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 :)

10 day challenge - Day 1

Recently, I have been looking for something new to write on my blog. ... something which will actually make me explore things about myself and also about things around me. I came across this 10-day challenge which I found very interesting. I thot, y not give it a try .. so here comes an overload of known and unknown info about me for the next 10 days :D  

The first day, I have to write about 10 secrets (as u have already seen from the pic). Now this is a hard task for me as I think I have more secrets of others than my own ... I wnt say I am a complete "open" book (think that is sooooo over rated) but I am always myself and the same to everyone, as much as I can. So moving on to my task for the day, here are 10 secrets, some known and other unknown, about me.......

1. I was a kathak dancer once upon a time....I learnt kathak for about 3 yrs when I was 5 yrs old... successfully completed various levels of exams ... had to give up when I moved cities.... I remember being good at it .. and I often get teased (in a good way) by my family about this one particular song for which I danced. The song goes some thing like "tarkari lelo, gajar ka darwaaj hain " with descriptions of various veggies ... my family esp my aunt and uncle still remember the steps and show it to me so I can remember but alas. But yeah, I have a pic to remind me of my 'golden dancing' days.

2. On similar 'creative art' front, I learnt this form of painting with engravings on wood, roller paint and paper during my middle school. About 20 of us participated in this 2-3 day workshop where our art teacher taught us everything abt this project. It was for a competition and one's drawing was to represent one's country (India, in my case). It was fun project where we didnt really worry about competition and were happy that we got to bunk classes. Fast forwarding the story, I had shifted schools and forgotten all about it  when one day my mom called and told me that I had gotten this certificate, all in Polish, telling me that my painting was selected (and I was one of the 2 ppl from our school or city, not really sure who had gotten this).  Now it is a framed piece of art at my home in India and every time I look at it, even though I d'nt understand a word of it, I feel very proud.

3. You might already know how lazy  I can get when I am asked to go to gym or play some active sport (My husband sure knows it). But I wasn't always like that. In my school days,  I loved participating in sports or team games. I think my most loved sport was running team relays. I would spend my summers playing badminton on the 'gully' road right in front of my house. I was a state level hockey player during school. I think my college days spoiled me. Now the only I sport I take active participation is "dancing in a club/party" :D Hoping things change soon.

4. For a vegetarian, I am one of the most picky vegetable eaters. The list of vegetables I don't eat is longer than those I eat. I did finally start liking Bittergourd (karela or pavakkai)..  and thus increased the competition for my dear hubby.

5. I tell white lies!

6. Electronics, including watches don't last long in my hands (for some weirdest reason). So if you are planning to gift me these, you might wanna reconsider ;).

7.  I was addicted to handheld video games growing up. Remember the one video game where you could play tetris, car racing and snake and had this weird game music/sound. The highest score you get in it was 99999 (I think) I loved playing that. I remember walking into my dad's work meeting tell him that I had made the high score. Everyone was looking at me and my dad didnt know what to say. Lucky for him, his boss congratulated me and I left happily. I also owned tv video games and broke a good number of joysticks playing them.

8. I own a LOT of clothes ......and shoes .......and jewelery ........and bags......and, Ok,  the list is long and you get the point  :D

9. My pet names include sweetchoco, sharan, sharu, sheri, sheru, bubbles, chengamallam, sugar high (I might hav missed some). So how do u you call me?

10. I fell down 33 feet on a concrete floor and a plastic bucket saved me. and yeah, I am not crazy!!

Reviews update 3 - Summer Movies 2011

Where I live, summer is not even close to coming to an end but my list of summer movies to watch is done (well almost) ...I did watch a couple of movies which were not on the list I had made but then again, wen u get a chance to watch a movie in theater, y say no! 

Larry Crowne (***) - Liked both Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in this movie .. once again, they prove their acting skills .... gave me a glimpse of community college and the variety in their students... shows grit on how u can learn and go to school at any age .. the movie is jus like any-day situation which could be happen to anybody. a simple no-frills movie!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (*** 1/2) - the most awaited potter movie with a loads of expectations, which i am not sure it fully lived upto ... This is one of the movies which u hav to watch no matter how good or bad it is .. You need to watch it bcoz u r a potter fan and bcoz u need a closure to the series...It had these funny one liners (from the book) which lightened up the mood.. it covered the basic theme of the book very well except for the epilogue (i thot i wud tear up but it was jus more funny to look at the aging harry and others.) ... HP 7.2 is not def the best of the lot but it is def one of the better ones. Oh yeah, def watch it in 3D.. heard it was better than regular 2D version!


Check out the other reviews here:  the list, part 1 and part 2. 

Reviews update 2 - Summer Movies 2011

Continuing from my previous two posts: Summer movies, Review pt. 1. 

Bridesmaids (***) - A perfect chick flick, entertaining, some brilliant acting, funny yet not very gross... a lot of the jokes are subtle but good. .. u have the comedy, the sentiments, the drama, the romance all mixed together in a perfect balance to keep u entertained the entire time ... a good watch if u r looking for something to do with ur girlfriends !

Cars 2(**** 1/2) - If u loved Cars 1, then this movie is even better .. A good sequel to the previous one, in terms of the characters but then again this movie can be a standalone  ...I felt very 'animated' and excited to watch this movie ... The details that went into the creation of this movie are very good. ... I would say this is a wholesome entertainer for both adults and kids (animation fan or not).... the plot is well written and so are the dialogues .. u wud thoroughly enjoy it.. a MUST watch!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (***) - I am very big fan of this series and this was a definite watch for me...I liked this part for various reasons such as more graphics, more visual effects, more transformers, more cool cars, funny punch lines ... But on the other hand, I think it was a lil too long, the new female who looked hotten than Megan Fox didn't add any value, not much great acting by any character, a lot of continuous dialogue (which wasnt clear, may b due to theatre sound). This is one of those movie I need to watch a couple of times with subtitles to understand the dialogues and comedy. It is OK as an sequel, needs to be watched atleast once in the theaters for its visual effects.

Bundle of joy !!

If you ever wond1ered how the above phrase was coined, I have the perfect answer for you ...

One late night in Aug'10 was a night of excitement, tiredness, long wait (and totally worth it), pain (for some), fear ( for all of us) - big mixed bag of emotions which I cannot comprehend fully... A friend of mine from work gave birth to a beautiful baby boy... The first time I laid my eyes on him, he was completely wrapped up in this white with blue border stripes cloth (for lack of better word) with only his face being visible.. .It was such a joy to see him that trying to wriggle, fluttering his open and close, sticking his tongue in and out... and the phrase 'bundle of joy' came into my mind.

I watched him being taken right from the delivery room to the baby room ...His mother made me promise that I would stay and watch  (and not take my eyes of him) while he undergoes his first check up . I watched him for couple of hours as he was poked and checked by the nurse to make sure his vitals are doing fine.. to make sure he looks and feels fine ... After that he was laid in his crib, close to the window so I could watch him ... He kept doing these actions, so oblivious to the entire world, so innocent that it made me cry (tears of happiness, of course) ... Finally the parents were united wit the baby and it was a very happy ending :)

It was my first experience with a newly born . .and it was AMAZING!