My Pictorial Travelogue - Part 1

They say, if you do not travel, then you tend to read only the first page of the book, and it is so true, when I actually got into the habit of traveling, and thanks to my better half, I thoroughly enjoy it today..and has become one of my passions...yes traveling can be a passion, be it alone or with family, or with friends, it gives you an opportunity to look inside yourself, and analyze your life....as it opens up new dimensions in your life which you may have not got to explore earlier...

The reason I say this is, its only when you travel, you get to experience the vastness of this beautiful, elegant planet that we are placed on, and your head surely bows to the amazing and magnanimous creator of this planet, i.e. God....coz its only during our journey, we experience the beauty of nature, and the vastness of the same...and get to meet wonderful people, learn about their lives, their culture..traditions, practices..belief systems...and it then gives us an opportunity to widen our own limited horizon, which we so egoistically promote sometimes as being know-alls, but after visiting various places, and such difficult terrains on which people happily reside we realize how content they are with the minimalistic of things, it makes us realize, how ignorant we are towards nature and its natural beauty....

Hence this being a huge topic, I've decided to split it into two, so here goes the first part....from My Pictorial Travelogue - Part 1...whereby I'll take you on a tour to North of India towards the beautiful city of Lakes...Nainital...the first time ever we took a trip of such epic proportion, whereby although we flew to Delhi from Mumbai, but after which we did some slight seeing in Delhi, visiting the India Gate while en-route to Nainital from there onwards...passing via U.P...and finally touching India's U.K (hehe Not the United Kingdom, but Uttarakhand...)...

So here goes...enjoy the virtual site seeing...

First Stop Delhi..so here's a tribute to Delhi...visit to India Gate..

Then comes the fun that we had, en-route to Uttarakhand, whereby we saw tracter like vehicles run with the help of the engine of a sugarcane machine....and where else can you get to see this, than our dear old rustic Uttar Pradesh...and guess what they call them.Indian Ferrari....I mean this was an classic example of incredible India, and the phrase coming true..."It happens only in India..."

What a pleasure and sight it was to see fellow Indians proudly hop on this unique vehicle, no worry of safety whatsoever, open from all ends, does not even have a engine, but is run on sugarcane juice making machine, and a attached seat on the behind...it was something that could happen only in India...

This is when I realized, the vast culture of India, besides seeing this unique creation, we also saw houses made out of mud or small bricks, and women in traditional attire...passing through the various small towns in U.P....and ofcourse also enjoyed the traffic jams, caused due to...behold your ear now..for the reason I'm going to disclose for the traffic jams on A HIGHWAY...were THE BUFFALOES....yes the buffaloes..and that too on the highway...

After passing through such a memorable state, we finally started enjoying the cool breeze as we were approaching the beautiful hills of Uttarakhand...although it was late in the night, but the driver made sure we enjoyed our ride, by making us hear the 80's hindi songs...oh such good old days....

And after reaching, I could not believe the hotel where we were staying, it was right opposite the beautiful Naini lake, but of course, over a hill....god...the ascend to the hotel gate over a hill was a nightmare..with steps as big as 2 steps in one...but it was commendable and applaudable, as to how humans can construct any difficult structure being in the harmony of nature....as there were many in that row, the place was called Mall Road....

And in the morning we saw this scene right from our room...it was the beautiful and scenic Naini lake, after which late night we did visit the same..and also a near by shrine..Naini temple...

Then we embarked upon the beautiful tour of this exquisite Hill Station...and saw wonderful, breathtaking scenes...which included view of the Naini Lake from top of a hill, scenes atop of the hill we reached via a cable car, and scenes of the lake and a cricket ground while coming down from the cable car, Raj Bhavan...the Security in Raj Bhavan, which was taken in the movie Koi Mil Gaya....

Other sightseeing places, a park, boating in other lakes, visit to a local temple of Mata atop a  hill, a giant Idol of Hanumanji...

These pictures may not totally depict the kind of beauty that we witnessed at this heavenly place..as there is no tool in the world that can capture any scenery, as vivid as our imaginations....so the journey, the people we met, the scenery we got to experience...all these divine feelings can't be put into mere words...as such is God's creation...vast and unending, for which one can experience this divinity if only one begins to travel, still one can't proclaim to have seen the world, as there is so much to see, but so less time....and every place we see, tells us a story...so the next time you travel, don't forget to relish the most precious gift that god has given to us, this Mother Earth in all its glory....

If you liked this part of the travelogue, keep watching the space for the next.....

Cheers!
Seeta

Good Ol..Yester Years…

Hello Guys,
First of all let me wish you a Happy Gudi Padava (one of the New Years) to all my readers....
And with today's topic, I want to become a little nostalgic and take a trip down memory lane at the same time, to cherish and relive the good old memories of our golden childhood.
Although changing times and technology are surely welcome and much required for the advancement of human race, but sometimes in this fast moving world, we fail to reminisce and cherish what we have left behind...so today's blog is a tribute to our childhood, the era of the 80's.....
Remember the times when a pocket money of mere Rs. 50 per month was more than a treat for us, of course then at the end of the month the same used to turn into a magical and humungous figure of Rs. 1500, which could then be used to buy a precious gift either for our loved ones, or a big treat to ourselves....And all this after a sacrifice of not succumbing to the peer pressure of wasting our precious pocket money on treats like finger shaped fryams or the quintessential Indian Popsicle, the 50 paise Pepsi (not the aerated drink from today...) but the slush like liquid, with flavors in orange and mango, and sometimes some green colored liquid, all mixed in ice and sold for a mere 50 paise or at the most 1 rupee.....wow what golden days...
Also remember the outdoor activities and games that we played, lagori, gilli danda (somewhat like Indian baseball), andhali koshimbir (blind man's buff), tipri (hopscotch), hide and seek, various card games....
Who can forget the fun sweet moments, when its the birthday celebration of a friend, then the immediate run to the gift shop to try to get a unique though cheaper gift (everyone most probably ending up with the same kinda gifts either a show piece or a photoframe)....then waiting impatiently for the birthday boy/girl to cut the yellow, green and red topping over the cake, with a pink rose on top.....and everyone singing in different tunes the contemporary happy birthday song....finally lining up on the couch and waiting to get the paper plate hoping for it to be filled with lots of potato wafers, possibly a big slice of cake and praying hard to get two samosas (Indian snack).....thus feasting our hearts out... and relishing the birthday snack with some firang birthday themed song....and if this wasn't enough, if the birthday boy/girl happens to be from a well to do family, then he/she will send you away with a return thank you gift...and make their birthday's memorable to us forever....
If these memories don't fill you up, how about the ones from school, waiting impatiently for the recess, meanwhile the less patient ones, hogging up the tiffins in between the lectures...then in the recess, sitting together with your gang and relishing the food that other mothers have packed for their children, rather than eating your own tiffin....that's the fun of sharing, we had learnt it long ago...how about the time, when someone fell for you, you were somebody's crush, or you fell for someone, you had a crush on someone....and when it was time to tell them how you feel who other to turn to than your best friends-friends-neighbors-dog-walker's-friend...and sending the love note via them, and that too after  being so obvious by signing it as anonymous....how on earth would have that person ever found out it was youuuuu...we were so silly, but yes we did all those crazy stuff just to get a smile or the attention of the person we liked....even if they do not know us...we would follow them, know what they like, where they go for tutions, make flames out of their names and ours....but never have the guts actually to approach them and tell them we liked them...that was innocent love...and crushes...coz that's what crushes are meant for....
Such was our generation...we were the first to last see the Black and White television, the first to welcome Color tv sets, the last to enjoy serials like mogli, He-Man, Giant Robot, Stone Boy, stories of RK Laxman, Tenali Rama, Gotya, dekh bhai dekh, wagle ki duniya, etc and we were the first generation to enjoy English pop channels like channel V, MTV, movies channels like Star Movies, Zee Studio, Zee MGM, Hallmark, Nicklodeon etc....the times when we welcomed Friends, That 70's show, Three's company, Home Improvement, I dream of Jenie, Full House, Wonder Years, etc. etc.....and many more sweet sweet serials which were heart warming shows...that we could connect to as they were based on real life and simplicity, as opposed to the weird K-serials of today, which focus only on family feuds, guns glaring from all ends, totally materialistic, and totally unrealistic with same scene shot multiple times, with loud make up, with totally fake get ups and unrealistic characters, fake stories, ambiance, and worst of all the ranting and piercing non stop music..I can go on and on and on....
Last of all, we were the first to welcome the Dabba Like Computers, with a huge behind, 16 bit, 32 K ram, with minimalistic internet speed, and that too for the affluent, who used to have the privilege of emailing via Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc..and the privilege of connecting to the unknown domain and world outside via Yahoo and MSN Messenger...And we are the first generation to welcome the new form of today's swanky and lightening speed pentium 4's and 5's and intel core processors, with slick and sexy monitors...and furthermore..we welcomed the dawn of Laptops...and Data cards....
But inspite of all this ease and glamour that technology has brought around for us...which we are primarily thankful for, but at the same time, this is when, we realize and miss the simple yet sweet pleasures that the yester years brought us. As opposed to today's fast changing world, where we have come to an age, where we do not feel the urge to enjoy or relish the simple pleasures of life, the young generation of today, before it gets out of school, it is already computer and tech savvy, they happen to know more than us....their world is surrounded by gadgets, Laptops, MP3's, I-Phones, I-Pads, I-Mac's, Play station 3-4, etc...and they can't live without these gadgets, that's when you feel, whatever happened to the good old outdoor games, which were simple and involved real friends, not the ones on facebook, or twitter, who we cannot actually see but surely can connect via our voice on the net....the numbers so ever increasing...yet we feel distant, due to the lack of actual real friendly bonds...that's when we remember our chuddy buddies, who we used to have chai with, share all our dreams with, big plans of future....and making promises of keeping in touch, and being friends forever.....
But today, we couldn't live up to the test of time, but the memories and time spent with these folks will always be engraved in our hearts forever, be it the building friends, our first crush, the time spent at the chaiwala, our favorite teachers, our first stage performance, etc, etc.....and the list is endless.....these memories can never fade away, even if we were not the lucky enough ones to capture it in camera's.....
So guys, I hope you guys too enjoyed this trip down memory lane...and will go dig your closets to fish out some greetings, gifts, etc...preserved in the form of childhood memories...if not...don't worry, just close your eyes..and you will be taken back in time...

Cheers!
Seeta

Remember..Rooooot....Canal....anyone!!

Did I hear people go Oouch...as if they heard something very traumatic and totally go in the sympathetic zone with you, who is going to embark upon this dreadful journey....but if you are doing it for the first time...your eyes roll over, he/ she is totally exaggerating it...and so you ask...it can't be that bad....r..right...hmm....then comes a sigh...you got to do it to believe it....and they do the unthinkable, going into FB (not facebook, Flash Back) start recounting their moments of sheer torture, when they had to hear it for the first time...from the most dreaded kind of doctor in the world, yes the one who though looks cute, charming and very very welcoming, also has the chair symbolizing a very comfortable resting chair but the only difference is you wont be at the beach, but someone would be drilling and poking inside your mouth....yes THE DENTIST.....
So the next morning, you still try to put on a brave face and convince yourself, it can't be that bad...and reach for your 10.30  appointment....and guess what there is already a person before you waiting for his 10.15 appointment. So you think, it won't take long....as it might be just 15 min procedure....well that's what you think... but in the dentistry world, time moves in a totally different zone, whereby 15 minutes procedure will symbolize 45 minutes, and so on a so forth....but as you are oblivious to that fact, you have to be there to realize it....so then you pick up a magazine and slowly browse through the various sections, that's when the dentist's room opens and out comes a fellow sufferer, with a hand over his cheek...and babbling to the doctor asking for the next appointment....well that's what happens when your one side of the cheek is numb...and all the water comes out of your mouth, as if you were drooling....you then continue browsing the magazine, as in goes the previous patient....and thennnnnnnnn his procedure begins...you hear all sorts of noises...like someone is drilling the hell out of someone...you would want to expect it to be the wall, but unfortunately its someones mouth...after much drilling and poking, and some noises like Ohh and Aahhh...finally the guy comes out after half an hour...and now its your turn to face the moment of truth....
So  you gather all your courage and step inside the dentists room, at first it looks all rosy, with a cozy chair inviting you to almost sleep over it....a nice assistant tugging a napkin over your collar, keeping a glass of water ready for you...so far so good...and all sorts of pictures of various kind of decayed tooth displayed over the walls, you think, huhhh...that cant be me...mine can't be that bad....and then...when the bait is ready....the although sexy doctor turns around but the scene that you are about to witness is something like the movie chain saw...except for the saw here, she has a drill in her hand....and a sweet smile on her face, which apparently is hidden behind her mask.. then after some sweet talks from behind the mask, she lowers your chair with a silent promise of taking you to a new world....that's when you wish, if only I was in an aircraft right now, whereby I could have thoroughly enjoyed this chair during my long flights....but God has his ways of torturing us and giving us what we ask for, but of course at the wrong time and in the wrong place....so unfortunately what we wish is not what we always get...
One might wonder what are assistants for, although they can add to the glamor quotient...but guess what they have a bigger purpose in life, than just to look pretty and stand next to you....I mean...what on earth is that machine..that they are asked to handle....goshh....its something like a sucker...a water sucker, a vacuum for sucking water out of your mouth..and leaving you gasping and gulping your only available throat saliva.....
So now you know the sexy assistant is the dentist vamp's sidekick when the grueling procedure of root canal begins, whereby no matter you pray as loud as you want inside your head....the God's above are laughing at our expense....as they watch happily our mouths been screwed royally and pointing at us and saying, who ever asked you to have a sweet tooth, and be so careless about your cavities...now this is your reward....and that's when no amount of prayer can ever help you, as you feel the cliched slogan coming true, what you sow, so shall you reap....
So you may say, but why it can't be a simple procedure of just a 2 minute drilling and polishing and there you go..its done...why it has to be ROOT CANAL....what did I do so wrong...GOD...why did you have to do this to ME....
Well for the ones who do not know about his procedure, it goes like this.....its a procedure, which could potentially suck the very life out of you....and it might even end up altering your daily routine as well....first of all, it just starts with a minimalistic 7-10 sittings...so you might feel how hard could that be...but then the doctors busy schedule starts messing around with your busy life schedule...and then everything revolves around the dentist and you have to lay your weapons down...so the procedure begins...the first day feels like hell, when the pointed drill like thing hits your tooth....you are like...whooooaaa what was that, now you might sympathize with Mother Earth, who has to endure all the drilling and digging that humans often indulge in...then it goes on for several minutes...with the sweet masked dentist trying to divert your mind by chatting with you...and if its a lady, god help you....first the drill then the dentist's constant yapping...if that's not all, the assistant is constantly poking the bottom of your mouth with the water sucker and potentially doing a good job according to the dentist, but the dentist for want of accuracy, will occasionally grab the sucker from THE SUCKER assistant and do the honors of poking more and sucking out even a single tiny drop of water accidentally retained in your mouth....
then comes a day, when you are confronted with the most destructive weapon the dentist could ever possess...THE INJECTION....and looking at the needle you feel, I rather be dead, but face this torture....but after putting on a brave face,  you come out with a numb cheek...and somehow yearn for the days when this will all be over....but suddenly then when you are going to breathe a sigh of relief you realize though the phase of digging is over...as the tooth is cleaned from the inside....then comes the phase of poking and pricking ...whereby...the doctor...literally holds a needle in front of you and inserts the same inside your mouth and very happily pokes around....just to see if she has dug a hole big enough....that's when you might feel you would faint and wonder if she is creating another Khyber pass or a secret hide out inside your mouth...I mean why should there be such a big hole inside your tooth....
So this is when a lot of chanting of your favorite God will come to your rescue...as you constantly bribe the God, and promise him that you would behave yourself, be good to your family, friends, neighbor, and for that sake even the dhobiwala, doodhwala, paperwala, etc....., if only he saves you from this horrific self imposed torture...as you try to reason things out with God...saying..so what my tooth is decayed...its not like I'll die if I don't get it repaired, but still as a good citizen and a responsible grown up, I've come to face my fears, but can you please spare me now...and get me out of this place alive...
That's when the heavens door open and finally the dentist is nearing the last stages, when she actually puts metal strings and small bars inside your tooth, and the procedure almost feels like having constructed a building inside your mouth, as the analogy is perfect of having dug the earth, put the rods for the foundation and finally the toot is filled up with cement...and its held tight with a silver or a ceramic cap...to symbolize the ultimate sacrifice you have done to restore the dilapidated structure..YOUR WISDOM TOOTH...
So you congratulate yourself for having survived this tremendous nerve wrecking ordeal of a potential Route Canal, which is what it should have been aptly named as, as the procedure is symbolic to have constructed an alternative Route, although inside your mouth....so now you feel, after this you can face anything in the world, what more can cause you any damage...
AND then........ comes the biggest damage, you could ever imagine..when the dentist smoothly hands over the bill....and you wonder...huhhhhh...is this even real, I mean wasn't it enough I actually went through this God forsaken hell hole procedure, and now I've to remember it for the rest of my life, with a biggest dent in my pocket...and then you begin cursing God...is this the price I pay for getting drilled around, getting poked with sharp needles, facing the most dreaded weapon ever the injection and getting practically burnt with the foreign body the steel rods inserted forever inside my mouth....if this wasn't enough, she has to put a HOLE IN MY POCKET AS WELL.....and that's when you really feel had you brushed twice, took notice of your cavities in time....or just simply watched your mouth while gulping down several sweets, pastries, chocolates...and all the sweet stuff...which look inviting...but we end up paying a heavy price (literally) for having them...such is life's dearies....
So next time you royally indulge into the sweet world of sweets, pastries, chocolates...and Ignore Your Cavities....then don't forget your inevitable visit to the Dentist...which very well might end up into a potential Route Canal...which even if you reminisce years later, it will send shivers down your spine...as this one experience will haunt you forever....and you would never wish to have one again.........THE ROOOOOOT CANAL............
Cheers!
Seeta

Horror of Sonography...

Okay folks lets welcome the new day on a laughing note...
Ever you had to go through this traumatic experience of going for a sonography.....well for the layman let me explain to you this horrific procedure....it looks and seems very harmless, but this very experience can suck the very life out of you....and has the potential of being crowned as a punishment for the inmates....for small time offenses....
You may be wondering, how can this non scary instrument related procedure could be so devastating....well then you will have to find out for yourself....
Although it begins with a simple act of having to drink say only 4 or 5 glasses of water....then after two cups down...you are like...hey so what I can do this...so there goes the 3rd cup...and then the 4th...till now, all you have is a full stomach...so you kinda make an effort to down the 5th glass, by now the water starts tasting bitter, but you are still proud of yourself you downed 5 glasses of water just in under 7 minutes...NOW....comes the best part....okay you are in a hospital, which has a reasonable queue...and so you are asked to inform the technician once your bladder is full, so there you go..it seems all simple, once my bladder is full, I'll tell them...
So what does this sympton of bladder is full symbolise....now comes the daunting task, of mind over body...here's when you have to fight it out....practically have a conversation with your mind...which is slowly going to sink in the ocean that is filling up in your bladder drop by drop...the first 10 minutes go fine...then its 20...and you feel you can sustain..as the water is slowly trickling down from your stomach to your bladder....then its half an hour, you are still going strong...then you start seeing people running in and out of the sonography room...with a ticking time bomb expression when they go in and come zooming out and rush to the loo, and then the expression of being alive when they come out....
Now its 45 minutes, and you begin to feel the pressure...and you feel your bladder is almost going to burst...that's when you gather your courage to go to the technician and almost a sinnking feeling hits you, when he asks you to wait, another 10 minutes as there are patients before you...NOW this is the time...all your sense go numb....and you cannot feel your body....as all your senses are gripped and for once your ever chattering mind, comes to a standstill and the world starts looking hazy....and your whole life trickles down to this one moment....when will the door of the sonography room open and when will you get through this hell hole...procedure....so that you can actually breath..and feel alive again....
Somehow you now try to engross your mind into various other thoughts, but its like a battlefield inside your brain, trying to win over your body....you keep telling it, its gonna be alright, it will be over soon...pls. co-operate....pls. dont let my bladder burst....you even start cajoling God...that you would be good human being from now on...and won't hurt anyone, if only the door of the Sonography room opens up for me...
And then the moment of truth, finally your name is called out and like any other patient that has gone inside with this ticking bomb tied to his chest feeling, you rush inside the procedure room...then you are almost to thank your stars that it will be over soon, thats when the technician with the hand gun like machine appears in front of you, and you start praying god incessantly as he moves the machine exerting pressure on your stomach and abdomen...that's when you are reminded that you must have done something grossly wrong to have to undergo this horrific punishment of Sonography....but then a ray of light...hits you...and the door of the procedure room opens...and you are asked to leave....that's the moment of your freedom when you hit the loo and tears of joy trickle down your eyes....and you congragulate yourself for having successfully gone through this unbearable ordeal....and have come out aliveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........
So....my deepest condolences to all those who had to go through this grueling procedure...and wish they do not have to go through this again....and a suggestion to all is don't ever underestimate the power of water....it has the potential to drown you from within you....and not just sink you with its embrace....so god bless all who ever took the Sonography test...which should be aptly named as THE SO..NO..GRAPHY test...
Cheers!
Seeta

My First Blog!!

Hello There,
(No, you are not crazy if you are reading this blog…trust me…jus…just hear me out…) so here itgoes…
Hello guys,
Since this is a new world to me, I take the privilege of welcoming myself to this unknown domain.
Now though I’m new to this blogging domain, but surely I’ve discovered one super power within me, I’m not the next superwoman…and there is no threat whatsoever to these legendary superheroes…gosh stop it, I’m definitely not the next lady G-One, I guess we suffered enough in the hands of the original already, I definitely wouldn’t want to be the one from the opposite sex….
Well coming back to the point, it is nothing much, I discovered, infact one of my loved one discovered, that my jibber jabber most of the times or let’s say sometimes (being modest here…yes I do possess this unique quality…) which makes more sense..and so, with all my mighty powers, bestowed onto my Pen…I poured all my worldly wisdom on to a piece of paper and guess what there came a creation, which honestly could be my legacy one day….and why not I’ll be dead proud of it…get it…dead…legacy…proud…ohh never mind…well what I was saying was, I mean is……believe it or not…I discovered a Writer in me…..yes a passionate writer, not that I’m a writer who is writing this now, but an Actual Book Writer, an Author so to say…and it feels great…to have written my first book…and yes it is about the quintessential element, which we all aspire to have…and that too a good one….i.e. Life…the book encompasses various aspects of our life in these times and don’t be surprised when I say, there can be better ways to live it…..so until it is released keep watching this space..
Meanwhile those who do not know me…here it goes….Yes…I can be serious, infact this book is one of my SERIOUS ventures…
Hmm…serious…guys stop laughing…believe me I can be serious….well this could come as a shock to some of the folks who know me closely, for them I’m pretty much a stand up comedian, except that I don’t get paid  for it..ohh..please not of the type that comes on the television, loud in all forms, act, attire, satire and cliched comedy…since when did comedy become a circus act, are we grown up’s or what….I like the kinda comedy Seinfeld does, or perhaps the kind in Scrubs…well it has to be related to real life, and does not need to be loud, even a simple maim can make us laugh don’t believe me how about the legendary Charlie Chaplin or the cute and dumb headed at the same time, Laurel and Hardy..and how about the three stooges…and who can forget Mr. Bean….I bet these guys could put a smile on the dead man’s face if tried…
So for my first blog, I thought of the one must-have element without which one cannot have a complete life…yes a complete dose of Comedy…and brace yourself, this is  the one medicine, which one can’t get enough off, and if they do, there are no side effects…so go on my friends…LOL…Laugh your head out…coz, you never know..when your pants might fall off….oops I mean…life might end…
Well this was a trailer from my kinda comedy, absolute nonsense, total no brainer, pj’s, satire, anything that could put a smile on your faces…if I manage to do that then my mission is succeeded, which is to have BUGGED YOUUUUUUUU…….hahahaha…catch you soon…
Cheers!
Seeta