Great Indian Love Marriage :D

Yesterday I attended the wedding of  the sister of our family friend.Mum told me it was going to be held with arya samajic rituals and all which meant it would be held in the morning and the reception would be at night.Which also meant no Baraat and Nach gana  .No Baraat :O I was dejected.one of my favorite passtime in weddings is to watch the bridegroom's friends and family dancing funnily in the Baraat.And baraat dance also happens to be the only dance I'm good at :D .I have two left feet u see :(

"Whats a wedding without Baraat? "I  muttered to my Mum.

She also informed me the girl was having a love marriage with a boy of a different caste.At this i jumped and said "Wohoo!!  Way to go didi" . My Mum threw me a irritated look.She has given me numerous lectures on pros and cons of love marriage(specially inter caste ones) No make that only cons .She is dead against it  :(

Though i have radically different views.I feel caste is such a outmoded concept  I am a believer of bubblegum romance and then a fairy tale wedding :D.Hope Mum doesn't read this otherwise I will again get a free lecture :P

We arrived at the venue all decked up  at around 11 a.m.I was highly sleepy having gone to bed late the previous night.I was watching the wedding rituals in progress and yawning from time to time.My Mum nudged me and said "Hey that guy is good looking na?" I turned around to gape at her and shrieked "Mum !! Whats up with u? U are checking out Guys.Wait I am going to tell papa what u are upto"!

"Hatt, she said slapping me on the wrist. "I was checking out for u.Now take a look." I grinned broadly and turned around to look.

"Naah." I said. "Decent hai but not good".

"I have to be on look out now na.I have to get u married soon no.", she said.I rolled my eyes and said "Mum not for another five years ".At that she giggled and said mischievously , "Of course but we can always be on lookout."

"Hey Mum What about that one "? I asked pointing to a dude with a goatee and in blue kurta

"I thought u were going to point out that bloke.Nope not good", she said .If such a guy asks fr your hand in marriage i will reject outright.'she finished. and I giggled.

For next hour we discussed and scrutinized the Saree's and suits of the guests and debated on whether the flowers used to decorate the Mandap were artificial or real.

"Mum I am hungry" I wailed after sometime.

"I told u to have more pancakes for breakfast.Why did u have only one?" she chided.

"Not my fault u forgot to put salt in it."I shot back

We had lunch and went back home.We had to come back later in the night for the reception.As soon as i got out of the car in front of the reception hall I heard the sound of dhol and nagada coming from inside.Turns out the bridegroom's friends deprived of the opportunity to dance in their friends baraat had brought the dhol people.Friends I tell u :D When we entered the hall they were all dancing and making the groom and bride dance too.I got to watch the funny steps they were doing and felt like breaking into a jig too.But i controlled myself.

Party was nice and lively.I chatted up a friend of mine she told me that aunties were talking that the girl should not have gone fr a love marriage as the bridegroom's parents had not accepted her.And also that nobody had come for the marriage frm the bridegroom's side except his brother and his friends.I was shocked at this piece of news."What are they(bridegroom's parents) creating such a fuss for?He is marrying a girl only na? So what if she is from another community? That should be the least of their worries.There are graver issues now like guys ending up marrying guys ."I replied angrily and my friend sniggered.

That night I went home pondering that its high time people change there mentality  regarding inter community marriages.Hmph :|

The Great Indian Arranged Marraige

This event  happened  sometime in April.Its the rituals which happen in the Great Indian Arrange Marriage but this one describes the plight of a boy.Times they are changing!! :D

The morning began with hustle and bustle of activity in my house. My cousin an MBBS was staying with us and the previous day we had been informed that an interested party (read parents of wannabe bride) wanted to meet him and would come to our place today evening. Ahem! My cousin an eligible bachelor was of the opinion that it would be his parents who would have to go girl hunting and he wouldn’t have to face what girls face when would be in laws come to your place and stare at you as if they are looking at an interesting creature in the zoo.
I for one saw this an excellent opportunity to pull his leg .You see I wanted to take some revenge for all the torture he had put me through (read “Simba your are very lazy”, “Simba you have no girl like qualities, Simba its high time you learn cooking”, “Simba you should help your mother more with household chores” and on and on he went with the incessant nagging) throughout the one month he stayed with us.
After breakfast Mum entered my the room with a solemn face and said “Simba we are having guests over,I want to you to serve tea and snacks ,and please don’t drop anything “,she implored. She added the last sentence because I am quite notorious for my clumsiness in such matters. Just then my cousin entered the room and I looked at him impishly and said “Mum why don’t You make Bhaiya serve. Let the ladkiwalas also see that Bhaiya is sarvagunsampan .” Then I chuckled at my own joke and mummy started laughing hysterically .My cousin threw me a nasty look at this point and said ruefully that he thought he would get the opportunity to go bride hunting but now it looks like he would also have to give interviews.

Throughout the day my mother kept giving me odd jobs to do like changing the sofa covers and bed sheets and all while my cousin was lazing around and net surfing. I barged into his room and said ,”It’s not fair that I go around making the house tidy for your wannabe in-laws while you sit cosily"(Feminist hu na :D)He should help around too. He got up grudgingly and did small jobs around the house.

Throughout the day I never missed an opportunity to pull his leg and I must say I quite enjoyed it. In the afternoon our taps suddenly ran dry. Papa called the watchman and instructed him to start the motor so that water could be pumped into our water tank. “And be quick” my cousin added. Hearing this I sprang up and said “Bhaiya why are you so worried? Is it because it would make a bad impression in front of your wannabe in –laws if there is no water." He threw me a  dirty look and I grinned broadly. Later in the afternoon my cousin was putting aloevera gel (aloevera gel has cleansing properties btw)on his face, which he usually does, but of course the impish me grabbed this opportunity to sneak behind his back and shout “Look mum! A girl wouldn’t take so much pain and efforts as much Bhaiya is taking ".This time I got my ears pulled .
In the evening I saw my cousin coming to my room but then he stopped at the doorway and started scurrying away. I jumped off my bed and called out to him. He said he came to my room to ask me which shirt should he wear but then he changed his mind lest this gives me another opportunity to take a dig at him. Ha! Looks like I have scared him.
Evening approached. Everyone in the house was ready to welcome the guests. We heard a car screeching to a halt nearby.”Are they here”, the wannabe groom asked. To which I said mischievously “Relax Bhaiya! Dont get so excited, It‘s not them”. They finally came .Greeting were exchanged and conversation flowed easily between my parents and them. The wannabe bride’s parents handed over the bio data and her photo to my mother who showed it to me. I took it and went hopping and skpipping to my brothers’ room were the wannabe groom and my brother were chatting. I waved the bio data and the photo infront of his face. Then I read out the bio data to him and showed him the photo .He listened to it all with a a sombre expression on his face.” So?” I asked giggling “So what? “He asked.”Aree kaisi lagi bhabhi” I asked now laughing hysterically.”Umm..She is nice” he replied and his mouth then twitched into a smile. “I like her” I declared after scrutinizing the photo and bio data and “If you don’t marry her I will get her married to Z bhaiya(another eligible bachelor cousin of mine)” I said teasingly. “Wait” I said. ”I’ll go check her out on facebook”, the facebook addict in me said. I tried to track her but looked like she wasn’t a member. “Looks like your would- be is not tech savvy....who does not own a facebook profile these days “I said quite shocked.”Hey its nothing like that” my cousin said “I myself joined it a month back” he said defending her.”Hey whats this? You are defending her already?”I said mischievously. The wanna- be groom threw up his hand in exasperation and I gave a devilish chuckle. He bribed with me with a Cadbury Bournville if i stopped it but i was surprised at myself for refusing the offer.You see i was having far too much fun doing this.

All in all the day ended nicely. This is just the beginning lets see how it turns out whether this particular girl is going to be my future Bhabhi. Lets wait and watch and wait for things to unfold.Till then i will enjoy the Great Indian Arranged Marriage. :D

Hong Kong-Foreign Travel and International Experience Take Three

As the name suggests this is Take 3 of the post so Take One and Take Two should be read before this.What are u waiting for? Go read !!! :P
Ok 2 very Important things about Taiwan trip I missed in the previous post..The Awards ceremony I mentioned had a very elaborate dinner afterwards.Having only had fruits and juice for breakfast and Subway submarine for lunch I was obviously starving.I could have even had beef if it looked delicious.Oh I have this theory which  I put in practice that what doesn't look good doesn't taste good.The beef looked repulsive so I circumvented it.I steered clear of Squids and seaweed also.(Obviously) But  I stopped at ham stir fried noodles.It looked scrumptious and the starved me immediately piled it up on my plate.The rest of my plate was occupied by asparagus, lettuce and the like (hindi mein bole toh ghas phus).I sat at my team table and immediately started devouring the noddles.

What is that? my Gujarati teammate inquired
"Ham stir fried noddles" I replied cheerfully .The change in mood was of course because I had something to eat in my plate.

"What????" My strictly vegetarian Gujarati teammate shouted and gave me such a nasty look that I felt myself sinking and slouching in the chair

."But..But...I am hungry" I said feeling as guilty as if i had murdered the animal for the ham with my own bare hands

."What about Swine Flu"?, he countered.

I had no counter attack for that and I pushed away my plate and the cheerful expression i had a moment a go was replaced with a scowl.But I later found myself wishing I had never touched the ham noddles because during the return flight i was feeling a little feverish and I became paranoid that I had caught the flu :(

Then another very important event in my life happened later that night. It was the After Awards Party and alcohol was flowing freely.   Now the teetotaler me sat there sipping my soft drink I looked around at people consuming alcohol and I mused that I had paid for that too in my competition fee.Not only that I had paid for the food too.But neither did i eat their food nor did i drink their wine.What a waste of money , I  brooded.It was time to do some Paisa Vasooly , I decided. I then made a resolution and made my way towards one of my teammates.

"I want a sip of your Vodka" I said to her."Then I will think about whether to get my own glass." She more than willingly handed it to me.Having reached this stage now looked at the glass unsure.I was afraid it might burn my throat.Then with steely determination I put the glass to my lips and drew a sip."Ugghhh....Vile stuff !!"I concluded just after one sip. It tasted like lemon gone bad(I had Vodka with Sprite) but thankfully it didn't burn my throat as I had expected.I handed her the glass back and went back to my soft drink and to my ambition of making it to the List of Famous Teetotaler in Wikipedia.So much for Paisa Vasooly, I rued.Now u mustn't let this attempt of mine at Pasia Vasooly   fool u into thinking I am parsimonious in any way.But my 1 year stint in Gujjuland (My college was in Gujarat) was bound to affect  and give my thinking  its characteristic stingy touch .

Ok now back to where I left.We landed in Hong Kong at night and headed towards Causeway Bay which is one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping district.Since we were in Hong Kong only for a day we were putting up in a hostel in Causeway Bay It was nearing midnight but All of us wanted to explore the place so we headed out.Most shops were closed but the place was alive with neon signs.We were clicking pics in one such place when I caught one of my teammates excitedly pointing at something.Her face was glowing with happiness of the kind i didnt even see when we stood third in the competition.

"What is it?" we inquired

."Look This building has an Indian Restaurant on the 7th floor.All our faces lit up brighter than the neon lights of Hong Kong.We rushed to the lift giggling with pleasure at the mere thought of eating an Indian meal at last.We reached the restaurant only to find the owner switching off the lights, ready to close

Sign showing Mirch Masala(The Indian restaurent)

"Oh? You are closing?"we inquired.The crestfallen and dejected  look on our face quite apparent.

"Yes we close at midnight", the Indian owner of the restaurant replied.

"What time do u open in the morning?"

At 10" came the reply.

"Can we at least look at the menu?" we pleaded.He looked at us for a second then went got us the menu.We were drooling just looking at the name of the dishes.Kashmiri pulao with raita,Paneer kadai,Paneer Pasanda, Chicken butter masala  etc etc *slurp slurp*

We explained the reason for our weird behaviour and he said "Oh OK I can do one thing.I can ask the Chef to prepare some dishes for u and parcel it .Quickly decide what you want.We thanked him profusely and he said benevolently *Agar ek Indian dusre Indian ki help nai karega toh kaun karega"and I could have hugged him and planted a peck on his cheek right then and there but i refrained from such overt acts of expressing one's gratitude. :D :P 

Much before i landed in Hong Kong i had done some research on it.And since i was only there for a day i had my heart set on visiting Disneyland.But before that i wanted to make a stop at the Peak.This tourist destination was suggested to us by a Hong Kong participant.Did I mention him before?Oh damn I forgot.Ok will tell u in short that he was very cute and he also tried to teach me how to use chopsticks but alas i failed miserably and concluded  that my fingers are not flexible  and  dexterous enough to hold and use chopsticks :-| 

Off to The Peak I went with one of my teammates.The other two preferred to go to Mong Kok for shopping The Peak is Hong Kong's highest point.The Tram journey to reach The Peak is quite exhilarating.The design of the peak tram is very ingenious.Most part of the route is quite steep and the steepest slope angle is around 27 degree.This gives a very topsy turvy view of the city on the right.

The Peak Tram

Pablo Picasso at Madame Tussads

View From Sky Terrace

Now i expected the Peak to be some kind of mountain.It was but with so much more.It had a mall where one could do souvenir hunting and some pretty expensive shopping.It had great many restaurants for dining.It had a Sky terrace from where u could get a panoramic view of the Hong Kong city.U could enjoy the high speed wind blowing across your face at the Sky terrace and ponder over the wonders and delights that Hong Kong had to offer.On one side u could see the concrete jungle and right on the other the Victoria bay and the greenery around.And it also had a Maddame Tussads :D. I posed for innumerable pics with wax statues.My favorite ones are with 

Brad Pitt,Pierce Brosnan Lady Daina and Marlyn Monroe.

Then we headed to Disneyland from there.Disneyland is on another island in Hong Kong and it has its own train to ferry passengers to and fro too.The train is painted very colorfully and inside it also there are various small figures of Disney characters.Just as i got off the train i saw a little girl running around with Mickey Mouse Ears and anotherone with a Stitch cap(he too is a Disney cartoon.) .And i found myself grinning broadly from ear to ear.I resolved to get the Stitch 

Stitch Stuff toy/Cap

stuff toy.At the very entrance of Disneyland a giant a 

statue of a whale with Mickey Mouse surfing on the water coming out from its Blowhole welcomed us.

As soon as I lay my eyes on the Stitch cap i had seen earlier (.It was a cap with doubles up as a stuff toy.The mouth serves as the cap part and the body of the stuff toy dangles from the back of the head like a tail. :D Take a look at the pic for better understanding) i bought one from the first stall i came across.I had to shell out 195 HKD(Hong Kong dollars) for it.I was in a very jocund mood and put on the cap without caring how silly i looked.In my defense Disneyland is a place where one is allowed to act like a kid :D. As i walked 

along taking in the various sights i did a quick mental calculation as to how much my cap had cost me.It came out to be Rs. 1462.5  :-o (1 HKD was around 7.5 Indian Rupees that time.) I jerked away the cap from my head and gaped at it fr a second , my love for it diminishing slightly.Did i mention i had already spent 350 HKD on entry ticket. (Rs.2525) :-o ."But oh well ",i thought,"Its a wonderful souvenir to take back".I again donned on the cap and went back to looking silly.Throughout  Disneyland I fought a strong impulse to buy more souvenirs.I really had to  pull myself away from the Lion King T shirt *sob sob sniff*

Disneyland

There were many rides in Disneyland.One particular ride i enjoyed a lot was called Space Attack. It was a roller coaster with a difference.For one thing it was an indoor roller coaster.We passed through darkness and every now and then it was illuminated by beautiful pictures of space.It was a very thrilling ride and I went on it twice.The rest of the rides  I found a little silly and slow.There was a lot of stuff to do at Disneyland.It took us rest of the day to explore it all.And when the time came for Disneyland to close at 7 in the evening we were treated to a spectacular display of fireworks accompanied by nice music.Thus next day we headed back for our homeland :D .I enjoyed the trip immensely.Though after coming back i weighed a good 5 kgs less than I weighed went i had begun my journey.And that's not a good thing considering i weighed only 48 kgs in the beginning of the trip :P :-o

 

Taiwan: Foreign Travel and International Experience -Take Two

Disclaimer : I repeat My name is Simba and I am not a racist. :-|

          I will continue from where I left.(Those of  you who haven't read the previous post should go through that before reading this one)

We were waiting at the Bangkok Airport for our continuing flight to Taiwan.As we navigated the airport to reach our Security Check In point, at one place I stopped for a brief second looking in horror at what lay ahead of me.Escalators!! I have had a strange phobia for escalators ever since I can remember.I avoid them at all costs .In shopping malls or any other place I always take the stairs.The phobia is mainly because I always have an queer feeling that my jeans will get caught at the end of it and I also don't like the queasy sensation one gets when one steps on an escalator.
           So in the airport I looked left and right for stairs but nope there were none.Refusing to freak out in front of my senior teammates lest I come across as a rustic character.(Hindi mein bole toh gaon ki gawar) I plucked up my courage and gingerly stepped on it.The initial queer sensation having subsided  I was extremely alert and timed my stepping out of it with precision so as to avoid my jeans getting caught.Time and again i encountered escalators after escalators in the airport.My phobia started diminishing slowly and I even came to the conclusion that they were not that bad after all(provided u stay alert and time ur stepping out with precision of course).Now  I can confidently say that one good thing that happened in the trip was that i overcame my fear of escalators. :D

My Room at The Leader

We finally boarded the plane and reached our destination.Taipei(Taiwan's capital city)was beautiful.During the journey from the airport to the main city we passed through a scenic landscape but the main city was a bit of a concrete jungle.We arrived at the hotel(The Leader) and after completing the check in formalities we headed for our rooms.Our rooms were luxurious without being ornate.They had a comfortable and homely feel to it.But the bathroom!!!  I gaped at it aghast. It had a translucent sliding panel for an excuse of  door and with no latch.Yes you read right No latch ! It was not defective in any way it was designed like that. :-| And they called this  a five star hotel.Hmph!

Later I wasted a good ten minutes trying to figure out how to work out the various knobs on the shower.It was the kind that had  water sprinkling from all sides.Cant these people keep anything simple? I reflected critically.Take a look at the pic in the side to fully understand the extent of my dilemma.Later as we waited in the lobby we were joined by other participating teams.They were mostly South Asians.As I looked at the sea of faces around me I was confounded as to how to tell them apart.:-o How to tell apart Vietnamese from Japanese from Hong Kong participants from Taiwanese from Koreans?? But right then i was transported to my kindergarten days when we used the Chinese Japanese Batameez (*slap* ) Sorry Please Jingle(accompanied by actions) to dupe our friends.I recalled that for Chinese we pulled our eye slits upwards and fr Japanese downwards.Therein lay the difference.I scanned the faces and was immediately able to pick out the Japanese girl with eye slits slanting downwards (Yes yes i know i am a genius :D )

Food(I think) we were served.

For the food we were served take a look at the pictures,A picture is worth a thousand words they say.I survived on Subway submarines during the entire trip and  devoured on the Theplas my Gujarati teammate had brought from home.Every time i raided his stock of food i thanked the Almighty profusely for Gujaratis and their habit of packing enough eatables to feed an entire army, for any trip.

Taipei is very famous for its Night markets(they are basically Street markets) which is an excellent place to shop for clothes, and gifts and try the local cuisine (if you are the daring type of course). One thing i liked about if was that shopkeepers  had their prices on display and didn't try to rip you off by quoting exorbitant prices just because you are a foreigner.The night markets we went to were Gong Guan Night Market and Shilin Night Market.

Taipei 101 at night

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

A very famous landmark of Taipei City is Taipei 101.it had the honor of being the tallest skyscraper and having the fastest elevator before Burj Khalifa overtook it in 2010 on both these counts The first five floors have a shopping mall.The view from the top is no doubt spectacular.I also found out that from 6:00 to 10:00 each evening  the tower's lights display one of seven colours in the spectrum.
Another remarkable structure is the The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall  erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek,

former President of the Republic of China. It incorporates traditional Chinese Architecture and is a  mesmerizing piece of work.

Now allow me to describe a little bit about the Awards ceremony night of the Elsa Wto Moot court Competition.We had decided to wear ethnic Indian clothes for the function.(And oh btw we were placed third in the Competition :D ) I wore a salwar suit ,the other two girls wore Sarees and the guy member a sherwani.Needless to say the other foreigner participants all went gaga over our traditional outfits.All of them wanted to pose for photos with us.I guess i ought to be flattered but right then i was feeling like a Mickey Mouse in Disneyland with whom everybody wants to take a photo. :-|
The competition was over and the next day we were headed for Hong Kong.The Hong Kong experience coming up in the next post.Stay tuned :D

P.S -All photos (except the shower one is from my camera :D ) 

P.S.S :This post was short before I added pics.I swear!!! :( :(

A view from the Top---(Foreign travel and International Experience)- Take one

Disclaimer: My name is Simba and I am not a racist :-|

     In March 2009 I got an opportunity to go abroad for a competition.It was called ELSA WTO Moot Court Competition.We were a team of four members .One guy and three girls.Now I will not bug you with boring details of the competition.Will just tell you that it was held in Taiwan and during our return journey we made a stop at Hong Kong for a day.

Haan so I was going abroad for the first time so naturally I was bubbling with excitement.Everything was a brand new experience.First visit to the international airport.First international flight.First Duty free shopping :D

We boarded the flight from Mumbai's Chattrapatti Shivaji Airport.While  waiting for my flight I explored the duty free shops.Girls and window shopping/shopping can't be separated.I spent a good half a hour drooling at the chocolates section.

As soon as I entered the flight ,the porcelain doll like air hostesses greeted us with their smiling faces and some said mumbo jumbo in Thai( i think) My mind shouted "Chinki Air hostess!!" with glee.Then the other stupid part of my brain said "Eh? You are travelling in Thai Airways what else did You expect?" :-|

Photo Courtesy-Yours Truly

Then I saw another species of people in the flight.They were called Flight stewards. I had never seen these species in domestic flights.So I had always assumed that they were now extinct :-|

Communicating with the Chinki flight attendants posed a serious problem and led to comical miscommunication.The Guy team member (who will be henceforth referred to as Bemused Gujju Chokra coz he was a bewildered Gujarati Guy n th e trip) in the  asked the air hostess to get him a pair of headphones but she got him a glass of water, he explained again what he wanted this time he got a blanket. :P

Having comfortably settled in and explored what all the tiny buttons at the armrest was for,I put on the headphones and was flipping channels, when a air hostess stopped in the aisle with the drinks trolley.The other two girls in my team asked for Vodka and I watched them in horror half expecting them to become drunk and start some sort of drunken ramblings.When the air hostess asked me what would I like?

"Do you have any apple juice?." I asked meekly.I am a teetotaler u see.One of my ambition in life is to make it to the "List of famous teetotalers " in Wikipedia.(Yes Yes such a list does exist in Wikipedia) .That just goes to say I want to be famous :D Bemused Gujju Chokra asked for the same.He too is a teetotaler u see, minus or plus the ambition to make it too the list i am not aware of. .Then I made another shocking discovery.You can ask for as many glasses of alcohol or juice as u want :-o . Now I seriously expected to see drunk people stumbling or tumbling down the aisle. :-|

Then we were served something the Chinkis called food :-| .I looked at the wrapping on my tray.It said Oriental(oriental matlab south Asian ) vegetarian dinner.I took out the aluminum foil covering and peered inside struggling to understand what exactly they had served me.I poked at it with my fork, turned it over , sniffed it."Ummm ",I said to myslef looks like cottage cheese but just plain white cottage cheese with little red colored sauce in the side? I took a tiny bit of it and daringly put it in my mouth.Nope not cottage cheese I concluded.Oh!!!Then realization dawned on me ."This is tofu (also called dofu )".I had heard about it and seen pictures of it too .Now those of you who still have a bewildered expression on your face Tofu is a soft, bland, white cheese like food, high in protein content, made from curdled soybean milk: used originally in Oriental cookery but now in a wide variety of soups and other dishes.  --courtsey www.dictionary.com :P )

Tofu :-|

 .But it didn't taste good so i put the tray aside.I then turned to salad.There was Kaccha babycorn kaacha lettuce and other kacha vegetables which I had ,all the while feeling like a cud chewing cow (I am a non vegetarian btw..i asked for veg food on flight because i was not keen on experimenting with their non veg food ).I attacked the dessert (strawberry jelly)then.

Soon after that lights were dimmed and most people fell asleep.I looked to my right.My teammates were sleeping like babies.No doubt the Vodka they had consumed had something to do with it.I on the other hand am unable to sleep during flights(include train journeys bus journeys and car journeys also to that.Light sleeper you see. :( ) So i was fidgeting in my seat.One particular button in the arm rest caught my eye."What does this button do?" My mind said exactly like DeeDee says in Dexter's laboratory.Unable to hold my curiosity I pressed it.Ting!! Nothing happened.Oh well ! I said but just then a smiling air hostess appeared beside my seat enquiring what did i want?

"Eh?" I looked at her perplexed.She jerked her head towards the glowing button and again asked "Ma'am you called? How may I help you?"

Oh!! That's the call button I realized.

"Ummm...Hmmm Could u please get me a glass of apple juice?" I replied almost inaudibly.

A I sat sipping away my apple juice.I felt the plane jerk a little.Then another jerk.I cast aside my apple juice and quickly fastened my seat belt just when the pilot announced." We are passing through turbulence. Please fasten your seat belts." Another jerk. I tightly clasped the arm rest holding on to dear life.I glanced sideways .My teammates were snoring away. Blissfully unaware what was happening and that I was freaking out.I felt like shaking them awake and saying "Wake up!!!We are about to die here!!".But we didn't die  because the plane was soon out of turbulence area..Phew!! Maybe i should start drinking.That would help calm down the hyperactive brain of mine! :|

A work of art depicting the Sagar Manthan
at SuvarnaBhumi Airport.

On our way to Taiwan.We had a transit at Bangkok airport.We had to change flights there.We reached Bangkok's Suvrnabhumi Airport.I was mesmerized by the splendour of Bangkok airport .It was huge!!.I thought it would take a person at least a day to explore it all.In several places in the airport there were works depicting Hindu mythological events.

Chanel Outlet at the Airport.

I was walking in the airport taking it all in when I saw something which made me stop in my tracks and made my jaw drop."Is it what i think it is? No cant be! I Look again.Yes!! it is :D." There standing in all its splendour was a Chanel Store. I love all the Chanel outfits which the Hollywood and Bollywood  actresses wear.Automatically my feet started towards it.I entered it expecting to be transfrred into another world. A world of Uber Chic fashion."But hain? Whats this?The showroom looked pretty normal to me".I saw some dresses.One caught my eye.I stole a surreptitious glance at the price tag did the mental calculation of converting dollars into rupees and then put it back with a forlorn expression on my face.

There was a three hour( i think) halt at the bangkok airport.The remaining part of the journey and foreign travel part i will cover in my next post.Till then stay tuned :D :D

P.S: I had meant to keep this post short.Next time se.Promise!! :(

Puppy Names and Naming Fetish :D

This is going to be my first post.I will soon post an introduction and elaborate

why i chose this name for my blog.

Ok Let me begin,My current obsession are dogs :D

A friend of mine has a doggess(doggess is a she dog .Its an actual word i didn't coin it.I refuse to use the other term for a she dog because evolution of language has given it several meanings over the years.It has almost become a derogatory word.And i feel such a term should not be used for an animal as cute as her) named Jenny and she is the most adorable thing ever.She is a Papillon (i think).Whenever i go to my friends house i look around  for her.She never barks at me (come to think of it i have never heard her bark :-o)she allows me to pat her,and tries to lick me too . :D

She is the most docile dog i have ever seen. Although this makes her practically useless as a guard dog.Agar usko thoda sa hadkao toh she starts cowering  and flinches :P . She is afraid of other neighbourhood dogs too.Even earlier i liked dogs but from a distance only.I never had the courage to go near one and pat it.The fear was mainly the outcome of being nearly chased and bitten by a Pomeranian in my tiny tot days.I still have a strong aversion for Pomeranian .I feel they are noisy, irritating and bark too much :-/

However my recent obsession is all thanks to Jenny.So when the other day another friend( i will refer to her as Lucky Chick henceforth.Lucky because she is getting a puppy and chick because she is one :P)  of mine told me that she is going to get a pup i was euphoric :D . I was adamant that she get a she pup.Her uncle's Labrador  was having puppies and he was going to give her one.I immediately started suggesting names also.I have a fetish for naming everything you see.I suggested Zoey but she didn't like the name much.So i told her i will come up with some more names later.Lucky Chick then told me her college friend has a dog whom he has named Babu Bhai. :P She said so with a wrinkled up nose to show her distaste for the name and it was also a silent warning for me not to come up with something as wacky as that.I on the other hand thought that the name was a stroke of genius.It got me thinking that we need not give firangi names to our pets.

Later when i was online the other day i had a discussion abt Puppy names with a another mutual friend(whom i will refer to as Lukhi. Err.... because she is one of course and a cousin (whom i will refer to us Hapless cousin because i bug him in chats every night and he has no other option but to listen to the loquacious me. :P)

A part of the chat i have reproduced here. U will notice an excessive mention of "Shaadi" in it .It's all because of the influence of a  new friend of mine who is obsessed with bubblegum romance and is in her own words "Mujhe Shaadi karni hai" types.In the chats I have given my own comments and insights in brackets.

Take One

me: pata pata Lucky Chick might be getting a pup :D :D

Lukhi: yaaaaaaa?????

  which breed?

 me: labrador

  :D

 Lukhi: oooooohhhh

 me: i told her to pick out a she pup

  :D

  we will name her

  :D

Lukhi : done

  u hav a deal

  :)

 me: :D

  naam socho

 Lukhi: aaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

  .............

me: zoey :D

( I always wanted two guinea pigs as pets and had decided to name them Zoey and Joey but alas the wish still remanis unfulfilled.Time and again i have asked some of my friends to gift me one but they are all to scared of my mummy i guess. :( )

 Lukhi: naaaaaaaaaaaaa

 me: oh :(

Lukhi: arey........dont lose hope.....im sure u can cum up with better names

 me: haan will think

  how abt indian names

  chameli??

  :P

  champa?

  phoolan ?

  :D

 Lukhi: champa

  done

  final

 me: ekdum :D

  Lucky Chick  ko will inform

 Lukhi: yo

  do that soon

  mmuuuaaahzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Next Day

me: i finalised on a name fr a he pup

 :D

 Lukhi: bolo

  why a he...but

 me: Hiccup

  and if she Buttercup

 Lukhi: naam hai yeh/...........???

 me: :D haan!!!!

 Lukhi: i like hiccup

 me: me too!!!!

 Lukhi: its sooooooooooo damn cute

  but i doubt Lucky Chick will agree to it

 me: koi nai tum doggie logi na toh name him hiccup

  :D

 Lukhi: :D

 me: ya phir hum hi le lete hai

 Lukhi: but its awesome all the same

 me: :P

 Lukhi: ok done

 me: :D

 Lukhi: theek hai le lo

 me: ruko mera shaddi hone do

  is ghar mein mummy nai allow karegi

  :(

 Lukhi: matlab??????/

  achha

  wt if ur husband doesn't allow

 phir kya karogi
me: will kick him out and stay with the doggie
  :D

 Lukhi: okies

  wow

  tum mast ho gayi ho

  i lub u

 me: :*

Lukhi:   chopi.....apne hubby ko kick out karke doggie ke saath rahogi

  :D

 me: aur kya :D im sure he will be more loyal and loving

  :D

 Lukhi: waise guys like doggies....so i don't think that u'll face a problem

  good good

  im so proud of u

  B-)

 me: what if he turns out to be a cat person or allergic to dog hair

  :(

  Lukhi: achha suno bakwaas khatam

  meri roomie ko ol jaana hai

  toh she needs the lan cable

  :(

 me: okay

  :(

  bye

 Lukhi: tatatatas

 me: aur hum bakwas nai kar rahe the

  :-/

((what has one got to do to be taken seriously? :-o )

 Lukhi:   bbye

  achha par main toh bakwaas kar rahi thi

  :D

 me: ok

  jao jao

 Lukhi: aur tum encourage kar rahi thi...kindof

 me: :D

 Lukhi: bbye

  gn

Take two

me: :P

 pata hai?

  jaiye mat reply kijeye

  :(

  sulks

 Hapless cousin: are nhii

  bakoo

matlab bolo

me: hehe

  haan meri friend na puppy lene wali hai

  :D

  i told her to take a she pup

  :D

 Hapless cousin: ha ha

  chee chee

 me: kya chee?

  :-/

Hapless cousin: koi kaam nhii

 me: aree pata i thought of a name also

  zoey

  but she didnt like it

  :(

 Hapless cousin: sahi baat hai

  kabhi bhi sahi pronounce nhi kar payegaa koi

 me: so me and another friend decided to try indian names

  i suggested chameli

  champa

  andphoolan

  :D

 Hapless cousin: Devi

 me: eeewww :P

  me and friend decided on champa :D

  bas ab usko batana hai

  :D

 Hapless cousin: ehh hee

 me: ab she is going to be champa fr me

  but if she wants a firangi name then buttercup :D

  nai toh agar he pup hoga toh Hiccup :D :D

  cool no?

 Hapless cousin: ha ha

 me: agar woh nai rakhi yeh naam hiccup toh hum khud ke doggie ka naam hiccup rakhenge

  :D

  lekin phele rukiye mera shaadi hone dijeye

Hapless cousin: kyun

  nhii.. hum tumhare liyee Hicupp nhi dhoondengee

me: aree nai mummy yeh ghar mein toh kutta nai lane degi isliye

  :(

 Hapless cousin: ha ah

  mujhe laga apne pati ko doggy type rakhogee

  :P

 me: hawwwwww :P

hawwwwwwwwwwwwwww :P

 Hapless cousin: hicupp.. plz make a coffee 4 mee

  bada matching lag raha hai

 :P :P

 Hapless cousin: hicupp.. goo n make d dinner

 me: nai nai  :D

So everything has been decided.Only Lucky Chick remains to be informed. :P I am eagerly waiting for Champa/Buttercup/Hiccup's arrival in our lives :D