A mid week afternoon in Bombay

My laptop had gone bust for a week – yeeah!
Though I almost lost a part of my functional arm, I quickly realized it was a blessing indeed. I spent the day exploring Bombay- something that I could not do in the last couple of months.
Stepping out armed with the camera, some cash and an umbrella I walked for about half a mile. I saw a deserted bus stand. Though I have crossed this way just about a million times I have never stopped to wonder who took buses from this depot and to where. Now I did. I walked in and quickly realized to my dismay that all the numbers and destination details were written in Hindi  or was it Marathi?
hmmpphh…. Disappointed I kept walking and spotted a bus that had a couple of people inside. Hesitatingly I asked the woman on a window seat where the bus was going. Well I was gonna board irrespective of where it was gonna go. But it would be sheepish to ask for a ticket to the conductor to wherever the bus was going. She said ‘Bandra’and I boarded the bus. So now armed with this piece of information, I asked the conductor if the last stop was Bandra, and he said ‘Bandra Depot’ in the most stern and practiced voice.


I settled in a comfortable window seat, took out my camera for some shots of Bombay. Before I could click a handful, Mr. Rain arrived to include a drizzle in the landscape of Bombay. In about 1.5 hours after multiple rounds of waxing and waning of crowd, the bus cruised into the depot. After 15 minutes of auto ride, I was in Bandstand.:) It is a beach, well technically, but nothing like the beaches that I have been to so far, as there is no sand on the shoreline here. The shore is dotted with many rock forms and couples in love alike :). I thought who would be here on a mid-week afternoon? What was I thinking? After all, there are all these schools and colleges that work at that time and the young teenagers escape the boring class rooms to a more enchanting bandstand….

Thankfully there is a Barista (and also a café coffee day) facing the sea for those like me and I sipped on my lychee frappe drink taking in the view of the Arabian Sea until my hubby joined me after work!

The Goan experience!!

Rain danced around us playing hide and seek, more seeking than hiding, ugh, in our 3-day Goa trip. The vacation was officially over yesterday and we are touching reality. The experience was surreal, looking out into the rains that were as relentless as the waves hitting the beach behind our resort. Nevertheless at the first sight of rain slowing down, we donned our brightest blues and oranges that were packed for a Sunny Goa into the beach for a breathtaking picture session. Right after the rains, the waves still hitting huge tides and clouds teasing to come down pouring any moment, we hurriedly tried to make the most of our time- had an awesome couple of hours of the beach. The vast expanse of the ocean has always enthralled me; the sheer power and tirelessness and this time was no different. Except that it was my very first encounter with the Arabian Sea. Unconsciously I was always comparing and contrasting with my own marina beach. This one much smaller, with coconut trees on the shores was a much different spectacle I must say. In that aspect, it was also very different from the NJ beaches- Sandy Hook and Cape May and probably closer in comparison to the Portland beaches of Manzanita and Cannon, may be the west facing has something to do with it?

After the brief pause, Mr. Clouds again showed its might. As I sat on the balcony of a simple Udupi restaurant watching the rain and sipping Chai, I wished that time could be frozen forever. Indian Chai is best at the local shops rather than the multi star resorts. I remembered the morning chai that was served along with the breakfast in the resort. It was prepared for the firangi palate, almost black and flavorless. Soon after, we huddled back to the warmth of the resort suite.


Next day, braving the incessant showers, we took the city tour bus to take a south Goa sightseeing tour – so much unlike us. The first stop was to see the Old Portuguese mansion and museum. Pretty low key I would say if you have seen any of the mansions of Newport, RI. However what stood out was the generous ventilations that looked into beautiful gardens. The insides are pretty Spartan with furniture more functional than aesthetic. It included a little handicrafts museum showing the lives of yesteryear Goans and their livelihoods – wine making, pottery making and of course fish delicacies. Then we stopped at a couple of temples – these are reconstructed after the originals are destroyed by the Portugese invasion. One of the characteristics of the Goan temples is the Lamp tower or Deepmal or Deepa Stambha. Another characteristic is the Dome above the garbhagraha- probably a Mughal influence. St. Francis church is a major landmark in Goa, where the body of St, Francis is kept even today; he died in 1552. The architectural grandeur was apparent.
After a brief lunch stopover, we headed to Dona Paula, essentially a suicide point where Dona and Paula ended their lives. However the rain gods intervened and made the best spot of the day drown in its celebration. We witnessed the heaviest downpour at this spot. Except that there are no pictures, it truly was a breathtaking experience. Then the bus stopped at the Miramir beach to announce that it is the dirtiest beach in the state and that all the industry pollutants join the sea at this point. I wonder why! The last stop was at an aquarium, where the various sea flora and fauna were kept in captivity. Again, we aren’t great fans and hence could not wait to get back to our resort to unwind after a whole day of outing.

The third day was the highlight of the trip – nay the rains did not stop, however we decided to confront it head on, on a motor bike. What a pleasure?! On a Pulsar, under heavy downpour, with neither direction nor destination, we aimlessly rode on the deserted long stretches of roads, greenery on either side. Too bad there is no coastal road. However, we just kept going, until we got worried about the petrol in the tank. It was one awesome ride of our lives. We were reminded of our Martha’s Vineyard moped trek in September 2008, though the weather was much better then. Once again, the evenings were well spent with Jacuzzi, magazines from the resort library and plenty of football.

Any Goan experience is not complete without the mention of cashews. Apparently even wine is made out of cashews. We had sumptuous dinners every evening at the resort. Goan style pancake is a rolled pancake with the typical “poornam” (coconut and jaggery sweetpie)stuffed in it. The highlight was Bibinca, a layered pastry like dessert made out of maida, coconut, cashews etc. Was delicious!!

One of the most relaxing trips in a long time- simply because we had nothing to do thanks to the rains!!!!

Since we bade bye to Hyderabad.....

What a journey has it been? This last month, since we packed all our stuff into nine little boxes to Bombay! Since then we have time swapped our lives across Chennai, Madurai , Gangtok, Darjeeling, Bangalore and Tirupati. All along we have lived off suitcases – eeck! Always carrying laundry :(

Finally it is bliss to settle in a home which has my whole wardrobe. There is this t-shirt of mine, which is black, which is not very surprising, which creeps into my luggage trip after trip, destination after destination unfailingly. As much as I love the shirt, I hate to live off a subset of my clothes. At all points in time, I want access to my whole wardrobe only to pick the same t-shirt time and again:) This can happen now….

Today I am happy because I have something that resembles a home, and a decently equipped functional kitchen. I am happy my stuff from Hyderabad arrived in one piece and it was such a pleasure to just see all those things that I haven’t seen in a whole month! How materialistic am I? :(

Anyways, here is the detailed account of my Himalayan pursuit. After about 48 hours of train, plane, bus and van and sitting through a Bengali movie (called the Japanese wife!) to get a feel of true Bengali culture, we were finally in Darjeeling. The van dropped us off on the street and pointed to a building that was perched on top of a small hillock and said that was our hotel. While we were still taking in the panoramic valley view; we were confused as to how to reach that hotel with our luggage? At this point, a woman of about 50 years talked to us in broken Hindi that she will find a way to bring the luggage to the hotel and struck a deal. We were still perplexed but said okay. To our complete shock and embarrassment, she neatly packed about four suitcases on a crisscrossed rope and slid one edge of the rope like a head band on her forehead and started walking up the hill with the weight weighing her back down. We were simply dumbfounded. Human labor is just too cheap in India. We were about four of us each about half her age together spent Rs. 80 to shift the labor of lugging our own luggage on to her. I was truly ashamed….

And the next two days we spent ‘sightseeing’ Darjeeling- Mirik lake and Sunrise@ Kanchenjunga both of which refused darshan due to cloudy weather. Of course then, we went to patel points including Peace Pagoda, Ghum- the highest (7407 ft) railway station in India, costumed photo shoots in the tea plantations :D Funny experience!

The third day, we set off towards Gangtok. On the way, we decided the test the waters of Teesta! We got on to a raft and did what was called ‘white’ water rafting. Except for about two or three rapids, water was hardly ‘white’. It was more like an enjoyable boating on a sane and serene river.

Gangtok was more beautiful than what we had imagined - clean and upscale. Apparently everyone in the state of Sikkim gets free education till twelfth class and also given a loan to buy a taxi and taught driving if need be. And tourism is expensive here. Every city taxi is an Omni and adheres to weight limits. Without luggage only four people are allowed to travel in one taxi. Small shops and businesses have their earmarked districts and they all seem to be doing well. We observed an insane number of salons and spas in this area. The fine for littering is heavy and looked like people respected those rules.

Local culture was interesting - visiting local points of interest including Hanuman Tok, Ganesh Tok, Himalayan Zoo, Do Drol Chorten (a stupa) , a flower garden. We also enjoyed local cuisines - Thuppa a certain local noodle soup dish was particularly delicious.

And then the highlight was the trip to Baba mandir and Tsongo lake. Simply stunning views. Fairly snow clad and comfortably cold weather up above 14000 feet; awe inspiring mighty mountains- definitely a moment to cherish. A little above the famous Tsongo lake is the lesser known Manju lake which was no less beautiful. On the way back especially with needle like flurry falling outside our windows and land sliding traffic jams ahead of us, the snow covered yaks in the backdrop of fresh layer of snow on the lake water was such a pristine picture. Our cameras did not do justice to the splendid spectacle. Apparently the roads leading up to these points were opened only on that day after being closed down for about 10 days due to bad weather and earlier landslides. The rescue operations were still on. The people that guard the borders are true heroes. So it wasn’t exactly a safe journey; a tiny slip and you would be in pieces. However it was the fitting finale to a very enjoyable trip to the Himalayas. Thanks to the wonderful bunch of friends that made the trip possible and more pleasurable!

On the way back, we spent one day in Kolkata. We are still trying to figure out why?! Gardens around the Victoria museum and a buggy ride outside the Victoria museum, Saurav’s restaurant on Park street together may be can try and answer that question. However the culture of Kolkata lies in the maddening crowded streets of Bade Bazaar. The heat quotient made us opt out of shopping, however the rest made up for it!

That apart, the home made food and dear family took good care of us in the last month..... :)

When is the next vacation? :D

Hampi- Fascinated & fatigued!!

Two days later, here I am still alive from a trip that was both exhilarating and exhausting. The journey started in high spirits. Ten of us cramped in a cabin of a train played mafia. Between the first two games, mafias and villagers got even and were well fed to a delectable spread of dinner with cuisines from across the country. When we did realize that the whole compartment save us was trying hard to sleep, we hesitantly closed the session for a short night’s sleep. A woke us up at the ungodly hour of 5 am and said that the train was running ahead of time. Amidst skeptical looks, foul breaths and empty water tanks in the train, we passed the most difficult 40 minutes of the trip cursing A.

Checked into our rooms; we had a relaxing morning coffee. Overlooking a scenic and rustic garden interspersed with little cottages, under a cool early morning sun that was still making up its mind to peep out or hide back in, we lived our life rich :) (Now, that’s a term I picked on the trip thanks to a certain Laadanandji) Soon after that, complying with Indian Standard Time, we were ready by 8am for a 7:30am call at the breakfast table. That’s the convenience of being in India eh?



Treating the tummy to steaming idlys, toasts and corn flakes, and indulging ourselves to a few quick shots under the camera, we left promptly for the day’s sight seeing. In the first stop, we saw a partly restored monolithic statue of Lord Narasimha. There is a Shiv ling next to it. I wonder if this was the age when Shaivaites and Vaishnavaites lived in harmony with each other.

As the sun ascended in the sky to scaring heights, we were sheltered in an underground temple that housed some more Gods. The guide narrated the story of Kannapa Nayanar – see pic.



Sun continued its ascension. And we continued to brave the heat. The Zanana enclosure- the harem for the royal and the dancing women housed a center courtyard where various cultural compositions were played for the amusement of the kings and the queens guarded by eunuchs on three watch towers around the area. Architecturally advanced, these open air courtyards had the effect of an Air Conditioned auditorium due to the water lines built within the structures.

Another interesting observation is the communion of Hindu and Muslim styles in these structures. Vijayanagara kingdom was really a religiously tolerant empire that employed a few thousand Muslim soldiers in its army. They were eventually defeated by an insurgency from within on the face of a rare unity of four deccan sultanates against the empire. For some reason instead of taking control of the region after conquering the army, they plundered and reduced it to a ruinous state which is only partly restored to this day.




This slew of structures though architecturally superior, was aesthetically average. The ornate designs and minute carvings were missing. One of the other temples, the hallmark of Hampi has musical pillars. Apparently, the carnatic swaras could be replicated by tapping on these pillars. There were also certain pillars that could create the sounds akin to an instrument. The highlight of the day was the sunset view. From the uneven rocks across the plain ruins we could see a brilliant ball of golden yellow slowly losing sheen and sinking for the day. The sunset I thought progressively sped as if in a hurry to flee from the throngs of people marveling in the spectacle.

In sometime, we were back in the resort for a dip into the swimming pool. Though it seemed like it was relaxing, the moment we got off the pool in the late evening, we realized we were really exhausted for the day. We had a fairly quick dal-chawal type dinner. I was probably asleep in less than thirty seconds after eyeing the bed.

The next day dawned early, but beautifully to a hubby-ordered chai on the verandah of an exquisite cottage with the most delicate warmth of the sun. This is such a simple and a primal pleasure that everyone could indulge in every morning, day after day. Yet we usually choose the cozy bed and a lazy sleep. I wonder why?



That day, we decided to be more sensible in our sightseeing escapades, so we settled for a visit to the Virupaksha temple followed by a slow and soothing boat ride across the Tungabhadra. The best part of the day was the ten of us taking an auto ride together with the men doing the acrobatics and women getting squeezed and cooked in the heat. Quite a bonding opportunity :D When the sun was directly above our heads and when the sun screens and water bottles were getting emptied at the same rate, we decided to call it a day and headed home to a game of Pictionary and random rants nestled in a cool room.


After sun down, A & I had our first experience with a camel ride and with Rajastani food. Both the experiences were unique and satisfying. Thus ended our two day sojourn to the heat capital of South India.

In these two days we managed about 1000 pictures from various crazy angles, permutations of people, and combinations of coolers and caps. Why compromise on our little treasured keepsakes?

Travel-planalogue

Well, there is an upcoming travel plan. If everything goes as per plan,(well, we all have been taught to show reverence to nature when talking about the future :D) we will be one of the living witnesses amongst the ruins of Hampi. Yay!


ISB in all its glory of being the 12th best B-school in the world did its bit in being a great environment for the spouses on campus. May be if the ranking framework factored that in, ISB could be a whooping first- who knows?! Anyways, almost all our outings in Hyderabad have been with a bunch of friends. My two year old niece can count only till 2 and she can count how many times, my hubby and I have been out by ourselves :D The other times, our romance (?) has been graciously checked by our fond friends who love to hangout with us ;)

So Hampi is another such tour coming up! Apparently it is so ruined, that it can engage us for 4 days, but we would have to pick and choose the most ruinous parts to finish the scene in 2 days and 1 night. Wanna know another highlight of the trip? We are gonna have to walk a lot! Of course I am excited for A, his only overworked muscles are on the fingers thanks to keyboard and now he might just have to work other muscles too.

Can’t wait!

p.s. All our friends who love to hangout with us – we love you!

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

The king of Spain commissioned Rembrandt to paint “a philosopher”. This generic commission left Rembrandt with a great deal of freedom to choose his subject. His end product was an oil-canvas painting showing three subjects connected by a deep philosophical thread.

Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of all times is seen standing with his right hand placed on a bust of Homer and his left hand on his hip touching the heavy gold chain that he is wearing. The interesting aspect of the painting is the third character in the painting, Alexander the Great seen hanging in the form of a pendant from his gold chain.




In the Iliad, Homer explains the many rules of the game of life, the decisions and their consequences in practical life scenarios. Aristotle, the teacher and a contemporary of Alexander gifted him a copy of Iliad that became one of his prized possessions. With these seemingly fragile connections, one of the interpretations of the paintings is that Aristotle by placing his dominant (right) hand on Homer and by placing his inferior (left) hand on the golden chain symbolizes the nobility of Iliad and its teachings in comparison to the smallness of power and wealth of Alexander and his invincible kingdom.

While the intent of the artist can never be proved, and part of the plan was probably leaving the painting for possible interpretations, I found this interpretation very profound and insightful.

Time and again, I am touched by the wisdom that history has left for us.

Travelogue !

After weeks of preparation for the long weekend, we decided on Friday evening that we will grace our presence to a certain set of seaside towns. We had our plan all charted out in a few hours- We spent the Friday evening packing clothes, cooking and packing food, last minute laundry and the like. The excitement of the impending weekend was enough to keep me going. These days, I have become very health conscious and hence avoid eating out junk food as much. And hence we packed semiya upma for dinner and beans baaji with some variety rice for lunch.

Next day morning, we stepped out at 7:40 am and beating hours of Boston bound traffic, we made it just on time for whale watching at Plymouth, MA an hour north of Cape Cod. The town had a small town feeling and we really like such European touch to towns. After a hurried lunch of beans baaji and Chinch baath, we went out into the sea for a wonderful whale watching experience. It was awesome to be in the middle of the ocean about one and a half hours away from the land on a small steamship and surrounded by these huge mammal creatures in black and white.
We saw a large number of humpbacks and a few of the different genres. It is one thing to see such animals in a protected and a trained environment like the Sea World and such, where the animals perform really entertaining acrobatics; but it’s an entirely different thing to come to its natural habitat and see it in its own wilderness. These guys perform far less stunts but they are far more compelling as it appears when you least expect it. We also saw some mother-calf couplets – calves are far more energetic and lithe. We spent about an hour doing the watching in Stellwagen Bank. Supposedly, this is the feeding ground for the whales and they put on a few tons of body weight to sustain the next few months in the equatorial Atlantic. And that is the breeding ground – :)

So most of the day’s work for mother whales is to find food for itself and its calves. Calves don’t go in search of food until it is a few years old. Whales make these uncanny noises to communicate and remain within calling distance of the family. These noises are really loud and possibly much louder under water, as sound travels faster under water. The naturalist on board made an interesting comment that the minerals, planktons and other fish essential nutrients in the ocean gives it a characteristic dark greenish color and that it is not a sign of polluted water. Apparently, the super clear waters we find in the Carribean is a sign of lack of nutrients and fish food.


On the way back, it was super cold, with winds zipping past you, it was a phenomenal experience. But we could not sustain it for long and went indoors to doze off the remainder of the ride. Back in the seaside town, after being in the large expanse of America’s countryside, we were able to appreciate the closeness and compactness of street side shops. After about an hour ride to the hotel, we enjoyed the boxed dinner again and retired for the day. The high intensity Djokovic's 4th round match against Cilic was not enough to keep us up.

Next day morning greeted us with a decent breakfast spread that included eggs, bread toasts, cereal, little cartons of milk, bagel and cream cheese, muffins and pastry, fruits, waffles and coffee. After a healthy and filling breakfast, we headed to the island of Martha’s Vineyard. The parking lot for the ferry station was a good 45 minutes away and they had shuttles going back and forth. After about a 45 minute slow ferry ride, we were on the island. There are mopeds that you can rent here and use it to explore the island.


And hence we promptly rented one and set on a bon voyage. Some of my best experiences of my life ensue here. After about twenty minutes, we stopped briefly in a beach to get our first soak. Then we headed further south to the Edgartown lighthouse, which is on a man-made island some quarter mile from the coast and is accessible by a foot bridge.

After another brief stop at a little town-like ice-cream shop, we headed west. It was miles and miles of nothingness and forests on either side; actually to the south should be the coast and some wonderful beaches that we could see through the forest at certain points, but they were private beaches and some public farms in between. One of these public farms looked interesting and the board said “pony rides” and we took the left. After about a mile on dirt road, we came face to face with a small stable and two horses. It was a beautiful sight in the backdrop of a ever-extending blue ocean. There were no people around and the last car that passed by us was a good 10 minutes back when we were on the highway. In this secluded and scenic spot, we wanted take in for posterity with a good canon shot; and just as we pulled the camera out, the horse started speeding towards the gated end of the stable. Before we could think about anything, we ran for our lives calling the Gods to save us! I still do not know why it suddenly stopped at the end of the gate- the gate was a mere 2 feet high and the horse could have trampled us if wanted to.
In a jiffy, back on the moped and back on the highway, we were sweating and puffing with the increased adrenalin rush and we knew that was the most insane thing we have done in a long long time. Riding further west, with sun exactly ahead of us, we reached another light house in Aquinnah called the Gay Head Cliff light house. And there was also a public access beach nearby. It was a nice view from the cliff and some pictures bear proof to the adventurous exploration of the territory. On the way back, we stopped at a very nice little coffee place and I could not help but notice that I ordered a small latte but said “Tall” latte! Starbucks Rules ! We went to yet another lighthouse in OakBluffs called the East Chop light house for more pictures and more beaches. Rest of the evening was uneventful and we bade good bye to the moped after we made every penny spent worthy of it.

With the better part of the long weekend behind us, we went to check out the Cliff Side walk and the adjoining mansions in Newport, RI. This place houses some of the biggest family residential structures displaying grandeur on the majestic coasts of a blue ocean. There is a little 3.5 mile walk way all along backsides of these mansions bordering the ocean. Apparently the waves in this part of the ocean makes it a good spot for water skiing and we saw some skiiers in action. There are about 15 mansions taken over by the Presevation society of Newport and we saw the insides of one of them- The Breakers - the Vanderbilt mansion.


The architecture was true to the inspiration; rich with influences from the East, and yet consistent; with great emphasis on finer details of ceiling design, wall decor, fittings and fixtures.


The view of the ocean from a certain balcony like looking area on the second floor of the house was magnificent. It was whooping 17-bedroom house with living room of 50 feet cube design.

After a long and tired ride, we still had the energy for the US open on Tuesday ! Again Djokovic's and Fed's five setters made it all worth the while. Though our seats on the center court was closer to the sky than to the court, we could sneak in to better parts of the stand for great views of the game. Fed's game was definitely sub-par, but that is what took it to five sets and the emergence of the champion. Looking forward to Djokovic vs Fed today to see if the epic finals of French and Wimbledon could be repeated for a different finish!



Go Federer !!

Travelogue !

It was one of those eventful weekends that happen once a while. It started with me hauling two pieces of innocent looking luggage that turned very bulky when I had to lug to the PATH station five minutes from home. We met at WTC, boarded the A train –fairly straight forward and we were at the JFK airport in roughly an hour. The flight took off after an apparent delay due to closing of gates ;) an hour beyond schedule. Reached one of our friends’ places for the night, fought through cold and had an early morning around 9am. Can you believe?? AZ does not provide homes with heaters!!

After a cereal breakfast, it seemed like the Grand Canyon will be taken over by Wii and playing tennis using the Nintendo software seemed more attractive than the purpose of the trip. In sometime, all the people that were to gather arrived, after battling over some lost baggage we finally decided to start around 4pm, Saturday by two cars to the much awaited two day Grand Canyon trip. The first scheduled stopover was at Sedona, which we together vetoed against due to lack of time. It was a fifteen mile detour from the rest of the plan. On second thoughts, No! There are no second thoughts. We were late to see the sunset anyways. The next pit stop at Flagstaff was at the call of our tummies – had delicious Italian fettuccini pasta for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Ala! There was also Wal-Mart. People who lost baggage had every reason to do some quick shopping, but the others followed suit too. I can’t pardon myself for the confusion caused over my missing handbag which was eventually found safe in the car. Finally we were off for another two hour drive to Page where lodging was booked for the night. Our car developed an acute shortage of fuel some 30 minutes from Page. The fuel meter reads red and all one could see was a vast expanse of nothing and beyond a couple of miles into the nothingness were mountains. Panic set. Top it all, there was no signal detected by the cell phones. We tried dim-dipping to the car in front, apparently to no consequence. Finally, after reducing gas consumption by switching off music, heaters, (we could have tried the head lights too ;) ) we did reach Page, with a few drops of petrol still intact. :) After the gas station, we checked into our hotel rooms, had a long evening of moonshine, Mafia- the game and gag. We finally hit the sack around 2 am. The next day to the pleasant surprise of everyone present, we checked out at 9: 30 am after a filling breakfast.


The first place we actually visited was Glen Canyon dam. It is on the eastern sides of north rim. There was some disagreement if it was the state of Utah or Arizona. Whatever it was legally, it was a treat to watch the steep sides of the canyon. The depth was close to 600 feet and it looked dizzyingly precipitous. Photo session started there.


The next stop was at Horseshoe Bend. It involved about half a mile hike down slope to the edges of the rocks. From there, the view was breathtaking. A disconnected crater in the middle surrounded by waters at that depth was spectacular and scary. It was both a little cold and a little hot from the sun - too unhealthy for the camera and ours passed out. It was frustrating to lose the camera in the middle of the trip, it was quite depressing. The hike back to the car on the upslope was a fitness test that we barely passed ;). We started driving south and the next scheduled stopover was for Monument Valley.


After a brief and unfulfilling lunch break over BK’s fries and some grocery stores’ croissant, we drove further to an Indian town – Goulding. This place supposedly preserves the Navajo way of life, sandstone buttes, spires and mesas of South West. Monument Valley is a Navajo Nation tribal park, straddling the border of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah of the Colorado Plateau. There was some recognizable sandstone natural structures – three sisters, King’s throne etc and not-so-discernable ones that we named ourselves! We also took pictures on the border of Arizona and Utah :) Yeah, the camera was resuscitated!

After a looong drive south, we retired for the day at Williams overnight. The next day, Sunday started at 4 am. We were to drive an hour and a half north to the South Rim to catch the Grand Canyon at sun rise!


At this point, we were too exhausted and too cold from the winds and winter, that waiting for sun rise seemed too stretched. However catching the sunrise was an awe-inspiring experience. In the depths of rocks, and more rocks that looked layered and worn-out with age, heat, cold and drought, there was some vegetation that was destined to survive the desert and cold. It was like a life lesson to stand up in unfamiliar surroundings to be announced the winner! As the day broke, there were photos and more photos. At this point, people were too very fatigued and the trip was cut short by a few hours and we started driving drown to Phoenix. Somewhere in between we caught some good shots of Humphrey’s Peak, Arizona’s tallest - 12.6K feet high. We witnessed pencil slopes, the shaven trees and some hard snow. It was like a good trip ending on a fine note.

Around 3pm, we reached Phoenix, looking like sleep deprived maniacs. The cheese on the Enchiladas for dinner looked TOO cheesy for the first time ;) That was the effect. Finally we flew out at midnight and reached JFK Tuesday morning.

A fine trip, something that I looked forward to for a long time is so suddenly over ;)!

Labor Day weekend

Being "our" first long weekend, (after being married) A and I spent it in a rather special way .. in his university town, Corvallis @ his friend's place. After a special dinner cooked by his Bachelor friends, I got to ride cycle err... bike after a span of 7 years.. That felt great and that was just the beginning.. Then it was cards time.. For about a hour and a half, we were blissfully engaged with it, with A accumulating A-spade, A-Hearts, A-Clubs, A-Dice and K-Spade until ....... To Him, 8/52 cards went this way and just 5 came via random distribution !! We thought that was unfair and switched gears to plain lacha...... Went on and on and on and on till 4 am !! It is easily one of my longest evenings .... Topics ranging from college fun, which payyan see which ponnu, love marriage vs arranged marriage, Ashes, US open and back again to trashest of talks..

Late morning, the next day, hogged at Izzys - Pizza bar, Salad Bar, Dessert bar and Fruits Bar .. was really too much worth the money .. that I could hardly walk to the car, bend down and make to the inside of the car!

Indeed a fun way to spend a weekend .. right?