Rumours of a storm...

A gorgeous sunset and some unlikely subjects (!) this evening as seen from the terrace of our house...
Enjoy!

Time is a funny thing...

See the resemblance? :) One year old --> 7 or 8 yrs old --> 16.

I like going through old photos, especially when they're in albums - REAL photos and not just a bunch of pixels on the monitor. So I try to get my digital photos printed even now because I like to imagine my own kids/grand-kids sitting down and flipping through a pile of photo albums and asking me questions about the people in them. Anyway, I'm getting a little ahead of myself there!

I've been a sort of "quasi-nomad" for the past 8 years. Living at home for a few months and then going back to school/college in another city/town so I only get to look through these albums when I'm on holiday at home so I decided to convert a couple of them into soft-copies so that I can look through them (thanks to the internet) even when I'm not at home. At first I took digital photos of the old photos but not all of them came out clear. So last night I used the scanner at Dada and D's place and added a whole bunch more... Ah! Technology, that double edged sword!

Scanning is a lot of fun actually! After I finished scanning the 20-odd photos that I took with me to my bro's place, I started scanning stuff from my wallet! He he :D Here's some from my wallet...

Taryn, Me and Grace, Bangalore:. This one is actually a TINY little sticker stuck on the back of the photo below. We took this in one of Korean(?) photo-sticker machine thingys outside a bowling alley in Bangalore. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I have no idea what those machines are called... Don't remember exactly when it was taken...

Freesia and Me, Ooty, 2004 (i think): This one was taken in one of those passport photo-booths in Ooty. I love this machine! Sadly, the people at the photo shop saw how much we enjoyed this and stopped allowing more than one person going into the booth at a time! Thankfully we got to it before that happened!

And now for some fun with Photoshop! That's the three of us vegetating on the couch, watching the first innings of the IPL finals (while D Facebook-ed on the laptop!) just before we got down to eating some of that Lasagne my sis-in-law is famous for! ;)

Sunday Lunch!

After Salsa class (which I am totally loving by the way) today my friend, Doris and I went out to lunch to this roof-top restaurant called "Highnote"... And this is what I ate... (Sorry, vegetarians! :S)

Chicken Pesto. Looks good, no? Tasted pretty good and it was nice to go to a restaurant where they take care of presentation too. I felt pampered! Doris and I have known each other almost three years now. We met in Bangalore when I was studying German for a few months at Max Mueller Bhavan after I finished school. And we clicked! Also strange how we have all these other connections... like she also went to school in Ooty and knows some of my best friends from school... I also discovered that one of my hostel-mates from Bombay in my first year of college, Tripti happened to be Doris' classmate from years ago... It is a small world indeed!

Tripti and I went out for Chinese few days back...

Mango season in India!

New additions to the garden at home!

That's about all for now. I am NOT counting down the days left before the holidays end and I got back to Mumbai but there's about two weeks left and I'm trying to be positive :P

When I grow up...

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Adults just love to ask kids that question, don't they? My answer changed every few years...

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a doctor... And then my mom told me, "that's nice but you're gonna have to study very hard and for a very long time..." so I changed my mind!!! And this is about as close as I got to becoming a doctor:

Trying out a friend's coat at Manipal University, 2006

It's a shame really, I think I look pretty darn good in that coat, non? And then there's Grey's Anatomy which makes it all look so glamorous and cool and exciting and adventurous... Sure they sleep with people to get over their depression and do the darndest things sometimes but when they're actually saving lives with all that medical stuff, it's pretty exciting. (Hmmm, I wonder what real doctor's think of Grey's Anatomy?)

Well, anyway it's too late to become a doctor now, so all I'll have is that picture and Grey's Anatomy to live vicariously through :P

Before I wanted to be a doctor, my oldest and bestest friend, Shaon (we literally grew up together in Zambia) once asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said, "I want to be a sister". I don't actually remember this, but Shaon makes it a point to remind me once in a while because she thinks it's funny :P

Me and Shaon on a road-trip in Zambia. Yes, I'm the short one :P

I still have no idea what I meant by that especially since I have a brother who is almost 9 years older than me so I already was a sister in that sense and apparently I didn't mean a nurse or a nun, "I just want to be a sister!"

Amongst other things that I wanted to be, there's Pianist which didn't really go much farther than Grade One Piano!

Pilot. Well, now that I have glasses, I guess there goes that too... And come to think of it, I'm not much of a fan of planes so that just might be a problem! :)

Speech therapist. Yeah, I had this major obsession with this field for about a month while I was on my year off after school. I had great plans of going to Manipal and everything but that didn't work out either because apparently you need to have a background of Physics to pursue this field!?! Still don't really understand that...

Meteorologist. Because the sky and all things related to it absolutely fascinate me. But again, Physics. A subject that just completely and utterly goes over my head. Just like Economics :P

Photographer for National Geographic. I know, that's pretty specific. I just think Nat Geo is AMAZING. My math teacher at school used to subscribe to their magazine so while I wasn't getting help on my terrible math prep in her room, I used to flick through the magazines and be awed by the amazing articles and photos.

Me with penguins in South Africa, a long long time ago...

Well, I haven't completely given up on this one I guess. I still love taking photos. Maybe one day I will go to Antartica and take photos of penguins. Why penguins? Because they are the most adorable and amazing creatures, remember? :) Provided we humans don't manage to melt all that ice away in a couple of years...!

And if you ask me now; on the brink of starting my third and final year of college, majoring in Sociology, in approximately three weeks, my answer will be... "Ummmmm..."

And I kind of like not knowing. It's like a treasure hunt, looking for the clues at each step and corner of my life and I have a basic idea of what I want my contribution to the world to look like so hopefully that'll help to keep me on the right track!

Plus, if I get lost, there's always that bakery I want to open up! ;)

So, what do you want to be when you "grow up"!? :-)

To the future,

So India's decision will be known today after millions [India has 714 million eligible voters; turnout was about 57%] went to the polls over the past month. And I'm not going to say much because well, I really am not the person to comment on politics! In a nutshell though, looks like we're going to be led by the Congress-led UPA for another five years...

If you want to know more go here or here.

And pray for peace and wisdom for INDIA and her leaders!

To the future! :D

In a nutshell.

*On my playlist:
Come Back To Me - David Cook ♥
Touch My Hand - David Archuleta ♥

*On my mind:
Cinnamon Rolls!

*On my desktop:

My granny, me, my brother and cousins in Kolkata, 1988!

*On my feet:
Salsa! (and a little Bachata!)

*On my tabs:
Hotmail, Facebook, Forming and Baking Cinnamon Rolls: All Recipes Tutorial!

*On my bedside table:
Embroidery threads and cross-stitch patterns

*On my currently-reading list:
Rumours of Another World by Phillip Yancey
The Breakdown Lane by Jacqueline Mitchard

*On my movie-list:
Well, I decided it's time I watched some of those "guy-movies"...
So far:
Full Metal Jacket: Can't say I loved it, but it is a good movie and led me to Google the Vietnam War. Gotta love a movie that leads me to expand my knowledge :P
Batman Begins: I declare Batman to be my favourite fictional super-hero! :D Loved it. But The Dark Knight wins thanks to Heath Ledger.
Ocean's Eleven: Loved it. Have to find the other... two(!?) {p.s. this is not really a guy-movie actually} Other movies:
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: Umm.. ok.

Liebste Mutter*

A teacher gave her class of second-graders a lesson about the magnet and what it does. The next day, in a written test, she included this question: “My name has six letters. The first one is m. I pick up things. What am I?” When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word mother!
--Richard De Haan

To all the mothers in the world. Thank God for you :D

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

*Dearest Mother

Movie Tag: The best kind.

I was tagged by Sharan.

1) Choose 12 films that you would want to run at a famous theatre where you live.
2) Explain why you chose them. However you want to.
3) Link back to Lazy Eye Theatre's post.
4) Tag 5 other people: Shaon, Vini, Ryan, Meg, Abi (and whoever else wants to do it! consider yourself tagged!)

Wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee/Lest-we-become-complacent: (also: Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland...)

A-good-ending-is-not-always-"happy": (also, A Walk To Remember, The Notebook, Changeling...)
Make-believe-is-good-for-you: (also, of course, the Lord of the Rings series...)
A-good-teacher-can-change-your-life: (also: The Ron Clark Story, Monalisa Smile, Take the Lead...)

They-just-don't-make-them-like-they-used-to-anymore:

(also: Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, Ben Hur...)

Just-because-penguins-are-adorable-and-amazing-creatures:

Meet Georgia and Gina...

Usually when it comes to crafty things, I get all excited, convince someone to teach me, start in a frenzy with great big goals - which peaks on the second day - and then I start losing interest... It's happened with knitting, stitching and crocheting... So when I bought this little counted cross-stitching kit from Ooty, it was with plenty of hesitation because I wasn't sure if I would actually ever complete it...
Well, I'm happy to say I did! And also I like this so much better than knitting.
So meet Georgia and Gina! Aren't they cute!?
Tea-time. More later!

The Japanese Wife...

Random ramblings for the first day of may:

>> The American Idol contestants are SO GOOD. I am really enjoying this season.

>> Yesterday, I fell down the stairs. It wasn't funny... until it was! I didn't get hurt.

>> According to one of Facebook's ridiculous (but entertaining) quizzes entitled: Which Disney prince do you belong to? I belong to "the Beast." So funny.

>> Next on my baking agenda - Apple Pie!

>> Apparently Nagpur hit 47 degrees this week. Do you know how HOT that is? It's so HOT that birds are falling dead from the sky. Seriously. What have we done with our planet!? And if you still don't believe in Global Warming, what cave are you living in?!?

>> This here is my new favourite little man. My mom's brother's daughter's 1-yr-old baby boy. I'm generally not that great with kids but it's impossible not to love this one. Seriously the happiest, easy to get along with, impossible-not-to-love baby I have ever met! My mom, my aunt and I went over to my cousin's place this afternoon and I had the BEST time practising my salsa moves with him on the terrace. I think the happiest sound in the world is a baby's laughter. Don't you think? I was actually sad to leave!

>> We started watching another British sitcom called "The Good Life". So brilliant. Makes me happy.

>> I am officially a Sociology major student now! I got my results last week and it was good news and my brilliant cousin/friend wrapped up in one, Jo, did the formalities of filling out forms and things on my behalf and I am now officially a third year student majoring in Sociology! Yipee!

>> I am eleven books down on my Reading List 2009. The plan is to read FORTY by the end of the year. I think i'd better speed up a little!! :S

>> And lastly, here's a little something to make you laugh:

Yeah. That's me and Niru at a "Out-of-character" party in Std 11 at Hebron. Niru was a bachelor pirate who couldn't find anyone to marry and I was an ugly Japanese spinster so we got hitched!! I was actually wearing a wig of curly hair, RED LIPSTICK, fake glasses and a dressing gown that was somehow turned into a kimono with the help of my brilliant dorm parent at the time - Mrs. Dodds - who was also an English teacher who was in charge of the props cupboard in school. Go figure!

Happy May Day!