A beautiful city

I went to this unknown little city called Nimes a few days back. A not so known touristy city, but we went there because it was the only one where the youth hostel had beds free. So a few friends and me went there one Saturday evening. We reached late evening and not a bus was in sight, so we waited at the station for a taxi to come into sight. Finally one lone taxi came trudging along the road and we waved it down and were finally off to a warm bed and dinner. A few minutes into the ride and we were sure we had made a great decision to come to this little unknown city. We just knew it was the right choice and the place to be. After a while we rolled into the hostel and it was one of the most beautiful places i have stayed in. Little cottages everywhere and trees and a nice feeling to the place. We were welcomed by a member of the friendly staff, and were shown to our room which was one of a sort. It was so perfect with its bunk beds and sparkling clean floors, that i couldn't stop grinning at the gold we had hit upon under the name of this place !
We unpacked a little and then went to the cafeteria to eat, to be welcomed by a lovely atmosphere and a steaming hot dinner. Chatted late into the night and stuffed ourselves with fries and tartefletts. It was a yum dinner and finally we crawled into bed tired and happy and dazed.
The next morning we left to see the city and what sights ! The roman architectures and the stories behind. We visited the roman arena, one of the most well maintained ones and walked ourselves through history and time. What an experience that morning was, full of knowledge and awe. We moved on to some other churches and places to see, and had an over all perfect day sight seeing. The next day was great too, visiting a beautiful garden and climbing up the tower to see the entire city. A breath taking view and an absolute must see !
I felt bad to leave the city, but i have decided to go there again, this time with definitely more days in hand to give the city the proper time it deserves :)

The cook in me

I have always enjoyed cooking, right from when i was a little girl. It has fascinated me and i loved to experiment with little things. But somewhere over the years, laziness took over and i gave up cooking and experimenting. But 2 weeks back, i finally decided it was high time i shed off this lazy feeling and i cooked something. So i meekly tried to make some lentil curry and rice, and when it was appreciated by everyone who ate it, i was encouraged and pushed towards cooking some more. SO the next day i tried my hand at some french cooking. I pulled out my new cook book which was a gift tucked away somewhere under my clothes, pretending not to exist. I wasn't too confident about this french stuff making, so i hunted out for what seemed like the simplest recipe in the list of things. My friend very encouragingly said, she would help out too and it would be fun to try out a dish or two. So we made our shopping list, off to the market we went. Bought all the necessary stuff, got back home, washed up and went down to the kitchen to try out this new stuff !
We laughed and we joked and we made it into a fun evening, reading into the recipe book, using our personal cooking touches here and there and coming up with a super awesome quiche and chocolate cake. It was lip smacking-ly yum if i can say so myself and everyone in the house appreciated it and enjoyed its taste. Wow, we succeeded, my friend and me, into making a proper french dish and then polishing it clean ! Kudos to cooking and i hope i don't stop, because i have re-kindled my old passion for cooking and i hope it never dies down again.

I missed writing

So i am back after a long break in writing. I went off on a holiday with a couple of friends, and i left behind my computer and my notebook and pen. I went off just to be with my friends and have a nice time. But i missed writing little posts here and there, every time i wanted to pen down a beautiful moment or simply crib about some pain. I realized how much a part of me this blog has become and how much i longed to get back on it and write down my thoughts.

Those childhood days

Today's post is written with memories in my heart, because i just spent the last half hour watching ad's from my childhood times. Cadbury ad's and hamara bajaj, such sweet innocent times ! I traced down almost all the cadbury ad's till date and i watched them all with a grin on my face. I went back to the times as a kid, when getting a cadbury was such a treat. You had to do something good, like get good marks on a test or help like a good child around the house and then you had a chocolate as a special reward. Such lovely days they used to be, when life was so simple and so were we.
My family would go shopping to fashion street once every few months and that used to be a big highlight in our lives. Dad would drive us all there and it would be our day out. We would get so many new clothes that most of the time we lost count, and then once back in the car on our drive home, my sister and i would excitedly open the bags and count. Count how many clothes each of us had finally got. Getting home would then be the last round, trying all the clothes out and parading around the house. Ok with ME mostly parading all about the house. One of my passing fads as a kid were to become a model you see, so everything had to be tried and worn and then i had to pose and ask " How's this?" ! Those were the good old days i so miss.
Sunday breakfast on some treat days would be "Gupta kaka's bread" which was a term coined by my family i guess. My parents would start preparing it long before my sister and me woke up and then we all would sit at the table and enjoy it and my dad would in the end polish off the remaining milk and sugars bits ! Such awesome days they would be. I miss the "pehelam pyara", "doodh mogra" and the "kachan keeda" rituals with my dad after every single meal.
We would often take holidays or simply go out on weekends with our family friends. So much fun it used to be and such a learning experience it used to be. Running around on the beaches or climbing up trees, balancing on water pipes and what not monkey acts that we all did on these trips !
Now every thing has to be planned, availability has to be seen and even then most of the time there is someone who is not free. The simple pleasures of life seem to have long disappeared and now what remains is just us human beings. No more shopping on fashion street is it, now i mostly walk into air conditioned malls and buy whatever i want. Eating a cadbury is no longer a great deal, as i just walk across to the store and buy it as and when i feel. It is no longer something special for me and i really feel bad about all these childhood joys that i have left behind in the last few years. I don't know how and when i changed, but it did happen and i became one of the snooty people i used to see. Where i like to have expensive and branded stuff too and i prefer a day spent in a mall rather than walking and haggling with vendors on a street. I hope this realization will change my mind and take me at least a little into my past life. I hope to make me a simple person again, with small joys and shining eyes and all the excitement.

Wish there was no school tomorrow

Sang sang sang bhoola naath, paaus padel kai ? Shale bahuti tale sathoon sutti milel kai ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmUkBSHQ_MQ

I never thought i would wish this after i was done with school as a student in it. Never liked it as a kid, don't like it even now. School is for nerds and teachers is what i thought as a kid, and now as a teacher i re frame it saying, school is for nerds, that is it !
I have school 3 times a week, but still the night before school i hope and i hope that classes will be canceled the next day ! I yawn with the thought of lessons and kids, i yawn and i keep looking at my watch hoping to hear the bell ring. Sigh, why do we have schools is what i ask, not just now, but since forever.
No school for me is what i wished it to be. I always hoped i could fake a tummy ache and skip it for a week. Tummy ache was the only way no one could verify if it was real or fake ! I still every night before going to sleep think and think if i can come up with an excuse that cannot be cross checked and caught to be fake !
Today there is a storm predicted and iv been continually looking at the sky hoping to see the signs of it. The storm will come and then tomorrow will be a holiday is what i have been wishing all day ! Keep your fingers crossed for me all, that tomorrow it will be a holiday and a ball !

Madness thats me

So people say i am a shopaholic. I just say no, i would rather call myself someone who likes to have nice things, that is all . Ok, i have 7 watches to decide between depending on my mood for that day, i have a lot of bags to choose from depending on my work for the day and the mood and all. I have lots of clothes i agree, but then aren't they all necessities?
Shoes and bags and watches and clothes are just the basic things required by all. Those who don't have as many as me are just not aware of the importance they hold in our lives ! There are days when i feel chirpy and there are days when i feel i need to look chirpy simply because its the drabbest day. SO out come my colorful clothes, shoes and bags and earrings to match. Some days are just blue or black or other color days, so i need to be prepared for them with a set of all of them ready to wear ! It may sound weird to most people, but then, who cares. It makes me feel happy or sad or just get into the mood to go to work and do the same old job as always.
So finally i say, the madness that is me, is something that makes me the person that is me. I wouldn't see myself any different than this, and i am sure the people who know me cannot imagine me any different either you see :)
So here is cheers to my collection of things, and may i always have the means to buy them continually !

Why does my heart feel so bad

Why does my heart feel so bad ? Why does my heart feel so sad ? I haven't slept in a long time i feel, i tried to be cheery as i had promised myself to be. I kept myself busy all day, i smiled through it like a well behaved girl. I smiled at the right moments, i said thank you at every place that was necessary, i helped out in the kitchen and even did the laundry.
But at the end of the day, sitting up in my room, i feel the feelings creeping back to me. Why does my heart feel so bad ?
I made plans for tomorrow, will be spending the day with a friend making jewelry. I should be excited, shouldn't i, but no, i have no excitement or feelings in my heart at all.
Where did my positivity disappear ? Not even shopping these days can win my heart. I try to do brainless things just to humor myself, but no, nothing helps to get the stars back in my eyes.
I have a holiday planned soon, tickets are in hand. I should be excited shouldn't i ? But no, suddenly i feel i am not. yet i am sure to smile trough it, like an artificial doll, and make sure i pretend to have a ball. This is what i feel my life has become, a pretending little plastic doll.
I sway dangerously between emotions like a roller coaster ride and sometimes the swings it takes gives me frights. One minute i am happy, or at least pretending to be, and then the next minute i am down in the dumps, as down as down can be.
I wish this feeling and the heavy heart go away soon, because i really have no reason to feel so blue. Did i not just promise myself a few days back that this is my time to enjoy as much as i can ? Please help me in at least understanding this feeling, because i do not myself, no matter how hard i try.