Highway and Rains

Tags

highway travels, rain, storm

Are usually a good combination for me, I love the raindrops falling on the top of car playing a symphony… the wipers going swish swish… the nip in the air… water droplets falling and the car zooming again… sigh so romantic so poetic isn’t it? Till yesterday

It started in the same poetic manner the three of us enjoying the rains and the drive back from Chennai (more on the trip soon I promise this time I will :P)… singing lovely rain songs and munching on some snacks and then it slowly starting increasing, the clouds started looking a little more dangerous the sky alternating between bright with lighting and deafening with thunder. And slowly the sky turned into a dangerous shade of grey and the rain became very very heavy at one point of time it really felt like that the rain is falling vertical as well as horizontal… it was really so mystical and yet so dangerous. I have never seen rain like that before. I had goosebumps while we were driving and I still have them while I am writing this post. I wish I had pictures to show you guys what I mean but unfortunately the phone camera couldn’t click anything it being so dark and the actual camera was battery dead

As the rain increased, our speed decreased and there was a time when the visibility was about 30-40 meters and we couldn’t beyond a speed of about 30kmph…. and a huge sigh of relief was passed by both me and N when the rain calmed down after about an hour of madness

For the first time in my life I think I experienced the dangerous side of rains too… but still while being dangerous there was something alluring about and this Chennai-Bangalore drive will certainly go down among the most memorable drives of my life.

Yeh Mausam ka Jadoo hai Mitwa

Tags

chikmagalur, clouds, goa, pictures, rain, thursday photo challenge

The topic for todays Thursday’s Challenge is

WEATHER (Snow, Sun, Cloudy, Rain, Lightening, Rainbow, Tornado,…)

So here are todays pictures clouds and rains to make your day and mine 😀

Early Morning clouds in Chikmagalur - If one wakes up to this view life is bliss

 

Goa Rains which welcomed us, view from the room balcony

 

Rim Jhim Rim Jhim Rum Jhum Rum Jhum – Post 29

Tags

Delhi, food, ghaziabad, memories, music, NaBloPoMo, papdi chat, personal, rain, upsc

Rains make me happy…

Rains sometimes make me sad too…

Rains make me nostalgic…

Rains make me musical…

Rains bring out the romantic in me like no other times…

Rains also bring out the foodie in me like no other times…

Rains makes me love the smells that are around…

Rains make me want to dance…

Rains make me want to love…

I love rains…

They make me myself….

So when I saw this post my Pixie, I couldn’t help but whisking it away 😉

The earliest of my rain memory is not really a memory but a collection of the rain times when we were really small in school and if u were in Delhi than you would know that when it used to rain it use to rain like crazy… sometimes days all together… and we used to wait for that because that would mean no school and endless time making boats and letting them float in the endless water streams that would have come up in ever y corner…. because that would be mean the yummiest of pakoras and halwas made by granny… the freshly roasted bhutas but lots of lemon and masala we would eat…. endless getting wet in rain and then catching a cold and later in the night getting a scolding from mom along with the yummy besan seera served in bed to cure the cold… those were the days

We grew old, school turned into college and with that started our regular travel in DTC buses… gosh anyone in delhi would agree to how horrible they are… but ok I am digressing once again… so on the way from our college was a chat-wallah a very famous chat wallah… the one who sits outside UPSC… yes I see all delihities nodding here 😉 so one afternoon it was raining and some 5 of us decided to get down from a direct bus to eat that chat… and there we stood getting drenched in rain and eating papdi-chat, gol-gappas and what not and then we decided to walk upto India Gate all the while getting wet in the rain…What fun was had and when we finished admiring India Gate and chatting we were so soaked that even auto wallah’s refused to take us home 😉

Then when I went ahead to do my PG from a college in Ghaziabad, we were located outside the city and I used to daily up-down from delhi to Ghaziabad in those ALT buses… and then take those 8-wheeler fatfatatis if anyone knows what I am taking about and just when u were reaching the outskirts of the city was our college with nothing but a small shack selling tea, bread pakoras and samosas to us every hungry souls and like all shacks it had a tin roof… and every time I would rain our gang would bunk class and have tea and bread pakoras endlessly there… the soft splutter of the rain on tin would be visible… with a high tea we would keep on playing some stupid game or the other or just chat away… what fun college days are….

Phew I don’t know whether I should put this one up here, its a memory I have with ex but than just because they have become ex now doesn’t make the memory any less dearer isn’t it? or just because they have become an ex the memory doesn’t get wiped away from the brain… So the ex and me used to work in same office and one day he had brought his bike to work, and we were going back home together and it started raining most unexpectedly… and raining really heavy, we were drenched in like 2-3 minutes and then we took refuge in one road side dhabha and hot cup of steaming chai all the time lost in that butterflies in the stomach feeling… the feeling that only a person in love can understand, we were there in that place for abour 45 minutes till the rain slowed down, we drank some 4 cups of tea and by the time we went to pay the bill… the dhabha owner in very filmi style told us “are bachon sahi hai romance chalo rakho… tum logon ko dhekh ke hamein meri jawani yaad gayee… tumse main paise nahin loonga”… we had to really force him to take money for those cup of teas really…

And after some time I moved to blore and rains became a regular affair but still so dear… I remember me and N had just started going around and I was going to meet some of his friends for the first time and that evening it was raining really heavily just as it does in june-july in bangalore…. N had come to pick me up in his car but it was parked a little far away and I had just one umbrella at home… I still remember the way we walked together under one umbrella…N’s arm around me tightly to give me a hold and make me feel better… lovers under one umbrella is not over-rated trust me on that 😉

Another rainy day which is going to stay with me for a long long time now is the wet sunday we had recently… introducing Ojas to paper boats was so much fun…

Gosh I have so many memories with rain I could go on and on and on… like the one with Iya recently where we had calcutta rolls in a rain, or with a friend P when we had ice cream in rain, or here when we had besan chillas on a lovely evening after rains… so what are your favorite rain memories? and did u notice that every memory of me has the mention of some food in it 😉

PS: u need proof of my love on rains see I did a post on rain songs last time I did NaBloPoMo too… and search rain on my blog to see how many posts come up 😉

A wet Sunday evening – Post 6

Tags

NaBloPoMo, pakoras, rain, sunday

What happens when you get up from a lazy Sunday nap, walk to the kitchen to make tea and suddenly it starts pouring…

and in case u are wondering what is the vessel doing there…. the heavy rain turns into a lovely hailstorm and N wanted to collect all the ice in that but what happened was all of us went out and eat the falling ice…. what fun it was, I remembered my childhood so much

And then it was followed by another fun filled activity which reminded me of my childhood… any guesses? yes we made paper boats

woh kagaz ki kasthi woh baarish ka paani

Whoever said that you live a second childhood through your child was so so so right… the glee and joy at ojas’s face that day was something I will never forget and I remembered how much we used to enjoy this small game….

And when all this happened how can the pakoras be left behind 😉

onion, bread, aalo and mirchi with a steaming hot cup of tea made the lovely sunday evening complete….

And than began Just another maniac monday

A Day full of surprises

Tags

bengali food, birthday, cake, cocktails, damro, drunk, friends, oh calcutta, rain, surprise party, wine

33 is a strange age to be, 3 times eleven… two 3’s…. none of the numbers is intersting isnt it? Naaah… I think 30’s rock… I mean seriously… When I entered 30 I was a paranoid  oh my god I am becoming old but I think its a brilliant age to be in… I am having total fun since I have turned 30 🙂

So all you guys out there afraid of the 30’s dont shy away… be happy 🙂 30’s indeed rock!!!

For me birthdays have always been a big thing… the celebrations and the planning starts well in advance and usually we make a trip somewhere outside Bangalore considering its always a holiday its not so difficult too but this time when the swine flu scare on we were in the town and nothing was planned… infact no shopping was done too sigh!!! and for a change I wasnt even cribbing about this…

Then suddenly on thursday N said that I will put leave tommorow and we will go shopping for your birthday and now when a man proposes shopping only a women out of her mind will deny 😉

So the lifestyle store was raided with an Espirit sun glasses, two pairs of footwear, a lot of junk and silver jewelery and yet another handbag… clothes, shoes and handbags never fail to attract me actually all form of shopping doesnt 😉  and this when he had decided that for sometime we will gift each other house furniture on birthdays and anniversary considering its almost 4 years since we have moved into the house and still doing with the old furniture…

After raiding lifestyle we went around the town looking for good furniture and zeroed in on a Sofa cum bed that we had shortlisted about a week ago for our lounge… We were actually very very impressed with Damro, the stuff and the service both were very impressive…

After brilliant retail therapy and a biggggg hole in the pockets we caught an evening show of Kaminey and my word its a brilliant movie… fimply fuperb for those who have feen it and for those who havent (Prats I know I know) its a speaking problem that Shahid has in the movie. Its not a movie in the class of Maqbool and Blue Umberlla but a brilliant watch and I think Shahid has finally arrived with this, he is showing his acting genes and is ol la la yummiliocus specially in Charlie avatar. Read the Great Bong’s Review here, he has said exactly what I want to so better 🙂

We came back home at around 11 pm and N started pretending that he has lot of office work to catch up, I knew he is upto something 😉 U know ur spouses well after 5.5 yrs plus we have always celebrated birthdays at 12…  and at 12, he raised a toast with wine and we drank and drank and drank…. and then the rains god decided to shower us with a kind of rain that I had almost forgotten and those who know me, know my love for rains… so at 1 am inthe night happily drunk on wine I went and got drenched in rain… it was really heavenly…

Woke up to a tea in the bed and kiss on the cheek by Ojas saying happy…. that moment I could have died happily… Can I get better in life? At that particular time I realised that probably the only thing that really matter in life is love… truly nothing else matters… u can deal with absolutely anything if you have people around to you shower you with love… touch wood… Thank You god for your blessings and all my friends and family

And then I made sooji halwa for me birthdays have always been associated with sooji halwa,  since as long as I can remember we would get up on birthdays to the aroma of rawa… and have it first thing in the morning earlier it used to be made by badi mummy (the yummiest halwa I have ever eaten) and then mom. This year though I made it myself and it turned out pretty good too… Mom I miss you…

I also made some yummy baked omellete for breakfast… ya u guessed right after dieting for 4 weeks food was the focus point

And just after I had finished the breakfast I saw Indy’s lovely alert…thank u indy… muah….

And then I started sulking a little because N  had not talked about any other plans for the day… no cake and when I asked him about the cake he said come on we are grown ups, cake is for Ojas now not for us…

Anyhow I started getting ready thinking atleast  I can do this much 🙂 and then suddenly N vanished somewhere… I asked everyone and no one seemed to know…I sit down on my laptop and and then suddenly the bell rings and no one opens the door… I got slightly agitated specially because the maid and the mil were both sitting there… nonetheless I walked up and opened and I could see was flowers and ballons and cake and all I could hear is the happy birthday and the surprise shrieks 🙂

Really I dont think I have words to describe how I felt… happy yes very very but a little strange…. It took me a while to digest the whole thing and that it had been very well planned, the food ordered, the drinks planned, everyone collected outside our colony gate and N went and fetched them so that the security doesnt call home… yes yes so much thought 🙂 and everyone in the house, my friends knew about it and the only person who didnt know was me… Thank you guys u really made my day…

One thing is sure surprise parties are fun and make you feel totally blessed and loved…

the ballons for the baby 🙂

Crafty dear sorry in all this excitement I forgot to take a picture of only the cake but here is one with Ojas put in as a bonus… now u cant crib 🙂

As if it was not enough there was another surprise lined up… the boys in my life decided to pamper me with a appointment booked at my parlor… wow!!! I was amazed…

Thanks V for the effort you put in there 🙂 Cheers !!! I couldnt go the same day but went the next day and indulged in 4 hours of pure bliss 🙂

The day was well spent with Chinese food, beer and loads of chit chat… and in the evening after everyone left and I was still trying to count my blessing and letting the whole thing sink in… There came a lovely bouquet of roses all the way from Sharjah, UAE… Goofy you are a darling thanks a ton!!! Immediately followed by the call from Pixie to shower some of her angelic dust upon me… And at this time I actually cried… Love is a very strong and overwhelming feeling…

The evening me and N decided to have a quiet dinner and went to Oh! Calcutta and I was blown away by the place. We ordered thier Complete Platter and the food was amazing… Actually much more than food I think we enjoyed the service and the cocktails… I had a vodka with aam panna, a combination I had tried for the first time and loved it… N had vodka with tender coconut water something which is my favorite anyways…. the server was serving with the love of a dotting mom, suggesting what dip will go with each starter, keeping each piece with so much love and affection, I only wish I could give food to Ojas with half that love but then he has to be ready to pounce on the food like us too 😉

All in all I think this will surely go down as one of the best birthdays I have ever had…. Thank God and all my friends for this!!!

PS: If u have reached till here thanks for reading, didnt meant this post to be as long as it turned out to be but I think its still nowhere compared to Indy’s and oflate Swaram’s post… gee where do I go to save my life… cant even run from my own blog 🙂