Paris, Je Taime..

This was the article which was published in last years Nth degree, next to Anshu’s article “Reject me Please!” which was so much better than mine. But I am anyways proud at it. This was my first attempt at writing and so here it goes….

Going places has always been one of my greatest passions. Going to paris was a dream come true. I had been preparing for weeks. I had read every single travel book and travel log I could get my hands on. But the real thing completely exceeded my expectations. After the long eight hour flight, finally arriving was a big relief. I had heard a lot about the French and from it I concluded that the French were generally difficult people and specially for outsiders who spoke no French. But the books proved to be wrong when I met my guide Jean at the airport. He turned out to be nice and friendly and seemed to know everything about paris. So after hopping into the car we decided to do a little sightseeing first as the hotel was a little far from the city.

Paris is one of the most populated metropolitans in Europe. It is divided by the river sienne . it is flanked on both sides by some of the most important structures in paris. So we decided to start our trip by going on the river sienne cruise. It was fun to look at all the buildings, but got a little boring towards the end because after a while they all looked pretty much the same. We pretty much so all the monuments along the river including the smaller version of the Statue of Liberty ( the larger version was gifted to the USA by the French after American independence).

Then we strolled down The Avenue des Champs Elysees (the main street in Paris). We started from the Arche De Triomphe. The triumphal arch honours those who fought for France particularly during the Napoleonic wars. On the inside and the top of the arch there are the names of the generals who fought in the war. Underneath is the tomb of the unknown soldiers from World war I. from the view of the city is beautiful. Then we walked towards Eiffel , named after its designer ,engineer Gustave Eiffel. It is the tallest structure in Paris.

It is only accessible to the second level and because we were tired we decided to use the elevator. It was a panoramic view which has been captured by millions of painters across the globe. It looked very pretty lit up at night. It is because of this tower that Paris is called the city of lights.

After this we decided to call it a day . dinner turned out to be bread and cheese. Food was extremely bland. Next day we went to the Disneyland park and studio. It was the best part of the trip. I made it a point to go on all the rides and get autographs of all my favourite cartoon characters. In Disney studio we saw the making of some of the Disney classics. We saw the first ever Mickey mouse cartoon made by Walt Disney. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and spent the whole day there. In Disneyland it was difficult to get any vegetarian food so we had to survive on French fries. It was one of the most memorable days of my life.

The next day was left for shopping. Being the fashion capital of the world, it had all the major brands and designer boutiques. We went to stores like GAP, Gucci, Prada, Chanel, H&M etc. then we went to the small flea markets that seemed to be everywhere and shopped without burning a hole in our pockets. We got some of the best bargains here and also the opportunity to interact with many French people. But it was difficult to haggle because we did not know or understand even a word of French. But the French turned out to be very helpful and we went to a pizza place with a couple of people we met their.

Thus endeth ,a great journey to the land of famous monuments, gardens and museums- the beautiful city of Paris. Now I can sense, why its called the most romantic city… but I still haven’t seen the Musee de Louvre and other famous impressionist museums and the Palace of Versailles . maybe I need one more trip just for all the museums…and maybe I can see the Eiffel tower once more.

we hate wht u like n love wht u hate so world frm us to u .. "up yours ... !!!"

Anshu Gupta....i had no knowledge of his existence for the whole of the 1st semester.Then i came across him in the 2nd sem because of the whole electronics club thing. I know this sounds really boring ,but this is the way the story goes.I cant help it.It was this boring. I must have spoken to him one on one maybe once or twice in the whole semester. Then he passed out of college and I didnt even speak to him on the day of his farewell.But in the summer we just got talking and its barely been a month since i have known him...But in a very cliched way it feels like i have known him forever.We like similar things.We talk similar.We think similar.The title of this blog is an ingenious creation by him at 3am in the morning yesterday.

Being in different countries their is not a lot of scope for exchanging birthday gifts. And writing a nice scrap as he suggested is not my thing. And testimonials are so passe. So i thought i would make him a part of my blog.He is not big on celebrating birthdays or gifts but I am.So this is my gift to him. I know he has been through a lot in life. But the constant smile on his face inspires me. He has this amazing never say die spirit which I admire a lot.And even though he is very humble and thinks he hasnt done anything great in life.I am very proud of him and all that he has done.Although he is not here but every time his name is mentioned in college this huge smile just automatically comes on my face. He takes care of me,helps me and guides me in every way possible and when he calls me beta i think its the cutest.His sense of humour is his biggest virtue and one day he is going to do stand up comedy in my restaurant (be there)is the pact that we have made.I get him and he gets me.We talk about virtaualy anything and everything fron aaloo too electronics. Even though he is a puppy (in his own words)he is the worlds cutest puppy.So heres my toast to him on this amazing friends birthday.Be happy and stay the way you are.

Happy Birthday.....

Free Like A Bird

A very clichéd idiom if you ask me. But is this phrase even true. Is it justified to consider a bird flying in the air to be free.Freedom has been defined by wiki as the right to act according to ones will without being held up by the power of others. According to this definition even a bird is not free. There is always a fear, an uncertainty. The fear of death. The uncertainty of survival. A bird is still an animal. But for us this fear is not just limited to an individual, it exists for every single person we care about. For as long as the world has been in existence, their have always been power hungry people who have tried to influence the naïve and illiterate. Even though the world has awakened and seen I don’t know how many struggles of independence we are not free in the true sense. There are still people who do not have minds of their own. They are not stupid. They are just easily led and the power hungry have always been successful in exploiting them and taking advantage of them. Literacy does make us free in many ways. It allows our thoughts to flow. But literacy cannot make your decisions for you. These people who are influenced by others usually wait for others to make decisions for them and end up screwing things up badly. Even while picking up an outfit what is the necessity to think about whether other people are going to like it or not. Youth comes for a short period of time. This is the only time a person gets to be crazy without any regrets, then why do we spend so much time dwelling on what others will think. Because we are not FREE. We are bound. There are a million things that hold us back. Our family, our friends, our colleagues, our loved ones.
Even though the world has moved towards nuclear families, how many Indian families are actually nuclear. Maybe people don’t live in the same house, but our decisions depend on each other. Is it because of love or respect or is it just for the feeling of acceptance and approval. The “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther fills me with hope that the world will be free one day. That we will have the freedom to make our own choices and that the bird will actually be free.

Love Life

After you are gone

Trees last so long
Even after you are gone
I know that you love me
And so you will see
You are meant for me
And I was meant for you…..


Jumping from a strict convent girl’s school to a co-ed was a huge step in my life. It was one of the most unnerving experiences ever. I missed my friends, and I was sure I would never make friends again in my life. But the scariest part were these weird looking creatures who were loud, dirty and too sure of themselves, a.k.a the guys. I was severely intimidated, and pretty much mumbled my introduction to the class. The teacher was kind enough and welcomed me to the seventh grade. In those days the girls and boys were made to sit together so that the class would be a little less boisterous. Being one of the tall girls the teacher had no option but to make me sit in the only vacant seat at the back of the class. I stumbled through the row and took my seat without looking up even once. That’s the day I met him. He came forward and introduced himself. I was too bashful to even look up. I didn’t talk to him the first few days. I was too scared. He was one of the popular guys, I was the new girl. But we became friends. We helped each other in tests, got caught by I don’t know how many teachers for cheating. Did a number of projects together .We became friends.

By the time we were in the eighth grade people started teasing us. In the ninth grade we stopped talking. But I had started liking him and I missed him. I had never felt that way before. I had no one to talk to. My friends were already making fun of me. I told my best friend and it was her advice that changed my life. He was leaving that year. He was moving to another city. She said I would never see him again and so I should tell him. On the last day of ninth grade I waited at the bus stop while my friends went to get him. I turned my back when I saw him coming. When I felt him close I turned around and there he was. I was a bundle of nerves. Before I could say anything he said he had always thought of me as a friend and never anything more than that. I was heart broken. But I was too young to realise that this was just the first in a million times my heart was going to break. I got home and cried for him for two whole days.
Later on I found out that my best friend had been going out with him. She never felt the same to me after that.

Two years passed. I got his mail. I had no intentions of replying. I was angry. But I did. We exchanged phone numbers. We spoke to each other everyday. It happened again and on October 1st after almost one whole year, he confessed that he liked me. I was overjoyed. It felt like love. It was perfect. Then his phone got confiscated. I missed him and cried for a week. We had our boards approaching. Eventually we stopped talking. For 6 months we didn’t talk. After coming back from Britain I called him on his birthday.

I don’t know where we are today. I don’t know where we are going. But without talking for months he is still a very important part of my life. I have some superb school memories and the sweetest things that he said are still with me. I dearly love him and hope him all the luck on his birthday today. He deserves all the happiness and love. Maybe I am not as important to him but he will forever remain one of the most vital persons in my life.

Café Basilico – Bistro and Deli

It was the second day of our reunion gala, and as usual we were stuck in Bandra. We were more than tired of our usual hangouts (Mocha, Red Box, China Gate etc.). The day before we had gone to Phoenix Mills to celebrate a birthday and we ended up eating at Bombay Blues and buying clothes from U.C.B. Today I was treating for my birthday after six whole months. We thought of going to Noodle bar but it didn’t feel all that exciting. Then we crossed Papa Pancho and I remembered the day when after a horrible Pace exam we had decided to drown our sorrows by blowing cash. We decided to go to Basilico, not a very wise decision because we had to leave after looking at the menu card. When I said we were going to blow cash I meant the cash we had on us. So we got out all red faced, while the waiters eyed us like we were filth. But I always meant to go back there, so we had made our decision. It was going to be Basilico again after two whole years.

We got their by one which was a wee bit early for lunch. But we got really nice tables, far from the kitchen but still visible to the waiters. The décor was mostly organic green and woody, low lighting and loud conversations and slow music. We were five of us and all of us believe in experimenting .We had pretty much had it with pastas but we still wanted Italian food. This restaurant serves mostly a mix of Italian , Moroccan and American food. We quickly decided on the appetizers- Fresh tomato and basil bruschetta ( Rs.260/-) which was basically French baguette topped with fresh cherry tomatoes , basil ,cheddar tossed in garlic paprika. The tomatoes were fresh and the bread was well done but the portions were really tiny. The service was at snails pace so we decided to order the entrees and desserts together. By now the place was filled. It was surprising , being a Wednesday afternoon and we even managed to do a little celebrity spotting.

As entrees we ordered a creamy mushroom risotto ( Rs.350/-) which was a basic risotto served with fresh mushrooms, speed gazpacho salsa (yum!!) fresh oregano and extra virgin olive oil. The portions disappointed us again but it made up on the flavour. We also had a spinach and cottage cheese ravioli in white sauce ( Rs.400/-) which is a pasta stuffed with spinach and cottage cheese. I liked the filling but the white sauce did not impress me much. We also had an open rustic lasagne ( Rs.400/-). This was different from a basic lasagne because it had a nice assortment of grilled vegetables and just the right kind of basil pesto to go with it. To complete it we ordered a penne paprika ( Rs.350/-) ,since we just had to have a pasta, which was apparently supposed to be penne with broccoli in a rich paprika cream sauce but tasted more like an arabiata. Even though it tasted good but it was not exactly what we had in mind. The garlic bread kept coming (Rs.100 each).

But the meal was not over yet. The most important part was still to come. Dessert!!. We ordered a gooey chocolate cake( Rs.250/-). It was the star of the lunch. A beautiful chocolate cake with rich chocolate sauce dripping from it. We also had a fresh blueberry cheesecake (Rs.250/-)which was pretty good, but I have had better. We also had an apple pie(Rs.250/-), which I did not like one bit. It had too much cinnamon which completely drowned the apple flavour. We would have ordered drinks but the drink menu only had canned juices and soft drinks ,so we decided to skip it.

Overall we had a nice time catching up on all the gossip ,eating good food and listening to horrible music. It’s a nice place to see and be seen ,but make sure your pockets are full. A meal for two would cost around Rs.1500/- without the drinks.

I broke a nail

My French manicure has gone down the drain and it was just two days old. This just proves that baby sitting is a tough job. It is not meant for the faint hearted. It is exhausting as it involves a serious amount of running around, picking up from class, dropping to class, cleaning around etc. Especially when you are dealing with a cranky two year old, an accident prone six year old and a highly demanding twelve year old. Not that it’s not fun. I just adore kids particularly when they are asleep. Until last year I myself was a kid and I simply adored myself. But they do get on your nerves at times.

Research has shown that the attention span of children is steadily decreasing as we are advancing in technology. Even the amount of information that they can register is declining. Not true. I have proof. It’s easy and can be safely performed at home. The first step is to switch on your television set to a music channel. Now place your two year old gently before it. The child will not respond to any name calling, actions, food ,anything. The eyes will be fixed till you don’t switch it off. Theorem one hence proved. Now for the second theorem we take the same child and play a number the have heard before. If you are lucky along with the out of tune lyrics you will be rewarded with a hip jiggling number (inclusive of all the matkas and jhatkas ) . This justifies that they have a much higher memory power than what we had at their age.
To perform the next experiment we will need half a dozen two year olds. Place them in a room full of toys and games and awesome goodies. Now to stimulate the reaction place a cranky kid in the centre of the room, in a few seconds you will observe loud noises coming from the room. On entering the room you will observe that every single child is howling at the top of their lungs. You have just been successful in stimulating a chain reaction using children.

Being six is a tough job. You have just entered second grade which is so much tougher than the first grade. You have suddenly lost your front teeth. This time when peer pressure starts coming around. Other than school you are juggling violin lessons, piano lessons, basket ball class, swimming lesson and an extra math class. And along with all of this you are turning seven in a week. You have to have the best birthday bash. It has to have everything- tattoo artists, hair braiding, magicians , jugglers ,jewellery making, puppet show, big screen movie, horse riding, ferries wheel, toy train etc. But you don’t want to go too overboard. You have to appear original at the same time. To top it off you realise the violin and piano lessons are a waste of time , you are actually interested in pop rock. I was at shoppers with my cousin looking for a birthday dress. When all of a sudden she went missing. Then we heard loud noises coming from the dressing room and there she was singing the very famous temperature by Sean Paul after locking herself up in the room. I think this much pressure is enough to blow the top off any kid. To top it off she broke a finger at her basket ball class. Ouch.

I think being twelve is the most difficult part of ones life. It’s a state of confusion when only those things that are wrong appear right. You firmly start to believe in its either my way or the highway. Your body is developing in a weird way. Stuff is happening. You have finally reached the stage where you can’t buy clothing from kids stores cause they don’t stock your size. You can finally wear adult clothing. Then you see Kareena Kapoor and you decide to give up food. You even start wearing clothes similar to hers but your parents have a problem with that. Guys have finally started noticing you( they are finally over the cuddy’s phase). And then hell breaks loose. It’s the worst time of your life. You don’t know how you will ever face the world again. You have developed a zit. You are desperate to get rid of it. You have spoken to your mum, all your aunts, and grand mum about it. You have tried all their remedies, given up oil and your favourite chocolates. You have also consulted a dermatologist. But the zit is still persistent. And that’s not the only problem in life. You suddenly realise you are being pushed harder to study. Your parents have already started talking about the IITs and the wonderful careers they never had. You finally end up feeling like an ugly duckling with an older woman’s wardrobe and demented parents.

But honey,
Dats life

Where do i start??

What are the qualifications required to be a writer? Essentialy a blogger? Quiet frankly I dunno .Do they have a book called “Writing for Dummies”. They probably do. If books entitled “Divorce for Dummies “ can exist (remember the scene from “Little Manhattan”) ,anything is possible. This whole thing about writing is that I have been hanging out with Hannah , this friend cum neighbour, and we discussed people without any knack or skill who have penned down whole books and it just made me wonder about those who are just wasting this talent and I actually happen to know such people (my grandma for instance) and I feel really sad for them. I think it’s just a question of getting your butt down and just writing. This made me realise that if people who do not possess the ability to produce best selling or even just selling books can do this I probably should give it a shot.

So that’s me ,hardly anything original, most of the time doing stuff a million people have already done and a million people are still to do. I completely identify myself with Mia Thermopolis (“Princess Diaries” the books ,the movies you must have come across it). And that’s way before she find’s out she is a princess .Oh yeah!!!! I have zero self-confidence exactly like her. Just add 50 pounds more , take off the braces and remove the curly hair and VOILA ,you have me!!!! The whole thing about writing is that I am a very avid reader. I can read nearly anything and everything. I get nightmares if I don’t read a book before I doze of. I am actually a little worried about that. So I think this can be a reason for developing an interest in the art of writing. I was always good at writing from life experiences in school and also I am great at making up stuff. But I think what sells today is a witty, chatty, funny author. But I have made up my mind to give it a try and I am definitely ready to do so.

Until next time,
Ciao…