Summer and its beauty

Summer arriveth at full force!! The heat is already unbearable. So what beauty am I talking about?

It's the flowers that are in full bloom everywhere. At least in most places across Bangalore. The lovely lilac jacarandas, the light pink and yellow tabebuias, the yellow copper pod tree flowers, the dreamy rain tree flowers, to name a few, make Bangalore roads look very pretty! Do make an effort to just look around while you are outside and admire these flowers. :) Soon to come (already seen in some places) are the lovely May flowers, my fav!

Meanwhile, the tree in front of my house is in full bloom with purple flowers. Not sure if they are a variety of Cassia or the Queen's flower. But they sure are pleasing, ain't it?

Life-u ishTene!

We all know change is inevitable, change is needed to grow, to be a better human being, to constantly re-invent etc etc.! But its not always that we accept this gracefully. Some deny it, some resist it and some, like me, remain silent. Not having words to express your sentiments is a tad disappointing, but at that moment, it feels like that's the right thing to do. But I find writing about it to be a lot easier. So here goes nothing!

Yesterday marked the end of a long run of a dear friend in our company! She was the first mentor. The first thought when I saw her was that she looked like my sister! curly hair and all that! :-D

With time, we became really close - a merry gang of 5-6 ppl who enjoyed working, laughing and even crying (Mr.A's meeting about the team breakup, B's junk bug, some of them sound really silly now) together!

So saying good-bye is tough, overwhelming, and sad! Yes, it is not like I won't see her again, or meet her for dinners/lunches, or go out on trips again (which i sincerely hope will resume sometime in the near future!) It's the thought of not having her in office, to turn to, for advice, for complaining, for gossiping, for just being there!!!

She will be missed greatly, by most of our team members. She is the rare optimistic person you find now-a-days at offices, who wouldn't nag about things being wrong often, passionate about her work (as said by her manager too), always ready and never afraid to try new things. Her command over sports, be it badminton, TT or cricket, is well-known and was appreciated by everyone. She would be someone to look up to for advices, like an agony aunt! :-) (her office 'kids' would agree here!)

Tea-time conversations, leg-pulling sessions, online chats, walking in the rain, admiring Mr.A, photo-sessions, the trips, planning on trips, complementing each other (I can see Pras nodding on this one), gossiping about anyone and everyone..sigh..the to-be-missed list seems endless!

But, as Mr.A puts it, change is good and I feel she deserves a much needed break, from everything. So here's wishing S a great new future, filled with happiness and fun! Be enthusiastic and spread joy as always!

Rain and its effects

Random thoughts in the past half hr

Wishing badly that it rains as the heat increases and to see that the wish is indeed fulfilled the same evening!

Watching the rain from inside the house through the window for the first time in years! The view from the window is now good even at home too.

Thank you God Almighty! Life's small joys are indeed the best.

Getting nostalgic and thinking about the past, the what-could-have-been-present, the thankful-for-the-present-as-it-is, the worrying-what-the-future-holds.

Sigh! Why can't I just sit back and enjoy the rain for now and worry about everything later.

Dhund

There was a movie by that name, think in the 70s. It was a murder mystery and I remember my father telling that its a good movie. and I watched it, a long time ago! With wooden actors like Sanjya Khan, Zeenat Aman and Danny Denzongpa, I did not have much hopes, but it was a really good attempt at a thriller!

Well, am not blogging now to talk about this movie. I just remembered it while trying to find a title to this post. It suits it the best you see! You don't? Hmmm, then check out the pic below.


Taken a couple of weeks back at Gopalaswamy beTTa. We left Bangalore around 3.30 in the morning, which is kinda record for me! Reached the Bandipur forest area around 7.00 and the top of the hill around 7.30. I was greeted by the same weather that I had experienced a few years back, when I had come here with my friends. It never ceases to amaze me. We waited for an hr and a half, and the weather didn't clear. So we couldn't explore the surroundings and we came back to Bangalore after a brief stop at Mysore for lunch.

Ok, enough of the tippani, more pics,which mostly glorifies the mist, follow!


On the way to the hill



First look around the temple after we climbed the hill




Himavat Gopalaswamy temple


Freshness

Into the unknown!


Lonely tree



It must be a dream!



Around the hill, while coming down


Greenery



By the way, Dhund in Hindi means mist!

Randomness

The phone camera, in most cases, is of good use when you want to take pics and your bulky camera is not around :) It also serves as a great timepass.

For example, when stuck in a traffic tam, and its raining. No more boredom and frustration. Just click and experiment with diff modes and effects of the phone camera. Of course, you should be a passenger and not the driver for this ;-)






Waiting for food in a restaurant? Different or colorful surroundings? Chance to kill time again with the phone camera.

The 2 pics below are at one of the Mast Kalandar outlets, near Whitefield.





The below pic is from the jungle theme restaurantat Hotel Pai Vista in Mysore.

Cab talk

3 guys in our cab get talking over the new rupee symbol.

1st dude: In all the shops, they have the new rupee symbol now.
2nd dude: ya, but it is not so good.
1st dude: yeah, wonder why they couldn't get a better symbol.
2nd dude: hmm, it would have been better without the dash at the top.
3rd dude: it is based on the hindi alphabet.
1st dude: I think it is the same in Sanskrit also.
2nd dude: Is it?? Even in Sanskrit, there is a dash at the top?
Me: (wow!!)

There is treasure everywhere!

The kid turned 4 today!!!

He now goes to school, 2nd year Montessori to be precise.

Talks about what he and his friends did at school and in the school bus, which usually involves screaming at the top of their voice and driving the aaya mad!
He also wants the driver to switch on the indicator while turning, and sulks when he doesn't!

Knows most of the car models and recognizes many of them too! Boys!!! I tell you!
He also doesn't agree with his dad's decision to buy a Tata Safari. He wants a For Fiesta. Yes, according to him, its For not Ford! :-D

While traveling, he loves going through an underpass, and has a wide smile plastered on his face, when his dad actually goes through one!!
From school, he sometimes brings back some small smooth pebbles, stones etc and proudly shows them to his grandparents!! :-) Quite like what I used to do in school!!

He tries to pinch or squeeze his younger bro's hands when he thinks he (the younger one, that is) is getting more attention! At the same time, loves him too.

Fusses about the dress he wears to school and fights with his grandmom when she forces him to wear shorts!
Treats the granddad like his friend and fights with him!
Throws tantrums like a typical 4 yr old boy does...and gets scolded too.

Loves eating noodle soup and sweet corn and waits on his mom diligently everyday for it. Sometimes, even asks in a very small sweet voice 'amma, ivatthu noodle soup maaDthya?' Sigh! who can say no to that!! :-D

Absolutely loves going out on his bicycle, with the support wheels attached, with his dad. It doesn't matter if his dad comes home at 10.00 in the night, a small round on his cycle is a must! He has now progressed to a cycle without the balancing wheels too!

Wow! Time sure flies. Happy birthday Kiddo! Love you!

Patthar aur paani!

Relatives visiting from the US meant a fun day out visiting places near Bangalore. So, on a saturday, we, a merry gang of 11, went to Shivanasamudra, Talakad and Somnathpura on a Saturday.

The weather was awesome throughout the day and made up for the pityful water level that Shivanasamudra has right now! This place can be totally avoided until the monsoons come and go.

Some of the monkeys there kept us on high alert what with their food-grabbing spree! They however made good models for portraits. :)

Next we went to Talakad. The peaceful and surprisingly clean Cauvery river invited us and some of us (excluding me of course) went for a brief trip in a coracle. It looked like fun :)

After a brief stop at a Tea shop where we had a refreshing break, we went to visit the 5 temples at Talakad. On the way to the second temple, we saw this structure being restored.

We visited 2 out of the 5 temples of Shiva, and continued our journey towards Somnathpura.

Aah! The Somnathpura temple.


Brilliant architecture very similar to Belur/HalebiDu. The entire temple is built with sandstones and there is a unique lock mechanism to join 2 carved stones together. For the first time, I actually realized the value of a guide (certified by the Archaelogical Survey of India, I think) while visiting places of historical importance. Very enlightening it was.

All the deities carved had their noses broken! The result of plundering by the Muslim invaders.

The symmetry of the temple is mind-blowing. The temple is on a star shaped platform and the entire structure converges at the top of the temple in perfect symmetrical lines.

Made a mental note to take the assistance of guides during temple and monument visits and also read up on it after coming back. :-)

Then we headed back to namma Bengaluru. On the way, we saw this lovely lake filled with lily (i think) leaves glowing in the setting sun's rays. Apt end, I must say!

Nazar ki baat

Lots of songs talk about speaking through the eyes. My all time fav being Shuba Mudgal's 'Seekho na'

Seekho na naino ki bhasha piya
Keh rahi tumse yeh khamoshiyaan
Seekho na...
lab to na kholungi mein..Samjho dil ki boli
Seekho na naino ki bhasha piya

On a trip last weekend, I got a chance to listen to some very old songs. One of them was 'Aji root kar ab'. The antara had these lines.

jo dil men hain hothon pe laana bhi mushkil
magar us ko dil men chhupaanaa bhi mushkil
nazar ki zubaan ko samajh jaaiyega
samajh kar zara gaur faramaaiyega

My love for hindi movie songs and lyrics continues to grow!! :-D

Detachment

tere bina saans bhi chalthi hain..tere bina dil bhi dhaDakta hain..
yaad nahi tha yaad aaya..

One of my favorite lines in the recent past. The song is good too, very simple and lovable. (Salaam aaya from Veer)

But what struck me more is the way the girl simply says these lines and conveys so much!

At one level it talks about the girl's realization that she loves him, but still at the same time, can survive without him.
But I suddenly thought that it is true even when someone, who means the world to you, passes away right? You still survive. Your heart beats, you breathe...
Yes, you survive..you manage to get through life, but can you live life?
Probably with time? Hopefully..with time..

p.s: these are just thoughts from a very boring ride back home. Guess I need to download more songs into my cellphone. What say? ;-)

Meanwhile you can also listen to a few other good simple songs - dil toh bachcha hain jee (Ishqiya) and zindagi do pal ki (Kites).