chai chai...garma garam chai!

I can sum up this post in one line - i love my tea and i love my tea time. Done!

Tea time is the most precious time of my day. I do NOT like to be disturbed during my tea time, not even to open the door. I like to enjoy every sip of my tea, relax and savor the tea, the time, and the quietness of those moments. After all, tea time symbolises the break between all the rush of the day. (I'm guessing that is what a cigarette is to smokers, atleast in part).



After all these years, I've finally settled to a routine of 4 teas a day. For whatever reasons, I used to try to limit myself to 2 teas or try to have green tea (YUCK!!!) and all that jazz. What with all that hoopla about tea not being good for us and messing with our brain activity and stuff.

But, I guess , my brain activity is finally messed up enough to allow me 4 cups of tea without thinking about any negative effects. And, I hate people who call green tea 'tea'. I mean, seriously?? Did they ever take a sip of a 'cutting' or 'tapri' chai?



I like my tea well brewed and with ample sugar. Yeah, sugar is the part that hurts me the most. I'm a true desi and I like my tea sweet. All the maths makes it 8 spoons of sugar in one day which translates to a lot of unwanted and useless calories which translates to more cardio in the gym. And god knows I hate cardio. (I just meant that as a phrase. I'm sure that god, if such a thing existed, couldn't be less bothered about one girl's gym preferences).

So, I'm trying to ration my sugar in the tea that I have at work. Though, tell you what, I cannot compromise on certain things and so the tea that I make at home still gets 2 spoons of sugar. I'm quite non-flexible that way. Bring on the cardio! Or cut down on dinner!



One more thing that needs mention when talking about my tea is the ridiculously and annoyingly low temperatures at which i enjoy my tea. I begin to test the temperature of my cup only after others (if any) have finished their cups. It's a good benchmark. Then also, if I feel that my tea needs more cooling time, I wait some more. It annoys my tea time friends (again, if any). But, I just can't help it. If the tea is too hot, it just burns and numbs your taste buds and you just cannot taste it. Also, it has the added advantage of prolonging my oh-so-good tea time. :)

I need to end the post here. It's time for my chai :P.

biceps schmiceps

This month marks one-year anniversary of me joining my gym. That deserves a post, no?

Me sticking long enough with anything to celebrate a one-year anniversary deserves a post. (I don't blame me, it's the zodiac that says I'm a fickle Geminian)

Coming back to the topic, I have been hitting the gym regularly, 4-5 times a week, for one year now. whoa! Leave out the two months I was yellow with jaundice and the small vacations I took here and there.

Still, I never thought I could manage to follow the schedule for more than a couple of weeks. Infact, my realization of my short attention span to almost everything made me take only a 3-month membership. And, mind you, even now my renewal is for 3-months only. Because I trust myself to get bored and give it up. I spend almost twice the money but what the heck, I'm known to take up hobbies (with all my heart and effort) and give up on them in weeks or even days.

Too bad, I don't have any before and after pics :P. In fact, I do not have any pics of the gym. Going to the gym with my camera and clicking pics would attract a lot of attention and I do not want that. I like to think that I have a serious work-outer image in the gym and I'd like to keep that image (even if only I think that way!).

Then there is my trainer, Chethan, who wants me to become a body builder and develop some serious abs and lift some serious weights. He has the sweetest smile and keeps me in on any offers going on at the gym. Both these qualities help.

Going to the gym is one hour well spent. Take my word. I have, at times, so very reluctantly dragged myself to the gym, only to feel so damn great at the end of that one hour. Getting myself to the gym is sometimes not my favorite part, but after getting there, it is definitely the highlight of my day.

Do you notice the incredible number of monkeys on the middle tree? It looks like a monkey tree.

All the pics are from my trip last year to kabini. One of the most beautiful places I've seen. It's one anniversary of the trip as well. Other than that, there is no link between the pics and the post :P.

I'll end with the caveat that I'm quite confident that there won't be any 2-year gym anniversary. But, what the hell, atleast I completed one year.

hacker alert!

I came back from my mumbai trip without a phone. Yup, that's right and I survived without one for 2 days. That is commendable by my standards what with me spending the better part of my 'free' time on the phone.

To rewind, I actually thought of doing something good. I gave my phone to my dad and took his phone - that's an iphone for the cheapest nokia (just to give a perspective). Turns out, the universe conspires against my good deed. Damn it, nobody can see me upping my heaven score. I try to do some data delete because otherwise my dad would get confused with my contacts and his contacts. And, lo and behold, the iphone refuses to turn back on.

So, that was the end of my good deed.

I gave dad's phone back to him and brought the non-functional iphone back.

Well the most fun part was when I had to coordinate with nish who was supposed to pick me up from the airport and I made a call from a public booth. Well, I would guess that I would be the only soul but turns out there was a queue. I am ready to bet that none of them landed at the domestic terminal.

Now the good part started. I didn't trust my own self with the phone and I gave it to this guy from my workplace. And I waited and waited and waited. Then I could not wait any longer. I had to take charge of the situation.

I spent one day at work searching for and watching youtube videos on how to upgrade, restore, jailbreak and unlock an iphone. And I spent good part of one night downloading all the required softwares including a new version of itunes. And guess what? It didn't take me more than an hour to get my phone working.


I did this!

I didn't stop there. I learnt how to create your own ringtones for the iphone (yeah that is a task in itself though not very intimidating) AND I also got my wallpaper in the background. (Something I wanted since I first saw it, but was too scared to mess with the phone).

Long story short, I am thinking no end of myself and I am proud. Though I should have learnt to do all this some 2 years back. But, whatever!

feels like home

I am back from my not first, not second, not third, wait for it, fifth trip to auroville. Needless to say, I am in love with the place. When I say love, I mean loooove. If there is something like karmic connection or any such jazz, I would definitely have one with this place.

The first time I went to Auroville, I was looking for answers. I was going through a bad patch and I was in the why-me mode. My first memory of Auroville is sitting in the lawn of the crowded visitor centre and crying. I couldn't care less if anyone was looking.

I stayed at the most beautiful guest house Sharnga. The place is pure bliss. Everyday I woke up to the chirps of birds and the calls of peacocks.



Like I said, I was looking for answers at that point and answers I did get. I met Peter at Sharnga, a Canadian professor. We met casually over dinner at the guest house and I latched on to him like a leech.

I still carry our conversations as lessons which have touched so many areas of my life. Infact, I live by some of the rules I learnt from him an one of my trips to Auroville was only to meet him again.

He suggested me to read 'The Power of Now' and I loved the book. For one, the book describes how every negative thought is the creation of your mind and you can stop a free fall into negativity by controlling your mind and stopping it at the first negative thought.

I can't explain it well. You have to read the book. The main point is that you should be the master of your mind, not the other way around.

My fifth trip was a lot of fun (like all the earlier ones). I drove with a cool bunch of friends. The road trip is so much fun.

This time I was supposed to meet Ulrik, my bus friend from Norway. Long story short, I met him while going to the airport on the bus. And again while coming back from the airport. And just like that, we became friends. Fun fact about Ulrik: He does not know who Demo Moore is but he knows who Shilpa Shetty is beacuse he has seen hey yoga DVD :P.



We had hours of discussions on cultures, religions, constellations, history, yada yada



And we ended with stealing mangoes from an orchard. Hehe. It was so amazing: locating a mango orchard in pitch dark in the middle of nowhere along the highway, stopping and searching for a way to get in, taking the mangoes and finally, enjoying them by the side of the highway.

Talk about ending on a high note! Fun fun fun!

3 long years or 3 short years

I have just completed 3 years in bangalore. Well, my love for bangalore is well known and this post is not about that.

Coming every morning and sitting in the same cube at around the same time has done very little for my vitality and happiness BUT I managed to notice a nice little nature cycle.

This is the view from my cube (not exactly, a little to the right):






Every february, I see the tree shed leaves and become bare. Then in a matter of days it gets these tiny sprouts, which grow into lush green leaves and before you know it, the tree again has a lush green canopy. Infact, right now, the tree is covered with infinite lovely pink flowers. (Too bad I don't have a picture of that). All these pictures are taken at an interval of one week. In only one week, the tree undergoes complete transformation.

This is the fourth spring I'm witnessing in this place and fourth time I have seen this cycle.

Makes me realize that springs, summers, monsoons and winters have flown past me and will keep flying by. How many times will I and you be able to see a plant spring back to life or a garden full of all the flowery spring goodness?

Life is short and we should cram up all the goodness we can in whatever it is that matters to us in this short time!

i love the mail!

Yes I do. And wouldn't you too if the mail keeps surprising you with wonderful stuff!

Such as this:



When I received this in my office, I was completely stumped. I did not even come close to guessing who could have sent me such a big package. Expecting some promotional material from some company, I didn't even want to open it.

But then I saw the return address and I was intrigued to say the least. Then I read the accompanying letter and opened the package and inside was this beautiful girl.



And she has a story and it goes like this: she was brought to life by (no prizes for guessing) Kaurvika aka Keiku. I completely loved her when I saw her and from then on she lived on the wall behind my system at Powai Labs which is where I worked. She didn't have this lovely frame then. Then I left Powai Labs (in a hurry) and i forgot about her.

Well, some people didn't. Or maybe they did for 3 years. But the important thing is that they remembered her after all, got a nice frame for her and sent her to me. Now she's mine all over again. Lovely ain't it!

That's why I love the mail. Otherwise, how would these beautiful gestures travel across the wide chasms that separate people.

Count your blessings

Last week was not particularly a good one. Something I was planning on doing for a while didn't materialize. Well, I was disappointed but I got back on my feet fairly quickly and I'm back to my rocking self. Obviously, having good friends around you always helps, doesn't it? And that brings us to the case in point, namely, Abs.

He, single-handedly, pulled me out of the doldrums by trying (really hard) to cheer me up till very late in the night. He stuck around till he was sure that I'm really really sleepy and don't have any more energy to sulk :). The fact that he lives nowhere close to me just made his task a lot tougher but then if it ain't tough, it's not worth writing about!

Then early morning, the doorbell rang and at the door was this:



Now, aren't they right when they say, if you can't be there, do the next best thing - send flowers. Well, I don't think anybody has said that, but I wish someone would :).



When I asked abs why he sent me flowers now, he said "expect the unexpected". The statement is flawed and I really want to ask him how to expect the unexpected. Because if I expect something, it won't remain unexpected. But Whatever!

The whole thing reminded me once again how I am so blessed with the most amazing friends who bless me with these lovely gestures. Ups and downs are a part of life - we just need to count our blessings!