Jellies, Nemos and Roaches

On one such visit to Norwalk, CT, my colleague and me ended up visiting an aquarium for lack of something better to do. And we were pleasantly surprised. My favourite were Jellies. They are actually 95% of water and very calm and soothing on the nerves. Or maybe thats how they were presented.

Another pretty picture to look at were these colourful Nemos. Quick movements and turns and responding to the tap on the glass wall.

Imagine having cockroaches under the scanner. Well, these were sort of different. Though dont remember exactly how.

Wanted to share and well, sort of document this before my memory fades away. Sometimes, when you look at the pictures, atleast thats what happens with me, there is a nostalgia and a smile on one's lips... but I somehow miss the entire story!!!

New York City

My work has started taking me across continents. Across cities. I like to believe that I am a traveler and enjoy every bit of it, however when one travels for work, it is different. Its not the same thing. But, given that work takes you around, you might as well see around for a bit. Not exactly a traveler and not exactly a tourist. This would be somewhere in between. 

During the last year and the current year, my work has sort of 'gifted' me with almost 4 visits to the US of A to the same place :-/. Not that one has a choice but then work is work and you got to make best use of your time, professionally and personally. 

Have been landing up time and again at Stamford, CT which is close to an hour away from New York City. Stamford being a small place, has a small downtown and couple of 'go to' places like a museum or the river front. The major attraction of this place is its proximity to New York City (NYC). Well, and when you do go to NYC, for the first time, you do end of doing the touristy stuff. We arrived at Grand Central Station via train. Its a beautiful train station. The ceiling has designs of constellations embedded in it and it has a very active market, eateries and even an Apple Store. I think it has atleast 4 levels to it. 

Couple of things which we covered over the weekend, with adequate energy levels along with sensible clothing and walking shoes are the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, MET Museum, Central Park and Times Square towards late evening. For some cases, we decided to take the hip hop bus but once we were in the central business district we were mainly on foot.

Couple of pictures follows :-)

Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island

Rockefeller Center, popularly known as the "The Rock". The Christmas tree and its ice skating rink is seen in many a Hollywood movie

Remember? Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged??? Well, this is stationed at "The Rock"

View from the Top of the Rock!

Another view. Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock

The first ever Winnie the Pooh. Maintained at the New York Public Library. 

New York City, from the Central Park

Have visited most of these places with work colleagues. It was fun and good time spent. New York City has very similar vibes to that of Bombay a.k.a Mumbai. Gelled in instantly... as if I had know this place for quite sometime. The traffic, the commute and the sense of urgency... calmed down by the river / sea as the case may be. In the midst of all the hustle and the bustle, you do manage to find the quite and calmness. Would love to be back here :-). 

Sunshine

Extended Stay Americas, Norwalk, CT

 

Morning sunshine...

Rushing through my window...

Waking me up from a deep slumber...

Wishing me a very lazy Good morning!!!

Of a friend and an airport

As a I write about this (after a long time), there is happiness in my heart…for meeting a very very very very dear old friend of mine at the immigrations counter at the Newark Airport. Funny places these airports are…of chance meetings with old friends...

Newark International Airport

 

The moon

Clicked almost 2 years back in the shivering evening cold of the Ladakhi mountains. Its my agenda to go back there again. Once is simply not enough. Time and again, I keep going back there...in my mind. 

Well, we had this picture enlarged, printed and framed. But it was framed upside down and well - we realized it only 2 weeks later when a friend point it out :-). Well, it is difficult to make out - I think. Until, you look at it more closely and see the tall grass on the bottom left hand side. 

But yes, looking at the moon, in the shivering evening cold, was a very soothing effect. A paradox in itself. 

Kelwa

This time, it was a drive to Kelwa. A small beach town before Manor, via the Saphale Road, on the Mumbai - Ahmedabad Highway. After leaving Dahisar, the road was pretty much in the good condition other than some slight road work and an overturned truck. The clouds had gathered and it was pretty windy. 

After leaving the highway at Varai, we drove down to Kelwa which was close 30 Kms. The road was beautiful with lush green trees and bright red shoeflowers popping up now and then. It was quite and serene. Would have loved to walk down on this road. 

We crossed the Vaitarna river on the way and then some ghats. The drive was wonderful. On reaching the beach, we had some wonderful local Chinese... I know, its not the place, but what the heck...Munish wanted to have some and surprisingly, it was pretty decent and better than most of the small restaurants who offer the Indian version of the Chinese Food :-). 

We stayed there on the beach for an hour and two and then headed back home. We met some rain on the way and by the time we reached Mumbai, it was on full swing. Yes - the monsoons had arrived. And now, almost when I am writing this post, its raining...my plants have sprung up and are looking so fresh and green. A cup of piping hot tea at my side while  I write about our drive to Kelwa.

Patterns

Two weekends ago, now that sounds like "many many moons ago"!!!! :-), again - to begin again, two weekends go, Munish and me landed at Nagaon Beach, Alibaug. Alibaug is a very popular weekend getaway. Nagaon - a not so popular beach town near Alibaug and hence we had a great time... The weekend was spent in utter laziness with almost nothing to do :-). The resort we had put up at was full of coconut and palm trees, along with chikoos and mangoes, a small pool, table tennis, carrom board, a wonderful hammock..where we spent my afternoons snoozing away under the coconut tree and wonderful wonderful food. :-) To sum it all, it was short and sweet.

We would walk on the beach for hours...noticing the small crabs, the sea shells...trying to stay put in the shore...carving a small hole for themselves just so that they do not get carried away by the waves...the reflection of the trees, of us...on the watery beach... the sweet salty air...and the wonderful fried fish cooked by the village lady...the feeling yet lingers.

We tried capturing some of the patterns ..on the beach..patterns made by the sea and the sand and the sea - shells!!!

Let the sunshine in...

Open the doors... Let me in...

This picture was taken by Munish during one of our trips. Nice composition. Its only today that I got around to work on it. I miss this. 

I miss my blog too. There have been so many instances that I wanted to blog about a day, a wedding, work, movies, friends, plans...but somehow, I have not been able to make time for this. Whenever, anything of importance happens, I miss writing, I miss my blog. 

I want to spend more time here. Have not been able to. Would love to....

Until then...

Cast in Stone

Krakow, Poland

We,

Stand alone, 

Cast in stone,

Staring at the passers by,

The rustle of the leaves that dry.

The hurrying wind so cold,

To play along - we are told!

The trees that sway with the wind

Flutter of the pigeons that sing

Silent, stony notes are rhymed

There is no track of time.

We are captured for the nth number

Are we awake or in slumber!

The pose we strike, Angles alike, 

The picture stays, memories linger!

Of us, 

Cast in stone,

We stand alone!

Taj Mahal

It has been written about scores of times. Endless amount of praise, endless amount of debate, endless amount of politics and the romance around this monument. Books written on it. Movies made on it. Songs sung for it. And yet all of this does not prepare you for the splendor and beauty that hits you when you see the Taj Mahal for the first time.

Yes - in the break before joining my new job, I had the opportunity to visit the Taj Mahal. The mention of it here --> Report Card is not exactly justice to the visit and the monument. It makes me wonder, why didn't I visit it before during my innumerable visits to Delhi to meet my innumerable relatives and friends. But anyways, better late than never. 

I don't think I am good at taking pictures, but I try nevertheless. Missed my DSLR here but got my fill with the digital camera. Not sure, if the output would be as great but nevertheless. Visited the Taj twice - in two days. Once during the evening and the very next early morning. We just kept staring it. 

Even after going to the Taj Mahal twice in a row, didn't feel it was enough. There is one view yet remaining. The one from across the river Yamuna on a full moon night.

Perhaps, some other time :-)

Warsaw, Poland

Had gone to Warsaw, Poland as part of work earlier in January. Just after finishing off the new year celebrations. On the night of 1st January, I took off on a 9 hour flight to Warsaw. Nice, quite place. Neat and Clean. Fewer people on the roads (which was almost a cultural shock for me). It was pretty cold. Temperature ranging from 2 deg till 5 deg. Travelling alone is not much of my preferred activities but when you are travelling for work, you got no choice. In your free time, one's got to do his / her own R&D. 

A giant Christmas Tree welcomes you along with the spirit of Christmas. The streets are lit up and you can come across odd groups of people singing carols on the streets in Polish of course. Further down, groups of students running to catch the last bus home. Sometimes, there is a drizzle. Indication of snowfall just around the corner. Which just makes you yearn for a hot cup of coffee and cookies. I loved the bakeries there. Fresh, oven baked muffins and waffles. Would grab some, especially on my way to work in the morning. 

Market Square, Warsaw

Over the weekend, paid a visit to Krakow. Once upon a time the capital of Poland during the Nazi rule. Very similar to Warsaw in terms of architecture and history but found it more livelier. Especially the market square. Reminiscent of  eras gone by of the kings and the queens!!! Went to the St Mary's church of Basilica, the art musuem, Schindler's factory, the Jewish Ghetto and the fort of Wawel. Couple of hours in a day were just too less. 

What was common between Krakow and Warsaw was the strong impact of World War II and the end of the communist regime 30 years back. The art, the museums and majority of the conversations express the history of war the nation had to face. Sometimes, war is all people have to give to their children. The remnants of War become the stories to pass on by. Because everything was razed very systematically by the Nazis when they left the country. 

But also on a lighter note, what was common between Poland and India, was an artist (read sanyasi / baba) managing to position itself in the air!!!! ;-) Just the way our famed choti wale, saffron clad, barefooted babas do :-).

There's so much to write about my two week stay over there, but I guess I wont be able to do justice to it. But will keeping posting intermittently about the people, culture and comparisons. 

The Sheep and the Shepherd

Its been more than a year and half since I last visited Ladakh. Had been wanting to do that ever since I saw my dad's photographs and visits. Must say, its all about the roads. There are close to 2000 photographs which we clicked. By the end of it all, we were so tired clicking. Everything was just so beautiful. But I maintain one regret. Actually two. Missed visiting the Nubra Valley and thanks to procrastination, never got around to working on those photographs. 

Before showing one of the photographs, I would like to give a little bit of a background around it. This photograph was taken en route from Srinagar to Leh. We had decided not directly landing in Leh, cause we had wanted to explore the awesome scenic beauty of the route, which was highly recommended to us. This pic was taken multiple times from different mountains and different vantage point. Although I might add, the final picture which was taken was not by default. It was an effort to capture in a speeding vehicle!!!

If you see closely, you can see little specks of white on the green patch, well those are sheep!!!

This is from another mountain, a top view...now logically if there are sheep, there should be a spheherd :-). I was looking out for him...

I zoom in more, and there - I am able to locate him...running after one of them...trying to get it back in the flock!

And while I use my minimalistic photoshop skills, I give you this :-)

All pics displayed here are under (c) Meghna Garg

With this trip, I realized the importance of travelling. So essential. So necessary. So fruitful.

Working on some other pictures as well, will post them as and when the opportunity arises!!!!

The smile

My father ,with respect to his work, has travelled in many a nook and corner of the country. . During his 3rd and recent visit this summer, I heard him complaining about how Ladakh has become so 'touristy'. He complained about so many people, so many vehicles and of course being an active environmentalist, the garbage that came along with the package.

(C)J K Garg, Aryan Valley, Ladakh

 This picture was taken at the Aryan Valley, Ladakh about 7 years back during his 2nd visit to that region. It was not 'touristy' then as it is now thanks to the movie 3 Idiots :-). At that time, I was doing my masters in college. Was truly enthralled by this picture. The smile on her lips. The rosy cheeks. Reminded me of a nursery poem way back in kindergarten. I guess, this is one of the best pictures he has ever taken and every now and then, whenever I look at the picture, I see the happiness in the little girl's smile, sitting in her grandfather's lap with a plastic doll in her hand posing for a stranger and smiling away to glory!!!!

Mahape to Andheri

During the past two months, my work place has shifted twice. Once from Bandra Kurla Complex to Mahape and then from Mahape to Andheri. Don't know which one is more painful. One is in a beautiful location, surrounded by hills and trees and absolutely no traffic while the other is an island of traffic. You can read more about that on Purvesh's blog dedicated to Sakinaka, a particular painful area in Andheri.

While one took 2.5 hours to reach office, the route scenic and beautiful and the other takes painful 1.5 hours to reach amidst the honking and the slow moving bumper to bumper traffic. The evenings - well, they are worse from both the places. If you don't leave office on time, you are stuck for another 3 hours unless and untill one has some productive work to do.

All the shifting to Mahape, going there and working there took its toll on my life. My day would begin at 5:45 a.m. and end at 11:00 p.m. I would just go through the entire week not really being a part of it. I remember only the time at office where the better part of the day was spent. No cooking, no cleaning, no entertainment, not even during the weekends...and to top it all, Munish was also spending busy time at work, so even he wouldn't come home before midnight. My hobbies went for a toss and well for that matter blogging.

There was a constant nagging at the back of my mind, that I am missing out on something, not blogging, no thinking, no writing. I missed blogging. Even now, the reason I am writing this post is to reconnect with my blog. I have not been doing a lot of things lately with my time on the world wide web  and I am missing that. So let  me just hope, that I get  back to my blog with a new zest and even more interesting things to post about.

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

The long weekend of Good Friday had been planned well in advance. The gang decided to meet (the gang about which I spoke in detail in one of my earlier posts). And well, it all materialised :-). Its been 5 years since we all passed out. 5 years since we all have been through the various phases of life. 5 years since we've become more wise, sensible and intelligent (well - hopefully) and 5 years since all of us met TOGETHER. Well, we have met in bits and pieces but not all of us together :-). 

Ekta (Chennai), Munish, me and Megha (Mumbai) coordinated our flights to almost land at the same at the Hyderabad airport. Must say, its an awesome new international airport. One can easily spend time over here. After landing, we went on a treasure hunt. A Treasure hunt to reach Shobha's place with popular landmarks like Karur Vyasa Bank branch and a tree plus a random shop :-P. Finally, we managed to find each other after the driver pointed gleefully at the "laadies" standing on the sidelines ;-) (hehehehe). And yes - she is THE ONE. At whose place we would be crashing for 2 nights and 3 days. Free lodging, free boarding and free food. Plus a cute little girl called Aaradhya to hang out with (<3 :-) ).

So - all of us were eating at once, talking at once and me - trying to sleep for once. Dont blame me. I slept at 12 and woke up at 3 to catch a flight at 5. All the timings are in A.M. The rest can but I really cant do without my beauty sleep :-P. sigh!!!! I tried in vain to sleep for an hour but the little devil - oops ANGEL....<3 wouldn't let me plus all the loud laughter of the ADULTS was really it. Yeah - I am a lazy person plus I can sleep on demand :-).

Soumya came in later with her little 6 months old bundle by the name of Medhya. Sweet little darling (thats because she stays put, does not walk, talk or run) untill she grows up. I can imagine both the mommies, Shobha and Soumya, exchanging notes on the little developments of their champs.

Was meeting Ekta after 3 years. In the meantime, she has married and is settled in Chennai. Also working in a rival general insurance company. Well - we were also exchanging notes as to whose company is worser.

Our husbands exchanged notes on work and wives :-P.

There was a lot of coochie cooing all the time over the kids. I guess they were the centre of attention and attraction. Bouncing off like in game of passing the parcel, I am sure they must be enjoying every bit of attention.

We roamed the streets of Hyderabad in a traditional sense. Shobha and Rajneesh took us to Golconda Fort and treated us to some awesome medu vadas at a local shop nearby. Wish I had a picture. (Ya ya - I try not to be one of those who clicks a pic of everything eaten and updates it on facebook - I know quite a few who do :-) - In case you are one of those are reading this, no offence :-) ). Well - we had the vadas again.

There was a visit to Shilparaman, a permanent handicrafts exhibition, Charminar and Laad Bazaar. We shopped a lot. And hence by the time we got home, we were just about ready to eat anything.

Shobha and Rajneesh treated us to a Dominos pizzas. A treat for their new home. We wiped that one out in a matter of minutes.

Gaurav had got the game of Pictionary. Was playing it for the first time. :-P (Ya - go ahead - giggle or laugh out loud). We were yelling and fighting within 10 minutes of it already. And yes - we did get emotional while playing it :-P. Hence, for the sake of mankind and friendship we stopped :-D.

On our last day of our visit, Soumya treated us to a home cooked lunch at her place. Yes - she cooked. We ate. She served us snacks. We ate. She served us soft drinks. We drank. The desert - wiped out. WOW!!!!

It was time to leave. There was a flight to catch back home. Back to the regular rigamarole of life :-). It was a good and a welcome break. We actually enjoyed meeting the old and the new persons at the same time. It was interesting to note the growth of each one of us and note how all of us have turned out. And I must say, we pretty much did a decent job.

Looking forward to more of such heartwarming and lovely get-togethers.



P.S. For more details on sight seeing check this link out

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.