Sunday, December 03, 2006

Pal... moments

Was listening to this song some time back

"Aanewaala pal jaane waala hai.. hosake to isme jindagi bitado.. pal jo yeh jaane waala hai"

This seemed so true at that moment... Who knows what s in store for us in the next few moments...

We forget this and keep thinking either about our past or future and keep worrying in life... Some times I wonder is life worth all these worries... Can we live life without thinking about what will happen in the next few days...??

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Blue Ridge Parkway

Days of waiting were finally over. After a Lot of debate on whether we would go to The Great Smoky Mountains or The Blue Ridge Parkway!!!, there was consensus on the latter.And when enquired, we found that it had started snowing and that was the indication that fall colours would come to an end soon.. and this was the right time to give a fabulous treat to your eyes.

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Armed with 2 SUVs and a full size car, we folks headed out of Macon. Braving the rains, we finally reached Candler(North Carolina) which was our shelter from the harsh climate in the night. We spent the night eagarly waiting for the sun to rise with a favourable climate... so that we could admire the beauty of nature.

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It was dawn soon.. and we went out to embrace the cold winds...Just as we were trying to get the feel of nature.. chillness creeped in and all of got into our jackets... After a little bit of photography here and there we finally started off. As we were on our way to the Mountains.. we could see a very beautiful picture.. It seemed very much like a wonderful painting... The deep blue sky at the background and the giant mountain filled with green, yellow, orange, red and dark red trees... For a moment, it makes you wonder.. were these the same trees which a few months back had lush green leaves swaying their way to glory...

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As we went further up.. the view got blurry...the clouds, the cliff and the road all seemed to merge into one. It was reminiscent of the old movies depicting scenes of heaven and whether we would actually make it there or not when our time comes, here we were touching the clouds.

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And then began the descent down the curvy roads. An early dinner of bread, butter, calamari and lime squeezed into water; and we were all set for our journey back. Inspite of a car full of drowsy people we reached home sweet home.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Few pics from my trip last week...

Beauty would be a very small word to describe... what we saw last weekend... It seemed.. God gave us just 2 eyes... to gaze at so much beauty.... Thanks to the person who invented cameras... we could capture at least a little of the beauty...

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Usually I go office a bit late.. But today I made it a point that I go early...

As soon as I got down the stairs.. there was a nice cold breeze.. i just lifted my head.. and saw leaves were just dropping off the trees...Wow.. It was so wonderful.... I just wanted to sit there and stare at the same... But then just today I had thought of going to the office soon... So just left from there..

Looking at the leaves.. coming down so graciously.. left me thinking.. how could nature have so much of beauty.. its just amazing!!!!

Monday, October 23, 2006

weekend...

2 weekends back it was pretty hectic... We were moving into a different apartment... We started to move things on friday night itself, so that Saturday we could do the setting up :)

Saturday by 1 we were done shifting all the things...including our Sofa and two heavy tables... After all 4 girls can do this :)
After the tiring work.. we went to have lunch in the Indian restaurant.. and for a change the food was good... then we headed towards Walmart for groceries n stuff... Luckily we found some cushions etc on sale.. We bought a few for our new home...It was fun shopping for the home ( I love it )

It was around 7 that we decided we leave for the lake nearby.. We reached there and wow what a beauty.. though it was getting dark.. Infact the darkness was just enhancing the beauty of the lake.. We sat there and talked and talked... for 1 hr.. then it became too dark that we couldnt see each other's face... We then went for the movie 'departed'... we had a eventful weekend

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Opinions...

Speak less with people whom u love the most, coz, if they can’t understand ur silence they can never understand ur words.

Is this true??
If this is then do people in love never talk??
I would say...

Speak more with people whom you love the most, coz, if you cannot come out with words in front them ... you cannot do it in front of anybody

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Wish I had a home here

I was just sitting on one of the rocks and waiting for G.... Turned around and my eyes just caught this sight.... It was just mind blowing.... esp with the mild breeze

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As soon as G came... I showed him this... and asked him... if a house could be built here... I wanted to stay just right there...

But soon had to face reality.. and had to come back to the routine life.. :)

Path Crossing

Paths cross... seems like its the ending.. but may be its just a new beginning of a new path...

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Me in India...

When u go to a different place.. its quite natural to miss home... And even more when u are away from home for a long long time...

There are a lot of things which u are reminded of...
When mom tells u to eat food... and u insist on going out..
When ur family wants to spend time with u.. and u want to go out
When ur brother/sister is eagerly waiting to get guidance from u.. and u tell them check the internet

Well not everybody is like what I said.... you might be very much with ur family...

When u go far away u miss all these things... How much ever technology might have made the world closer.. U might have phones, internet.. which can keep u connected to ur family more than ever...still the personal touch is always missing...

Well to have this wonderful experience of personal touch I finally planned my trip... home sweet home.. and must I say it was the sweetest time i spent the whole year...

I reached Delhi intl airport and from there started my journey in India... Once i sat in the AC shuttle bus (was feeling cold.. and was really fed up with the AC for 2 days in the airport..in the plane...) from there as soon as we hit the road... saw the Delhi traffic.. and just smiled to myself... "It would take a lot of courage to drive like this.. :-)... I just saw the people on 2 wheelers and felt so nice... Inspite of the traffic and all those.. I was kind of satisfied seeing people on road..

Then 5-6 hrs in the domestic airport felt too long.. as I had all my luggage with me.. as there wasnt anybody to check in the luggage... I had to make a call home o inform them I reached India.. but there was only 1 STD available which was inside... and for that I had to get my luggage screened.. After a long... (very very very long is what i felt.... so near yet so far from home) wait... I landed at Bangalore finally on Sunday... I was desperate to get my bags.. as until that was done.. I coouldnt go meet my family... As soon as I got it.. I pushed thru the cart... and went out.. hugged mom... dad bro had come there.. oh my brother had become pretty tall and had a pretty neat body compared to the skinny cutie pie i had left behind...
My 2 uncles had come and my sweet cousin sis and my little cousin bro too... It was amazing looking at them...

As we went out of that place... just outside.. and just to meet me.. G's mom and G's sweet sis were waiting.. it was so nice to see them too... We were standing there and chatting for a long time...

Then all of us thought i should go home and take a little rest....(i dint want any though)

Well my uncles had got their cars.. and my bro s, sis, one uncle and me in one car...and mom, dad and uncle in another... Half the way and my mom was so eager to see me and talk to my... I got down in one of the signals and shifted to the other car...

On the way got the feel of B'lore... That much of traffic.. so many people... I felt I missed it so much... I just opened the windows and just felt the air so much... Who cares if the air is polluted or not... For the first time I loved to see so many people on the road... traffic etc etc...
After all this and some while it finally sunk in .... I was back home... in India...

Sunday, August 20, 2006

home..sweet home

Now that its been more than a year.. wish to go home had been increasing a lot...

Never had I been away from mom for more than 2 weeks... and I still cant believe how I could stay without my family for so many days in such a far off place..

But now just 2 more weeks and I will be with my family.. I am so excited.. But will be with them for a very few days.. and will be back soon...

I am just hoping these 2 weeks get over very soon.. and next few weeks when I am in India let the days go very very slow...

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

1 year in US

Its been a year now since I have started working in US...

My first time in US

There is so much difference from then n now...

Before:
Anxiety.. tension.. fear.. excitement.. and lot of other things... fear of how ppl will be over here.. if i can understand what they speak..

Now:
anxiety.. only for certain things
tension.. sometimes tensed about home parents n bro..
fear.. of what???
excitement.. well have to go back to India for vacation so that excitement is there
Ppl over here.. atleast in my office they are very sweet.. very nice and yes now i can understand what they speak.

Lots more to write... but then sometime later

Saturday, July 08, 2006

My Vacation for the Independence Day - Part 1

Friday:

Flight tickets were booked, hotel reservations were made, rental car booking was done.. My leave was approved.. Everthing was going good... 4days of holiday!!!
American Independence day on 4 July.. (this was on a tuesday).. I had taken leave on 3rd.. so that I could get 4 full days and could go away from here.. from work.. from the place.. into a totally different world.. (all this just for a change)

My flight was at 8.10 PM, so i thought if I left my place at 5 I would have enough time to travel to Atlanta and check in.. A's flight was at 6.30. she had to a little early.. I went to drop her to the groome... but she missed the 4.00 PM groome.. So we decided we will drive to airport... And we came to office to get my laptop... everybody in office was wishing "have a gr8 trip" "have a good weekend" etc etc.. and then went home picked up my bag and then off we left for the airport... I drove pretty fast.. was in 80mph.. (in speed limit 65)..(thank god there were no cops).. But after all this too.. we got stuck in traffic for more than half an hr.. By the time we reached office it was 6.30 PM. A missed her flight.. then she finally got the next available ticket.. this was at 9.30. My flight too got delayed from 8.10 to 9.10 PM. By the time I reached Philadelphia airport, it was 11.30 and by the time we got our car and reached the hotel it was 12.30 in the morning.... All tired and slept of for a wonderful day next day.

One pic of NY

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Rest to be continued (under construction...)

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Me myself & myself

How many times do we just sit all alone outside the house staring at trees.. the roads... the houses around...
All of them are either so busy.. or want to catch up some sleep which they missed during weekedays.. or watch TV or surf the net.. or watch a movie.. but have we got some time where we can just sit back and keep staring at nothing... just think back on something...somethings past.. do we sit n remember about people who were part of our lives.. Do we just leave our past and keep running towards our future... And these days we are running so that we can live even tomorrow's life today...
Ok now all this questions and statements were coz I did it today...

i was bored sitting in my room, well today was not that boring compared to many other sundays I have spent.. :)

I just opened the front door.. It was a little hot... but not that one couldnt go out at all.. So I took one chair outside... then I took another one..switched on my mp3 player... put on my headphones... (now I understand y ppl in US always have earphones or headphones always.. thats the best company here )
Then I took a book n pen (had been long since I wrote something on paper)...
I went out at 2.30 PM
Sat there and stared for a while.. then I started feeling a little different.. i started writing and then by 4.30 I had nearly 4-5 pages full of my thoughts[of course with breaks in between just looking at the superb cars going around..].... now it was still hot outside... and since I was sitting on one chair and my legs on the other..i nealty closed my book and closed my eyes.... and those 10 minutes which i slept there was gr8... i was in such a deep sleep, when i woke up I felt I slept for hours...
It was a gr8 2 and half experience with me myself and myself :)

I came inside to sleep for half an hr in AC.. but then somehow i had lost the sleep.. so opened this up to put this memorable experience of mine :)

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Update:

It rained after a while... So all of us at home sat outside with hot tea.. And once the rain stopped I took these pics

Just the road: Seems so empty....

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Apartment...

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Apartment n road: what a combination

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Thursday, June 22, 2006

dhundla sa rasta hai..

Just wrote this...

dhundla sa rasta hai..
kuch dikhayi nahi deta...
rasta sahi hai galat
kuch samaj mein nahi aata

rasta sahi hai samaj
agar hum aage badhe
saath mein humare
darr bhi saath chal degaa

galat hai yeh socha humne
piche mude to doosra rasta dikha
khushi ke maare jhoom uthe hum
paanchi ki tarah ude uss disha

aage badhne hi lage the hum
acahanak hume kuch dikha wahan
dher saare log khade hain
kuch to baaten kar rahen hain

chupke se unke baaten sunne
hum bhi pahunche unke paas
bade log the, badi si baaten
humne to kabhi na aisa suna

kya hum bhi aise hosakte hain
aise soch mein pad gaye hum...
sochte sochte chalten rahen
doosra hi rasta milgaya

phir se humne dekha uss disha
hairaan hogaye hum
dhundla sa rasta hai phir se
kuch dikhai nahi deta

Well before I came to this ending I had this (D said this ending is perfect.. though he never read the original one)

kabada kar diya humne poem ka..
kya karen IT mein hai hum

Monday, June 12, 2006

Is it just the mood.. or is it something else...

Why does it happen sometimes..

U have so many people around u and still u feel lonely... And sometimes even in loneliness u find peace....
Is it just the mood.. or is it something else...

Sometimes even if u dont have anything to talk to.. u go on and on...
But sometimes even if u have lots to talk u r just silent....
Is it just the mood.. or is it something else...

Sometimes even if u like someone's thoughts u dont agree to it..
and quite often u dont like some opinions but still agree to it
Is it just the mood.. or is it something else...

Why is it that now I want to write so much.. but somehow I dont feel like..
and there are times when I dont have anything specific to write.. but still thoughts flow in as soon as I start writing....
Is it just the mood.. or is it just something else...

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Living the moments...

I had a nice evening today... After office, i just sat in the car today.. trying to switch on the mp3 player.. then a sudden thought occured... listen to more songs... and go somewhere.. So I started off on the long drive....

So off I went for the Drive.. from Macon to Jackson... They are 40 miles apart.. so I spent totally 1.5 hrs driving and listening to songs.... and I must say it was gr8...

Normally, I wouldnt like to be alone so long.... but today i had no regrets... I was singing all along... had opened up the sun-roof in the car.. so that cool air could just come in & out... Was singing so loud..... My God.. I felt like I was freeing myself.... Doing nothing.. but just going on and on... Well I always thought of going for a long drive.. but never thought would go all alone... and that too on a weekday...

I had been for this drive with D a couple of times... but it was so different when I went today... it felt like the old me... for a few minutes I just forgot that I was in US or even that I am far from my family... I was just living those moments....

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Opinions

Everybody has their opinions... And we always respect others opinion... whether we agree to it or not.. we do acknowledge that the other person's opinion also matters...

But sometimes it so happens that the other person's opinions..start to irritate you... and u cant even acknowledge the fact that such a opinion can also exist.. In that case u cant tell the person directly.. nor can u ignore the fact.. and sometimes it leads to frustration...

So is it fine that u r irriated or is it ok to be frustrated... these are the options when u cant tell out to the person and u r not able to ignore it either...

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Fanaa.....

Fanna.....
I am listening to Fanaa songs... and must say.. its nice... a little different from the pathetic Himesh Reshmia songs.. which are so monotonous....

I liked the song...
"Chand Sifarish jo karta hamari deta woh tumko bata
Sharmo haya ki parden girake karni hai humko khata
"
a lot.... This album will surely go into my mp3 player :)

They are soft... childish.. romantic... type of songs... I am waiting to see the movie too....

I am always eager to watch Aamir Khan movie... Just love his movies :)
And now after RDB.. .expectations are even more... and what a treat to watch Kajol again on the big screen with a new movie...

Next in line would be Krrish... songs seem fine.. may be i would want to watch this movie too....

Monday, May 15, 2006

Relations... Life...Decisions

I saw Koffee with Karan... Kajol and Sharukh episode again...
In that there was a conversation going on.. about Kajol... where she goes out with her friends.. and Ajay Devagan is happy with his friends.... And they dont interfere with each other's social life... Seems very good... but is such a thing really possible...

Once u r a couple, dont u blend in with each other's life... when u say life doesn't include their social life too... Well may be one gets answers to these questions only after going through this face...

Now, in the same way decisions have to be mutual... but is it that every decision of urs needs the other person's opinion/permission...

Now all these depend on the 2 people in relationship and noway can this be generalized

Well y think about all this.. as they say "Jo hoga dekha jaayega"

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Sweet :)

We prepared a sweet today at home.. And it was so simple... and tasty too... :)
It was prepared with just 5 things (including Garnishing):

1. Bread
2. Milk
3. Ghee
4. Sugar
5. Cashewnuts

Fry the bread in ghee and keep it aside, breaking into pieces
Boil milk and sugar.... once the milk starts boiling, add the bread pieces into it.. a little more ghee...
and keep on mixing... We need to make sure that we dont make it too milky... meaning... it should be such that the bread drinks up all the milk and is soft no plain milk to be seen :)

Once this is done.. fry the cashew nuts in the ghee and garnish

And the sweet is ready

So quickly days fly...

So quickly days fly...
It just feels like yesterday, I am playing my school friends... having fun my college friends... And now one by one everyone is getting married.
Now everybody is starting a new life... There would be so many changes.. so many priorities...

Things may not change a lot, but ofcourse they wont be same again... From conversations going from... did u study for the exmas??... which movie did u watch? it will change to hey hows life? hows work?how is ur husband/wife?? Calls which used to happen daily will change to montly once to very infrequent...

I am so happy for all my friends.. that they are going through these changes in life... It feels so wonderful... But only sad thing is I am not able to attend their marraiges... Well I hope to meet all of them someday.. with their families...

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Just a thought

I was watching an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond"
This comedy serial has so many serious things covered up in humour...

There is a time when 2 people know about each other which may not be disclosed to others... but then it so happens that a third person gets to know about it...
So what happens when one of the 2 people get to know that what was meant to be confidential was told to a third person... esp when they know that it was the other person who did this..

Would the relationship still be so close that one person can share something confidential with the inital trust....

PS: Nothing personal here.. just a thought occurred

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Sweet Saturday

I had a sweet Saturday this time...We were supposed to go for a Company picnic on Saturday

Morning was very lazy... For a few minutes,we even thought that we wouldnt go for the picnic...
But then decided we would go... So had a pizza at home (the caterers over there had just non-veg, which I wouldnt eat)
We left around 1.30 PM... getting the directions from D. After a little bit of search, we reached the spot... Lake Tobesofkee....
There were so many people.. so many kids... it just looked so sweet... small kids running around..swinging...
We went ahead to the Beach...Initially it was quite boring... Later on we went to play BINGO....
That was just awesome... We were 6 of us shouting and playing... it seemed like school days..college days..
After this was the actual fun part...
We went near the beach again.. Me n A went into the water... were there for 15 mins... It was nice..the cold water touching our feet... We came back to the sandy beach where we saw D making something with sand... We join him in making whatever he was doing.... Seems he was making a graveyard.. Thats what he said... Then we thought we will build a sand castle...
And that was real fun... Our client manager came over to say hi and we are there busy making castles out of sand... It was so much fun.. May be we havent even coded for our project with so much enthusiasm and interest....
It was a wonderful day
Well we surely had to leave those wonderful moments and come home..back to reality...

Moreover we hadnt taken a camera..so theres nothing to remind us of that sweet Saturday I spent...

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Just another day

It was so hot until we came back from Lunch... Well it so hot that sitting in the car felt like sitting in the oven... Open the car windows and u get hot breeze.. And at such times it feels nice to be back in office (with AC on)... or even the shade works wonders :) [oh!! so much for the temporary joy]
Now that I am sitting n working, I just happened to turn around and I see so much shade outside.. and it looks so much greener.. The weather just looks perfect... So tempted to run out of office [not that other times I am not ;)]... Suddenly in my mind started humming.. Tanhai tanhai tanhai....
For a minute i couldnt remember what song which movie.. just the tune and these 3 words.. Then realized it was from Koyla..

Tanhai Tanahi Tanahi.. Dono ko paas le aayi
Pyaar mein beh gaye do dil
Dono ko paas le aayi...

Now, there is no connection between the beautiful weather and the song.. but it just striked..

After all this, one of my collegues informs me.. there is a thunderstorm warning here... Do we get a holiday was my next question... He said if there is tornedo warning... then yes...

I again looked back to my window.. it had started drizzling already.... hmm.. wish I could go n play out in the rain..

Monday, April 24, 2006

Hindi movies

There was a time.. when Dad used to say.. what music.. what lyrics "namma kaaladalli yeshtu chennagi ithu" ( it was so good in our times)... I used to just tease him off.. saying black n white... dance was like fits.. etc etc... though I agreed silently that in his times movies were good... Ofcourse there were quite a few not good films too.. but then that happens all the time...

So in our time also we had nice films.. I dont say no... The 80's and 90's movies were also pretty good.. It was a different generation... But still it had all the required ingredients of a hindi movie.. a nice family.. relationship..friendship..romance..violence..comedy... And ofcourse music was still good at these times...

And now... (its still our time.. but then).. just look at the movies...except for 2-3 movies out of 20-30 films in a yeat... none of them are somethings u would like to cherish... movies are not like u can hum their songs... none of them are like u can identify the characters within urself...

Other than a few exceptional movies
Friendship dunno whether they still have it in movies these days...
Relationships.... no way..
Comedy... cheap and double meaning dialogs...
Violence.. Yuk and disgusting..
Family...oops does that exist in today's society at all..
Romance... nothing mushy...nothing romantic... just !@#$#%%$^$&*@$%%@#^

Story - We dont need that.. we have heros who can fly planes.. and do stunts...Heroines who play nothing more than an ordinary object in the movie... just there for glamour...

Music - Who needs this.. when u can remix the old ones :)

Irritates a lot..when u dont feel like hearing the name of the movie once again...

PS: There a few exceptions to the above mentioned.. but again they are very few...which actually make u get involved in the movie... most recent RDB... loved it...

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Weekend.. my trip

It had been so long, since I had done something exciting... Wanted to go somewhere.. relax... away from work...

So we planned that we would do it on the weekend...Firstly we had 2 full days... but we were wondering where do we go, in and around Macon/Atlanta... I had already been to Smokey Mts... even Chattanooga... So now we had to go to some place (nice place) in Atlanta or nearby.

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Saturday
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We decided we will go to Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta... I wanted to go to this place from a long time :) By morning 10.00 AM on Saturday (15 Apr) we were inside the mountain Park... ( thank God!! we didnt get lost). We first thought of just going round the park once just to see what all were there...(mainly wanted to search where we could eat).. We finally ended up going to the lake.. where people were fishing.. and we went till a bridge.. This was a wooden bridge on the lake... It was fun driving the car on wooden planks :) Took a few pictures and left from there.. towards our next destination...

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We reached the sky ride (cable cars which would take us to the top of Stone Mountain).

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Nearby found a cafe.. Barged into it.. had some things to eat.. Then bought the tickets for all day round... then off we went to the queue... it took just 5-10 mins so that we could get into the car :).. As it was going up... it felt like leaving behind so many things.. and rising so much in the air, felt as if I am trying to fly. We reached the summit of the stone mountain... It seemed so beautiful.. wouldnt say top of the world.. but yes it surely was wonderful..... Could see greenary... could see Atlanta Downtown... Lets say I had a bird's view :) We took few pictures.. sat on the stone for a while.. then we went down a little bit.. from the non steep end, then came back to the summit..so that we could take the cable car to go down.... After the "treat for Eyes" we went to the souvernier shop.. I bought a magnet to stick on the fridge (for mom).. We went down.. and yes I even got my penny engraved with the stone mountain park logo :)

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Well it was so hot that we had to buy mini melts... I just loved it .. they were so yummy and cooling.. (similar to ice cream).

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After that off we went to boating... Ok boating in the hot sun..doesnt seem to be fun.. but we did enjoy it.. I was peddling after so many years.. and felt so nice.. There were so many ducks there.. It was fun.. and after this we went to the mini cruise ride there.. this was quite boring compared to boating.. but we were talking about water making waves.. photos.. etc..we were in shade.. so things went well there too...

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From here we moved into CROSSROADS... This was all woody.. We went into a shop where we could get the demo of glass items in the making. Watched that for half an hr... but then we got tired of standing there... Then we went to a 4-D movie :) called Tall Tales of the South. It was nice.. with snakes crickets.. popping out.. and the wind and water..
After this off we went to the rail road.. This seemed like toy train in Cubbon Park... But then who doesnt like to go back to Childhood days :) Well to add to it.. we had a automated message which went on describing the history... Along with this.. they were the rhymes and songs on trains and locomotives.. It was fun to see everybody singing along :) In b/w the rail stopped for a musical play... It was nice... We had a full round of the stone mountain... It was nice fun..

After all this we were dead tired..moreover hungry... bought a few peanuts and went to the place where the Laser show would start... We were there from 7.30PM and the show wouldnt start until 8.30 PM coz it wouldnt be dark...(Day light savings funda) Well till then we sat and had a chat... Looking around at people there, wondering how different it was in India.. laughing at certain things, amazed at some... We saw little cute kids running around... A few staring at other kids eating ice cream... It was a gr8 sight.. seeing so many people there...
The show finally started at 8.50 PM. Well the laser show was good... I wouldnt say it was amazing or spectacular.. But yes it was good... To add to it was the fireworks and wonderful music on the background... All this made it worth the wait... After the show got over around 9.30 PM we left the place... One good thing there were so many people yet there wasnt any confusion, no stampede (I remember the evening when I went to see Dussehra procession in Mysore.. it was a chaos)... We were out of the park in 15 mins... Then had a peaceful drive till home... Had some home cooked food (Chef - Me)... Then off to sleep...Oh I just kept my head on the bed and off to my dreamland :)

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Sunday
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This was quite a relaxing day from the morning.. We got up around 8.30 or so... then prepared tea... ( I had to complete some imp work.. so did that for half an hr)... Finally by 10, we decided we would be going to Beach in Savannah...So got ready, prepared breakfast - gojju avalakki (dunno what its called in English... maybe powdered poha with Puliogre gojju[different kind of tamarind paste]) and left home at 11... Then went to the nearby store bought juice,water etc... We dint want to die of thirst.. it s so hot here... This was a 3 hr drive... (yeah yeah lot of scope to get bored).. We had lot of fun... Initially we played antakshari... singing songs in different tunes..killing the songs, enhancing the songs... arguing on the lyrics..etc etc.. All this while i wasnt driving.. Then I started off driving...We were busy trying to overtake the other vehicles... I was touching 97-98 miles/hr (my friend did a 110)... I was hoping for 100 atleast but somehow either other vehicles came in front or cops or smthing dint allow me to touch... But this was also good :) After all this fun n frolic we reached Savannah.... Now we quite dint know how to reach a beach... Round and round we went around Savannah Downtown... Its pretty historic.. Not too modern.. It has that tinge of history.. Was looking good :)
Finally we reached River St.

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Now i have no clue how we reached there.. but I loved this street... A river on the side.. and buildings the other side... All ancient buildings or so they seemed coz of the bricks... We planned to walk a little bit on this road and got some information on how to reach the beach etc... So we had lunch - Salad [dunno what its called] which had cabbage (I still feel it was lettuce) and etc etc.. I dint eat it.. and Onion Rings and Potato Fries...

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After this we started off to the beach... This was another 30-45 mins ride... We went on and on.. on and on... we could see water from far away but then hadnt reached our destination... I was getting impatient.. It had been ages since I had gone to any beach....

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We were going to the Tybee Beach in Tybee Island... :) We finally got a parking place.. and off we went towards the beach...Finally we started walking on the sand... The kindu find on the beach.. Just keep ur feet and it just gets immersed in sand... We finally reached the place from which there was no sand..just water, water and water. We were so excited... Held our chappals in the hand and went into the water.. the cold water touched our feet.. and I felt a though I had reached one end of the world and was stepping into another...Then kept playing and walking sidewords.. my friend wouldnt let me go in too much... There were lot of birds at one side.. So we were walking towards that...
As we were walking came across jelly fish... (a dead one ofcourse) took the photo... and moved on ... I kept on saying (eww) till we reached the other beautiful spot...

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Wow so many beautiful birds.. all lined up in a row.. One starts making sound and the rest follow... There were as if in groups... One starts flying and the grup flies along.... Rest are still in the line... And all the others go to the other side and form a line.. We had wonderful time watching this :) I was running behind the birds.. driving them and splashing water all over... instructed my friend to take pictures and videos :)

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After all the fun n frolic here..we just sat on the beach and were looking ahead... Just a silly though came over... Swim across the ocean and go home...:)

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Well these feelings come n go... and the time had come for us also to leave... So with a heavy heart we left the beach... And again started driving back home... I was tired and sleepy.. but I managed to be awake and spoke for a while... and for the 100th time blamed my friend for not bringing CDs :)

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Finally we reached home by 9.30... Had a yummy bisi bele bhaat and then went off to sleep so that we could wake up for the office the next day....

PS:: Y does every trip have to end up with "Oh!!! Office tom"

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Drawings!!!

Just remembered one of my childhood days....
I was never good at drawing from my childhood... Even now I am not.. but atleast do a little bit of sketching these days which are not so bad... (modern art u see)
So this happened when I was in 5th or 6th Std. We had to draw a skull... First thing that came to my mind, "Ma how willI draw the skull"... Ma patiently told me to concentrate on the drawing in the book and draw just like that.. now, I sat the whole evening.. with all my pencils and erasers... should have seemed like I am gonna create the best drawing ever in my life :)
Well after 2-3 hrs (phew!!! long time I know).. I finished it...And to my surprise.. that was the most amazing skull..err drawing I had ever seen... I was too excited.. I ran showed it to mom.. bro was too chotu... he couldnt have got what i wanted to express...then went to my neighbours house.. showed uncle aunty and my friends there.. Then was waiting for dad so that as soon he comes that would be the first to show...
Dad was in shift those days.. so he used to come home only at 11.30 (well those days 11.30 was considered pretty late, nowadays I sometimes have my dinner at that time)
Unfortunately I slept off before dad came...

Next day morning I woke up.. and mom told me I was blabbering in my sleep that I drew well.. My goodness, how much it meant to me then.. :). Then Dad came and told me I did a wonderful drawing :) I was so happy...

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Dosti Dosti and Dosti :)

My friend had called from India... But before that i had recieved a mail from him... I started my morning with that sweet mail.. Wow I felt so nice... We were close friends.. even now we are good friends, but not that close.. but then again... that doesnt matter... when friends talk whether they are close or not... U talk from ur heart...

When I got his call, I was in office.. doing the same old work... We spoke so much... He also asked me the same question.. the one which I am questioned very frequently these days... "When are u coming to India"... wow!!! makes me feel I am missed... I am so important to them.. :)
Well more than them missing me.. I miss them so much... Oh how much I depend on my relationship with people....

***************************************************************

Doston Ki kami nahi
Par sache doston ki kami hai
Baat karne waalon ki kami nahi
Dil se baat karne waalon ki kami hai

Jab hume ehsaas hua ki tum kitne sacche ho
Shayad tum door jaachuke the
Poocha apne aap se kya yeh dosti sachi thi
To jawab mila "agar sachi nahi hoti to yaad kabhi na aate woh"


****************************************************************
Translation:
There is no shortage of friends
But there s shortage of true friends
No shortage of people with whom u can talk to
But shortage for people who talk from the heart

When I realized how true u were
May be u went far away
I asked myself was this friendship true
I got a reply "If it wasnt true then they would never be in your memories"

PS: Phew!! Tried to make the translation as correct as possible

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Missing R

I have had so many friends all m life.. And everytime I move out of the place, or the my friends move out of the place.. I feel bad...
The feeling that the friend will no longer be near me.. just leaves so many memories...

Today my roomie left, she went back to India...

Though I am happy that she will go back to her husband... her family...But we will miss her so much here.. The fun we had here, when she was here... The time we spent with each other talking about everything... going shopping...cooking..
The times when we made each other laugh, cry and consoling each other...

R has left a big mark in life... I'll always cherish the time spent with her... Already missing u R...

Friday, March 31, 2006

Ugadi!!!

We had Ugadi yesterday... The New Year...

If I was at home.. I would be relishing all those wonderful moments...
Let me just list down all that...

No office (ah what a relief)
Get up early in the morning.. (well before it used to be 6 or so... then it relaxed to 7 or 7.30 and it is early on a holiday) But its a festival day so no cribbing...
Go down stairs, dad would give me a hot cup of coffee... i would say ... i want a little more milk... i dont want it so hot..I love to trouble dad that way.. I love him... where s the newspaper.. and then realize.. paper is on leave that day...
Mom says good.. now u'll finish coffee soon and go to bath :)
I take previous days supplementary pages and read thru.. mom becomes furious... [ I love to irritate her ;-) I love her :-)]
After a lot of yes and nos go for a hot oil shikakai bath.. (the auspicious enne neeru. is what we call)
By the time I am out.. Mom takes out my new dress ... it has that auspicous turmeric powder in the corners.. Wow the new dress is so crisp and ironed.. (i never iron my clothes when at home... u see am very pampered.. dad does that for me n bro, i do it if he is not there, I can never Iron as good as he does)
Now get ready for the Pooja... Oh ya in the meanwhile I do help mom little bit in the kitchen etc... The house is filled with Mango leaves on all the doors... House is filled with Agarbatti smell..
All of us do the Pooja.. then comes the part where dad is trying to give us beevu-bella (neem-jaggery) . This indicates that we need to have sweet n bitterness in our life equally. We say "Beevu-Bella tindu olle maatadi" [Eat neem-jaggery and speak good ].. This means come what may ... joyous moments or tough moments always be good to people... Now I wouldnt like any neem in the prasad I get... I mean how can u eat those neem flowers!!!
Well after this is the best part... Food :)
Yummy yummy food..

We do call up relatives and friends in the meanwhile to Wish them A happy and a prosperous new Year "Ugadi Shubhashayagallu"

The rest of the day goes in visiting relatives(and eat at everyone's place).. They coming home... And in case there are not many people.. we sit n talk... and watch TV.. (special programs on that day)
In the evening, go the temple... its so colourful there... then finally... off to sleep.

Now that I am here... this is what I did...

No holiday :(
Got up at 7.45... Head bath (shampoo)
Then ate bread and bread spread... Came to office...
In the evening left early... Wore the new dress..Went to temple..Came back home.. We had plans of making payasa (kheer) but it was 10 at night and we were too humgry to prepare anything special.. So ate our normal food.. and got back to work...

More on Ugadi

Babies

just now saw one of our collegues baby.. She is just 2.5 months old... Babies are so tender.. I was holding her for 2-3 mins.. It was such a gr8 feeling... Those moments were so wonderful... With so much tension going on here.. .I felt so peaceful that time... Only thoughts were how innocently cute the baby is,, How soft.. how tender...

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

My Close Friend's Wedding

Just Last Weekend I saw "My Best Friend's Wedding"
Little did I know I would get a gr8 news the following news!!!
Yippe!!! I am happy...
My friend is getting married... Though I have known her for a very short period of time.. She has been so sweet...and of all I am one of the few people who know got this good news sooner than everyone else...
Wow makes me feel so special.. Thanks Dear... I know u will be reading this.... And Wish U A Very Very Happy Married Life...

I am so sorry wont be India for ur marraige, but when I come back will surely meet U :)

"Time we spent with each other
may just be a few hours
But the time we will be in each other's heart
Will be foreover"

Friday, March 24, 2006

Frustrating!!!

Dont want to put in frustrating posts.. but then.. sometimes life itself becomes so..

There are times when unknowingly work takes over ur life.. No time for rest, no time for timepass, no time for calls..

I know I know next thing after this would be "U need to plan work accordingly", "U need to keep personal life and professional life different" etc etc...

All this even I tell people.. Y just others I tell myself too.. But if there is work worth 48 hrs which needs to be done in 24 hrs.. then how much ever u plan, the plan is still hectic...

Well anyway after 3 crazy weeks of 16-18 hrs work per day including weekends... Now life seems to returned to normal.. around 10-12 hrs of work..

So currently i am not sure if i am frustrated or not.. If i am frustrated with so much work or coz of something else...
Well... hope to have a nice weekend.. Lots of things to do :)

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Selfish...Self centered...

Ok... now I am really confused about these words... Anybody who thinks of self becomes selfsih or self centered... Now how is it possible in today's world that we never think of ourselves...
(here I talk about normal human beings)

If you are just not concerned about the other person and trying to hurt by doing ur things just coz u want to do it... May be its right to call these words... But there are times these words are used on People just to make sure they are hurt.. Or to hide the selfishness of the person calling out these words...

Well whatever it might mean.. We all should know when to prioritize our things and when to be considerate of others:)

Friday, March 10, 2006

Some quotes!!!

"Life ends when u stop Dreaming"
- Life begins when u wake up to fulfill ur dreams... But in the meanwhile.. if ur loved ones are away... ur dreams take a backseat.. and u dont enjoy even if u achieve ur dreams...

"Hope ends when you stop Believing"
- Belief is easily broken... So hopes keep ending soon.. but ur loved one has to keep up ,the belief in u ... so that u hope for the best.. and believe in it.

"Love ends when you stop Caring"
- Its not just caring which decides love... There are several factors... If the care shown is not expressed in the right way... Even then Love ends... Reciprocate to ones feelings... If one is angry.. other needs to find the reason.. by discussing.. and not just by keeping quite and saying "I understand" If the person has understood smthing.. then let the other person know of it. If one is not behaving as the usual... try to understand what he/she is trying to make u realize... Even after all this... if the other person lives life in his/her own way... God save them. They will always be in Love... but will they not hesitate in telling each other their feelings??

"Friendship ends when u stop sharing"
- Something which i wouldnt disagree completely, Share joy n sorrow... but share something.. Be frank!!!

The quotes underlined were the ones sent to me by one of my friends as a fwd... The ones below were my reply... This happened months ago... Was searching for one of my mails.. Happened to read this... So thought of posting :)

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Diet!!!

Diet..Diet and more Diet...

Diet is supposed to keep u healthy... but I see people dieting just grow thin...
Thats so bad...

One of my cousins, she s damn cute, but then is not slim so she wanted to grow thin and reduce weight... So if thats the case she was supposed to exercise and have a correct and proper diet, which would keep her healthy and help her reduce weight...
Anyway she did a strict diet... and did lose weight too... but then has acidity these days... Has dizziness... So is all this worth all this....

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Noon Nap!!!

Continuing on my childhood posts.... Just reminded of a small thing I did as a kid..

I guess I was in the 3rd Std... It was a nice Sunday afternoon.. Had a yummy Bisibele anna with papad and other fries (makes me feel... go back home).. I usually never sleep in afternoons.. So was just playing around with my stuff... Dad was watching some match and later went of to sleep...
I sometimes used to go and comb my mom's hair when she sleeps in afternoon... so i thought y not do it for dad!!!

He was also fine with it...I was there with him for 15-20 mins then went off to my room to play with my stuff... Now after some time the calling bell rang. My dad came to open the door.. It was my neighbour. Uncle had come to return some screwdriver or something like that... But as soon as dad opened the door he was laughing....

Now this is what made him laugh... My dad had a pony tail. not even that... it looked like a fountain on his head... then he had a designer bindi on his forehead... and ofcourse lot of powder too.... He did look like a cartoon :)
Well everybody knew it was my mischief, but they also knew that it was a innocent one... So I did not get any scoldings, no spankings... just laughter :)
But yes after this my dad always made it a point to look into the mirror once he wakes up... esp after a noon nap :)

Friday, February 24, 2006

My childhood days

Was reading Prakash's post on how society has changed... And my whole focus went on kids...

Me as a kid... loved to play... and yes i wasnt picky(but somehow tried to avoid carrom).. outdoor indoor, anything would be fine.
How much I used to run around in the hot sun with all my friends( was in Chennai for 4 years)
how much i loved building castles with mud(this was when i used to play alone)

My bro was just few months old.. so couldnt play with him outside.. but yes I remember how much mom used to pester me to wash my hands legs face befoe i could even touch my bro... He was such a darling ( or delicate darling)... ok ok all kids are.. moreover i dint want to paas on germs to my 6-7 months old baby bro... I used to be so careful... I was so scared to touch him...( what if i hurt him)... I still am scared to touch small kids...

Ok now back to the topic...
We always had a group of atleast 4, so we could play so many things... My immediate neighbours and friends, were elder to me...I never called those 2 akka or anna though... they taught me badminton... They never let me lose hope (i have a big starting problem)
We used to play cricket, though she dint like it all other friends had no probs so we used to play... And sometimes we used to play Monopoly ( or business in those times).. We used to sit near the gate and play...Our neighbour aunty used to come n tell us to go inside and sit in shade.... in that case we used to go under a tree or so.. We liked to be outside... Going inside means... anytime moms could say "Study......" and we never liked those words " I still dont like" and dont tell bro also, unless I want to watch my channel **wicked**

Ok I deviated again from the topic and i wrote a lot.... So let me try to write on that topic some other time...

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Friends...

Ok... now this is really bad... Past 5 mins I have this page open, trying to type something atleast...

Just remembering about the initial days when we joined the company... we were a big group of 15-16.... We used to have nice fun daily...Even for lunch, all of used to go together and join 3-4 tables in the foodcourt and keep pulling each otherr's leg. Having fun....

Now as time passed by, people have gone far away to places.. Few in India, few in US, few in UK... But distance shouldn't come between friends... But then along with that the feelings have also changed... Now we no longer have the same friendship...

Its just become the hi-bye, how r u I am fine kind of acknowledging stuff :)
But I am happy that even though we dont have the same friendship, atleast we are still in position that we recognize each other.. and acknowledge each other.. and when we actually sit n talk we go back to those good old days... and its nice to know that they also relish those moments...

Well started writing something, ended up with something else...
Anyways...

Friendship is a like a thread of pearls... Everybody is a pearl... But we just need to make sure the thread doesnt break... What if one of the pearls gets lost...

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Monday, February 13, 2006

Life so sweet n innocent...

Last weekend, just went to do my Laundry... Near that place is the tennis court, basket ball court...

I saw 2 kids playing there..with their dad. Wow!!! it was such an amazing sight... Just remembered the moments, when me dad and bro played cricket... It was fun.. :)

Even before, when my bro was too small.... dad taught me chess, checkers, carom.... Used to hate carom - still do... Dad always used to hit nice shots.. and I could never.. I even had the exception of using thumb backwards....But I was too bad at it too... :)
But Chess and checkers were a little better... Atleast I used to win a few times... Dad never used that she is young so let her win.. So if I won it was a real win :)

As time went by, I got more friends..so used to go out and play with them...but some Sundays used to pester dad to play with me. Inspite of his hectic week, he never complained that he needed rest [I do it sometimes, when mom tells me to do some cooking ;) ]

He used to help me out in Maths sometimes.. :), but I never got a spanking from my Dad...

These days, me n bro trying to teach him internet... comp games...he n dad try to do this racing stuff... Poor dad he doesn't win, but he is happy that bro is all smiles coz of his victory....
Sometimes me n Bro start off with Age of Empires... Bro does all the playing, me there to give him suggestion (sometimes orders too :)

Oh I miss all these so much... Life so sweet n innocent...

Happy Valentines Day Dad!!!

Saturday, February 11, 2006

A trip to remember

Always seen on TV... people skiing...wow looks so wonderful.... The white slopes and people just zooming in the slopes... Makes u feel so jealous..
And what better way to solve this jealousy, than go an a trip for skiing.. :)

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So off we went to ski in Gatlinburg. [the skiing place was Ober Gatlinburg]
After so many yes and no, to go or not to go... We finally decided to go on Saturday evening and go skiing on Sunday and then back home...

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Four of us were supposed to do the driving, but then policies said under 25 years, we had to pay $25/day... and 2 of us were under 25, so only 2 people were going to drive the car...[ I was not one of the drivers :( ]

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We started around 5.30 or 6 finally from Macon... We had a lot of CDs with us so the journey went on with a lot of songs... then talking then teasing... then phone calls... On the whole the car was packed with people going on and on and on and on and on................. Ofcourse there are exceptions.. So at few moments there was silence from a few people.. we were having a nice time on the trip, by 10.30 we were feeling very hungry... So went to Pizza Hut!!! But then it was closed. We thought we would go to the lodge..eat bread and khakra and go to sleep.

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After a fantastic sleep till 7, woke up and got ready with excitement... Came out and it looked so beautiful.. The cars were covered all white with Snow!!! It was such a beauty... We put all our stuff in the trunk.. It was again Snowing.. Soft Snowfall.. like drizzling when it rains... :)... It feels so wonderful when those tiny white balls fall on u...

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All of us were all set to go and ski... We knew it would be difficult, but then had hopes that after a little bit of practice we would be able to go on top and ski from there... like how we see in movies[now, dunno about the rest but I surely felt this way :) ]

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We reached the place from where we were supposed to take a tram up to the skiing place pretty soon.... We were all set with our costumes gloves, woolen caps... and what not!!!
Ok by costumes I meant the ski pants and the jackets... we obviously cant ski in jeans (we dint want to die of cold)

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It was beautiful from the top, I just wondered what if the cord which held the tram just broke off (yeah!!yeah!! Pessimistic I know)... Took some beautiful pictures from the tram.... and yes finally landed safely to the part from where we would ski :)

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Yippee!!! Yippee!! Finally We would be skiing!!!
Now was the turn for getting our ski equipments and to buy tickets :). We filled out a few forms and bought the tickets and off we went to get our equipment...

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The shoes... they looked so big and heavy.. and they were really big n heavy!!! Wore them and felt as if somebody had tied up a heavy rock to my legs :)
We got our ski s and then off we went to the locker room where we could keep all our extra luggage... We changed and all of us looked so different... So much packed, a water proof ski pant, a jacket, woolen cap, leather gloves... only place left uncovered was our face :)

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Off we went to the ski learning school with all this heavy equipment....It was a small wait... and then finally we went into the snow... :)
By now we had played in snow, throwing snowballs at each other etc....

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The instructor [was bad :( according to me] showed us how to insert our shoes into the ski...and the basic things as to how we need to slide and how we need to walk(cant imagine how are we supposed to walk with those heavy stuff)

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After that we started sliding and obviously started falling... We fell... nice to fall on the snow... but then how to get up, it was so difficult... Someone had to come and separate our shoes and the ski board.... and then again fix it up slide n fall... After 2 years...oops I meant 2 hrs (seemed like years to me) we just sat on the ice... and played in the ice for a while... and then decided.. .time to go... No more energy for skiing.. rather falling :)

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Once we were out of our costumes, it felt like heaven :)...By now we were so hungry.. Had lunch there and were looking at the ice skating going on... We wanted to go there too... but were too tired to experiment on anything else... :) We then came back in the tram towards our car... and then started for the return journey...

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And while we were just about to take the exit we happened to see helicopter rides... We did the helicopter ride... It was for 4 mins but it was amazing!!! The take off and landing were just too good...

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It was fun... while coming back... we were teasing each other... remembering all those moments on the ice.... how we fell.. what we did... We were shouting,singing,dancing in the car.... It was fun... It was as if a nice ending to our nice trip. We had a dinner stop at Atlanta... went to Saravana Bhavan there had idlis,vada,uttapam... yummy dinner.. and we were off to Home Sweet Home....

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We were just left with one thought... After such a wonderful day "Why do we have to go to office tom???????"