Just another day

It was so hot until we came back from Lunch... Well it so hot that sitting in the car felt like sitting in the oven... Open the car windows and u get hot breeze.. And at such times it feels nice to be back in office (with AC on)... or even the shade works wonders :) [oh!! so much for the temporary joy]
Now that I am sitting n working, I just happened to turn around and I see so much shade outside.. and it looks so much greener.. The weather just looks perfect... So tempted to run out of office [not that other times I am not ;)]... Suddenly in my mind started humming.. Tanhai tanhai tanhai....
For a minute i couldnt remember what song which movie.. just the tune and these 3 words.. Then realized it was from Koyla..

Tanhai Tanahi Tanahi.. Dono ko paas le aayi
Pyaar mein beh gaye do dil
Dono ko paas le aayi...

Now, there is no connection between the beautiful weather and the song.. but it just striked..

After all this, one of my collegues informs me.. there is a thunderstorm warning here... Do we get a holiday was my next question... He said if there is tornedo warning... then yes...

I again looked back to my window.. it had started drizzling already.... hmm.. wish I could go n play out in the rain..

Hindi movies

There was a time.. when Dad used to say.. what music.. what lyrics "namma kaaladalli yeshtu chennagi ithu" ( it was so good in our times)... I used to just tease him off.. saying black n white... dance was like fits.. etc etc... though I agreed silently that in his times movies were good... Ofcourse there were quite a few not good films too.. but then that happens all the time...

So in our time also we had nice films.. I dont say no... The 80's and 90's movies were also pretty good.. It was a different generation... But still it had all the required ingredients of a hindi movie.. a nice family.. relationship..friendship..romance..violence..comedy... And ofcourse music was still good at these times...

And now... (its still our time.. but then).. just look at the movies...except for 2-3 movies out of 20-30 films in a yeat... none of them are somethings u would like to cherish... movies are not like u can hum their songs... none of them are like u can identify the characters within urself...

Other than a few exceptional movies
Friendship dunno whether they still have it in movies these days...
Relationships.... no way..
Comedy... cheap and double meaning dialogs...
Violence.. Yuk and disgusting..
Family...oops does that exist in today's society at all..
Romance... nothing mushy...nothing romantic... just !@#$#%%$^$&*@$%%@#^

Story - We dont need that.. we have heros who can fly planes.. and do stunts...Heroines who play nothing more than an ordinary object in the movie... just there for glamour...

Music - Who needs this.. when u can remix the old ones :)

Irritates a lot..when u dont feel like hearing the name of the movie once again...

PS: There a few exceptions to the above mentioned.. but again they are very few...which actually make u get involved in the movie... most recent RDB... loved it...

Weekend.. my trip

It had been so long, since I had done something exciting... Wanted to go somewhere.. relax... away from work...

So we planned that we would do it on the weekend...Firstly we had 2 full days... but we were wondering where do we go, in and around Macon/Atlanta... I had already been to Smokey Mts... even Chattanooga... So now we had to go to some place (nice place) in Atlanta or nearby.

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Saturday
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We decided we will go to Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta... I wanted to go to this place from a long time :) By morning 10.00 AM on Saturday (15 Apr) we were inside the mountain Park... ( thank God!! we didnt get lost). We first thought of just going round the park once just to see what all were there...(mainly wanted to search where we could eat).. We finally ended up going to the lake.. where people were fishing.. and we went till a bridge.. This was a wooden bridge on the lake... It was fun driving the car on wooden planks :) Took a few pictures and left from there.. towards our next destination...





We reached the sky ride (cable cars which would take us to the top of Stone Mountain).



Nearby found a cafe.. Barged into it.. had some things to eat.. Then bought the tickets for all day round... then off we went to the queue... it took just 5-10 mins so that we could get into the car :).. As it was going up... it felt like leaving behind so many things.. and rising so much in the air, felt as if I am trying to fly. We reached the summit of the stone mountain... It seemed so beautiful.. wouldnt say top of the world.. but yes it surely was wonderful..... Could see greenary... could see Atlanta Downtown... Lets say I had a bird's view :) We took few pictures.. sat on the stone for a while.. then we went down a little bit.. from the non steep end, then came back to the summit..so that we could take the cable car to go down.... After the "treat for Eyes" we went to the souvernier shop.. I bought a magnet to stick on the fridge (for mom).. We went down.. and yes I even got my penny engraved with the stone mountain park logo :)







Well it was so hot that we had to buy mini melts... I just loved it .. they were so yummy and cooling.. (similar to ice cream).



After that off we went to boating... Ok boating in the hot sun..doesnt seem to be fun.. but we did enjoy it.. I was peddling after so many years.. and felt so nice.. There were so many ducks there.. It was fun.. and after this we went to the mini cruise ride there.. this was quite boring compared to boating.. but we were talking about water making waves.. photos.. etc..we were in shade.. so things went well there too...





From here we moved into CROSSROADS... This was all woody.. We went into a shop where we could get the demo of glass items in the making. Watched that for half an hr... but then we got tired of standing there... Then we went to a 4-D movie :) called Tall Tales of the South. It was nice.. with snakes crickets.. popping out.. and the wind and water..
After this off we went to the rail road.. This seemed like toy train in Cubbon Park... But then who doesnt like to go back to Childhood days :) Well to add to it.. we had a automated message which went on describing the history... Along with this.. they were the rhymes and songs on trains and locomotives.. It was fun to see everybody singing along :) In b/w the rail stopped for a musical play... It was nice... We had a full round of the stone mountain... It was nice fun..

After all this we were dead tired..moreover hungry... bought a few peanuts and went to the place where the Laser show would start... We were there from 7.30PM and the show wouldnt start until 8.30 PM coz it wouldnt be dark...(Day light savings funda) Well till then we sat and had a chat... Looking around at people there, wondering how different it was in India.. laughing at certain things, amazed at some... We saw little cute kids running around... A few staring at other kids eating ice cream... It was a gr8 sight.. seeing so many people there...
The show finally started at 8.50 PM. Well the laser show was good... I wouldnt say it was amazing or spectacular.. But yes it was good... To add to it was the fireworks and wonderful music on the background... All this made it worth the wait... After the show got over around 9.30 PM we left the place... One good thing there were so many people yet there wasnt any confusion, no stampede (I remember the evening when I went to see Dussehra procession in Mysore.. it was a chaos)... We were out of the park in 15 mins... Then had a peaceful drive till home... Had some home cooked food (Chef - Me)... Then off to sleep...Oh I just kept my head on the bed and off to my dreamland :)

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Sunday
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This was quite a relaxing day from the morning.. We got up around 8.30 or so... then prepared tea... ( I had to complete some imp work.. so did that for half an hr)... Finally by 10, we decided we would be going to Beach in Savannah...So got ready, prepared breakfast - gojju avalakki (dunno what its called in English... maybe powdered poha with Puliogre gojju[different kind of tamarind paste]) and left home at 11... Then went to the nearby store bought juice,water etc... We dint want to die of thirst.. it s so hot here... This was a 3 hr drive... (yeah yeah lot of scope to get bored).. We had lot of fun... Initially we played antakshari... singing songs in different tunes..killing the songs, enhancing the songs... arguing on the lyrics..etc etc.. All this while i wasnt driving.. Then I started off driving...We were busy trying to overtake the other vehicles... I was touching 97-98 miles/hr (my friend did a 110)... I was hoping for 100 atleast but somehow either other vehicles came in front or cops or smthing dint allow me to touch... But this was also good :) After all this fun n frolic we reached Savannah.... Now we quite dint know how to reach a beach... Round and round we went around Savannah Downtown... Its pretty historic.. Not too modern.. It has that tinge of history.. Was looking good :)
Finally we reached River St.





Now i have no clue how we reached there.. but I loved this street... A river on the side.. and buildings the other side... All ancient buildings or so they seemed coz of the bricks... We planned to walk a little bit on this road and got some information on how to reach the beach etc... So we had lunch - Salad [dunno what its called] which had cabbage (I still feel it was lettuce) and etc etc.. I dint eat it.. and Onion Rings and Potato Fries...



After this we started off to the beach... This was another 30-45 mins ride... We went on and on.. on and on... we could see water from far away but then hadnt reached our destination... I was getting impatient.. It had been ages since I had gone to any beach....



We were going to the Tybee Beach in Tybee Island... :) We finally got a parking place.. and off we went towards the beach...Finally we started walking on the sand... The kindu find on the beach.. Just keep ur feet and it just gets immersed in sand... We finally reached the place from which there was no sand..just water, water and water. We were so excited... Held our chappals in the hand and went into the water.. the cold water touched our feet.. and I felt a though I had reached one end of the world and was stepping into another...Then kept playing and walking sidewords.. my friend wouldnt let me go in too much... There were lot of birds at one side.. So we were walking towards that...
As we were walking came across jelly fish... (a dead one ofcourse) took the photo... and moved on ... I kept on saying (eww) till we reached the other beautiful spot...



Wow so many beautiful birds.. all lined up in a row.. One starts making sound and the rest follow... There were as if in groups... One starts flying and the grup flies along.... Rest are still in the line... And all the others go to the other side and form a line.. We had wonderful time watching this :) I was running behind the birds.. driving them and splashing water all over... instructed my friend to take pictures and videos :)





After all the fun n frolic here..we just sat on the beach and were looking ahead... Just a silly though came over... Swim across the ocean and go home...:)



Well these feelings come n go... and the time had come for us also to leave... So with a heavy heart we left the beach... And again started driving back home... I was tired and sleepy.. but I managed to be awake and spoke for a while... and for the 100th time blamed my friend for not bringing CDs :)



Finally we reached home by 9.30... Had a yummy bisi bele bhaat and then went off to sleep so that we could wake up for the office the next day....

PS:: Y does every trip have to end up with "Oh!!! Office tom"

Drawings!!!

Just remembered one of my childhood days....
I was never good at drawing from my childhood... Even now I am not.. but atleast do a little bit of sketching these days which are not so bad... (modern art u see)
So this happened when I was in 5th or 6th Std. We had to draw a skull... First thing that came to my mind, "Ma how willI draw the skull"... Ma patiently told me to concentrate on the drawing in the book and draw just like that.. now, I sat the whole evening.. with all my pencils and erasers... should have seemed like I am gonna create the best drawing ever in my life :)
Well after 2-3 hrs (phew!!! long time I know).. I finished it...And to my surprise.. that was the most amazing skull..err drawing I had ever seen... I was too excited.. I ran showed it to mom.. bro was too chotu... he couldnt have got what i wanted to express...then went to my neighbours house.. showed uncle aunty and my friends there.. Then was waiting for dad so that as soon he comes that would be the first to show...
Dad was in shift those days.. so he used to come home only at 11.30 (well those days 11.30 was considered pretty late, nowadays I sometimes have my dinner at that time)
Unfortunately I slept off before dad came...

Next day morning I woke up.. and mom told me I was blabbering in my sleep that I drew well.. My goodness, how much it meant to me then.. :). Then Dad came and told me I did a wonderful drawing :) I was so happy...

Dosti Dosti and Dosti :)

My friend had called from India... But before that i had recieved a mail from him... I started my morning with that sweet mail.. Wow I felt so nice... We were close friends.. even now we are good friends, but not that close.. but then again... that doesnt matter... when friends talk whether they are close or not... U talk from ur heart...

When I got his call, I was in office.. doing the same old work... We spoke so much... He also asked me the same question.. the one which I am questioned very frequently these days... "When are u coming to India"... wow!!! makes me feel I am missed... I am so important to them.. :)
Well more than them missing me.. I miss them so much... Oh how much I depend on my relationship with people....

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Doston Ki kami nahi
Par sache doston ki kami hai
Baat karne waalon ki kami nahi
Dil se baat karne waalon ki kami hai

Jab hume ehsaas hua ki tum kitne sacche ho
Shayad tum door jaachuke the
Poocha apne aap se kya yeh dosti sachi thi
To jawab mila "agar sachi nahi hoti to yaad kabhi na aate woh"

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Translation:
There is no shortage of friends
But there s shortage of true friends
No shortage of people with whom u can talk to
But shortage for people who talk from the heart

When I realized how true u were
May be u went far away
I asked myself was this friendship true
I got a reply "If it wasnt true then they would never be in your memories"

PS: Phew!! Tried to make the translation as correct as possible

Missing R

I have had so many friends all m life.. And everytime I move out of the place, or the my friends move out of the place.. I feel bad...
The feeling that the friend will no longer be near me.. just leaves so many memories...

Today my roomie left, she went back to India...

Though I am happy that she will go back to her husband... her family...But we will miss her so much here.. The fun we had here, when she was here... The time we spent with each other talking about everything... going shopping...cooking..
The times when we made each other laugh, cry and consoling each other...

R has left a big mark in life... I'll always cherish the time spent with her... Already missing u R...