On My Mind.....

On Books 
I plan to read a book a month, so about 12 in one year .. I am happy that I am already done with 2. I kinda came up this to revive me reading habit .... I used to love reading at some point, would pick up a book and wont stop until I am finished.. have even failed an exam due to this :D but nowadays, I hardly do any reading ... keep spending (or wasting) time on the comp doing nuthing important. So I decided that I should take some time everyday to read for atleast 1 hr without looking at the comp or TV .... So am trying to find new interesting book to read ..suggestions are welcome :)

On Food 
I recently realized this irony in our tam-brahm cooking ... Some of the dishes taste better the next day (e.g. mor kozhambu, vengayam sambhar) but I am not sure out paatis and thathas would eat day old food .. it has to be made fresh every day .. so y woulld we did they come up with such food recipes but cant really eat it wen its at its best

On a different note, I made this blueberry boy bait (I know, its a weird name) ... it is a basically a very buttery cake with blueberry, and since I made an eggless version of it, it was butter personified ! But I should say, it turned out to be amazing ..I guess sometimes, the weirder the food's name, the more awesome they taste!

On Halloween 
I carved my very first pumpkin, a upside-down bat design with my 7 yr old neighbor .. it was so much fun ... I let her teach me the basics and I could see how happy it made her to be put in charge ... She was really excited to show me the ropes of pumpkin carving and I was having fun listening to her chatter away !!!
I lit a candle inside and it looked beautifully haunting !

On TV 
I am always excited about Fall TV shows ..All my fav tv shows begin their fall premieres and the long summer break is over where there is not much on tv (for me) ... And there are all these news shows to look forward to and see if any of those would come to become my favs and tat I would look forward to their news seasons after that ... There are the regulars that I watch - House, HIMYM, Gossip Girl, NCIS, Big Bang Theory, Vampire Diaries, Nikita, etc Currently the new shows I am watching are Revenge, Pan Am, Once upon a time, Next Iron Chef,  Top Chef Texas, Secret Circle. For some reason, I find the much hyped Ringer not very interesting. There are some more I follow on hulu such as last man standing, whitney, new girl etc.  And there are these other shows I need to catch up with - Breaking Bad, Mad Men.. And how I could forget college football on saturdays and NFL on sundays .. so yeah, this fall, I am very busy, thanks to my TV !! I can't anymore imagine a life without my TV shows !!

On Clothes 
I have a lot of clothes and I know it but I always that there isnt enuf  and that I dnt have anything to wear ... But when I look carefully, I see this clothes which I hav not worn in a long time (a year or so) .. So I think may be I should get rid of them ... which is wen I am filled with the 'anticipation' feeling that may be I will wear them soon ! But alas, that soon never comes !! I have come to realize that this is a universal problem and I have realized that I am hoarder :D I have realized that I need a bigger closet space :D

The love for clothes has also made me realize one more thing. I want to a costume designer for tamil movies. I think the heros could wear better smarter clothes and not just  blues and more blues. I would like to scour the nation and bring out designs from small unknown designers and make it a retail phenomena through the movies. This may not happen today or tomorrow but I am hoping it happens some day :)

On Snow
I miss you!!

On Texas Summer
 I DON'T miss you at all!
             
On Long trips/vacations
Looking forward to them (always) !!

On tiny adventures
I love discovering cool new places to eat, hang out, things to do. While volunteering for Texas Book Festival, I met Alton Brown and tat was amazing. I got hooked in to the Cow Parade and taking pics of cows that are placed around the city. I found this lil grocery store which serves amazing cafe au lait and another one with even more amazing pastries. And the best part about these adventures is that I get to do it with M !!

On Life 
Life is great. Days seem to fly by at a speed which I am not able to keep up with. Routines are in place with some surprise elements here and there. I have definitely grown personally :) Some thing have changed and other remain the same. I am more clear about what I want to and where I want to be. But yes, I definitely miss my carefree days !!!

10 day challenge - Day 10

My last day in the 10-day challenge......This pic is long overdue and my apologies for that... I finished the challenge in FB and kinda forgot to update here ! I was looking for a perfect pic to represent me but keeping in mind tat this a public forum ... Finally I looked up this pic and found it !! This pic is important to me in 2 ways  ... One it represents my graduation (throwing of the graduation cap captured perfectly ! ) ... and that it won me 30 bucks (Money is always a plus) in a photo contest where we had to send a pic representing Indian's life in the US. More details can be found here ... I am the winner of Jul 2008. 

This challenge was amazing. I hope you had fun reading it as much I had writing it. Mobving on,  I am now trying find things to write about;  looking for inspirations!! Hopefully get my next post is there before the end of this year :D 

Cheers !! 

10 day challenge - Day 9

Day 9, my last writing post of this challenge before I have a finish with a grand pic of mine :D Can't believe I actually made (almost) through this challenge. I definitely have to thank the all the lovely known and unknown readers of this blogs... I am not the one who really follows my blog stats but I was curious in this case... I have to say I think I got more views through this challenge than since the beginning of my blog ... I always thought of this blog as a way to express 'my perceptions' of the world I live in... But it definitely feels great to have other people reading about it, giving me their inputs and overall their general supports .... So yeah, definitely a BIG thanks to all !!

Alright, now that I have given my 'unprepared' thank you speech, its time to move on the main reason of this blog and that is two too write about two songs I like. For this challenge, I actually went through my itunes to try sorting out the songs in my head and identifying the ones I like the most ... Now I do have to say that I am not the best judge of music at all ... I hardly can remember lyrics of any song unless I am actually doing a sing-along with tat song... I cannot tell you who sang it or who composed the music or who wrote it ... I can may be tell you who the actor/actoress is or which movie it is, condition being that song is a bollywood song.... I think, growing up, one of the major times I would listen to music is when I want to fall asleep ... it helped me sleep faster ... I am also one of those ppl who would put a song on repeat mode and listen to it till she finds a new song to do this .... But I def can say that I can appreciate good music (and not critique it) .... that I am complete and only bathroom singer ...But since I have to write about two songs, I am gonna go ahead and pick two songs which I remember playing the most...these songs kinda create an emotional stir in me every time I listen to them !

1. Lamha Yeh Jaayega Kahan - This song is from the movie Dil Dosti Etc (2007)..I don't know who wrote it or who sang it ... All I know is that I can listen to this song in a loop as long as needed ... There is some thing in this song that captures the essence of life in my eyes (and ears).... I remember even blogging about the lyrics of this song, saying I love it back in 2007. You can find the lyrics here .. I have to agree to the fact that are much better songs (say ARR's) than this, both in terms of music and lyrics... but this songs makes me smile everytime I listen to it. You can listen to it too by clicking on the title name of the song in this post.

2. Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain - A song from Pardes (1997) ..A very soft romantic song with the cutest picturization of SRK *drool* ... I remember bring my head as close as one can to the TV whenever this song was played on TV !!! Even today, I feel romantic (and giggly) when I hear this song ... There is some mischievous to this song (may b coz  I remember the context of the song too) .. But yeah, after listening to a good number of my fav songs and writing and re-writing about different songs, I would say that this song is definitely one of my favs :) You can listen to this song here ...

There are lot many more songs I do love than jus two but I did wat I had to do and pick 2! And for fun, I thought it would  be a great idea if you would tell me your two most favorite songs (and why) as a reply to this post !!

Like the index in any book, here is list of my others posts from this challenge: 10 secrets, 9 loves, 8 fears, 7 wants, 6 places, 5 foods, 4 books and 3 films

One more and I am done !!
  

10 day challenge - Day 8

If I thought that choosing 4 books was hard, this challenge of choosing 3 movies is even harder. Now if M was writing this post, then his answer (ready in a jiffy) would be Bourne Identity 1, 2 and 3 :D (I think).. Haha ! But since M is not writing it and I am, I am hoping to be able to justify my choices properly .. So that when I read this blog, say 2 years from now, I still agree with my choices (atleast 2 out of 3). I am known to love movies but I have to come realize I probably would have watched only half the no. of movies when compared to others like M ... Even then, my list of watched movies is still pretty long ... So this was definitely a mind boggling task ! Finally I think I have made up my mind to list 3 movies I love and can watch it any number of times... I have also tried to choose one from each language of English, Hindi and Tamil .. and one from each decade of my life... I hope you like them too !!

Disclaimer: These are my 3 picks for reasons which might not have been explained perfectly here but I do stand by them !!!

My 1980's decade and tamil movie pick is

1. Vikram (1986) - I knw I knw, you are surprised to see this movie on my list (M mainly)... This is a Kamal Hassan starrer with action, romance, stunts, and a bunch of hindi actors... I did have a tossup between this movie and Kaakha Kaakha (2003)(ohh, I love drooling over both Surya and Jo in that movie anytime and all the time) but Vikram won. And I think the reason is that this is one Tamil movie I remember very distinctively from when I was say 10 years old. I remember watching it for the first time on TV and then wanted to watch it again and again. I am not sure if we recorded it or had a VCR cassette, but yeah, I do know I loved it and also knew the songs well (atleast then). Eventhough I have not watched this movie in a while (say in the last couple of years or may b even more), I can still vividly remember a lot of scenes from this movies. This movie kinda had a modern Hollywood-ish side to it which was uncommon to Tamil cinema then .. And I should admit that I came to this conclusion in the present times and not when I was 10 years old. So for all Tamil movie watchers and others, I think it is time you watched it (yet again)

Now moving on to my Hindi movie -

2. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) - My favorite star couple and for millions too, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol rock it in this movie which has the right mix of fun, romance, family drama and lil action. This movie makes you believe in love and finding the 'knight in shining armor' from your dreams. It teaches about family and respect and how love and patience can win over everything. There couldn't have been more perfecr couple. Every girl wishes for a guy like Raj who would fast along with you on Karva Chauth :) All the guys would want a girl like Simran who is fun and sexy yet wants to wear only the ring given by you on her ring finger.It has been a long time since the movie has released but still it feels like new everytime you watch it.
I know I would have lot of ppl disagreeing with me jus coz they dnt like SRK..And all I want to say to myself in reply to the cynics, "Senorita, Bade Bade Deshon Mein Aisee Chhoti Chhoti Baatein Hoti Rehti Hain." (My other two contenders for this spot were Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun(1994))

And my English pick is

3. The Blind Side (2009) - One of the true stories which was converted into a beautiful movie ... It is inspiring and yet heart wrenching at the same time ...The comic timing is impeccable (esp SJ; I loved him)... This is one movie I can watch any no. of times and still doesn't bore me. The movie shows how you could be change in someone's life when they least expect it .... How you could still be successful inspite of what the life throws at you... It teaches you how you can distinguish from right and wrong, how you can believe in urself and achieve the impossible ... it is a simple yet powerful movie! I still haven't read the book, and usually I would done that by now, but somehow I think the movie is good in itself for me... This movie makes me laugh, makes me think and makes me want to do something good to someone ! I know there are some amazing movies out there which might be better than this in a lot of ways, but somehow this movie is good for me in every sense. (My other choices were Transformers (2007) or 300 (2006))

As always, here is the guide to the others posts from my  10 day challenge - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7

See ya tmr!! :)

10 day challenge - Day 7

Before I start today's post, I want to apologize for the delay in writing. And honestly the only reason I couldn't write was because I couldn't narrow it down to four books, and also find a way to keep the post interesting. Finally I decided, I have to just try and not make up any more excuses. When I took up this 10 day challenge, I think I was supposed to blog for 10 continuous days. Even though I didn't achieve that, I did achieve my ulterior motive of being more active on my blog than I have been ever before and I am proud of this. Hopefully I find interesting topics to write about in future too. :) Now that I have made my confession and expressed my guilt ;), lets get back to today's job.

Picking 4 books was really difficult for me. Coz I can never say that this book changed my life or I can quote lines from this book ... I think I sometimes like the theme or author more than a single book..Other times, I jus think it was a good read even tho it mite have written real badly ... I also love reading M&Bs even now .. So you can imagine I am not exactly the best person to critique a book in any way ... But since I have to do it, I am gonna choose 4 of the book I would want my kids to read..... I would also like to add that though these books have made it to today's list, I might have other books which I love more. You might agree with my list and even have some better suggestions for me and I welcome those. There is one thing I do hope to achieve through this post .. and that is that you do read the books I mention here...

1. Enid Blyton books - Growing up, I loved Enid Blyton books. I would read them every summer as I was able to borrow from the library of a school I visited in summer holidays. I was friends with the librarian and she would actually let me borrow as many books as I wanted (and my dad working there helped too). I think I would read and re-read them several times :) I loved reading Enid Blyton and I think it was the first glimpse I got of life outside of India. It is also in her book series of Malory Towers and St. Clare's series is where I got to know the fun life you would have at a boarding school. And I think this is what inspired me to go live in hostel during college even when I had a chance to be a day-ski (Anna Univ lingo for Day Scholar). I also became very fluent in english, thanks to all these readings !! So yeah, if you have never read an Enid Blyton, I think you should.

P.S. - If you feel like giving me a gift for no particular reason, Malory Towers or St. Clare's series would be perfect :D

2. Harry Potter series by J K Rowling - You know I have to include this here. A revolutionary series which came about in my lifetime :) What started as an unknown author and very normal reading affair for me, became a favorite series for me. The first time I laid my hands on HP 1, it was when I came to know that I was going to be waiting on my Aunt at hospital for the night, I decided to find a book to keep me occupied and found this book on the table at my cousin's house. I didn't know anything about it and I jus grabbed it as I was in a hurry. I remembering reading it all night in the dim bedside light. My eyes were being strained and the funny irony was that I was a in an eye hospital :D Anyways, I have read all the book multiple times and also watched all the movies. My favorite one is the first one. It is an amazing series, no matter what any one else says. I am definitely a HP fan :)

3. Ramayana and Mahabharatha by Rajaji - Growing up in India, I am sure you would have heard a lot of stories about Gods and Goddesses, the story behind Diwali or story of Krishna jus like I did. You would have also watched Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana or familiar with the Mahabharatha TV show's beginning music/dialogues ... I have also read some of the short stories through Amar Chithra Katha .. So when I wanted to read the complete Ramayana and Mahabharatha, I was suggested the version written by C. Rajagopalachari. And I must say, I am thankful to whoever made that suggestion (I cant remember who :D)... Both books are very succinct, and in a simple language but still captures the essence of the book. It also has all these short stories in between the main story line, some of which you have heard of and other you haven't. So if you want to read an abridged version of these two epics and in English, I would highly recommend this. I also own copies of these two as I sometimes like to read random chapters. I also recommend reading it so that you can understand the Hinduism a little bit more and also learn at the same time.

4. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow - If I have to suggest an inspiring book to someone, I would suggest this. This book for me is all about positivie thinking, hopes and dreams, about family and love and about life and death. It is a very realistic to me and also inspires me without actually focusing on inspiring me. I can relate it to some ways and learn from it in some other ways. It is one book I would want every body to own and read it once in a while to remember what is imporatant to them!

If you haven't read my other posts yet, you can find with here - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6

10 day challenge - Day 6

Here is a guide to my other days from the 10-day challenge - 10 secrets, 9 loves, 8 fears, 7 wants & 6 places

Food is one of the 3 basic essentials in life, inluding clothes and home, according to the hindi saying "Roti, Kapada aur Makan". I love eating food. And I have a good appetite too (My college buddies can vouch for that :D)... Until some time ago, I wasn't into too much experimenting into food. But now I like to try new cuisines and restaurants ... I am still not as flexible as some other people I know, say M but I am do believe I have come a long way. Growing up, I always associate this one old Tamil song with food/eating.. I am sure many of you would have guessed it ...if not, check out this video below. (Contact a Tamilian friend for translation purposes :D) 

There is so much I want to write about this topic and since I have limit of 5, I decided to use this lil trick of 5 in 5 :D Read on to find more !!! 

5 Cuisines

1. South Indian - When I say south Indian, I am being very generic. I should probably say Tamilian food but that would not be entirely true.... I also ate lil bit of Telugu and Malayalam cuisine too. If you had asked me then, I would probably say it was all Tamil cuisine. But now that I cook food too myself, I can tell you that it was jus not tam-brahm food. I guess I would call this my comfort food. The best feeling is when you come back home after a trip and eat that rasam or thayir (curd) sadam. YUMM!

2. Chaat - I love eating chaat. They have this chatpatta taste which makes your mouth water even at the mere mention of it. My sis and I do a lot of our bonding over the road-side chaat waala(s) in the gully's (street) of Hyderabad/Secunderabad. The best experience is to have that garam chai (hot tea) and mirchi bhaji (stuffed green chilli) on a rainy day OR the cold and cruchy pani puri on a hot summer day !! So is your mouth watering already ? ( I did warn you :P) This is what I am  talking about :D (Pic of Ragada)

3. Kalyanam Saapadu (Wedding Meals) - There is something about the kalyana saapadu... May be it is that there is so much variety to eat or that the food is served at regular intervals or the never ending crowd  of people in the dining hall  .... There is something magical about this.... It is very hard to replicate that taste !!! You keep wanting to eat more....  but somehow you have too make sure your plate (or should I say banana leaf)  is clean at the end !! 

Disclaimer: Eventho, I am referring to mostly Tam-Brahm kalyanam saapadu above, I am sure this is the case with any wedding food. 

 4. Thai/Chinese - I am gonna mix them up together just for the reason that I like more than 5 cuisines. My comfort food away from home is this. It has got the spicy-ness I like in my food. I like that I have choices of both noodles and rice. And they are the next best thing to have on a rainy/snowy day !!

 5. Ethiopian - The reason I like this cuisine is the way they serve the food. The whole idea of serving food in one large plate for the entire family and making them eat together is very important to me. Considering the fact that I eat a lot of my meals either in front of the tv or with a book in hand or browsing the computer. This style of serving forces you to sit together with others and also teaches you to share. And that their food is good with a lot of veggie options, doesn't harm either. 

5 Foods

1. Pav Bhaji – Nothing call still beat the shop from which I have Pav Bhaji

2. Pad Kee Mao – I judge a Thai restaurant based on how good this dish is.

3. Biryani - Vegetarian, of course and not Hyderabadi Biryani

4. Dosa – Any time of the day

5. Tacos – looks like this is my new found love (with the right salsa(s))

5 Food Shows

1. Iron Chef America - Love the intensity, creativity, plating in this show. Love it even more when cook fish. 

2. Top Chef - Love their quick fire challenge mainly. The rest of the show is not bad either. and yeah, how could I forget the HOT Padma Lakshmi ;)

3. Giada at Home - Her soft demeanor and the way she makes Italian cooking look so simple and easy. 

4. Cup Cake Wars - Love the innovative recipes of cup cakes. And may be because cupcakes are my secret love. 

5. Khana Khazana - Growing up, I think this was only distinct food show I have watched 

5 Desserts

1. Gulab Jamun

2. Tiramisu

3. Crème brûlée

4. Sticky Rice with Mango 

5. Paal Payasam  (Rice Kheer)

  

5 Food Pix (food made by me) 

Bon Appetit!!!

10 day challenge - Day 5

Hello all :) Thanks for the patience while I didn't do any writing, courtesy of Labor weekend. This was one of those perfect weekends where all I did was (cook) eat, sleep and relax. It jus so happened that I relaxed a little too much and my 3-day weekend became a 5-day weekend (or should I jus say weekdays :D). Now I am back with a bang, at least for the next 6 days to complete this 10 day challenge. If you haven't yet read my previous posts from this challenge, here is an easy guide to them - 10 secrets, 9 loves, 8 fears, and 7 wants .

Getting to today's challenge, I have to write about 6 places. With this challenge, I was facing a BIG dilemma. Should I write about the 6 places that I have lived and my experiences in those places? Or should I write about places I have visited and what I loved about them? Or should I write about places I want to visit and what fascinates me about those places? Should I write about cities or countries? Should I include fictitious places, say from movies or fairy tales? Should I make up my own perfect place? This train of questioning could go on, and since you get the drift, I shall stop here. Finally I found my solution  that it needs to be a mixed bag and what kinda of mixed bag it is supposed to be! To find out more, read on.... 

1. Chennai 600025 -  That was my address for 4 awesome years at A.C.Tech College and Hostel....Here is where I made a lot of great friends, was living by myself for the very first time just like a lot of my friends, ate crappy hostel food, never hesitated any time to go when some one said FREE food, found excuses to get 'treat' for the FREE food, hung out for hours in a tiny coffee shop under the tree, gossiped about the whole college, celebrated birthdays with so much fun and then went out to eat some more of that free food, run back to the confines of the hostel by deadline time,  stand near the xerox shop for hours to get the notes xeroxed so that we have something to study for the exams, getting OD (On-Duty) to skip classes when we have the cultural fests,  bunked classes to go watch movies at Satyam, went to Madya Kailash on the morning of any festival all dressed up, ... and a lot more amazing things. I think I became the person I am for the most part in this very city. I knew the nooks and corners of the city (our definition of city was Adyar and Besant Nagar and T Nagar :D)........  Chennai is one amazing place. It has got a perfect/delicate balance between traditions and modernism. The same people who go to wedding or temple festivals or music kacheri dressed in their traditional best can be seen hanging out the local coffee shop or discos and beach wearing trendy clothes of the season. It was the BIG city for many folks coming from rural Tamil Nadu and was a perfect place for this transition without overwhelming them.  I love this city and it will always be one of my most favorite 'places' with great memories.  

2. N.Y.C. The New-York City -  People who know me already know how much I love this city. If there is one place I want a vacation home, it is gonna b an apt in NYC, a perfect escape for me. I love the energy. I love the popular tourist spots and hidden gems of the city. I love that its a melting pot of culture, food, entertainment, and people. I love the fact that I can find something to do anytime of the day, 24x7! To best describe my feelings for this wonderful city, I want to quote Jay-Z/Alicia Keys song 'Empire State of Mind' 

"In New York!!!

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,

There's nothing you can’t do,

Now you're in New York!!!

These streets will make you feel brand new,

the lights will inspire you,

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York" 

3. Salaam Mumbai - One place I keep wanting to visit but hasn't happened yet is Mumbai (Bombay). I think I love this city and want to visit it for the same reasons (and some more) as NYC. I think there is a lot of energy in this city. It is the other  'land of dreams' for many Indians, next to US. I want to drive on the Marine drive, eat the roadside pav bhaji, do the walk (pad yatra) to the siddhi vinayak temple, offer garland of flowers at Haji Ali, spot some Bollywood stars, travel the local trains, shop at both malls and local bazaars, celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi, take pics in front of Gateway of India and get to know the city as a mumbaite. (Feel free to add more to this list). 

4. Enchanted in Egypt - I want to the visit and climb the Pyramids and explore the insides, ride a boat on river Nile, ask a trick question to Sphinx,  may be go an archaeological excavation trip, roam the Sahara Desert on a camel. I want to explore Egypt, shop and bargain with local merchants, eat their cuisine and drink coffee (for a change). I might end up doing a lot more things thanks this. 

5. Around the Europe in 80 Days - I want to do a backpacking trip in Europe just like they show in DDLJ :) I think this movie was one of the first to trigger the euro-trip fascination and also backpacking for many of us. I want to visit the major cities in Europe, take time to explore each city and may be also visit country side in some places. I want to absorb the culture in each place through their food. I want to do this trip through Eurail (Europe on Rail). I want the 'eat'' part of experience which Julia Roberts had in Eat Pray and Love. I want to see Europe :) 

6. Sharanya in Wonderland - My wonderland is the combination of the best of each city I have visited or lived in. Skyline from NYC, historic buildings from Philadelphia, Lakeshore drive jus like in Chicago, beaches from Chennai, transportation like that of Singapore (esp for its cleanliness), shopping places like that of General Market in Hyderabad or the strip in Las Vegas, trailer trucks featuring  foods from all over the world like in Austin, a great University like in Columbus (Go Bucks!!) , National park such as Grand Canyon, a mini Atlantic City/Las Vegas for entertainment among various other things. 

P.S. - If you have already guessed the movie references in the title, here you go Chennai 600028 (a tamil movie) E.T. - The Extra-Terrestial, Salaam Bombay (a hindi movie), Sleepless in Seattle, Around the world in 80 days and Alice in wonderland.  

10 day challenge - Day 4

Today's challenge is to write about 7 wants. We always want something or the other. I dn't think we are humans if didn't want anything. When we are kids, we want the cool toy that everyone has. In our teens, we want to be popular. In college, we want to party hard + study hardly and then graduate with an awesome job. Then we want to meet our perfect soul mate. You get the picture here. Before we move on to my actual list of 7 wants, here is a new twist to what one would want. 

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep

-- not screaming, like the passengers in his car."

~Jack Handey

1. I want one million (airline) miles so that M and I could "circle the globe". [as in the movie ' Up in the air', it takes 500,000 miles for 1 around-the-world ticket). Also, I want to visit all the 50 states in US and the 28 states in India. I hope there are around-the-US and around-India tickets available too. 

2. I want run my own school. This is something I have been wanting since I was a kid. My dad is teacher/principal. So I always wanted to open a school for him. I have already thought of the name and the way teaching/curriculum would be. Now all I need is money (angel investors) and a solid business plan (my dearest MBA friends, wanna help?)! 

3. I want to participate (and may be even win) in a reality TV show like Project Runway or Top Chef or Design Star. 

4. I want to go back in time so that (since this list can get pretty long, I will restrict myself to 3 wants)

        a) can travel on the Titanic

        b) see the Pyramids being built

        c) be on Apollo 11 when they landed on the moon (may be even walk on the moon) 

5. I want a HUGE library of my own, like the ones you see in movies where you see rows and rows of talls bookcases and need a ladder to reach the top shelf. I want the organized in the most efficient way possible, an online catalog for easy finding. 

6. I want to be an archaeologist who will find the most incredible treasures known to the world. I think it is the coolest job in the world and also where the most patience and hard work is required. 

7. I want to always have faith and hope. !!! 

Thanks for reading :) Ciao for now. 

You can find the my other challenges here : Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3

10 day challenge - Day 3

Today's challenge is to talk about 8 fears of mine. Now this sounds like some serious topic..I suppose I should lighten the mood before I start explaining my fears. Found this quote by Jerry Seinfel and thought it was an interesting take on 'fear'. 

“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, 

you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

~Jerry Seinfeld 

1. Roller Coaster Rides - Now, for most of you, when you hear 'Six Flags' or themepark .. the main thing you are really excited about is roller coasters. I, on the other hand, don't really enjoy the butterfly feeling in my stomach. If you ask me, where or when I got this fear, I dnt have an answer to that. But I do know that I am not as brave as the next door kid who would be very enthusiastic to get on a roller coaster and scream their throats for fun. 

P.S. I am proud that I have been on the tallest and one of the fastest roller coaster in the world - Kingda Ka! I can still remember seeing nothing during the ride as I had my eyes closed the entire time but I did feel a lot of butterflies in my stomach. 

2. Peak a "Boo" -  You might be wondering y some one would be scared of this baby game. Well, I am scared of the "Boo" part. If anyone suddenly surprises me with a shout or boo, I get pretty scared. I know it is silly but I blame this on a particular episode of the famous 'Byomkesh Bakshi" which I had watched while I was about 5 yrs old. I have been laughed at for this but somehow I can't seem to get rid of this fear even after so many years. So beware, if you do surprise me suddenly, you can expect a punch from me :D 

3. Horror movies -  I am not into this particular genre of movies (with some minor exceptions). 

4. Thrill adventures - An extension of rollercoaster, but here it is more specific to adventures like sky diving or bungee jumping or para gliding etc. You get the point. I think I have a slight Bathophobia (and this may be a bit exaggeration) 

5. Fear before taking any exam -  This is a very common fear all of us have. There is always a slight hesitation about if we might forget everything, if we wud fail. I have never known to show this fear to others but yeah, I admit it that I do have this fear. I thot we would outgrow this over years but looks like that does not happen. 

6. Needles (or should I say Injections) - I have been given kiddy band-aid coz of this fear, may b lollipop or two too. Everytime a needle is brought near to me, it is very important to distract + relax me. I should def say, I have overcome this fear to a certain extent but still given any day, I prefer pills to needles. BTW this is fear is called Trypanophobia 

7. Fear of God -I shouldn't really categorize it here but it does fit here in some sense.  Now this is one fear I have positive things to say about. I dn't mind fearing God. I know there is a small part of me which fears God. But if you ask me, whether all the decisions I make are based on this fear, I would say no. I believe in 'Karma'. And I think Karma and God are related in some way. I am religious and I guess that explains this fear in a way. 

8. Fear of losing people we love - This is the hardest of all fear to accept. It is always there within us but something which we never vocalize or show. The follow quote summarizes it beautifully: 

“When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you... When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you... 

When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you... Now that I love you, I'm afraid to lose you.”

~Unknown

P.P.S - For easy access, Day 1 and Day 2 part of the challenges. Enjoy reading!!! 

10 day challenge - Day 2

To be a more active blogger and to relive my memories, I have taken up this 10 day challenge. Day 1 was about 10 secrets and you can find it here. Day 2 seems relatively easy as you  need to talk about 9 loves .. But I think this is one of the hardest challenges ... May be coz I love more than 9 things and now I need to choose 9 things out of this gigantic list ... Well, I shall give it my best shot :D  

1. Beginning with a pretty straight forward love - FOOD ! Strange at it may seem, I love eating... But to be more specific (as is the point of this blog) I love certain dishes from certain places and here is the list pav bhaji ( this specific hyd joint, ask me for more details), Tiramisu (Buca di Beppo), Veggie Gumbo (Qdoba), Irupuli Kozhambu (amma's kitchen), Spicy Peanut Soup (Austin Java), Mini Ghee Idly (Saravana Bhavan, NYC). And there are other foods which I love can eat anytime - Gulab Jamun, Rasam, Biryani, Murukku... Alright, I agree, it is time to move on with the rest of 8 loves.

2, My next love is TV shows - I got addicted to TV when I started working for the full time. What began as 'time-pass' to keep myself occupied in the evenings and weekends turned into a life long love affair. I have major crushes on some of the characters, I obsesses about some others, and there are those which I dnt really care much about (but I still watch those shows). One thing I dnt really follow much is reality TV shows (except for may be Project Runway). When fall arrives, the war for remote begins in our house...and you can guess, who would usually win ;).

3. I love funky earrings!

4. I love to travel and visit as many places I can. During trips,  is the one time when I can get up as early as needed and go to bed as late as possible. I think this was one of main things that attracted M to me and vice versa. The list of places I want to go is super long; the top 5 choices being Paris, London, Egypt, Turkey and Peru.  And yeah, I would love to backpack and get free tickets from my friends living in different cities to come visit them!

5. I love sleeping in late and then getting up to be served breakfast in bed :)

6. As much I love eating food, I love making them even more (both cooking and baking)... the best part is that I love cooking for family and friends....I believe, more the ppl, the merrier it is when you are having a meal.

7. I love kids! I love their energy, their enthusiasm and their innocence. And It doesn't harm that they love me too and get fabulously along with me.

8. I love exploring the city I live in. I read and follow (well online) every happening event in the city and try to attend too! I love to find things to do, foods to eat  and places to visit in the city I live. I love being the tour guide to the friends/family who visit us !!!

9. For my last one, the pic below say it all :)

In the pic - black bag, white tshirt, travel mug, picture frame, keychain and earrings)
Missing from the pic - coffee mug (stuck in the dishwasher), dvd of 'new york, I love you' movie.

See you tomorrow again :)