Talking with Pictures

Rome - Vatican City, Italy (Jan 2011)

Talking with Pictures

Eiffel Tower by night - Paris, France (Jan 2011)

Champs Elysees! ~Love from Paris

We were all super excited. We'd successfully planned a holiday to Paris and Italy, enroute a business trip we were making to Dublin, Ireland. We - Bindu, Aswathy, Navneeth and I. First stop - Paris!

Paris was beautiful. Personally, I enjoyed Italy more, but Paris was nice. We were humbly hosted by Ash's old family friend and her family. We did the usual touristy places - Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. They were all beautiful and quite overwhelming - mainly because you see these places in the movies and now you're in the middle of everything. The wonderful thing about Paris was the memory of "Champs Eylssees." Now, any French person would tell you that Champs Elysees is a place in Paris. But for us, it was the single most popular word of the day!

It all started with our hosts telling us that, to get to Arc de Triomphe, we'd need to get off the train at 'Champs Eylsees.' Now this, they gave to us in writing - so we didn't necessarily know how to pronounce it the right way. Why I say this is because when we got off the train and were at the platform, a little lost, we kept asking people the way to Champs Elysees..only we were saying it wrong. We were saying the words the way you would in English. But it was meant to be said the French way, with a French accent :P It totally cracked us up the way it was pronounced and the was our photo pose word for the day. We replaced the word 'cheese' and 'cheers' with "Champs Elysees" for that day and the rest of our trip. It definitely let us have MORE fun during our short stay in Paris :)

CHAMPS ELYSEES!

Music & Lyrics

Music is an integral part of my life. I appreciate any and all forms of music..almost. But, between words and melody, I've always felt more connected to words - lyrics. This is in no way to say that I like music less..but in debates where people say music makes the lyrics, I beg to differ. I'd say it's lyrics that define the music.

Falling Slowly - OST from the movie ONCE is my current favorite. The lyrics just speak volumes.

"I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along"

My favorite lines are:
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won...

Words from the heart, don't need music to make them heard..they can just be said or sung, with no tunes and no beats. They'll reach their purpose and will be understood by those that need to understand.

Dooblin

I wasn't too thrilled when I got to know I'd have to be in Dublin for a week on work. I do like the place from my last visit about a year ago, but this time I was going alone. I'm not an 'alone' person. I like being around people and people around me. I need to have conversations out loud and not in my head. I need to be interactive. I need to be listening to other people talk. And this time, I wouldn't get to do all that. Sure, I'd made friends from my last trip..but there was this weird feeling of traveling to and fro alone.

So I get there! It's raining, windy, CLEAN, and everything else Delhi is not. Not bad for starters, I'm thinking. I phoned my friends and head out to lunch with them. The weekend was not bad at all! The Dubliners hate the weather, rainy and windy, but I LOVED it. It was an incredibly pleasant break from the heat in Delhi.

Come Monday - work begins..I met my teammates and the day went by pretty fast with work and socializing with colleagues. The cafe food, I could not understand but I ate what looked like food :) There was one particular dish called 'Paalak Paneer' that looked NOTHING like Paalak Paneer. It was some Spinach baked thingy. I laughed within..it was nice to see 'interpretations' of Indian food.

One thing I did almost every night in Dublin is drink - BEER! I went with this conscious decisions that if I drink, I will drink only beer. I will do it the way the Irish do! So, I laid off my usual cocktails, etc and stuck to beer. I had Guinness last time round and didn't particularly like the heavy barley juice. So I stuck to Carlsberg. Monday night - 2 Carlsbergs and a Cobra at some Indian Place. I got to meet couple of the other Indians visiting the Dublin office and made friends. One guy who travelled with me from Delhi, who's obsessed with his camera(he went to get a customs clearance for it at the Delhi airport, so they don't trouble him on his way back), one from Hyderabad with whom I share a couple of mutual friends (the most loyal guy to Guinness Beer), another Hyderabadi who has pretty decent MJ moves (they come out best when he's under influence) and this Indian guy who stays in Dublin and is a good singer (sung out loud at the airport with many onlookers). The singer took us to this Indian place that is open until 4 AM. The boys had their dinner while I downed my Cobra Beer. I've only heard of Cobra beer in India and never really got to taste it. And I wouldn't be able to give a good review of it because the Carlsberg taste was still there and refusing to let go. So I stick to my verdict of "all beers taste the same - bitter."

Tuesday - work as usual and caught up with colleagues for drinks and dinner at a bar close by. Two Nordic guys and an Italian bella. We shared some good stories about food, culture and general things. The Danish friend of mine relived his India experience which Italiano bella understood as she's been to India too a couple of months before. The Norwegian guy was baffled by the stories and remained curious until the end. He kept asking questions and was interested in visiting India. I promised him I'd make a recommendation to have him visit us in India. Which reminds me, I still need to that.

One thing I realized was I could not have early dinner like the locals there. They'd have dinner by 7.30 in broad daylight. The sun would set at 10.30PM. It just seemed wrong to eat dinner when the sun was beaming down on you! So I had my strategy all planned out. I'd hang out with the locals for drinks, during which they'd have their dinner too. We'd be out until about 9.30PM, which is when Indians are ready for dinner. So I'd leave the locals after drinks and head to join my fellow Indians for dinner after that..and of course more drinks too :)

Wednesday - Work again..and Greyhound Race Day! This was something I couldn't wait to watch. The concept was so alien to me..dogs racing! And people bet as well!! A couple of my dog-lover friends weren't too appreciative of the idea but what the heck! It's famous in Dublin, so I had to go watch. My Danish friend arranged for it and it was a brilliant experience. The dogs chase a stuffed rabbit down the race track. I even bet on one with a fancy name, but lost.
After the race, I joined my Indian friends for drinks on this stationery Boat/Ferry which I thought would move (thanks to the beer). It was a great evening..breeze and beer. There was a new addition - another guy, let's call him You-die who stayed at Dublin. By the way, all of them were Telugu speaking guys who'd break into that language every now and then. We parted ways at about midnight - Pseudo-MJ, Camera-freak and I heading back to our hotel while the Singer and You-die headed to another place to continue their late night. It took just a little pursuing to get Pseudo-MJ and Cam-freak to turn around and join the other two wherever they were!! I love impulsive decisions - you never go wrong with the 'fun quotient' on them! So we joined them for more drinks. I was totally gone! At one point the guys had a beer called "Mad Dog!!" I'd be scared to drink that..but I tasted it and yep, it was no different - it was BITTER! I was a complete goner that night. We reached the hotel at about 3 or 4 AM and I just crashed!! The bad part was that I didn't hear my alarm the next morning and got up at about 10.30AM. I missed two meetings I'd scheduled in the morning.

Thursday - I was a complete mess. Groggy, nauseous, sleepy, and with a pounding headache! I was at work and was pretty much like a zombie! I threw up 3 times..thanks to the previous night's escapades. The latter half of the day I was much better, but will this pounding headache and super tired. When I went to meet Cam-freak and Pseudo-MJ at their desks, I could hear three other voices along with theirs..all in my head of course...I could ear echos everywhere. I needed SLEEP! So I skipped any amount of fun that was to be that day. Headed straight to the hotel and slept. I only got up the next morning very early. So I made use of the extra time in the morning to pack my stuff. I was going to take an early morning flight on Saturday, so it made sense to be all packed!

Friday - I was all fresh and got my beauty sleep that I was missing the entire week. It was a great day! Work and otherwise. I was at my happy best. The only reason I'd be sporadically sad was it was my last day in Dublin. I had a blast, really - I didn't want to leave. I went to TGIF at work, said bye to whoever I saw then. The Nordic guys planned that we go for drinks to Oceans after TGIF, a nearby bar which is pretty much a Googler den. Thinking I'd probably get back to the hotel after drinks and dinner and get some rest before my flight, I went over to the Indian friends to say bye. And then they insisted I go out for some party with them. Apparently it was no use to sleep that night - the sun sets at 10.30, I'd have to wake up to get ready and head to the airport at 3. There was no point sleeping for a couple hours. I decided to decide after my time at Oceans.

Oceans was fun! Talked about various things, met a lot of people from Google who I missed out on meeting during the week and at TGIF. I also got to say bye to a lot of people. I headed back to the hotel and 9.30PM with every intention of calling it a night. I Had nothing to pack and for some reason didn't feel sleepy. So I called Cam-freak to ask them where they were. Cam-freak and Pseudo MJ were just going to leave for Dinner and head to the party. Also, with them was Dancer Girl (she dances super well!!) and Guinness Guy. So we left for dinner, something light at this take out. We were joined by Singer-man. We all headed to the club where the party was happening. It was nice, a little too noisy for my liking, but nice nevertheless. The place started crowding up after a while. We had to occasionally step out for a breath of fresh air. While the others left no stone unturned with their drinks, I needed to stay away and be normal for my flight in a couple of hours. It was amazing fun - good music and good dancing. Dancer-girl was in her own world, enjoying the music and speaking through her moves. She even got asked to dance with by some African Guy!! :) Some random guy walked up to me telling me I should smile as he hadn't seen me smile all evening. Another random guy told me and Dancer-girl when we were outside that we looked lost but pretty nevertheless. And yet another random guy from SF, who Peusdo-MJ was exchanging phone-gyaan with, said it was hot in the club because of the women around. This would have NEVER happened in India. Rather, the guys would suffer terrible consequences if they approached us this way. The night ended with Singer-man bringing out Shots!! I controlled every urge to gulp that down. I sooo wanted to do the shots, but I could see myself stumbling towards security check - it wasn't a pretty picture. The others were insistent that I have it. So to oblige them, no, actually, to beat my temptation, I had half of the shot :)

We then headed out to a another place for another round of drinks and music. There, I had my Nth glass of water, pretending it was vodka or anything alcoholic. the others danced and drank. Pseudo-MJ finally got some of his MJ moves going, Dancer-girl and Singer-man were dancing away, Cam-freak was enjoying the ambience and Guinness Guy was clicking photos.

It was time for me to leave. The others wanted to come and see me off at the airport, which I thought was really nice - considering that we only recently met and only bonded over Beer. We headed back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and check out. I got back only to find Guinness-guy and Pseudo-MJ missing. Cam-freak and Singer-man was out of the cab looking for the two. cam-freak was whistling loudly, as if they were going to hear him and respond to his call. We then decided to leave without them - me, Dancer-girl and Singer-man.

At the Airport, Singer-man was totally in his element. Probably it was the shot and that was showing it's worth hours later. He broke into a song about the moon and kept singing the four lines that he knew. He was in tune but he was pretty audible to the others standing in line too. So he did have an audience. I think he went on and on because he knew he was being watched an heard. I had checked in and was going to head to the departure area. That's when I bid adieu to Dancer-girl and Singer-man. I was going to miss ALL of them and every moment in Dublin.

And there it was - the end to my really short trip filled with loads of friends and memories. I had an easy flight back home, maybe because I was still hungover from my trip - the good time and not the alcohol!!

Five-Point Bucket List

Here's my Five Point Bucket List..

1. Get a Tattoo
One of the things I've been totally in awe of from time immemorial is body art. Tattoos make me happy. Period! Kinda exudes confidence, faith and strength.
Confidence - You need to be absolutely sure you want to punch holes into yourself and believe you can carry it off for the rest of your life (unless you're Angelina Jolie, who can remove it through skin grating sessions ).
Faith - You need to believe in the tattoo you're getting. It could be religious, philosophical, inspirational, whatever...you need to be at peace with it all your life!!
Strength - You need the strength to tolerate PAIN!!!!!

2. Piercings
Another form of body art that I like - Piercings...I want to add two more to my modest set of 6 :)

3. Sky Diving
Nothing can get my mind spinning like a good adrenalin rush. After Bungi, I really want to know what it's like to free-fall from 10000+ feet and not be bound by a rope!

4. Write a book
Something about my life maybe..actually, no. The reason why I'd want to write a book is to break away from this life and imagine life in a different world. My World. And just to add some masala - I'd like that book to be a bestseller - possibly even a Pulitzer winner. (One can dream right??)

5. ??
Yet to figure this one out. Somehow I feel that with my search to find the fifth point, I'll come across five more and make this a ten-point list. But I do know that this point would revolve around either my love for music or my passion to serve community at some point in life.

Style down South

I'm a South-indian and a proud one at that. But nothing really stops me from being overly critical about the style choices and fashion quotient of my brothers and sisters down south.

Here's your average south indian girl (if she's not wearing a salwar kameez or casual western wear) - a half sari - which I've never understood. I guess I'm being closed-minded about the outfit, but I just don't get the reason behind it's existence. And to add to the half sari, is beautiful black hair soaked in coconut oil, making it not-so-beautiful anymore. And if the whiff of coconut oil in the air wasn't enough, there's some jasmine flowers in the hair. So overall, you're seeing the brightest colours in the world clubbed together in the form of a half sari and a powerful, just short of pungent, smell in the air caused by the mixtures of coconut oil and jasmine. I always think I'd die of suffocation or an asthma attack when I smell this.

Let's move on to the men. Huge thick moustache, crisp white veshtis - oh wait..crisp white veshtis, folded up above the knee to look like a mini-skirt. Some men go a step further and reveal their striped or checked knickers. Sometimes I feel the men down south have better legs than the women there...well toned rather than thunderous thighs.

And oh, I almost forgot about the Gold obsession. Gold is a part of clothing..it needs to be around your neck, your wrists, waist (on those occasions where you can flaunt it), ankles, fingers, ears, etc...if you're able to find more places to house some gold, you're respected! The more you have the better. Not only gold, any article of jewelry is appreciated and praised. And it doesn't even have to match what you're wearing. Just wear it cos you have it!

If I'm wandering off the topic, style seems to have it's own meaning down south. I guess its more of comfort than fashion. Maybe comfort is fashion. But I wonder how your eyes are comfortable looking at a purple and yellow combination of silk on your body. And better still, the purple and yellow are in checks, with thick gold threads every alternate check, and a thick band of gold right it the bottom of the sari and on the pallu. I don't know how the eyes could be comfortable seeing a man bend over only to show his knickers and thighs. And I don't know why I'm not yet blinded by the gold bling attack.

Nevertheless, I'm South Indian, and yes, a proud one. Seeing such fashion sense does remind me of everything we've studied about the cultures in India - the diversity blah. As long as I'm not forced to wear what I've talked about so far, I'm fine!! Well, the veshti and knickers are out of question - not cos women don't wear veshtis, but cos the South Indian man will always have better legs than me!