehow I loved the lush green color and how the colors of the flowers glowed somehow made them feel and look different.
I know I've done enough posts about my dreams but I just had to write this out to maybe get it out of my mind. Its a little spooky and is making me all curious. This dream and its sequel have come to me within the span of 4-5 days. So coming to the point this is what I dreamt -
The Dream (approx 4-5 days ago)
I'm home. There's a female maid at home. There's no one else. I don't even know if I've hubby and my child in my life at that point of time.
A close friend comes over after a long long time. But in my dream I don't see the face of my friend. But the way I was behaving in the dream its obvious he's a good friend. So we go out and sit at the stairs in front of the house and are sipping onto something and chatting. Suddenly a dog comes around from nowhere and is all ready to pounce upon me and bite me. I woke up just then and that was the end of the dream.
The sequel (early morning today i.e Oct 5, 2007 around 3:45 AM)
Again I'm home and there's this maid of mine. Again there's no one else. This same friend of mines comes visiting again after a really long time. And I'm complaining to him saying that why he didn't come for so long (do note that I'm referring to the first visit in the dream which I had 4-5 days ago). So again we go out and and sit at the steps in front of the house and are catching up and suddenly that very same dog appears again and tries to bite me. I somehow dodge the dog away and we try to run back in the house but the dog is also approaching fast enough. And again I wake up at this point.
After a while I checked my watch and the time was 4:03 AM.
Interpretation?
I really don't know what to interpret out of this dream. But I do find it a bit spooky as far as the dog and the faceless friend is concerned. But at the same time I'm really curious to find out who is this faceless friend. Who am I dreaming about?
One interpretation that I felt was that maybe dog is telling me in its own way is to stay away from this person. And that makes it even more weird to me as I do not know who this friend is!
I was talking about this with a close friend and she said that maybe my dream is based on the Hutch AD where they show a bull dog :D I really laughed at that but then its not the same breed that I saw in my dream. Its that brownish black tall and lean dog which I have usually seen with a tail cut up really short. I somehow just cannot recall the breed name.
But seriously..I'm sure no one can beat me to the uncanny dreams that I get! *rolling my eyes*
Any of you have anything to say to this?
I have been tagged by two people - WIAN and mnamma on the middle name tag and what does the each alphabet stand for. Since I do not have one, I was to come up with a middle name that I would have liked to have.
Its been a week and I've thought over it so many times but somehow I just don't think I would ever want a middle name. But I know I've been awarded many a titles by family and friends that can be almost taken as my second name. So I will not do the tag as such (Sorry WIAN and mnamma) but will write about all these sundry names that I've been ever referred to.
- Laddoo - Mostly called by my eldest sister. I had been quite a plump little girl till I was about 10 years of age...rolly polly with cheeks bursting out. And also because she says I used to love eating laddoos but somehow I don't remember such fondness for laddoos.
- Kumbhkaran - Because I have always loved to sleep. And I'm not for short naps at all. I always want those long 2-3 hour kind of sleeps. And I surely justified this nickname of mine :)
- Chulbuli - That was because of my nature. Always chirpy, happy and at something or the other. Never stay/sit still and giggling away at the slightest of incidents.
- Halo girl - Appa used to call me that every time I would wash my hair. This was when I was about 15-16 years old (approx 15 years ago) but I still remember this nickname as I would swell with pride since the girl in the halo shampoo ad had such beautiful hair.
- Nido - I used to love eating Nido - the name of the milk powder from Nestle that we used to get when we lived in Iraq (1983-85).
I'm sure I must have made you laugh a bit and smile a bit with all these funny/weird nicknames of mine. So I'm sure you will all excuse me for not doing the middle name tag :)
