The last prompt my first entry....Tea for Two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays!

Last evening when I visited my library to return a book little did I know that in return I would be able to grab a copy of the latest book of Preeti Shenoy called Tea for Two and a piece of cake. As mentioned in my earlier post I have loved both her earlier books and was waiting to read this one too. She has an amazing writing style. So finally, I started reading the book last night till my eyes hurt and protested to go to bed...cant wait to get back home and finish it off. 

I also love reading Preeti's blog which is aptly called Just a mother of two. She puts up various challenges for her readers to follow and her best was the Ten day Challenge which I did undertake. The latest one she has had is the Tea for Two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays! I found the following prompt interesting (which is also the last of it) and decided to take it up. So here it goes.....

1. If you had Rs.50,000 to just blow up (you have to spend it on YOURSELF. Giving to Charity or buying gifts for others not allowed), what would you spend it on and why?

Being the person I am, I would have invested it. But since I have to blow it up....would buy shoes, a treadmill, spend it at a spa, buy some clothes or gold...would that all come in Rs. 50,000??? :-)

2. Name three of your closest friends (not family or spouse) and say why you love them.

Kalpesh : For being the person he is and for being able to discuss anything under the sun with him

Santy : For insanely making me laugh whenever I dont feel good or otherwise and for being a really good friend in the true sense.

Pooja and Sarika : All we have to do is make a call and meet up and we are transformed into a crazy group of 3....and then we start behaving like teenagers :-)

Yes I know I have mentioned an extra name but it would be really unfair just to mention one name from both of them.

3. Name three books which have profoundly affected you and which you would recommend to everyone to read.

1. 34 Bubblegums and Candies by Preeti Shenoy

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseni

3. Love Story by Erich Segal

4. If you know for certain that you can never ever fail, what would you attempt to do?

Start my own business.....and make lots of money :-)

5. What is THE ONE THING that you want very very badly?

A fab slim, healthy body!!!!! :-)

Well that is about it....it is fun to take up these challenges and I hope Preeti gets us some more of them :-)

Trip to Bhandardara

It was a long weekend coming up with Mahashivratri falling on a Monday....and the person I am, I was desperate to go out somewhere...some place nice...some place not visited before.

Checked all the weekend getaways (my hubby agreed for just an overnight trip :( so had less options), but there were not many...and I had already been to some before.

I thought of Saputara a hill station in Gujarat but then thought it was too long a travel. So I logged on to MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism website) and came across a place I had always wanted to go...Bhandardara. 

I quickly checked the availability and there was just one room available waiting for me....it seemed so! Without batting an eyelid I went ahead and booked it, got a deluxe room for Rs.1500/-

Now there is something very weird about this place...it has this MTDC resort at a very good location and very cheap...and there are 2-3 resorts which are very expensive with no good view or location. 

Anyway so we set off early Sunday morning by car and reached there in around 3 hours. The Kasara ghat which we have to pass has amazing roads but the inner village roads are quite bumpy.

Once we reached the resort, we were escorted to our room which was huge enough to play cricket in :) The rooms were clean and spacious and perched on a small mountain facing the beautiful Arthur Lake.

We freshened up and headed for the canteen in the resort and ordered lunch which was tasty and more like home made food. After clicking a few picks and having a look around the resort we went back to the room...me to catch a few winks and my hubby to watch the India-Aust match. 

At around 5 pm, after a cup of tea we headed for the lake, there were boat rides which we decided to skip and just sit along the banks of the river and enjoy the sunset and the view.

Once the sun was set and after clicking a few pics we walked back to the resort and relaxed on the bench in front of our room facing the lake.....as darkness engulfed the place we spent an hour star gazing...it was wonderful.

We called room service and ordered dinner....yummy chicken roast and biryani.

Next day we woke up to the calm and quiet surroundings. After having pohe and sandwich for breakfast we checked out of the resort and proceeded for site seeing around the place.

We got a local guide who took us to the Wilson Dam, Randha falls and Umbrella falls (supposedly the famous song of Mandakini in her white sari in Ram Teri Ganga Meli was shot here at Unmbrella falls as told by our guide)

We then checked out the gates of the dam and had a view of the Kalsubai (highest peak of Maharashtra) and Ratangad Fort. 

After that, since it was the eve of Mahashivratri and the villagers have a style of setting up a fair (Jatra as called by the locals) near the Shiv mandir, we decided to go visit the temple at Taked and pay our tributes. We were surprised by the crowd moving towards the temple and quickly went back to our car and headed for Mumbai after paying our guide (don't have any pics of the mandir as the place was packed with people) .

We stopped for lunch on our way back and were home by 6.00 pm. The weather had got warm by then and if I had to advice anyone who wishes to visit the place, please do go during the monsoons as you can see the real beauty of the place during monsoons and make your hotel booking way in advance cause MTDC is completely booked during the monsoons. 

Gods Own Country....Honeymoon in Kerala

Its been almost a good 3 months since I have been on my honeymoon and I still feel I am on honeymoon hence the delay on the promised pics of Kerala - Gods own country.

The planning, booking, shopping for the trip was all done in a hurry....yeah the best trip of my life and I had just so little time to plan it all.....but it was the best trip I had..well for obvious reasons... :)
We had planned a trip of 6 nights 7 days....dividing the same into 3 nights in Munnar and 3 nights in Kumarakom in order to avoid too much travelling.

We were not too sure if we would reach our destination thanks to the stress created by Kingfisher airlines cancelling flights and the Kerala state strike.

But we did leave on 29th November morning and thankfully the flight was on time....reached Cochin and we had our pre-booked car waiting for us. The driver insisted that we start the journey to Munnar despite the State strike. Our vehicle was stopped zillion times, made to wait for min 10 to max 40 min....we didnt mind it thanks to the pleasant weather and good company :)

On our way to Munnar we visited the Elephant camp, spice garden (very informative, shopped for some garden fresh spices as well). We avoided the elephant ride and spent that time in the spice garden soaking in all the wonderful gyaan from our guide. The garden was well maintained with all kinds of trees, spice plantation, flowers, farm animals.

Once out of there we headed for our hotel which was another 20 km away from Munnar city. Finally after the 7 hours journey from the airport (thanks to the strike, it would have been 5 hours) we reached our destination Club Mahindra Resort.....all we could see was clouds clouds and clouds...and slight drizzle.

Morning came and we set out for our site seeing journey which was when we realised the beautiful location of our hotel which was a valley facing and one of the only 2 hotels in that area. The entire area had tea estates spread all over.

After some quick pics in the tea estate covering some scenic beauty our first stop was the flower garden which was beautifully located on the slope of a hill and had flowers I had never seen before....then came the echo point, the shooting point, a tree full of honeycombs, the Mattupetty Dam.all these points surrounding the vast lake.

We returned to Munnar city to have yummy local food and then proceeded towards Rajamala to watch the Nilgiri Tahrs (a rare mountain goat) at the Eravikulam National Park situated about 2000 m above sea level. Eravikulam National Park also abode Anamudi, is the highest peak (2690 m) in the peninsular India. It was an amazing experience walking with the clouds at such great height. After having a good cup of tea in the cool weather we headed towards Munnar city again to do some shopping and enjoy a kerala massage. After that we headed straight to our hotel. We did skip some site seeing points as we wanted to keep travel to the minimum.

The next day we spent lazing around in the hotel and enjoying the view and weather.

Next day morning we set off for Kumarakom. It took us 5 hours to reach our hotel Saro Lake County which is situated bang on the banks of the Vembanad lake. We had a fascinating view of the lake and the sunset from our cottage. The place was so beautiful that we dropped plans of any site seeing and opted for just a boat cruise (2 hours). This place was more like a homestay with excellent home made food and service. We had the entire cottage to ourselves which consisted of a bedroom and a dining hall with a small library :)....No i didnt get to reading cause I had so many other things to do...after all I was on my honeymoon ....:)

After 3 nights in Kumarakom the next morning we headed to Cohin airport which is much closer from Kumarakom just about 2 hours and took our flight back home which again luckily was on time :)

A New Beginning....

Well, Life is beautiful....and I say that because I am currently in a beautiful phase of my life. Having just recently tied the knot, I am feeling on top of the world....being a wife or rather let me say starting a new turn in my life :)

It is indeed weird, you dream about your future and when those dreams turn into reality you just dont know how to react. I am simply jumping with Joy!!! I am living each day with a smile and ending the day with a smile too. The ceremonies spread across a week, the people, the food, the lights, music, excitement....WOW....would love to do it all over again...though with a good sponsor...lol.

I had a wonderful honeymoon at God's own Country...Kerela!!!!! We visited Munnar and Kumarakom.....both being enchanting...!!! Will write a detail post on this the next time with pics as well....this post being just me trying to share my happiness!!!!

Until next time....take care!

Short Review : Revolution 2020 & The Immortals of Meluha

The rains have gone and so is the festival of lights Diwali.....but yet the heart yearns for more...and more is yet to come...the end of the year and the beginning of a new year...but still 2 more months for that :)

And there is still alot to happen in these 2 months!!!

Coming back to my best pastime....reading books, the one that calms my souls. I have just finished reading Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat followed by The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi.

The most awaited book of Bhagat was a disappointment. I was looking for something different given the title being so different but Bhagat stuck to the same old story of engineering and management students and how they fail to meet expectations just like how Revolution 2020 did not meet the expectations of many readers.

The Immortals of Meluha : I read so many reviews on this one and finally decided I was not going to read it. Then I picked it up from the library just to give it a try and I must say it is a good one. I however have reserved my entire opinion about the first book to only after I read the second one, The Secret of the Nagas. The first book is only for preparing the readers mind and getting them familiar with the characters in the story. I am waiting to get the second book :)

Chanakya's Chant is however the next one on my list and waiting to be picked up from my reading table :)

So until next time....take care my friends and keep smiling !!!!

Relationships turned E-lationships

Heard a news lately that a girl (dont want to mention names here) an IIM Bangalore student committed suicide when her ex-boyfriend dumped her on the social networking site Facebook. His status message said : "Feeling cool today. Dumped my ex-girlfriend. Happy independence day."  I had been reading various things said about the boy, yes he was a jerk to do what he did. I dont even want to comment on such people.

But the girl, bless her soul, doing something that she did without once thinking about her family, friends and her future just doesn't feel right. Getting dumped on a public forum is heart breaking but not the end of the world. 

Its high time and with such incidences people should be aware that too much should not be shared on public forums about your life, you life that is private and needs just your comments or likes and dislikes. Talking about something general having a view, a debate is an altogether different thing and a healthy way to interact as well. Sharing pictures, videos and sharing your happiness is a great way of letting friends know you are happy. 

And if you have to share your very personal stuff...then guys there is a message tab where you can send out personal message and not let your entire friends list know that you had a horrible date, got a tattoo somewhere we dont want to know or for that matter dumped someone.

The social networking sites are not going to make things better for us but they are going to make it better for themselves where they will get some more features where maximum clicks are obtained, maximum exposure is obtained and our personal life is at stake. Also read an article today which says Facebook tracks what you do online even when you have logged out!!! Scared??? Read the article here and be careful. 

Coming back to the point why I actually started writing this post was to know what happened to Relationships that where built over coffee, over movies together, over long drives, over going for a picnic with friends, over that one look in the eye, over those perfumed letters....???? Okay I know letters were like decades ago...but all I can say is Relationships are now become E-lationships!!!! Everything is Online. Sometimes we call technology a boon but sometimes dont you think we overdo it? Well, each one has his own perspective, to each his own!

I am not against the social networking sites they are great, I have got in touch with so many long lost friends myself. Its a great way of connecting with one and all, knowing what the other is upto. The only thing I feel is that people should not be so addicted to it and some private details should not be blared out in the open.

And god forbid if someone does end up sharing lewd comments about you, let it be, show some dignity, just delete that person and move on. You dont have to stoop to that persons level and make a fool of yourself too. Such people dont deserve to be in your life. 

You are wonderful. Believe that, Smile and Move On!!!! J

Reading Away...Watching to Stay...

Its books books around me and weekend filled with watching rom-com’s….yes I have been watching them and feeling so good. Its always nice to have good humor around you and when that is accompanied with some good romance…nothing like it (I am talking about movies here J or maybe not)

The latest books I read were Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer, The Alchemist but Paulo Coelho and Right Fit Wrong Shoe by Varsha Dixit. All without a doubt very good reads.

The Alchemist is known for the wonderful quotes and wisdom it provides…wisdom to those who really try and understand what the book actually wants to say…I will consider myself one of the lucky ones J

Only Time Will Tell was my first Jeffery Archer book that I picked and I wasn’t all that impressed. Good storyline but bored with a lot of details. The story set in early 20’s and the first few pages really bored me but then the story got interesting and it had me reading it till the end and I must say it is well written.

Right Fit Wrong Shoe is a complete Bollywood story written in the same style as well. I must admit though that I finished the book in just one sitting, yeah it was interesting, which love stories aren’t?

And talking of love stories, Leap Year is one of the romantic comedy movies which is a good watch. Also Friends with Benefits the recent flick is much more like No strings attached…on the same lines and both are really funny movies. I don’t understand the reason behind emphasizing on the subject of two friends coming together, doing it (you know what I mean) and trying hard not to fall in love!!! But eventually they do fall in love and the movie turns out into another love story!!! I really hope people stop making such films cause I think the audience have “GOT it”….that the “just friends with BENEFITS” tag doesn’t exist. But I do admit I enjoyed the humor in both the movies!!! J

Okay this post is turning into more of a review blog but can’t help it, that’s what I have been doing for the past few days. The city is all into enjoying the festive season and I find my celebrations in the little things I do. But yes, the festive season is here and there are more to follow. It’s an amazing site to see where all come together to celebrate and the city is all dressed up with lights, colour and magic.

Yes, I would say magic cause festivals are the time where all come together as one and enjoy the moment; they forget their differences and try to make a new beginning.

So everyone enjoy yourself and till I get back with some more reviews…(kidding)…take care J