Drug. Sex. Insomnia.

Its well past midnight and I am doing some serious ‘burning midnight oil’ and it’s all about sex and drugs, err…drugs and sex. Well, this is no romantic escapades I am chronicling, if reading this far you envisaged some juicy anecdotes in the following paragraphs! Be warned, I am gonna talk about some real serious, real deep and really heart wrenching stories. And it involves me…yes, poor me!

I am happy that I finally got over that writer’s block I was suffering from and I am happy that I finally have a complete report right in front of me! Ah, I remember I did promise someone that I would share this piece of work I managed walking through all those spells of insomnias – well, it is now ready for public consumption! And I am really happy. Its rather not happy but a feeling which is so confidence boosting, a feeling which feels like as if someone is whispering sweet nothings into my ears! Well, it feels nice. That nice kinda nice :-)

Drug. Sex. Insomnia and a sleepy moi!

Some nights, working on my notes, I find myself sleeping on my belly with my face perched on the laptop keyboard. And then after couple of ‘turtle hours’ I wake up in the brightly lit bedroom to the tune of Sinatra. This could have been a scene of some nice, romantic, ‘sex-capades’, but alas it’s in my dreams, I dreamt of those tight embrace and those thick muscular arms!

Like a flower….

Picture this: Norah Jone’s husky voice filled the balmy air in the bedroom. It’s in closed door-window mode with dust storm outside– precautions for poor lungs which cant suck in thick air. Marquez’s orange yellow paperback lays upturned at page 17 and ‘remember me with a rose’ brushing on those tulip bed sheet, in the middle of a re-reading mode!

Oh, that orange yellow cover covered that famed cholera…err ‘Love in the time of Cholera’. Somewhere, that Medical Anthropologist and that Public Health Specialist and that traveller loses herself to a thing in the past on an unknown Spanish road, camouflaged as a Latina! Well, it had happened before; she had lost her ways to find her ways in life. And that was Barcelona. From Paella to Park Güell to Gaudi to Picasso and getting drenched in cava in those old Spanish pubs. Seven years since. Flashback moments and there was love. There was that husky voice, cat calls as you stop by the paid phone booth to make those phone calls to hear to that thick baritone from across the ocean. Yes, ocean! Hmm….flashback indeed!

Well, to come back to where it started from, yes, finally, suddenly, everything around feels so light, unburdened, as if there’s that lightness, a certain high from the first puff you suck in, as if there’s that slight buzz when you take a deep gulp after a nice swirl in your mouth, as if you just got kissed eyes all closed, all dreamy and light and as if a light feather just floated on the naked body.

The writing on ‘drugs and sex’ is complete and I am done with! and it all feels so dreamy yet real. Yes, drugs-sex and a bit of insomnia.. err …dreams :-)

Deep into the dark sky there are some stars smiling. Nice fragrant gardenias fill the air. A hint of sandalwood oil lingers on the nape and those saffron threads float on the water.

Surreal. Ecstatic. Blissful.

Spring Cleaning :-)

Spring cleaning!
Well, quite literally, actually I am in the middle of shifting to a new space both in personal as well as professional domain. You know, given my track record of travelling and moving with jobs, this should not make you any curious or jittery. Relax.

My office is relocating to a brand new seven storey building; I need to really pay attention to that email I received as I woke up on a Saturday morning. It’s the boss kinda telling in too many nice words to ‘get organised’. Though the email was sent to all who are currently housed in this beautiful ‘green building’ but I am sure many at work would know what this entails for me :-)

Well, moving to a new space which is not as spacious as your current work space can be a problem when you are dealing with a hoarder! C’mmon, I aint one, don’t you know how many projects I get to handle over this six years or so? And then I am very old world, I still like to do pen on paper and all my meetings with my students end up into documents which I keep referring until they complete their dissertation , even after that actually! So you get the scene, I keep accumulating stuff and quite like to keep them as I completely feel any tiny little interaction has the potential to inspire something and I am open to ideas all the time. You need to see my white board at work and how I scribble things on it and it’s a technique I have found which really helps me focus, helps me de-clutter and stay inspired.

Anyway, long story short, the mandate is ‘bring things which are useful to the new work space and leave the rest and they will dutifully find their way to the shredding machine’ .
Similar is the scene at home. There has been no email or no boss dictating or no new space on offer. Its just that regular spring cleaning – an extended one, you can say!

And what the hell of a cleaning it has been….huh!!

I remember reading a quote a few days ago and it went like this “you never know what you have until you clean your room”. This is so true, I have been staying put with my set of things (with intermittent additions from my many travels and some upgrade on the house etc)from pretty much the time I returned back to Delhi NCR in 2006 after staying in many different places for my work which almost started to have an annual pattern with a certain alphabet :-) I mean to cities starting with a certain alphabet! Anyway…

To continue with the de-clutter mode, I am trying to sort my books from travel documents, research papers from novels I read during traveling to some international conferences, painting and souvenirs from letters – hand written letters at that. And I am overwhelmed! First – so many people have been part of my life. Work colleagues, co-travellers, relatives (I have a very big family who don’t live in one place!), friends – so much memories and I am in no mood to abandon any of them. So what if I don’t travel back to see my old landlady in that beautiful summer house in Sweden but the joy that she thought of writing back to me years after I lived at her place is very endearing

. Notes, post cards, photos – and I am at loss how to organise everything. I have a dream to capture all of these, every experience of mine in a book. Yes, there I found this letter – a very lengthy, handwritten one, and someone very dearly telling me that I must do a travelogue as I write quite well. As they say, some things just don’t change and I am still nursing that dream!

I don’t know what was it that I started to write this blog this evening and now I am quite nostalgic, philosophic about life…err spring cleaning! But I guess, you got the point that there are so many people, so many things that shape you, that impact you and you only get enriched with each of these interactions, each of the trips you undertake, each of them….
Yes, sometimes in the passage of time some people or for that matter some memories are shuffled and sorted at a different layer which gets covered by the newer friends or newer priorities but they all remain there. It’s a different matter how you reminisce – I do with looking at old notes, old photos, books, letters etc.

I am glad that I met you all and I am happy that I remember you all and I have memories to cherish about you all :-) And wait, in addition to travel writing, I pretty much can even help guide/organize trips starting from the Great Wall of China to the Great Barrier Reef :-)

Flour Fortification for 'Sahariya's - Food for thought!

I generally dont do work related posts here. But the Anthropologist overpowered this blogger ever since she chanced upon an old field note from an old research work among one of the primitive tribal population in India. I remember writing this for one of our online journals. Re-posting here.

Life is a mirage: Mirage is commonplace in a desert and more so when I was in the arid terrain of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where the Sahariya tribe, one of the most primitive tribal groups, resides.
In the wee hours, when birds were yet to start chirping, cruising in a not-so-well maintained jeep through the dense forests of Ranthambore, passing through flocks of peacocks, wild deer and Nilghais, could mean a thrilling experience. In reality, it was more like a decorated top layer of the proverbial ‘Pandora’s box’ when we reached Sheopur from Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambore National Park is situated in Sawai Madhopur district in Rajasthan).

The grandeur we observed in Sawai Madhopur and in its vicinity stood in stark opposition to what our eyes met at Sheopur- a good one and hour ride away. Seeing a tiger or a flock of peacocks did not cause any excitement for a Sahariya; not just because these were part of their environment but because they had other more ‘exciting’ priorities in life. And after a 5 hour long train journey, followed by an hour and half long road trip through one of the gorgeous tiger reserve forests in India, we found ourselves in the land of ‘endemic anemia’ if I could use this term so profusely. According to national statistics this community scored alarmingly below the normal nutritional and health indicators. The NFHS-III data on the proportion of rural women in the age group of 15-49 shows that 44.98% of women have Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) which is the second highest in India. Also, 61% of rural women (15-49 years) are anaemic in the state.

Past perfect: Madhya Pradesh and I have a past. I used to live and work there. But this time it was different. Amidst those arid terrains, in 50 degree centigrade, it was both physically challenging and emotionally overwhelming.
In their daily life, Sahariyas go through a lot of hardship. In terms of the terrain which has extreme climate with a very hot summer and very cold winter. In arid terrains, regular supply of drinking water is difficult and so are green leafy vegetables and fruits. Withstanding high temperature in summers with lack of balanced diet, Sahariyas indeed readied them to be a malnourished community.

“Those nine days”- It is officially known as ‘nau-tapa’ (literally: nine days of extreme heat wave) in the state of Madhya Pradesh and local calendars mark these nine days in the lines of gazetted holidays in MP. From our comforting air-conditioned environs, this ‘nau tapa’ was quite an antithesis. My training as an Anthropologist came handy where I was taught to do what locals do to adapt in a new setting. And those white cotton scarves came handy and I would wrap them around my head and face to look like one of those bandits who used to rule these terrain eons ago. (Now I know the mystery behind their head gear!) Those white cotton scarves helped when I could not find any tree to take shelter as we sat down to interview a group of women in the village in Shivpuri.
I learn a lot about life from my field work, from what I jot down sitting under that lone Neem tree in a village when all the children would gather around me in their joie-de-vivre, oblivious to what those frantic scribbling would eventually translate into. Nonetheless, their joy is infectious and it keeps me going from one household to another thinking sunshine will follow this gloom and one day these villages will have better nutritional and health indicators. Life is about learning and this time it was important for me to learn how Sahariyas would react to fortified flour than to get perturbed for what meets the eye. And in my mind I would blabber “they had not have a full square meal for days and here I am asking about their preference for wheat flour?” Researcher in me had to take charge when in field and data collection become the only priority. Madhya Pradesh, especially the northern part of this state, is one of the high yielding states for good quality wheat grains in India. Sahariyas located from the same geographical areas have been suffering from malnutrition presented an example of contrast.

“Whiter it is, better it is”. It was interesting to understand in terms of colour of flour that whiter the colour it was perceived of better quality. And thus what they ordinarily availed from what they say ‘control shop’ (meaning: government-run Ration shops) were below standard and hence they would not consume them. This is a common practice among Sahariyas and it is so deep rooted that they usually sell off the flour they get from public distribution system and buy packaged flour from local grocery stores.
In reality, ‘brown’ flour is a healthier option compared to the ‘whiter’ variety as the former contains all the nutrition of whole wheat grain. ‘Whiter’ flour does not contain the husk which gives the ‘brown’ tinge for whole wheat flour and in turn is much inferior in terms of nutrition.

“Today is the day and I live here and now”. This seemed to be Sahariyas philosophy of life as it is in most tribal communities. In the beginning of summer every year they would migrate to work in the wheat fields in the neighbouring areas when crop is ready. They would receive wheat grains for their work, which meant almost 100 KG of grains per family. The entire family migrates during this season to work in the fields and they walk the entire way, unless they are lucky enough to get a free ride from trucks on the highways. Bringing back wheat grains on their return means spending a lot of money on transport; so they prefer bartering those wheat grains for sarees, foot-wears which are easier to carry. Alternatively they sell the grain for 100 or 200 Rupees. There were some instances where the family has mortgaged the ration card to buy food items and liquor.

Development has always been a multi-pronged entity and here among Sahariyas in Madhya Pradesh, interaction between poverty, education and health form a vicious cycle. Tribal way of life is still not understood and not assimilated in development programmes in general. It looks imperative to have an intensive behaviour change communication (BCC) with providers to sensitise them towards Sahariya tribe’s way of life. In addition to this, large scale behaviour change communication in the community has to be planned for successful implementation of flour fortification programme in the region. And it’s a long way ahead for Sahariyas to walk the path of development.

And we saw light at the end of the tunnel. With various development programmes available to the Sahariyas, looks like in times to come, they will move closer to a better, healthier life. We met a spirited 18 year-old Sahariya girl. She is from one of those villages we visited for this study. She lives with her mother who supports the family from the meagre earnings that come selling firewood in the local market in Guna. Her father died when she was barely few months old. She went to Tribal Welfare Development (TWD) run Kanya Vidyalaya; these are residential schools for tribal children. She has passed the higher secondary examination year and she's all set to become a teacher in the village school. She also plans to study for a bachelor’s degree with a distance learning course. Her hopes and aspirations and her positive attitude, assure us that, after all, there is hope for the next generation of Sahariyas if more such girls follow her path.

There is always hope and we hope that with intensive education, nutrition and development programmes dedicated to Sahariyas, one day this community will have better health and nutritional indicators.

Travel and thoughts uncensored

Remember writing an email just before starting a 'voyage' way back, well, its kinda repetitive. I go through a strange kind of phase before I leave for a tour. And today, I found myself doing the same. Didnt write an email though, but was 'writing' a similar note, a checklist in my mind.

Hmm, coming to think of it, looks like I have a remnant from some previous lives, and I am still figuring it out. Given the kind of travel I do, I shouldn't have such jitters at all. But, what to do, I am sharing what I go through, real honest. Who knows, I probably have died in travel mode in my last birth? Who knows, probably I had lost all communications with my near and dear ones once I set out for that voyage?

Ha ha ha, sounding psychic, real strange, no? But, its ok to have different thoughts coming up and I let them be as they are....

Yes, its gonna be a lot of travel and its giving me a lot of jittery moments. Its kinda, I know everything will be alright but there are those moments of nerves which prepares me for the sojourn, which tells me its time to start packing, its time to give one last look at that Budhha picture before you close your apartment door, its time to start the voyage.

And I am preparing for all the voyages in store for me this year, and I know who all are counting... Ahh, let me explain...

Friend 1: "how many pages are left on your passport"
Moi: its my second passport, should be enough to accommodate my travel in 2011 :-)

Friend 2: "how many new places, this time"
Moi: (taking time) 1+1+1+1...four places in next two months

Friend 3 (a very cute one): "I am counting, so its going to be 20+ countries, eh?"
Moi: whoops, is that true, wow....you surely count :-)

Well then, you got the picture. And I gotta go, have to start packing. And I dont have anyone help me taking that suitcase down, ok...I will manage.

Dreams uncensored!

Hmmm....I do dream a lot. Yes, I do live in my own world, my world of dreams. I am happy that I have dreams, I am happy that I live to see my dreams come true. Yes, its true, dreams do come true.

I am reliving one such moments when I see my dreams coming true. Looks like this year is going to be a dreamy year. This year is going to be an amazing year. This year will be my globe trotting year! Yes, I am awake, wide awake and seeing my dreams come true.

I am happy that the nomad in me will have an opportunity to set her feet on different soil, on different shores, and on different mountains. She will have her moments of joy with air in her hair which she so fondly loves. She will have moments of happiness filling her tummy with different food, gorging on different tastes. She will have her time of her life setting her eyes on wonderful monuments which stood the test of time.

Hmmm....I am already sensing the itch, and the 'mustard seeds under my feet' started to roll again! Whoosh......

Yes, dreams do come true. Dream. Live. Be happy.

Quote Unquote

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do... Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Life's a Beach.....

Life is like a wave, things go and things come….sounds like as if I am writing this from middle of a beach holiday, no? I would have loved that….what a thought! Probably, deep within, I am longing for one such holiday, just to listen to the gurgle as waves after waves keep crashing on the shore, soaking in all the air laden with smell of the sea, soaking all the warmth of the sun from under those shades of palm groves, while leisurely hanging from my hammock.

Now, coming to talk about where I started this post….Well, to tell you the truth, I am growing patient with me, and watching me how me goes about doing things, how things around me keep happening….

Its amazing to realize that most of the time you don’t have to do anything, things just happen…just go with the flow….and there it feels so meaningless, so foolish to be so pumped up about things, so charged up about some work….yes, its just our way of looking at things. Its our way of making us think that we are important and that we are making things happen.

Coming to talk about waves, I am seeing an amazing pattern these days around me. Well, more precisely about people around me. And call me psychic, call me intuitive, call me whatever….but I feel as if I am living in a déjà-vu, I kinda am watching a movie which seemed to be so known!

Yes, I am seeing some kind of pattern around me, with people around me. People around me - they come and then they go. People around me are moving in and then moving out. People around me are getting pulled in by a huge magnetic force in my life and then they are disappearing somewhere as if another huge magnet pulled them in another pole. And with this goings and comings, I see a pattern- I am just mere a spectator, I have no role to play…or rather I cannot do anything. I have no control. I like it that way, I don’t want to control, its much less work if things happen on its own. Yeah, I am a lazy bum with a nice façade. I am a control freak who wants to be nice, and doesn’t know how to pretend. Honestly, I don’t want to control anything. I just see things and I know what all are happening, probably why things are happening but again I try just to watch the show and not be part of it.

Have you ever done this? If you ever, then you will see how cool it is to be a watcher, to be a by-stander, to be a mere passerby in this game of life as waves after waves keep crashing at your feet when you walk on those soft sands all soaked up, all warm yet so wet from the sun and from the water, on that beach. Suddenly everything looks so serene, so beautiful, just so very relaxing.

Yes, letting go of things is indeed very calming. I have done that, I have lived that. And I like living that way…..

Eye-ohhh (2)

"I can still see that lovely eye liner that you’d put the last time I met you. It really made your eyes look gorgeous."

Ouch....I just read this in an email sent to me and I said "eye-oh!"...err aiyo! This has reference to a meeting at a lecture and it seems people notice my eyes and remember them, I wonder people also remember what I speak so passionately on Tuberculosis researches I do in India. Hmmmm....

What can I do? I do have real nice eyes, as they say gorgeous eyes :-) Call me a narcissist but there have been precedences as well.

Eyes Eyes Baby Baby!!

Scaping-scope

"In love, if you are looking for someone new, consider taking a drive into the countryside to view the brilliant fall foliage in early October. You never know - the handsome stranger picking apples next to you may be someone you'll want to know better. Venus and her lover Mars will make a rare and sparkling conjunction on October 3, scattering radiant romantic vibrations all over your chart. For you, love happens when on a short trip away from home, so go ahead - give in!"

Hmm...this is what Virgo horoscope read for the month of October.

And how true! I did go on a short trip..well, for two weeks. And I did go apple picking. Fall weather was lovely and I did love everything about it. Moving about among the greens on a sunny day doing some girl-talk with a friend was romantic indeed. So, in nutshell, words in horoscope are all true if you just consider the words. Amazing.

September chronicle!

Septembers have been always special. Its my month, my birth month to be specific.

A month full of activities, highs and lows, joys and confusions, it indeed is a memorable month. Here I am reminiscing about a month so hectic, so packed, so tiring, so full of food, friends and fun just before a voyage...err..I am setting off for yet another trip.

October will be different, I am sure. For its gonna be a different month, a different time, in a different terrain, different temperature....also so different. My mind is full of Pacific Ocean and Rocky Mountain!

I am all set for watching fabulous sunsets by the Pacific and see moon rise over Rocky Mountain with a nice nice cocktail by my side. I have that nice cocktail dress from Paris sitting pretty in my suitcase and I surely haven't forgotten that sexy stilettos. I am sure life at 35th floor would be pretty exciting too. Umm...I am all set for some amazing time!

Adios and see you soon! Life has been a roller coaster ride and I ain't complaining.

Eat Pray Love 2010

Till some months ago I only considered 'eat', and 'sleep' as two most important aspects of my life. That was until when I held Eat Pray Love in my hands and embraced ...umm....well...and became inseparable.

Yes, yes, I know what you will say, and I would still say 'eat' and 'sleep' were two most important things in this nomad's life when travel is so much part of life. And traveling or not traveling, my life revolved around food and more food and lots of sleep. You know, sleep is kind of a therapy in my life, it rejuvenates me, it renews me...ha ha ...now you know what keeps me all so energetic, happy and giggly.

Well, coming to talk about Eat Pray Love, I never knew a simple looking book could be so very life changing, addictive....or may be I fell prey ...or may be it was the weak, vulnerable side in me that could relate or forced 'me' to relate to what the protagonist (and also the writer) was going through. I still don't know, and I don't want to know either. But one thing is very clear, EPL ..I mean the book did affect me, my surroundings (read: friends). And I am amazed how most often my friends from far and near would see EPL trends in my activities, and when I have read/re-read the book a good three months back. I never knew any other book I recommended to my friends had been so popular. Anyway...

Life goes on and one tends to move on. I know, I did have a cute lil thing going on with EPL this summer but didn't think it will be so very indelible.. (umm...talking about things indelible, I want to have a few cute li'l tattoos!)..

I actually did an EPL ...well, EPL inspired trip. It's just an old habit and I had to take a break and sniff some coffee..err ...see some different faces, smell some different air and go under another cloud and get drenched in another place. Well, you got it, a change of place of sorts when life gets hectic when you don't get any creative in what you are passionate about and then you know its time to wander about and charge those batteries! Well, not literally...

I have been happily finding my groove in a new setting (you still call it new? well...) and I 'almost' found my niche and life looked pretty sorted. And here's where the nomad in me gets scared and starts throwing tantrums and that's something I haven't learnt to ignore. So, I had to sit back and listen to the nomad in me and decided to give it a shot when my love affair with sun was getting just so unbearable in the heart of the city. The practical me found out that it was almost eight long months since 'we' had gone for a vacation!

Yeh, we were at EPL, and explaining how my three city tour turned out to be my EPL or I had an EPL inspired trip....

However happy-go-lucky I look on the surface there exists a serene, tough, rather meticulous core. And a well planned, logical tour plan was charted out. And this girl loves to meet people (you think she's a loner, eh?), she simply loves people around her...Oh'yeah!

And I have an uncanny knack of packing a lot of things in a tiny bag...I mean, I have this tendency and this makes me feel good as if it 'is' the mandate to be doing things more efficiently, cost effectively, even if it means hopping to four different cities in less than ten days! Well, my friend 'Lonely Planet' knows this so very well that whenever I share an itinerary before a tour, he would mockingly say there's still room for at least two cities. I know, I know...this is incorrigible..Dont you know, there are somethings we know about ourselves and yet we cannot do or rather do no do anything about it. I mean, these are my traits, I am who I am...and having a hectic itinerary or a laid back spa holiday, I like it the way I want it!

So, with EPL, people (read: friends, super sexy ones at that!), hectic itinerary and tour planning, I found myself hopping from Delhi to Hyderabad on a very nice, romantic weekend...umm...I love country side and that train ride through those meadows, looking at the blue sky by a huge window in an air conditioned compartment as clouds played hide and seek with me, I was transported to a different world altogether. I love the feeling, the feeling so very me, so very passionate, so very deep.... And to make things interesting it is important to mention that my visit to the city of four pillars "Charminar" coincided with Ramadan and which translates to lot of feasting after fasting. So, my 'eat' part of the journey was made.

It has become a practice of sorts now, every time I cross the Vindhyas, I have to meet Him. And Tirupati- the holy city became my next stop after satiating my taste buds and after loading all the chambers of my stomach with aromatic preparations from the city of nawabs.

After some heavy duty trekking and very nice godly time and soul searching, it was time to move to part III of the tour, the love part. And if you are heading south on the East Coast in India, and looking for some leisure, Pondy hits you bang on. Yeah! you got it bang on, baby. I am talking about Pondicherry, with those cobbled streets and French Quarters, with that Bussy street which indeed a busy street and with that canal that cuts the city into halves and runs from its head to toe...well, almost literally! Ahh...I almost sounded as if I am describing Pondy at its anatomy....hmmm...

And then suddenly I realized (kinda eureka moment) I just planned my EPL however short it is, however local it could get, nonetheless, it was my EPL as I ended up eating a lot, praying some more and totally fell in love...ummm....

I didnt know it would still be so nostalgic and lingering....but I accept, I was, I am hit by EPL big time. And EPL did hit me...as I did eat, I did pray and I did love it! And there's love .....ummm....

Coming to a Full Circle-II

I remember writing one post earlier by the same name on this blog, so this one becomes ‘part II’ without having any continuity or relation. Now, coming to what I wanted to tell you…

I was perplexed at the complexity, at the multiple layers life could wear, at the different situations life presented to me and this led to some deep thinking to understand about life. Well, I try all the time…

I love to contemplate, to analyze, to think, to think deep…and all of that…

I was to switch into travel mode, this time on work and I was looking forward to the trip. There are more than one reasons and I am happy at the end of the trip that my work was satisfactory and I am looking forward to the collaboration. And I returned home on the weekend kinda satisfied, kinda disturbed (that’s not related to work though) and wanted to relax and get some massage and things like that.

I did have a quiet weekend and managed to relax and also work on a tight deadline without a computer…whoa? Yes, without a computer, you read it right. And my story of suffering started.

Something was wrong with my computer which I could not fix myself and hence I went to an IT expert who also wasn’t of any help. I call this person incompetent straightaway. Well, I know some really smart IT chaps (you know, I am in India, and these IT guys are good!) and so arriving at a conclusion was easy for me even when I would not know anything more than basic computer technique myself.

So, you kinda picture my state of being. I am at work and not able to work as the most important tool was not working! By the way, this is about my office laptop and then I have my personal laptop sitting in one of those fancy shelves I have at work because it is also not working for past few weeks. Talking of problems and here I am…

Anyway, I find the right person and my problem with computers are sorted. So, I get back to work. I go back to prepare my notes for an impending lecture and I concentrate on my class. I feel good. Well, work makes me happy. And I also love teaching. So at the end of the day I feel nice and glad.

Have you ever wondered how powerful it is when you speak and others listen. It’s actually a very powerful position to be in. Hmm…

Here, my computers break down, I feel horrible. I have a great class, and I feel good. And at the same time a lot of different things are happening, which makes you nervous, anxious, jolly, and this and that. And it’s a complex thing. Sometimes, we don’t even respond to all these and focus on to one or two particular triggers/emotions.

That day, there was a birthday, there was a funeral, there was a plan for a weekend trip, there were happy faces I like to see (I like to see the smile again and again), there were distractions, there were phone calls from old friends (yes, two to be precise...and how uncanny, both were calling from the same city. Ouch! actually, one introduced to me to the other...Hmm...talking about connections!).

And here I remember one of my favorite lines, ‘there is more than one truth’, I like repeating in my classes when I tell them about qualitative research. And looking at life you wonder how true it is, how striking it is.

And then, there are truths which become ‘truths’ later, when people come back to you to tell you what they said last time and how they feel now. And at the end of the day I find solace reading some books and sipping some pomegranate juice. I felt happy at Full Circle this Friday. It rained and I liked those little raindrops on my unruly locks...umm...thats another story altogether.

Life does come to a full circle, again and again.

In the roots of things....

This is gonna be my very last blog this year. 2009 has been a ‘great trip’ so far in so many ways in the journey of my life.

Its been a fulfilling year. Its been a memorable year. Its been a defining year. Its been a nice, beautiful year. And I wear a beautiful smile and my face looks nice....ummm....(more on this later)

I am happy as I sit next to an open suitcase, cameras peeping from within my old black backpack. I am just back from a fabulous vacation- a memorable trip from the land of my ancestors where I went tracing my roots. This was great in terms of my own identity, my Bengali roots. Bangladesh was a great experience.

This is gonna be a short blog as I had a very long ride back home, and I long for some massage. I wish to wake up to the New Year all fresh, feeling great and this requires a nice tight sleep.

I wish to wake up to the New Year looking forward to loads of travel, great time at work, friendship, and happiness. And my mind is full with Bhutan, snow, smiling faces, beautiful faces and a happPPy me.

BTW, life is a smooth ride if you have a great smile, have you ever thought so? I have a recent realization and I am in complete agreement with someone who once said “I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful”. And to be honest with myself I enjoyed every bit of attention I received in Bangladesh, be it in the music shop I went hunting for Bangladeshi pop music, be it from my fellow travellers in the jungles in the deep mangroves of Sunderbans , be it from people I met on the streets, in the villages, on the local buses, in the narrow lanes of old Dhaka, at the various eating places I visited, from friends and colleagues. I have come back home 'almost' feeling like a celebrity (I remember reading one particular sentence from the Lonely Planet's Bangladesh edition and that was so very true) with loads of admirers (hmm....thats for another time).

Wishing you all a great year ahead and I wish to write many more blogs in 2010, many more than 2009, inshallah!

Yahoo!

Yahoo.....Hmmm....there is a famous Bollywood song and I ‘almost’ am ready to sing that one! It goes like this: Hero appears on the screen all energetic, with ‘wild’ fervor dancing and sings (as it would read in English) “yahoo!....yahoo!...let people call me that I am from jungles....yahoo!..”

And I am here ‘yahoo-ing’ and feeling all ‘junglee’. I will explain in a bit....

Things are looking all gorgeous around me and I am all pepped up and in high spirits. This indeed is good news after a ‘flat’ spell (hmm...thinking about a graphical representation!). Year 2009 brought a lot of changes in my life. I changed track in terms of profession..umm...came to academics to teach public health in an Indian institute (btw, this is my first appointment with an Indian Organization in the capital). I have a new address now, living on my own in my own apartment and cooking food on my own in my kitchen (it feels pretty powerful, you know!). And after all these months in new settings, new neighborhood and new colleagues, I am kinda getting a good feeling.

Hmm....now I don’t really fret and fume because going to work means doing a mean 62 miles a day. How wonderfully I came to realize everything is possible and I ‘actually’ can do a lot of stuff, pretty much a lot more than I ever have envisaged myself ( this indeed is a big realization).

Things are falling in place. I am able to forge my position in the institute, in the classroom and more importantly in my own head that I can contribute well enough with what I know. Now I have a door to door commute available, making my ‘cross-country’ a smooth affair. And the icing on the cake: I am all set for a vacation. Finally! This is my very first (and last) vacation in 2009.

And there are reasons why I chose to hum that particular song....

I am all set to face the biggest cats (oops! second largest according to WWF) on the earth this winter. I will have a vacation in the jungles. And to set everything all-so-perfect, the whole thing is on a cruise and I am ready to sail! Yahoo!

With cruise booked, tickets nicely tucked in a beautiful folder, road map in hand and visa papers on my desk, I am a happy picture. And I am looking forward to December (now you know why also said this is gonna be the last one in 2009!)

I am all excited, and also emotional (read: very) for this vacation. This also means tracing my roots, going to a village by a river which is etched in my memory from a very delicate age. And it means a lot to my own identity, my own being and my own existence. And for some reasons year 2009 has been a very defining year in my life so far.

I am all glad, humbled. I am all excited, wild. I am feeling an itch under my feet. And those mustard seeds under my feet are in action again for me....yahoo!

Shoe bite

I had to look into my blog today and to update it even when it meant stealing time from other activities as I went to work after four long days.

This was a long weekend for me. I celebrated my birthday and treated myself really well. I had a fabulous time this weekend, complete with family time, eating out, meeting family (brother’s family to be precise) and friends and then friends visiting home over home cooked food and collected loads of gifts (the little girl in me had a happy time unwrapping all the gifts and guessing what is what with a funny grin on her face!). There are a lot new stuffs around. And I got a pair of pretty clogs too....

And then I had to write today, on my blog. There were too many mentions about my not updating it regularly in recent times. I realised there are people who like to read my blog and keep looking for new posts. Hmm, it definitely boosts my confidence. And then again on my way to work this morning I got a similar request from an old friend as she complained about seeing only one new post after months.

I blabber to myself, ‘I will write more; writing helps me, it clears my thought and it’s kinda therapeutic’. I call it cathartic!

Hmm...I did that yesterday. It was yesterday ‘Lonely Planet’ and his cute little daughter visited my place from across so many places. (This family really travels and knows how to land up in places so beautiful or dangerous or so out of reach. I really envy them.) And it made me happy ‘happy-HappPPy’yesterday. I am happy not just because I met them or just because LP talked about my blog but I am happy that I could be home to host them, I am happy that I could cook for them, I am happy that it was a special day. Well, it was my birthday and I was home to celebrate the special day. And I am happy that he surprised me with his precision!

Whoa....I gotta be explaining here.....

Talking about LP, I just cannot stop praising him. I have hosted quite a few get-togethers at my place and as a practice I send a standard set of instruction to friends well in advance on how to reach my place (you know, I am so very well organised...umm.. professional!). And now that it’s a regular thing to have friends visiting me from different places, from within Delhi, from other cities in India, from other countries, I almost keep that 10 point list very handy. It’s just a matter of copying and pasting and sending an email and voila (I think) its all clear. And invariably there would be frantic phone calls on the day when I will be busy tossing mushroom in my kitchen or when I will just be setting the table or clearing some clutter in my living room, in the middle of some clumsy last minute preparation or in the middle of a clear-all shower. And I would talk to them muttering ‘was not my instruction on ‘how to find my place’ sent for this, so that there is no confusion’. I least expect such phone calls when there is a step by step instruction. Giving directions and making sure the petrol pump is on the left and that you are facing the road are the least liked things for me. Urgh... And it never so happened all these while that anyone landed at my place without getting confused or without making those phone calls, well, until yesterday.

So, in a way, I almost thought my way of instruction does not work and said to myself ‘maybe I am confusing’. But when there is no room for confusion and there is no other way but to land up at my place if one really ‘reads’ those 10 points, I very sarcastically wondered what made people call me from middle of a ride, is it that they like to call me, or they have a cheap mobile connection or they are simply confused people or they take my step by step instruction lightly and don’t read my instruction before starting for my place.

Well, for the first time in almost 12 months I had a visitor who landed at my place bang on and surprised me. First because he reached well before the time I thought he would (my assumption was hugely based on my previous experiences with my other friends). Secondly, he is not from Delhi and not even from India. And most amazing part, he was travelling with a little kid and used public transport to commute to my place from where he is staying (that seven star place)! And I somehow now know that my instructions work and that the list is very clear and you cannot miss but reach the destination bang on! Hmmm...btw, I have been copying and pasting the same list without any edit all these times just in case you wondered whether I modified or changed anything (oops, making sure I used same instrument for all the episodes...ahh...see, its coming from someone who is into hardcore research!!)

And I am amazed with LP for other reasons also. I met him after a good five years and it felt as if it was yesterday. We have been neighbors once and then I ‘almost’ traveled wherever they went as I would either get vivid descriptions from all the travelogue he would post from time to time or from my own travel plans to visit them (so far all flopped!). Hmmm....

And at the end of it, it brought me back to my blog and I drafted this after a long day at work, from the middle of working on a presentation for my lecture tomorrow.

I will write more, surely, I will. There is a lot to write, so many update, those fermented beans recipes I learnt from my friend from Manipur over lunch today (ahh...my birthday bash is so very long this time!), those tips on Oddissi dance from my bro’s fiancée, those recipes mom ‘taught’ me over that sumptuous luncheon my bro planned for my birthday. I need to write about ‘Oh! Calcutta’ too, I love the place and it seems I was quite a head-turner of sorts that day...or maybe they all knew it was my birthday! About how I ended up with some good French red wine in ‘bad’ state and how I am desperately looking for good recipes to use this ‘bad’ wine! And I will write about other stuff happening in life in general.

So, watch this space for more...if not less!

Its been time...

Hummmppppp....

Well, it looked like a pretty long time and this time I was not off and away travelling. So I am here without any excuse for such a long absence from blogging scene. But, truly I was hit by a 'very busy and hectic' time where I only cared for getting my share of sleep...at least six hours per night!

Life is fine. I guess I only tossed this blog thingy out of my scheme of things. But I have been writing nonetheless, on different platforms, different stuff, though. I am happy that I am working on my publications and also coming back to keep in touch with my blog.

Nothing much happened after I last updated. Except for a few trips to tribal (and naxal) hinterland for some research work, a few luncheon parties that I had at my place, a few late nights and a major family event (not a happy one) where I got to meet as close to hundred of my relatives at one go, (ouch) and realized what a BIG family I 'actually' have and ahoy! why 'globe trotting' comes so easily to me.

I have been teaching off late and finding it quite interesting. There are different kinds of students to interact with from different corners of the globe, different age groups and backgrounds, language, eating preferences. Faculty members are also an interesting bunch, I kinda like their company (I like the vibe!).

And I am doing 62 odd miles a day, cooking for myself, living on my own, and doing pretty well in terms of time management. I am also driving these days, hopefully will drive pretty regularly, that's the plan.

I am looking forward to life at this moment...well, September is my birth month and I have lots to feel good for me.

Coming to talk about birthday, it reminds me what a milestone of a year this year is for me. In terms of demography I have lived 50% of my life looking at average life expectancy. And here one is generally expected to look li'l worn out but I don't know how/why I have a major challenge to look my age. I know many women will envy me and tell me to take this to my stride and take it as a compliment. Even I am curious how many women would actually like to look their age after scoring thirty odd years and when 'anti-ageing' Rx is in vogue.
Looking young does not work to my advantage here- tell me, who wants to look 'fresh out of college' when addressing a class of mid-career professionals where as a matter of fact one is very much at the other side of thirty..

Hmm....someone teased me good naturedly the other day: "Thirty is new Sixteen"...ahem...(it feels good though but not when my students think so). I remember the advice of one of my old friend, who I am sure had (is still) had similar luck when he started with academics, to go on and speak your mind as when you speak they know where it is coming from. Yes, so true...I exactly know the feeling and I am quite liking it!!

I hope to write more and put my thoughts as they grow in my head into words; I surely hope so..

Eatopia

Food is something that keeps me happy. Well, to tell you the truth- I just need to eat yummy food (more variety the better) and talk a lot. I guess these are the two most important things in my life. And the result is a happy and ‘satisfied’ me.

Tsk tsk…its so easy for you now, well….

Talking about food: food has been part of my life, this has marked many important occasions in my life, making food, entering people’s kitchens, getting people in my own kitchen, sharing recipes, recipes on emails, emails on recipe-sites, and once got a whole recipe dedicated to me ..hmm …how can I forget that blog? I am sure people are used to getting songs dedicated or such things when experiencing, you know, those blissful moments. And I was showered with, guess what, a recipe I was curious to learn and eat eventually (a tale of transcontinental, long distance romance!). Well…coming back to food and a blog on that, well, this is not to woo any nice guy but to ‘please’ two damsels in distress (if I may say so!).

Hmm…wait a bit…..I am explaining!

I just had a cozy little get-together at my new place last weekend and I got an opportunity to cook for an elaborate lunch. I am mostly into experimental cuisine (if that’s a term!) and most often add variety to the menu with food/ideas from different corners of the globe. I know I disappoint friends who come jumping to my place expecting Bengali cuisine complete with ‘maachher-jhol’ (read: fish curries); but then, I did make fish and curries, only thing is that these were two separate items this time around…ha ha..

But there must be something with Bengalis and fish. Because, of all the things I prepared, my fish preparation was liked, actually way too much for my expectation. This was a Portuguese style preparation in white sauce (ahh…there is something about white sauce and me these days…may be I am becoming Calcium deficient!) I learnt from a friend’s mother who's from Portuguese descent.

Before I delve deeper into that Portuguese fish thingy, the other items that landed on the table from my kitchen were (BTW, everything was prepared at home by me) as under:

Salad: fruity-veggie type with diced cucumber and apple with pomegranate, and a dash of lime just before tossing them together before serving

Mexican wild rice (ahh…. my paella fixation!): I collected this wild brown rice which grows in the wild, marshy areas in the Americas(I am into collecting brown rice or what?). My procedure is pretty simple. Soak rice overnight; put it on low flame with double the amount of water and add some salt, let it boil. Meanwhile on another pan heat oil, add garlic and ginger cubes- one teaspoonful, add spring onion with about two inches of stem- sliced vertically -about six of them, diced tomatoes- two medium sized, two green chilies, let this get cooked, little brownish. And when you get nice aroma as they are getting fried/cooked add three eggs to the mixture. Turn slowly and try to mix in with the veggies for nice scrambled eggs. Throw in peas, and sprinkle some tofu (I take a handful, crush them and spread it on top of the egg-veggie-scramble). Then take out rice (by this time rice is already boiled and cooked, try to check that from time to time- its easy for me as I have a big four burner stove) in a bowl (the serving bowl) and layer it with veggie-egg thingy. Mix it loosely. And you are ready for some healthy fiesta.

Vegetarian hot pot: This one was a last minute addition as a few of my friends like to eat vegetables along with fish and flesh err meat. And I learned to make vegetable broth at home (see, I told you everything was cooked at home). In vegetable broth- about two litres- add diced ginger and garlic-one tablespoon, bring this to boil. Then keep it on low flame and simmer. In another pan pour some oil, add a lot of mushroom (I like to cut then vertically into fours), cook this for about three minutes till they change color and evenly cooked. Add strips of baby cabbage-very thinly cut, and cook for another two minutes; add slices of baby carrots-about half inches thick. Transfer this mixture to the broth, stir well. Then add large cubes of tofu. Take it off from heat and cover. Garnish with whole spring onions-cut into fours- let them float on the surface.

Portuguese Fish: Boneless varieties are better; usually marine fishes are preferable. But I used Rohu (actually I have always used), only the portions from the stomach (its easy to de-bone from this part), cut into pieces-four by two inches. This time I marinated for about an hour with olive oil and vinegar (this was very experimental) with black pepper powder. Fry these pieces nice and crispy and set aside. This recipe has a special trick: the way other ingredients are cut. Potatoes-big sizes are better, onions- big, round ones are better. Potatoes are cut in long-tall slices- in lateral sections; onions are cut in slices- in cross sections, so that we get a lot of onion rings. Use a thick bottomed pan, pour oil (not miserly or else it wont taste like the way I made), heat oil for some time. Start with potatoes, sprinkle some whole black pepper seeds, turn potatoes occasionally and continue till they are little brownish. Add onion slices; these will soon break into rings. Start to cook/fry till these two are softer. Add fish pieces. And cook for about three-four minutes. Remove from fire. After it’s cooled down cover it with white sauce- I make it with milk and cheese and some barley/wheat flour. Keep it aside. Before serving heat it for 5 minutes in microwave (one can broil for 1 minutes in 100deg C; I use auto-cook mode for vegetable- which is 5 minutes in medium heat), this gives a light-brownish coat and nice aroma.

Chicken-Indian style (I don’t know which region in India!): I am calling it Indian style as I used regular ‘garam masala’, bay leaf, ginger, garlic paste, etc. To begin with I marinated chicken in yogurt and garlic, ginger paste, tomato paste, sprinkled some ‘meat masala’ and kept it aside for about one hour. On a thick bottomed pan (I used my wide mouthed pressure cooker which comes with a thick and slender bottom) heat oil, add cumin seeds, bay leaf-2/3, big chunky onions- cut into fours, cook for sometime. Then transfer the whole marinated chicken to the pan, keep stirring. Continue till all the spices are cooked/fried, and a smooth gravy is formed. Cover it and cook it till the time fork can smoothly pass through chicken pieces. It can be pressure cooked as well but it might get over cooked/over boiled.


For dessert I had melons (I got two different colors) cut into boat shaped pieces- smeared with sugar powder and honey. I had put this in the freezer for sometime for a thin crystal like crust on melons. And there was a freshly baked cake-Czech style- thanks to my friend from Prague.

Ahhh…and there was some nice Darjeeling tea and some baked cookies. And this time there was no wine (I still don’t have a cork opener) and nobody volunteered to open one of those Rioja to say cheers (my attempt to tempt this man with muscles failed, he wanted beer instead!)

Hope ‘damsels in distress’ are happy with this elaborate blog.

‘AM’, chak chaare? Don’t forget to call me when you are trying this fish recipe, I will love to eat them without doing any effort…..I love food more if someone else is cooking and I get to do ‘only eating’!!

Bon Appétit !

Hold All

Hold-all is something I have inherited, it’s a gift from heirloom, sort of ‘poitrik sompotti’ –which is kind of a treasure passed down from generation to another, from one’s dad (if I can offer a more specific translation for this Über-Bengali terminology), if I can label it that way! Thanks to our nomadic existence which warranted sturdy travel gears anytime of the year, in rains and in snows, every now and then …hmm….

And a hold-all is all I want when that’s an odd piece of article in my store room. Hope dad is not reading it, yikes!

Thinking of the term ‘hold-all’, I wish I could be one such myself when its such a difficult task to seal all those invisible pores which cry out loud from time to time to shed all the ‘stories’ all over. Umm, what an expression! Yes, I know exactly what I am talking about and you might need a wee bit of explaining here :)

As a person I am all words, spoken the better. Now you know what I am trying hard to ‘hold-all’ so badly.

I guess I have come to realize how this talkative nature is so irritating. This is a quality as I am never at odds in a new situation; I can just walk up to someone and talk. Well, that’s a good way to be not-so tongue-tied. But have you wondered what happens when in a group you are the only one who is all words? Sound-bites…err sound-byte!!
The same trait if exercised within limits could be very entertaining, social, and fun and if toppled a wee-bit more could be so very boring and not-attractive? I have found that out.
And I feel a mix of bad and sad :) Hehehe… I am incorrigible! (Gyan-paapi! Baaps, that's again a heavy duty Bong from my side..hic hic)

And sometimes I thank my stars when my friends are busy in midst of things, either running from one corner of the city to another or on treadmill or lost in contemplation or analyzing facts and figures or just browsing and away from their phones. I really thank my timing as that’s when I get to see what all I have in store to ‘pour’ out. And such times could be frustrating for someone who believes in voicing it out. But after all those turbulent times-which lasts for a good five-to-ten minutes, its all so serene and I am all so sane and rational.

Its actually a good idea to have those thoughts with you and not let those out the moment you see a pair of ‘willing’ears!! Oops, I feel so sorry for those who had been victims of my non-stop non-sense.. err …'stories of the day'-bout with a nice guise of smiling face and a set of twinkling eyes.

Silence is golden, said someone somewhere. May be not for me definitely! But I love Buddha and what all he says. I wish to listen to him…..

Hold all…err …hold on..I offer to change. Change is only constant.

And here goes Solna ‘holding all’ in prayers…“Buddham Sharanam Gachhami”. And Buddha smiles…

Culture-vulture

I am totally immersed with Tagore these days....I am with him day in and day out...

Err...I mean I am reading his books, listening to his music and talking about him, researching on him...I am into him. Yes, its like this ever since I have visited Shantiniketan.


Hmmm...I just managed a weekend to visit Shantiniketan and what a trip that was. I suddenly discovered the dormant Bengali side of me...and I am happy.


I am pasting a couple of pictures from my Tagore trail so that you can also walk with me as I recite:



"amader chhoto nodi
choley aanke-bnaake
boishakh maashe taar hnaathu jowl thake"





Hmm....I am happy when someone commented that my Bengali has improved that I have been speaking in Bangla with such eloquence that no one can say I have been away from West Bengal for a good 22 years. It definitely makes me swell in pride and I am sure this will make my mom happy too......














P.S: All pictures are copyright material Solna.

Hair and Now

I had a very exciting Valentine’s Day eve this year. Complete with a new hairdo followed by a sexy dinner date at a Chinese place where we ate some yummy lamb with nicely stinking bamboo shoot and got drunk on some Vodka shots. And I did a tipsy walking on my way home. No one noticed, only I knew I was drunk. It was a very nice feeling as when I am drunk I am super efficient; I even ordered around and asked a man to vacate the ladies seat on Metro; that was the last train, btw!

Ummm..this new hairdo is really hot…I mean I am liking it.

It started like this: I have been growing my hair for quite sometime actually. Hmm, there is a history to it. Some background for the readers: I remember the last two visits to hair salons, one was in January 2007 in Tirupathi (a kind of annual ritual which has become irregular) and the very last visit to a hair dresser was in November 2007 (that was just before a trip to shed some baggage, well….). After that I spared my hair and allowed them to grow and get longer. (It actually grew quite long; you can see for yourself in the picture taken just before I went under the scissors again.) This long hair looked cool until this winter when I struggled every morning with my entangled hair and ended up making either a bun or an untidy looking plait And for some reasons that was not helping my nice façade (read: face). Hmmm.

So, I have been giving serious thoughts about a new hair cut (read: short hair cut). Voila!
I not only got a great suggestion but also had a friend accompanying me for the session.

And it happened just a day before Valentine’s Day. First, I could not wait to get a new hairdo and then I would be gone and away for another week after that.

So, I meet Mujeeb after a busy Friday at work and pleasntly realized I was at a heritage site as he is the third generation creating magic with scissors since 1930. Wow, such impressive bio. And he played with my hair, worked with it and ultimately came up with this new one for me. I was at one point feeling like a guinea pig with onlookers around me; I really created such a big thing out of this that my session took quite long and others in the salon got thoroughly entertained! BTW, I saw a very nice looking man who was waiting for his turn. And I later found out that he had come to shave off his hair as he lost a bet. Hmmm! But I rather liked him…shhhh. He even came prepared with a sexy cap; I quite liked his flowing hair, but they are all gone now…hmm.

Coming back to my new hairdo, I was really impressed, not just with the result but with the way he played with his scissors. He simply is superb in understanding your need, the person you are and the kind of look would go well on you. So, I am not only looking a few years younger (that’s a good thing!) and trendy but I am also having a very low maintenance look for my ‘on the go’ lifestyle (a very good thing!).

And at the end of it I was so excited that I had to celebrate, so went on to dine with my friend. And you know I had a fabulous time this Valentine’s Day. I am loving every bit of it.

So, now you know I had a great time this Valentine’s Day…..

P.S: I will back with my N-counter series once I am back from the fabulous land of Mizos.