My Report Card

Ahem!!!! My report card for the holiday I just had, which vanished into thin air...I just didn't realize that it was time to go back to work again. Now- Now - Now- To begin with, I followed a good friend's advice and also decided to enjoy the vacation as long as it lasts and not just keep ticking off my list. :-). Remember the list which I had made HERE, well here's what it is -->

Anyways, here's what it is:

1. I had decided to blog daily for the month of October, 11 as a part of a Blogger Challenge. Well- I blogged for a little more than half a month but come Diwali and I just forgot all about it.

2. Cooking / Baking: Well, I didn't go all exotic and stuff as much I'd like to do, but yes  COOK - I did. 3 meals a day. All the time.:-P

3. Guitar: Well, my sessions did pick and I have improved with my chords progressions and can even strum and hum a song or two *collars rolling up*

4. Photography: Well, the only photography I did was during Bhaiya Dooj and our family visit to Taj Mahal, Agra. I clicked like crazy. :-) And no - I did  not try to learn Photoshop :-P

5. Shopping / Cleaning / Dusting - NOW THAT - I did with full gusto. My home was sparkling and most importantly clutter free. *pats my own back*

6. Healthy regime - Ummmmm.....uhhhhhhhh *Still thinking*..... ummmmmm....uhhhhhh...*suffers from selective amnesia now* !!!!

7. I collated all my old photographs and re-organized them - ready to be printed and pasted. Scouting for a good deal. Got more than1000 photographs to print. Help required here. If any of selective, few readers who know a studio who could give me a good deal please get in touch :-)

8. Plants: *crying* :-( Well- they have all died thanks to the 15 days spent with my family and In-laws in Delhi :-(. The only survivor of this drought is my precious Christmas Tree !!!!

9. Read I did :-). Will be posting reviews on them soon. Currently reading Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen. So far - I am liking it.

10. All in all, it was a good break. After a long long time, did I find so much time to gether to so do so much of Nothing. And I - terribly enjoyed it :-)

Yes - I could have been more active, could have extracted more....but I went slow...at my pace...with leisure and loads of pleasure ;-)

Cheers!!!!

The End of the Blogger Challenge

I had participated in a Blogger challenge for the entire month of October, 11. A bunch of bloggers got together via twitter and started to blog   for various reasons!!! I got in this simply because, one, I had never participated in a blogger challenge before, two, I wanted to improve on my writing skills and three push myself to write something worthwhile once a day. 

But...but...but...mother of all But's... *no pun intended*.... Diwali happened. It happened with my immediate family, in laws and all the gang of outlaws - my relatives!!! My uncles and aunts and cousins!!! Phew!!! A friend of mine commented that I am going on a two week holiday to Delhi to get pampered - EXCUSE ME!!!!! I had no breathing space, everyday was different!!!! More on that later...

Anyways, coming to the point, giving no excuses, the challenge went for a toss :-(. I could not continue. Could not even check my mails and apologize for not contributing....found the time to do so only when I came back. I could post only for half of the month. Got to complete a story I wrote somewhere in between... got to thank all my blogger buddies I made... and wish to thank all of them, because the interaction with them has only made me richer!!!! 

Musical ache

Exasperated... I put my guitar down...my fingers hurt from the all the strumming...am trying to get it right... but no - I miss the point. Like my teacher said, the technique is important, you'll get it everything right eventually. 10 months and 2 teachers later, its been quite sometime with my personal struggle with the instrument. So much so that it gives me a muscial heartache. I don't want to leave mid-way. I want to be able to play. Play simple songs, soulful songs...good songs... where everyone can humm along!!!

I guess, to quote Robert Frost... 'I have miles to go before I sleep'.

Currently practicing 'Knocking on Heavens door' by Avril Lavigne. Got it partially...yet not there....

Karwachauth

I am not overtly fond of festivals in a religious way... actually I am not really a religious person...think I am an agnostic person. But Yes - I do celebrate festivals. Not for their connection to the God Almighty, but simply for the reason that its a one big family activity, happiness is in the air, the shops are in their full splendour, there is  a change in routine, one gets dressed up in a traditional attire (not a fan of wearing saree) and of course the hogging of anything delicious and sweet. 

I think I really am a homesick person. Always missing home. Always on an nostalgic trip. Of course, you can read my post on Navratri HERE and also the happiness when I tick something off my list. 

google.com

The next festival on my list *eyes rolling* is Karwachauth. Yeah....I know...dharam patni and all... sometimes, traditions just do not leave you. I am not trying to demean a tradition / festival , but sometimes, people just don't understand the logic why it is celebrated. These days, the movies and the soaps have made it so fashionable to have a KarwaChauth PARTY *eyes rolling again* that even the people who have not celebrated it before, start following 'tradition'.

 Hmmmm......I actually asked one of the learned astrologers who teaches in Gujarat University about the logic of the festival. 'Pati ki lambi umar' and all is really good, I want hubby dearest to have a long  and a happy life.......but...FAST....sigh!!!! 

Okay, the logic goes, in the old days, traders (read businessmen) used to travel far and wide to sell their wares or conduct their business. The wives were left alone at home. So they wished well for their husbands and prayed that no harm comes to them. It was tradition to celebrate Diwali at home and perform the Lakshmi Pooja, so it was evident that they come before Diwali...and this day being the last full moon before Diwali. Since, they were coming from so far, all the 'chappan bhog' was cooked and prepared and food was consumed only when one saw the face of the 'pati'.....Hmmmm...

There, thats it... and this thing has been followed for ages and ages....Hubby dearest is just a phone call away... does not travel far and wide...even if he does, he is just a phone call away... and the biwi - she is also working....just a phone call away.... even if she travels far and wide...even she is just a phone call away....but celebrate Karwachauth - we must...for the lambi umar of our pati!!!!!

P.S. Personally I think, half the festivals or traditions were made or followed to keep the biwi at home busy x-)

List - less!!!

Ya... its that time of the year, when I make a list of lists...A list for each festival. A list of things to shop for each festival, things to do, things to wear, things to get sorted. Hmmmm....crazy!!! Ain't I???

Well to give you a hint, the first list was for Navratri. As per our tradition, 

1. Buy 'Jowar' and two earthen pots

2. Sow Jowar in the pots

3.Water it for all days except on the 7th day.

4. On the 8th day, celebrate Ashtami by serving 'chana', 'puri' +  'halwa' to young girls. 

5. On day 10, celebrate Dussera. Look at Curd and the silver coin in the morning. 

6. Prepare the prasad

7. Do the Pooja and well - eat :-) the good food that I have PREPARED EARLY in the  MORNING!!!

and not to mention, shopping for all the things required for the Pooja. 

Hmmmm... tough....Next is Karwa Chauth, then Hoi Ashtami, then Diwali!!!! *eyes rolling*.

Now, I am not an overtly religious person per se, and nor I do bother much about the intricacy of the festivals celebrated, but yes - I guess this part comes with the package - of being 'married'. It is this time of the year, where I go bonkers shopping for trivia ...not to forget the not so trivial shopping of gifts for the family....but yes - after going bonkers, I go nuts!!!!! 

But, but, but..... but of all buts...(no pun intended), I also enjoy the end result....after all the hard work and cleaning and dusting, preparing lists, their execution, shopping and blah blah blah.... at the end of it all, I really enjoy the outcome. There's a happiness and satisfaction :-) 

I guess Festivals do that to you!!! Snap you of your mundane existence where your better time is spent running from pillar to post, where you struggle daily for your bread and better...festivals pull you out of that rut and let you enjoy some family time together...something which is not routine, not mundane and gives you a good excuse to just sit back and relax...and yes - give that odd phone call to your far flung relatives!!!! Now thats a good thing to add on your 'Phone call to relatives' list ;-).

http://arloandjanis.com

Navratri

Navratri starts from today :-). Makes me nostalgic. I am a Gujarati at heart. Born and brought up in Ahmedabad. So Garba - Raas is something which I have been acquainted since childhood. Love the Dandiya nights. The entire night of continuous dancing and revelry. First Garba, then Hinch and then Raas. Raas being the easiest. 

After my 12th Standard, I never really lived in Ahmedabad again. Been in Engineering Hostel and MBA hostel and then in Mumbai. Mumbai has a strong Gujarati community but its just not the same. Don't consider them true blue gujaratis. Some of my friends will kick me for writing this but there is a stark and a huge difference. I cannot really point it down. I was pretty disappointed the way this festival is celebrated here. There's just no zing and almost everyone turns up in a fusion of traditional and western, more so towards western dressing. Very few people are traditionally dressed and some that are, are way over the top and pretty loud. And I miss LAW GARDEN. The place for shopping for and during navratri. Sigh!!!! Its just not the same. This festival makes me nostalgic. Miss my gang :-(

My school gang at a garba night at St. Xaviers, Ahmedabad, 1998

Happy Engineer's Day

Source: picturesof.net

Happy Engineer's Day to one and all - especially engineers. I especially congratulate myself for being one!!! I think all engineers are proud to be one even if they are jobless / mindless or plain dumb or for that matter successful / smart / building bridges or chips or bulbs or generating power. Well - engineers are a proud breed. Proud  not because of the education or the degree or the job, proud because they went through the process of completing their engineering studies and finally getting a degree.

Well, there are 2 types of engineers. Now you would think - only 2??? Now - its not what you are thinking. I am not talking about the computers / electronics / mechanical / civil / instrumentation or even the environmental engineer. To be clear, once again, there are 2 types of engineers - first - those who went to an engineering college and lived at their homes with their mummyji and papaji and siblings!!!! And second - there are those engineers who went to an engineering college and lived in a hostel!!!! Aahhhh!!!! Now thats the breed that I am talking about. And truely, those are the engineers we are really proud of being.

Source: www.geocnc.com

Well, the hostel life in an engineering college is starkly different. I for one, did not have 5 star hostels. I remember, in our first year, we had a tin roof. Scarcity of water. Horrible food. Slow moving fans. Queues outside the washroom. We addressed our seniors as mam / sir. Till this day, if I happen to meet one of my long lost seniors, the mam / sir part remains. Its become a part of their name. I remember the first semester especially when the freshers HAD to wear salwaar kameez ONLY with dupatta and oil their hair and make a braid or tie it up. I remember the engineering drawing sessions and how I had mastered the Glass Tracing technique and submitted sheets and sheets of submissions. I also remember burning my mattress in this process (GT was forbidden !!!). I remember compering the engineer's day in college and being the food coordinator and ahem!!! going for tasting too. At the end of it all, my feet had hurt like hell. We had watched 6 AM  movies in nondescript movie halls where tickets were cheap and to save money we would walk it up. The new year celebrations were fantastic. Oh, how we used to hog on food. We would have put anybody to shame. Maggie was a blessing in disguise. It was a saviour on many a night especially when you had discovered cockroaches in your mess ka khana. The freshers party and the farewell party - how all the year students would be busy in atleast one of them. And the exams!!!! We could finish books in one day. 37 was the magical figure for us ( 3 marks grace!!!). 

Had mastered the art of scanning. The Xerox wala being a revered and reliable friend for notes and books. No - many times we did not buy books, we just got them photocopied. It was easy to distribute chapters among 2-3 people and study them. Its difficult to tear up books - chapter wise!!!!! Engineers per say, study only during the prep leave and the best of them study only during the exams. And once the exams are over, a movie it is - to unwind and prepare for the next exam day after tomorrow :-). Engineers are an odd lot. There are thousands and thousands of things which are coming to my mind right now. In this case, seriously, the journey is the destination.

Source: http://www.wittysparks.com

And so, I believe Chetan Bhagat did not write something sacred when he wrote 5 POINT SOMEONE!!! Apart from the story line - student falling for the prof's daughter - everything is known and accepted - amongst the engineers. And that is also why, I don't think, that 3 IDIOTS is great movie. Its an okay movie with almost no novelty thrown in. And then again, I don't quite get the 'shor' surrounding the Chetan Bhagat - 3 IDIOTS movie saga. Sure the book and the movie must be a great read and watch for a lot of people, but again, there is no point fighting over the copywrite infridgements because that is common to almost all the engineering colleges which have a hostel facility.

Anyways, I had been in a fix since quite sometime about the topics to blog about. Checked in on twitter and found my topic there :-). Did not waste time and got down to blogging!!!!

Marie Biscuits

Name of snack: Marie Biswich

Preparation time: 2 mins

Ingrediants:

1 packet Marie Biscuits (depending upon the need of the snack)

Leftover green chutney from Sandwizza

Leftover oregano and chilly flakes from Dominoes

Free sachets of tomato sauce from Dominoes

Method:

1. Apply the green chutney over one Marie Biscuit

2. Put Tomato Sauce over it

3. Sprinkle oregano and chilly flakes

4. Cover it with another Marie Biscuit

5. It is now ready to eat :-)

I sure did enjoy eating this. It was a quick fix at my workplace :-P. Yeah - I do that too!!! Especially when you also have over enthusiastic colleagues as 'funky' as you!!!! Hehehehe, more than eating this, I sure did enjoy the process. Its a fun food. Not much of a thing in the culinary skills department, but hey, children could sure try this one out and its healthy too!!!! No extra calories and a flavour of oregano which gives a similar feeling to that of a pizza :-)

These days, am running short of topics to blog about. I want to write but am not finding a topic that I would enjoy writing about. Please feel to drop a suggestion as to what I could / can write about.

Birthday Blues

Am not a much of a "Happy Birthday" person. Hmmmm..... yeah... I always find it embarrassing to celebrate birthdays. Its not a recent phenomena but right since school / college. I am embarrassed especially when I have to blow the candles, cut the cake, smile politely and take in all the hullabaloo over turning a year older. Ah, well, this aspect of my life has not changed over the years (about which you can read HERE)

I had my birthday just last friday. Munish prepared a special midnight spread along with the cake et al. Had loads of wishes over phone, facebook, twitter from family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, fellow bloggers - Phew!!! I felt special and good. Loved all the gifts which kept pouring in. Birthday gift from hubby is yet to be received (booked already), but I received little tids bits from special friends too. Like the latest header of my blog...thanks to my dearest friend Namit Bhatia...and Oh, he even wrote a poem for me (in return for THE ONE I wrote for him ;-) it was a deal) hehehe.... c'mon, don't you all giggle or laugh...this is his first attempt, and I must say, a pretty good one. Here it goes..........

The Maggitoes Rhapsody

I know a fine girl named Maggitoes,

Who has a penchant for writing prose.

She loves to travel far and wide,

A valiant voyager bona fide.

Photography is her leisure pursuit,

Be it nature or a random shoot.

A self proclaimed Bollywood movie buff,

One lousy flick and she goes, “I’ve had enough”.

Always at odds with the firewall at work,

Once granted access, tweet frenzy ensues as she goes berserk.

Recently bitten by the cooking bug,

Her hubby knows best and he dare not say “Ugh!” :P

Chirpy, bubbly and immensely adorable,

“Oh look! That’s the poem for you, now am I out of trouble?”

~ Namitoes (circa 2011 AD)

yay!!!! *clap clap*....his twitter handle is www.twitter.com/namit93 for all you interested in following his perky, quirky, funny tweets and yes - especially writing tailor made poems on oneself!!!!   

Home Sweet Home

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!

-John Howard Payne

The lines stuck in my head since the last couple of weeks. Staying there. Stuck there. Bringing a sense of loss along with nostalgia with a feeling, that its never going to be the same.

My parents relocated to Delhi more than 3 years back but the relocation didn't really happen in my mind. The doors have now been closed finally. The house put up for rent. I feel a certain antagonism for the strangers who will now be living there...There's going to be a lot of ranting and cribbing here now... need an outlet...some of it may not make sense...some will be absurd...but you've got no choice...if you happen to come here, you have to listen to me...:-)

Ahmedabad has always been my home, my city, where I belong...and now I am bereft of it. My entire schooling was done there. I had a lot of childhood and school friends from this city (though I dont know where most of them are now), all the uncles and aunties and their children who were also my friends. They were invariably present on most of the occasions in my life. My birthdays and my marraige. My brother's birthdays and his engagement. They were all there. The neem tree near my house is familiar. Without its presence, we would miss the turn to our house. Honest Paav Bhaaji yet exists. The ice golas on the road. I learnt cycling there...on my own :-) (I am proud of it...). I got a lot of broken knees and bruises while playing with colony friends. My red BSA SLR...how can I forget her. My red Tobu tricycle. The lawn tennis academy near Gurukul road. Kanoria Arts centre where I went to learn sketching. Shreyas Foundation - where I learnt to swim. The tailor under the neem tream near the Shreyas Foundation who turned many of my jeans into shorts. IIMA. The chai wala near IIMA. The chinese corner near IIM. ATIRA. IMA. CG Road. The municipal market. CG road during Navratri & New Year. Law Garden. Bargaining at Law Garden and the wonderful chaniya cholis along with all the traditional junk jewellery at Law Garden. The street food at Law Garden and their very small amusement park.

Mount Carmel High School. Was and am proud to be Carmelite. My primary school at Khanpur, near Hotel Cama had a fabulous river side view. Of course, I was too young to realise it then. Remember taking Sunil Gavaskar's autograph on my hands when he had come down to our school. I remember Sr. Wilma, Ms Sandra, Ms Lopez. The Middle and the High School were at Navrangpura. Sr Flavia Dias, Sr Dulcine, Ms Mary Flory (who along with her brother Rody Flory became our neighbours at Judges Bungalows Road). Can't forget Ms. Ludvina who taught us needle work. David Colaco, our first 'active' sports coach who formed the first basketball team of our school of which I was its proud team member. Mrs Priya Kale, Mrs Sahai, Mrs Kerawala were my favourite teachers and of course Sr. Nirmalini :-).

Post my board exams of class X, I changed my school to St Xaviers Loyola Hall. Cannot forget Father Morondo. He was the best. Yet remember our inter school cultural festival - the Odyssey and of course the orange popsicles for Rs. 1 each :-). The school socials and the garba night and yes of course the class celebrated Raksha Bandhan too :-P. All through my school at Carmel and Xaviers, Chitra had been at my side. My "besty". I am in touch with her (thank God for small mercies :-)). Lot of my other school friends, Abhimanyu, Jeeshan, Jason, Errol, Kunal, Neha, Jaya & Sumati - I am not in touch with them. There are on my facebook friends list but thats different. I remember celebrating Christmas at Chitra's place. Going for the mid night mass. I remember the delicious fried fish - the first one - which I had. Her mom had prepared in a true Kerala style. I took an hour to eat :-). Yes - I remember that too!!! I miss Navratri. Remember how we used to take out our Kinetics and Scooties, drive around in our Chaniya Cholis and go visiting the different colleges and clubs and enjoy dancing to garba - raas. And then later stuff ourselves at IIMA with paav bhaaji because that would be the only place open at 4 AM in the morning.

There are so many memories which are flooding my mind right now and there's no way I can capture all this. But I know one thing, I am going to miss Ahmedabad terribly. Its not just because my parents are not living there anymore, its more than that. I grew up there. There are tons and tons of wonderful memories. I am going to miss going to Ahmedabad. But it shall always be where I come from, where I belong. My city.

Mumbai - Pune

Munish has a "thing" for a species under the category of "two wheeler - motor bike". Something, which he acquired rather late in his life. Especially when "late" is defined as a 26 year old, last semester at college, and learning to drive!!!! Since then, his "thing" for the particular category has always been on an exponential curve so much so that he refuses to sit in our cars much less “learn" to drive it.

Well - his beloved bike from college was almost in shambles when we got her from Pune to Mumbai. Had been in Pune under the care of many of his friends after he shifted to Mumbai. So finally, after a year of passing out, he did decide to bring her back to Mumbai :-). Well, off we went to Pune, collected his bike, got it repaired, PRAYED to God, counted our blessings and left for the road to Mumbai... It was one rickety ride... We lost our way many times, especially when we were closer to Mumbai. We reached JNPT and Uran by mistake. Took a detour again and then reached Vashi via Khopoli. Me - I was a mess. Wishing when the damned trip would end and dreaming about a hot bath and a warm bed. Mind you - I also took a cat nap in between and thus scaring Munish out of his daylights lest I doze off and fall of in the middle of the God forsaken highway!!!! My back was sore and so were some other parts of my body. Since then, I have always been wary of taking "long" drives on the bike.

That was then...my point of view changed. I tried hard to get out of this trip but Munish would not budge. He insisted on driving to Pune, with or without me :-O. Didn't want to let him go alone for two reasons, one - it is not safe to drive alone all the way from Mumbai to Pune, two - its monsoons and raining cats and dogs - so it becomes very risky!!!!

Hmmm....finally, I mustard up my courage and we started from our home. The first stop was at the garage to get the clutch repaired. Post that, all I can say is that I enjoyed every bit of the trip. Inspite of our rain gear, by the time we reached Lonavla, we got wet three times and also dried up three times!!! After reaching Vashi, we stopped at Mc Donalds for some burgers...I spilled the Pepsi :-P hehehe..[I guess I have to demonstrate some of my clumsiness !!!]...Then we stopped intermittently, to soak in the view... to have a hot makai and later at Khopoli for a highly sweetened masala chai at one of the innumerable tapris... :-). Only post Lonavla, did we stop for lunch at Toni Da Dhaba at 3:00 PM.... After stuffing ourselves with food, we then left for Pune which was only 30-35 kms away. Decided not to stop in between.

The entire trip was fabulous. The Mumbai - Pune highway has always been talked about for its beautiful lush greenary, especially in the Monsoons. It was simply thrilling. I have crossed this route many a times, but not during the monsoons. Feeling the cool breeze on our face, the green grass and trees, a cloudy sky, village women in the rice field with their umbrellas, the masala chai and the hot makai!!! It will always be etched in my memory.

P.S. I regret not having the camera lest it should get spoilled in the rains. Have clicked some pics from my mobile. Will put that up later.


Update: Pics taken from the mobile camera as below. The resolution is not all that great but nevertheless...:-)

Hyderabad - A traveller's perspective

Hyderabad is the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh. It was founded in the year 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah. It is a city which projects a strong cultural influence along with a booming information technology industry. Famous for its Pearls, Biryani and Karachi Bakery biscuits, the city is small enough to provide a sense of comfort and big enough to let you grow.

The Hussain Sagar Lake is a popular tourist destination which offers a boat ride, a small lake side restaurant and good snacks. In between the lake stands a tall Buddha structure.

The Golconda Fort was established by Quli Qutb Shah. The fort is in a good shape except for the grafitti which is an eye sore at some places. It is really painful to see love declarations of the current generation on something which has such a historic value

If you look closely, you can look at scribblings on the wall

We climbed all the way upto the Golconda Fort and the city view which was visible to the eye from the top was simply beautiful. During such a climb, I realised that I must really build up on my stamina or the lack of it is really going to be  a deterrant in other visits. There is a also a light and a sound show which we skipped since it was in the evening.

.

View from the top

We learnt from one of the locals that inadequacy of water, and frequent epidemics of plague and cholera persuaded Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah to venture outward to establish new city with the Charminar at its centre and with four great roads fanning out four cardinal directions. Hyderabad's fame, strategic location and Golconda's legendary wealth attracted Aurangazeb who captured Golconda after a long battle in1687. Making a grand 'Gate' is one the main architectural points of the Mughal influenced architecture... If you observe carefully in all the cities which were under their rule, there is a 'gate' for e.g. India Gate (New Delhi), Gateway of India (Mumbai), Dilli Darwaja, Teen Darwaja (Ahmedabad). Other than this they made tombs ...or maqbaras which are also famous...the most famous one being the Taj Mahal which is actually a tomb.

Charminar, Hyderabad

Anyways, Charminar is famous for its locally found authentic biryani and the famous hyderabadi pearls. There are scores and scores of shops and bargaining is the key. We went to a wholesale shop and one of our friends bought pearls to her heart's content. I was happy buying a small pendent set for a relative from the shop which costed me Rs. 125/- WONLY.....:-)

Ahead of Charminar, is the Laad Bazaar. Popular for the bangles made of lac. In Hindi, it is more popularly known as lac ki chudiyan....couldnt resist myself and bought myself a couple of them.

Apart from the traditional places of Hyderabad, there is also a permanent handicrafts exhibition at Shilparaman. One can find all kinds of traditional arts and crafts from paintaings to footwear to bedsheets to clay art to sketching to junk jewellery to wooden artifacts and what not.

 I got myself a broad, shallow clay pot (dont know what to call it) mainly for the purpose of decorating rangoli or diyas during the Diwali festival for a mere sum of Rs. 100/-. In Mumbai, we find this at no less than Rs. 350/- :-O.

 Wanted to get a wooden jewellery box but they didnt have the sections which I wanted. So I opted for a wooden artisan's box with appropriate sections for Rs. 150/-.

Our hyderabadi friends gifted us 2 beautiful masks as token of memory. Touching. And no - I didnt inquire of the cost ;-).

Other than the shopping aspect, there are people who will put mahendi on  your hand in like 10 mins and sketch a portrait of you (well at least 60% familiar) in a very short time.

All in all, thoroughly enjoyed this trip to Hyderabad. Touched on its various aspects and felt enriched as to how another city / place has touched my life and how I will take back memories from here.

Tips for single female travellers

My friend and me decided to go for a short break to Goa during the long weekend of Ramzan Id. My husband decided to stay back since he was busy with work. So, both of us headed towards destination Goa.
There were a few very important takeaways we had from this trip. So I've decided to distribute this "gyaan" to my "few" :-( readers... free of cost :-) :-P

1. Book travel tickets (works out cheap :-P)
2. Book hotel rooms (based on tips given by your friends / colleagues / family - wudnt want any surprises )
3. Pack your sunscreen (very important - wudnt want to be looking like a turnip when u come back)
4. Pack comfortable clothing (wudnt want to attract undue attention parading like a model in a strange land)
5. Pack comforable footwear (floaters - no point packing sneakers / heels for a beach place)
6. Pack a hat or buy one when you get there
7. Get a local map
8. Get some references for eating joints
9. Get some references for shopping
10. Do not ask geeky / nerdy looking tourists to click your photograph for you
11. Do not try and do a superman stunt on an unknown terrain
12. When in Goa, eat what Goans eat :)
13. Do not carry professional cameras (unless there is someone else to tag on to whenever  you want)
15. When in Goa, try Fenny (I did - didnt suit my pallette)
16. Avoid mingling with foreigners
17. If people offer you something free, think twice
18. Get your own vehicle...(you wont have to depend on a "friendly" driver, driving you around)
19. Do not opt for tourist buses or tour operators.

and the most important thing,

Go without a plan.... :) let the trip surprise you....dont go rushing from one place to other... just relax, sit on the beach, close your eyes and feel the breeze  :)