HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Lots of wishes to All and I hope and pray that Holidays are getting spent with loved ones !

Just came back from a hike trip carried out near Hiamalayan Range in Uttranchal over this long C'mas weekend.
Such good fun - camping/cooking/ meditation and all these in front of "Majestic Himalayan Range"
I am in city for a day to wrap up my work and hand over the load to team and tomorrow I am off again - this time to Rajasthan.

Will be posting the pics upon my return in New Year 2007 ......!!

Happy Blogging -

Luv and peace always -

Lansdowne - Place of Mist and Mystic

-This spot was so charming, we were walking and suddenly we were enveloped in this mist, it looked as if we were transported to some fairy land with this mist and trees playing hide and seek with us.

- Shadows

- Dusk n darkness creeping in....very eerie !

- Lone Soldier

- This was shot from a moving car....(hmmm living on edge)

A Typical scene from Hills.

-Trip to Lansdowne last year. Very sleepy and small town in Uttranchal. Very well structured town with cobbled street. We really thought as if we were transported to some bygone era( very British colonial feel) .

- Not much to do , except eat hearty breakfast dripped in butter - take long walks - again gorge on scrumptious food - again take a long walk - come for the evening tea and Pakodas ( fried crispy) - walk in the nearby grounds , round up the evening with dinner and sleep...this was our routine for 4 days......!!

- Some + points of living in capital city - Hills are quite nearby and you don't waste much time in commuting to reach the destination.

Visa Power

This incident was both hilarious as well as with quite undertones of sadness. From our offc 3 persons were asked to go for a "phoren trip". And as it happens all 3 of us are pretty funny bones so we were looking forward to our sojourn to foreign shore...so much so we extended our trip as well and made plans.

Next comes Visa - very unfortunately "S" got his visa ( not exactly declined...but on hold) despite the tenacity and preparation done by our offc.

Well his Visa has been granted after (5 months) so "S" is giving Samosa party ! This is the note which he has sent to all of us !!

It is just to update you that my name has been removed from the List of Terrorists maintained by the US Embassy. So you guys can relax & feel free at the office :-)
Few of my colleagues gun pointed to arrange for Samosas & Jalebi tomorrow. So with my weaker self exposed , I have to.
See you all at 5.00 pm for a few light moments.

With a lighter wallet,
S

ps- He is a great guy to have this carefree attitude - I was chatting to him and he was explaining to me how the lady who took his interview was so embarrassed to deny the same, he was actually thinking from the other side of the fence.....! I looked at him and said -dude you are really cool....I think in your place I would have been very upset!

I still can't get over his Non Challant attitude - would love to learn this.....!

Advent of cultural breeze..

Last week was treat for all the cultural aficionados. Visual as well as soulful treat speard across the week ....and more to come....!

Somehow you see the spurt in cultural activities....concerts, dance shows, poetry recital, photo exhibition...lots and lots in store during the winter...and that makes me think of only one thing....
"Kambakht yeh sardiyan barah mahinee kyon nahin rahti.

Well I started with "Dance show from Russia - Yunost" - hmmm - ok, reminded me of Shiamak Dawar group. I wish only if they would have stuck to their own gig then adopting the entire world ( It was not bad them adopting Salsa/Moulin Rouge/Cowboy dance...etc...however there is so much more to know about Russian dances...?? So yeah I was baffled)

On top of that I kept on telling my friend that they are working around the "World theme" so they will eventually do "Indian Dance" - so in anticipation we kept on sitting...and went through the entire length of the show....alas....they didn't show "bhangra"....booohoooo :-(

Next was evening with Rehmat Fateh Ali Khan Saheb - Organizers were left scurrying around to get more bunches of floral arrangements as dignitaries outnumbered the bouquet....he he he !!

Thankfully for this performance they kept the introduction to mere 5 minutes and then we had some nice soulful music.

However I feel that true impact of this performance could have been 10 folds great - if it would have been done in some open space....somehow I felt the artist- trapped within the 4 walls of auditorium.

Last but not the least " My ever Fav Zohra Sehgal" - she recited some urdu poems from the likes of - Faiz/Ali Sardar Zafri/Kaifi Azmi/Javed Akhtar - Just penning down the poem (by Hafeez Jullundhary) which somehow epitomise the spirit of Zohraji in my eyes -

abhii to mai.n javaan huu.N

havaa bhi Khushagavaar hai, gulo.n pe bhii nikhaar hai

tarannume.n hazaar hai.n, bahaar purbahaar hai

kahaa.N chaalaa hai saaqiyaa, idhar to lauT idhar to aa

are ye dekhataa hai kyaa, uThaa subuu, subuu uThaa

subuu uThaa piyaalaa bhar, piyaalaa bhar ke de idhar

chaman kii simt kar nazar, samaa.N to dekh beKhabar

vo kaalii-kaalii badaliyaa.N, ufaq pe ho ga_ii ayaa.N

vo ik hajuum-e-maikashaa.N, hai suu-e-maikadaa ravaa.N

ye kyaa gumaa.N hai badagumaa.N, samajh na mujhako naatavaa.N

Khayaal-e-zohd abhii kahaa.N

abhi to mai.n javaan huu.N

* The way Zohraji renders this poem...it just leave you with a tingle up in your arm.....!